“All men of action are dreamers.” -James Huneker

October 15, 2012





Bruce



“All men of action are dreamers.”  -James Huneker

Key West is full of dreamers, so many are drawn to what they believe will be a life of leisure and laidback island lifestyle and have no clue of what it takes to actually succeed in achieving their goals. The island life is just not all as easy as many seem to think it is. Those who do succeed , survive and thrive are something of a rare breed, and those who excel, and there are many of those here as well, are something special indeed.









That is why I have such respect and admiration for some local friends who have achieved their nautical dreams and I was able to celebrate with each of them this month. In one case some friends restored a classic old sailing vessel and in perhaps an even more remarkable adventure, another friend built an amazing catamaran by hand from scratch, virtually alone. In each case, the completion of the projects marks the realization of a dream combined with a ton of hard work, long hours, times of insane frustration and finally the amazing accomplishment.









My friend Bruce moved back to Key West after splitting with his wife a couple of years ago, with a vision to build his own catamaran to call home. Many people might have thought him unrealistic at best, but having known him for years and seen him previously accomplish what may have been more than enough dreams for most people by building a beautiful mountain home that was completely off the grid on the side of Long’s Peak in Estes Park and then transform an abandoned and ramshackle old restaurant (The Rock Inn Mountain Tavern) there in to one of the most popular and wonderful restaurants in Estes, I was pretty confident that if he set his mind to something, it would get done.







The project may have been his most challenging ever, but his incredible hard work came to fruition this month as the completed and beautiful vessel was splashed for the very first time and Kathy and I had the good fortune to be witnesses to this wonderful and emotional experience. It all went magically well and the Shantiway is now afloat and primed for a lifetime of sailing and adventure. Congrats to a job well done Bruce!





Kenji



The other vessel we celebrated this month is the fulfillment of a dream as well, one of similar yet different goals. Our friends the Rowans have been working just as hard to refurbish a historic sailing vessel, the Hindu. After extensive restoration, the vessel was re-splashed earlier this year, but just this month has begun its new life as a commercial charter sailing vessel based at the Key West Bight.






 
To celebrate this proud moment, a party was held on the dock to commemorate and raise a few funds to help offset the restoration. Kathy & I were there, taking in the delicious fish fry and libations and watching the Bill Murray movies that were projected up on to the sail of the vessel. It was a fun and special night for our friends and one that we were happy to be a part of.