Notes From the Helm

Great Evening with Captain Ron aboard Star of Orion

On short notice, Dianne and I decided to fly to Fort Myers last Friday to get our drivers licenses taken care of and check on the place. Also since my parents are following me down in their vehicle this coming Friday, I thought it would be nice to have their bedroom all set up for them after the long drive down. They are helping me out tremendously by doing some painting and repairs around Dianne and I's condo while I am out on the boat consulting with the previous owner or doing charters.

We arrived in Fort Myers by noon on Friday and grabbed a car. Dropped our stuff off at the condo and then went to the local drivers license office to get our shiny new Florida license. Luckily they took us early since we had an appointment and we were able to get out in time to go on the sunset sail that Captain Ron had scheduled aboard our boat. This was the first chance I got to see Captain Ron in action on a sunset sail. He was smooth as usual, but then again when isn't Captain Ron! What a great guy Captain Ron is. Dianne and I are very fortunate to have had him be apart of this transition to charter boat owners. Anyways, the sunset sail was awesome! Leaving the dock and heading out of the harbor, we immediately saw 2 dolphins and we proceeded to follow them around for awhile. They didn't at all seem threatened by us and seemed to love being around our boat and others. During this time, 3 para-gliders (parachutes with propeller backpacks) flew overhead and began doing dives and other maneuvers around Bowditch Point. Amazing! One of them actually landed on the beach. Once around Bowditch Point, Ron headed into the wind and we raised the sails. A nice gentle wind immediately got us moving around 4-5 knots as we began to say goodbye to the sun during a very colorful sunset just offshore of Sanibel Island from our vantage point. Beautiful! As we motored back in near darkness after some more sailing, we passed the large casino ship leaving for its nightly cruise. I always find beauty in all types of vessels and especially when passing each other with our navigational lights on in the darkness.  Arriving back at the dock, Captain Ron took the time to introduce us (Dianne and I) to the other boat captains and a few of the pirates from the children's pirate ship cruise. Like real pirates, they were sitting at the bar drinking and I think I even heard gunfire at one point. Don't worry, I think they forgot to load the musket ball in the chamber! A few more words with Captain Ron and Dianne and I were on the road back to the condo to get some sleep for our 6:30 am flight back to Ohio. What a great 24 hours. Thanks Captain Ron for a great night on OUR boat! I have to say OUR boat because Ron gets a little possessive of the vessel he captains. Ha! Sailing Fort Myers Beach is going to be amazing. Only a week to go and I'll be there!

Till next time,

Captain Dan Mendat

www.sailmagicwind.com 

Feeling like I'm retiring!

Only 4 more days of punching a time card for "The Man". Thursday November 19th, 2009 will forever be remembered by me as the day I left trucking to become a Charter boat owner/captain. What a crazy ride its been so far. 13 years behind the wheel as a local tractor trailer driver and nearly 3/4 of a million miles will not necessarily be missed. My body had been telling me for awhile now that its time to get out of the seat of that truck and do something different.

As stated previously, who knew that when we visited Fort Myers, Florida back in February of this year, that Dianne and I would be doing something that alot of folks only dream about. I went to classes to get my charter boat captains license, we sold our home in Sharon Center, OH, we bought a condo in Fort Myers, and then we bought a turn-key sailboat charter business. And its only November!. The official take over date is December 1st, however I already own the boat, the business name, and the website. The only thing left to do is show up Dec. 1st, confirm the contract check list is complete, and hand over the rest of our money to the previous owner along with some other minor business transition details. Change the picture on the website to mine, then its official! We'll be doing half day, full day, sunset, and custom/overnight charters aboard a 38 ft Hunter Sailboat named "Star of Orion" from our slip at Salty Sam's Marina at Fort Myers Beach, Florida. Check it out at www.sailmagicwind.com .

Yes, this might seem like a crazy adventure especially when your talking about a guy and his wife that are very set in their ways, who built a house designed to be lived in for a very long time, and who both had great employers. However, a pivotal moment happened in August 08' that helped push our thoughts of sunny weather to the next level. When my brother Bob suddenly passed away of heart failure at age 40, life smacked us in the face and reminded us that every day is precious and that you have to live your dreams before its too late. Dianne and I didn't take too long to both realize it was time to move ahead with any ideas we had. I had fallen in love with sailing in 06' when I first caught the wind in the sails of my homemade sailing rig built for my canoe during a long winter. It didn't take long after that when I upgraded to a 22' trailerable sailboat and then a year ago to the 27' that I docked at Edgewater Marina in downtown Cleveland. Then, when we sailed aboard Star of Orion back in February and were told by the owner that he would be willing to sell the boat and business, we saw our opportunity. Who knew! The rest of the story will be documented here.

Well, enough for now. I'll be posting much more as our adventure continues.

Fair Winds,

Captain Dan Mendat

www.sailmagicwind.com

Its all coming together!

First of many posts about my adventures involving Magic Wind Adventure Sailing, my new business that I'll be taking over December 1, 2009. Its a beautiful 38' Hunter sailboat located at Salty Sam's Marina in Fort Myers, Florida formerly owned by Captain Paul West. What a great guy! I was lucky to cross paths with this man in February 09, thus changing the path of Dianne and I's life forever. Who new that when I googled sailing fort myers, I would have changed my life forever! 

So far to date, the business name and Lee County business receipt is now in our name. Also, we are the new owners of Star of Orion as of October 26th. Just waiting on the Coast Guard documentation to register the girl with the State of Florida. Hopefully that will happen soon, as I'm leaving right after Thanksgiving to head to Fort Myers to take over the business officially and work with Captain Paul in order to get acquainted with Star of Orion. My excitement is immeasurable and these next three weeks can't happen soon enough. I needs me a ship!!! There's been a real empty place in my heart after selling Second Wind, my father and I's 1974 Ericson 27 sailboat.

Fair Winds

Captain Dan