Meet Una.
She's the product of my father, the sailor's, hands.
He built her in a garage in the suburbs of Richmond over a ten month period.
And, if it means anything to you, she's a Iain Oughtred Sooty Tern. A double-ended yawl, sporting a balanced lug main and bermuda mizzen.
Her name means pure, holy, feminine and single (one).
She's Scottish/Gaelic/Norse in her origin.
In my father's words she was "a labor of love, a commitment to a dream and a promise of adventure".
(You can see where I get a bit of that wanderlust soul from...)
Seeing how proud he's been of this boat and how happy it's made him in the building and completion of it has been one of the highlights of my year.
We took her out for an overnight adventure last month and it was, simply put, one of the top ten best experiences of my life.
(I can actually list these experiences for you too... if you don't believe me)
I will treasure this time and the memories made during this brief but wonderful trip for forever and always.
My father is one of the people I adore and most look up to in this world and while this experience is one I hold very dear to my heart, I hesitated sharing it here because of it's sacredness.
However, I wanted the opportunity to showcase his wonderful talent and to give his beautiful creation the spotlight it deserves.
As I've stated before, being on a boat makes you look outward and there's a special kind of soul searching that happens when you're surrounded by all that blue.
There's also a kind of serenity that comes with it that's not easy to find these days.
It's something that neither words or pictures can really fully express.
You just have to experience it for yourself.
