it was time

Looking at SPARTINA'S JW pennant the other day I realized it was time.  After ten years and I don't know how many wonderful miles of sailing the original pennant was faded and beginning to tear.  The sun, rain and wind have all have all left their mark.  It was time to put the new pennant on.

The pennant, which I designed with the help of a friend in the graphics department at the office and was sewn by The Sailbag Lady, was a gift from my mother.  It arrived in the mail in May of 2008, the evening before I left my first ever cruise, a four day trip on Tangier Sound.  Mom had wanted something special from her and Dad on the boat.  The JW can be read two ways.  The boat was designed by John Welsford, so that works.  But more importantly to me - and this is the way I think of it when I look up to see the pennant snapping in a stiff breeze - it brings to mind my parents - Janice and Walt.

After five or so years of sailing with the pennant, Mom had noticed in photographs that it had begun to fade.  I told her I thought the flag still had several more years left in it.  Mom, always the practical one, knew that it would not last for ever.  And she also knew that she would be here forever, so she went ahead and bought a new pennant to tuck away for that day when it was needed.  Well, that day is now and the new bright red pennant is on SPARTINA.  Mom, sadly, is no longer with us.  But the memory of her and Dad will always be there flying at the top of the main mast on the little wooden yawl that has carried me safely for so many miles.

When hearing the news of the new pennant the youngest daughter, a co-builder of SPARTINA and a member of the original crew, asked what would happen to the old pennant.  I think framing might be a good idea.