“Don’t be dismayed by good-byes. A farewell is necessary before you can meet again. And meeting again, after moments or lifetimes, is certain for those who are friends.”

Richard Bach, from Illusions, the Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah

The photograph of the red buoy was taken on the last New Year’s Day (2011) cruise we took with the late Captain Lucas Smith, aboard his prized 1960 wooden boat, the Osprey.  It is a poignant reminder of a dear friend, lost too soon.

I will forever remember the ringing of my cellphone one morning in 2010, and looking down to see the call was from Lucas.  When I answered, in an excited voice he asked, “Are you online?”  When I replied, “No” he said, “Get on quick, you’ve got to see this.”  Once online, he gave me a URL that took me to an Ebay post showing the future Osprey tied to a dock in North Carolina.  The post was marked “SOLD.”  When I told him I was on the site, he replied, “I just bought it!”  His excitement was like a kid on Christmas morning.  Built on Harker’s Island, NC, the Osprey was to become the party boat he had dreamed of owning.   Although we lost Lucas due to a crash of his “flying boat” on July 20, 2011,”  thanks to some of his closest friends, his dream is still alive today, at Osprey Boat Charters.