We first met Karalee and David exactly ten year’s ago today. David manages the technical infrastructure for this blog and he is one of two crew members that will join Dick for the Atlantic crossing. David writes this blog post about our 10 years of connecting.
Allen, Jocelyn, Andy, and Steven on board Dragonsinger
We met from an article I wrote in our yacht club newsletter. From that article, Marian reached out to me and we started a year long virtual conversation at the end of which we arranged for our two families to meet in Ova Buku, Turkey. Dick and Marian had been cruising that area of Turkey for years. We were finishing up a two-year Mediterranean adventure with our three children on our sailboat Dragonsinger. Our two sets of children got along right away. Before we knew it, the Leighton kids were connecting with the Greer kids by watching a movie on the laptop computer on Dragonsinger.
Dick and David on Van Kedisi in 2010
Over the years, the relationship between our two families has deepened. In 2010, Karalee, Allen, and our niece Sharra Peasley spent ten days with Dick on Van Kedisi in Turkey. On July 27, 2010, seven years less a day after we first met in Ova Buku, we returned to Ova Buku. It was on that trip that Dick taught Karalee and I the board game Settlers of Catan. In the subsequent years, the four of us have played countless games of Settlers. Marian won recently in a game with Karalee, Andy, and I.
David, Karalee, Marian, and Dick at RVYC
To celebrate Marian’s last radiation treatment for her breast cancer and Dick’s leaving for Turkey, the four of us had dinner at the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club. The same yacht club where Marian read the article about our Mediterranean adventure, reached out to us, and started our whole relationship.
Marian Starting the Run Portion of the Point Grey Triathlon
Today, Karalee, Marian, and Andy completed the Point Grey short-course triathlon at the University of British Columbia. It was a year ago Friday that Marian was diagnosed with breast cancer. The triathlon was her way to say that she has come a long ways in her healing over the last year. For Andy and Karalee, it was a way to show their support for Marian. Karalee, our son Allen, Marian, and Andy once again went to RVYC for dinner. It was there that Marian reminded us that it was exactly ten years ago today that we met for the first time in Ova Buku. It has been an incredible relationship. Dick and Marian, here’s to ten more.
Sail Van Kedisi 