Meeting New Friends Scott & Yolanda Moody

July 6, 2013 ~ 

Life is funny.  Every day, we go through our routines, interacting with the people who share our work day; connecting with our families, and experiencing random crossing of paths with endless strangers. On this day, we had a chance encounter with Scott and Yolanda Moody at Knife River Marina. It blows my mind to think about how many details had to fall into place to allow this meeting. Scott and Yolanda Moody had driven all the way from Oklahoma to spend a month on Lake Superior, a trip they've dubbed their 'Lake Superior Summer'. They chose Knife River as their base for launching their Erickson 27, Della Grace, and they arrived at the exact time that Dave and I sauntered up to the showers at Knife River after two weeks on our own adventure bringing Mystic to Minnesota.

Scott and Yolanda were talking with another boater when we approached. They were looking for the Harbor Master and inquiring about spending the night on their boat in the marina lot. I would have missed out on all this information except the women's shower was closed for cleaning. As I stood there, half listening, half distracted by cell phone WIFI, Scott and Yolanda came over to chat. They told me that they decided to buy a sailboat and learn to sail only a couple of years ago. They refurbished Della Grace and learned to sail on a nice Oklahoma lake back home. They fell in love with sailing and dreamed of going into big water, choosing Lake Superior and Knife River.  I found it fascinating that when we met, they were exactly where Dave and I were two weeks ago; faced with a dream adventure, excited, anxious, and hopeful! We had a lot to talk about. I felt a connection with them immediately!

Yolanda & Scott Moody

After showering, we walked up to Emily's for dinner. This quaint little restaurant is nestled alongside scenic route 61 and offers fabulous food. Prices are high so our visits there will be limited. Tonight was for splurging since we had some celebrating to do! Much to our surprise we found Scott and Yolanda sitting at the bar. We joined them and enjoyed an evening of good food and good company. It turns out that we have a lot in common. Yolanda grew up very near Stillwater, OK. She runs marathons and is a teacher. She and Scott will celebrate their anniversary on their voyage; Dave and I celebrated ours during our trip. Our new friends are adventurers and spend as much time as possible exploring together, just like us. We had a great time getting to know them and sharing stories until the restaurant staff kicked us out.

Lighthouse at Emily's ~ Knife River, MN

We walked back to the marina together under menacing skies. The night was very dark and thunderstorms were building. We stood by the Marina office chatting until the clouds opened up with cracks and booms and we each had to make a mad dash for cover. Scott and Yolanda had to climb up a ladder and  we had to run a quarter of a mile to get to Mystic's slip. We got soaked but we giggled as we tucked into the cabin. The raindrops were huge but we both agreed; what a welcome home!

In the morning, we woke at our usual time, early! It was cold and windy and fog had settled in. We'd offered to help Scott and Yolanda launch Della Grace today but conditions were not ideal. They stopped by Mystic for a tour, then we went over to see Della Grace. They've done so much work to this boat. It is beautiful and will serve them well on their Lake Superior Summer journey. They told us that they renamed Della Grace. Like Mystic, the former name did not fit their beautiful vessel. Apparently it is bad luck to change the name of a boat. They told us they resorted to finding a virgin to pee in the bilge of the boat. Superstition say it will combat the bad luck. Trust me, had we not been changing Tractatus BACK to Mystic, we'd be looking for a virgin as well. Somehow it seems right to give our beautiful boat her original name back.  I'm pretty sure that the spirit of Mystic will be pleased.

Della Grace ~ Erickson 27 ~ Knife River Marina

As we pack up our cruising lives to head back to reality, we are excited to be able to follow Scott and Yolanda on their journey.  They are lucky to have the luxury of time with their plans to spend the month of July exploring the North Shore.  We hope to see them again and we cherish the luck or karma or simple coincidence of meeting them.  We have been blessed with new friends of kindred spirit.  How lucky is that! We hope to foster a lifetime friendship from this chance encounter.

Della Grace anchored in Taconite Harbor