2. Richard joined the U S Air Force which was part of the U S Army at that time. He was a navigator. He was so proud on his first mission guiding the plane out on a rendezvous and back. It later came over the radio, great job Richard but you are headed the wrong way.
3. He graduated from Ohio State University which was rather rare for anyone to attend college back in those days. He married a college sweetheart and had two sons, David and Mark.
4. He suffered depression throughout his life. He was institutionalized when he moved his family to Denver. His wife maintained the family at that time, his boys were very young.
5. His family fell apart due to incompatibility after 20 years of marriage. It may have been too difficult for his wife to maintain a family all on her own, as she may have felt.
6. His best friend took him in at that time and gave him a place to stay until he was back on his feet. They remained very close friends the rest of his life. He recognized the true value in a man and a friend.
7. His passion, where he found solace was the sea. He eventually purchased his own sailboat which he kept in Rockhall, Maryland where he spent most of his weekends during the spring, summer and fall. He chartered several trips with friends and one in particular that I will share later was to Bermuda. He sailed through the Bermuda triangle.
8. He had a son who was an accomplished carpenter who learned his trade while attending college in Hawaii. His lost his youngest son at the age of 33. I never asked how that made him feel to lose a child. I hear it is the most devastating experience for a parent.
9. Ten years ago, Richard was retired and had travel many places. His sister was a frequent companion after she lost her husband. They did sail together but they also traveled all across the United States. It was a goal to visit every state in the United States. Betty passed before her brother and he began to show signs of Alzheimer’s and was no longer able to live alone. He then moved to an assisted living facility, Chestnut Ridge in Chester. He loved it there and was very much a part of the socialization. Something he was not used to on a daily basis living alone for so many years. He even met a special lady friend named Ilsa. Eventually he was moved to the 4th floor, the Alzheimer’s wing and although the activities continued, he dropped out of the mainstream. Most days he didn’t have any idea where he was or who anyone was. He knew his name was Richard and he did recognize his one remaining son, David who was diligent in visiting his father. Richard came from a time when pensions were paid accumulated by his hard work, but like everyone else lost almost half of his money during the stock market crash. Luckily he didn’t know it. He would have had a fit. The rest of his money was absorbed into medical costs, long term medical care. Alzheimer’s just steals your mind and you just linger in a lost world. It is sad to watch and almost a crime the amount of drugs that were prescribed to him and the list of doctors who he had regular routine maintenance visits scheduled with him. He had a psychiatrist who would evaluate him and prescribed Aricept which was to try and delay the disease. It did seem to help because for the most part Richard was a happy guy, he didn’t go into the combative mean stages ever. He was a happy pappy, as he called himself. He was also able to repeat back, I love you when prompted at the end of every visit by his son, David.
10. I wasn’t that close to Richard. I only know stories I have been told and I spent the last two weeks going through his photographs and putting together a DVD for the memorial service to be held on December 29th that would describe a celebration of his life. He passed away in his sleep December 6th, 2010. It is interesting to look at someone’s life through pictures. He had a good life and many great times with friends. Something you would never know if you weren’t there to see all he had as keepsakes in pictures. He was proud to be Pop Pop Dick. He lived to be 85 years old.
One thing I learned from this story is you keep on cruising. Full speed ahead!
It is a long story and something that may not hold anyone else’s interest but here is a retelling of an amazing journey, in his words, Boaters may find the trip very adventurous. Dick took this journey with his friends and his only remaining son.
The full story is available in the blog, delcotoptten.blogspot.com
New Horizons
Rock Hall to Bermuda
June to July 1986
Left rock Hall Harbor Friday, June 20, 1986 at 10:30 A. M. Good bit of motoring, all in all, from Rock Hall to the Potomac River. Hit by both heavy squall and thunderstorms in mid Bay south of Annapolis. Dave, Stan on watch; very heavy rain, later turned white, eventually hail. First night motoring under full moon, beautiful! Started sailing at midnight and all the way into Little Creek, VA about 14 hours. We arrived at Little Creek about 1:30 Saturday afternoon. Chuck Gidel suffered a head injury in the cabin last night. On arrival, we sent him to Catholic Hospital where he received very good treatment and Chuck was ready to make the trip.
Weather very clear, but reported winds and seas detrimental to our trip (out of Northeast 20-25 strong). Final weather checks by 10 P. M. Saturday looked better and so we departed Little Creek at 4 A.M. Sunday. Motored all the way to Chesapeake Light. Tried sailing 3-1 not. Motored 2 more hours put up sail and never needed boat engine all the way to Bermuda!! Remarkable.
By sailing time, we were in the Gulfstream. Wind blowing hard, rather heavy seas. Almost drained one battery using the Autohelm. Decided we had to hand steer and did so almost all the way to Bermuda out of fear of draining 1 of our 2 batteries. Given all these conditions, sailing was hard and tiring on all of us for 36-40 hours out of Norfolk. Crew very weary. Next day or two, sailing still somewhat strenuous, but all of us getting rest and better “tuned” into the voyage. Also, boat going great, in the 5 and 6 knot category—really super—and this lifted all of our spirits. Trip really going great and great sailing. Cooking extremely difficult because of sea conditions. Only 1 hot meal (and this at risk) from Norfolk to Bermuda.
LANDFALL. Came on to Bermuda after dark on Thursday June 26. Looking for Gibbs Hill Light for orientation, but never sighted it as (in hindsight) we were a tad too far north and also visibility was not very good, dull, dark horizon. Loran excellent to within 75 miles of the island. Before daylight on Friday, had to plot by D.R., the last 75 miles. Stanley and RAF realized by plot and radio bearings that we were close by and left cabin for cockpit. Stan saw the island and I saw North Rock Light at the same time, 7:04 A. M. on Friday June 27. Everyone elated, high and shouting at one another. We had come in within one mile of our planned landfall! If I must say, really remarkable for an amateur navigator.
Took 3 ½ hours to sail around Bermuda to St. George’s entrance. Peril at one point where northeast wind, strong, northeast sea and east to west current combined to push us on northeast shoals. Had to sail and full power engine to get away from them. Judge we were ¼ mile from big trouble. From there on to Harbor entrance we were fine, and once we were in the shipping channel, we had a lovely, relaxing downwind sail for several hours into Hamilton Harbor. These hours were precious to us, as the setting is so beautiful, coasting down the island and mulling over our trip, the landfall, seeing Judy and Helen soon, looking forward to enjoying Bermuda for several days.
Docked at the Dinghy Club at about 2 P.M., cleared customs and everyone excited to relate to Judy and Helen over dark beer at the Dinghy Club, some of our separate and joint experiences on the voyage. Myself and crew extremely tired and elation could carry us so far. Fred and Judy off to Glencoe Hotel. Chuck and Helen stayed, along with Stanley, Dave and myself; raided the meatball hors d’oeuvres and dark beer at the Club. Chuck and Helen off to Glencoe. Showers, some clean up and marvelous on-board dinner of Stan’s cold frozen lobster tail pieces, salad, wine and conversation in the evening. Early to bed.
One really bad problem on the voyage: early on, in tough winds and seas, boat “opened up” and developed 3-4 bad leaks. Boat extremely wet and cabin uncomfortable, 2 wet bunks, wet clothing. Nights were bad in cabin. On Saturday, we discovered all windows, ports and chain plates needed re-caulking. Stan, Fred, Chuck and Tim all came over on Sunday A. M. to help get all this taken care of. Spent equivalent of 1 day on caulking, drying out boat cushions and airing out cabin. Once done, though, Bermuda was there for us to enjoy.
For sailboat arriving on Bermuda, there are always two initial jobs; One: The Laundry. Two: Whether the boat is in need of repair. David graciously volunteered to do his and my laundry, which really added up to be quite a lot. We got into Hamilton by cab, dropped Dave and the laundry, and Stan English and I stopped at the nearest marina store to buy some equipment, materials, etc for the boat. Since the boat opened up like a sieve initially on the trip out to Bermuda, and had developed many leaks, I had quite a job in store for me to make repair and maintenance in respect. True to form, all of my crew who were then ensconced in hotels in Bermuda showed up at 10 o’clock on Sunday morning ready, willing and able to do whatever was necessary to rectify the problem. Fred, Stanley, Chuck Gidel and Tim Bemis and myself all spent 4 hours on the boat scraping, cleaning, caulking, and whatever it took to get the boat sealed up properly for the trip home. Even in that time we did not quite finish the job, and I did the remainder the next morning, wanting to keep my afternoons free for whatever Bermuda had to offer. Although it was a mile on foot, David on each day, found his way to the beach to do some swimming, beaching, reading and sleeping etc. For myself, I spent two afternoons with Stan and Sandy English at the location of their hotel, The Elbow Beach Club, which is indeed a lovely place. During the rest of the time, I toured Hamilton itself a bit. I also took one bus ride with David out to Gibbs Hill Light, and climbed up into the light which is 300 and some feet above the ocean. The stairs comprised 8 flights so this was quite a climb but well worth it when we got to the top. The View from there was indeed spectacular, as you could see almost all of Bermuda, and of course miles and miles of ocean all about it.
With Tim and Jill having arrived on the island on the past Saturday, we chose Saturday night for everyone to get together for our celebration dinner over the trip out. This was certainly a real fine occasion; everyone was happy and enjoyed themselves very much.
For part of the time on Bermuda, David and I split from the others and had some tie to ourselves. One evening we ate on the boat. On another evening, we went into my favorite restaurant in Hamilton, The Hog Penny Inn. This is a genuine English Pub with all the atmosphere that goes along with it. We had to wait quite a while for dinner, but this was most enjoyable, and we had a grand time, not getting back to the boat till 12:30.
Dave had a couple of days pretty much to himself while on Bermuda, and free lanced touring Hamilton, some shopping, and additional bus rides to other parts of the island.
On Wednesday, July 2nd was Ladies Day on the boat. Both Jill Bemis and Judy Knight helped me to sail the boat from Hamilton harbor over to St. George’s and took about 4 hours in the process. We all had a delightful time and Tim and Fred met us on arrival sat St. Georges. This was just prior to our departure from Bermuda and enabled us to get out the next day into the ocean and on our way.
On Thursday morning, July 3rd, I took a cab over to the U.S. Navy base and picked up a weather packet which they were good enough to do for me. This proved on our trip home to be very valuable information. Additionally, I took a cab up to the top of the hill on St. Georges where Bermuda Harbor radio is located. They are the equivalent of Bermuda’s Coast Guard and offered a lot of information which was helpful to me in the way the weather forecasts, seas, etc. for our trip home. That morning, Fred and David did all our shopping as well as getting about 125 pounds of ice to put on the boat for our journey. Early that afternoon, George Creighton arrived from Philadelphia and came over to the boat with Tim Bemis. I had to call the Bermuda Customs office 3 times before they would come over and check us put. This delayed our departure by 2 hours. In the mean time, Judy Knight who was the only woman left on Bermuda at that time, spent time with us in order to wish us bon voyage on our journey. We finally departed at about 3:30 U.S. time for the trip in very good weather, and the immediate forecast we h had good weather over many miles proved correct.
As usual David got seasick, once again, but this does not seem to bother him at all. He really kept at it and the seasickness only lasted for about 8 hours; for the rest of the trip he was just perfect.
Generally, the seas were a little flatter, and the winds a little gentler on our trip home which made for some real fine sailing on our way back to the states on the initial part of our voyage except for the first night out on the water, which was a little bit wild. Our wind direction, however, was such that we had to sail very close to the wind. This made things slower and difficult to hold a straight line course from Bermuda to Norfolk. After about 3 days out and on a very calm late afternoon, while the boat was under sail, David sighted a group of whales about a half mile from us. Initially, it appeared they would go way ahead of the boat and cross us, but they began to veer and come in a grand circle toward the boat, while we were under sail. Eventually they came within 100 yards of the boat, past the stern, and then one by one, took their dive with their flukes coming out of the water going down into the ocean. There were 4 or 5 large whales, and they were carrying 2 young in between them. I have to say that this is somewhat of an awesome and perhaps one of the more magnificent sights that I have ever seen. The whales were not going fast at all, but seemed to be “lazing” and sunning themselves as they gently cruised by. We certainly had a very good view of them, and all the boat regretted that we had no telescopic lens to get really good pictures of them. Their sight however, will be a fond memory for a long time.
About 100 miles away from Norfolk, the wind treated us poorly, and began to push us well north of our straight line course into Norfolk. We eventually ended up about 40-50 miles north of Norfolk, and approximately 50 miles off the coast. We had a rather bad time of it for a while as we began to realize through the Loran set that we were being set to the east out into the ocean once again by very fast current going east in to the Gulf Stream. Having plotted this, I could find our shortest way out and begin to sail northwest, both with the sails and the engine. At that it took us about 3 hours to get out of the worst part of the current, and again began to make our way down to Norfolk.
We really were blessed with a change in the wind direction as it went into the northwest. For us, this was ideal to make our way for the last 75 miles or so into Norfolk. The wind however, didn’t last, and we eventually had to motor and sail to make our way into the Chesapeake Bay. At this juncture, for some reason, my Loran set went completely blotto. I was not concerned about navigation as we were near enough to get in by dead reckoning and the radio direction finder to Chesapeake Light.
Early morning on our last day at sea, we heard a tremendously loud boom and everyone guessed it was a Navy jet breaking the sound barrier. There were however two or three more such crescendos and they were very loud. At this point, one of the crew sighted a Navy ship of some size coming into view. After a short while, we realized that it was a battle ship. With the Loran out, Tim Bemis decided he would use the VHF radio on the boat and call the battle ship for a position report etc. To Tim’s and all our complete surprise, it turned out to be the U.S.S. Iowa on its way back from the 4th of July celebration in New York to Norfolk. After getting the battle ship in sight, incidentally, one of my crew noticed a flash coming from one of the big guns and shortly thereafter, another big boom. After the trip Ws over, we learned that the Iowa had planned to shoot off these 16 inch gun blanks in New York Harbor, but decided against it for fear of damage to windows, property, people, etc. Apparently they had instructions to shoot off the blanks before they put into Norfolk, and New Horizons was around to see this. In any event, the bridge of the Iowa answered Tim’s call, and only then did we realize what ship we were talking to. The person on the radio on the ship indicated that he needed permission to give us coordinates. He was back shortly and gave us his latitude, longitude and also the distance and compass heading into Chesapeake Light at the head of the Chesapeake Bay. All f of us on the boat were of course very excited to have my little 30’ New Horizons in radio contact with one of the biggest ships in the U.S. Navy. This was quite an occasion and we wrote the log up accordingly.
From there on, we had almost an uneventful sail coming into the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. We were approximately a mile and a half away from the Bay bridge Tunnel for our entrance when all of us got concerned at a very blackening sky up ahead of us approximately over Norfolk. Upon turning on the marine weather forecast, we learned that there were rather violent thunderstorms with it carrying up to 50 and 60 knot winds. The marine weather forecaster warned of taking all possible precautions, and we knew we were in for it. One thunderstorm passed directly over us with lightening crashing down all around the boat, extremely heavy rain, the heaviest I have ever seen and the winds were indeed fierce. It was just a matter of hanging on for 15 or 20 minutes while all this was going on. We could not see land, we had no idea what direction the boat was going, and we couldn’t see anything. At one point the boat was turned 90ºon the keel while this tremendous wind changed direction as it passed over the boat. This was pretty scary - - and we were almost pushed on to the beach just north of the opening of the Chesapeake Bay on Cape Charles. With both a triple reef main and engine however, we managed to stay away from the shallows just barely and made our way gradually out to sea once again. The whole thing lasted about thirty minutes and all of us were rather shaken by the experience. None of us however, were hurt and the boat, except for one small tear in the main sail, came through in good shape. I must write Roger Henson about this since he built such a fine sailboat. Having run quite short of fuel, we decided to put into Cape Charles which was on Cape Henry and about 15 mikes north of Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel. We had to come in a rather narrow channel at night, but managed OK and docked the boat at a slip at the public dock in Cape Charles at 11 P.M. All of us, of course were very tired at this point. There was a beautiful 60” British sailboat in the slip next to us. As we were tying up our lines, this lovely gal comes out and asks where we had come in from. Upon learning that we were just arriving from Bermuda, she asked if we had any ice; No. Did we have any liquor? I said Yes. She said she would get us some ice and then fixed up a great big bucket and brought it over to us. At that point, we all sat in the cabin, talked over the trip and our day’s experience, which was quite a lot. After two drinks, all of us collapsed for about seven hours.
The next day, we had a fair amount to do to get the boat in shape to go up the Chesapeake. Dave and Fred, again, went to the local grocery store for produce etc. Tim, George and myself concentrated on several things on the boat which needed attention.
Additionally, Fred Knight took the time to sew a patch on the torn main sail, and we left Cape Charles for Rock Hall at about 12 noon, Thursday, July 10th. Of all the things, there was no wind and the Chesapeake Bay was completely flat. It ended up that we actually motored all the way from Cape Charles to Rock Hall. In one way this was so welcome as everyone was comfortable; got some much needed rest, and we arrived at Rock Hall in pretty good shape.
One last piece of frosting on the cake, at dawn of the following Friday, we sighted a tall ship in the ship channel coming up behind us in the Chesapeake. By this time, we were coming near Annapolis. After oohing and ahhing, and hoping that the ship would catch us, (we had slowed our progress down quote a bit) the ship dropped its anchor just off Annapolis and we guess, probably in preparation to come into Baltimore inner harbor at a certain time over the weekend. It was only about half a mile south of us, so we immediately turned New Horizons around in order to go and visit the ship. It turned out to be the Amerigo Vespucci, which I believe is the largest of the tall ships in New York Harbor on the 4th of July. The thing is absolutely, mammoth and a beautiful ship indeed. Quite a few pictures were taken.
We arrived at the gas dock at the Sailing Emporium at noon on Friday, July 11th. Fred, Tim, and George were quote keen on packing up and getting up to Philadelphia that afternoon. This left Dave and I to spend the rest of the day with all the work that had to be done to sort things put, clean up and what all. Dave and I did take time to go into town and have some lunch. Chuck and Helen Gidel suspected that we might come in from our trip on this particular day. Sure enough, they showed up from Jersey at about 4 o’clock on Friday and were disappointed to learn that they were not quote there in time to welcome us back from this voyage. Nevertheless, they were delighted and happy to see us and we had a fine reunion. As usual, chuck pitched right in right away to help Dave and I with the many things that had to be done with sails, etc.
For myself, and after talking to various crew members, I think I can speak for them all as well, all of us had not only a wonderful time, but realized that we had a marvelous experience and learned so much in how to sail together and sail the boat on a voyage like this. It will be remembered by all of us for a long, long time.
This is just a story of a regular guy that I thought was worth sharing after he was gone. He was a simple and complex man who survived a journey of 85 years.
