Voyage on “The Mar”
By Phil Tanguay
What does a home-based business of your own allow you? Well I for one am so grateful for the freedom to go adventuring when I like. Last week I took the opportunity to take a small vacation with my family before school starts back up. Terry, my wife had meetings to attend for her work in Halifax, Nova Scotia. I decided to tag along and use the time that she was in meetings to bond with my kids. So we hopped in the car and drove to Halifax.
After a relaxing 4-hour drive, talking and listening to our favorite CD’s we arrived in Halifaxand discovered that it also happened to be the same week that the International Busker Festival was going on. What a treat to see street artists perform all kinds of amazing feats. Trapeze and trampoline acrobats, fire eaters and jugglers, craft artists, live bands, face-painting, cotton candy and beaver tails Yum! Well every day and evening we had new fun to experience with different shows and spectacles. I also had the chance to learn more about what my kids like and don’t. One likes doing back flips bungee cord jumping while the other prefers water sliding and digital photography. That was wet and wild. Being 38 didn’t stop me from getting my swim trunks on and joining them on the speeding wet slides to plunge into the pool like a cannon ball or swing off a rope and do aerial flips. Splashing around brought lots of childhood memories back.
On our final night there we got treated to a sailing cruise aboard “The Mar” a 76-foot “Ketch” built in Denmark in 1959.
This ship was actually featured in a documentary movie called “The Way Of The Wind”, an epic adventure from the Pacific to Greece. The ship has actually been all around the world in it’s history. Now part of a tourist cruise outfit based in Halifax she serves as a wonderful way to see the sights from the water. It gave us such a thrill to be sailing on such a beautiful ship with old style wooden decks and sails. Going below deck was like stepping into an old pirate film. The feel of the waves and the creaking of the hull was almost surreal. The kids really enjoyed themselves and we had a taste of real luxury as the crew served us like royalty.
The feeling of Freedom
Just being able to step out and have an adventure so spontaneously was great. Where else can you do that so easily? The kids are still talking about it and will have plenty of stories to tell their class mates when school resumes. I for one enjoy looking at all our great photos and think, what a life, back in my old job I’d never have even thought it possible. Then again it’s simply a matter of choice and I suppose if one put their mind to it anything is possible, but it certainly makes things easier when you’re the boss. The best part is, there’s no dread of going back to work, because it’s not work, it’s life!
