Tiffany Rose has Landed!! July 22

The alarm goes off at 4:30 and we start getting into motion. Could this really be the day that this journey comes to an end? The weather says Go. After the sun is up we carefully wind our way out of the creek at Wilson and head into the lake. The water is nice, the wind is fairly light to start and we can't see much at all. The fog is hovering along the shore. Out towards the lake the visibility seems to be a few miles, but less than a mile from shore and we lose sight of land. It doesn't seem dangerous so we throttle up to a blazing 6 knots and set the GPS for the Burlington bridge 41 nautical miles away. With the wind behind us our speed started to pickup and we were making very good progress with both sails in flight. A couple of hours in and we came up to that very significant landmark - the Canadian border. The three of us had our Canada shirts on, and as Christopher loves to do, we did a countdown and sang a great rendition of O Canada!..all the while keeping a sharp eye on the temperature gauge. Before noon we were getting close to the bridge, but still couldn't see it through the fog. It persisted the whole time. And then there it was! Woo-hoo! And it looked like we could get the sails down in time to make the 1 o'clock bridge opening.

Burlington bridge finally in site
Shortly after 1 we were making our final approach to Lasalle Park marina, 952 engine hours, 33 gigabytes of pictures, 309 days and 4, 240 miles after we left last September. What an odd feeling. This was it after all. In the next few minutes we will be into a totally different life again. I think we may need re-entry therapy. A deep breath and lets make the final approach. Christopher is a bit beside himself now, so excited to be arriving home! As we round the bend into the marina Grandma, my sister Carolyn and niece Jessica are on shore waving balloons and a "welcome home" banner! There are hugs and kisses all around and a loving warm feeling that made it feel great to come home to. Christopher was really hoping for a welcome back party and in the evening he was not disappointed, complete with a Toast to the adventurers! Here is a video Carolyn took of Tiffany Rose arriving.



A triumphant Christopher's first steps in Canada!


Greeting at the dock

...And so ends this chapter of adventure for the crew of Tiffany Rose. It has truly been amazing, and then some. The places and experiences have been very powerful. Christopher has risen to many challenges and has made us very proud every nautical mile along the way. As novice sailors we have learned an awful lot, have been scared to death at times and have giggled with glee at our accomplishments. What stands out most though is the connections we made with some tremendous people along the way. That shared sense of living on the water creates instant bonds that often seem to grow by the minute and we are extremely grateful to have been graced by so many. The email support has also been much appreciated from begining to end.We even met new people just through this blog - very cool! Thank you everyone for sharing this experience with us in your own way! As Shirley and I looked at each other after being on land she said "Hmm, now that we know what we are doing, wouldn't it be fun to do it again?"...