Boundary Waters, Trip Reports, BWCA, Stories

Non-BWCA OB Veterans Sailing
by tjburns1

Trip Type: Paddling Canoe
Entry Date: 03/15/2012
Entry & Exit Point: Other
Number of Days: 6
Group Size: 12
Trip Introduction:
I recently left the Military and had been eyeing both sailing instruction and Outward Bound courses as a way to pass a little time. When I found out that OB was offering free-of-charge trips to OEF Vets, I quickly contacted them and signed up for a six day sailing course in the Florida Keys.
Day 1 of 6
Thursday, March 15, 2012 The night before the trip began, my parents invited my family up to Hinkley for an overnight so my kids could swim and play at the arcade, so the morning of the 15th was kind of a mad rush to catch my 1 pm flight from Minneapolis direct to Miami. I was still missing a few things so we had to stop at the North Branch Shopko to buy some work gloves.

I arrived at MSP with time to spare and spent my time reading a couple magazines and waiting for the flight. I managed to sleep most of the flight and grabbed my luggage, hopping on the shuttle to the hotel without a hitch. That night I met the other 9 vets I would be sailing with for a meet and greet at what might be the only Irish pub in Miami for some "Irish" conch fritters and a few beers.