The Honeymoon Boat

“That makes me really happy” she said. “Not many people can say that”.

What was Kim talking about?

To make a very long story short, we Doug and Brenda Dawson, got married many years ago and enjoyed a three-week honeymoon aboard a 31’ Trojan Sedan with Flybridge. Doug was actively selling boats at Dawson’s Marketplace at the family marina,  Dawsons Marina, on Lake Simcoe, Ontario, Canada with a harbour filled with boats for sale. Some were inventory boats and many were consignment boats that we were selling for our customers. He was known as the “Docking Expert Kid” in the harbour because he demonstrated all the boats to customers for the sales staff.

Honeymoon Boat

Doug carefully chose a brand new Trojan Cruiser for our “honeymoon boat” (we were Trojan dealers) and Doug labelled it “Not for Sale”. That was a mistake! Boat buyers wanted to know why they couldn’t buy such a great boat. Why wasn’t it for sale? When they found out that it was the one Doug had chosen for our honeymoon boat, that propelled them into a negotiation to buy—they just had to have Doug’s “chosen boat”. Of course, it was sold.

He chose another boat, then another and another. Each one was sold for the same reason. As the inventory of new boats shrank, Doug marked one remaining boat, the 31’ Trojan Sedan with Flybridge “Not For Sale – Gas Leak!” You have to remember, this was many years ago, when Doug was young and loved pranks.

Hiding the Boat

To ensure that this boat wouldn’t be sold, leaving us without a honeymoon boat, we decided to hide the boat before the wedding in a place where our friends wouldn’t find it. We hid it beyond the Atherley swing bridge at the north end of Lake Simcoe, knowing the bridge would be closed at night so no one could get through.

Searching for Our Boat

Our wedding day was absolutely beautiful followed by a magnificent waterfront reception. When we left for our honeymoon boat, we knew we would be followed by all our boating friends—and we were. They set out in their boats searching for us all evening and into the night around the lake; but, they didn’t find us because we had driven our car to our boat safely tucked away in a slip in Atherley on the other side of the swing bridge. They looked in every marina on the lake and finally returned home after their failed search to find us.

Confetti

Little did we know that they had left a surprise on the boat before we left the marina. All our belongings that we had safely stowed and had waiting for us, were filled with confetti. You have no idea how much confetti and how long it took us to clean it up. Once we sorted things out, we  enjoyed our fun in the confetti!

Dinghy Procession

The next day while anchored, we heard the chug-chug-chug of a swarm of outboard motors on dinghies circling around our boat with everyone in the procession singing “Here comes the bride”. The locals had caught wind that we were newly weds and wanted to wish us a happy life. It was beautiful!

Still Boating

That was many years ago today and we have been a great boating team ever since. We are out on the water as often as we can, aboard our boat “Windy” and helping boaters around the world enjoy boating more. Life is better on a boat.

We are still happily married and enjoying life. This is why Kim was so happy. She didn’t know of another couple like us who have spent 56 wonderful years together and are still so much in love with each other. She is encouraged to think that it is still possible.