One sailing blog often leads to another and that’s how we came across Ted & Shirl Ryder’s Blame Buffet. Most sailing blogs are written by people who are already living the dream or those who are still only in the planning/preparation stages (like us), but Ted & Shirl were in that rare “just setting off” phase. When Ted was let go from work in mid 2012 these two sailing newbies bought their first boat Serenity and in September set off from Lake Erie to the Caribbean. As we shared so many similarities; little experience, similar boat, same route, we followed them avidly as they set off and traced their progress south. We even reached out to them with an invitation to stay at our marina on their way, although they ultimately declined because they were taking the Erie Canal as opposed to the St-Lawrence Seaway.
 |
| Ted & Shirl - Crew of Serenity |
We probably checked their blog every day in the hopes of finding vivid descriptions, stories and photos. To be honest we were somewhat jealous that they had bought their yacht two years after us but threw off the dock lines before us. Jealous and impressed. After a wonderful trip down the Intracoastal Waterway they arrived in Florida in December before jumping across to the Caribbean in the new year. Over the busy holidays we checked their blog less and were not surprised to find no new posts as we thought they intended to fly home for the holidays. As it all began, so it all ended when we learned on yet another sailing blog that December 27th Ted died from a massive heart attack. We had most recently corresponded earlier in the month when Ted answered some of my questions.
While we are of course saddened by Ted’s untimely passing and offer our most heartfelt condolences to Shirl and their family, we are comforted by the fact that he had taken the courageous leap to realize his dream without regret.
You can find Ted & Shirl’s Blame Buffet blog here.
You can also hear a recent Sailing Podcast interview with Ted & Shirl recorded just days before his passing here.
Fair winds Ted, you did it man.
