Chasing The Dream - After Graduating From MSU

Upon graduating from MSU in the spring of 1979, I settled into the working life while raising a family.  Most days and weekends were spent at work or Michigan State sporting events. The Dream only existed in the three or four monthly Sailing magazines I would subscribe to. Occasionally, we would take trips to the Marinas located around Michigan to watch the boats being worked on or played on. On one such weekend, we watched a remote control Sailboat race on Detroit's Belle Island. This interested me so it was off to the Hobby Store the following weekend. I found a kit for an East Coast 12 meter remote control Sailboat. $1000 later (a symbol of what was to come when owning a full size sailing vessel, Break Out Another Thousand.), I owned this project, complete with all the remote electronics of servo motors to control the rudder and sails (the start of electronic, gotta have). Main and Head Sail material had to be purchased at a Sail Loft, then cut and sewed. I had to fill the keel with lead shot and epoxied the weights in place. Built a platform to mount the servo motors. Fiberglass the Deck to the Hull (symbol of a big BOAT project, story forthcoming). Construct a Wood Mast sailing system with spars, stays and boom, (trials and tribulations to my first year of owning a full size sailboat, story forthcoming). Even had to build a cradle to hold this 6 ft tall, 40 lb model that was commissioned "Binky". About a year later (boaters time, it should have taken 2 months to build) Binky was ready to launch. We pick a perfect launch date, August 01, 1980, the very same day my daughter Melissa was born. That morning my wife woke me up and said "It's time". After a couple of minutes of panic, off to the hospital we went. The Doctor said we were about 12 hours to soon. So instead of going home, we went to Potter's Lake in Davison, MI and Launched "Binky" for its first time. She sailed perfectly on that calm day (the last calm day for many years). This was just enough to keep a small flicker of a flame lighting "The Dream".