Debbie on her first dinghy ride with her brother Lee. Dinghy rides are fun - the challenge is getting in and out.

Not only did Debbie encourage others to accomplish what was hard for them, she lived it, and with a great attitude. It was a bit of a physical challenge for Debbie when she cruised with us aboard our trawler on the Intracoastal Waterway (with her dog Thurman), and in the Bahamas.

We anchored outside the tiny harbor of Hope Town to go out to dinner at one of the finer restaurants to be found on an outer Bahamas island. It was a short dinghy ride into the harbor to the wooden public dock. It was low tide, so the dock was six feet above our heads. We climbed up one of the simple wooden ladders, and walked up a long hill to the restaurant with its harbor view. To my surprise, Debbie declined to have wine with the nice dinner. We returned down the hill to the dock, down the ladder into the dinghy, and rode back to the stern of the boat. Her hands were shaking as she reached across the swim platform to grab the stainless rail to help pull herself up and over the dinghy’s bow pontoon to stand on the swim platform. She turned and climbed the stair steps to the main deck, and made her way into the salon. When I joined her there, she was comfortably seated on the settee, and announced, “NOW, I’ll take a glass of wine!”

I married Debbie’s brother Lee in 1994 and got a terrific sister-in-law!