My best sailing memory... / Jay Fonville (friend)
... is with Justin. Soon after my pledgeship career was over, Justin invited me to go sailing with his father, uncle and a few other friends in the annual Harvest Moon Regatta -- an overnight race from Galveston to Port Aransas, where more than 100 boats participate (and it may have grown since then). It was the biggest, longest race I'd ever participated in, and as the new "chum on board," I pulled the 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. shift at the helm, which after pledgeship seemed like a privilege to me.
After the race was over, we had to wait until that night to hear who won the race. After free dinner and drinks (the race was sponsored by Bacardi) the anticipation of who won kept everyone at their tables.
You should have seen the surprise on Justin's (and especially his Dad's) face when the DJ announced our boat as first place! I couldn't believe we won the damn thing with such a large crew and some dead weight; a couple family friends were seasick and stayed below the entire time.
Needless to say, the rest of the night was dancing and celebration -- and the DJ announced Bacardi had guaranteed they wouldn't run out of alcohol, and they were right. I remember we stayed up till about 4 or 5 in the morning because we didn't want to go to bed and lose the winning moment.
I wish I could have had another moment like that with Justin later down the road. His spirit, kindness and positive outlook on life were one of a kind. He will be dearly missed by all of us.
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