When Robin Lee met Don Rose, she knew she’d found the only fish in the sea for her.
“He told me he wanted to go down the Mississippi and live on a boat,” Robin says. “I remember thinking, ‘This guy’s got some adventure. I think I’m going to like this.’”
And after reading the phrase “Dreams never become reality unless you plan for them,” written on a church marquee, Robin knew she found her new life’s motto, the motivation to set sail and the subject of the couple’s book Living Aboard the Sailboat Robin Lee, published earlier this year.
“I know so many people who have a lot they want to do, and they rarely plan,” Robin says. “I’m a big planner and a big doer.”
In 1986, they sold their house and cars and left their jobs: Don was an attorney and Robin was a nurse. With limited boating experience, they bought a 30-foot Catalina sailboat, and with what was left in their savings, the Rose's hit the waters a
nd began a two-and-a-half-year life at sea.
“I was doing the same thing every day before, and I just found myself getting older; it was frustrating,” Don says. “I couldn’t tell you what I did on any specific day before, but now I have a memory from each and every day of that trip.”
Their journey began in Port Clinton and it took the travelers to a plethora of new places, including Lake Ontario, through the Erie Canal, down the Hudson River and down the New Jersey Coast. They made their way to Naples and eventually to Key West and Palm Beach and spent time in the Bahamas. They retraced their steps back north, went to Mackinaw Island, then to Chicago. From there, the two went down the Illinois, Mississippi, Ohio, Tennessee and Tombigbee rivers to Mobile, Ala. and made their way to New Orleans. They ended their voyage at Fort Walton Beach, Fla.
Robin kept a 10-volume journal of their excursion that recapped their daily adventures – from the mundane tasks of grocery shopping and cooking meals to preparing for two hurricanes.
Sept. 23, 1987 was the first encounter with Hurricane Emily. The couple knew their southern travels were in the center of hurricane season, so they planned to talk to the locals for advice on surviving 125 mph winds. They hunkered down at Green Turtle Cay in the Abaco Island. Luckily, the brunt of the storm missed the island and they made it out safely, but not without a few moments of panic.
On another risky occasion, Robin used her nursing skills to help administer first aid to a group of spear fishers after a shark attack.
“In preparing for the trip, I packed a medical kit for us to have on the boat in case of an emergency,” she wrote in a journal entry. “Fortunately, I had done quite a bit of urgent care nursing during the year before we left.”
The entry describing that day is one of hundreds that make up the couple’s book. Published this year, the anthology is a compilation of Robin’s journals, Don’s maintenance logs and other annotations from the trip. It is a tangible representation of the life the two lived while sailing and has helped rekindle contact with some of those they met on their trip.
But the book almost never came to be due to damage to the journals.
After the Roses returned to Dublin April 1, 1989, the journals were stored for about 20 years. A water leak in the farmhouse where the volumes were kept found its way into the box, causing fading, molding, discoloration and smudging. Even worse, the journals accidentally were pitched into the trash during a garage cleaning spree. A week later, Robin realized they were missing and were on their way to the dump.
“She found out, with the help of the employees, which dumpster the journals were in, but they wouldn’t let her get into it,” Don says. “They told us when they were hauling it off to the landfill.”
The duo, never afraid of an adventure, followed a dump truck to the landfill, where they refused to take “no” for an answer.
“The man at the landfill said there was no way I could find them and that they were about to close,” Robin says. “He wasn’t even going to let me into the landfill, so I drove my car over and started looking. As the backhoe was picking up trash, I was going through everything, and I was able to find all the journals. I couldn’t find all my calendars with all the weather conditions and where we started and ended that day.”
With the help of a family friend, Robin’s writings were converted to a digital format. The stories of their travels were safe.
Throughout the trip, the two never grew weary of each other. Their only disputes involved choosing what dessert to order. They worked in tandem; Don cooked the meals and Robin did the laundry.
“It was harmonious,” he says. “She’s easy to get along with.”
Regaining their land legs at Fort Walton Beach and transitioning back on April 1, 1989 was both refreshing and difficult for the twosome.
“We sold the boat and bought two cars to get back to Ohio, but as we were selling the boat, (Robin) started crying,” Don says. “She hated to leave what she calls the favorite of all of her homes.”
They continued traveling the world until 1992 when they rejoined the workforce.
The now-retired attorney and nurse currently spend their time volunteering and relaxing at their home in Dublin. Don has always called Dublin home and, while Robin didn’t move to the City until 1978, she can trace historical roots to the area.
“I learned I had an ancestor who was given a land grant before the City was named,” she says. “His daughter married the first school teacher of Dublin. That helped me realize I had a connection here.”
Don has grown tired of traveling, but Robin’s still on the move – her most recent trip was to Jordan. Each has one child from a previous marriage.
The waves still have a wealth of potential for the Roses, so they keep a 17-foot Boston whaler at Indian Lake in Logan County. Their waterway travels are a bit milder now, but they will never forget their life aboard the Robin Lee.
“We had such a unique ability and opportunity to experience so many great things. I hated leaving,” Robin says. “Everything worked out how we planned.”
Stephan Reed is an editorial associate. Feedback welcome at laurand@cityscenemediagroup.com.
