I awoke at 5am to hear the news that a friend from Journalism School had died. So much pain, but with the pain some really great memories. RIP: Cameron Craig
Cameron belonged to a church that had a great camp right on the Chesapeake. Someone donated a small sailboat (an Able 20) to them and no one at the church knew how to sail. Cameron knew that I was interested in sailing as I had been leaving Times Community Newspapers in Reston, Va early on Weds nights to sail with this crazy Greek videographer in his CC 37. Cameron asked me to go help retrieve the boat as it had been anchored northeast of the Chesapeake bridge for over 5 years. Sure I was game so we headed over there early one Saturday.
Cameron was prepared as usual and had quite a bit of motorboat experience but knew nothing of sailing. We found the boat and it was caked with barnacles an inch thick. He worked on getting the motor started while I dove in the muddy bay scraping off the barnacles with a paddle. It took all morning and some of the afternoon as the barnacles were coming off in thick sheets like a tray of crusty brownies that had been burned in the oven. We decided to come back the next weekend to actually sail it. Now my job on the racing crew was to crank the headsail and the crazy Greek captain was not a tutor but more of a screamer so I knew really nothing about sailing. But luckily the Chesapeake is forgiving and the wind was not too nuts and we headed off the following Saturday.
Cameron always had the latest gear so don't you know he had a brand new fancy cell phone (this was 94?). As we passed beneath the Chesapeake bridge I called my mom on his phone (my first ever cell phone call). The wind was from the north as we headed south and I heard about this this thing called 'wing on wing' so we had the head sail on one side and the main on the other but I couldn't stear with the wind and the main kept slamming over with a force like it was going to tear the boat apart. It was a long day but we got the boat to the camp and I thought that would be it for my Christian sailing boat. Two weeks later Cameron said no one at the camp knew how to sail and did I want to buy the boat, if so, how much. $500 I said and I had the cutest little sloop I could imagine.
I found a little port in Deale, Md just north of the club I had been racing out of and I started learning to sail. That boat was my savior in the hustle and bustle of DC where I lived and Reston where I worked. 45 min away I had the tide, wind and water to balance me away from the cars, crime and politics which seemed a world away once out in the warm water with the gentle sandy bottom. I took many people sailing on the boat I named 'Photoflow.' Including David Sterling (who eventually bought from me and Robin Weiner who told me Cameron was sick and my Dad after a crazy motorcycle ride which is a whole other story.) I still had that boat after meeting Kaya's mom, Kolby Mertz, a friend of Robin's and I decided to test her out by having her scrape the trim on Photoflow. She passed the test and I married her and moved to Whidbey Island Washington. Leaving the boat with David, who was a housemate and co-worker at World Color. But before that I decided to race the boat against my old Greek captain. I took a friend, Gordon Lubold along and his wife (who got so sick, but like the crazy Greek guy I would not abandon the race. We were so slow compared to the bigger boats that we finished an hour after everyone and the Greek captain came bye and mooned me after he had crossed over the finish line and just went out for another loop. When we got in the party was already winding down and my crew was finished and we headed home.
Well the next week I came back to race with the Greek guy and crank the headsail. It wasn't until halfway into the race that someone told me I had won the week before because of my incredible handicap. My Captain was not going to tell me as he was pissed. Thank you, Cameron, for Photoflow and all the memories she gave me (and the mother of my beautiful girl). We didn't walk the same line, but we respected each others differences and had some great times together. Cameron, you will be in my heart forever and Lana, I will make that visit, if a little too late.
My heart is broken to lose such a positive, outgoing, upbeat friend. Love the ones we got. Life is short.
Cameron belonged to a church that had a great camp right on the Chesapeake. Someone donated a small sailboat (an Able 20) to them and no one at the church knew how to sail. Cameron knew that I was interested in sailing as I had been leaving Times Community Newspapers in Reston, Va early on Weds nights to sail with this crazy Greek videographer in his CC 37. Cameron asked me to go help retrieve the boat as it had been anchored northeast of the Chesapeake bridge for over 5 years. Sure I was game so we headed over there early one Saturday.
Cameron was prepared as usual and had quite a bit of motorboat experience but knew nothing of sailing. We found the boat and it was caked with barnacles an inch thick. He worked on getting the motor started while I dove in the muddy bay scraping off the barnacles with a paddle. It took all morning and some of the afternoon as the barnacles were coming off in thick sheets like a tray of crusty brownies that had been burned in the oven. We decided to come back the next weekend to actually sail it. Now my job on the racing crew was to crank the headsail and the crazy Greek captain was not a tutor but more of a screamer so I knew really nothing about sailing. But luckily the Chesapeake is forgiving and the wind was not too nuts and we headed off the following Saturday.
Cameron always had the latest gear so don't you know he had a brand new fancy cell phone (this was 94?). As we passed beneath the Chesapeake bridge I called my mom on his phone (my first ever cell phone call). The wind was from the north as we headed south and I heard about this this thing called 'wing on wing' so we had the head sail on one side and the main on the other but I couldn't stear with the wind and the main kept slamming over with a force like it was going to tear the boat apart. It was a long day but we got the boat to the camp and I thought that would be it for my Christian sailing boat. Two weeks later Cameron said no one at the camp knew how to sail and did I want to buy the boat, if so, how much. $500 I said and I had the cutest little sloop I could imagine.
I found a little port in Deale, Md just north of the club I had been racing out of and I started learning to sail. That boat was my savior in the hustle and bustle of DC where I lived and Reston where I worked. 45 min away I had the tide, wind and water to balance me away from the cars, crime and politics which seemed a world away once out in the warm water with the gentle sandy bottom. I took many people sailing on the boat I named 'Photoflow.' Including David Sterling (who eventually bought from me and Robin Weiner who told me Cameron was sick and my Dad after a crazy motorcycle ride which is a whole other story.) I still had that boat after meeting Kaya's mom, Kolby Mertz, a friend of Robin's and I decided to test her out by having her scrape the trim on Photoflow. She passed the test and I married her and moved to Whidbey Island Washington. Leaving the boat with David, who was a housemate and co-worker at World Color. But before that I decided to race the boat against my old Greek captain. I took a friend, Gordon Lubold along and his wife (who got so sick, but like the crazy Greek guy I would not abandon the race. We were so slow compared to the bigger boats that we finished an hour after everyone and the Greek captain came bye and mooned me after he had crossed over the finish line and just went out for another loop. When we got in the party was already winding down and my crew was finished and we headed home.
Well the next week I came back to race with the Greek guy and crank the headsail. It wasn't until halfway into the race that someone told me I had won the week before because of my incredible handicap. My Captain was not going to tell me as he was pissed. Thank you, Cameron, for Photoflow and all the memories she gave me (and the mother of my beautiful girl). We didn't walk the same line, but we respected each others differences and had some great times together. Cameron, you will be in my heart forever and Lana, I will make that visit, if a little too late.
My heart is broken to lose such a positive, outgoing, upbeat friend. Love the ones we got. Life is short.
