This is a boat story. Mostly. And, a people story. The best place to start is someplace near the end. Probably.

Just a week ago, I had a most remarkable conversation. With, a most remarkable gent. A really nice guy, who calls himself "Mean Gene," of all things. I call him Gentleman Gene. I don't know him anywhere as well as he does. But, I don't think he's got a mean bone in his body.

That was the Monday morning after Sail Oklahoma 2014 had officially ended the night before. Something like one hundred people and over 60 boats had descended upon Mike and Jackie Monies' yard, and frontage road, and neighborhood beach. The weather had been pretty close to atrocious. Heavy rain. Howling winds. Plummeting temperatures. The majority of attendees had already recovered their boats and headed for home. It was still dark, and still raining.

Even though the "event" was over, and most everybody was either gone or almost ready to go; nobody wanted it to end. Least of all, me.

It had taken me 5 years to finally make the pilgrimage. Five years of fretting about the really long drive, and stewing about the expense of being on the road a couple weeks. Five years of making excuses. And, now it was suddenly, over.

I still had a boat to pry out of the sand, and get loaded on her trailer. I bumped into Gene down on the beach in the pre-dawn drizzle. I couldn't get over how cheerful he was, for a guy who had just spent the night in a wet sleeping bag, in a rain puddle formed on the floor of his Michalak Normsboat. I had been relatively warm, and quite dry in the interior of my veteran road warrior Chevy van, "Big Ole." The guys who braved staying aboard their boats down on the beach had a much rougher go of it. Surf, wind, and pelting rain.

Gene accepted my invitation inside my rig for coffee and the inevitable gam.

This gathering of sailors, and boat builders, and dreamers, and doers had been a completely magic experience. Gene lives just "up the road" in neighboring Missouri. He shows up to help Mike Monies in the boat shop now and then. He's been a fixture at Sail OK for years. Even so, he patiently listened to my exuberance over having the personal privilege of sitting at diner with THE John Welsford and THE Mike Monies. The remarkable opportunity to spend the day in Mike's shop under John's tutelage in a limited-attendance class on working with epoxy. My absolute joy at having scored the chair in the geographic center of the room where THE Welsford, and THE Michalak, and THE Storer, and THE Woods had shared some of their philosophies and many of their opinions with the rest of us. It's hard not to like a guy like Gene. What's not to like? He thinks like I do.

Gene re-sets peoples' anchors, and reties their mooring lines. He's right there when you need somebody to help with launching a boat on that shoaling beach ramp. He built his own boat, and takes folks sailing. He's a friend of Chuck Leinweber. Heck, he's everybody's friend. I got to make him instant coffee on a little camp stove, and offer a seat out of the rain. Small change, for what I got in return.

What I got, was the rare opportunity to spend a little time with a guy who thinks more folks should be just like him.

He thinks more people should do nice things for other people. He thinks people should help people when they need it. He thinks that more people should share what they know how to do, and how to make, with more people. And, he thinks that Sail Oklahoma is one of those very rare and special happenings where people who think and do stuff like Gene does are not only in the majority - they are just plain common, ordinary, unremarkably splendid people. Who just happen to like boats, and sailing, and stuff like that.

How could I have been so fortunate to come to a gathering of small boat aficionados, who truly are the salt of the earth? Really nice folks. Really helpful folks. Simply delightful to be with. Really, how could I have managed to stay away for all those years?

The rain continued with the sunrise. I had to start the couple thousand mile odyssey for home. Gene finished his coffee, and headed off to help somebody load their trailer.

Gene's a really nice guy. And, it's guys like him that make Sail Oklahoma such a wonderful boat story. And, people story.

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