Seven hundred miles since he sailed underneath the Olgiati Bridge, Ron Harr knew he was getting close to saltwater. Spanish moss was hanging in the trees. There were fewer egrets and herons and more gulls, terns and eventually pelicans.
After he slipped past the ancient, rusty “14 Mile Bridge” the radio in his 36-foot Beneteau sailboat’s cabin started squawking with chatter from ocean-going vessels.
“We were within range of Mobile Harbor and it sounded like a busy place!” the Chattanooga skipper wrote on his blog. But while Mobile was a milestone on the trip Harr had always dreamed of making, it wasn’t even halfway to his ultimate goals: Miami next month and the Bahamas in January.
Harr, 57, said he has wanted to sail to the Bahamas ever since a college trip to the islands. After taking an early retirement option from BlueCross BlueShield in May, the former public affairs officer decided he had run out of reasons not to try.
“One by one, I have knocked off my excuses,” says Harr, a 1972 McCallie graduate. His wife Linda Andreae, who is flying down to join him for portions of the voyage, says it’s no surprise that Harr is following through with the trip. “It’s just always something he’s talked about,” she says. “Ron always does everything he said he was going to do. I just didn’t know when.”