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Greetings to all of you who have studiously followed Periauger's Odyssey and her writings.

Periauger has told you a lot about the people who crewed on her each day of the expedition and provided towing and billeting on the support boats.

With her permission, I wanted to take it one step further and make note of some very special volunteers; ones who made this trip run smoothly and made my job as commander an easy one by their extraordinary efforts, and ones whose work behind the scenes was unknown to Miss Periauger.

In no particular order, and understanding the risk of inadvertently omitting anyone, here are just a few of the unsung heroes of this Odyssey:

Claude and Yvonne Milot, of Hertford, who made all of the land arrangements for crew billeting, coordinated PR events and my presentations in towns. They also were right there on top of the tee-shirt and hat selling logistics.

Noel and Myra McKechie (pronounced "McKekie"), of Hertford, who were with the Odyssey on their yacht Kiwi Magic for the entire three weeks. They fed the hungry Periauger crew three times a day every day for 19 days, an incredible feat. They were also very gracious and generous with their daily 1700 afterdeck "debriefings" for all of us. It doesn't get much better than that!  They were one of the things that Periauger was unable to attend, but she knows that they were important to the morale of we humans.

Don Johnson, Paul Hunt, Jim Burns and George Bero, all of Hertford, who were the "trailer team" and therefore the unsung heroes of the contingency plans, all of which were used. They were "on-call" with Periauger's trailer (she now calls him Buddy) during the three week Odyssey, and of course saw action the first day, then the 14th day, and the 19th day. Their efforts were the reason we could stay on our schedule of visits to ports of call.

Bill Andersen, my good (and equally mischievous) friend from Rhode Island, who stepped into a large pair of shoes that needed filling. He took over as Captain of Periauger for Project Director Monty Spindler, who was absent due to surgery. That alone meant that I could spend the time I needed to keep the Odyssey on track, but Bill was also an invaluable source of knowledge of wooden boats and the sea. [I still owe him for the unplanned swims he took!]

Ted Huffman, who helped so much with planning the Odyssey, and was support boat recruiter and coordinator; Kent Carper, who worked hard early in the planning as crew recruiter and coordinator; Terry Facey, web designer and guru, who kept you so well informed of our expedition; Chris Lane, president of PCRA and worried mother of Periauger; and John Mohr, SeaTow franchiser who provided us with advice on safety and a courtesy towing policy (which, since we did not need it, worked like a charm). All of these ambitious and energetic people are from Hertford.

Our Manteo mast repair (and then rudder repair) was only possible because of the extraordinary staff of Roanoke Festival Park maritime and maintenance division: Carroll Williams, facilities maintenance manager, Robbie Putnam, licensed marine mechanic, plus their staff members Fred and Rip. In addition, the advice of Scott Whiteside, curator of the NCMM Manteo, was very timely to making our rudder repairs.

I am also very grateful to the citizens of each one of the ports in which we stopped, for their generous promotion and hospitality. In addition, certain of their local tourism and event planners stand out:

In New Bern: Nancy Hawley of Tryon Palace; Thurman Hardison, parks manager

In Oriental: Larry Gwaltney

In Washington: Lynn Lewis, for tourism; Linda Boyer with the Estuarium; and the members of the Cypress Landing Yacht Club for the grand reception and party.

For Washington, Bath and Oriental: Patricia Stamford, NC Historic Sites Regional Director

In Bath: Paul Minor at Bath Marina; the Historical Society members for their dockside arrival reception; Mike and Pat Mansfield for opening their home to us; and the local Black Beard impersonator for punctuating our visit with close range pistol firings.

In Belhaven: Les and Brenda Porter at Belhaven Waterway Marina; Axson Smith of River Forest Manor

In Manteo: Scott Stroh, Director of Roanoke Island Festival Park; Carl Jordan, Manteo Town Dockmaster and Constable.

In Hertford: Of course, we must thank the good folk of Hertford for the tremendous job they did in putting on our Grand Arrival. Standing out among the citizens are: Anne Haas, of the Periauger Committee, who arranged for our signage around town and at the dock. She also coordinated all aspects of the flotilla with the NC Wildlife services, the US Coast Guard Auxiliary vessels and the local Water Rescue crew to assure a safe and orderly arrival for all; Peg Huffman for recruiting and coordinating the Osprey Yacht Club flotilla participants; Wendy Jewett, Manager of Historic Hertford Inc., who produced the Hertford Indian Summer Festival, arranged for the paddlers to participate, assisted Anne Haas in her endeavors, and in general assured our warm welcome as part of that big day.

As you can see, it has taken a tremendous number of people to accomplish what we did and so many more who gave us such wonderful hospitality.

And I must thank all of you who followed this Odyssey so closely for your interest and support. That is always a valuable morale booster and reminds us of why we do these things.

John Ernst

Odyssey Commander

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