My 1st Mate Lucky 10JAN2009-25JUN2024

It is with the heaviest of hearts that I inform all the passengers who have met and experienced Lucky that he was guided to the Rainbow Bridge on Tuesday afternoon 25JUN2024.

Words cannot express the relationship and life that we shared for the past almost 15.5 years together. Most of you have come on our adventure travel excursions to see the wild horses. I cannot tell you how many times your children took photos, NOT of the horses but of Lucky! He was always there in the parking lot or by the gazebo to welcome and escort you safely to the dock and to “his” boat.

He loved being petted by you and walking with you on Shackleford, Cape Lookout, or Sand Dollar Island. He enjoyed being with each one of you from an infant of only a few weeks old, to the infirmed who still managed to get onto and off the boat, to the very elderly but young at heart.

He would be asleep under my feet at the helm station while underway, and somehow wake up and run to one area of the boat, point, and bark. Often passengers would ask, “What is he doing?” And I would respond, just wait about 20 seconds or so look at the water in the exact place Lucky is pointing to, and voila…dolphins would come to the surface to breathe!

We got him at a kill shelter in Virginia with only 2 hours left on his clock.  He was only 10 weeks old at the time.

In truth, it was I who was lucky to have him by my side. As I navigate through this life-changing loss, I look forward to welcoming you back aboard, to honor Lucky’s memory and make new memories together, as I continue our voyages as a solo captain.