“A honeymoon that started with a hurricane and ended with a fire & they still thought about my beautiful ceremony, Incredible!”

Captain Arnold,

First of all I need to apologize for taking so long in getting this letter to you. We left on our honeymoon two days after the wedding, which, if you remember, was when what was left of the hurricane hit. I was following the radar and storm tracker, and it appeared that when we were supposed to leave the storm was in central NJ, so I correctly figured that by the time we hit the Verrazano, clearing would begin. We ended up with clear sailing for the remainder of the day, and an uneventful trip until the last day.

At 0715 two uniformed Suffolk County policeman were knocking on the boat’s door at our marina in Greenport. I answered it only to have them say there was a “fire condition on the dock and we needed to evacuate immediately.” Pat had just stepped out of the shower and I was still in my nightclothes, but when I looked out I saw a 25-foot boat completely ablaze at the gas dock(!) which was only 3 boats away. We evacuated quickly, to watch this boat burn to the waterline.

I figured I could get the boat started and the lines off within 90 seconds, so if the fire spread to the next boat we were going to rapidly depart instead of watching my new 41′ burn. Fortunately, they were able to contain the fire so it wasn’t necessary. Not many people can say their honeymoon started with a hurricane and ended with a fire.

Anyway……

Pat and I can’t begin to tell you how pleased we were with your message and ceremony. We had several obstacles to overcome, all of which you managed to do professionally yet emotionally. Several members of Pat’s immediate family had recently died (mother, father, sister) and yet you were able to lovingly incorporate them into the ceremony. We both have older children, so bonding the families in the ceremony was not an easy task, yet you did so beautifully. Pat and I, both middle-aged and both previously married, understand the true and real problems of marriage. You were able to speak of these problems realistically and offer suggestions to avoid these pitfalls again. You brought tears to our eyes and to the eyes of our guests. There is not a person with whom we have spoken with who has not mentioned how beautiful your service was and how touched they were by it. You made a wonderful evening even better and gave our evening and life- a blessed start.

Thank you so much for personalizing this for us. You will forever be remembered as we reminisce over our wedding night.

Orin & Pat Kaufman

Freeport New York
August 14, 2004
Married on the Yacht Cloud 9-IV
(World’s Fair Marina, Flushing, NY)