I too will miss Keith...we met at a Trawlerfest in Annapolis about 15 years ago and became friends. He also introduced me to this site!
I learned this morning that he died of a heart attack on his birthday (59th)...friends who'd planned a party for him went to his home when he didn't show up or answer the phone and found him sitting in a chair.
"The Unknown Shore"
Sometime at eve when the tide is low,
I shall slip my mooring and sail away
With no response to the friendly hail
Of kindred craft in the busy bay.
In the silent hush of the twilight pale
When the night stoops down to embrace the day
And the voices call in the water’s flow….
Sometime at eve when the tide is low
I shall slip my mooring and sail away.
Through the purple shadows that darkly trail
O’er the ebbing tide of the Unknown Sea,
I shall fare me away, with a dip of sail
And a ripple of waters to tell the tale
Of a lonely voyager, sailing away
To Mystic Isles where at anchor lay
The craft of those who have gone before
O’er the Unknown Sea to the Unknown Shore.
A few who have watched me sail away
Will miss my craft from the busy bay;
Some friendly barks that were anchored near,
Some loving souls that my heart held dear,
In silent sorrow will drop a tear—
But I shall have peacefully furled my sail
In moorings sheltered from storm or gale
And greeted friends who have gone before
O’er the Unknown Sea to the Unknown Shore.
- Elizabeth Clark Hardy
