One last goodbye hug for sister/granddaughter Riley Hughs, and the dynamic duo shove off for fun!

JJ Ault, 71, and his grandson Spencer, 20, set off on a sailing adventure on September 9 on two 13 1/2 foot sailboats that they built themselves.
They left from Kingfisher Beach in Port O’Connor, heading down the coast to the tip of Florida.

“They don’t know exactly how long it will take or what they will do when they get there. They don’t even know exactly where ‘there’ will be,” said Spencer’s mother, Sarah Washburn.
Sarah says this adventure is much like the ones she and her dad, JJ, have taken together in years past. Once they paddled the Red River and Mississippi from Palo Duro Canyon to New Orleans.

They sailed the South Pacific from Hawaii to Samoa and from California to Hawaii.

Sarah and her dad also made their own kayaks and paddled out of Carancua Bay deep into Mexico, just past the crux of the Yucatan. “All of those times, we lived through just by the seat of our pants. It was fun!” Sarah recalls.

JJ ‘s first message to folks back home was sent on September 14, and reported: “We camped four days at Phillips Cut. We loved it so we hated to leave. Spencer has become a great sailor. We camped a mile and a half past Matagorda last night and walked three miles to town today. We are having a great time.”

The Dolphin hopes to receive updates on JJ and Spencer’s trip and wishes the adventurous duo calm seas, fair winds and a safe trip.

Spencer stands on the center stringer of the boat to give it curve, while JJ ties it off with tension ropes to keep the bend in the bottom of the boat.

JJ and Spencer fashioned masts from fiberglass and sails from plastic tarps. It took about 2 1/2 weeks to build the two boats.