Sailing for a Change

A gorgeous Saturday in Boston Harbor played host this past weekend to the 9th annual Flip Flop Regatta. Each year, The ALLY Foundation and friends organizes this weekend of sailing and partying to raise awareness for a very important cause.

This year, we were kindly invited to enjoy the regatta from a very special spot, aboard the boat carrying The ALLY Foundation founders and Ally’s family and friends.

Our day started in the Constitution Marina where we boarded the 61 foot yacht, Makin’ Way.

The spacious vessel featured a beautiful kitchen and living room as well as an upper deck, back deck, and bow deck, a bathroom, and more rooms below, which we did not see.

As we drove out of Charlestown Harbor, we passed right by the place where the Flip Flop Regatta evening festivities would take place, decked out in ALLY Foundation pink and green.

In addition to enjoying a relaxing day on the water with gorgeous views, there was also an array of gourmet delights on board.

Chef and owner of Carmen ( a fabulous little restaurant in Boston’s North End, one of my favorites), Jeff Malloy, spent the afternoon whipping up delectable treats including grilled shrimp, clams with grilled garlic bread, sausage, meatball sandwiches and pasta salad.

And there were also, of course, North End baked goods for that sweet tooth.

The food was incredible, and it was made more impressive by the fact that the chef was cooking while standing on a rocking boat. There were some waves out there!

Luckily, for the sailors, that also meant there was wind to bring them from the outer harbor back to Charlestown. 70 sail boats all vying to get across that finish line was quite the lovely sight.

Our hosts were warm and wonderful, as always, and we spent the day meeting many interesting and fun new people. I am so grateful to have been a part of their day and will definitely be marking my calendar to attend the Flip Flop Regatta tent parties next year.

Did you have a fun weekend? Do anything special?