Sundown Sailing Adventures

I had this awesome idea for a surprise Christmas present – matching coats for Kim and I with our sailboat’s name embroidered on them. For years I have purchased my EMT Reserves’ uniforms from a local shop, Encore Uniform and Apparel, and they’ve expertly completed all my orders, so I knew this was a job they could handle.

On one of my days off, I paid a visit to shop owners Bart and T.J. to go over what kind of graphic and layout would work. I wasn’t sure of the font Kim had chosen for our blog, so I showed them our website in hopes they could match it. T.J. saved the link to sundownsailing.com on her browser for future reference.

Next I had to decide what kind of coat to buy and considered a high-tech, super-duper fluorescent 5.11 ANSI Level III rain parka. Not necessarily heavy-duty enough for an off-shore environment, but an excellent jacket for bike touring or working a flag on the center line of Interstate 25 out of Denver.

I ended up choosing a light-weight wind-stopper jacket. I asked Bart’s opinion about having a big back print versus a breast emblem. Bart said a breast print would be classy and reasonable, so I went with his professional opinion. I ordered an elevation drawing of a Hans Christian 33t underscored by “s/v Sundown” on the breast of each coat. I also ordered a dozen hats with the same embroidered emblem; they would make great stocking stuffers for the whole family.

Several days later I met with Bart to review the design. He showed me a nice embroidered rendering of a Hans Christian 33t with “Sundown Sailing Adventures” written above it. I was very confused as this is not what we discussed and I could only surmise he took the name from our blog. Then he asked if I received the email about the color choices for the boat he sent to sundownsailing@gmail.com. At this point I was getting pretty worked up because the graphic was all wrong and I hadn’t requested an email about the design. Kim primarily is the one who manages our gmail account, so by now I figured the surprise was probably blown. Despite my fears, I quickly checked the account and found Bart’s email had been deleted. This either meant Kim read it and deleted it or just deleted it thinking it was spam.

It took a few days, but I calmed down. It helped that Kim hadn’t given me any reason to believe she knew I was working on a surprise. It also helped that when I next stopped by Encore (during a shift with my EMT partner, Claire, and my EMT son, Blake), Bart had a hat embroidered for me as a sample, free of charge. It looked really good.

The Friday morning before Christmas, I told Kim I was going shopping for some stocking stuffers, as well as groceries for Christmas dinner. While I was at the grocery store, Kim called to say she had an idea for a leather label to attach to the wool messenger bag she made our son, Chad. She said Blake told her about Encore’s CNC laser machine and suggested they may be able to help her out. I agreed that that was a possibility, but also warned her that Encore was pretty busy with Christmas work already. She was pretty determined, so I agreed it couldn’t hurt to ask.

I hung up the phone with Kim and called Encore right away. I knew Bart and T.J. usually stack finished items out and about in the store. I wanted to make sure they hid our jackets before Kim got there. I talked to Bart and then called Blake to ask him, “WHAT WERE YOU THINKING sending your Mom to Encore?!” He wasn’t thinking I guess.

Since the Friday before Christmas was the last time Encore would be open prior to the holiday, I had to pick up our jackets and hats that day, so I went to the shop after I knew Kim had left. The jackets were finished and looked great! But Bart said the hats weren’t finished because his embroidery machine broke and he was trying to fix it. He promised to call later that afternoon when they were ready.

Fast forward to 4:30pm, Friday, December 23. I’m impatiently waiting for Bart’s call, thinking about how Encore had screwed up the original artwork, sent an email about boat colors and now wasn’t going to be able to deliver a dozen hats! Didn’t they understand the amount of work that I wouldn’t give them anymore?

Just before I reached my explosion point, Blake and our oldest son, Kyle, handed me “an early Christmas present” to help calm me down. I opened the box while muttering about how I didn’t need their help; what I needed was for Encore to get the job done! I opened the box and inside found the dozen hats I ordered. OMG! These are presents for the kids, too! Did Encore really give them to Blake? I didn’t know what to say.

Flashback to the day I went to Encore to order the jackets. Apparently, Blake had a great idea for Christmas gifts, too. He was leaving Encore’s parking lot as I was driving in. Blake had been there to order hats with “Sundown Sailing Adventures” and a picture of our boat on them. I guess that explained the graphics being “wrong.” Bart first used the graphic Blake ordered, but then changed it to meet my specifications once he figured out what was going on. And he didn’t ruin the surprise by giving the hats to one of the gift receivers; he gave them to the customer. He also made up the story about his embroidery machine breaking down to hold me at bay, since Blake had already picked up the hats. Funnier yet, Kim was already standing at Encore’s counter explaining to Bart what she needed when I phoned to tell him she was on her way and to keep our jackets out of sight. Bart played it cool talking to me on the phone with her standing on the other side of the counter. He helped her out in record time so she’d be on her merry way.

All and all, it was just as you’d expect. Our family is on a tight wavelength, often thinking alike, and Encore continues to go above and beyond to serve its customers, even if it is two or three at a time.

-cmy