Back in 2002 while living on the
south shore of Long Island and working as an air traffic controller at
JFK Tower, I read something somewhere that got me
hooked on the idea of retiring and living aboard a boat.
What it was, I can longer recall, but I soon had books such as "Voyaging
Under Power " and "The
Troller Yacht Book", and was consumed by the idea of
living and cruising on a power vessel when I retired. I did not
consider sailing at that time as it seemed too difficult for a single
person and I felt that my retirement budget would allow me to absorb
the costs of fuel. I went out that summer and bought my first
boat. Man, I loved that boat. It did not love me back.
It could NOT have been a worse boat for a newbie. A 1976 Silverton 26' Flybridge
Cruiser. It was a single inboard with a minuscule rudder.
I could not get it on or off the dock without assistance, and
after one or two memorable attempts, I stopped trying. It became
a dockside condo for me. Not that there is anything wrong with
that, I got a lot of enjoyment out of sitting in my cockpit feeding the
swans and ducks with a glass of wine in my hand, a steak on the grill
and enjoying the sunset. In fact, it was great and I miss
it. But I bought the boat to learn TO boat,
and it was not the right boat for that.
Then in 2003 I got
a little sidetracked, as the whole boating thing was not going as
planned. I decided to work on a retirement "Plan B". I
started researching oceanfront property. It took about 15 seconds
or so to discern that I couldn't afford any in the US so I started
looking at other countries such as Mexico (not comfortable with those
laws), Bay Islands of Honduras (difficult to get to), Costa Rica (too
expensive), and the Bahamas. I went to Long Island Bahamas in
July 2003 and looked at some properties, and finally settled on a small
unimproved lot on the western shore. I started the purchase
process, little did I know it would take almost a year to complete.
Bahamas
Lot
In the fall of 2003
I was thinking maybe I should buy a power catamaran, as I loved the
Bahamas and the draft of most trawlers was going to present a problem.
I was searching on Ebay for catamarans when I stumbled across an
auction for a crewed charter in the Bahamas on a 42' Fountaine Pajot
sailing cat. I bid and won, for a ridiculous price. So in
Feb. 2004, a friend of mine and I set out on a first for both of us.
We had a blast. It was wonderful. I was hooked.
As a side benefit, we sailed to Long Island and I got to visit my
lot from the water, which was awesome. I had just gotten word
that the sale, which had been stalled for a long time, was moving again
and they were in the final stages. I was definitely hooked on
catamarans and thinking maybe I should learn to sail as well.
2004
Charter
I also went to Barbados in 2004, I ended up taking a side trip to
the Grenadines and enjoying a wonderful sail in Barbados as well.
West
Indies 2004
When I got back I
signed up for a women-only intro to sailing class up in Oyster Bay.
It was fun, but it was very basic and pretty short. I
wanted to take a real class but I could never get the time off that
summer. In the fall of 2004 I found out that I would be
transferring to the Washington DC area to work at Dulles Tower the
following spring. The
next two years saw my dream put on hold, as 2005 was taken up by
moving, training, then moving again, and 2006 kinda slipped by in a
blur as I realized I wasn't where I wanted to be in life. I know
I made the right choice in leaving New York, but the work environment
at Dulles changed radically with changes in the FAA, and it soon became
a miserable place to work.
In late 2006 I joined the Carefree Boat Club in DC right before they
closed for the season. It seemed like a perfect opportunity.
Lots of boats for use (including 3 or 4 sailboats), no
maintenance hassles, and reciprocal clubs all over the country.
The only problem is, I still lacked confidence and was
afraid/unwilling to go out alone. I did a few times in 2007, but
not as often as I wanted to. The club did have some really
enjoyable social events at events such as the 4th of July fireworks in
DC and Aquapalooza at Fairview Beach. My friend Kristi and I
spent the night on a SeaRay 215 Weekender at the marina on the 4th and
had a blast. The club also sent a few boats to Aquapalooza.
That was a fantastic day. The only downside to the club is
you cannot anchor out overnight. This really limits you and is
disappointing as that is one of my favorite things to do.
CBC Boats
Aquapalooza 2007
Update on the boat club....they have made some changes....got rid of
all the sailboats except for the one MacGregor 26X, and it's not
allowed off the dock if there is a small craft advisory. Kind of
pointless. The rest of the boats are at least allowed in the river.
Also, the overall number of boats has gone down and availability is
less. Gangplank Marina is also turning into a pain. They took away our
gate cards which means that you have to ask a guard to buzz you in
& out for every trip to the car and even the restrooms. Not to
mention that the restrooms are closed right when you'd be either
leaving or getting back. Add to that the hassle of having to go to
James Creek Marina for fuel or pay a hefty refueling fine, and the DC
location becomes more trouble than it's worth. Haven't checked out the
new location in Occoquan yet.
Anyway....to start off 2008 I decided that I was going to try to get
serious. I've had this dream for a while now and was going
nowhere fast. So I looked at the schedule and got a week of leave
in April. I booked a class through Fair Wind Sailing School on a
45' Leopard catamaran in the Virgin Islands. What a great trip.
I learned a lot, and got hooked on sailing.
Virgin
Islands Sailing Class
I came back
with ASA 101, 103, 104 and 114 certifications, but still lack
confidence and experience. I came back very determined not to
forget what I learned. I put an ad on craigslist and got a few
offers to go sailing. My first trip was with an FDA doctor and
some of his friends and that was a great trip. We rafted up and
anchored out which is something I can't do on my club boats but
thoroughly enjoyed.
First
Sail on the Chesapeake
I also fell in love
with the Chesapeake Bay.
I just wish it wasn't such a long haul out there.
Soooo....being the idiot that I am, I decided that I
should.......buy another boat! :-) I figured I could keep a
boat out there and either find people to sail with me, or sail with
other folks and have somewhere to sleep and make a weekend of it.
Plus it would be fun to be able to go out to the bars and
restaurants after a day on the water and not have to worry about
driving. So I went boat shopping.
I headed out to the Annapolis Spring Sails Event on May 3rd 2008.
The first boat I looked at was 27 years old, tiny,
and cheap. And it looked like it would be fun. The engine
was shot though, and the draft was a bit more than I wanted. Then
I headed off to the boat show proper to check out the "big
iron". The first boat I went on was a Catalina 309. I was
quite impressed. The rest of the boats there were too large for
me. I was not impressed with how difficult it is
sometimes as a female boat shopper to get people to pay attention to
you. A few of the dealers just acted like I was invisible.
I have encountered that numerous times over the years, even in
places like West Marine! It gets aggravating sometimes, other
times I'm just as happy to not be harassed when I'm shopping. :-)
I wandered around for a while then headed across Spa Creek to the
Eastport dealers, where the cats were supposed to be. Priority
one was to look at Siyaya, an Island Spirit 401 from Bay Yacht Agency.
I had heard good things about these boats but had never seen one.
I wasn't to see one this time either. I found Siyaya in the
water, but couldn't find anyone to show her to me. Oh well.
It worked out for the best.
I wandered around the dock back towards the Lagoon I had seen
earlier...I wanted to get a few shots for Rudy. I've never been
that drawn to the Lagoons as their looks didn't appeal to me and they
were a little too pricey. Well, I am now a believer! Sign
me up for the Lagoon fan club. I walked up and took a photo or
two, and the folks on board invited to climb aboard and look around.
The boat was brand new and beautiful, and for sale by the
Annapolis Catamaran Center. All I could say was "Wow."
Untill I asked, "How much?" Then I really said "Wow!"
To his credit, he still invited me along for a demo sail.
What an awesome ride. I got a good demonstration of the
maneuverability of the boat, along with it's ability to be
single-handed, and its nice handling under sail. I had the helm
when the winds approached 25 kts with full main and jib, and the boat
felt rock steady. Very, very nice. I plan to try to go look
at a 380 sometime as the 420 was just too big for me. At least as
a singlehander. A 380 might be too much too, I wish there were
more 35' cats out there. I can't
thank Tommy Smith from the Annapolis Catamaran Center enough for
inviting me along that day. Everyone else on the boat felt the
same way. He did a great job of demonstrating the maneuverability
of the boat.
Boat
Shopping and Lagoon Demo Sail, 5/3/08
In spring of 2009 I decided some more schooling was in order as I never
really got to sail again after all the activity in spring 2008. I went
with a four day liveaboard class on an Island Packet 32 from the Maryland School of Sailing and
Seamanship. It was great. I realized I had learned more
than I
thought and felt a lot more confident. Definitely was money and time
well spent.
Sailing
Class Photos
When I got back I was on fire to do more sailing, and went boat
shopping. I found a great deal on a 1972 22' Westerly Cirrus currently
down in Kinsale, VA and bought her on 5/27/09. She needs a little work,
but not much at all. I couldn't wait to spend my first night
aboard and get sailing.
Westerly
Cirrus First Photos
Of course, nothing is
ever as easy as it seems. When I went down again to put stuff on
the boat the marina owner came over and gave me the great news.
There was an outstanding marina bill of over $1000 to be settled that
the previous owner never told me about and that didn't show up on the
title. And the boat couldn't leave the dock until that was
settled. What a kick in the teeth that was. Guess that's
why it was such a great deal. It took four months to
resolve that issue, and I was finally informed that the boat was free
and clear in October 2009.
Once again, nothing is
ever easy, is it? :-) I headed down to the marina in
Kinsale where the boat was to put on the new engine I had bought and
try to start working on it so I could get it out of there ASAP. I
pulled up to the marina and it was deserted. I got out of the car
and soon saw why. The docks were under water. Unreal.
The docks are old, fixed docks and have settled I guess. So a
heavy rain put them under. I waded out and it was knee-deep at
one point. I realized I couldn't even get on the boat as it was
so high above the dock. Worst of all, it was being damaged as it
was coming down on top of a piling with every wave. I was
livid. I waded back to my car almost in tears and tried to decide
what to do. I pulled up the tide tables on my phone and saw what
time low tide would be. I figured I'd go drive around for a
couple hours and look at other marinas and come back at low tide.
Maybe I'd be able to get on my boat then.
First place I stopped
at was Port Kinsale Marina, a couple miles away by water but in a
different branch of the Yeocomico River. I fell in love with the
place and the people almost immediately. I told them my sad story
and two of the mechanics hopped in a runabout and headed off to tow my
boat there. It was awesome. I was so happy to see it pulled
up to that dock. When they hauled it there was a few years worth
of barnacles on the hull and it took them several hours to clean
it. I left them to block the boat up for winter storage and
headed home feeling really happy I had my boat safe and in a nice
marina.
Boat
Moving Day and Port Kinsale Marina
I headed back down a
week or so later to work on cleaning a little and loading the boat with
all the stuff I had accumulated. On the way I did a little
sightseeing and visited Ingleside Winery for a wine tasting. It
was a good day. I love the area. Very laid-back.
On
the hard at Port Kinsale
Hopefully spring will
come soon and I can get to work getting the boat ready for water.
I'm still worried about going out singlehanded, but at least I signed
up for a swimming class in March, so hopefully I'll be a little less
anxious. Even though I religiously wear my PFD, I need to learn
to swim.
So now I feel like I
am getting on track towards achieving my goal of retiring and setting
off on June 1st. 2014. It's a good feeling.
Stay tuned for more................
gail@dreamingofcruising.com
© 2010
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