I have been thinking about sailing again. Funny how ideas come and go in your head. I have a scene of a sloop sailing up the channel in Southampton U.K. many years ago. The day was cloudy with dark clouds over the port and sun just peeking under the clouds lighting the scene dramatically. The sloop was close hauled and piloted by a gentleman in foul weather gear and I believe a beard. Oh how I wish I were there with him now rocking along the channel headed into an anchorage listening to the waves lapping against the hull and feeling the sun warm my foul weather gear smelling the mustiness of old boats and boating gear. Being in the U.K. we would have a thermos of hot tea handy with a bit of rum or whiskey in it to keep out the chill. Certainly we would be looking forward to a drink or two and dinner at a pub once we got on shore.

I guess I have an over active imagination eh? Or maybe I have an unmet desire/fantasy of sailing again with a partner and lose myself into a fictional tale only an old lady longing for that which can not be fulfilled. How sad is that ? I find myself daydreaming and lonely in old age; there is no one to play with my age or with my interests. What a sad mess the end chapters of my life have become no partner, no boat, no adventure.

Update 071210

Well, a lot has happened since the last post on this blog. Bought and sold a farm in Kentucky lived in an RV for a year bought a small ranchette in Texas have that up for sale and I am now traveling in another RV waiting for the Ranchette to sell and I have begun to look for another boat.
I am looking for a boat that I can take with confidence up and down the ICW do some exploring and gunk holing. So I am haunting the Internet sites that offer boats for sale and frustrating myself in the process.
I am older not as strong as I was and I have a medical issue that occasionally gives me a scare, but what the hell Let's Go For it :-)
So what kind of boat will it be? Don't know for sure yet given thought to several types. I have thought of going power instead of sail but a trawler yacht is expensive except for older wooden ones and I know first hand that some boat yards won't have anything to do with them. I have thought of sail of course; a sloop or ketch. I like the idea of a ketch as it is easier, supposedly, to manage the smaller sails instead of the sloop's large mainsail I also have considered motorsailers however I haven't seen many for sale on the Internet. Also when the wind pipes up as the saying goes dropping the mainsail on a ketch shortens sail quickly and efficiently. Here again it is the cost issue. Some ketches are very expensive so are some sloops for that matter, but the choices in sloops are better than ketches-there are few ketches for sail as compared to sloops. The size of the boat is an issue also. I found that a twenty-seven foot sloop was just a bit to small for my size and taste, a thirty foot boat sometimes seems better depending on its design. The draft of the boat is a concern especially in the ICW where shoaling of the channel is a problem in several parts of the waterway. I want to stay away from outboard motors, I haven't had good luck with outboard motors in the past. Also gasoline engines seem to use more fuel than diesel engines although the diesel fuel stinks whether it is exhaust or being loaded in the tank the smell hangs about for quite a while. I also want a functional galley, I like to eat and a tiny one burner stove isn't going to make me happy and an oven that works would be nice.
So there, the search has begun let's see how it goes and what adventures I can get into this time.

My Boat Photos

These are photos of two of my three boats that have owned me. Sailing has always fascinated me and being around boats and sailors has always been interesting.

My boat daydreams

I would like to have another boat someday where I could go from place to place and if I had the courage to sail up and down the east coast of the U.S. from Maine to Florida. Just to putz around and meet new people and see things one only sees by boat.

Another daydream is having a craft like an housboat or Chris Craft and motor up and down the rivers of the U.S. There is an extensive river system in the U.S. and one could spend a lot of time exploring on the rivers and canals and having a good time. Yes, that would be nice to do.

My catalina 27

These are the photos of my Catalina 27
She was an 1973 model and had the outboard motor well, this gave her a lot more storage as the engine compartment was empty, in theory she should have been faster with less drag and weight.
She could sleep five if three of them were short people although three adults could sleep aboard. It would be a tight fit and no privacy two people would fit nicely and have lots of room for storage.

The galley was small and the icebox was good only for storage as it was not insulated well. I used a carry aboard ice chest and that worked fine for my purpose. I did not like the old alcohol stove and took it out and replaced it with a butane stove that operated off of small butane fuel cylinders. That worked well. The teak was dried out and would look good when teak oil was applied until it soaked in and then it looked dull. The head was not regulation and I used a port-a-potty that fit in the space between the vee berths and worked well. The boat wasn't rigged for shore power so I ran an extension cord from the dock to the cabin and had a power strip to plug into for lights and electrical appliances and occasional power tool usage and to recharge the battery. I also installed a BBQ on the aft rail and that to was a nice improvement.
The outboard was unreliable and got worse I should have replaced it instead of worring about it.
The most trouble were the running lights and the anchor light, I got the bow lights to work but the anchor light was not reliable, sometimes it would work and sometimes it wouldn't. I think it needed to be replace as it was original to the boat and had corrosion for sure.

She sailed well, very easy to sail no quirks and would hold a course and come about without fuss. All and all a fun little boat and pleasure to sail. As any old boat she had her problems such leaky windows, no place to stow the anchor or a dingy, the bimini needed to be replaced the deck teak redone the ... well the list went on.

That is me in the yellow and black foul weather gear don't I just look like the picture of someone on the cover of Lady's Home Journal ?

This is my story of my love for sailboats

Ever since I was a child I loved to be around the water and boats. I lived not to far from a yacht club in Boston and would walk there several times a week to look at the boats and dream of the day I would have one myself. Although my family was very poor, because of our dire straights I qualified for a sailing program on the Charles River, Cummunity Sailing, it is still in business teaching sailing to kids for close to free, great program.

There is such a pleasure in sailing and in sailing your own boat. It is one of those pleasures that maybe you should feel guilty about it feels so good, but you don't.

Most of my life I have been an armchair sailor, but I have managed to own three sailboats. My first was a 16' Cape Cod Cat boat she was gaff rigged and a lot of fun to sail. I sailed her on Buzzards Bay. I learned to sail her off the mooring and back as the motor was worthless.

My second boat was a MacGreagor 26D, the D stood for dagger board. This was a great trailer sailor easy to tow and launch big enough to cruise for a few days, lots of fun. As usual the motor gave me fits.