Alterior Motives

Ok, I'm now 38 and have a great 10 year old son (my 7 year old daughter is awesome too, but doesn't sail so I'll have to start a separate blog about her somewhere else on the internet).

Ben is sent to a day camp for two summers at the local sailing club. He really takes to it and although it's not a weekly activity for him, it captures his interest just like it did my Dad. He reads books about it, talks about it, and is always planning on when his next sailing opportunity is. Dad passed away in 2002, and sadly doesn't get to participate in this part of Ben's growing up.

We don't have a boat yet, but I've got my eye on a Laser a co-worker has had in his backyard for several years. Why oh why did I let my parents get rid of the Catalina?

Wow, where do you start?

I began sailing at the age of 8 or 9. I really don't remember exactly, it was so long ago. My Dad had a home built canoe with a sunfish rig on it. He had a Georgia Tech classmate who was a NASA engineer and built these fiberglass canoes. We sailed the St Helena Sound on weekends from our house at Coffin Point, SC.

I guess at the time I was too young to realize the hold sailing had on my father. He started with this simple canoe, and in a matter of a couple of years we were towing a Catalina 22 from our home lake in Augusta, Ga to reside at the Beaufort Yacht and Sailing Club in Beaufort. I distinctly remember the terrifying ride to Beaufort with this huge sailboat behind me and my father in our stereotypical 1970's station wagon. Crossing the old two lane bridge across the Savannah River just beyond Augusta still haunts me in my dreams some 35 years later.

The 22 only lasted several years, and my father found us traveling to Savannah one weekend. A sales engineer with the Carrier Air Conditioning distributor he did business with was a serious sailboat racer in Savannah. I remember his flush deck, bright orange race boat, "the Sun Tiger." Mr. Dunn met us in Savannah to help my Dad procure his next boat, a Catalina 27. The Incentive was our largest boat to date. We traveled on it for 6-8 years between Charleston and Hilton Head on weekends, and raced in the various series that BYSC had in the spring and fall of each year. The photo above was one of our many escapades on a overnight trip to Charleston. I think this was somewhere between Edisto Island and Charleston. We woke up in the middle of the night on the floor of the cabin.

During this time I also began racing the club Sunfish boats in weekend regattas. I was never extremely proficient at it, but enjoyed myself nonetheless.

At some point after around 1985 my father all but quit sailing, I had not sailed in 3-4 years at that point. I don't know if it was his lack of time or lack of interest. Thinking back I believe the financial problems the country had during that time made him work more and play less. Sadly, the Incentive sat idle at our dock for years until somewhere around 1990 we donated it to the Beaufort Marine Institute, who sold it to raise money for their efforts to help wayward young men.

It was going to be some 15 years later before sailing piqued my interest once again. Most importantly brought on by my now 10 year old son.