Pledge
22 June 2014
I've been reading the writings of the famous Swedish blue water small boat solo sailor, Sven Yrvin. I subscribe to his views on the subject of cruising in small boats, but I don't think he would approve of my production boat with its two engines, among numerous other flaws and deficiencies. He doesn't even put engines on his ocean-crossing boats, nor does he include a porta-potty. But of course we have different objectives to our sailing. He is crossing oceans and gearing up to break World Records for doing so in the smallest sailboat ever at 10 feet. I am cruising during vacations, sometimes with my family which presently includes very young children. I think for what I am doing and for many thousands like me, the Catalina 25, refitted to safe, reliable coastal cruising condition, is enough... for now. As I discovered very early on and documented in this blog, it isn't the size of your boat, or even how far you go in it. What is most important is that we go. I've discovered recently that we can have a sailboat adventure parked at a campsite overlooking the lake. We have the sailboat. It is in very good condition at this point, all considered. This is the sort of good fortune many can only dream of. And of those few who are able and get their sailboat, how many hundreds have I walked past in storage yards, admiring, but knowing those boats represented dreams pursued and then abandoned. Even Sven appears to spend way more time building than cruising. So among the many obligations and duties that I embrace in my life, I hope to continue to do as many and as varied of sailing adventures as I can for so long as I can. (The photo was taken after a sunrise walk to the water at Lake Powell while Sarah and Celia slept in the sailboat parked in a campsite the night before we departed to Rainbow Bridge National Monument).
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