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Warning: the following was originally written as a series of paragraphs, all formatting has been lost as it was posted online.
Some may consider it cheating, but I had my little boat trucked to FL from VA. Not that I can really afford this sort of thing on my salary (under $20K). I'm one of those [...]
boat owners that really have no business owning a boat. I can barely afford it. Literally.
When I was about 23, all of my friends were buying new cars. I gave car buying some thought and I decided to forgo the new car and buy an old car and an old boat- a 1974 VW Thing (does anyone out there remember the Thing?) and a 1973 C&C 25', respectively. Alas, the VW Thing was sold 12 years ago. 20 years later, I still have my little sailboat, �Puca�. I think you can probably figure out my age by now. I actually have a birthday coming up in a week or so.
There have been times where I have had to eat ramen noodles and eggs for a month to pay my slip fee, but I just LOVE the water and sailing and my little boat and have never regretted buying my boat. For an entire summer one year, I was forced to anchor my boat out in a cove because I could not afford a slip. I didn't have a dinghy so I would swim out to check on her or to go sailing. For the past few years though, I have rented a lovely, quiet and affordably priced slip in Urbanna, VA. For those that don't know, Urbanna is a small Virginia town on the Rappahannock River - approximately 18 miles upriver from the beautiful Chesapeake Bay.
Like many sailors, I�ve had the bug to sail in warm Southern waters� I was actually able to do just that with my parents. Well, some of our sailing was in very cold, iceberg-ridden waters. When I was about 25 years old, my parents bought this incredible boat. It�s a boat that, as I constantly learn more about sailing and cruising, it becomes more and more apparent to me that it was the absolute perfect choice for safe, comfortable, offshore passages (it was a Kanter Atlantic 45, custom steel). We sailed to Ireland, my parents� country of origin, via the North Atlantic (icebergs, even in July). I was lucky enough to also join my parents as they sailed down the coast of Portugal and into the Med. I once again met up with them in St. Lucia, in the Caribbean. From there, we eventually made our way back to the Chesapeake Bay. Of course, the whole time I was sailing with my parents, I kept thinking of how I could do it myself, on Puca. Well, maybe not the North Atlantic crossing part�
I�ve had a number of false starts over the years, as far as sailing south on the ICW. So I stopped talking about my plans to others, not wanting to �cry wolf�. I am well aware of the costs necessary and of exactly what�s involved in such an undertaking. When it came to actually shoving off, I would, for all intents and purposes, chicken-out. It�s a very daunting prospect to head off alone like that from both a financial standpoint and a general reality standpoint. I long ago realized that Puca is only big enough for one person comfortably for any length of time. A friend or two for a weekend is possible, but they have to be good friends. The �fun� parts of a long passage are one thing, but my mind kept wandering to darker propositions.
For example, a severe thunderstorm, at night, in an unfamiliar anchorage. The anchor starts dragging and the outboard won�t start� I�m alone with no help in sight. A scary scenario like that is a real possibility. I�ve been in enough nasty weather to know that I want to avoid it at all costs, but sometimes it cannot be avoided. Or how about an engine failure, in a strong current and being swept into a, too low and un-opened, bridge? Not exactly a soothing thought, but a realistic concern. What can you do? I have a very solid Yamaha, 9.9, 4 stroke and I forked out the cash for the unlimited towing by Boat US. � oh yeah, and I�m a pretty good swimmer if all else fails.
It�s simply too late in the year for my taste to make an ICW passage in such a small and slow boat as mine with anything resembling comfort. With yet another birthday looming and another year gone by� My Dad likes to quote George Bernard Shaw in saying that �youth is wasted on the young.� There�s definitely some truth to it.
I�ve been working for my sister, Sheila, for the past year and a half. I finally found a replacement for her while I head off and �do my thing.� (THANKS SUSANNE!!!) Sheila has very generously offered to allow me to work on some projects for her company while living on Puca, and I definitely owe her a huge debt of gratitude. All that is required is my computer, a phone and the Internet. Which brings me to the next person I have to thank. Mike Salih. What a wonderful and thoughtful friend to have! He has lent me his Verizon Broadband card, allowing me high speed Internet access pretty much from anywhere in the US. It�s the coolest thing! Plus, he�s giving me work to do for his company too. With direct deposit, I�m set. I should be able to earn some cash while underway.
I suppose my plan is to head south and see what happens. I�ll need to head back north in time to be in VA and the Chesapeake Bay by around June, the start of hurricane season.
Ok, the above was in 2008, now it's 2014, and I have a new(old) boat. a 1979 Catalina 30. She was given to me as a gift. Trust me, it sounds way better than it actually is. Don't get me wrong, it's a very generous gift. The reason the former owner no longer wanted her was because the boat had been sitting on the hard for 7 or 8 years and had accumulated 3.5' of water INSIDE. Yes. INSIDE. Covering the engine and everything else. My hope is to chronicle the steps I take to get her back on the water.
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