I dismissed drag racing - too expensive and always on the road to different tracks. I thought of flying (almost got my private pilot license), but money and age would prevent that idea. I really liked competition desert racing - but again, age was a factor, too. Then, there was sailing; but that was for the rich - or was it? Could a sailboat be a possibility? Not as physically demanding as dirt racing, but it would keep me active; and,after all, I really did love to sail!
Splashdance
My first introduction to sailing was with some friends of mine on an Erickson 36 and, after a couple of day cruises, I decided to build my own Glen Ellen-designed 12' day sail-er. I completed it with a rabbit cage wire mold, over which I laid Matt fiber and epoxy resin on both sides of the wire. Oh, and I lengthened the design by 2 feet. I made all her bright work out of Mahogany and the spares from Sitka Spruce. I even molded her dagger-board trunk and laid the fore deck with Mahogany plywood. On the day of the test sail, complete with her new name, I pushed "Splashdance" into the waters of "diaper bay" (as it was known) and I almost yelled with joy. She floats. SHE ACTUALLY FLOATS! I stepped her mast, attached her shrouds, and pushed her deeper into the bay, setting her rudder in the pintels and raised the main and jib. I lowered the dagger-board and we were off!
Uh oh! Hey, hold on a minute. I've never sailed a boat by myself! Oh, I've read about how to sail; but, here I am - SAILING!
It was a light wind, and as I began to remember (and put into practice) what I had read, it all seemed to come together. I tacked, reset the main and jib to close haul, and Splashdance came to life. As she picked up speed and heeled over, a feeling came over me which, until today, I CANNOT FORGET! I built my own boat, launched and sailed her, with no outside help.
This is what I was thinking about when we chose to sail.
So, lets fast-forward to about 8 years ago. After seeing some of the prices on sailboats, I began to realize that maybe if I saved long enough, say about 5 years, I could afford a boat that would get us to all those exotic islands I had been reading about in Latitudes & Attitudes magazine. Yes, I did have a specific style of boat in mind, and living in Vegas at the time, we decided to take part of our vacation in Port Isabel,Texas - which is where I had seen a Morgan Out Islander for sale for $50,000. This also happened to be where my Father's relatives once lived, and in fact, my Grandfather is buried in the local cemetery. It was also my childhood playground, as South Padre Island is just across the bay by way of Queen Isabella bridge.
I am a very impatient person. I had only saved $23,000, but, maybe, the owner of the Morgan would take that as a down payment, and I could finance the rest. I talked to Bill, our broker, and, when we arrived, he let us tour the boat.
We boarded the boat. The first thing I saw was every square inch of gel coat was weather cracked. Below decks was the same story - a LOT of dry rot. Bill told me that the owner was firm on $50,000 cash and the bank was not willing to "float" a loan. I told Bill. "This boat will sink before I pay $50,000 for it." Ironically, about 8 months later, IT DID!
My next blog post will be finding "the one".
