Thanks Katy,
I went from age 15 to 43 without sailing a day, absorbed and distracted with
life's other pursuits. But the joy of sailing that I had found in my youth
stayed with me; it became a dream deferred.
My father, an old navy man, found a Styrofoam sailboat for me when I was
about 13, I think it was called Snark or something. Anyway, he would anchor
his cabin cruiser at certain points, and I would launch my sailboat from his
boat. I would sail it for hours around Long Beach Island, capsizing it,
swimming it to shore, playing games (like seeing how close I could come to
Dad's boat without hitting it), and just generally loving it. To put things
in a time perspective, I was sailing it past Dad's boat when he came out and
told me he had just heard over the radio that Neil Armstrong had walked on
the moon (July 69).
When the boat was stolen, I was heartbroken and didn't manage to get another
until now. But I remembered two things distinctly from my childhood sailing
experiences: it's incredibly exciting to harness a good breeze and, the
damned things flip easy! With that in mind, I decided to buy a more serious
boat (all things being relative, I'm comparing my current boat to a 12'
Styrofoam toy). Here's what I said: I'm looking for a boat I can afford to
sink, or destroy, if it comes to it. I then found this Starwind, with a
trailer and a new Honda outboard, full sails, needed some work, blah blah
blah, for $2800. I've beaten it a bit, unintentionally of course. I've not
only gone aground, but slammed it on a sandbar by missing the inlet channel
and getting dropped by a wave onto the sandy bottom, I've forgotten to put
the engine in neutral while docking, and the grimaced when I realized the
chomping sound I heard was my prop taking bites out of my rudder, I stepped
my mast, lost my balance, and grimaced some more as the mast tilted a few
degrees to port and ripped out two base screws, I dropped my boat on a
winch, while trying to dry dock it in my yard, and put a hole in the hull,
and... plenty of other neat stuff.
But I've learned a lot too. I think I'm ready for comfort, a bit more
safety, and of course, bigger, costlier mistakes!
Scout






"katysails" wrote in message
...
Scout,
It really doesn't matter what kind of sailboat you have as long as you
like it and it suits the sailing necessities of today for
you. As an experienced person who has climbed the ladder from 19 footer
up, I can assure you that this is the way to go. It
seems that many people who become enamored with what they think is the
romanticism of sailing run out and purchase boats that
are way beyond their skill level. They become frustrated very quickly and
then give up the sport. You leave yourself room to
grow. Somehow, I don't see you as the Neal type who will sit stagnant
with his first boat purchase, but as a sailor who will
grow and advance with each new boat. Happy sailing to you.

--
katysails
s/v Chanteuse
Kirie Elite 32
http://katysails.tripod.com

"Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax
and get used to the idea." - Robert A. Heinlein