NUTS & BOATS

 The monthly newsletter for to-be and already-are cruisers

Volume 3, Issue #9 - September 2005
Publisher: Trish Lambert
www.takehersailing.com
(C) P. Lambert 2005

Welcome to our new subscribers!

IN THIS ISSUE

• FAST FORWARD TO PLAN C

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OUR PRIVACY POLICY

A (NEW) CRUISER'S EYE VIEW
Fast Forward to Plan C                                                                                by Amy Thurman

Note from Trish: Amy Thurman is a columnist, freelance writer, and soon to be sailor. She is a new member of the THS anchorage, and her story should be recognizable to many of you whose hearts have been captured by the sea.  She can be reached at writeofway@charter.net.

I’ve always loved the water. Born and raised in the Midwest, a vacation wasn’t a vacation if it didn’t include sun, sand and saltwater. Fresh water would do in a pinch, but the pull of the ocean has had a profound effect on my soul from the first moment I saw it. Skip ahead twenty some-odd years. My marriage is over, my kids are nearly grown, and it occurs to me that I have a lot of good years ahead of me. So I formulate a plan to put myself on the ocean when the last child graduates from high school. At the time “on the ocean” meant a little shack as close to the beach as I could afford. For the first time in my adult life, I had a plan. Life was good.

Then I met this guy. Don’t you just hate when women say that? Well, this guy had a sailboat and lived aboard on the Intracoastal Waterway (on the U.S. east coast) and suddenly my grand plan was completely derailed. I fell in love. But not with the guy thankfully; I’ve only been divorced six months for crying out loud. Instead, I fell in love with the sailboat. And it occurred to me that there was no need for me to live near the water when I could live on the water. Why settle for second rate? Hadn’t I resolved to give up settling for less than I wanted when I divorced my husband? So I revised my plan to include a sailboat.

Since moving is out of the question due to children in high school, I thought I’d just save up some money and next summer I’d buy a small sailboat and dock it at a nearby lake that’s well known for sailing. Once again my plan is on track and life is good. Then one day a couple weeks ago I was flipping through the want ads while on break at work. Just out of idle curiosity, I flipped to the “boats and leisure” section. Out of continued idle curiosity I called the number for a US Yachts/Pearson 25. I’ve never given much credence to the old saw about curiosity killing the cat because its not yet killed me so I drove up to the lake that weekend and looked at the boat. Then I called the bank to see about borrowing against my one remaining CD that’s supposed to be my emergency fund.

Suddenly my plan has gone to hell again because the bank willingly gave me the money and I gave it to the guy selling the boat and I’m now the proud owner of my own sailboat. Did I mention that I don’t yet know how to sail? Lions and tigers and bears…oh my.

But who knows what tomorrow might hold! Life is short and you should grab hold and enjoy the ride every chance you get. Besides, this boat’s beauty is rivaled only by that of my children (and then only when they’re in good moods), it’s just the right size for me to learn on, and just the right size to spend every weekend on for the next few years. It’s in excellent condition, has a great nearly new outboard, the sails are in excellent shape, it’s clean and well cared for, and guess what? It’s never been named.

The only thing wrong with it, in fact, is me. I’ve never owned a boat. I don’t even know how to take it out of the slip. I just learned how to put the sails up this weekend, but darned if I know what to do with them when they’re up! I don’t even know a third of the terminology I need to know. But is this an obstacle? No. Because I’m an intelligent capable woman and I will learn. And in the meantime, I’ll enjoy the heck out of finding ways to store what I need to store, making curtains and new covers for the cushions, polishing the deck, learning to prepare meals on it, spending every spare minute aboard and reading everything I can get my hands on about sailing, boats, and living aboard.

If I had any lingering doubts after signing the papers, they were erased Saturday night when I spent my first night aboard. It was a beautiful night with a slight chill in the air. I left the hatches open, snuggled under a pile of blankets and fell asleep gazing at the nearly full moon while being rocked gently by my sailboat. It couldn’t have been any better if I’d planned it.

Things I Learned the First Weekend on My Boat

• Cut your fingernails off. It’s much easier than having them torn off by dried out lines and sail rigging.
• Buy gloves and wear them, who cares if you look like a wuss. Beats having your hands torn up by lines and rigging.
• Sunscreen for your lips works just as well on your nose.
• Buy a cart to haul your stuff from vehicle to boat. Makes walk to boat much more pleasant.
• A small flotation device on your keys can be the difference between a great weekend and a ruined weekend.
• Tiny slivers of metal from mast and rigging are easier to remove with tweezers than jagged fingernails.
• Basic comfort (defined as an absence of pain) is helpful to enjoying the boating experience – take whatever steps necessary and don’t apologize for it.
• Tote bags are the greatest invention since disposable diapers and liquor in plastic bottles.

Things I Didn’t Learn –The Short List

• If I can’t use marina water to wash my boat or my dishes, how do I wash them?
• Is “marina water” water provided by the marina or water in the marina?
• If my sink drains directly into the marina, do I still use soap? Isn’t that pollution?
• Can I put weather stripping around the bilge cover so it doesn’t pinch my feet when I step on it?
• Since my boat is docked on a lake and the odds of overspray getting in the cabin are slim, do I have to use special fabric for the interior cushions and curtains?
• Can I have a feather pillow in my berth?
•  How do I get wrinkles out of a jib that was just wadded up in a sail bag?
• How many fenders am I supposed to have?
• What’s that big tall thing in the middle of the boat called? Just kidding!