The time has come to sell my Hunter 380. No, this is not a sales pitch but more of a summary or good-by. My wife and I have had nine different sailboats including the present one over a forty plus year spread. We started with a Cal 20 and sailed all over Puget Sound and the San Juan Island. Compass and charts only and we had much fun. We didn't know enough to be afraid of some things and we were afraid of other things. But it was a learning experience. Our next boat was a Pearson 27, not my favorite boat. I was still in my "classical mode" and any boat built back in Rhode Island had to be good. Well, I learned some about that philosophy of boats. Our next boat was a Ranger 29 with an inboard engine--our first really big boat. It was a good boat and we had good times and I started to race. "How come they are all going faster then me?" I learned some more. So much that our next boat was a Ranger 32, a three quarter ton racing boat with eleven winches or eleven sails--I can't remember. It was a fussy boat but my wife loved it. However, it wasn't a cruising boat by any means and we still wanted to cruise in the San Juan and Gulf Islands. Our next boat was Canadian--a wonderful Sceptre 36 and as usual we learned some more. Don't buy hull no 1--parts don't always fit and things have to be worked out or worked on. Then the Hunter era began. We traded the Sceptre in on a Hunter 40- a really, really big boat. You could walk around the aft queen size bed. Oh, my was she large. We spent Saturdays practicing how to dock her in the harbor. But she was so big I really couldn't afford her and we put her into charter work. Big mistake in a way. I did learn how to repair just about anything on that boat. But it lost its magic and allure as I doubled up in the bilges fixing this or that or repairing the stove for the nth time. After five years we trade it in on a Hunter Vision 32. From one extreme to the other. A simple boat to sail and even a better cruising boat--but it was so simple it lost it charm as well and it became a dinner boat. "Let's go down and have dinner on the boat." That's not it in sailing. So after a time we traded it in on a Hunter 35.5. This was a great boat; a fast sailor, a fun sailor and an enjoyable boat all the way around. We race her and had our share of wins even winning Boat of the Year once in local waters. She was just about perfect and then one of my wonderful crew died of a stroke and I lost my interest in racing. Since my wife wasn't sure of my prowess in converting from CNG to propane, we went to Seattle after a boat show to see how the new boats set up their system. While I was looking at propane tanks I heard her say to a friend, "I like this boat." Now I may be slow but not dumb. We talked that day to the dealer, turned the 35.5 into trade and bought the perfect boat for us, the Hunter 380 with a fiberglass arch, a big cockpit, a sugar scoop stern and all the space below for the two of us and the two cats. We upgraded so many items--many from ideas gleamed from this web site. Indeed I need to say, thanks to all of you over the years who contributed in making Trumpeter our perfect boat. We cruised all over our favorite spots in Puget Sound, San Juan and Gulf Islands, Desolation Sound, Princess Louisa inlet and some places I don't want you to know. Our private coves and anchorages. I even did a number of single handed cruises by myself--it has been grand. But I noticed in last couple of years that my desire to go sailing has diminished. She has become to big for me mentally. While I still can roller furl the main, I'm tired after that chore. And jumping down to the dock after docking isn't my cup of tea anymore. It is a bit of a pain in the after end to grow old with your perfect boat. So my wife and I talked seriously after forty plus years and said we're not going cruising anymore. Too many pills to take along--too many chronic illnesses to worry about. So our beloved Hunter 380 is up for sale. Taking personal things off of the boat has been emotional. The box of native American good luck charms my native American friend gave me, the black and white picture of the Trumpeter Swans in flight that a professional photographer took for us, some spare parts I HAD to have that we've never used on that long trip we never made, the charts from all those places we had been, and the powerful spot light I had to have that we never used, my sea boots that I hardly ever wore--the list goes on and on. I found out kites along side the shaft--I had forgotten we had those and remembered the day we flew them at Deer Harbor. Each little memory came back to haunt me into remember the good times we've had. But she still is too big for me anymore. While we have had many talks in the past months my wife and I still have to decide which direction we will be going. We're both in our mid seventies (yes, I know we just had a thread on this subject in a different forum) and things go a little slower each day. Perhaps we'll get a smaller boat--I'm looking at the new Hunter 27 "pocket cruiser"...... And the new West Marine catalog came. What a great catalog. Maybe a day sailer or an overnighter. It will probably be a Hunter and not an old one--I'm tired of fixing things. Something new to go out and chase the wind. Maybe a new boat that I can ask this group what did you do and how did it work. I need to remind my wife to sign us up for another year of Practical Sailor. So while it may be the end of an era, it could also be the start of something good. What keeps a person alive--dreams and the wind. Sounds good to me. Thanks all for all you help these past many years. Even to those who said I was crazy--you may have been correct. But still, it has been fun. Thanks. Les Wanting to sail out of Bellingham one more time...
