I was just a few boat lengths away from a brief "pier head jump" crew drop off at City Island, New York, when I realized that I was about to see something that I have never seen. Not once before, ever, in a decade that has seen over 20,000 miles go under her keel, have I viewed Strider underway while I was standing on shore. I made the the last landing as her owner, shook hands quickly with her new master and his delivery crew and jumped ashore.
It is bad luck to watch a ship sail out of sight so I didn't linger except for a couple quick photos and a wave before striding down the dock towards the next vessel and great adventures to come.
Strider is not completely leaving our lives, however. Good friend Paul Meyer, a US citizen resident in Canada, is buying her at a very favorable price that will let us borrow her for a week or two when we feel like sailing far downeast and we will be able to start right in the middle of our favorite cruising grounds instead of needing to spend a couple weeks getting there and a couple weeks returning.
As for the next vessel and our future plans, I regret to inform all of my readers here that we have joined the darkside. During the six ICW cruises documented as a Featured Contributor on this site, I have fallen in love with waterways, watching the shore slide by close alongside and anticipating the view around the next bend. Back when I was flying airplanes, people asked why I didn't get an instrument rating. My answer was that I flew to look at the ground. It's now much the same with boating and the "ground" we want to see are the lands and towns that line the canals and waterways of Canada, New York, and the , Great Loop. Our sailing will now be done in the dinghy we will carry on the afterdeck of the mothership.
After half a century of crashing up and down with spray in my face, I am ready for a pilothouse and sliding along in calm waters out of the sun. If the spirit moves us, we will still be able to go any of the places Strider could go. We'll be able to go to even more places with over 1000 mile range, a foot less draft, and able to get under any bridge with at least 15 feet of clearance. I fully expect to someday be enjoying sunset drinks in Havana aboard our new craft.
The new boat is going to be a financial and boat project adventure. She has been a liveaboard for about the same time that I have owned Strider and is set up primarily to be connected to the grid in marinas. She is a rare craft. Only five were built with the full pilothouse and only one of those is currently for sale. She may be funny looking but it is the only production boat we could remotely afford to purchase and feed with enough room to live aboard comfortably as long as we expect to. We've therefore taken a huge collective gulp and committed to major restoration and conversion of systems to the self sufficiency we are used to as sailors.
You can see the photos of the 36 foot Kadey-Krogen Manatee we close on next week here:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10203048966665529&type=1&l=2e5f302020
One thing that won't change is that we will still be cruising at sailboat speeds.
I regret that this is "sailboatowners.com" instead of "boatowners.com". Writing for you all has enriched my cruising experience immeasurably. I thank you all who have been my cyber companions over these many miles and special thanks to Phil who gave me the opportunity to share this last phase of my life with you.
It is bad luck to watch a ship sail out of sight so I didn't linger except for a couple quick photos and a wave before striding down the dock towards the next vessel and great adventures to come.
Strider is not completely leaving our lives, however. Good friend Paul Meyer, a US citizen resident in Canada, is buying her at a very favorable price that will let us borrow her for a week or two when we feel like sailing far downeast and we will be able to start right in the middle of our favorite cruising grounds instead of needing to spend a couple weeks getting there and a couple weeks returning.
As for the next vessel and our future plans, I regret to inform all of my readers here that we have joined the darkside. During the six ICW cruises documented as a Featured Contributor on this site, I have fallen in love with waterways, watching the shore slide by close alongside and anticipating the view around the next bend. Back when I was flying airplanes, people asked why I didn't get an instrument rating. My answer was that I flew to look at the ground. It's now much the same with boating and the "ground" we want to see are the lands and towns that line the canals and waterways of Canada, New York, and the , Great Loop. Our sailing will now be done in the dinghy we will carry on the afterdeck of the mothership.
After half a century of crashing up and down with spray in my face, I am ready for a pilothouse and sliding along in calm waters out of the sun. If the spirit moves us, we will still be able to go any of the places Strider could go. We'll be able to go to even more places with over 1000 mile range, a foot less draft, and able to get under any bridge with at least 15 feet of clearance. I fully expect to someday be enjoying sunset drinks in Havana aboard our new craft.
The new boat is going to be a financial and boat project adventure. She has been a liveaboard for about the same time that I have owned Strider and is set up primarily to be connected to the grid in marinas. She is a rare craft. Only five were built with the full pilothouse and only one of those is currently for sale. She may be funny looking but it is the only production boat we could remotely afford to purchase and feed with enough room to live aboard comfortably as long as we expect to. We've therefore taken a huge collective gulp and committed to major restoration and conversion of systems to the self sufficiency we are used to as sailors.
You can see the photos of the 36 foot Kadey-Krogen Manatee we close on next week here:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10203048966665529&type=1&l=2e5f302020
One thing that won't change is that we will still be cruising at sailboat speeds.
I regret that this is "sailboatowners.com" instead of "boatowners.com". Writing for you all has enriched my cruising experience immeasurably. I thank you all who have been my cyber companions over these many miles and special thanks to Phil who gave me the opportunity to share this last phase of my life with you.
