My mother "made" my brothers and me take sailing lessons when I was 12. (About a million years ago.) Dang I enjoyed sailing that Sunfish. In my bio, you'll see that I have won half the races I've ever entered and I did not finish the other one. I won the regatta at the end of the sailing lessons, beating all the tough-guy sailors who were supposed to win. The next regatta was that very same summer. I got so frustrated trying to round one of the bouys that I just sailed on in. Never really had any desire to race after that.
I took all my girlfriends sailing on the Sunfish all the way through high school. Even when the wind wasn't blowing there was always something to do. Nothing like turtling the boat and making out under the cockpit. (Most girls didn't go sailing with me a second time if there was no wind.) Then I got away from sailing as a young adult. Mama gave the boat away and I never gave it much thought until many years later.
My new wife and I sailed on a Hobie Cat in Nassau on our honeymoon in 2005. I had not sailed in at least 25 years. Sailing came back to me almost like riding a bike. My wife was hooked on sailing the instant we saw a Manna Ray glide under the boat silently. She found an AquaCat for sail in town shortly after we returned from Nassau. After a few years of sailing it, she said, "Wouldn't it be nice to have a boat we could sit in instead of on top of when we sail?" To make a long story short (as if this story isn't long enough already) we bought our 1986 Hunter 23 and have loved it since 2010. Now she's saying, "Can't we find a larger boat that's easier to load onto a trailer and has more room in the cabin?" So, now we're searching for the perfect H26/260.
We both love sailing and have no desire to own a power boat. If anyone knows of an H26/260 that's in great shape, affordable and not too daggum far from South Carolina, please let me know. I *really* want to keep my First Mate happy! Or as Phil says on Duck Dynasty, "Happy, happy, happy."