I had always wanted to sail. Since I was a kid and my good friend James Nelson (some might recognize him) glassed his first dingy, I had wanted to sail. But, money, kids, home, wife, food, little things like that got in the way.
In 2008, I asked my boy what he'd like to take up as a father-son interest. To my surprise, "sailing" was the answer. So I said "'&^&*()^) it!" and we just did it. We just did it. I wasn't raised in sailing, or with a father for that matter. I had nothing to go on. No one to ask. I knew nothing about sailing. All I had was a dream of cruising the coast line. So, I cast all caution to the wind, looked at a bunch of boats on Craigslist and bought one. I had no idea what I was doing, but I figured at 25 feet, it was towable and at $2200, I wasn't breaking the bank. The dream was alive. I was blessed. It turned out to be the absolute perfect boat for us. Perfect size, perfect draft, perfect weight, perfect price. Best gamble I ever made.
Some people weren't born with a Dacron spoon in their mouths but, within them yearns a mariner, straining for freedom. Grace, understanding, maybe a little elbow grease and an old compass would make better offerings than disgust and disrepute.
We learned to sail and have about 800 nm under our belts. We sailed in 30 knot winds, lost a winch, nearly lost the motor, got lost in fog, run aground, lost my boom vang in 100 feet of water . . . and had the times of our lives.
Blessings of Fair Winds!
Don
Biddeford, Maine
