Monthly Archives: June 2012

Coaster Riding

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1500$ will buy you this. Two words: No WAY!

What is this thing with the connections to our kids that just causes all kinds of suffering? It isn’t the actual children who cause the suffering. I want to be clear about that. Our kids are great and always have been. It’s the connection to their lives, the CARING about them that causes all the suffering. You know how when a woman is pregnant, she is allegedly ‘eating for two’? Well, that kind of thing doesn’t necessarily end with the snip of an umbilical cord.

As our regular readers may remember, we are looking for a nice little sailboat for our son, Andrew. We want him to have the experience of single-handing his own boat, of knowing the freedom that comes from being able to go just about anywhere your boat can take you. So we are literally boat shopping. And this is where that connection with Andrew, directly through my heart, causes me so much suffering.

If you’ve ever shopped for anything as important as a boat, you’ll know what it’s like to be on that particular emotional roller coaster. Hopes are built. Hopes are dashed. Hopes are built again, only to be completely dashed. I see how he tries not to get his hopes up, so mine go up twice as far to make up the difference. I see how he tries not to be too disappointed when a boat turns out to be a piece of junk, and my heart plummets to depths his will never reach because I know he cannot afford to get that emotional about it yet. The more he tries to moderate his own response, the more mine gets crazy. I am emotional enough for two.

Are you kidding me? That's about 5 inches of standing water, by the way.

We found a cute little Westerly 22 Nomad for sale and loved that one. It needed work, but the potential was easy to see and Andrew’s heart went ‘pitty pat’ when he thought about owning it. Everyone knows that’s the real test of whether a sailboat is right for you. If it doesn’t make the heart sing, keep looking. We arranged a second visit and I had my checkbook ready because I just knew THIS WAS THE BOAT!

Too bad about this cute little Westerly Nomad. We loved this boat.

We were ready to enter negotiations with the owners. Unfortunately, these owners, who knew nothing about their boat and had never sailed her, also did not understand that the word ‘negotiation’ here means that both parties come to an agreement. They just said ‘no’ to our initial offer and that was that. No counter offer, no nothing. They were decidedly strange and the whole deal had started to feel wierd so we walked away. My heart thumped. My stomach ached.

Andrew has looked at a couple of San Juan 23’s. No go. They are usually stripped down for racing. Likewise the little Catalina 22’s he’s looked at. These have all been little boats left to languish like orphans with no one to care for them. Sad, but too much work to take on, and no amenities to make a boat comfortable.  Time, and his summer, marches on as we drive all over creation looking at these lost causes. With every new expedition we hope we’ll see a decent boat for a reasonable price. Most turn out to be crap.

But today was different. We saw what looked like a nice little Ericson 25 on Craigslist for a very reasonable price. The boat looked clean and the ad said it was in great condition. Andrew called, and an hour later we were looking at the boat. It was terrific! It was perfect! The minute I saw the owner, a retired military officer, I knew his boat would be in excellent condition. I was right. We all fell for this boat the minute we saw her. Andrew and I exchanged surreptitious looks. Mike and I glanced at one another in that knowing kind of way parents have. Our hearts were singing in perfect harmony.

This Ericson 25 is just about perfect.

We were ready to write the check immediately. Then the owner said he actually had someone else who called first and said they would buy the boat, but wanted to see it first. Although this person had yet to be able to come to the marina and follow through, he felt honor bound to let that person see it first.  We were sitting there with the checkbook practically in hand. There was no way to argue with his position as he felt like he was doing the right thing. He and Mike shook hands with his promise that should the other ‘sale’ fall through, we would have the boat. We walked away feeling just about as low as dirt.

It’s just about killing me! This is the perfect boat for our son. It’s clean, comfortable, in excellent condition, and sail ready. It’s also in our budget.  I’m probably not going to be getting much sleep until after Tuesday, when this other person is supposed to come see the boat. So what I need from all of you readers is to ‘believe’. Prayers would not come amiss here. BELIEVE and PRAY that this boat is meant for Andrew, and that he will be the proud owner of this great little Ericson 25 from Gig Harbor by July 3, 2012. Be specific in your prayers!  The boat has no name, but Andrew would consider calling it Sea Monkey, so you can use that name in your prayers.  And we’ll keep you informed about the progress. Meanwhile, my stomach really hurts. And I feel a headache coming on. It’s impossible to truly cut that umbilical cord, I guess.

And I do not even want to THINK about what it’s going to be like when we really start shopping for our own boat. We are going to look at a Cal 39 with the perfect layout that just came on the market this week. ARRGGHH!

Time Waits for No Man (or Woman)

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I  look forward to a time when life slows down a little bit. We have been cramming a lot of ‘living’ into a short amount of time lately. Mike’s mom has been here for a visit and although we always say that we’re going to just ‘hang out’ and have everything be low key, it never really turns out that way because she’s here for such a short amount of time. Time is just the worst thing! It always makes us feel like we have to do things in a hurry, cramming so much into just a few days. I know some quantum physics types say that time doesn’t really exist, but it sure doesn’t feel that way when we are trying to live life to the fullest over the course of one weekend.

It was Mike’s birthday this weekend. I am two years older than Mike so I am gritting my teeth until he reaches the magic age where he can feel the same sense of urgency that I do about shaking things up a little and sailing to Hawaii. Or Mexico. Where ever. Until then, I just buy him gifts that we can use on a sailboat. This year I bought him the[amazon_link id=”B005IGVY8I” target=”_blank” ]Nikon COOLPIX AW100 16 MP CMOS Waterproof Digital Camera with GPS and Full HD 1080p Video (Blue)[/amazon_link], a ‘ruggedized’ digital camera that is said to be waterproof. He’s been talking about having a little waterproof camera on the boat so he can take photos of, for instance, the engine when he takes it apart. Or the bottom of the hull when I hit rocks with it. This should work. Andrew got him a nifty little[amazon_link id=”B0019KPS66″ target=”_blank” ]VidPro Gripster Flexible Compact Camera Tripod[/amazon_link] for action shots, and Claire bought him a paper chart of the west coast of Washington, and one of the Columbia River where it empties out into the Pacific. If our Cal 34 hasn’t sold by August, I’m hopeful for a trip down the coast to further expand our sailing skills. We celebrated his day with a trip up to Seattle to our daughter’s new apartment.

How is it that our 27 year old daughter has this view? Oh, right. She lives in Seattle, not in Lakewood surrounded by trees.

Mike made this family portrait using his nifty new tripod and a timed exposure. Cool!

 

And because that simply wasn’t enough traveling, we took Mike’s mom, Carolyn, to San Juan Island so she could say she’d been there. I figured we’d kill two birds with one proverbial stone since we’d never driven around the island ourselves and we consider whether we’d like to live in the San Juan Islands some day. If we win the lotto, that is. Because pretty much anything with a water view starts at 1/2 million dollars. And if you want to actually live on the water…..don’t even go there. Maybe we’ll just live on a sailboat for awhile.

Down at the southern end, in the Cattle Pass area. Could I live here? What a dumb question.

But the island is lovely and when we arrived Mike and Andrew took naps while I drove Carolyn out to Lime Kiln Point to see the whales. Mike is the Whale King ever since he was surrounded by them while out for an evening sail in Commencement Bay. Mike must have been calling them for me in his sleep because they were there! So Carolyn got to see them. Here are a few photos from the weekend.

Not a great photo, but for the whale lovers in all of us, any photo is good.

The lighthouse at Lime Kiln. Classic.

This seal has the right idea. A little water and a lot of sunshine.

 

Mike shows the appropriate posture when napping on driftwood.

Apparently foxes live on the island.

The Need for Speed When Performing Boat Yoga, and a Cunning Little Cruiser!

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You think a Cal 34 cannot go fast? HA! Double Ha!

Another fine weekend of Pacific Northwest sailing. On Saturday we headed over to Oro Bay on Anderson Island. There was a little boat moored there that we wanted to take a look at for our son, Andrew. More on that later.

The wind was whipping about 15 knots as we headed out of the marina, taking full advantage of the incoming tide as we swept under the Narrows Bridge. Sailing around here means always being very aware of what the tide is doing and when, since any sailor up here knows that if you try to sail against the tide in the narrows, you will sail backwards.

This time we had about 2-3 knots of current with us, and great wind to boot, so naturally there was time for a little boat yoga. Boat yoga is good for all parts of a person and really takes the edge off those long wheel-slave sessions when the only auto pilots on board are named Mike and Melissa. That’s right, folks, there is nothing like a few yoga poses while heeled at 25 degrees to make what could otherwise be a tiring time at the wheel simply fly by.

Thankfulness. Hold pose for at least 30 seconds while you give thanks for the wind and your saucy boat.

 

The Wind Tunnel. Sailing for long periods on a broad reach in plenty of wind allows tension to build up in the body. Use this pose to discharge that tension, sending the energy back up into the wind from whence it came. Brace foot firmly. Blow out through your mouth, like the wind.

The Compass. Become the needle on your compass, pointing toward the horizon. Strike pose swinging arm through all four of the major directions, keeping arm straight. Pivot at the hips. Brace feet and be careful! Alternatively, you can pretend you are singing into a microphone with one hand, point to your audience with the other. Your choice.

After a refreshing yoga session, it’s time to change helmsmen and sail through some tidal rips. May as well turn off the sound on your computer because I still don’t have the hang of talking during a video clip when there is a lot of wind.

The anchorage at Oro Bay is really protected and quiet. We anchored in about 16 feet of water, feeling completely protected from the wind. An interesting feature of this anchorage is this old ferry. Someone brought this thing over from the east coast, thinking they would somehow restore it and take over the ferry service over on Ketron Island, just next door. Why do people think they can salvage huge things like this? It’s pretty cool, but I cannot imagine how much money it would take to get something like this up and running.

The old ferry from Ocean City, which is probably in New Jersey. Just now it has two travel trailers parked in it, and plenty of sea life parked ON it.

So, now we can satisfy the question on everyone’s minds: Why are these people looking for a boat for their son? The answer is simple: we are insane. Let’s just get it onto the table right now. We have lost our minds somewhere in the wind. Sure, there are nice logical answers like ‘We want Andrew to learn about working on boats.’, ‘Andrew needs a project to work on.’, or ‘It would be cheap housing during college.’

But those answers are probably not the real reason. Probably the real reason is that young men need adventures in order to become solid men. We prefer that Andrew’s adventures not be in the form of either going to war, or playing like he is going to war in front of the video screen. Andrew had a grand adventure traveling through Europe on his own between highschool and college. It crystalized something in him that has helped him be successful in college. Adventures do that. We’d like to see that kind of development continue so that he can become even more self-sufficient and make choices about how he lives his life that might be a little outside the box. He’s enough like me that I worry he will get bored with life if he enters the world of work, never to have time to himself again until retirement.  We see this as part of his education, part of his growing-up. And if we get to live a little vicariously through him, well, what are kids for? I guess like most parents, we want better for our kids than we had for ourselves, and we want them to know they don’t have to do things the way we did them.

So we sailed out to Anderson Island to look at this little Westerly Cirrus, a 22 foot sailboat that could take Andrew just about anywhere.

The Westerly Cirrus

This little boat is salty as heck, but it needs some work because it’s been sitting there for a long time. The price is right, but does Andrew want to take it on? Like us, he’d rather sail than work on a boat, but it wouldn’t take much to make this boat sail-able. And the sails are in good condition, as is the standing rigging. I’ll review this boat on the boat reviews page.

Here’s a final video of our sail back. We ran our engine for about 1/2 hour the entire weekend. Great Pacific Northwest sailing!

Moonrise, out.