SUMMER 2007 • PAGE 21
PAGE 22 • SUMMER 2007 THE JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN SAILING ASSOCIATION
LIVING THE DREAM
continued from page 8
Again, Captains Rob and Kirk are to blame for singing
to Gary shanties of the life aboard a Tall Ship. Okay, so
they didn’t actually sing, but their stories were exciting
enough that Gary endured a four-day roundtrip train
ride to Grey’s Harbor, Wash., for a ten-day course
aboard the Lady Washington and Hawaiian Chieftain
last fall. He worked like a dog and the worn off
fingerprints of his hands took weeks to grow back. We
watched the video Pirates of the Caribbean again the
other night to see the Lady Washington in her role as
the Interceptor. That is one of Gary’s favorite movies
and we even watched it this year on Valentine’s Day!
Hmmmmm. Seeing the Lady under full sail is quite
impressive, and she is as much a star of that movie as
Johnny Depp.
Jane and Sarah enjoy a mother-daughter moment together. Times spent
Captain Gary’s latest adventure has been working as one
aboard their boat have brought the family closer together.
of the captains of Morro Bay’s 64-foot, two-story
paddlewheel riverboat Tiger’s Folly II. Our family had a
I’ve given up my daydreams of a five-star hotel and spa
grand time actually being in the Christmas Lighted Boat
treatments. Yes, the quarters on boats are cramped, and
Parade this year and have been fortunate to enjoy several
I can’t get through a day without bumping my head
Sunday Champagne Brunches while cruising the waters
several times. Taking down the rigging, pulling the boat
of the picturesque harbor—a real treat.
from the bay, shopping, packing, stowing gear, pulling a
two-ton vessel on a trailer through LA traffic, and all that
For the past three summers we have trailered the Sarah
goes along with our vacations aboard the Sarah Jane is
Jane to Long Beach and then sailed to Catalina’s Two
exhausting. Yet, when our child is spending hours fishing
Harbors Isthmus. That makes our tenth trip on board a
off the bow and identifying the fish by name, snorkeling
sailboat, including three charters in the BVI. Sarah first
along with Garabaldi, exploring a cavern by kayak,
went with us to Catalina on a sailboat when she was
mugging for the camera while diving off the side,
three months old. It is her favorite vacation even topping
toasting marshmallows on the cockpit barbecue, or
a trip to Florida and Disney World. However, she often
pointing out the Milky Way in a dark starry night, it is
brings up the fact that we have promised her a trip to
pretty hard not to love shipboard life with your family.
the British Virgin Islands one of these days.
Aye, me hearties, I’m married to a sailin’ man!
FEATURE STORY
necessities. Consider power generation for example.
Extended cruising means high output alternators,
continued from page 3
larger battery banks, external voltage regulation, and
Again, the safety equipment list can be generated based on
potentially alternative energy generating – all things
distance away from help and likely weather conditions we
avoided when short hops between marinas are the
will face. The key vessel consideration is to assure any boat
plan.
purchased will have a place to safely store everything.
Summary
Next, we must consider living space. Again, based on
We are now ready to start looking for vessels that match
our usage we should know the number of people and
our desired boat. In subsequent articles we’ll explore the
length of time of our voyages. This information is then
right vessels for various sailing uses and conditions.
used to determine the required living conditions and
space. For example, a boat cruising away from shore Sailboats are the stuff dreams are made of, but buying
for weeks would need to have a much different energy the wrong boat can be a nightmare – expensive,
management system, provisioning ability, and cooking unpleasant and dangerous. The most important way to
equipment than a boat sailing for weeks, but doing avoid making a mistake is to know exactly how you will
short hops between ports. This seemingly small change use the boat – in great detail – before you begin
in sailing usage can mean large differences in vessel
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