An Evening on the Bay - Farewell to a Friend

This evening I took a brief timeout to go down to the Bay and say farewell to an old friend.

Tomorrow my sailboat, Stargazer, moves on to her new owner.

I decided over the winter that my work schedule just wasn't friendly enough to allow me to properly use the sailboat.

It took until just a few weeks ago to find the right buyer and the right circumstances.

I bought the 28" 1977 sailboat having never sailed a day in my life.  To be honest I'd only ever set foot on a few other sailboats and never crewed one.      After closing on the boat, I bought some lifejackets and started reading online.

My search queries were pretty humorous.

"How a sailboat works"

"How to tie knots"

"Parts of a sailboat"

"Understanding the points of sail"

"How to tie knots."

.... you know.. I never got good at the knot thing..

Looking back, dropping that kind of cash on a sailboat, having no clue about it, probably wasn't my wisest move.  I didn't have a clear understanding of the maintenance costs, even boating law.   

I could drive a jetski at 80 mph through a 10 ft winding river.  How hard could a 28 ft boat be?

Maybe it was some sort of mid-life crisis related to the circumstances of my parent's deaths.   Maybe it was too many rum drinks and Jimmy Buffet albums but hey, I did it.   Bought a sailboat, bought a dummies book and went for it.

So, what did we learn along the way?

How to sail, for one.  How not to sail, for two.

I also learned that I'm not yet in the appropriate stage of life to be a sailboat person.  Any number of side jobs/ full time responsibilities, a family and an often-seasick wife all told me "sell it."

Still.. sitting on the bay at a marina, the cool air on my bald head, I could hear the wind and waves calling.     Good luck Stargazer.   Treat your new owners safe, may the winds continue to be in your favor.