The new Kid at New England Magazine

As many of you know, I'm the new writer for New England Magazine. Hope you enjoy the articles as much as I enjoy writing them.

http://www.newenglandmagazine.com/2011/05/24/point-judith-a-good-starting-point-to-explore-rhode-island/

Why do you sail?

I love to play golf, and I really don’t know exactly why. Most of the time I'm a shank-a-potumus, or I burn the worms off the tee. My short game is the only thing worse than my drives. Forget about getting over water or out of sand traps. I once hit six consecutive balls into a lake. I can laugh about that now, but at the time I was ready to give it all up.

When I was younger I bowled on a church league. I loved to bowl, and I don't know why. Maybe it was those really cool shoes or that funky shirt we all wore. I had one beautiful 16 pound ball to hurl down the gutters. If I broke 100 I felt like I had scaled Mount Everest in winter. Bowling a 300 game was a distant dream.

I once had aspirations of being a figure skater. I really loved doing all the spins and axels. It made me feel like a bird in flight, free and graceful. The only problem was most of the time was spent flat on my backside and not very gracefully at that.

I love to sail. It's been a long time passion to spend time messing around on boats. It started when I was about 5 and has continued for the past 53 years now. I have the horror stories to prove it too.

There was the time we were waiting for a lock to open on the Illinois river and got hit by a wind that ripped the mast off the deck. There was the time our boat lost a cotter pin on the outboard and dad had to walk the boat back to the marina in the water with a line over his shoulder. 

In my own solo experience as a skipper I got caught in a situation where I lost power in a narrow channel with the wind blowing up a major chop against the tide. 

Then there was the time I spent an extra week on Block Island being thrashed against a pier for days on end waiting for the weather to break so I could return to the safety of Narragansett Bay and home port.

I was out researching places to anchor for a new book series on places to visit for free. I set the hook in Dutch Island Harbor. I spent three days there getting thrown about the cabin in 25 knot winds and 2 to 4 foot chop. I couldn't cook hot food, make coffee or do much of anything else. 

On my first attempt to leave, I had to turn back and anchor again because of the wind and wave conditions. 

There was the time we were entering Apponaug Harbor. I lowered the sails and started the motor … it quit, not to start again. For the first time I had to sail into dock. I'll admit to being extremely nervous. Thank God we happened to have a perfect wind for the attempt, which succeeded admirably. Perhaps my best docking ever. 

With all the mishaps, groundings and disasters over the years I should be asking why I love sailing so much. After all these years, I can answer that question.

The first year I met my wife, we spent a lot of time sailing. One evening after work we went out for a short sunset sail. 

The water was mirror smooth, the breeze light and steady and the sunset was the most incredible either of us had ever seen. I sailed silently along with the most beautiful woman I had ever known by my side. I think that was when she fell in love with sailing too.

The morning I was finally able to leave Dutch Island Harbor after being beaten to a pulp for four days straight, I woke to perfect skies and calm seas with a following breeze. It was the best sail of the season.

The day I finally left Block Island was incredible. Perfect wind, gentle swells and a warm October sun kept the chill away.

These are the days I shoot a hole-in one, perform the perfect triple axel and pick up that six/ten split in the last frame.

These are the days when I am the Master and Commander. The world is in harmony and the universe aligns.

I think one of the best things humans have going is not our memory, rather our ability to forget. We forget all our failures and disasters. Bad experiences are relegated to some distant land far from present reality.

I am a sailor. I have been since birth and will be when I die.  No matter what else happens, there will also be those perfect days that make it all worth while. I know exactly why I sail.

I feel spring in the air!

I'm going to make a profound statement that most men would cringe at. My wife DOES understand me. She understands that being landlocked for all these months makes me a little crazed, okay a LOT crazed. She knows I need my fix of Vitamin (B)oat to feel better. She didn't think twice about heading out for a two hour drive to Hyannis MA to the Cape Cod Marine Trades Association boat show this past Sunday afternoon. I think she needed a little fix too.

I can see the piles of snow on the ground, the freezing temperatures and howling winter wind. Getting out to a boat show and being able to talk shop with other boaters is just what I needed to begin feeling the hope of spring once again. Almost in defiance of winter, today the temps reached a high of 52 degrees. It really does feel like spring is shaking beneath the surface, trying it's best to come out and make the world a boaters paradise once again.

Fair Winds! 

News Flash for the Yachting Media.

I don't own a mega yacht. I'm not going to spend a years pay to charter one for a day cruise. I'm not planning on spending the season in Croatia, Turkey, the Med or any place that brings up a wad of phlegm when I pronounce it. I'm certainly NOT going to a place named "Phucket" for the simple reason it would be far to embarrassing to phone family and tell them where I am.

What I will do this coming season is worry about how to pay my slip fee. I'll scrimp and save for some new equipment I've wanted for years. I'll hope I can get another year out of my bottom paint and that my sails will hold up for just a little longer. The marinas I'll visit will offer me good value for my money and the rest of the time I'll anchor off while exploring new harbors and destinations. When conditions allow I'll drag a line or set a pot for dinner.  The most important thing I'll do this coming season is enjoy every minute of freedom and joy that sailing brings to me. I live in the REAL world. I suspect that you do too.

For a reason I don't understand, the yachting media ignores me, and 99.9% of the public that owns a boat. I subscribe to a large number of magazines both print and internet.  The yachts on the cover are most likely to show something costing more than Obama's travel expenses. The destinations are in places I have no desire or funding to visit. They tell me nothing at all that I really need to know.

Before someone says I'm just jealous, I can honestly say I have no desire to ever move into a yacht I can't sail by myself or short handed.  If Malcom Forbes offered to trade me yacht for yacht, I'd turn him down without thinking twice. When I feel like sailing, I go sailing. When I feel like anchoring in an out of the way spot, I go there and drop the hook. I'm my own captain in total charge of everything about me.

I'm quite happy to have reached the age of 58. I'm also aware of my own mortality and that most of my life is run. Spending time in distant ports seems a waste of what I have left. If I spent the rest of my life just sailing within US coastal waters and the Caribbean, I still don't have enough time.

My question to the media is this, "Why are you ignoring me?" There are a lot more of me out there than owners of mega-yachts. Guess what. We spend money too and my guess is our collective spending far out shadows that tiny minority that you embrace.

ONE New England - Yachting - Not Just for the Rich & Famous

ONE New England - Yachting - Not Just for the Rich & Famous

ONE New England - Yachting - Not just for the Rich and Famous

ONE New England - Yachting - Not just for the Rich and Famous

"Is there a little of the Captain in you?"

I remember when man first went to the moon. So many thought they must have been the bravest men in history to make such an epic journey. I know I certainly held them in awe for their seemingly boundless courage. That was before I read Sailing Alone Around the World by Captain Joshua Slocum.

Not to belittle the great accomplishments of the space program, but the courage required to make that journey, pales in comparison to what men of days gone by faced every time they left safe harbor. It's a curious fact that more humans have been in space, than have sailed solo around the world. Perhaps because it's easier and safer.

The world in 1895 was a much different place. GPS navigation, long range communication, auto pilot and weather forecasting didn't exist. Charts were questionable at best when they were available. Dead reckoning was not only a rather morbid title, it was how you hit that little spot of land after sailing for weeks. I think it's amazing that someone can find Bermuda after sailing 600 miles out of sight of land. I can't find the bathroom in a strange hotel. 

The captain and I share a love of coffee. I have a Koreig coffee maker onboard. Making a cup of joe is hardly the same task for me. I contemplate whether I'll have the roast beef or the chicken and dumplings. The Captain had plums and white cheese that led to hallucinations. I have a two burner propane stove. The captain used an old steel drum converted into a stove and heater.

Provisioning for me is hitting the nearest Stop & Shop or Aldi's. The captain would head off into a jungle somewhere, trusty rifle in hand. Like most men, as long as I have enough Cheetohs and toilet paper, I'm good to go. I really don't know if I could survive long without those modern conveniences. 

The one glaring word that jumps out at me is "alone." How many of us have needed to be that self-reliant? I can't remember being really alone even though I'm solo sailing when I go out in midweek. One of the big issues when I review a location is whether they have WiFi and a good cell signal. What would we do if we couldn't tweet or check our email? May God help us if we can't make a phone call.

This was one of the most interesting books I have read. It's a bit hard to read. The times were different and the English language had real words! People used them. Once you get used to that part, it takes you back and draws you into the adventure.

One thing I ask of a book is to challenge me. Sailing Alone Around the World scores a 10 for challenges. I keep asking myself, "Could I do that?" I have to admit I don't have the skills to face that kind of sailing. My personal challenge is to learn those skills in this coming year.

"Do you have a little of the Captain in you?" I hope by this time next season I can answer, "YES!"

Keep the bottom wet, the decks dry and the mast straight up.

 The Cruising Sailor