How it began…

I had a hissy fit.  Now I know that must surprise anyone who knows me, because I am the most even keeled individual around, but there you have it.

I got really pissed off.  I was sailing with SEA, a volunteer sailing/teaching organization, and several people did some really really stupid things (including me – I’ll admit it – I’ll diagram some of the stupid things some other time.) and my response was "Fuck you all, I’m buying my own damn boat." 

Three months later, I did.  It wasn’t really that surprising.  I mean, the reason I had joined SEA was that I’ve wanted a boat since I new what they were and loved sailing since I first stepped foot on a boat at age 4.  Just never had much opportunity to pursue it till now.  But now, I realize I have some disposable income, so why not dispose of it?  Why wait till I’m old and decrepit?

First, I had to look at boats.  At first I was obsessed with Ranger 27s.  They seemed to be what I wanted.  Good sized, stable, cheap, solid, good overnighter, but not too big or complex.  Definitely not a racer.  Then I thought about the Cheoy Lee Frisco Flyer.  What pulled me towards those was the beauty.  They have CARVED DRAGONS inside!!!!!  It was hard to resist but eventually I realized that carved dragons are a really lousy reason to buy a boat.  I looked at some others (Bristols, Merits, thought about J24s) then saw a picture of the Indian Summer, went down to look at her basically for comparison.  I had seen a Coronado 23 and didn’t like its design, so don’t really know why I went, but then it was love at first sight.  Clouds parted, angels sang, you know the drill.

I stopped hyperventilating long enough to buy it.  Didn’t sleep for a week, panicking over "Oh my God, what have I done!  Miz Scarlett, I don’t know nothing bout no berthin’s!"

Several people kindly talked me into spending lots of money on it – Janel and Aaron poured Sake down my throat until I no longer felt the panic.  Ben Sones convinced me that it really wasn’t that much money and told me that he frequently spent money he didn’t have on stuff he didn’t need.  Sideshow Ian promised to come sailing and help me find new sails cheaply (oh yeah, did I mention she needs new sails?).  This was all really helpful.  So was the Prozac.

The "oh my god what have I done?!" reached a crescendo the night I handed over the check and received the title.  All of a sudden, I owned a boat.  And had no idea what to do with it.  I had to get insurance (but which type – the type that covers minutiae and takes 3 months to arrange or the type that I’m not sure even applies to my boat but works if I hit someone with it), a place to keep it within 48 hours, registration (AAARRGGHHH Not the DMV!), safety equipment, crew to sail it, rain to hold off, HOLY SHIT I CAN’T DO THIS!!!!!

Luckily, there is a very nice harbormaster at the marina a mile from where I work.  He recommended which insurance company to use, told me what type I needed (the cheap and easy kind), told me the order to do things (boat – insurance – berth – registration) and was really sweet.  Crisis averted.

Two days later, Saturday, with the help of Caroline "I’ve sailed everything from a Sunfish to a 50 foot yacht" and Jeff "Is the boat supposed to tip like this?" we sailed out of the Redwood City slough and up the Bay to Oyster Point.  It was great – uneventful!!!!  Amazing how important that is.  A beautiful beautiful sail.  Clouds and slight showers early on, which cleared, then good winds all the way.  We got safely to dock and suddenly it was all real and good.

I have a boat.  And I can’t stop smiling.