[TSOJOURNER]

A complete newbie to sailing and have many questions. First, I would like to thank you all in advance for your patience and guidance as I begin to learn about this new passion. I have a 5 and a half year old pirate who loves the ocean as much as her mom. The skipper, the pint size pirate and myself have already had many adventures without even leaving the dock! The skipper is always working on a project or ten, I have my projects and the pirate has her own list as well. We all totally and completely LOVE this. Once the 5 to 6 year list of projects are completed, we hope to actually take her, the boat, out sailing. I am curious if there are any sailing families that are blended? What kind of adventures were taken............distance, time away from home, how to keep in touch with dad (skipper is not her biological father)/extended family etc....? Dreaming of the day when we can actually open the sails for a sailing adventure.

 

[chall03]

Welcome to Sailnet, good to have you aboard and best of luck with your dream.

 

[Danjcon]

Well, I can relate in two ways. I have always had a dream of sailing, and this past January, my wife and I bought a 31' sailboat. We had some great short sails, taking turns among our kids. We have a large blended family (my wife has four sons, I have two duaghters and a son). We have been married for 16 years, and it has been our focus to make our family one big happy one. They are all extremely into our sailing dream and look forward to sailing, and heloing out with the numerous projects on a 37 year old yawl. Welcome to SialNet. Lots of great information here.

 

[TSOJOURNER]

Thank you for the welcome.

Danjcon ~ if you wouldn't mind, I would greatly appreciate further information regarding your sailing trips and communication to land. How long were you out and what form of communication did you find to be most helpful in keeping in touch with family back home?

 

[Danjcon]

For our first season, we mainly did several day sails, a fishing sail with our boys, and one overnight cruise. My wife cares for her 99 year old mother, so it is very difficult getting away. Mostly, we communicate with a cell phone, which seems to work pretty well where we sail near the Patapsco. I'll have to tell one story. The first time I sailed the boat, I was with my son and his girlfriend. My wife couldn't come because she was having some stomach problems. She had gone to the doctor thinking it was nothing serious, but the doctor suggested she not go out on the bay until she was feeling better. Well, after several hours moving the boat from the upper Severn river to Rock Creek, I am just pulling passing the first of two red buoys when my cell rings. It's my wife telling me she is on her way to the emergency room to have her appendix removed. I get off the phone with her and my daughter calls...I must have lost my concentration at the tiller for a moment, and veered to the wrong side of the buoys. Suddenly the boat just stops, and a cloud of black sludge appears behind the boat. I wasn't sure what had happened, and was pretty nervous that it might be the engine. But our boat wasn't moving any closer to shore, and I realized we were stuck in the mud. Great. I had my son and his girlfriend stand in the bow, and I tossed the anchor behind the boat and pulled, within a couple of minutes we were free. I made it to the hospital by 7:30pm, they took her appendix out and 1:30am. A memorable first sail.

I look forward to some good stories from you.

Dan
Dan

 

[Perithead]

Wow, hopefully your wide will not have more stomach problems in the future, good to get that appendix out.

What kind of boat are you guys sailing on?

 

[camaraderie]

FM...you have to be a bit more specific about communication. From where...to where? E-mail or voice? Coastal US...Caribe...Open Ocean?

 

[Danjcon]

Thanks, Perithead. She is doing much better. I sail a 1971 Seafarer 31 Yawl. Traditional lines is what we like best about it. We sail out of Rock Creek off the Patapsco. It's our first year of boat ownership, so we have been learning and getting more and more experience. This season, we plan to do a few longer cruises around the middle Chesapeake, like Annapolis, St. Michaels, Kent Island, and revisit Swan Cove. Maybe Inner Harbor if I get real comfortable.

The Seafarer is great for the bay, not for ocean cruising. She is very solid as far as the hull and deck, but the chainplates are too lightweight to be oceanworthy. Just as well, my wife has been awesome about getting into this dream of mine, but has no desire for ocean going. It doesn't help that I've been watching the VOR show on PBS every Saturday.

Here is our boat.

Dan

 

[Perithead]

Wow Dan, what a great looking boat.

You are right, classic lines are the best...... and yours proves it.