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Dave and I Have Officially Lost It

1:19 AM - Aug. 25, 2007 - Add to the Wildness

Nearly two weeks ago, I clicked on a button on my computer screen. Unfortunately, I should have been more careful, because it was an eBay button. That particular eBay button was worth several thousand dollars.

However, I was not careful, nor am I repentant. That particular eBay button was accessorized with photos. Green, shiny ones. With yellow striping. With water and a blue sky. That particular eBay button resulted in a trip halfway across the continent, a mad three-day dash to Michigan's Upper Peninsula and back.

Somewhere south of Sault Ste. Marie, we found the far end of the invisible thread to which that eBay button was attached. The far end of the invisible thread in which we were so thoroughly tangled ended (as is fitting for such things to do) at a small trailer. On the small trailer was this:

We have now rerolled the invisible thread all the way back to our house. This thing, right here, is not a new addiction for me. I was first hooked thanks to an uncle or two with a similar habit, and spent many long hours out on the river in a little 12-foot sailboat.

This thing right here is 23 feet. It sleeps almost six, at least, it will while the rug rats are small. Dave and I have formed a policy that the worst-behaved child will be thrown overboard at bedtime to ease the crowdedness of overnight trips.

This thing will move in almost no wind, heel to 55 degrees without capsizing, and dock in 18 inches of water. Not to mention easily trailering anywhere we may wish to go. She is a cutter, which means that she has a mainsail and two foresails. In the red, you can see the main. In the blue is the jib. In the yellow is the staysail. The blue one is clubfoot-rigged, which means it's tied to a small spar that fastens to the deck. It can only move so far, and thus does not need to be yanked about with ropes.

The yellow one is specially rigged with things called cam locks which pinch the ropes (sheets) and hold them in place, allowing one person to run all the lines. Of which there are only three in total. Very easy to do.

As far as tipping over, the reason she doesn't is that she has something called a swing keel. This is a big slab of iron weighing 600 pounds. It is on a swivel point, and winches down to 4 feet below the hull. When the sails are furled, it winches up out of the way, and her shallow draft (depth in the water) allows her to dock, beach or trailer easily.

We didn't make it out on the lake today, but we were out last night in almost no wind at all, skating along until just after sundown. I piloted her, after a small tiff with my dearly beloved, who was being an incorrigible backseat driver. Dearly Beloved sat up just under the mast, and allowed the Rat Pack to take turns sitting out on the bowsprit. (That would be the little piece of wood sticking out the front, with a metal railing around it.)

There is no way to describe the feeling of sailing. We are all irrevocably in love.

She is a MacGregor Venture of Newport, designed after the cutter pilot ships of the 1800s. These were quick little boats which guided big transatlantic ships into the harbour. They also provided priority landing for high-paying passengers who did not wish to wait for the ship to lay in and unload.

For now, her name is Margaret Ann, but we have plans to rename her Whispering Hope, for a song David knows, and for a testimony. Because a sailboat does whisper things in the wind.

"The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit." -John 3:8

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That looks like so much fun.
Do you live on a lake? My dh was shocked that you bought it through ebay. LOL!
Growing up on the Puget Sound dh has done some boating and his family rented a boat you can sleep in and did the San Juan's. Can this boat go out on sound?
I know very little about boats larger than a canoe. :-)
Terrill
tbrowne - 8:15 AM - Aug. 25, 2007

Untitled Comment
Cat ~
What a beautiful new addition to your family! :o) You are a very cool mom. I am pretty sure sailing counts as physical education. Learning about wind... science. Calculating speed and distance... math. Learning the history of boats... History. I am sure you can work geography in there too. Hmm... navigation ~ math, astronomy.

What a great investment!!!
AcceptanceWithJoy - 10:38 PM - Aug. 28, 2007

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