The Continuing Adventures of Lady Landlubber and Captain Waterboy

When I mention this part of the Dream Year -- us traveling with the boat for the next few weeks with friends and family and our plans to motor/sail up the ICW from FL to Virginia in April -- there are those who are impressed. Some actually get starry-eyed, envying us the adventure. But many of you have told me -- I'll continue to read your blog but I'm not a boat person. True confession – neither am I.

Years ago, in a NH craft co-op, I bought a lovely painted tile. The scene of a woman reading cozily in an overstuffed chair by an open window, the curtain blowing in a slight breeze. Her view is overlooking a sailboat out on the nearby water. Ahhh...my perfect vision because I love to be by water, near water, overlooking the water. I like the sights and sounds and smell of the ocean, rivers, lakes, and ponds. And sometimes I like being in it -- splashing or snorkeling or some water sports, espec. kayaking.

But I can't swim, hate cold water, don't like being damp at the end of the day, and get both seasick and sick from motion sickness medication. As for sailing...I don't understand the wind, can't read a chart, and definitely don't like the run in heavy winds with the boat keeling over.

So how did I end up here?
As you know, the captain loves water. Thrown in the pool by his father when he was eighteen months old, rather than form a lifetime phobia or a relentless resentment at the potential abuse, Alan swam. And took to boats like, well, of course, -- a fish to water. He owned boats before I knew him and jointly owned a 17 foot day sailboat when I meet him in graduate school. Yet for years, we didn't talk much about boats. After all, we moved upstate NY-- not close to boatable bodies of water.

I don't know exactly how and when it happened but some of our vacations became boating holidays. I initiated the first family outing when I signed Alan, Rebecca, and I up for a few days on a restored racing yacht out of Camden, Maine. During that lovely time on the water, Captain Jory taught Rebecca the card game Go Fish, we were served simple and delicious vegetarian meals, and we caught the local Shakespeare in the Park right across from the dock as we disembarked.

We also sailed in Canada. And I encouraged Alan to go off with sailing buddies which he did to FL and the Caribbean. In 2001, the semester after the last college tuition payment, Alan asked me to go shopping with him. We make a good negotiating team and purchased a brand-new 26 foot trailerable MacGregor sailboat with a 50 horsepower engine.

Over the years I’ve certainly been initiated into the boating life and had some harrowing experiences on boats including our own, Dream On…we endured an engine fire, we dragged anchor in a lightening storm, we’ve run aground, motored through three and a half days of rain, and were hit by another boat – at dock while we were sleeping.

I am a fair weather, calm water type of boater. I like leisurely motoring on a canal, approaching a city from its waterway, exploring towns from their ports, chatting with other boaters at marinas, and the sensations of the outdoors, warmth and breezes, viewing the sunrises, sunsets and night skies.

I look forward to new sights and experiences along the ICW as well as enjoying how much Alan enjoys being on the boat, and how he looks younger and laughs more when he is sailing. It’s obvious…a major reason to spend more time on the boat is because I love the captain.