I’m getting a sailboat! Woo Hoo! I’ve always wanted one since I was a kid. I spent most of my youth at the beach when I was a kid, growing up in San Diego. I used to go sailing with a friend of the family on their boat and even did some Hobie Cat sailing a few times. In the last ten years I’ve probably only been on a sailboat three or four times, but I never stopped thinking about it. Well, I finally did it. I bought my own. After much research and a great referral by SanibelMan, I found the boat that I figure suits me best for now, rookie that I am.
It’s a MacGregor 26x powersailer. It’s cheap, it’s stable, small enough to trailer yet large enough to do some overnight coastal cruising. Also, it has a water ballast instead of a lead keel, so you can drain the ballast and power around the lake if you want to water-ski or whatever. You can see pictures of it here:
I’m going tomorrow to do the demo (a four-hour cruise on SF Bay) and pick the options that I want for my boat. Then, they’ll deliver it in April. I swear, I feel like a little kid at Christmas. It’s all I can think about! Can anyone say Straight Dope SF Bay Cruise next summer?
(I’d better learn to sail first, I don’t want any Gilligan’s Island-esque fiascos…)
Oh my, That is aweseome!!!
I am so there for the SF Sailing Fest.
hmmm lets see. I get to be Gilligan, Demo is the Skipper. Doob is the Professor. Seadiver is Ginger. Obfu and Baglady are the Millionare and his wife. psycat is Maryann.
Perfect. Now we just need an enchanted desert isle in which to participate in our hijinx.
Welcome to the happy world of the boat owner! Ignore the conventional wisdom that the happiest days of a boatowner’s life are the day he buys the boat and the day he sells it - we’ve had boats ranging from a 12’ jetski to a 23’ trailerable day sailer to our present 37’ motorsailer ketch. Sailing is great. Boat people are great. Now you just need to be sure you subscribe to EVERY sailing and cruising magazine published. (My hubby ASSURES me this is necessary.)
Pat, I’m actually thinking about heading down your way later in the season next year to San Nicholas (Island of the Blue Dolphins). So, we may find your enchanted desert isle" after all.
FCM, thanks! From everyone that I’ve talked to on messageboards and at marinas, doing research, it certainly seems like the boating community is one of the more helpful types. I used to subscribe to Sail just for the heck of it, even though I didn’t have a boat, but you can rest assured I will be subscribing to many mags now…
I thought San Nicolas was a navy base that regular people weren’t allowed to dock at?
I know the open to the public Channel Islands are National Parks and boats are free to dock there.
Anyway. You gotta bring me along if you ever go out to any of those. I have been to Santa Cruz, and I loved it! The trip out was fun, and I got to see Dolphins, and the island itself was really beautiful.
Damn. I thought this was going to be about the ride Pirates of the Carribean or something. I was hoping Zyzz and I would find a way to work in that “The spirit of Norway always has been and always will be–the spirit of ADVENTURE!” or something like that. Pfft.
But Rasa, my dear, you forget that the Spirit of Norway is rooted in the spirit of the seafarer, and thus in such a thread it’s perfectly acceptable to proclaim that THE SPIRIT OF NORWAY ALWAYS HAS BEEN AND ALWAYS WILL BE ADVENTURE!!!
And now that the rest of the readers are united in a collective “wtf?”, i’ll move on.
Why does it take so long before you get the boat? That is a very nice boat Demo. I went sailing this past summer for the first time and I had a blast. Here’s to many happy sailing days ahead for you! ::cheers::
Pat…umm…crap! Well, I’ll have to look into it a bit more, but I thought you could go there. Seems I’ve read a few accounts of people’s trips there…
Cheffy: Aaawww, flattery will get you everywhere.
Zyz, WTF?
Shanin, the boats sell out faster than they can produce them, they’re that popular. So, I have to wait in line with the rest of the bums. Oh well, I don’t think I’d do too much sailing in the next few months anyway.
OK, how in the fuck is this thread not about oral sex?!?!?!
Never the less, congrats Demo!
crosses fingers hoping for an invite
Looks like a cherry little rig too! I think its all a cover for Demo’s smuggling cartel, but I won’t tell as long as he keeps me primed with Tequila and bikini clad dopers.
That is a very nice boat Demo. I went sailing this past summer for the first time and I had a blast. Here’s to many happy sailing days ahead for you! ::cheers::