04/10/07

Somewhere about 1988 Tony and Sandy sat down at the dinner table and developed a plan that would guide them to a point in their life when they could retire, relatively young, and go cruising along the coast of the Eastern United States, the Caribbean, Central America, and parts of South America.  Although the plan was created in 1988, we had both grown up playing along the Intracoastal Waterway of North Carolina and always wondered what living would be like on one of those sailboats going up and down the ICW.

The plan included raising three kids, completing a military career, and finding a beautiful boat both of us would love to call home.  The tentative date set for the cruising life to begin was January 8, 2001.  That date was based on getting the last kid into college and away from home.  As you can see we missed the date by almost 3 years, but you never know what your kids will do to mess with a plan. :-)

Our first sailboat was bought in 1978 while we were stationed at Ft. Devens, Massachusetts.  It was a Snark from Sears, but it was a sailboat.  Tony had done some sailing in Boy Scouts, but that was about it.  Our next big sailing event was attending a Red Cross Sailing Course in 1981 while stationed in Berlin, Germany.  There we really learned to sail, on the Wannsee River, in everything from Lasers to full size keel boats.

Our first real boat was bought in 1992, a new Classic 26.  This boat was built by the Classic Boat Company in Chanute, Kansas.  That’s right, Kansas.  A beautiful day sailer, she was built by a bunch of guys who simply loved building sailboats.  They bought the hull molds from Laguna when they went under, and completely redesigned the interior and deck.  We truly learned to sail with Slip-Away on Lake Clinton, Kansas until 1994, and then moved back to our former home in Brandon, FL, a suburb of Tampa.   There we sailed Slip-Away in Tampa Bay and really learned what it was like to sail on bay and gulf waters. 

In keeping with our plan we began looking for a bigger boat in 1999.  We searched high and low, spending many weekends walking boat yards.  We thought we could afford something in the 32- to 36-foot range.  Then in July of 2000 we found “our” boat—right in Bahia Beach Marina where we were keeping Slip-Away.  It was love at first sight. The boat was a beautifully well-maintained 39’ Mariner center cockpit sloop, Columbine.   

We spent all our spare time on Columbine during 2001 and 2002, refitting her and making sure she was ready for another cruising voyage.  She had already given her former owners 18 wonderful years living aboard. Our refit included rewiring the boat, installing a new head, a new Single Side Band and HAM radio system, a new refrigeration system, and last but not least repainting the bottom of the boat with anti-fouling paint.

We scheduled our sail date for the last week of November, 2003 and believe it or not we made it!  Of course we did not know at the time that the next several months would bring one of the coldest Florida winters in recent memory!

Tony and I have been so blessed.  We just celebrated 30 years of marriage, raised three fantastic kids, and are now getting the opportunity to retire at age 52 and cruise this beautiful world.  None of this would have been possible without God’s blessing and we want to give thanks to Him for allowing us to start this adventure.  May you be blessed also and enjoy visiting us from time to time to see how our adventure is progressing.