The Odyssey Begins

We Finally Did It...

We got a sailboat! She's a day cruiser.. with some years on her (much like me) but she is in very good shape (here's where I must admit she's in better shape than I am, though I am working on it again Mom!). She's a shorty, 19' Com-Pac with tiller. Made here in Clearwater. A boat with a great rep. We're naming her the Gullywhumper II. I can't tell you how excited I am. For those who have known me awhile, you know that I have always wanted to sail.. Back in the early 80's I tried like crazy to get friends together to charter a boat with captain and crew down in the islands, with no luck. In the mid 90's I took some sailing classes (basic, celestial navigation etc..) in Atlanta/Lake Lanier with the idea I would take a year off and part of that year was to be spent crewing on one of those vacation yachts down in the islands. I met MDH and we went to Nepal instead...not a bad trade off... but still the desire remained..

MDH and I got ASA certified in Basic Keelboat/ Basic Coastal/Bareboat Chartering in 2002 on a wonderful Catalina 30. It was a great boat to get certified on and to let us know what may lie in store for the future, when we're down to 1 dog..

Anyway, back to Gullywhumper II... I will try and post our adventures in sailing here..Those who remember when I would want to strangle MDH in the raft (affectionately known as the Gullywhumper I) as we were getting our river legs on the Ocoee/Nantahala might note I anticipate "smoother sailing" (I couldn't resist!) with him here as he definitely has much more sailing experience than moi and I will very much take the student role until I get my sailing legs...but you never know, I can be quite the hard head..

She is located at the marina that is nearest to us here in Hudson and right next to our favorite place for beer, Hudson Beach. How convenient is that? We purchased her from the marina's owner who had her for over 10 years. He's got to be in his 70's and he took wonderful care of her. She has just had her bottom sanded and painted, if only I could do that with my bottom! We are getting slip space in the water for 125.00/month less than the going rate around the area here. Maybe a perk from the owner? MDH is off to West Marine. I am sure it will soon be a regular stop like Wal Mart. He will grab some sailboat wax and will wax her over the next couple of days and we should be sailing by next weekend..Door to Gulf should be 1 hour or so... not bad if I say so myself...She should be the ideal boat for my learning experience. Okay I must stop or else I will lose friends and family!!! If you are interested in the Odyssey, bookmark this page or subscribe to the rss feed and I hope I can provide a laugh or two...and maybe even some pictures!