Saturday, September 27, 2014

Our First Post

It has been years coming, and it is now finally happening for us. My name is Chris and my fiance is Joyce. We have had our sailboat, a Manta 38 catamaran named Saltrun, for 18 months and have finally just completed our first sail on her! She needed some work when we got her, and a lot is still left to do of course, but that will never end. We did some big refit things, and a lot of little things too, and she is looking pretty good. That just leaves the sailing part... we are newbies at the whole sailing thing. Think sergeant Shultz on the TV show Hogans Hero. "We know Nothing". Well, that is not entirely true. We spent a week on a catamaran learning to sail, but that was 3 years ago. I honestly can't remember a lot about last month, let alone 3 years ago. We do remember some of the basics though.
Red running, blue standing.
Got it.

6 comments:

  1. Good to see the blog up and running - stick with it, I look forward to reading about your boat and adventures.

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    1. Thanks Kevin, we are looking forward to some good times. Hope you can join us along the way!

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  2. Looks like you are heading in the right direction.
    Sergeant Shultz saw a lot more than he expected, and I am sure that you both will also experience the same along the way.
    Enjoy, and hope to see you out there one day. You are a couple of steps ahead of me.

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  3. Thanks for the comment. What type boat do you have? We are still learning about our boat, and how to sail it, but that is part of the fun!
    Chris

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  4. Congratulations on your blog and the (relatively) new and exciting chapter in your lives! I am looking forward to following your blog and channel.
    I just found your blog and from what I have read, you and Joyce are about 5-6 years ahead of my wife and I in planning to follow your adventure seeking path. I was particularly intrigued by your mention of a week long trip to St. Thomas to charter a cat for a crash sailing course and wondered about your overall thoughts. I currently have a small, 24' open bow "Deck" boat we use on lakes in AZ, and I have sailed and raced Hobie Cats, quite a few years ago. I would like to be able to charter a 44' cat in the BVI's to get some experience but need to qualify my "seamanship" in order to to do so. Would you recommend this to be the best way to start off?
    Thanks for any advice and direction. Fair winds and full sails as your journey continues.

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    1. pwboater,
      I am glad you are "aboard"! Welcome. I would HIGHLY recommend a sailing course specific to catamarans if possible. It does not need to be in the BVI's, but hey, since it Could be there, then why not? We are not the ones to ask about sailing techniques, but we do know that cats are sailboats of a different sort. By that I mean there are differences in the way you sail, the way you tack, the way you properly anchor, etc. If you can learn this close to home, then great. If you are going to have to travel somewhere to learn it, the Virgin Islands are a sailors paradise. We spent a week with Fairwinds sailing school with a captain named Gary, and one other couple, on a 45 foot Robertson Caine catamaran. We earned 4 certifications through the American Sailing Association which allows us to charter a catamaran, which we never did. We bought one instead. I cant remember how much it cost, but for both of us, it was cheaper than a week stay just about anywhere in the islands, and we got to sail around and see them by water! It was a win-win for us, and since we did our course in late March, we ended our winter early.
      Good Luck!

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