Another boat?

My lovely wife was put off of sailing for a bit. Surviving a shipwreck can have that effect on people. However, a week later we were on a cruise boat to the Bahamas. She saw a really nice little sailboat at the marina in Freeport that had come all the way from Texas. She could picture herself on such a boat. While sitting on the beach at the resort, we couldn't help but check out the navigational markers and channels. There's a good chance that another sailboat is in our future.

Of course, we still have our little Oday 19. We couldn't live on it for as long as we did on the Ranger 23, but we wouldn't have to. The Oday is a trailer sailor. Next winter could be a mixture of sailing and camping in our converted ambulance/camper. There is something to be said for using the stuff we already own.

I don't regret buying the Ranger. We had a couple good months of sailing. It was great for my health and mental state. After my dad passed I had to do something to clear my mind. It's too bad we lost the boat but it was good for me while it lasted.

One of things that we learned from this boat is that the Gulf side of Florida is best sailed with a shallow draft boat. Four feet of draft was too much for the way we wanted to sail. Live and learn. On the flip side, that keel was one of the reasons that boat sailed so darn well. That performance will be missed. Should we buy another boat, it will need to be both shallow draft and fast.

In the near term we will have to get our finances back under control. The last 5 months blew the heck out of our budget. It's time to build up the savings and clear a few bills. We've got to act fast before the boat buying bug hits us hard once more.

-Sixbears