and so it begins...

By Sailor Keddy -
Houses, are but badly built boats so firmly aground that you cannot think of moving them. They are definitely inferior things, belonging to the vegetable not the animal world, rooted and stationary, incapable of gay transition. I admit, doubtfully, as exceptions, snail-shells and caravans. The desire to build a house is the tired wish of a man content thenceforward with a single anchorage. The desire to build a boat is the desire of youth, unwilling yet to accept the idea of a final resting-place. - Arthur Ransome

The thought and desire to buy a boat evolved over the course of learning to sail over the past few years. It all really began to take shape in early September when my friend Anna gave me a copy of Sailing Alone Around the World by Capt. Joshua Slocum. It gave me the thought that circumnavigation was not impossible, and after doing some research, I found it was something quite a few people do.

Fast forward a few months, and I am now the proud owner of a Columbia 34 MK II. There are stories of her doing circumnavigations, one of the best is Roy Wessbecher on hisBreta. I do not plan on doing something that grand in scale for at least a few years, while I figure out how to handle this thing in all conditions of weather and sea and make sure she is properly outfitted.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention her name. I may be getting ahead of myself, since the renaming ceremony has not taken place, but she will be called the Winchelsea. I don't have any pictures of her just yet, so for now, this will have to suffice. It is the same model, with the flat deck and "bubble top" design.




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