People often wonder what it takes to actually get a boat and go sailing. Everyone's story is different: some people plan for years before even starting to look for a boat; then there's us. I met Charlie in June 1999. In August 2000 I signed the closing papers on a 43' sailing catamaran which had spent 7 years in charter, and we sailed her from Ft. Lauderdale to Bridgeport CT, staying out of sight of land for 9 days straight except for a 2 hour stop for fuel in Beaufort, NC. This was probably the most uneventful voyage we have ever undertaken on S/V "Blue Star".

We had a teaching captain and his mate, wonderful people from South Africa, with us for the trip, a good idea since I'd never been on a sailboat and Charlie had owned a small sailboat for 2 years 30 years ago, which he'd sailed on Lake Ontario. I was also amazed to learn that I was actually very unhappy when we stopped in Beaufort; I'd rather have stayed out on the ocean. That trip was the only education we, mainly Charlie, received on how to operate and maintain a boat that is the equivalent of a small city in that it has separate electrical, sewage, plumbing and fuel lines in addition to the 2 engines and 2 sails.

We had the boat hauled over the winter with the idea of working on her on weekends, but it snowed so much that winter that all we ended up doing was removing the snow every weekend. Of course the boat was built for warmer latitudes so many lines froze and broke, keeping us busy especially as the weather warmed up.

On April 30, 2001 Charlie had sold his business, I had sold my house, and we moved aboard Blue Star, now back in the water, along with a German Shepherd and 5 cats. The next day we picked up our new crew, another couple from South Africa but very young - only in their 20's, and moved them aboard as well. We completed the last repair jobs and had our official Bon Voyage party on May 4. May 8 Star, the German Shepherd, fell off the boat while we were running errands. He was rescued but had hurt one ankle. An omen? Quite possibly. Nevertheless we set sail from Cedar Marina in Bridgeport CT the next day, May 9.

To be continued.