The Right Boat For Every Season

Many boaters experience the cycle of “stepping up” to progressively larger vessels, before eventually downsizing to something simpler and easier to manage. My wife, Maria, and I are no different. Most remain with similar types of boats, such as sailboats or powercruisers because that’s their comfort zone. We’ve been through this evolution ourselves, but even Maria didn’t see the next chapter coming.

After a lifetime of boating on both coasts – including 15 years of owning and living part-time aboard two different Nordhavn trawlers in San Diego, California – the time to downsize didn’t arrive unexpectedly. Maria and I were starting to spend less time on the boat as we focused on different projects, including a new home. While Maria was ready to retire from boating totally, I wasn’t, so I needed to find something that would keep me on the water.

Trust The Process

To help determine the best type of boat, I returned to a true and proven process we’ve used over our 40 years together – what I call the “90% rule.” This process forces us to focus on how the boat will be used and who will be aboard 90% of the time. Because I would be using the boat solo and during relaxing sunny afternoon cruises in protected waters, the list of required amenities was short. A desire for reduced operating expenses and enjoying different ports led me to consider a boat I could trailer. But the idea of trailering a boat took me full circle back to when we started boating together in the 1980s aboard our 21-foot Mako. I look at this as the boating life cycle, reaching for the next larger boat before reversing course and seeking simplicity.

What followed was a two-year boat search that included various styles and designs, and unexpectedly led me in a different direction. I found myself researching sailboats and thinking, “What if I changed course and learned to sail?” When I told Maria about this idea, she looked at me, shook her head no, and said she was sure I would kill myself.

Despite this lack of spousal encouragement, I continued studying different types of small sailboats, using the rule mentioned above. This process eventually narrowed down the results to sailboats with a centerboard that can be raised for trailering. The more I searched, the more I started to appreciate early designs, leading me to builders in New England. Things were starting to get exciting.

Course Correction

After talking with various builders, I selected the 15-foot Sandpiper daysailer for its wide beam and easy setup. Built by Marshall Marine in South Dartmouth, Massachusetts, the boat offers a unique hinged mast, allowing for simple rigging prior to launching. Soon after the boat arrived, my first challenge was to locate someone to install the sail and halyards, which I found a little intimidating.

In the meantime, an unexpected level of excitement resulted with my first ride without sails. I had selected an unusual side mount for the electric Torqeedo (3-hp equivalent) motor, leaving the transom untouched and less likely to interfere with the sail. I was more than pleased when the Sandpiper cruised easily at 4 to 5 knots, using less than 50% of available power, even with the centerboard fully extended! As an added bonus, the craftsmanship of the fiberglass hull, paint, and wood trim on a boat design from the late 1800s is a rarity on this coast, so I’m often asked about the boat and its builder – and receive compliments every time I take the boat out.

After a few trips under power, I contracted with an experienced sailor and delivery captain to install the sail and give me a sailing lesson. It’s hard to explain the feeling I had the first time I turned off the motor after raising the sail and felt the breeze push us quietly over the ocean swells. WOW! During that first sail, I thought to myself, “Why didn’t I try this years ago?”

Earning My Stripes

Fast forward about nine months, and I was feeling comfortable with sailing solo inside the protected waters of California’s Oceanside Harbor with its small bay. While I wasn’t yet ready to take on serious breezes or go outside into open ocean, I did pass one test of my limited sailing skills. While motoring out from the marina to the small bay where I practice, I noticed the ocean swells entering the bay were larger than normal.

My standard procedure is to motor toward the inlet before turning away and into the wind, where I raise the sail. Due to the large swells, I gave myself a little extra room, but as I turned away from the jetty – the motor died. Within seconds, the current was pushing me toward the rocks. Despite wearing my life jacket and being able to swim to the jetty if things turned ugly, I didn’t want to lose the boat. This was the second time in a month the motor had quit, and while I knew the reset procedure, there was no guarantee it would work. I was hesitant to anchor in case it didn’t hold, and there wasn’t enough time to call for help. So I made the decision to raise the sail, while praying the lines would not get tangled, and the wind direction remained in my favor.

Someone was looking out for this novice sailor as I raised the sail about halfway before tying off the lines, returned to the back of the boat, and turned the tiller hard to port, allowing the wind to carry me past the rocks with less than 20 feet of clearance. A lifetime of boating combined with remaining calm, quick thinking, and sticking with my decision paid off.

Thinking back over our boating experience, this was the third time I lost power underway and the closest I’d come to disaster. Having a second source of power – something we had on our Nordhavn trawlers and once relied on when we lost main engine power in a busy harbor – cannot be overrated. I never imagined a sail would become my second source of power and save the day.

Epilogue

I had the motor fixed (bad circuit card) and worked to further sharpen my sailing skills. Eventually, though, I sold the Sandpiper due to health reasons associated with the physical demand that goes with a small daysailer. Soon after the boat sold, I changed course once again and contracted with Contrelle Boatbuilders in Maine to build an 11-foot rowing boat I use for exercise. My appreciation for the skills and workmanship required to build a high-quality wood boat led me to yet another project: designing my own boat. While this effort is well underway, that’s a story for another day.