Date: 20 June 2015. Cruising in
Tandem.
© janice142
Boat brokers used to be totally male-centric.
They believed their typical buyer was a man, successful in life. The
ideal prospect wished to get out here and become Captain Courageous.
And gosh, there is a boat just for you Cap'n. Marked down this week
and probably about to be snapped up by a discerning guy...
And then there was me. Over fifty,
grey hair, the wrong gender, not much money and wanting more than
the glossy stuff shown online. When shopping for Seaweed
many brokers would not answer queries from Janice. When I would
resend the exact same note signing "Janice (and Frank)" I
would get a
response.
Meet Frank:
I played the game and got what I
wanted, i.e. information about various boats I might buy. Brokers
would be wise to not judge by a name. Not all brokers were less than
stellar.
Only one boat brand and size
interested me in the end. Thus the views about boat brokers stated in this article are not
wide-ranging statistically. It would have been better to have shopped
for a boat where more than six were built. That certainly limited my
choices.
If you are a lady
wanting to buy a boat: Congratulations!
There are a surprising number of
women afloat who are single or start out so. Just like the guy with
a big yacht, a girl with a boat is a sort of aphrodisiac for the men
folk.
It's a rough life, but someone has
to do it. And truly just make sure your boat meets
Mother's
requirements: The ideal boat
sleeps two, feeds four and drinks six.
The boat Daddy built that I grew up
aboard is 40'. She meets Mother's requirements plus one as I did
have my own cabin.
My Seaweed does half that. She
sleeps one, feeds two and drinks three... sometimes I might wish I
had
opted for a bit larger, you know? There are some interesting fellows
in the world however they won't fit onboard Seaweed. Thus, they need
their own boat.
Cruising in tandem sounds just
about perfect to me. I have my privacy, my domain, and so too would
my fellow. Presuming the little dresses I have taken to wearing
actually work their magic.
Eliza described them to me and
she's right. Her article is here:
Dresses and Yeses.
I would love to know how things are going with Eliza. Perhaps she will
write again. Hint to Eliza: Where are you? What are you doing? And
with whom or is that too presumptuous? Details, girl. I live
vicariously through you!
End Bunny Trail. (A bunny trail is what Kidlet calls it when I wander
off the topic at hand.)
Cruising in tandem means that two
boats are heading the same way and follow along as a pair. Sometimes
two boats, sometimes more but all heading in the same general
direction. This makes for a good social life when stopping at
marinas where you would normally be destined to be the newest arriving
stranger.
When cruising it's fun to socialize with fellow
boaters.
And for those of us at anchor, a pot-luck dinner
aboard a friend's
boat is always a welcome respite.
Bear and Drew came by one night for clams and rice.
They brought some wonderful garlic bread.
However when cruising in tandem I might suggest that you look
outside your group to others. Get on the VHF and say "hello" or hop
in your dinghy and explore. Local knowledge can be gained from the
boats already there before you.
And besides, you might meet
someone interesting that can help you with a dilemma. By the same
token, it is quite possible something you know may help another
boater.
I met Belle O' The Bay, a
beautiful 44' Hatteras when anchored back in Saul Creek. Terry and
her husband and
Jeff printed and passed along charts (with compass headings) for the
next leg of my trip. And their well-behaved Yorkie named Belle certainly enamored my
Skipper.
We had a lovely visit too. Thank you again for the
charts. They were a big help.
More on the status of the engine
work in the upcoming 24 June article.
Have you ever traveled in tandem with another family?
And, was the trip long or of short duration?
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