There’s no need to change our snug convertible just yet
Issue 38 : Sept/Oct 2004
Not long ago I read in one of the many books about living aboard that we should want to own a boat with separate eating and sleeping quarters if we plan to live aboard. That would be nice, I agree. I think about that every time we turn the table into a bed and the bed back into a table. I particularly think about it when Jerry jokes about having the ultimate Transformer toy. (Remember the kids’ toys that clicked into and back from all kinds of interesting things?) Pretty soon, he says, we’ll turn the boat into a car and drive it home. How hard could that be? It already shares many attributes with RVs.
I like our boat. Must I buy a newer or larger one to live aboard? It’s tight living space for two in 30 feet, I admit. Even though we don’t live aboard, we do spend weeks at a time aboard. And when we do vacation aboard, we make the bed into a table and the table into a bed several times a day. We never think of it as a hardship, but rather as a source of comedic relief. We get more out of our limited spaces because they’re convertible. Our boat is like having a studio apartment . . . a bit small, perhaps, but more affordable, a little quaint, and definitely lovable.
Trade our boat in for something larger, something more comfortable below but less maneuverable on the water? I think not. Our home away from home is the best compromise for our current set of sailing needs. We’ll keep our Transformer toy just as long as we can appreciate the humor in the situation. That could be for many, many years to come.
Good old regattas
The first-ever Swiftsure Classics Race, sponsored by Good Old Boat in May of this year, was a great success. There were 16 competitors in this new division of a well-respected yacht race. The winner of the Good Old Boat Trophy was Bob Bentham with his boat, Dystocia.
Meanwhile the Good Old Boat Regatta in Annapolis hosted by the Shearwater Sailing Club, now in its fifth year, has grown beyond all expectations. This year’s two-Saturday event is set for October 2 and 9.
Another new classic race, the Heritage Series for Good Old Boats, is running during four weekends of September and October in New York and Connecticut, beginning with the Governor’s Cup Regatta in Essex, Connecticut, on Sept. 11 and concluding with the Race Rock Regatta Classic Weekend Oct. 1-3 in Stonington, Connecticut.
Thank you to Sailrite Enterprises, Inc., for providing free access to back issues of Good Old Boat through intellectual property rights. Sailrite.com
