After starting out with a 24'
pocket cruiser in the '70s, my late wife and I decided to take the plunge and buy a 45'
bluewater cruising
boat to
live aboard, with the intent of long range cruising later in life.
Well, we lived aboard for 9 years, raced the
boat to
Bermuda once, did one coastwise
passage to
Florida, but spent most of the first 20 years we owned her cruising within the confines of the
Chesapeake Bay. Quite honestly, we never could afford to maintain a boat that size to the standard that I would have liked to (despite doing most
work myself), and the small business my wife started never afforded her the time to do much serious cruising. Eventually, she developed a progressive form of MS which kept her paraplegic for 12 years until she passed. I should have
sold that boat as soon as Pat got sick, but I stupidly held onto it -- trying not to let the dream die -- and it got little use while I cared for her. Owned that albatross for 32 years.
Now in my late '60s, retired and remarried, I've been overjoyed to downsize drastically.
Sold the big, old
cutter a year ago and bought a wonderful little 19' Menger catboat with an inboard
diesel. Trailerable, but heavy... we kept the boat in the
water all season and just use the
trailer for the
winter haul-out. Weekend cruising on the Chesapeake last summer brought back the joy of simple sailing for me. Just wish I had downsized sooner.
As a retired
engineer, however, I'm cursed with a drive to be continually improving things. The Menger 19 was equipped with rudimentary accommodations designed for overnighting, but I'd like to
cruise her a bit more seriously. So... the PortaPotty (I hate those things with a passion) is getting the deep six for a
marine head, and I'm already building a more practical
galley. Pretty soon it will be a neat
pocket cruiser a la Coop's.
Really need to walk a fine line, though, to avoid over-complicating things, as simplicity is the key to enjoying a successful downsizing.