Dreaming in Delaware

[gwmort]

Hello All!

I've been lurking for sometime and am finally getting around to registering.

Hi my name is [gwmort] and I want to sail away.

I'm a 37 yr old attorney in Delaware (USA, yes its a state). As a kid I was always interested in the sea. First real book I remember reading was Treasure Island. I tried to get on the water as much as possible on vacations and things (flipped a sunfish upside down in Disneyworld as a teenager). I went to St. Mary's College of Maryland and took a basic sailing class and loved it. I enlisted in the Navy around the time of the first Gulf War, not sailing but I loved crossing the Atlantic a few times, even if I was in the engine room most of the time.

Life took me away from the water for a while with finishing college and law school, starting my family, etc... Then I bought a 18 ft Hobie beach cat. I loved it ad got out when I could, but found it took to long to take it somewhere and set it up and launch it, then break it down and haul it back, so most of my very limited free time was spent with tasks other than sailing.

Then I went to law school and the limited free time disappeared. I sold the Hobie knowing I wouldn't be able to buy another boat til I can afford to keep it in the water during the season, not there yet.

I don't have any formal certifications and its been about 18 years since that course in college so I plan on going for some ASA courses over the next couple seasons so I can then qualify to take the family on some bareboat charters without the cost of a captain.

My dream is to complete a circumnavigation on a cruising catamaran. I will not be able to do that until I retire, the odds of coming back and re-entering the law seem poor to me. So for the next 21 years until I am 59.5 I will be learning and chartering and mostly dreaming.

But someday I am going to join you who are wandering the sea. I'm going to sell out and ship off. I am taking all practical steps I can to prepare, and my wife is completely sold on the idea. However, my biggest fear is that I'll become one of those people who spend their whole life dreaming but then succumb to the demands of the mundane.

I cried in the Pixar movie "Up" when the wife died without ever seeing Paradise Falls. That won't be me.

[Ocean Girl]

Don't wait go now..or wait and go when ya can either way, have fun and hope you fulfill your dream.
Erika

[gwmort]

Thank you for the encouragement. I'm getting out there as soon as I can.

[BubbleHeadMd]

You know, I can see the point of bareboat charters if the goal is to get down to the V.I.'s for some sunny, gorgeous sailing, especially if you're desperate for a winter escape, but you live in Delaware.

There's great sailing right where you live. If you have the time, buy a boat and sail the $hit out of it now. If you don't have the time to buy and maintain a boat, crew on someone else's racing boat. You will LOVE it.

[gwmort]

I recognize that, I do. When I had the Hobie I had tons of fun locally.

The rub is that 'if you have the time' part, I just don't. Lack of time led to my selling the Hobie, and lack of money is holding me back from getting something easier to use time wise. I'd love to crew on something, but I think my exceptionally limited available time and relative lack of skills wouldn't make me very attractive to a skipper.

I am going to take the certification classes in Annapolis, and I anticipate my first few forays into bareboating will be in the chesapeake, eventually expanding to more exotic locales (and winter escapes).

[BubbleHeadMd]

Eh, not necessarily. My boat has more crew than are actually allowed onboard per racing rules. Several people are unable to commit to every race due to family or work issues, so there's always a body that can step in when needed. That's the kind of boat you need to find.

[inSanity]

Keep dreaming. Buy that boat. Working 60 hour weeks as an attorney is boot camp, required, but you need your own time.

We have new attorneys in the office who have NO leisure time whatsoever for the first few years of their lives. Once they become partners, things don't change that much.
You have to make/take time for yourself.

Happy Sailing

[thinwater]

My blog has some Delaware and Chesapeake stuf on it you might like.

This is a trip report about sailing around the Delmarva.
Sail Delmarva: Trip Report - 2009 Delmarva Circumnavigation.

I started out with a beach cat too. A great starting point.

As for the time thing, you need to solve that. I wouldn't put all you dreams in the future. You could get arthritis (my wife did) or the dream you waited for may not be what you thought (sailing around the world may not happen). Get a smaller boat and sail NOW.

BTW, nothing is easier on time than a Hobie. Boats in slips may look simple, but the maintanance is much more time intensive. I know.

[slomotion]

I agree with inSanity - those who know me are not surprised. Some of the most common boat names we encountered cruising in the Bahamas/Caribbean were "Sabatical" and "Leave of Absence."

[inSanity]

I know one lawyer I used to work for who is tooling around somewhere in the Bahamas in a sailboat. While still here, he lived at a marina in a nice condo and would spend month-long vacations up in the San Juans.

He was always in good spirits.

Working on that myself. I think sailing will help me get more down to earth.

I launch on Monday, 24 May.

[Mambo]

Welcome aboard gwmort! As a fellow lawyer, I have absolutely no sympathy for your work situation -- change it or embrace it. Making plans for 21 years from now is silly. Kids, death, medical condition, second wife or mistress with other needs or demands. You have clients -- you know better. (okay that's a little harsh, but what do you expect from another lawyer -- all warm and fuzzy?)

I am looking to take 3 years and cruise -- and I am essentially closing down my practice to do it. Killing 2 birds with one stone you might say -). Sometimes when I go to the boat to work on it, I just laugh -- I haven't laughed in joy at an inanimate object since . . . well, since before law school! You know what the best part is, I am planning to take 3 years, but although I am not retiring, I know I won't be coming back -- not to this sort of practice and this sort of lifestyle. At least for me, cruising is a chance to return to a more vibrant lifestyle where you do what you love and make new opportunities along the way. There is incalculable value to doing what you love to do -- not simply in terms of satisfaction but also in the opportunities which seem to open up to you when you are happily engaged.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think you have to go cruising full-time in order to enjoy sailing -- I had a beachcat at the (new) jersey shore and often in Broadkill DE too. I loved it -- sailed it across the bay a couple times. Still, if you really want to cruise full-time don't make it a distant dream -- it will never be the *practical* or *prudent* choice. You might as well be imprudent sooner rather than later while you can still enjoy it!

Wow, where did that come from? -). Enough with the undeserved brow beating, I am on the hard in Philly at the moment (probably until early July) but once I am back in, you and your wife are welcome to come sailing and get some time on the water. Also, the lewis sailing club and the rehobeth bay sailing club are both great places to get on the water without the hassles of boat ownership.

-M

[Mambo]

Originally Posted by Ocean Girl

Don't wait go now..or wait and go when ya can either way, have fun and hope you fulfill your dream.
Erika

See, now that is just so much nicer! Why can't I be like that?

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha and welcome aboard!
Go as quickly as you can.
Thanks for your service. I got out of the enginerooms as quick as I could but landed on the deck force for a couple years.
regards,