VA Boy Cordially Introduces His Wife, Leslie

[speakeasy]

Originally Posted by virginia boy

Tellie, when I show her pictures of potential boats that's mainly what she cares about. The galley, the head and how they're decorated. Hell, if she wanted to paint the whole dogone boat pink it wouldn't matter to me. How is it that no matter how hard I try to take command, it's always the wife who has the final say?

Well, there is pink and then there is PINK. If I can figure out how to upload a pic, I'll show you the rig of an Aussie girl aiming to be the youngest around.

Re your earlier ?, I was a jarhead '64 - '71.

[virginia boy]

Originally Posted by speakeasy

there is pink and then there is PINK.

I was a jarhead '64 - '71.

OMG! I've heard of boat interiors described as clorox bottles, but this !? Pepto Bismol bottle? It's kinda soothing though aint it?

Thank you for your service sir. (P.S. It probably wasn't your fault that you weren't army...heh heh)

[windsaloft]

Go Army!!! Hoo-rah! :=) ('83-'91)
VA Boy - great to read this, you and Leslie sound like a good match. Keep going, keep posting.

[TikiCat]

(Here are some thoughts from a guy who married a non-sailor and 25 years later she still likes to go out on our boat.)
1. Be kind to your wife especially when you're out on the boat. Since it's supposed to be fun, and since it's an uncertain thing for her, you must work to make it pleasant. Two little walkie talkies with strings to hang them on your necks will permit you to talk to her from bow to stern so you NEVER have to yell at her. Sound like a Air Force pilot when you talk to her - cool, confident and unafraid (no matter how you feel). She needs you to exude confidence. A rum drink at sundown will also probably help - especially if it has an umbrella in it. Then you can laugh together about the screwups.
2. Buy a used boat and hold off on the toys until you have enough experience to know what you and she will consider essential. She absolutely must feel comforted that you don't intend her to be destitute when she reaches retirement age. (By the way, an autopilot and GPS will become essential very quickly.) Show her you can control yourself at West Marine and you don't intend to dump money at every itch.
3. Look at used catamarans. After passing through 4 monohulls together, we finally ended up with an older Gemini 3200, and she is ecstatic about it. (Of course it's considered a coastal boat, but the Florida Keys & Bahamas can be pretty sweet for a goodly number of years.) It doesn't heel. It has a full-size queen berth - none of this vee berth footsie stuff. It has plenty of room in the main saloon. It has an expansive foredeck to camp out on with your sundowners. She's crazy about it (as am I). There happens to be a Gemini 34 named Reflections over at Herrington Harbor. It looked nice when it was for sale three of four years ago. I don't think it sold (since it has the same name and is now looking very rundown). The office'll probably give you the name of the owner if you want to call him about it.
Enjoy your sailing life together!
John Nicholson
Tiki Cat Gemini 3200 #374

[virginia boy]

Thanks Tikicat I'm impressed with the kindness and wisdom evident in your response to me regarding my wife and me. You obviously love your wife a great deal and I'm going to attempt to follow your advice. My behavior when sailing with Leslie is not as bad as I made it to be. I love my wife and I don't really yell at her. but I am not a patient teacher and so I think it best that she learn the basics from someone else. I'll just try to make it fun as you suggested.

RE: Gemini, I have been looking at multihulls, but for various reasons I probably will go with a mono. It's too early to say for sure of course; but, it will most likely be an older Morgan 33 or something similar. I'm looking at $35,000 max. (including tax LOL!) and that's if it's in sailable condition. If I have to add self steering I gotta drop my price. I know that I'm not going to get a lotta boat for that but I can put $1500.00 month into the boat until she's ready. When I buy her I want to be able to immediatly sail at least around the bay.
Thanks again and I hope we get a chance to meet someday while cruising. Eric

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha and Welcome aboard!
Best advice I can give you is don't try to scare the wife by heeling over too far or going out in bad weather. I've seen a lot of men sailing alone because of it.
Retired Navy here. I guess Army and Marines are ok. Never figured out how the Air Force could spend so much money on bases and quarters and still have money to fly around. And then there are the Coasties. Oh well, takes all kinds. : )
Thanks for serving. Much appreciated.
Kind regards

[Whispering Star]

Virgina Boy,
I am glad to see ya'll are doing it. My husband James and I started our venture 4 years ago. It really does go fast. We sold the farm and have found our dream here in Annapolis. 2200 miles later. We looked and looked at just about every boat on the market from Texas to California to Virgina. We had certain ideas about what we wanted. We make a check list and found the one we wanted. We made no comprise and low and behold she finally hit the market. Keep the dream and never give up.
It all works out in the end how it is suppose to be.

James & Trish