Growing Pains

[ttex]

My wife and I closed on our new Baba 35 last weekend and I had to get the boat from the broker's dock to our new marina.

Sounds easy enough.

Except....this is the second time we had ever been on a sailboat, much less be responsible for moving one.

It was parked at Watergate Marina on Clear Lake in Texas and I had to move it to Seabrook Marina.

I immediately got it stuck in mud because I had no idea where the channel was. Captain Richard of Towboat US was not impressed by me and I just wanted to crawl into my quarter birth and die. It didn't help that none of the instruments on the boat were working and I had no idea how deep it was.

I think I shat myself like a machine gun from start to finish. Wife was calm as a cucumber. Maybe she believes in me or something.

Ultimately, I was able to Captain Ron it into our slip. Quite impressed myself at the end.

We had the absolute time of our life!

[StuM]

Member of CF since June 2011 and only second time on a sailboat? What have you been doing with your life!
Congratulations on getting it home safely.

[S/V Illusion]

Warning : cliche post:

Lots of new sailors ‘don’t know how much they don’t know’.

It’s the ones who don’t care who are dangerous. We learn from our mistakes.

[john61ct]

No shame in asking for help, nor paying a captain for lessons.

Would've been better to start long before becoming captain yourself, gotta make up for lotsa lost time now, earn the admiral's trust.

But better late than never.

[laika]

Congrats! Docking and narrow channel maneuvering are the hardest parts! If you both had the time of your life and didn't hurt anymore, that's a pretty good definition of success Beautiful boat, btw.

[Tayana42]

ttex and Mrs. ttex, congratulations on buying a handsome and capable boat. That Baba is a fine design that should take good care of you while you learn. I hope you had a good surveyor go through everything before you bought her and so you probably know much of what needs to be done for her to be the great boat she should be. There are lots of systems on a complex cruising boat that you will need to learn to operate and eventually to maintain. Sailing or even motoring safely requires that you learn about your boat, rules of the road, costal navigation and ColRegs among many other things. The learning is all part of the fun. I also strongly recommend that you find a good instructor (or 2 instructors if your wife would do better separately with a woman instructor). A few lessons will jump start your learning and avoid the kind of troubles that can hinder your enjoyment. Best wishes and keep us apprised of your adventures.

[Pegu Club]

Well done, I won’t go into the time I hit the dock going quicker than I should have been going, or running a ground fifty yards from my morring ball, the deal is that you successfully moved to the new home and you indeed had the time of your life, again well done, the adventure has started!

Fair winds,

[nhschneider]

I think you’re being too hard on yourself. Of course, we all want to be professional at everything we do even if we’ve never done it before. On top of that, no one likes to make mistakes and I hate to break it to you but you’ll probably make a lot more. If it’s any consolation, I’ve been sailing over 55 years and I’m embarrassed at how many mistakes I still make. What I have developed a skill for is making my mistakes look intentional.

If I could make a suggestion: Use your boat as much as possible. The experience you gain will give you confidence. The misadventures you suffer through will likely become a source for a few good laughs.

You have more courage than most people.

Good luck, fair winds and calm seas.