Bulldogs

This winter has been bitingly cold with the tenacity of a bulldog. 

Frontal weather systems, often days apart, whip icy Antarctic air across the country as they hurry through heading east. Naturally I suppose, the memories of warm water, crystal clear lapping along the hull, the sandy sensation of salt crystals forming on my skin as the last damp traces of ocean blow away and feeling on my neck the following breeze: Caribbean cool and steady.

There is romance in that lifestyle. Snowbirds own multiple homes and follow the sun. Living on a yacht your home goes along for the ride.

I also remembered that the romantic lifestyle wasn’t all that. The ocean is capricious, at times temperamental and always to be treated with the respect that she deserves. Forget that and life is going to be a lot briefer than you anticipated. 

“There are old sailors and there are bold sailors. There are no old bold sailors.” No idea who said that, but it holds true regardless.

Many of the deliveries I made were 40 – 50-foot catamarans built in Cape Town. Often after reaching our destination an ocean away, experienced watermen were not hesitant to explain why the most stable position for the shallow draft multi-hull I had spent more than a month guiding, was upside-down. That is why there was an escape hatch low in the hull.

The yachts I fetched from France had been moved from the yards to the quaint west coast port of Le Sables’ D-Olonne. Those were mono-hull yachts with deep weighted keels offering a quiet sense of security. 

Catamarans don’t heel when sailing to windward. The shallow draft opens thousands of otherwise inaccessible anchorages. They offer more space. But I have never been aboard a catamaran that would make me change my vote. The best designed blue water cruisers have a single hull.