My family and I moved to Olympia from the desert about 7 years ago. We came for a job opportunity and the chance to live somewhere my husband, Eric, and I had always liked. Until we got here, I had never been on a sailboat.
Eric grew up on the water in Utah, fishing and boating with his family on their home-built pontoon boat and other miscellaneous water craft, and finally on a MacGregor sailboat that he and his dad towed home from Newport, CA with their Volkswagen van. I, however, had only been on a powerboat one or two times in my entire life! After Eric and I were married, we bought an old 20 ft. powerboat that we towed up to the lakes with our Jeep wrangler. The boat weighed more than the Jeep and usually did the steering for us.
The first winter we were in Olympia, I won a day of sailing at a silent auction. Gary Zerbst of Infinity had generously donated this prize to a Sub for Santa auction. Eric loved the water and we were new in town and anxious to get to know people. I thought this would be a great way for him to spend some free time. I really didn’t understand what I had gotten us into.
After that first race on Infinity, Eric was hooked! He raced as often as he could and whenever Gary would have him. Then the “we need a sailboat” litany started. Eric has figured out that the best way to get what he wants is to wear me down with the asking. I am taking some liberty here as this really was a joint decision. As soon as I, sort of, agreed, he started looking in earnest for a boat. I thought we were going to get a small boat. I had no idea how to sail and I didn’t think I had any business on anything much bigger than our powerboat, remember 20 feet.
So we started our search. Okay, what really happened is Eric started looking, and looking, and searching the internet; and dragging me down to the docks. I really enjoyed going to the docks but, don’t tell Eric that. Boats are really very beautiful and it really isn’t that bad spending a summer evening walking by the water. But I didn’t like the internet searches that kept him up to midnight and had him calling me at 2330 to “look at just this one more boat.”
My vision of our first boat was right out of Sail Magazine. You know the one I am talking about. Gleaming white decks, maybe some teak. The immaculate interior with storage for everything and real sheets on the bed. Corian countertops, a real fridge and the nice wrap-around settee. Of course, it also had a huge cockpit where we could sit with five of our closest friends, sipping cocktails, while Eric sailed with legs spread, hands on the shiny wheel, with perfectly trimmed sails.
Our first attempt to purchase a sailboat did not go well. Eric’s father had told us about a boat that was for sale up at John Wayne Marina in Sequim. Eric thought it sounded interesting and took off one weekend to take a look. I never saw that boat even though we were literally hours from buying it when the sale fell apart.
Fortunately that first boat deal fell through. I say fortunately because we found our Destiny on spur of the moment decision to walk the docks at Boat Haven in Port Angeles. She wasn’t really for sale and only had a very small, faded sign in the port window that said “in case of emergency, call…” She was covered in tarps and had plenty of green around the edges. I didn’t think it looked too big. All those fishing boats around it were much bigger.
Our first day out was quite a lesson for me. My mother and in-laws joined us. My father in law and Eric were our only skilled crew that day. I had never been so scared in my life. I had no idea what to do and everything Eric said to me made no sense. There wasn’t a single “sheet” on deck that I could see.
I tell people that people that Eric and I went through phases as we learned to work together. First there was the crying phase, me not him. Then the swearing phase, me and him. And then we tried to work with hand signals; I used one particular one several times. Over time we have figured things out. We divided the responsibilities and learned where each of us had strengths. We worked out departing from the dock and returning to the dock. He’s a great skipper and I am getting better at trimming sails. We work together to navigate through new areas and thick fog. We’ve come up with jobs for the kids and rewards when they do well. We cherish the time together as a family.
Susan Bishop, Destiny II