Is it weird that every time we get on the boat I want to start singing “I’m On a Boat”. I’ve only seen the Navy YouTube video of the song and I only remember the words “I’m On a Boat”, nothing more. Every time we step on board it goes through my head! Oh and if you are bored go look for the Navy video, it is hilarious!
So I’m a week late with this post but it is finally here. After several months of driving back and forth to Rock Hall, MD whenever we could find a free day or two (which is really hard when you work Saturdays) we finally brought her home! Who is she you might ask well she is our big honkin sailboat! Currently her name is Nat Rich and she hails from Ann Arbour, MI but soon she will be renamed The Ruff Life! Haha, get it, because we are dog people, haha. Okay I know it wasn’t really that funny. She is a 31′ O’Day born the same year as my sister, 1986. She was love at first sight and after 4 solid days on her we are still in love. We’ve added a few bumps and bruises to her along the way but we’ll eventually get the hang of docking her. Ask any sail boater and they will tell you that it is completely normal to rub up against the dock every once in awhile but you never like it when you do. We sailed/motored for 150 miles, made stops in Annapolis, Solomon’s, Colonial Beach and finally arrived at Quantico last night. Due to mechanical issues we did not set out on Labor Day as planned, instead we headed out about 2pm on friday. Our week long vacation of relaxing instead turned into a balls to the wall get her home as soon as possible run. There was a day we motored for 12 hours straight at about 5 knots which is pretty slow. We didn’t buy a powerboat so we were okay with that.
I thought I’d make this a joint My Life and Love It! Hate It! post by telling what we have learned to love about our boat and hate!
Love It!
1. Autohelm! OMG!!! Seriously the best invention ever, it is tied with the DVR. Autohelm allows you to read a book while sailing, go make some food, sit back and relax. Amazing!! From two people that came from a boat with a tiller that had to be watched constantly this is seriously awesome. Now you can’t walk away for hours or anything like that because it can’t see for you but you can scan the water look for objects, set your direction and read a couple chapters in a book. I will never own a boat without it again!
2. Unfurling the sails! With the old boat I had to put the jib up and down myself, attach it to the mainstay and try not to trip over it when I pushed us off the dock. On the new boat we have something called a furling jib where it stays up all the time and it is pulled out and put away by pulling a line. Yay, one less job for me to do and more time to relax!
3. Gentle sailing! While David and I both loved our little 23 sailboat but it would stand up on end with no notice. It scared the crap out of me on more then one occasion. Our new boat is a big beamy girl and she likes to gently roll to her side when sailing. It makes things less freaky, I’m not even running to the high side anymore. So far we haven’t had any crazy wind so we haven’t seen how far she will go. I think she will handle it alright!
Hate It!
1. Bugs! So yeah I’m apparently very tasty to bugs, those little bloodsuckers have run us into the cabin more then once. Thank goodness for screens in the cabin.
So I’ve written this post entirely on my ipad and now I’m going to figure out how to attach a photo from my phone. Technology is crazy isn’t it!
Melissa Arlena is an award winning lifestyle newborn photographer in Charlottesville and Richmond, Virginia who has earned her Master Photographer Certification from NAPCP in maternity, newborn and family photography. Her natural and simple work has been featured in magazines and online blogs worldwide. She has been named Best Maternity and Newborn Photographer in Richmond and Charlottesville, VA in 2024.
