Ok so it's not what you think, honestly it's not! We did acquire a new vessel, however it's just a sailing dinghy and tied to the back of our boat. We were fortunate enough to come across a 1989 Trinka 10' sailing dinghy for a price that made it a no brainer to pickup at all costs.
The gentleman that owned the dinghy wanted it to go to a good home more than anything and when he saw Peyton and Colby's eyes light up he literally said "just take it and pay whenever you can" He handed me his boat card and extended his hand as I grabbed it, shook it enthusiasticly and said "deal!" We towed her home about 30 minutes from a rough anchorage outside of the harbor and after a quick trip to West Marine I got her rigged and sailing that evening. I took Peyton out for a quick sail and we sailed while the sun set in the harbor, it was an amazing sunset and the sky was painted shades of red I won't even attempt to describe as we ghosted along with almost no wind, proudly sailing by boats at barely a crawl.
When I punched out from work today there was a stiff breeze in the air and I only had one thing on my mind. I got home, got the kids together from the community center and went to retrieve our dinghy that was bobbing tied to the back of our big boat, almost as if it were as excited as we were . I rowed it over to the dinghy dock (it rows amazingly easy) and rigged the sail, rudder and daggerboard, told the kids to jump in and we were off.
We sailed all over the harbor, swerving around mooring balls and in between boats. The wind was a little squirrelly and it gusted a bit, but overall it was a great night to sail. Several times we reached hull speed and would rocket out of a tack with uncanny speed and responsiveness. I can honestly see why these little boats are so desired. Peyton had her fill of sailing (after a couple hours) and asked if we could wrap it up and drop her off. We sailed right up to the dock, turned into the wind, popped the main and eased right up to the dock without so much as a bump.
Colby mentioned something about wishing he could try to sail alone one day, and with that I put my foot on the boat and gave him a big shove and said "Figure it out and for the love of God don't hit anybody". Just like that he was off and sailing. I was both proud and nervous for him as his eyes widened and panic set in. But panic was soon replaced by smiles and he took off on his first tack, alone... After about 30 minutes of sailing he needed to start pointing and coming back to the dock before dark, so I hopped in the chase boat to see if he was having problems making it back. As I motored up he appeared to have it under control and had a grin from ear to ear. I gave him a couple pointers and followed him for a few minutes then headed for the dock to wait. He repeated the landing and slid into the dock like he had done it a million times (I'll take credit for that!)
Just like that, Colby had taken his first solo sail and got one step closer to a sailor ;-)
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