Mabye Just a Little Thing

Hmmm, I wordled my blog:
Or, Clearly Like a Family Racing Boat?

First Sail?

Hardly worth recording the event as we had more current than wind on the Strait today. Still, had a nice little motor cruise up to the Benicia Bridge and back and lunch aboard in the marina.

We Done and Gone It

Mothra is officially ticked especially since I started salvaging some of the equipment off of her for the Catalina 250 we brought home last week. Yep, new (used) boat.

With help from Dean and Marcel we stepped the mast and launched her Sunday afternoon. All went well if a bit slow as we checked and double checked everything. Yes, I did remember the masthead fly! We put her in at the steeper of the two Benicia ramps--only had to kiss the water with the rear axle on my truck to get the boat to float. After splashdown, we motored up the Straits to the marina and tucked her into her new berth.
So what's next? I missed the Tillerman's bucket list writing project; so, how about a "fun things to do with a new boat" list?

• Teach the family how to really sail, to be able to handle the boat without me.
• Go cruising!: Up the Delta for the 4th, marina hopping, Ayala Cove, the same fun places that I went when I was a wee little dude on the family boat.
• In general, just enjoy sailing a really comfortable boat that isn't simultaneously a restoration project.
  
• Do a little PHRF racing: maybe The Delta Ditch, a beer can or two, Vallejo Cruise, Three Bridge Fiasco, fun stuff like that. And hey, I think the Catalina 25/250/Capri 25 Nationals are going to be on the Bay next year!
• Occasionally venture away from home waters. At 4200 lbs., I wouldn't call this thing a trailer-sailor, but it is trailer-able. A week on Monterey Bay would be nice or maybe haul her all the way to Newport Beach and help Dean cross off a bucket list item--sail to Catalina.

Don't Tell Mothra

I've had my eyes on another girl. There, I said it. Even when my mother asked me about it a few nights ago (scary how mothers can sense these things), I flat out denied it. I feel so ashamed. It's time to be open and honest about my passion, my desires, my needs. blabber, blubber, blah, blah, blah. Enough drama.

It seems a photo from a recent outing aboard Mothra caused me to reflect on why I sail anyway, how I purchased Mothra, and what comes next. Mothra was picked up as a low investment fixer-upper with which to tryout this sailing thing with the family. If the kids had hated it, no big loss. Well, two years later it's clear that we all like sailing and are starting to imagine other fun things to do with a boat like some cruising up the delta or even just camping out at the marina Saturday night, and that leads to dreams of more comfortable floating accommodations.

Mothra, an O'Day Mariner, is a fantastic day sailor with a little cabin we can squeeze into. In fact, this is exactly what George O'Day had in mind when he sculpted a new deck mold for the successful Phillip Rhodes designed R-19. If it were just one or two of us headed out for a nice cruise (like these folks), it might be perfect, but 4 is pushing it, especially when two of them are sleeping over the potti. So, time to consider making the step up from a day sailor that one could sleep on to a proper little cruiser that a small family can still easily manage.

Recently, we've looked at one of these Catalina 250's, and the family seems quite excited: