Final Hurrah

Okay, so maybe we didn't pull that bandaid off quite as fast as we intended. But we had a four day weekend with beautiful weather, some good friends to join us, and we couldn't resist getting one more weekend in down at the Cape. Two weeks ago, Fitz was ready to pull the boat out of the water. I convinced him to leave it in for a bit 'just in case'. He thanked me all weekend for that.

Sailing is a huge part of who Fitz is. Old wooden boats are an even bigger part. I knew this when we got married, as he proposed to me on an old wooden boat that was half rebuilt and sitting in his front yard. Over the years we have had various old boats in various stages of repair sitting in our yard. Occasionally those boats have made it to the water. But as the kids came, and life got busy, boats took a back seat. Even when we had one in the water, it was hard to get us all organized to get out on the water. And small children don't have the attention span for a long day on the water.

My Uncle had given us a beautiful 18 ft catboat that he had built, the boat we took our honeymoon on. It's a deep, wide, sturdy boat. Safe for kids and sturdy for sailing. But it's also heavy and untrailerable. We spent one summer with that boat moored in Eastham at some friends' house, but at low tide, the boat would be on it's side, and people walking the beach would climb all over it out of curiosity. It just wasn't the best plan, or the best boat for a family with a bunch of small kids.

The boat we have now came into our lives the way most things have... on a wing and a prayer. It's a Black Skimmer and Fitz bought it for a song and put many hours of work into it, to get it ready for the water. With all of our previous boating experience as a family, I was not convinced. Until this summer. As far as old wooden boats go, this one is a little less maintenance, and as far as small kids go, this boat is a lot more fun. With just an 8 inch draft, this 21 ft flat bottomed boat can pull right onto sandbars, and through marshes. Fitz can sail it right onto a beach and take the kids out for quick little sails. We have spent much of our time down the Cape this summer on Pleasant Bay, exploring many of the small little uninhabited islands, skimming along the National Seashore, looking out for seals, and collecting horseshoe crab shells. And I think, much to their father's joy, we can finally say we have a house full of boat lovers.