Our Sailboats Through The Seasons Of Life
Cool Running, 1980 Neptune 24’
We were saving to buy a keel sailboat when the idea of adoption entered the scene. Shortly after Tessa joined our family, we were able to purchase Cool Running, a Neptune 24. We were a family of six at the time; Tyler, Tessa, Kendra, and Luke, ages ranging from 5-10. Our dream to sail as a family begins! We had a blast on Mille Lacs Lake and Leech Lake learning about sailing together.
Bon Air, 1964 Columbia 33’
Adoption entered our conversations again and we became a family of eight; Myra, Jordan, Tyler, Tessa, Kendra, and Luke, ages ranging from 5-13. It was time for a bigger boat!
Back in the day, there was no YachtWorld online to search for boats, so we poured over the paper copies of Boat Trader, circled ads, and made phone calls. We were focused on boats in FL because we dreamed of family time on the beaches and snorkeling the coral reefs.
On one of those phone calls the seller, Andre Hardy, after hearing our story (MN family of 8 wants to buy a boat in FL to live on and sail for the summer breaks), gave an honest reply “this isn’t the boat for you”, “but…I’ll help you find your boat.”
And he did! He checked out other FL boats for sale, encouraged us to make an offer on a 1964 Columbia 33’, oversaw the inspection, and was very instrumental to get us started with our sailing dream. Leave it to a fellow boater to be so helpful and kind towards us after meeting via a phone call!
We spent the next five summers on Bonair sailing the coasts of FL, including the Everglades (not our kids’ favorite), the FL Keys, and three summers in the Bahamas!
Boatless
As our children became busy with sports and jobs, we decided to sell Bonair and be “boatless” for a few years. As an alternate family activity, we purchased regional and state park stickers and went on many outdoor adventures. We even moved houses to be closer to a lake. And we purchased kayaks as a means to get out on the water more. Planning family vacations by a lake, like a trip to Door County, also helped our desire to be near the water. They were all fun times with great memories, but we missed living on a sailboat.
Sabea, a 1980 Bristol 27.7’
“I have an idea!…The Apostle Islands is a prime sailing area and close enough to go for the weekend, much closer than our road trips to FL. Those conversations led to the purchase of Sabea, a 1980 Bristol 27.7’.
Our sailing style became a bit different than living aboard for the summers. Now, I was always packing and unpacking food and clothes. It was like having a summer cabin. We adjusted and went as often as we could with a revolving crew of our teens, young adults, married children, grandchildren, and friends.
Sparrow, 1983 Union 32’
When our empty nest was just around the corner, we switched gears to prepare to sail into retirement.
They say you should retire TO something.
We choose sailing!
We found Sparrow, a 1983 Union 32’, in Port Washington and spent the next couple summers sailing around Lake Michigan to many adorable harbor towns like Ludington, Manistee, Leland, Escanaba, Door County, Sturgeon Bay, and Manitowoc.
Terrapin, 1974 Westsail 32’
Tony has always admired Westsails for its reputation of being a seaworthy boat. We weren’t planning to sell Sparrow, but when a buyer came to us, we took the opportunity to switch to a Westsail in Florida.
Don and Lana loved their Westsail 32, Mary Rose V, and shared their wealth of knowledge with us as we became familiar with our new boat. We bought her a couple of years before retirement and traveled back and forth to FL whenever we could (summers, spring break, Christmas) for shakedown trips and boat projects. Sailing the coasts of FL and the Keys helped us improve our skills and get her ship shape for our big trip.
We sold our “dream house” to continue to pour our resources into Terrapin and be able to shove off for a longer trip. In May 2019, Tony finished his last year of teaching at Century College, and “sailing into retirement” was beginning to be a reality. Then, the pandemic came and put our plans for a big sailing trip on hold…we’ll be back sailing soon!
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