Toews ‘r Us — a family sailing adventure

The biggest stumbling block to our plan is upon us.Our original plan was to take off after my year tour with the Air Force, which would put us leaving New England in October. We’d spend the summer doing day sails and long weekend cruises for practice and shakedowns.

It all seemed great until I started getting some pain in my legs that was getting worse. I’ve been here before and knew what was happening. It got bad last fall and took several months of “conservative” measures and tests before the doctors decided that surgery was needed. I had a spinal fusion 17 years ago, right after Debi and I were married. It has broken apart, and actually probably never really formed properly to begin with.

I’m scheduled for surgery tomorrow morning. They’re going to cut away all the excess bone created by the last fusion attempt, as well as a chuck of my vertebrae. They’ll do this to relieve as much pressure from my nerves as possible. Next they’ll take some bone from my right hip (they used the left last time) and use it to fuse the two vertebrae together. An addition of four screws and two rods will hopefully hold everything pretty steady.

I’ll be out of work for two months and in a brace for three to four months total - so much for our summer sailing program.

We haven’t decided if we’ll still leave this fall, or put it off until next spring or summer. The Air Force may hold me over my year tour for medical purposes; if they do, we’ll be staying for sure.

Keep Debi in your prayers! I’ll be very limited as to what I can do, so she’ll be handling most everything. She’s such a trooper; I hope she doesn’t go crazy.

While looking for Dinghies, I ran across some info on which engines were best.I had owned a Honda 4-stroke in the past and really loved it. I hadn’t given the whole engine thing much consideration and really just planned on getting another one.

As I got reading forums, the majority of people said that the only way to go was a Yamaha 2-stroke. Now when I say majority, I mean the majority of people cruising the world as liveaboards. Apparently Yamaha’s two strokes are very reliable. In addition to that, they are so widespread that service and parts are available in many places were other brands aren’t. 

Forums are a great source of information. My mainstays are Sailnet, Cruisers Forums, and SSCA. What I like about SSCA is that they are mostly people who actually liveaboard their boats and are cruising. I can sit at my house all day long and think up great ideas. Unfortunately none of them have been tried. When asking questions on these forums, most (I repeat, Most) answers are from some great experience.

I always liked basing my decisions on other peoples experience and mistakes - I think it saves me money and grief in the long run.  Plus, I make too many mistakes as it is, I need all the help I can get.

Dink: [dingk] n. slang for
Dinghy: [ding-gee] n. plural -ghies

• Any small boat designed as a tender or lifeboat, esp. a small ship’s boat, rowed, sailed, or driven by a motor.

I searched endless forums, blogs and websites trying to decide which dinghy to buy. I checked out all types: hard, soft, inflatable, folding, rowing, sailing, used, and new. There is just a ton of different styles to choose from. They literally come in all shapes and sizes.

Some are just a little out of the ordinary. Take the Dux Inflatable Boat for instance: it’s a catamaran styled inflatable. I thought this was pretty interesting. I’m buying a catamaran, (now switch to your southern voice) how ‘bout a douly dinghy to go with it.

I saw a boat that looked like an inflatable but was all fiberglass, talk about dinghy envy.

Dinghies are a very important piece of equipment for the cruising family - it’s basically the family car. Quite frankly, I’d find it hard to live without a car. Most everything that gets from shore to your boat is by dinghy when you’re cruising (or from your boat to shore for that matter). There’s no two ways about it, we need a good dinghy.

The consensus seems to be that RIB dinks are best. That’s Rigid Inflatable Boat. These consist of a hull that is usually made of fiberglass and have a rubber tube going around the top of it. This design is really great. The rigid bottom gives durability for pulling up on shore, and a good platform to stand on. The tubes give the boat stability and lots of flotation. This style boat can hold a lot of weight - translated: people and stuff.

The tubes come in either PVC or Hypalon. PVC doesn’t stand up well and has a shorter life but will cost 30-50% less. Hypalon is one of those DuPont inventions and is the pro’s choice for inflatable fabric. It’s supposed to last a very long time.

There is a dinghy that we could have bought with our catamaran, but it had a console and seats, and not a lot of room. It was a 13 foot Caribe.

We looked at several different brands, trying to balance price, size and reliability. The major brands we looked at were the Avons, Caribes, Achilles, Apex and Mercuries. Just like looking for the big boat, there are lots of choices. We needed something that could carry a minimum of 5 people and then cargo. That left us with just a couple of choices in the 11 and 12 foot range. As they get bigger, their weight and horsepower requirements increase. Then we stumbled upon the ABs.

These are the only RIBs that are available in the US with aluminum bottoms. Foot for foot their weight is much less than the standard fiberglass RIB. The 13 foot AB is just a few pounds heavier than most 11 foot fiberglass models. As a bonus they can hold 2 more people or six or so hundred pounds extra. The listed price was higher, but with a little effort I found them in nearly the same price range. It came time to order one and I couldn’t - no one had them in stock.

Don’t you hate it when you finally make a choice and wham! A wall goes up. After a few days searching and several phone calls to the distributor I found one in California. I think it might have been the only one left for sale in the US. Being the cheapskate that Debi made me, I talked the guy into selling it to me for last years price and it will be here tomorrow.

See all our reviews

We first started thinking about this crazy cruising thing back in August 2006. I didn’t get Debi to commit until late September 2006 while we were at a boat show in Boston. At that show we met a broker that talked a great game, but just couldn’t deliver.

I met several brokers in Annapolis, MD last fall. Not one of them impressed me. It didn’t seem that they listened to our wants and needs; frankly, it didn’t seem like they cared. One didn’t even show up.

This winter, I needed a new broker. I met Michael Harris from The Catamaran Company in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. What a great job he did. The communication via email and phone was second to none. Michael returned phone calls promptly and never needed to make excuses for not getting back to me.

The plan was to be there during the Miami Boat Show, but I got snowed in. I thought that Michael would loose interest after I didn’t make it down as planned. But no, he continued just as before, even though I wasn’t sure when I could make the trip. We worked together long distance for several weeks until I finally got down to Florida.

Michael and I talked about a lot of boats, Debi and I made a final list of what we’d like to see, we asked Michael to set these up for the two days that I’d be down. Other than one boat that was under agreement and out on a sea trial, he arranged a flawless schedule to see every boat we were interested in. It was choreographed beautifully. One boat to the next - not a snag all day.

The next day, we were going to be looking at boats on the other coast of Florida and Michael couldn’t attend, but the plans he made for us were iron clad and we had no problems. He knew our schedule for the day, and called at the most appropriate time to ensure everything went well.

As it turned out, we’re buying a boat that was “for sale by owner” and didn’t go through a broker, so I didn’t get to see Michael in action during the closing part of the transaction. Based on all my dealings with him, I’m positive that he would have shined in that area as well.

I would not hesitate to use or recommend Michael Harris in the future, on either side of a sale.  Give him a call: 954-727-0016

See all our reviews

The butterflies have begun. We have found the boat (she’s a beauty), weeding is nearly complete and our moving date is nearly here.

Just took yet another four boxes to Second Generation, a non-profit organization that helps women and children. I found out about them recently and wish I would have sooner. They’re a wonderful group of volunteers who reach out to the community there in Greenland, NH and surrounding towns. I can’t believe how much we have given away and we’ll still do some more before leaving. We are truly blessed. Mike and I have so much to be thankful for.

We have a busy month ahead. Father/daughter dance, field trips, concerts, Marah and Cassidy have less than thirty days of school left and are looking forward to summer. Calen is crawling, pulling herself up and walking around holding onto whatever she can and getting into everything. She’s also cutting her top four teeth. In three days she will be nine months old. Where has the time gone?! More weeding and packing, a trip to our storage pod is in order.

Mike’s back surgery is scheduled for the 31st of May and we’re all a little anxious. Seventeen years ago, six months after we were married, he had his first back surgery and the recovery time was six months. This time around it’s going to be about three months. We also have our boat inspection coming in Annapolis, MD at the beginning or mid June. I will be flying out there and seeing “her” in person for the first time. We’re at the moment having difficulty finding a big enough slip or even a mooring for that matter for a 43 foot catamaran. Mike has called more than 15 marinas in Maine, NH and MA looking for a place to call home for the next six months before we leave. We also have to be moved out of our beach rental by June 12th. Whew!

Still, the excitement builds, the butterflies are fluttering and our conversations are consumed with talk about “her”. What will we name her, how will our life change, places we want to see, and the talk continues.