Sailing Rocinante

The long and short if it, well okay the long of it is I have really wanted to sail for over 20 years before I finally did something about it. At my first job, one of my coworkers had just returned from a year long trip that just fascinated me.

My coworker had built his own 19 foot sailboat and cruised from Galveston, around the tip of Florida, through the Bahama's, up the East Coast to Maine and back. He had just returned from a year leave of absence, and in our downtime I would listen mesmerized by his stories and adventures. That was when the proverbial sailing bug bit me. Over the next 20 years either finances, time or finances and time kept me from pursuing my sailing desires.

I was deployed to Iraq with the Texas Army National Guard in late 2004 through 2005. During my deployment I had plenty of time to think of things I wish I had done and wanted to do. The kind of Father and Husband I wanted to be, trips and places I wanted to see, Sailing and eating at Red Lobster. Some other soldiers and Marines shared my sailing dreams and we would have endless discussions of the grand boats and adventures we would have when we got home. Unfortunately, the war years as I call them were not easy years to do more than maintain as best we could.

During my second deployment in 2008-2009, many of the same soldiers I knew before were there, and some had actually done some sailing or owned boats. Once again we talked about adventures, and now the issues of being a new sailor. Once again I wanted to move forward, but for the same reasons had to postpone my plans again.

In 2013, I was talking with a Scouting friend about my plans to sail one day. After explaining why this had not already happened, he told me he had a boat I could have if I picked it up. This sounded to good to be true, and I jumped at the opportunity. Turns out this boat had been on his property since the 1980s. It ended up setting on my property through 2020. I messesd with it, but found it would be very cost prohibitive to repair, and cheaper to find a boat in better condition to start with.

Finally, at the end of 2017 I decided after much consternation caused by an unhappy spouse with a derelict boat in the back yard, it was time to put up or shut up on my 20+ year sailing dream. I wanted to do it right so I planned to get properly trained before I set out on my own.

I have found no matter how salty you are, there is always someone saltier. As a wanna be, it was not hard to find salt, and I was lucky to find the right salt at the right time. The local Lake Belton Yacht Club had boats for rent, and a training program for new sailors. Renting was much cheaper than owning, and I thought this would be the way to go until I determined I really wanted to be a sailor. A person would be insane not to get instruction before getting into sailing. Its too dangerous, and there are to many things that just defy common sense to make it safely enjoyable without help. It just seems unnatural that at certain points of sail, you are flying the boat not sailing it. Its not the wind pushing the boat, its the sail acting like an airplane wing lifting the boat through the water. You can't sail a boat without understanding concepts like this. Its almost like magic sometimes.

Soon after learning how to sail and a few Yacht Club rentals, I acquired Rocinante.

Rocinante heaved to on Lake Belton just before a late Fall cold front. My First Mate Sammy is watching from the cockpit.

Rocinante is a 1986 Catalina 22 swing keel boat. This is one of the most popular sailboats ever produced, especially for new sailors. I didn't end up with it on purpose, it just happened to be what was available at the time. My first priority was to get a better name, until I realized what the existing name meant.

Rocinante is Don Quixote's horse from the famous book by Miguel de Cervantes. This alone didn't change my mind, but as I learned more about the etymology of the name I decided it had to stay.

According to Wikipedia, Rocin is Spanish for work horse or low quality horse. It can also stand for a rough man. Ante can be a word itself or used as a suffix to mean before or previously. Therefore, previously a low quality work horse Rocinante was now Don Quixote's loyal gallant steed. Like Don Quixote, Rocinante is awkward, past his prime and engaged in a task beyond his capabilities. So, Rocinante is my gallant steed.

As I have progressed over the year, many people have asked about my story. I have also had many new sailors asking for advise on how to get started and what to do next. I thought for a while about doing a blog to follow our adventures, and finally after my first failed Texas 200 event decided to start something.

The Texas 200 is for a later blog, but for those who find sailing or adventure entertaining, I hope this will fit the bill. Of course if you just want to laugh or learn how not to do it, you have come to the right place.

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain

Michael