OCTOBER 2005

I am amazed that more than 10 years have passed since Michelle and I sailed into Tampa Bay.

In November 1994, we each had our own 27-foot boats that we had trucked down from the advancing winter in Minnesota. Michelle had a Bristol 27 named Pegasus, I had an Ericson 27 named Hestia. We both had them trucked down from Duluth to Ft. Myers Beach where we had in instant immersion to living aboard. We were in a very run-down, yet very cool little marina filled with characters from a Carl Hiasson novel. Eventually we needed jobs and ended up sailing side-by-side (more or less) to Tampa Bay.

By November of 1995 we had purchased Hetty Brace, a 1967 Camper Nicholson 32. When we first saw Hetty, it was literally love at first sight. On the day we had the sea trial before buying her, we wound her back into the web of boats the broker held at St. Pete Municipal Marina, tied her off and waited to hear from the surveyor. I, of course, had already made up my mind – I knew that we would be buying her.

That night, a storm whipped up and I worried that perhaps Hetty hadn’t been tied off properly – I worried that she might be banging into other boats in the gusty winds. At 2 a.m., I got into the car and headed around the bay for St. Pete. I had to jump the fence at the marina and hop from boat to boat to check on her. She, of course, was just fine – but I needed to be certain.

I’d probably get shot if I tried to do that today.

We kept planning for “next year” – by “next year” we would be cruising. In the meantime we added more stuff than I ever imagined could fit on a 32-foot boat. And we literally loved every minute of it. Neither Michelle nor I could possibly imagine that anyone could be happier than us – we loved living on Hetty, we liked the marina and our friends there. We were excited about the possibility of cruising “next year.”

We made a bunch of weekend sails to anchorages in Tampa Bay and finally had an overnight passage in 1997. On that trip, a cold front thwacked us and we learned the hard way that a strong front in the Gulf of Mexico is not a fast ride to the Dry Tortugas – it is bouncy, uncomfortable and sometimes frightening. By the next day, however, things had calmed down to beautiful and we would never be able to look back – we loved this lifestyle.

In 1998, we had our first multi-day passage on a slow trip to Cuba. We finally made the Tortugas on that trip.

It turns out that for us, 1999 was “next year.” In November, we said goodbye to our friends, untied the docklines and sailed south for the Bahamas and who knew where else. It was literally idyllic. We spent months in the Bahamas, a week in the Turks & Caicos and several weeks in the Dominican Republic. Unfortunately, money, family and other things eventually drew us back into Tampa Bay in 2000. The minute we tied back up we were already making plans for taking off again “next year.”

The year 2002 set us off on a course that I am still trying to work out in my head. It was the beginning of a painful time. We sold Hetty and bought a 34 foot catamaran named Wings of the Morning – we eventually changed her name to Hetty B. She’s a great boat but I still miss Hetty Brace.

And we’re still waiting for “next year.” But I have a feeling “next year” will be coming soon.

With our first video out, I already have plans for the next one – and in it, I am visualizing Hetty B at anchor off some islands that the Nic 32’s 6 foot draft wouldn’t allow us to see…

Fair winds to you all from Hetty B.