They say the two happiest days of boat ownership are...
the day you buy your boat
AND
the day you sell your boat.
This was NOT my experience.
Even though it was time to move on,
even though I had begun to hate being bound to it,
selling Sin Fin wasn't any fun.
All told, Sinful and I had about 500 days better than either the day we met or the day we parted.
Examples Abound....
Heading Home from a Surf Charter in
Playa Gigante
Gearing up in San Diego
The Only Ones Dumb Enough, Trinidad, NORCAL
Losing it and then finding it somewhere off Baja.
Dawn, Day One of "El Viaje", Leaving Hood River
Scavenged Lobster Trap. Mack in the thick of it.
"Peculiar travel suggestions are dancing lessons from God."
-Vonnegut,
A Man Without A Country
Pretty Standard Baja
Finally, A Semi-Safe Anchorage, Channel Islands, CA
First Time In San Fran, Passing Through the GG at Dawn. That's a Full Moon.
Finally Dawn, Day 3, Small Craft Advisory Sailing, NORCAL
As Good As It Gets.
Learning From Maestra
Paid to Sail and Surf.
Cruising C.R. with Tu Laki and The HughMon.
Training in Travis
Crusing with Chavez, My First (and Most Fearless) Surf Instructor
Locking Through For the First Time.
Plenty of Time for Self-Reflection.
The Embudo.
Ummm... yeah.
And on and on and on...
The day I bought Sin Fin was one of the loneliest and most uncertain of my life. My brother Ben dropped me and all my stuff at a dock in Portland, Oregon. I had no job, no car, two friends nearby, and all my world floating in a boat I was scared to untie from the dock.
The first two weeks it pissed drizzle and snow.
Fighter jets on routine patrol boomed overhead twice daily.
I'd bike to a grocery store every few days but otherwise I sat there wondering "What the FUCK am I doing?"
I didn't muster the will to cast off until an old salt showed up and ridiculed me out of my funk.
The day I sold Sin Fin found me much improved. I'd gained a bit of perspective, overcome a bit of my innate gullibility, firmed up a bit, and had one hell of a trip.
Selling came easy since all that awaited me in Gigante was the same shit day in and day out... good shit, no doubt... but the same shit.
The boat was in no shape to go adventuring in with any semblance of safety or comfort. I'd known that since halfway down Baja. It hadn't been designed to be anything but a daysailer and it was all beat to shit after 17 months under my "maintenance".
Less than a week after transferring the title, I'm already trolling CRAIGSLIST for a new boat.
There are a lot of good ones out there... screamin' deals too... so my goal is to come across some money.
And if that doesn't pan out I'm going back here...
Life is short. Live it up.
Love,
Max
