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Our Sailing Hideaway Blog and YouTube videos will remain active. Join the HideAways as we tell, through blog stories and videos, what life really is like on a small, 23' Com Pac sailboat. We'll show the joys, thrills and chills of the sailing life, but also what it takes to maintain a boat, trailer and truck. You are just as likely to learn how not to do something correctly as to do it right. That's important too! New! The Hideaways take to the road! Follow Traveling Hideaway: Winds of Wanderlust Transitioning from Sailing Hideaway to Traveling Hideaways as sailors learn to travel without heeling, well, not much, anyway. The Paint Wasters Society unlocks the art of paint squandering with sheer delight, free from the shackles of remorse or guilt. Trust me, a century down the line, nobody's going to bat an eyelash, so why not indulge in some paint splattering shenanigans today? Let's turn those pricey pigments into a canvas of laughter and joy.

Saturday, September 8, 2012

Summer Sans Sail Sailing Story- {so sorry}

The storm, Isaac, has passed without causing ill effects for HideAway yet others further north were not as lucky.  As often happens, storms on Isaac's course tend to veer to the northwest unless a cold front drops down  to push it onto the west coast of Florida.  There are always a few anxious days as we wait for the storm move away knowing that some day one will tack to starboard with dramatic effect.

Meanwhile HideAway, stripped of her sails, sits on her trailer like a bug caught in a spider's web of tie down lines. It is one thing to have a fully found sailing vessel that you choose not to sail at this moment and quite another having a fine vessel sitting decommissioned unable to raise sail.

In a place where sailing is a year around sport the idea of placing the boat out of commission for a month should not be an issue. 

Even though we have sailed every month of the year more than once I would be hard pressed to brag that we sailed them all in chronological order during a single year. The reality of work and other events of the average life place harsh limits on time spent messing about on things that float. 

This time of year the fun of boat projects melt in the brutal Florida summer heat and the friendly sea breeze has all the charm of a blast furnace. Still, to be completely land bound, unable to feel the boat heel into the wind on a bright sunny day is more difficult than I would have thought. 

True, the reason for my predicament is honorable, a new double reef, loose foot main sail is at this very moment being sewed together by JSI/Doyle sail makers in St Petersburg.  I’m sure they are working day and night on such an important project.  It’s my fantasy, OK!


Sailing HideAway-St Pete Beach Fl
It won't be long now.  HideAway will be back sailing the low seas.  Yes not long, I'm sure.



SMALL BOATS ROCK!