1. Why are you going sailing? 

          Ann and I grew up on Fountain lake in Albert Lea, a small town in southern Minnesota. The water was physically and metaphorically part of our relationship in high school. We have sailed successfully as a couple where many others have played golf or tennis or pursued other joint activities.  We have always wanted to take off work and spend as much time as we wanted to on a boat. As we reached our mid 50s we have seen our peers and our parents wrestle with health problems. Ann retired from school psychology several years ago and enjoyed the reduction in pressure. We determined that if we waited until we had the money and time, we may not have the health. Since we had the health, we decided not to wait for the other two.

2. What experience do you have sailing a large sailboat?

    Ann sailed a small dingy on Fountain Lake and later we both  sailed when we work at a boy's camp, Camp Lincoln and Camp lake Hubert during college. When our 2 sons were born we once again started sailing at Lake Pepin on the Mississippi River on the Wisconsin side.  We bought a Catalina 22 retractable keel sailboat, Impulse. What fun, but we wonder how we ever fit our family on her! We next sailed a Pearson 26 named Peppy for a couple of seasons. When we moved to Arizona, Ann made me promise that we would not give up sailing. I had wearied of weekend sailing and we began chartering. We have been fortunate to have chartered in the Sea of Cortez in Mexico, the San Juan Islands in Washington, a couple of times a year in the San Diego area, several trips to the Caribbean, Greece, and the Balearic Islands off Spain. We  took a celestial navigation course abroad a schooner several years ago off of the Maine coast.  In 1997,Ann sailed on board Volcano, a 65 foot sailboat between Hawaii and Newport Beach, California  with eight other women as part of a course at Orange Coast College. We bought High Drama in the fall of 1997. We have been day sailing her in the San Diego waters since.

3. What type of cruising do you plan to do?

    We certainly will do some coastal sailing where we stay in marinas in port cities and also cruising where we anchor out in bays and coves along the coast. If we have good experiences in these areas of sailing, we will do some bluewater or offshore sailing.

4. Where are you going to cruise?

    We continue to avoid setting an itinerary. Part of the reason for cruising is to get away from schedules. Schedules produce the baggage of expectations and disappointments when they are not met. We have priorities, however. First, we need to get familiar with High Drama. We have sailed her on day sails around San Diego Bay, and went to Santa Catalina last year for a week. But to learn about a boat that is called "home", one must cruise away from marinas. We plan to sail in the Channel Islands for a series of shake down cruises. We will head to Mexico or perhaps Hawaii if these trips are successful. If we sail offshore to Cabo San Lucas or Hawaii, for example, we will need crew, because sailing 24 hours a day is quite fatiguing.

5. When are you going?

    We moved aboard the boat Easter Weekend 1999. We will head to Mexico in the fall. As of this writing we have been to the Channel Islands and Santa Catalina.

6.What do you do in an ordinary day?

    We still compulsively make lists. Maintenance on a boat never ends. Some people spend a year or more getting a boat ready to go. Some boats and owners never attain readiness. When we are at the Sheraton Marina in San Diego we try to get some exercise in, although the weather was cold in April and May. Tasks that fall into place at home take more thought and more time.

7. Do you miss work?

    I miss the collegial professional relationships and the competition of trials. I don't miss keeping track of my time in tenth of an hour increments and recording those entries in timesheets. I don't miss refereeing  personnel disputes and billing clients. Ann misses her colleagues at the shop and at school and kids.

8. What are the usual challenges that a couple faces when going cruising?

    Three things interrupt cruising as far as we can tell. First, people underestimate the energy of the sea. While the goal in cruising is to miss bad weather, it is not always possible. Many of us have not (yet) experienced high screaming winds and huge waves. Many people who face storms at sea conclude that they could die and that sailing in storms is just not fun.          Second, constant boat maintenance and repair in remote places of the world grind a lot of people down. Cruisers who continue cruising seem to develop skills as electricians, plumbers, diesel mechanics, refrigeration repairers, sail mending experts, etc. They say there is an exhilarating sense of self sufficiency, however. We have miles to go before we sleep in this category.

    The third  challenges involves getting along with your mate twenty four hours a day in a space the size of just one room in an ordinary house. One woman put it this way. "Before we went cruising, my husband was worried whether I could pull him back aboard if he fell overboard. Now, after 6 months of living on the boat, he is concerned about whether I would  pull him back on board."

9. What has been the hardest part of your lifestyles changes to date?

    Well, Ann is a great cook and is challenged to make better food than when she lived in a house with a range. So far, she has out done herself! We eat gourmet food! My weight control program is under heavy siege!

    Also, outplacing our Huskies in a new home in Minnesota was tough. They are pictured below, fishing in the swimming pool.