A new chapter
by Christine Kling
So I’m sitting on an airplane in Orlando en route to LA, my fiancé beside me and our two doggy flight bags with Ruby and Barney at our feet. Just a couple of hours ago I signed the papers to sell Talespinner (click on the photo above to go to a slide show of photos of my little boat) and said my final good-byes. From the day we put up the ad until today it was 6 days. That’s close to a record for selling a boat these days.
Our plane is holding here because there is weather overhead, and I find myself staring out the window thinking back over all the almost 9 years I owned that boat and about the almost 30 years I called Florida home. As I showed the new owner through the boat, I thought often about the adventures and repairs and experiences on board and how much this boat had changed me — as well as how much she had become a part of the person I saw myself to be.
It’s not so much that I’m sad about parting with the thing, the object that is the boat, but rather it is the life, the identity. I grew into Christine the solo sailor on that boat. I was so scared at times and when I got through it, I gained confidence. When I found myself forced into my first overnight passage in the Bahamas in 2008 because I was too late for a daylight entrance, I reveled in all the stars as I crossed the banks between the Berry Islands and Bimini. When I managed to get from Annapolis to Fort Lauderdale on the ICW without ever going aground, I felt proud of myself.
When I arrived in Florida in 1984, I was 5 months pregnant with my son. I had only ever been a boat wife or girlfriend. Then I became a boat mom when I brought that baby boy home from the hospital to our boat Sunrise. In the 14 years we owned that boat, I had never, ever docked the big 55-foot boat my husband and I built together and then sailed for 14 years. Jim used to say that “his” boat couldn’t take my learning curve.
When the day arrived years later when I started the search for my own boat, I decided things would be different. I would find myself a sturdy little boat with a good rub rail, and I would not be afraid to attempt to dock when the wind and/or current were against me. I wouldn’t care about dings in the boat or shy away from situations for fear of hurting my shiny paint job. I wanted to learn to do it all.
When I decided to buy a Caliber, I felt she fit that bill rather well. In fact, I bought a Caliber 33 in large part because she would be good for my learning curve. I thought of her as my little boat with training wheels. I gave myself permission to make mistakes with her. I had to learn all about how to back a sailboat, how to turn her around in a strong crosswind, and how to set my lines and come into a slip single-handed. I admit, it wasn’t always pretty, but I learned so much, and I found out that by telling myself it was okay to crash into a dock on occasion — somehow miraculously that meant I almost never did. I discovered I’d learned quite a lot as a boat wife, and I was able to put it to use as a singlehander.
Sitting here staring out the window at the greenery of the Florida pine barrens surround Orlando airport, watching the dark cloud formations overhead, I slip my hand into Wayne’s. I’m not solo anymore. I’ve said good bye to my beloved Talespinner and handed her over to her new owner. Now Learnativity is my new home, and I am starting a new chapter in my life. We have talked about roles and identities. I explained to Wayne that I want to model our partnership on the Navy chain of command where the job of the Executive Officer is to be able to do everything to take over and run the boat in the event the captain is absent. It’s also the XO’s job to play devil’s advocate as the captain talks through strategy. I love the cruising life and being on boats, but I am ready to be second in command. Writing and being captain (and chief maintenance officer) was taking its toll on my writing career.
I am so ready to try on this new role and to make the desk in the forepeak cabin on board Learnativity my new writing home. We will return to the boat in September, and I’m going to get to learn how to handle this new huge boat — but more importantly, I’m going to finish my new book in record time.
Fair winds!
Christine
p.s. Dragon’s Triangle will be available through May 31 through the Kindle First program at the prerelease price of $1.99 or free for members of Amazon Prime. It has been an amazing month for me watching it go as high as #2. The official release date is June 1 and it already has over 200 reviews! Thank you Thomas & Mercer!
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