# New Old Member



## oldragbaggers (Dec 6, 2005)

Hello all. I would like to (re)introduce us to Sailnet.

We have been SN members for over 10 years, not active for most of that time, at least for posting. I have been very active on CF for the past few years, but find myself posting less and less as time goes on. I love to write and never tire of learning about boats and other's experiences sailing and cruising so I am hoping that Sailnet is a good fit for us.

A little about us......

We stumbled on a book back in 1981, _After 50,000 Miles_, by Hal Roth, and decided right then and there that we wanted to live aboard a boat and cruise someday. At that point my husband had been sailing aboard someone else's boat a couple of times and I had never stepped foot on a sailboat in my life.

The next year Lance accepted a commission in the Navy. Our first stop after OCS was SWO school in San Diego. We were no sooner unpacked than we signed up for sailing lessons at the Naval Amphibious Base marina. We spent our 6 months in San Diego cruising around the Bay on the Lido and Capri 14s that were available at the marina. We learned so much on those little boats.

Our first duty station was Pearl Harbor, HI. We bought our first sailboat there, a Cape Dory Typhoon 19', and spent 3 glorious years sailing the waters around Oahu. Sailing was everything we thought it would be and more. We also started a love affair with Cape Dory boats that has lasted to this day. We envisioned the CD 30 as being our perfect cruising machine. 33 years later we have owned 4 Cape Dorys to date and our opinion hasn't changed that much.

Upon our return stateside we purchased our first live aboard boat, a Newport 30. We lived aboard in San Diego and Long Beach for 3 years with our then pre-teen daughter, cruising the coast between SD and LB and spending occasional weekends at Catalina Island. The Newport was not our ideal cruising boat and was pretty spartan accommodations but she was what we could afford at the time. We were extremely happy just to be living aboard and sailing. We never felt deprived of anything.

Next stop was a 3 year tour at the US Naval Academy. My husband became a sailing instructor there, got his Skipper D qualification and took the midshipmen on their yearly summer cruise, twice to Bermuda.

After the Academy we returned to San Diego where we spent the next 13 years, owned several more sailboats, lived aboard 2 of them, rebuilt 3 of them nearly from bare hulls.

We are now in Baltimore for 12 years (and several more sailboats and couple a couple of power boats later) and finally, after 35 years, we are hoping to retire and finally set off on that adventure that we have been planning for so long. We have enjoyed our time here cruising the Chesapeake aboard several boats, but we are itching to move on.

We stumbled on a deal we couldn't pass up on a Cape Dory 33 in July 2014. We call her "our dream boat +3 feet." She had been sitting abandoned for 6 years, and had sustained some storm damage. We knew that she was going to need extensive repairs and refitting, but we committed ourselves to "one more rebuild" and are now in the process of turning her into our home and the boat we hope to spend a number of years cruising on.

It took us a lot longer to get here than we thought it would. What's that they say, "life is what happens while you're busy making plans." Family obligations, grandchildren, financial setbacks, all manner of things took precedence over the dream for a time. Once upon a time we envisioned ourselves following in the footsteps of the likes of the Roths, Hiscocks, and Pardeys. Our goals are much more modest now. We will be 66 and 62 years of age when we leave this year. I have mild, early stage remitting/relapsing MS. We are both in otherwise good health and are very active but we also recognize that our strength and stamina is not what it once was. We will be happy and extremely satisfied to join the flocks of snowbirds plying up and down the East Coast of the US, with perhaps some island hopping in the Bahamas and Caribbean.

So, the for sale sign goes on the house March 1. We have spent the better part of the past year getting the house ready and emptying it out. We are down to mostly empty rooms with only what we need to get by until that joyous day that we can haul the rest of it to the dump and say goodbye to Baltimore and land living. We have no idea how long we'll be able to cruise. As long as we're able and enjoying ourselves is the only answer that makes sense.

To whoever made it this far....thanks for taking the time to read.


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## smackdaddy (Aug 13, 2008)

Welcome to SN rags. You'll like the place.


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## MarkofSeaLife (Nov 7, 2010)

Welcome 

Good luck with the house  cast off!


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## Rhapsody-NS27 (Apr 8, 2012)

Welcome Back!

I love the Cape Dory's. I'm still finding myself over on the CD Owners Assoc. page once in a while looking at some of the boats.

Good luck with the sale of the house.


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## 2Gringos (Jan 4, 2008)

Did you see this new way to treat MS?
Cancer treatment for MS patients gives 'remarkable' results - BBC News


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## hpeer (May 14, 2005)

I recognized your moniker from CF. Welcome aboard.

We are on a similar time line, retired Friday, hope to have the house rented by March 1 so we can set off then. 65 and 63. DELAWARE City, not that far away.


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## newt (Mar 15, 2008)

Hey guys! This is the new CF hideaway! (s/v Beth) So far they have been very friendly, but maybe they are just sharpening the knifes in the kitchen and bringing the pot to boil 
I remain cautiously optimistic.


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## MarkofSeaLife (Nov 7, 2010)

newt said:


> maybe they are just sharpening the knifes in the kitchen and bringing the pot to boil .


Jus watchin while I'm gratin mah carrot.

Jus watchin.

Waitin...

.


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## colemj (Jul 10, 2003)

MarkofSeaLife said:


> Jus watchin while I'm gratin mah carrot.


You're going to go blind...

Mark


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## MarkofSeaLife (Nov 7, 2010)

Filthy mind


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## Don L (Aug 8, 2008)

going to report you guys to the mods, .............wait ................................................... where's the report button?


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## MarkofSeaLife (Nov 7, 2010)

Don0190 said:


> going to report you guys to the mods, .............wait ................................................... where's the report button?


You are about to find out


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## oldragbaggers (Dec 6, 2005)

Thanks for the welcome. 

Love the sense of humor. I've got one too..... just tend to keep in check in some places because it isn't recognized as such sometimes and tends to get me in trouble.


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## LLCoolDave (Sep 20, 2015)

Sounds like you will bring a wealth of info here to SN. Looking forward to your posts.


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## 2Gringos (Jan 4, 2008)

Looks like we were in San Diego at some of the same times.


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