Where It All Started

So how did we get here? It all started on a Saturday morning in the spring of 1998. It was the first time David and I would ever sail. We were going out with his cousin Sharon, his brother Mike and a friend on Sharon’s Catalina Capri 22’ named Genesis in Galveston Bay. We loaded up a cooler with drinks and sandwiches and proceeded to take 5 people out in that little small sailboat on a lumpy sailing day. Sharon knew what she was doing, Mike had taken sailing lessons in college and David was an avid wind surfer so there was a wee bit of knowledge on the boat. I hadn’t a clue what was going, except that I knew I was prone to seasickness. 

“I hadn’t a clue what was going on except that I knew I was prone to seasickness.”

We motored out into Galveston Bay and put up the sails. It was great sailing around for bit and I was loving it. Then, as I remember, Mike suggested flying wing on wing (setting the mainsail to one side of the boat and the headsail to the other side). While trying to set the sails in this manner, we had an accidental gybe and stuff went flying down below in the little cabin of the boat. People were moving about everywhere and I was trying my best to stay small and out of the way. 

S/V Genesis

While Sharon and Mike worked to regain control of the boat, David went down into the little cabin to clean stuff up. We were still bobbing around on a lumpy bay and there was no circulating air in the cabin. With David hanging his head upside down he got seasick and had to come up top to puke over the side. He was a trooper and finished the cleanup of the cabin when he was done. Once everything was settled, we ate our sandwiches and started sailing again. We LOVED it!! 

Three weeks later, David and I purchased our very first sailboat, a 1994 Precision 28. Her name was Express II. During this time, David and Mike took a close quarters handling class. I wasn’t sure about my role in owning/sailing a boat and what all it entailed, so I didn’t take the class with them. We started taking our boat out with the training David had. He read a lot about sailing and watched videos on how to sail. I was learning from him as we sailed. We took our kids, Ashton and David II out with us and started taking others out with after only a few weeks of sailing. 

One very memorable time, we had my cousins on the boat with us. It was summer in South Texas and that means summer thunderstorms that pop up with no notice. Being the novice sailors that we were, we decided we needed to run from the storm and get back into our slip. Well, that didn’t happen, the heavy winds of the squall line got to the our marina at the same time we did. We were sideways to the end of the dock and the wind was pushing us up against the other boats and their anchors. Luckily our boat wasn’t very heavy and with some help from dock neighbors, we were able to push from boat to boat until we could swing our boat into our slip. That trip to this day is still fondly remembered as “The Perfect Storm”. 

I continued to learn how to sail from David while he continued to read and learn more on his own. We joined our local sailing club, Texas Mariners Cruising Association, and started spending time with others in the sailing community. I even took a First Mate’s Class and learned how to use the VHF, tie some basic knots and feel more comfortable being on the boat. Over the course of two years, we put over 900 nautical miles on Express II sailing back and forth across Galveston Bay. 

Until next time,

Cindy, 1st Mate S/V Verano