SMALL BOAT CRUISE: Key Lime Sailing Club

Some destination-sailing is often in the mix when it comes to coping with northern winters as a sailor.

- Thomas Barnes

Historically I’ve welcomed this for the most part as it meant hitchhiking boats around the Caribbean and jumping in to crew deliveries, regattas and the like. But as one gets older (read: older and married) this can become increasingly less feasible. Although my mate enjoys both sailing and traveling, that format just wasn’t going to cut it, so this past winter presented a new challenge. Luckily though, it resulted in an exciting new discovery.

Gazing at the winter calendar, my first thought was to look into bareboat charters. We have friends who know their way around a sailboat; I get my sailing fix; my loving wife gets to experience a whole new (more luxurious) side of sailing; we sail at our own leisurely pace, not that of the owner when crewing deliveries. It has its perks, but at a price—a steep one. Then I considered hauling the old sailing dinghy down to Florida instead for the class’ mid-winter regatta. I get my fix and spend time off of the water vacationing with my better half. This, too, wasn’t a terrible option.