Ahoy!

I created this space to record and share my experiences as a novice sailboater.  It is intended for family and, perhaps, a few friends -- those who might be even vaguely interested in my follies as I venture into this new endeavor.  Anyone is most welcome to comment; please feel free to offer suggestions and advice.  This is all meant in good fun.

I have always loved the water, and have wanted to sail on the sea for as long as I can remember.  Growing up near Binghamton, in upstate New York, I did a lot of river canoeing as a youth.  I dreamed of running charter canoe or rafting trips down the local Chenango River and its tributaries.  As a kid, I took from my father's closet an old khaki shirt from his days in the Air Force, and used a permanent marker to draw on it my own operator's badge: 'Greg Ruf's River Charters.'  I had less experience sailing, however.  About an hour from my home was a large reservoir and county park, where we occasionally sailed my father's inflatable Klepper boat.  But my memories of those days are less pleasant, and associated with being cold, wet, and bruised.  As I remember it, we would sail along for a couple dozen meters, then start to heel, then heel some more, and then capsize, spilling everyone into the water.  Even when the boat stayed upright, it seems the boom would come around and hit me in the side of the head all too often.  Not exactly happy memories.  I was much more adept at shooting rapids in a canoe than sailing around in that Klepper.

Nevertheless, my yearning to sail intensified over the years as I developed an interest in tall ships and maritime history.  Living in New England for the last decade or so, I have been fortunate enough to enjoy a number of opportunities to sail again, and under different circumstances: mostly coastal day sails on keelboats.  Each time, whatever the conditions, I was euphoric.  But I never thought I would ever be able to afford to buy -- let alone to maintain -- one of my own.  As the old saying goes, the only thing better than having a boat is having a friend who has a boat: you get to enjoy all of the fun with none of the expense.

However, through some unusual coincidences and some very good fortune, in late 2013 an opportunity arose to purchase a boat at very low cost: a vessel in very good condition, on which I had sailed numerous times the previous year, from a seller whom I trusted.  Quite unlooked for, I suddenly became the owner of a 1982 O'Day 23-foot centerboard-keelboat.

My ship has come in: The O'Day shortly after delivery, just before our first big winter storm of the season.  The boat-stands were the first purchase I ever made through Craig's List ($100 for a set of four from a guy in New Bedford).  I had to purchase the bow stand separately, new, and it cost more than the other four used ones combined.

Now I just need to figure out how to sail it, and how to care for it.  As my friend, the previous owner, remarked during a sail last summer: "You're a nice guy, but you don't know what the [expletive] you are doing."

I never considered creating a blog.  But another friend of mine (and avid sailor) developed a really cool Android app, 'Captain's Blog,' that records and displays details of sailing jaunts and uploads that data to a weblog.  When he asked me to help beta-test the app, I had to set up a blog.  So here I am doing two things I have never done before and never thought I would ever do: blogging and learning to sail.

I thought I would use this space to recount the ups and downs of discovery as this lubber looks for some sea legs....