Introduction and History
Buoy 'N Sea
Phil and Trish Littman
Tue 6 Nov 2007 01:04
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The Plan
For the next voyage, Phil, Steve, Justin, and Alex will sail the boat about 1200 miles, hopefully non-stop to St. Martin (leaving mid-November of 2007). They’ll leave the boat there, flying home in plenty of time for the holidays. In January, Phil and I will return to Buoy N Sea and island-hop the Caribbean until May. We plan to explore that area for a few winters. After that, who knows where the wind will take us… Some History
Phil and I first started to sail in 1999 at the UW-Madison on little centerboard boats, purchased a 16’ Catalina, and worked our way up to a 22’ Catalina Capri. We passed the long Wisconsin winters taking classroom courses from the Power Squadron. Phil advanced from seamanship through celestial navigation, marine electronics and engine maintenance. For hands-on experience, we fled to Florida and Maryland for several week-long US Sail and ASA courses, navigating the Chesapeake, the west coast of Florida, Fort Lauderdale, The Keys and Bimini. When we retired to Stuart in 2003, we bought a 1998 Crealock-designed Pacific Seacraft. Buoy N Sea is 34’ long, with a narrow 10’ beam, drawing just 4’2”. She’s a sturdy, excellent ocean-going vessel. Our maiden voyage, with an instructor-captain and our son took us across the Gulf Stream to West End and back, 18 hours each way. Florida, we realized, didn’t offer easy coastal sailing opportunities. And hauling out and dismasting the boat for each long hurricane season further limited time on the water. So, blue water passages to interesting places seemed the way to go. Phil took a British sailing course from Antigua to the Azores in the Spring of 2005. Then, in December, we left on a five-month cruise throughout the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos, returning alive and still married. Wanting still more challenges, Phil joined the crew aboard a 44’ Pacific Seacraft from Hawaii to San Francisco. -Trish Littman
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