The Fancy Free

The Fancy Free

I have always love the water and intrigued with sailing. I jumped at every opportunity of getting on the water. I had owned power boats, canoes, and even a small sailboat. So when a boat builder was being forced to close his business and needed to liquidate all his boats I jumped at buying a 30 foot sailboat. However, the boat was not completed. The fiberglass body was beautifully finished as was the head, bunks, and engine. The galley, electronics, wenches, and stanchions still were not finished. The mast and a set of sails were included but the mast had not been set. That would be done after moving the boat to the water.

The expense and labor to complete the boat was more than I had considered. Everything on a large boat is expensive. First I had to move it to the water. Even though it was only a couple of miles to a marina that could launch this ninety five hundred pound boat, I had not considered what an ordeal it was to go that couple of miles. A trucking company was hired to move her, oversize load permits obtained, permits to remove power lines, and streets blocked to get through intersections and make turns. After a couple of hours and over a thousand dollars she arrived at the marina. After several more hundreds of dollars, she was launch and the mast was stepped and we were ready to take her to her home dock. It was very exciting to see her in the water.

The trip from the marina in Pompano Beach to her dock in Fort Lauderdale was such a beautiful trip. Being on the water with all the other large boats and passing by the majestic homes alone the Inter-coastal waterway was thrilling. I was unprepared for handling this large boat in a busy waterway. I realized that I needed to get educated on boating and sailing. Living in Fort Lauderdale, Florida has the advantage of a lot of resources to get this education.

I enrolled into boating safety and navigation rules with the Coast Guard Auxiliary. I took celestial navigation classes at Broward Community College and Marine Mechanics course at a local high school. I also took sailing classes and man overboard sea rescue at Sheridan Vocational School. These classes were not only fun but I met a community of people with boating interest. We would have the celestial navigation classes at night aboard the instructor’s sailboat. Having a classroom on a sailboat is hard to beat.

While attending these classes, I worked at completing the “Fancy Free”. I was excited about the day that I could sail to the Bahamas and the Keys. I was ready to have fun.

Over the next several years my family and I enjoyed many days sailing the South Florida and Bahamas waters. We experienced all kinds of weather; calm sunny days, balmy nights, and stiff winds with large waves. They were fun and exciting and sometimes scary. It was reassuring as I navigated the Keys and Bahamas to have the knowledge I had acquired from my courses.