Gary Brown: Sailing into more sunsets
"FREE 25ft SAILBOAT," the social media posting offered, before making a request. "PLEASE SHARE."
Within a day, the offer had reached the Facebook page for an Ohio sailing group of which I am a member, even though the boat's owners lived several states away.
"We have been struggling with this decision most of the summer," the posting continued. "We have had the most amazing time learning to sail," navigating waters of a city and state on the East Coast, "enjoying the most amazing views of sunsets and city skyline, and exploring the harbor islands. The list goes on of magical moments that we have had aboard Prelude."
I have sailed – the Finger Lakes of New York, inland lakes in Ohio, more than a decade on Lake Erie and a little on the Atlantic Ocean – for much of my adult life, and have shared in the "magical moments" that the recreation fosters, so the posting drew my attention on the afternoon of a sunny and windy autumn day. I don't own a boat now, so the next best thing was reading about another sailor's experience.
"Many of you know that Prelude was gifted to us by a wonderful sailing couple who just wanted to give the opportunity of sailboat life to a couple of newbies," the post continued. "The agreed upon deal is, when we are 'done' with this boat, we will PAY IT FORWARD to someone else who has the same dreams."
That's why the offer of a "free boat" was being made.
Why they were moving on
So, I read on.
I read the posting not with an interest in obtaining the boat. The reasons I sold my last two boats – a catamaran and a 28-foot cruising sailboat – still stand. I am not looking for a new boat. I am looking at them. A sailor always looks at boats and feels the wind and remembers sailing seasons of the past.
Perhaps it was the fact that the boat being offered was a Catalina 25 – the make and length of a boat that I sailed for years off the "North Coast" and among the islands of Lake Erie – that piqued my interest. I was curious as to why the person posting the offer of a free boat was willing to part with the vessel.
"The summer of 2020 tricked us into thinking we would actually have time for a summer activity like sailing. But, after two summers of juggling our extremely busy wedding business with trying to get out there and sail as much as possible, it is clear that we just don't have the time during sailing season."
Not long after making the decision to pass their boat on, the poster and her husband began "looking for Prelude's next owner."
Relling rest of the story
It didn't take long, of course, for interested people to read the words of the posting and to see the pictures of Prelude that accompanied them. Individuals soon begin contacting the couple.
"Thank you so much for all your wonderful messages and interest in this boat!" answered the poster in an update to her posting.
It turns out that among those people was a couple who altered the conclusion of the story dramatically.
"Among the many people who reached out to us were a couple that we have known from the wedding business for 25 years or so," explained the boat owner in the update.
"We never knew that they have sailing dreams, too!"
The couple are "new sailors," said the update, and "a cool idea came up in our conversations with them that we hadn't thought of before."
"Turns out that we are going to SHARE the boat with them for the 2023 season," the poster revealed. "This takes 1/2 the pressure of cost and responsibility off us and also doesn't dump the full load of dealing with all the logistics of owning your own boat on them for their first year of learning to sail."
The boat no longer was available, for a reason that had to please even those who might have been interested in obtaining it. The boat was staying at a safe mooring. It still had a loving home.
Besides, the poster didn't rule out fulfilling the "pay it forward" promise in the future.
"At the end of the year, if they decide sailing is not for them, you will probably see this post again! So stay tuned ... and happy sailing!"
Reach Gary at gary.brown.rep@gmail.com. On Twitter: @gbrownREP
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Gary Brown: Sailing into more sunsets
