A search for nautical “roots” turns up a bigger question:
what makes us cherish the boats that we love?
SNAPSHOT of a
FOR THE PAST COUPLE OF YEARS of used-boat shopping, my wife Stephanie and I have searched and circled back to cer- tain boats, searched and circled
back again, wading through options and
styles that are at times vast and confusing.
We’ve made many lists about what we must
have, what we’d like, and what we each
could and couldn’t live without. There were
deal-breaker features that we’ve both agreed
upon, and through it all we slowly winnowed down our choices.
We decided that our next boat needed
at least two berths, one for us and one for
the new baby we were hoping to add to
the crew, plus a transom door and swim
platform for our dog Finn, who’s very much
part of the crew already. The boat had to
be seaworthy enough to get us across the
Chesapeake with no worries, have enough
shade to keep us out of the sun, and faster
than our present boat, to make day trips
more practical. We were in sync on all these
things, until Stephanie saw an Albin 28.
