Update or two - Bubba used to be Sailorbum.

[Bubba the Pirate]

Hey all. I've been lurking a long time but haven't been active at all.  I changed my screen name to reflect the blog. 

It is amusing to read my old posts. Like this one http://sailfar.net/forum/index.php/topic,1599.msg15866.html#msg15866 I tried to work a job and fix a boat that was teetering on the edge of salvageable ( a word? ).  Last August, I finally cut my losses and "sold" the Cape Dory I'd been working on.  She was just the wrong boat project for me. It just took me 6 years to figure that out. 

Enter Bella. I bought an Albin Vega in December. She is in Milwaukee and I'll be sailing her across the lake to Holland in June. I'm driving a truck at the moment and will continue to do so through Spring of 2015. Then she and I will spend a couple months in the Great Lakes followed by an escape out the Erie Canal/Hudson. I plan to be somewhere between Norfolk and Jacksonville by October 2015. 

This boat actually floats and has been sailed up to last fall. She has been meticulously cared for and the PO is heartbroken to be relocating without her. I can't wait. I hardly know how to act.

Bubba
Todd Townsend

[s/v Faith]

Welcome (back) aboard!   

  The cape dory was a great boat, but you HAVE got to do what is RIGHT for you!  Good on you man!

This life is short, and filled with troubles.  Live it, and Fairwinds to "Bubba the Pirate"!

[skylark]

Todd, congrats on the new boat, I hope things are going well with you.  Take a look at South Haven, truly a pirates port if there ever was one.

[Jim_ME]

Congrats, too, Todd, I agree with Craig's praise of Cape Dorys in general, and also that if what you have been doing is not working for you, it makes sense to try something different.

Some time back I saw an Albin Vega 27 project near Boston. The appealing thing was that it came on a nice (older Triad) tandem-axle trailer. Obviously there is a big difference between trailering a 5k-lb Vega and a CD28 at nearly double that weight.

I read on your blog about how keeping sailing economical is a factor, as it is for many of us.

Have you seen the blog about Vega S/V Lealea?
It has extensive entries and videos about their many voyages.
http://cruisinglealea.com/home.html

Best of luck with you new boat.
-Jim

[Jim_ME]

Those who enjoyed Frank's thread on cruising the Pacific Northwest might also enjoy the video blog of SV Lealea cruising that area by SFS [Sail-Far sized] sailboat...
http://www.youtube.com/user/vega1860/featured

[Captain Smollett]

Those who enjoyed Frank?s thread on cruising the Pacific Northwest might also enjoy the video blog of SV Lealea cruising that area by SFS [Sail-Far sized] sailboat?
http://www.youtube.com/user/vega1860/featured

Hey, that's cool, Jim.  They are actually members here.

http://sailfar.net/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=2640;sa=showPosts

They used to be in HI.  So, I take it that means they made the crossing?

Would like to hear from them again.

(Apologies for the thread creep).

[Jim_ME]

Hey, that's cool, Jim.  They are actually members here.
They used to be in HI.  So, I take it that means they made the crossing?

Huh...I see that they did tell us their boat name Lealea in their initial introduction, but used Vega [and hull no] as their SF name... I found their website by an independent search and just didn't make that connection.  :-[

I did watch the videos of their voyage from Hawaii to the Puget Sound area, and then another series where they headed North. I found them to be very good, and showed the day-to-day experiences of cruising and living aboard (including the more mundane, not just the exciting times).

Will have to check out their blog and catch up to see where they are now and what they've been up to.

[Bubba the Pirate]

Thanks everybody!

I loved the Cape Dory, but she was too much project. I needed more than just a sense that I might sail again. The Vega is not perfect, no boat is, but she is ready to sail, well equipped and well found.

My departure date is June 2015. Between now and then, I'm driving a truck and squirrelling away cruising funds. This summer I'll be getting my sea legs back, sailing between when I'm home. One more Midwest Winter and then I'm heading south. First pause will be somewhere between Charleston and Jacksonville. Then some time in the Bahamas, with old friends in Florida and hopefully Central America.