Plonker Club

This in from a Plonker...

"Even Jesus told fishing stories."

"Noah was a live aboard."

Plonkers of the month: The "Awesprays"

Don and Lynda were our second set of sea school students in 1996 on the island of Sint Maarten. We were still quite green in the art of "teaching" but these two, along with their 21 year son took it in their stride and plied the teachers with beers and cocktails to smooth out the learning process! They have become very dear friends and are boat owners themselves of an Island Spirit 40 called "Awespray". They are no doubt the kind of friends that anyone would like to have as this excerpt from their sailing blog proves. They are our very best Plonkers of the month and a great example of the best kind of sailors/cruisers out there!

"...11/15/11 Tuesday

After I made a phone call a 5:30 am we were in formed from the next lock that there was a tow coming up so we stayed tied to the dock waiting for the lock to clear until 9:00 am. This is a late start when the days are so short, and anchorages are so far apart. We worked our way down river another fifty miles through three more locks before we were able to anchor in Windham Cove just before dark. Ourselves, Ook Pik, and Salty Paws rafted off, and adjourned to Ook Pik for cocktails, and dinner. After dinner Bruce the owner of Ook Pik complained about chest pains, and he didn't look so good. We all retired to our respective boats for the night.

11/16/11 Wednesday

We are informed early in the morning Bruce hadn't slept all night, and that when he lays down his chest is killing him. I'm not a doctor. I just play one on the river, but I know this can't be good. It's fifty miles up the river against the current, or seventy miles down the river to get help. We opt to head down river, and make it to Demopolis, AL just before dark. After docking in the marina we try and persuade Bruce he must go the hospital, but to no avail. Lucky for us the head of admissions at the local hospital is at the bar, and he talks him into going, and getting checked out.

11/17/11 Thursday

Bruce returned to his boat about 12:30 am after refusing treatment for a heart attack he had twenty- four hours earlier when we were on anchor. They wanted to operate immediately, but he is from Canada and wants to be treated there. When we find this out it is about 8:00 am, and he and his wife are on their boat doing nothing. Lynda gets on the computer to line up a rental car. I go to the office to get prices on prolonged dockage for the boat, winterization, and possible winter storage. Another couple volunteer to drive them to Cincinnati to meet Bruce's son who is on the way down from Canada. The couple leave to retrieve the rental car that is fifty miles away while Lynda organizes maps, picks prescriptions, and cleans out all the perishables on their boat. I move their boat around to a permanent slip, secured it with dock lines, cleared all the valuables off the deck, and winterize the boat. We got this all done, and had them on the road by 1:00 pm. The whole time Bruce, and his wife Karen could not understand why we were in such a hurry. I think they would still be sitting on their boat trying to figure out what to do..."

Plonkers of the month: The Mirador's

George & Sarah on their catamaran 'Mirador' are two of our more adventurous Plonkers. Getting to know them over the years, we learned that even as a young couple they traveled to experience new cultures, foods and places and in doing so, educated themselves and their son and daughter about the world and it's peoples. We recognized their adventurous spirits right away during the sailing school and their enthusiasm dazzled everyone. They have since become very good friends and fellow sailors and we cannot wait for them to start their journey at sea! Here is their story...

When we got married (34 years ago!!!), we shared the dream of sailing off into the sunset, surrounded by tropical islands, palm trees, and white sand beaches. Both of us love to travel, and sailing seemed to us a great way to do it. Towards that end, our first vacation together was 5 days of classes at the Annapolis Sailing School.

Knowing our dream was years in the future, we started reading, crewing on other people's boats, attending boat shows, and chartering different types of boats in exotic locations. In 2003, we chartered our first catamaran out of St. Martin, and were immediately converted. You just can't beat sailing level and being able to see out of your salon! Add to that a cat's comfort at anchor and shallow draft so we could explore "skinny" water, and we were really sold. So we started seriously looking at catamarans.

In July 2006, a friend told us he's seen an interesting looking cat at the York River Yacht Haven Marina in Gloucester, VA, just 30 minutes from our home. We went to take a look, and there met Stephen and Estelle Cockcroft, aboard Siyaya, their Island Spirit 401. Stephen, a broker for Island Spirit, and Estelle invited us out for a sail on the York River, and we came away really impressed with their boat.

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Plonkers of the month: The 'Simplicity's'

This is the story about our "Plonkers of the Month", David and Peggy King an their boat "Simplicity". We are immensely proud of them for taking their dream in hand and making it happen! They started out as two "Plonkers" in our seaschool and are now two seasoned sailors and adventurers!

People who want to live on a boat or go cruising are always asking us how we made the big move. Some of our friends thought we were crazy, some thought we were the smartest people in the world and some were a combination of both. After talking to people my husband, David, and I get the feeling fear of the unknown is the main stumbling block to most folks. What if we can't sell our house, what if we can't find the "right" boat, what if , what if, what if. Bottom line is this ... if it's something you have dreamed about doing ... do it .... If you don't try you'll never know. Our plan may not turn out the way we dreamed but we will have at least tried and have no regrets. This is our story.

2004: This little adventure was my idea. After having dinner at a local marina with co-workers I went home and asked David what we were going to do with the rest of our lives since we were empty nesters. Simple question!? I told him I thought it would be great if we could sell the house, everything in it and buy a boat. It sounded like an easy enough thing to do. Remember the saying "Be careful what you ask for?" Well, that did it.

Within weeks we we're on line looking at boats. Gas prices weren't high yet and we actually looked at a 46' Chris Craft CONSTELLATION. Buying that boat didn't work out so we took it as an omen we should be looking in a different direction, which is what we did. We went to the first in-water boat show in Norfolk, VA. where we looked at all the new and beautiful sailboats.

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