The Return of the Lost Soul

Bob Bitchin

Saltwater Cures All

It took awhile for it to sink in, but all of a sudden I realized what it was like to be a sailor without a boat. In a word, it sucks! This realization was thrust upon me when I was planning our Southbound Cruisers Rally at Catalina Island. We’d made all the same plans we’ve done for the past dozen years, but as I was coming back from the Annapolis Boat Show it hit me. I didn’t have a boat! How was I gonna get there? Edider Sue’s boat was in the midst of a three year re-fit, so I couldn’t sponge a ride there. Production Manager Robin had a race she was going to be on that weekend, so even though she set most of the event up, she wouldn’t be going. That left Captain Woody. His boat was in good sailing shape, but with he and Dena aboard and all the band gear (hey, it’s gotta get there somehow!), it would be too tight a fit.

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Starboard Attitude And so there I sat, at 36,000 feet, realizing that I didn’t have a way to get to my own cruisers rally.

I gotta tell you, it was depressing. Sure, I knew a lot of people who would be going over, but the fact that I didn’t have a boat, couldn’t just up and sail away, really put me into a funk of biblical proportions! When I got to the office my funk was apparently not too well concealed. When I explained my dilemma, Sue realized she was in (or actually, in this case, was not in!) the same boat! So here we sat, the publisher and the editor of a boating magazine, with no boat! It was humbling to say the least! I had pretty well decided to try and find a boat to charter, when the folks at Sailtime in Marina del Rey heard of my dilemma and called to offer one of their boats. Very kewl! We had a way to get there. But there was one small hitch. I had to take a proficiency exam before taking the boat, and I was not going to be in town until the day we had to leave! Bummer! Well, to make a long story short (kind of), it all turned out great. Frank Butler, owner of Catalina Yachts, who sponsors our TV show and has been a long time supporter of Lats & Atts, called an offered his Catalina 47. Okay, how kewl is this?! Not only would we have a boat to get over on, but it would be the personal boat of the man who has introduced

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Bob Bitchin sailing to more people than anyone else I know of!

I gotta tell you, Sue and I were stoked! The next day we arrived at the marina and boarded the boat. As we expected, it was perfect! The dark blue hull gleamed in the Southern California sun, and within a few minutes we were headed out of the Marina del Rey entrance channel, and into the blue Pacific. All of a sudden the funk of the past week was gone. As the wind filled in we raised the main and popped the headsail. As soon as the engine was shut off the feeling I have loved for more than half of my life filled me. We were sailing! With just 9-10 knots of beam wind we were making 7.5-8 knots and cutting through the water. I wanted so bad to be a few hundred feet away from the boat to get a picture, but it was not to be. With Sue at the wheel I wandered up to the foredeck and plopped down, leaning back against the mast. Thoughts of how many times I had sailed this route started to mix with the thoughts of hundreds of thousands of miles of ocean crossings, and I swear the 4.5 hour crossing only lasted a few minutes. Before we knew it we were pulling into Two Harbors, dropping the sails (or should I say “furling the sails” as they were all self-furling!?). With our pirate flag flying we approached the fairway and were assigned a mooring. Captain Woody and Dena came alongside in

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Starboard Attitude their dinghy as we picked up the mooring lines, and soon we were doing what all sailors do - talking about the trip over and what was ahead. But inside I knew I was rejuvenated. A few hours at sea will cure whatever ails you if you are a sailor, and I guess I am that. As Isak Dinesen once said, “The cure for anything is salt water - sweat, tears, or the sea.”

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