We'd owned the boat for about 2 years at that point, but it was that summer that our enjoyment of boating had really peaked, when we moved her from a bayou off of Lake Pontchartrain to Pass Christian Harbor, right there on the Gulf of Mexico. While daysailing on the lake was enjoyable, our "cruising grounds" consisted of the string of barrier islands about 10 - 15 miles off the Mississippi coast. Moving the boat to that area made it possible for us to make daytrips out to Cat Island, and it made our longer trips more enjoyable as well, since we would start the trip already "in the neighborhood" and save a day of travel through not very exciting waters.
I distinctly remember our last night anchored out at Ship Island (which is about 12 miles south of Gulfport), near the end of our 4-day Summer 2005 trip. Being a Monday night, we were the only boat anchored there, and after watching our nightly movie (complete with popcorn), we all sat up on the deck for a while and quietly observed the peacefulness and tranquility of this isolated anchorage, gazing at the stars. I think my wife summed it up best when she broke the silence by saying "girls, remember this."
A month later, Katrina left the entire coast in ruins. I was able to pull the boat out of the water before the storm, so it was not destroyed, but with the entire area decimated (and, like everyone else in the region, with us having more pressing needs to tend to), it was clear that there would be no more sailing in our near future.
We intended to get back on the water (even if just on the local bayous) by the following Spring, but between a new house, a rapidly expanding photography business, a baby, building a new home office, renovating the kitchen, and so on, getting the boat back up and running kept getting pushed to the back burner.
But in October something happened. I was shooting a wedding at a yacht club in a nearby town, and as I worked, I would periodically look over and gaze enviously at the boats coming in and out of the harbor. Late in the afternoon, a blue 26M came in, and I watched as the kids, about the same age as ours, scurried around on deck getting the boat ready for docking.
For me, it was one of those "what the f*** am I doing?" moments, as I realized in a virtual panic that I had let a whopping 3 years slip away. 3 years isn't that much time in "adult years", but in terms of kids growing up, it's a huge chunk of their childhoood... my girls (now 9 and 11) were 5 and 7 the last time we went boating, and we've now got a 1.5 year old as well.
Determined to not lose anymore time, I shared these thoughts with my wife when I got home that night, and she agreed... getting back on the water was long overdue. Later that week, I brought the boat home from the storage yard, and we began the process of getting her cleaned up and recommissioned. But as we talked more about it, we realized that perhaps we had outgrown this boat. It was a bit tight for the four of us back in 2005, and now with the girls being bigger and another crewmember having been added, it was time for something a bit bigger. Admittedly, I wasn't too thrilled about it. I have a lot of sentimental attachment to this boat, plus there were practical issues... being able to pull right up to a beach, not having to worry much about depths, being able to motor around quickly, and being able to yank the boat out of the water when a hurricane is approaching, etc. But I eventually relented, and after considerable research, here's what we ended up buying in November, a 31' Hunter...
A few weeks later, we headed out on our first trip for Thanksgiving, anchoring out for 2 nights at Cat Island...
The trip went well, but having to anchor so far off the beach meant a really long dinghy ride, something we're going to have to get used to... the MacGregor had spoiled us!
On the first night out, I gave my wife this book, which I had secretly designed and had printed, chronicling our time with Wind Dancer...
http://www.michaelcaswell.com/boatbook
We're excited about the new boat, but will never forget the wonderful 2 years of boating with the MacGregor.
--Michael
Thank you for sharing your book with us.
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