Canopus

While I'm the master of eBay in our house (a story for another time), RJ holds the title of Craigslist Champ. The man can find -and buy- practically anything off our local site. Over the course of our relationship, we've found an electric stove, an iron bed frame, a washer dryer set, a boat launching system, a couple of boats, a new car, and even a little Maxwell on Craigslist. 


So it really shouldn't have surprised when he decided he wanted to buy a sailboat. But still. I haven't sailed, more than, oh, five times total in the past seven years? (BVI trip doesn't count.) And RJ? I honestly don't think he's sailed since his days with the Crescent Yacht Club.

Just look at those white pants.

But if you know RJ, you know those are just inconsequential details. So last Tuesday, he came home with an adorable little 4.6 meter Boston Whaler Harpoon. I think I'll just let the original brochure speak for the boat:

"There was a time, not so very long ago, when the average young sailor's concept of the ideal club racer conjured up images replete with 470's and Flying Dutchmen.  

Fragile, complicated, ultra high performance sailing machines with blinding, neck-jerking acceleration and precise, if somewhat jittery, handling. Then something started happening. A lot of those very same sailors started getting tired of the constant nerves-on-the-edge sort of feeling that goes with racing a nervous, skittery, overly-sensitive performance boat.

And tired also of racing with - and more often than not, losing to - the kind of high-powered competitors these world class boats constantly attract. Yet, the only alternative seemed to be stepping down into a boat that was - by comparison - boringly slow, ponderous in its handling and about as quick to respond as an overweight walrus. 

Now, with the Harpoon 4.6, there is perhaps for the first time, a meaningful alternative. A boat that is fast and and yet refreshingly umcomplicated. A boat that's really enjoyable to sail. And yet, forgiving. A boat that teaches you when you've made a mistake, instead of punishing you for it. 

A boat that's stable, tough, and roomy. With a degree of spaciousness that can only be describes as vast for a boat this size...and most importantly, it is a boat that is absolutely unsinkable, and which can easily support the weight of its full crew even when totally swamped. "

Well great! A boat that's faster than an overweight walrus and won't punish you for a mistake and will definitely not sink!


It was with this level of excitement that we ventured out for the first time this weekend...a little after 5....into Sawmill Bay.  Now, I'm honestly no sailor (despite the best efforts of the entire HHYC staff) but I know what that means: dead air. No wind. But again, never fear! RJ attached a little baby Honda engine to the back, and off we went, in search of some wind.


One last thing: the boat came named Canopus. Since everyone knows it's bad luck to change the name of a boat, I think I'm fine with having a boat that's named after the second brightest star in the Southern Hemisphere. Even if it's only visible South of Richmond, VA. She's our little Southern Belle.

"sailing" Canopus

don't let the hat fool you