Women Over Fifty

I’ve never been sure how many sailing boats Annie has at any one time.  I know the number was around five (including a motor boat) when she was offered the Fury.  The picture is of Annie, taken in Queensland.  She just loves boats, whether sailing around in Precious or scooting around in the bay with Megan her Australian Shepherd in the little dinghy she named the Hot Yot, she is a happy lady.  She is called the Scuz Mum of the ScuzBums and editor of their newsletter.  The ScuzBums are a group of people who build, and/or admire small boats.

Annie is also a plein-air painter, specializing in painting small boats at wooden boat festivals and other marine scenes.  So, she was no stranger to wooden boats when a man in Oregon wrote to her via the ScuzBum Newsletter inquiring if anyone would like to own an old wooden skiff.

Here she is with her husband sailing her boat Precious in San Diego Bay.  If she isn’t out sailing, she’s probably sitting on one of her boats with one of her Aussie dogs.

Annie called the man about the skiff, thinking she wanted to tell a little more about the boat before she placed the ad in the newsletter.

They hit it off and the man decided that Annie should have the skiff.  The man was getting older and he was not able to take the skiff out on the water any longer.  It had been in storage for 20 years.  He wanted to give it to someone who would love and care for as much as he did.

He decided to give the boat to Annie.  Annie insisted she had plenty of boats but he insisted that she was the one.  It wasn’t just a matter of giving it to her.  There was the matter of driving from San Diego to Oregon to get the boat, trailer it home,  and find a place to park it when she got it here.  You will remember she was living in a town-house-complex with two parking spaces for each house and no hanging out into the road.

Though the man assured Annie that the skiff was in good shape, she could imagine what she’d find - a once wonderful skiff that had been sitting around in storage for twenty years with rot and neglect all over.  Annie wasn’t sure she wanted to take it on.  But - by now you should know how Annie feels about sail boats.  She says she felt a strange compulsion - like the boat wanted her to own it and to take it out in the water again.

After gaining her husband’s approval (How ever did she do that?) Annie set out for Oregon with her dog Meggie for company, driving the more than a thousand miles up the Pacific Coast to Oregon.

Here’s a picture of Annie and Meggie in the Hot Yot.  Annie painted the boat herself.

So Annie and Meggie headed north along the coast sometimes visiting with friends, sometimes stopping to explore the beaches, and eventually arriving in Oregon, a little nervous about seeing the skiff.

Annie loved the skiff on sight.  It had an unusual construction and it was in exceptional condition.  This old man, named Elmer, had certainly loved and cared for it.  He showed her how to get it ready for sailing while Annie tried hard to memorize everything.  It was a fine boat - an exceptional boat to just have given to you.  Annie didn’t take it home right away.  She had to learn how to sail it.

More tomorrow.

Marilynne