I started sailing with a Hobie 14 and actually kept it until not so long ago. My wife never really enjoyed the Hobie with her back problems. My son also didn’t really catch onto the Hobie even though there were times that we had some great sailing. Then we went camping one weekend and I took the Hobie along only to realize that I became way too unfit (or old) for the Hobie, so I decided it was time to let go.

Because my wife didn’t like the Hobie and my son wasn’t all that interested in sailing with the Hobie I started sailing less and less. I also always had this idea of just cruising into the sunset or something like that, but with my loved ones by my side. So a couple of years ago I started looking around for something else, a keelboat to be specific. Now, like most people I know, I happened to be on a very tight budget. The other thing that bothered me some was the diffirence between sailing a Hobie and a keelboat, more string (sheets) attached and more sails. Along with the fact that I’ve never actually sailed a keelboat, I was a little afraid, but started shopping anyway.

The first keelboat I had a look at almost put me off altogether, but I’ll admit I’ve seen worse since. All I can say is that is almost criminal that people can let a boat go to waste like that. We had look at a number of boats, but most way above budget. We saw some within budget, but requiring this or that, mostly an outboard motor. I said if I buy something I want to take it sailing there and then. Then we saw Katryn (she didn’t have a name then), slightly above budget. We looked at more boats, but in the end I made contact with her owner. The next day we went back and actually went sailing. We all loved it. The owner and I discussed the price and by then all my wife saw was dollar signs, so I told the owner I’d be in touch. Well I did convince my wife and I came to agreement with her owner. The following Saturday we met at the Vaal, I parted with a bag of money, had a beer with her previous owner and went sailing. This is the life.

Nowadays my wife recons Katryn is my mistress and she not always sure who takes the first place in my life. This was even more so when I started working on Katryn, but she always helped whenever she could or if it was required and she also very impressed with the final result. She even hints from time to time that we should get Katryn to water now.