Goodbye to a dear one ...

She's gone!

It hit me last week. She's gone! I put her up for sale and now she is sold. I couldn't leave her there on the hard to rot through the next 2 to 3 summers and winters while we live in Hawaii. It just wasn't right as she was meant to sail. She was meant to sail The Bay and rest in its tributaries.
I only bought her a few years ago but she was instantly in my blood. Her green lines and clean finish called out to me. Her big jib that just wanted to go ... gave my heart reason to beat.

Steve Soroka and I picked her up one Friday morning. We motored out of ... hey, I don't remember what river it was because I was focused on EVERYTHING about the boat. She hummed and she purred her way around the markers and the buoys out into The Bay. Steve and I raised the main and felt the surge of wind power as we cut the diesel. The big jib rolled out and filled with a 12 knot breeze. SEVERANCE began to gallop into the deeper waters as we criss crossed The Bay passing Thomas Point Light. I fell in love.

33 feet long and made sometime between 1983 and 1984, she was the perfect bay boat ... able to take the short choppy waves and still keep you steady on your feet. She grabbed the wind and went for a ride.


Everyone liked her. Her only issues were her age and the fact that her port lights leaked during heavy rains but who doesn't get old?

People just smiled as they guided her along ...

I sailed her often and she rarely disappointed.

She was fun whether they were on her rail or hanging on the lines off the back!


Somehow sailing her made me a kid again ... could two guys look any happier?


One day she saved my life and 3 others. The intrepid crew of Norman, Nick, Wasfi and I enjoyed our day on the ole girl and as we sailed back toward port, we were confronted by two significant thunderstorms. The first sent the wind meter up to 28 knots. It was the highest wind I had ever sailed in. The waves were tall and rocked SEVERANCE. She withstood the challenge and her diesel powered us ever eastward.
The second storm was worse. It crawled over the eastern shore with a dark menace in its heart. We pushed forward and watched the wind meter climb easily passed 28 knots all the way up to 44 knots! SEVERANCE did her best to keep us into the wind but we were sliding backwards at 1 1/2 knots though we were at full forward throttle. She saw us through the crisis and after the storm abated, we were soon cruising into her slip (D2) at Herrington Harbour North.
I never lost faith in her as my sailboat and she responded to me in like kind as her Captain.
... and now she is sold. I know that her new owner will treat her well and take her to new places and I wish them luck ... but it still hurts!