History of the Abston Adventure
2003
In 1994, we bought our first sailboat – a McGregor 22. With no previous sailing experience, the plan was for the family to enjoy an exciting pastime together. We named the boat Wild Blue, after the nightclub Steve and Leslie met in. In addition to sailing Millerton Lake, Shaver Lake and San Louis Reservoir, it was used to sail in San Francisco Bay, Monterey Bay, and two trips between Avila Beach and Morro Bay.
In 1996, we bought a Catalina 25 – a little more boat to accommodate the growing children. The boat, also named Wild Blue, was kept in a slip at Millerton Lake, but sailed in various ocean trips. This boat traveled from Morro Bay to San Miguel Island, Santa Barbara, Ventura, Oxnard, Marina Del Rey, Long Beach, three trips to Catalina Island, and a half dozen other ports leading to San Diego.
In 1999, we bought a Lancer 28 – advertised as the “largest trailerable cruising sailboat”. We named this boat Pop Tart, but I’m not really sure why. This boat sailed in adventures from San Francisco to Morro Bay, and included a two-week vacation around the San Juan Islands in Washington.
A partial list of past Adventure crew include Bryan Borror, Greg Farris, Lance Vincent (2 trips), Mark Bartlett (2 trips), Kim Bethell, Greg McLaughlin, Wayne Vincent, Nicholas Abston (4 trips), Alan Dorfmeier (3 trips), Wes Berry, Giuliano DiCicco, Leslie Hoyt (3 trips), Frank Church, Mike Dalton and Rodger Sheffield.
Land-based vacations in 2001 and 2002 found Pop Tart getting little use at the Millerton Lake Marina, and required serious commitment to a 2003 sailing vacation to make up for it. An annual sailing rally, the Baja-Haha, includes about 90 boats sailing from San Diego to Cabo San Lucas (at the southern tip of Baja California). The trip is a late October event, and kicks-off the beginning of the sailing season for those heading south. Hurricane Season for the Caribbean and southern Mexico lasts from June through October, with cruising season being from November through May.
The Haha takes about 2 weeks and covers about 750 sea miles. Leslie and Katherine were not interested in taking this trip, as they enjoy more time in exotic resort marinas more than long-distance sailing events. So, Steve and Nicholas, along with friend Bobby Dean, made preparations to sail the 2003 Baja Haha.
As with many sailors, Steve dreamed of sailing to far-off lands. Nicholas was game, Katherine was skeptical, and Leslie was tolerant of her husband’s fantasy. The idea was that after arriving in Cabo, the boat would be left there for sailing further south the following year. But without the women to join them, the men were hesitant to make any big plans for big trips.
In April 2003, there was a boat show in Oakland that we were planning to attend. On the way, we attended the Los Banos wedding of Leslie’s father to his second wife. At the reception, an old friend of the family recommended to Leslie that she pursue her life’s dreams before she gets too old like he was (about 80). After the reception, Leslie informed the family about the conversation and her newfound commitment to taking a long-distance sailing cruise if the family purchased a larger boat. So, instead of just window shopping at the boat show, we really looked for a boat to buy. What we decided on was that we needed a catamaran, but none at the show were adequate.
After looking around for several weeks, a boat was found in the San Francisco area that turned out the be ‘the one’. After refinancing the house, we purchased the boat and began preparations for our 2003 Abston Adventure.
2004
Upon our return from the 2003 Adventure in mid-January 2004, neither Steve, Leslie, Nick or Katie were anxious to continue on with any more cruising. We're just average folks, and the 3 months we spent exploring Central America was a long time to be away from our family, friends and work. We missed the simple things in life like air conditioning, Taco Bell, an overstuffed recliner, TV in English, and Taco Bell. As much as we loved our extended vacation, we were glad to be home. We intentionally avoided discussing or planning any 'next thing' with the boat until we had decompressed and were able to think clearly and unbiasedly.
After about a month, we found ourselves saying things like "I miss our boat", and "So, where do you want to sail to?" After two months, Steve and Leslie were definitely ready to talk seriously about taking Wabi Sabi out again, and seeing some more of our world's shoreline. We had learned a few things from our last adventure that we didn't want to repeat, the greatest one being schooling on the boat, as that nearly brought our family to ruin.
As such, we needed to take our next adventure during the summer, so either it's the summer of 2004 or 2005 - one being too soon, the other being too far off. The deciding factors for going in 2004 included the extended costs of financing and maintaining the boat, the unlikelihood that the kids would still be interested or willing to go in 2005, the bond on our boat in Costa Rica is only good through September 2004, and we just didn't want to wait a year and a half to have another adventure! Leslie and Steve were excited, Nick was ready and willing, and Katie would just as well stay home, but wasn't putting up a fight (so long as we didn't make any 3-day passages).
So, in mid-March, Steve informed his employer that he was resigning effective June 1, and preparations began. Charts were purchased, cruising guides read, and replacement equipment ordered to put Wabi Sabi back in fighting condition. This time, it was much easier to get ready, as we didn't use up too many of the spares from the first trip, and we knew exactly what to expect on the second. The greatest upgrade to this year's trip was a satellite data communication device called Skymate, which allows email and weather forecasts to be received.
Leslie felt that taking a vacation from her work more than 1 month would not be acceptable, so we needed to work something out that would fit that criteria. And, frankly, we were a little burned-out on the Latin American experience. So, the boat needed to be brought to someplace more Anglo, and the east coast of the US seemed like the most likely choice. We thought of doing the Caribbean, but this would require us to sail upwind and upcurrent from Panama, and all the guidebooks strongly recommended not trying this course - maybe we'll see the islands some other time.
So, Steve started plotting a course down to the Panama Canal, and up to Florida where Leslie and Katie will join the men, and they would continue up the coast to Norfolk, Virginia. Then, everyone but Steve will fly back home to school and work, while Steve figures out what the heck he wants to do next - the most likely option being sell the boat and rejoin his family and civilization back in Fresno.