Go with what you have- An Alberg 30

If you don't know by now, all boats are a compromise. Some shine at certain things and fall short on others. There is always a great debate on which boat is right for this or that. There are many opinions on the subject; just look at any internet forum. My best advice is go with what makes you feel safe, secure and comfortable. But opinions are like assholes: Everyone has one...and they usually stink. 

That being said, I am a firm believer that you should go cruising or sailing with what you can afford. I also believe in go-small-go-now; hence, my reason for buying the trusty old Alberg 30. She is slow, with a primitive inside cabin but I'm confident that she has been there/done that. If I had the money would I have a different boat but it would probably just be a larger version of the same old slow, primitive boat. I love the look of older classic sailboats, and most importantly I get that warm fuzzy inside when sailing with a full keel boat.

I have attached a link to a video of Matt Rutherford where he talks about his circumnavigation of the Americas. In the video he talks about preparing, sailing and traveling on a small 27ft classic sailboat. He says go with what you have or you'll never go. I agree

Link to video

Small Boat at Sea

Was directed to these videos of a small boat crossing the Atlantic by www.sailfar.net, a great website. This is an excellent video and confirms for me that a small boat was the right choice for us. The boat in these videos is an Albin Vega 27, a great boat with many blue water passages under her belt.

We beat the heat!

    Yesterday we beat the heat! I was dying to go for a sail but didn't want to get out there and cook in this heat. The weather forecast was for good wind during the overnight hours and into the morning, so we got up at 5:30 and left the slip close to 7a.m. What a great morning out on the water. Wind was from the SW blowing 13-15kts and gusting to 18kts, a bit more than predicted but it sure made for some great sailing. Downwind on a broad reach Sal was moving right along! Very nice sail indeed. Check out our YouTube channel for video of it.

Heading out with the sun rising from the east

A nice full main! Rare during July and August

 Wife enjoying the breeze and the light spray as we beat into the waves. We were headed toward  Hampton, VA

A bit far off but that is a large container ship approaching Thimble Shoals Light

Returning from our sail we just rounded the corner to Little Creek inlet

Approaching our slip

Sal looking salty and happy to have been out doing what she does best!

Gorgeous Day Sail

      We enjoyed a great sail this past week. Here are a few shots from the day. We really like our new light weight drifter. I bought it off of craigslist for $250, a steal! I  tried to get some interesting shots with our new (to us) Canon DSLR T2i, another craigslist find! I also added a few videos to our new YouTube channel, you can view them from the link to the right from our blog

 My beautiful first mate relaxing on the deck as we move right along

 A shot of the new rigging and drifter.

Another shot looking up the mast. Crystal was at the helm while I moved around taking a few shots

Here is one of the videos I uploaded to YouTube