We said goodbye to a dear friend this past fall. She was a stout and reliable companion through many adventures over the years. Some called her a big-beamed girl, but to me that was a hollow observation from those who did not have the privilege of confidently weathering 30 knot winds and riding through the accompanying Great Lakes swells in her. She did not once let us down through many nautical miles of cruising (over 1,000 hours under power, and that many and more under sail). She was also a comfortable retreat on the water, our summer cottage with 360° lake front views.

Soulstice was her name, or as I had to so often explain, “Solstice with a U”, a name I had envisioned long before purchasing her. She had entered Diane and my world shortly after a transition point in our lives, and was a joint endeavor from the beginning. We spent many hours looking at boats and narrowed down the list from dozens of possible vessels considered and examined, all across North America. This was a luxury most current day boat purchasers cannot enjoy, given the scarcity of quality used boats available.

It was during our annual August 2022 voyage from one end of Lake Ontario to the other that we came to the conclusion that it was time to part with Soulstice. The reasons were several and varied. We had moved quite a distance from our home yacht club two years ago, and were not successful finding a closer port we were as comfortable with. Grandchildren and other hobbies were also competing with her for our summer attentions. To keep a sailboat like Soulstice in top condition you have two choices, checkbook maintenance or lots of personal effort. I enjoy working on boats, and am a bit cheap, so usually opted for the latter. The ratio of maintenance time to sailing time seemed to be steadily increasing over the last several years.

Once the decision was made, we attacked the project with our normal enthusiasm. I set out to write a “101 Reasons to Purchase Soulstice” sales pitch, and was surprised to realize, when I was done, that I had assembled a list of over 200 attractive features and characteristics. Not surprisingly, she sold immediately after the posting went live to someone who had been looking for such a boat for over a year. There is an oft repeated saying among boat owners that the two happiest days of a boater’s life are the day you buy and the day you sell your boat. I could not agree more with the first part of that phrase, but can categorically state that the second bears no truth in our case. We have four other children, but Soulstice was the child we had conceived and raised together, so parting with her has been difficult. There has been a small element of seller’s remorse, but the die is cast and it is now time to look ahead. I will continue to sail and race Spirit in Charlotte Harbor and who knows, there may be another, somewhat smaller, sailboat factoring into our northern summer plans. Perhaps she will have a tiller rather than a wheel and will be close enough to the water to help me kindle a passion for sailing in our grandchildren. And so commences our march toward a new instance of that first “happiest day”.