July | 2014 | Footloose Adventure

After a summer working on the boat, I left for our wedding in Santa fe New Mexico. Lisa and I had been apart for most of two months. Talk about a hard way to plan a wedding. Everything went smoothly and we returned to the boat for our honeymoon in the San Juans

We sta DriversEd rted with a little training on Docking with our instructor Tim Hoving. Tim is a certified catamaran instructor with San Juan Sailing. We hired him to work on our docking skills. He emphasizes getting attached to the dock without getting off of the boat.

The big lesson of the day was throw the line on both sides of the cleat buy having the coil split between the two hands. Then pull in the unattached side to connect to the dock.. We did the practice with our head phones on.

The first Bachelor Party

Marconi Cove…. A dirt pullout on Highway one North of Point Reyes Station has been a favorite launch spot for many sailing adventures. Starting in the late eighty’s, I would launch my Hobie 18 there for trips up and down the bay. In the dirt lot other sailors were doing the same thing. In typical fashion we would help each other with mast raising and share our tips and tricks, all while laughing at Click and Clack, the Tappet Brothers on KQED’s Car talk. Some of these relationships stuck and the Marconi Cove yacht club was born.

The club has an exclusive membership. Doug Buescher, Mark Peters, Dennis Olson, and myself. We hold elections with the absent parties nominated for offices like commodore for life, or eel grass patrol. Meetings are held several times a year at undisclosed locations.

Live Music

Early in the club’s history, member Buescher got married and a bachelor party preceded the nuptials. The guests boated by whatever means to Marshall Beach on the west side of Tomales bay and an extravagant meal was enjoyed by all in attendance. Cooked on an open fire, the meal featured chicken, steak, corn on the cob, veggies cooked in foil, salad, pie cooked on the beach and ice cream. Substantial amounts of Redtail ale were consumed, there was live music and a great time was had by all.

While it was obvious that the “bachelor party” would be a great “club” event, we had a problem… our only remaining bachelor was sticking to his guns. We decided to have the bachelor party anyway and made it an annual event.

Fast forward 25 years. My Hobie cat has become a Catana 471, we are all older and greyer, but these are still the guys I would rather sail with. Experienced, intuitive, I wanted them on my team as I tried to learn this huge new boat.

I was getting married again, and new wife Lisa and I planned to spend part of our honeymoon on our new boat cruising the San Juan Islands.

The 21^st bachelor party was to be held in the Pacific North West, the first time away from Tomales Bay.

The boat stayed in Tacoma Washington for the first 6 months after the purchase. After selling my optometry practice, I drove to Tacoma with a truckload of parts, and began working on the boat. Six weeks later Mark and Doug showed up for the maiden voyage. The mission was to fly every sail on the way to Bellingham, WA.

On the way we would practice docking, see some of the San Juan Islands, and try to get the new skipper (me) qualified to take his new bride on a honeymoon cruise on her new boat.

Bam Bam

We did fly all the sails and practiced docking with varying success. A large steak was obtained named Bam Bam. Weighing over three pounds with the bone in, it made a great meal for the boys.

As with most bachelor parties, the details shall remain in the murky past, so that those in attendance may amplify, or minimize (based on their audience), in the oral storytelling tradition.