Seeing the boat and meeting the crew for the first time

I woke up this morning at about 7am, my alarm was set for 7:30am but I was much too excited to sleep. I picked up a rental car and drove out to Staten Island to see the boat for the first time. I expected to pull into a bucolic little marina along the coast and to see a lovely sail boat floating around in the water…

Ha ha! Of course, it was nothing like that...



It was a commercial marina, rusting tug boats strewn about like toys on a kid’s play ground, mud everywhere… I had gotten lost on my way to the marina and I asked Dario how it was that he left the city 45 minutes later than me and yet arrived a half hour earlier. He said that I’ve been in New York for too long. Then, he looked down at my shoes and with a laugh said, “I see you have your boat shoes on today”. I was wearing a pair of black leather boots... Oops! He had on jeans and a t-shirt. Perhaps I have been in the city too long!

We traipsed through the mud around a giant hangar that is used to hoist ships out of the water. He said that on Wednesday, the hangar will be used to pull his boat out of the water so that the mast can be re-attached and the hull can be cleaned. Over a precariously positioned piece of timber that served as a bridge to get from one platform to another (over the water) we went, then backwards down a rusty ladder to yet another platform. I looked around and all I saw was the rotting corpse of an old tug, no 120 foot sail boat in sight. I started to get nervous and wondered what the hell I’d just gotten myself into…

Across the platform was a beaten up dingy with an outboard motor, we climbed in and cruised across the choppy waters; wind and spray beating our faces. It actually felt really invigorating; the adventure had finally begun!

Suddenly there was a loud thud, the boat made an awkward turn and we sort of skidded across the water. The engine made a very unhealthy rumble and we were at a standstill. I couldn’t help but chuckle as I was certain this would be the first of many interesting situations and minor disasters. It is the sea after all... As it turns out, we had hit a board and it had wedged itself in the prop of the motor. Dario was able to clear it easily and we were on our way. As we pulled up to the sailboat, I could feel the awe inside of me grow. The boat is gorgeous, a real sail boat, not a fiberglass and brass show piece. This is a boat built for sailing the sea. It’s sleek and sexy, a true work of craftsmanship and art.

This picture really doesn’t do it justice, and there is a 150 ft. mast that is in repair which is why you don’t see any mast or sail here.



I asked Dario what his first boat was; he said it was a refrigerator that he floated in down a river when he was four years old, he has always been fascinated by sailing, built his first sail boat when he was 13 and has been living on boats since he was 20.

Dario is a real salt of the earth kind of guy. There is nothing fancy or pretentious about him, he drives a beaten up Jeep Cherokee and lives in blue jeans and sweatshirts (and yet owns houses all over, lives aboard his sail boat and spends his life sailing around the world). He laughs a lot, and is a real story teller. There is a glint in his eye that makes me think there is always something humorous going through his head… He told me about a crossing he did a few years back from Florida to St. Barth’s. A friend of his was interested in coming along and had said that it sounded kind of romantic to be out at sea and he was wondering if he could bring a woman with him. This friend was older, single and had never been married. Dario said sure. His friend asked him about the crossing and asked which islands they would be stopping on at night. Dario said there was no stopping; it was six days straight… The friends reply was, “you mean I have to be on a boat with the same woman for six days?!” He decided not to go…

We arrived at the boat and I jumped off, grabbed the rope and pulled the dingy in while Dario steered. We were met on board by a South African woman named Sheila, the stewardess. She showed me around the boat; the galley, captain’s quarters, guest quarters, and crew quarters. Ah, the crew quarters… I can’t count how many times over the past few weeks people have said to me, “you’ll have your own room, right?”. HA HA! NOT! I have the upper bunk of a very tiny room, the room being maybe 6 feet by 4 feet. Maybe. And here’s the topper, Sheila will be leaving as of December 1 and I’ll be sharing quarters with one of the other crew members; an American by the name of Christopher. Directly across from the “American quarters” are the “South African quarters” - two other crew members, Aubrey and Sheldon, both men. So basically, once Sheila leaves I’m going to be the only female crew member living aboard a boat with four handsome and charming sailors. It’s a good thing I grew up with five older brothers… and as Dario pointed out, it just means I have four guys to buy me drinks! This should be a very interesting journey…

I’ll be able to bring with me one duffle bag of clothing; much like the army, not a suitcase, a duffle bag. I asked about boat shoes and Dario said that we pretty much go barefoot on the boat and flip-flops on land. Sheila filled me on what bar the crew hang in at St. Barth’s and said I might want to bring one dressy outfit for SB, but not much because I’ll want to shop there.

The other crew members were in the boat yard sanding and painting the mast. I met them after I’d had a tour of the boat. They all seemed really nice, but they were entrenched in their work and we didn’t have much opportunity to talk…

On the boat Sheila had already inventoried the cupboards, pantry and freezer for me and gave me lists of some of the staples I would need to have stocked for our crossing; coffee, olive oil, milk, beer, soda, etc. Dario and I talked about how he likes to eat – he loves grilled calamari, chowders, stews, linguini and clams (he goes clam digging in Nantucket), etc. He said that nobody on board is a picky eater and they all really enjoy food. And then, with his customary laugh, he said, “well you know what they say, if you don’t enjoy food – then you don’t have any passion”. Yup, we should get along just fine…

My official start date is November 1. I'll be stocking and provisioning the boat for our crossing and we'll be setting sail sometime between November 10 and November 14, sailing straight across from New York to St. Barth's, non-stop. We'll be at sea for 10 days straight!

The crew tells me that we'll be able to do some fishing on the crossing... should be fun, as I grew up deep sea fishing in the Pacific – so this is something I enjoy!

I know that there will be challenges on this adventure, I don't expect it to be easy all of the time but I'm sure it will be really fun and I feel so fortunate to have this opportunity. This is going to be the adventure of a lifetime! I can't wait to begin...