I like boats, I like the ocean. I've been fortunate to grow up in New Zealand, a country with plenty of both. On top of that when I was growing up we spent a lot of time camping close to water and later on we had a Bach at Snells Beach, Warkworth where we had a Haines Hunter fizz boat and a Fryan aluminium dingy (his and hers' boats for Mum and Dad).
As it turned out my brother and I had free use of both and theres plenty of places to explore with either.
Following my university studies and my parents divorce the Haines Hunter got sold followed by the Fryan a couple of years later. So to get my boating fix I started crewing on yacht (Lotus 1280) in the Summer and Winter series. After a few years of that I purchased my own sail boat a Whiting 16 trailer sailer. If gave me a low maintenance and safe day sailer with lots of capacity. I got a couple of good summers sailing out of it before my use started tapering off. The problem is that with even a modest trailer sailer you still need a minimum of two crew making it difficult to spontaneously go out for a sail.
Another problem with the Whiting was that it took up space, since we have a townhouse on a sub-divided section; lawn and driveway space is at a premium and the boat was claiming too much of it. Early this summer I moved the boat to a storage yard hoping that I would find the time to use it so I could justify the cost... It never happened.
Around the same time I was looking into other options for a portable boat that didn't need a trailer, could be used as a day sailer with a bit of cargo capacity and could be solo sailed, or sailed with my son and daughter as they grew up. At first I was tempted by catamarans both moored and trailered but they both incur ongoing costs so then I toyed with the idea of a Kayak or Canadian canoe but I'm worried that one nasty dump and Nicolas or Eloise will be put off boating forever..... Then my internet wanderings came across outrigger canoes.
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