After owning her for 10 years, it is time for me to part with Jazz. She was everything I needed her to be, but the time has come to let her go. It is a tough decision to make, but my family now has other places to be and Jazz was not being used enough.
I will post some blogs about Jazz and hopefully someone that likes to race will soon own her. She is a perfect boat for short handed cruising and racing. She never lost a race in winds over 20 knots. In 2014, she won three races on a 20+ day in the Sutherland regatta. She did it with just me on board. That is short handed sailing at its finest.
She also carried my children for the first 10 years of their life. Knowing her strength and heavy air breeding, I was confident that my family would be safe with her. I have many fond memories of sailing around with the kids and not worrying about anything.
My brother's recent purchase of a J-105 has given me a new place to sail on Wednesday nights. That has made it easier to part with Jazz, but still remain active on the river.
Over the next couple of posts, I will explain how I chose a J-28 sailboat. I'll talk about the early days learning the boat. I'll move into the cruising division races we did. Finally, I will discuss the waning usage over the past few years.
I believe that my path through life is similar to a boat's path through a windy bay. You have to pull the sails in and go hard. You need to be ready for any unexpected changes and adjust the boat to the changing conditions. As you work your way to your next waypoint, you need to be in synergy with the waves around you and not try to bash through everything.
The wind in my life is blowing from a new direction. I am going to ease off for a while and see where it blows me. While I do not know the final destination, I do know that my journey is far from over.
