45january/february 2017cruisingworld.comthe price ridiculously low and put her up
on Boat Trader. Soon a New Zealander
made a serious off er, and a few days later,
an American couple in the Philippines
really wanted her, all sight unseen.
Immediately, old, powerful feelings
came up. The reality of selling made me
panic. As long as we’d had Oddly Enough,
we’d had an excuse to escape and not stay
home 12 months a year. We had a purpose
or at least an “illusion of purpose” in life,
as Joshua Slocum once said.
Yet somewhere along the way after
leaving Oddly Enough, we’d stopped get-
ting on with our lives, stopped making
decisions about what to do next. We’d
lost the thread to what life was like before
cruising, because we couldn’t let go of the
dream. Oddly Enough even interfered with
sailing. We had a Cape Dory 25 in excellent
condition sitting on the hard in Maine; I
dreamed of experimenting with minimalist
cruising in New England. But we couldn’t
aff ord two boats, so they both sat while we
set our priorities elsewhere. We never even
sailed during our time in Kudat last year.
We spent time on people’s boats just to
sleep or socialize, and once to help friends
move from the yard to the dock.
Now, fi nally, we had two buyers who
weren’t backing down. Oddly Enough was
in good but not sailaway shape. At thenew price, she was such a steal that we
could stick to the conditions we set: The
boat would be sold as is, there would be
no sea trial, and we wouldn’t go to Borneo
to meet the buyers.
The couple from the Philippines visited
fi rst and absolutely loved her. Of all the
things to then happen, lightning struck
Oddly Enough’s mast, blowing a few small
holes in her side. This was where having
a caretaker, other nearby cruisers and
sensible buyers was crucial. Fortunately,
the hull damage was reparable, and the
electronics were fi ne (we always remove
or seal up electronics when we leave the
boat). Both prospective buyers made
acceptable bids after seeing her, but
the Kiwi had right of fi rst refusal. As he
hung in the air and then fi nally requested
assurances that the engine would run, I
wondered if we should have gone with the
people in the Philippines. Tom emailed
the Kiwi a reminder that Oddly Enough
was listed as is, mentioning a Peterson in
New Zealand going for $150,000 and the
existence of other buyers in the wings,
and within a day, the deal was patched up.
The realities of international sales took
another couple of weeks to sort out, but
in the end, both sides were trusting. The
buyer transferred money in some way that
lowered his exchange diff erential, and wemailed off the signed paperwork. I’m sure
he will have questions when he gets to
Oddly Enough, but that’s for later.
It’s still very hard to give up Oddly
Enough — even more so for Tom than for
me. Sometimes it does seem that we are
giving up the dream.
So what convinced me that selling Oddly
Enough wouldn’t cause my world to end?
I could say simply time and distance.
But there was a moment when I counted
the time I’ve spent cruising — including
actively sailing and getting boats ready to
cruise — and realized it represented 20
years of my life. That’s longer than I’ve
done anything else except be married.
So if I choose to do something else for a
while, it’s OK. It doesn’t mean the end of
sailing or even cruising unless I want it to
be. Plenty of people have gone back after
a hiatus.
During our last season on board Oddly
Enough, at Sutera Harbor in Kota Kinabalu,
a sailor named Johnny, who performed in
the club restaurant, sang Rod Stewart’s
“Sailing” one night as we dined. The
schmaltzy tune about sailing to be free can
still raise a teary-eyed excitement in me.Ann Hoff ner and her husband, Tom Bailey,
spent 10 years cruising aboard Oddly Enough.
They are currently looking for a new sailboat.Have a Front Row Seat
for the America’s Cup
Finals in 2017!
The 2017 Marion Bermuda Race will finish in Bermuda the week
leading up to the 2017 America’s Cup Finals. This is your once in a
lifetime chance to see the America’s Cup up close and personal.
Marion Start on
June 9, 2017
http://www.marionbermuda.comn Special Youth and Celestial Trophies
n Slips and moorings available for
America’s Cup Finals (Limited)
n Special Accommodation Packages
n Safety at Sea Boston, March 11-12, 2017
POINT OF VIEWCRW0217_POV_Swan song.indd 45 11/21/16 2:41 PM