When my husband came back home to Victor, Idaho last fall (2006) with a 20’ Balboa Sailboat, all of the neighbors thought we were crazy. We were bundled up in our down jackets drinking Margarita’s on the deck…while it was snowing. Scott has been obsessed with sailing since we started dating 6 years ago. He had been on a couple of small sailing adventures with some friends but never did any of his own. SO….why not buy a small boat and teach ourselves?

You may ask, WHERE do you sail in the Teton area? Well, just so happens that Jackson Lake is quite the place to test your sailing skills…well in our case, LEARN. It can be a tough lake because the winds are very gusty and not very consistent at all. One minute you are basically going nowhere and the next minute you are scrambling to get the sails down.

This past summer we moored our little boat, TOBY, up at Leeks Marina on Jackson Lake. Scott spent the entire Spring, Summer and into Fall obsessing and spending much time on the boat. We both had some great weekend sailing adventures with plenty of coffee, brews, and dogs in tow. We had quite a few close calls, almost, and WOW…we were lucky, over the summer. I think I must have yelled out, SCOTT a hundred times. It is amazing that sailing can be so scary after living a life of skiing back-country lines and tossing yourself around on a downhill mountain bike. There is so much much to think about and you need to be ready to act. I guess this is why we enjoy it so much.

So, when we decided to take the entire month of November to go charter our own sailboat in the British Virgin Islands for our belated honeymoon…a few of our friends were skeptical. This will be our first ocean sail. Yes, we are a bit nervous. But, I have complete faith in Scott to not get us killed. I know, you are all thinking that this could be the end of a perfectly good marriage, but I guess I am willing to take a chance. Hanging out in the islands, doing some sailing, swimming, drinking cocktails, sounds too good to pass up.

We are leaving tomorrow for our one month sailing adventure. Our first portion of the trip will consist of us sailing a 41’ C & C. It will just be the two of us and this will be sort of like the belated honeymoon. Later on we are joining up with two other friends and MY parents and will charter a larger boat. It will probably be perfect timing for some extra “mates” on the boat. More time to read and relax.

Stay tuned as I keep you posted on my first sailing adventure…outside of Jackson Lake, Wyoming….Hee Ya

Special thanks to following companies for providing us with some great gear to check out during our sail. We will be including their reviews during our blogs. Keep an eye out for some potential Christmas gift ideas!

Aventura/Sportif
Mountain Hardwear
Klean Kanteen
Anne McAlpin
Atlantis
Mion
Julbo
La Sportiva
Moving Comfort
Mission Playground
ENO