Boat Makes Three - The Inaugural Post!

© Melanie Neale

Join us each week as we follow Melanie and Will and their quest for freedom on the high seas in Boat Makes Three...

My husband, Will, and I have kind of an unusual story. We met at a marina on the eastern shore of Virginia when we were thirteen. He was visiting with a friend whose parents kept their boat docked at the marina, and I lived aboard a sailboat that my family kept at the marina during the summers.

Will and I liked each other right away. We really liked each other. Twenty minutes after we met, Will and I were kissing in the forward cabin of his friend's boat. We spent the weekend together, and when it was time for Will to leave, we exchanged addresses. That was the start of something. Over the next six years, Will and I exchanged more than 120 letters.

Will lived on a 100-acre farm outside of Richmond, VA, and was used to going without electricity for long stretches during winter snowstorms. I, on the other hand, lived aboard my parent's sailboat and spent winters sailing around the Bahamas. My dad wrote for several different boating magazines and my mom was a professional photographer and artist, which was how they managed to make a living without staying in one place. My sister and I were home-schooled. To Will, my life was a kind of fantasy. For me it was the opposite. I loved his letters and was fascinated by the idea of living on a farm and going to a real school and doing all the things that normal people did.

We only saw each other once more, briefly, when we were sixteen. Then, the letters started to dwindle during Will's first year of college. I moved off my parents' boat and settled in Florida when I attended college and then graduate school (during which time I bought and lived aboard my own 28'sailboat, which I had named Short Story). After college, Will got married, moved to Florida, and divorced a few years later.

Then in January 2008, Will and I met up for dinner in Fort Lauderdale. Sparks flew, and by October we were married. One of the things that drew us together was the lifestyle that we both wanted to have. I lived in an apartment at the time and yearned to be back on the water. Will, still fascinated by the idea of a life on the water, wanted the same thing. So instead of registering at Macy's like most couples do, we wrote to our wedding guests and asked that as a wedding gift, they contribute to our Boat Fund. 

Now, several months later, and a little less than $5,000 in the bank, we're in the market for a well-used trailerable sailboat. (So we can keep our landlubber jobs and home - for now - and trailer sail around Florida on the weekends.)

But I can't help but feel that Will has no idea what he's in for. He doesn't believe me when I tell him that boat owners generally spend more time working on their boats than they do sailing them. He doesn't yet realize that most trailerable sailboats have about the same amount of creature-comforts as a tent (and even less headroom - Will's a pretty tall guy). He also doesn't know how much bigger the waves can look when you're sailing something the size of an dinghy in the big wide, blue Atlantic. All he knows is that he's always wanted a boat.

But isn't that what marriage is for? Sharing our life's experiences - for better and for worse.

Editor's Note: We are pleased to announce that Melanie Neale's column, Boat Makes Three, will be a regular feature on RumBum.com. Please join Melanie and Will every weekend to read along as they try to make their maritime dreams a reality.