Captains Comments:

The first thing that became apparent when captaining this vessel was that you cannot captain by committee. All of my friends are competent in their own fields and have definite opinions about which line should go on first when approaching a dock. A focus group does not work where timing is key to pulling off a flawless attachment to terra firma in front of the curious attracted to the site of our trimaran. Although the discussion is lively, informative, and insightful, it's time to do it The Captains Way!

For me nothing much improves on nature like the feel or site of a sailboat cutting through the water powered by the forces of sun, moon, and the rotation of the earth. It's about as close you can get to the rhythm of the planet.

These days most people are isolated from their natural surroundings. Their hunting trips consist of strapping game from Bed, Bath, and Beyond across the roof racks of their Land Rovers to the heavy beat of war drums on their Cd players. Practicality and common sense are almost lost.
Sailing teaches practicality and common sense. Nature rewards sailors that plan and work with her rhythm. In the Chesapeake Bay I've sailed up on dozing sea rays, and mating sea turtles. I heard thousands of shrimp sounding like a crackling fire through the hull of the boat in a quiet Mobjack Bay anchorage. I've felt immense satisfaction of planning a daylong sail and seeing the entrance buoy to Eastern Bay pop out of the fog exactly where I planned the boat to be.

Speaking of practicality I forget that most people don't know a lot about sailboats. If you come aboard our boat, wear light soled soft shoes so you won't slip on the deck and leave scuff marks on the boat. If you have questions about how anything works, please ask. I confess I am not a very patient teacher. My limit is explaining something three times and then I'm frustrated that you don't get it. My failing I suppose. I consider myself a good communicator and fairly articulate. If you don't understand something on the first try I will use a synonym for the words that you don't understand on the second try. On the third try I'll use a different synonym but then I'm out of synonyms. That's it. You get three synonyms! You are now in Mary Beth's hands and you are on to allegories

OK...Why a trimaran? Being a literal single-handed sailor, (I lost my arm to a bone marrow tumor) I figured a trimaran would be a stable but swift sailing platform. Ours is a center cockpit with the mast in the cockpit. We can handle most sails from the safety of the cockpit. The draft on our Searunner allows us to get into thinner water. Great for Chesapeake Bay and Island cruising. She also makes my heart pound just to look at her.

We have had the good fortune to have John Marples survey our boat. Marples arrived in Maryland to survey our boat from St Augustine, Florida in his home built 2-seat airplane. In January 2003 we had the unusual experience of having four Searunner owners and Jim Brown (Architect and father of the Searunner) over for dinner. Two of the owners Tim and Kathy Green "boat name", and Wayne Stevens "IllusionsII", have been cruising since the late seventies. Eric Cofer and his wife Corinne have their Searunner "Apasus" in the Lafayette River in Norfolk. In late April or May 2003 we are planning a Searunner return to Mecca in Mobjack Bay where Jim Brown lives. If you have Searunner and want to make the pilgrimage, contact us.