Shady Character
A low-stress sailboat
After about nine years of windsurfing, I began to yearn for a way to go sailing that would allow me to sit down, eat lunch, take a friend along, and maybe even spend a night or two on the water. So I began reading and shopping. I soon decided that I did not want to shackle myself to a floating condo full of electronic and mechanical systems. I was more attracted to simple, old-timey boats.
Shady Character is a Sea Pearl 21, made by Marine Concepts of Tarpon Springs, Florida. Her cat-ketch rig with two lug sails may not be as fast as something more high-tech, but it's easy to sail, and set-up and take-down are almost as quick and easy as a windsurfer. She floats in as little as six inches of water, making her easy to launch and able to sail anywhere.
The spars are made of wood; none is longer than 15 feet. The masts are free-standing, so there are no rigging wires. The boat has no winches, and only one block. Although the hull is fiberglass, all the work of sailing is done by wood, cloth, and rope. That includes the auxiliary "motor:" at 600 pounds empty weight, there's no need for an outboard, but a pair of oars is standard equipment. I can row her at 3 knots without breathing hard.
