Q. What kind of boat do you have?
A. My boat is a Shannon 38 Cutter-rigged Ketch. Shannon is a company which builds custom boats based in Bristol, Rhode Island. It was built in 1980 and is hull #54 out of 99 that were built. It is a heavy, “blue-water” cruising boat designed by Walter Shulz for two people to sail around the world. The “ketch” part means that it has two masts: a main mast in front and a smaller mizzen mast in the back. The “cutter-rigged” part means that it also has a staysail, which is a small sail between the foresail (in my case a 145% Genoa) and the main mast. This four-sail configuration provides a lot of flexibility of sail plans in various wind strengths and directions.
Q. How long have you had it?
A. I purchased the boat on June 28, 2021.
Q. What is with all the lengthy footnotes?
A. I love teaching and explaining things. I know that many people who are following this blog are not sailors, and so I try to explain some things as I go to hopefully make the narrative make more sense. I put it in footnotes so that the sailors out there don’t get bored reading them. If you just want to know what happened with me and Serendipity, ignore the footnotes. If you feel like learning a little bit more about sailing and sailboats, feel free to read the footnotes, too!
Q. Where are you heading? What is your goal?
A. Nowhere in particular. Currently, I’m trying to get far enough north to get out of the main hurricane zone and the oppressive southern heat. The whole point of this lifestyle is to minimize schedules and agendas. I will explore, stay someplace until I feel like moving on, then explore some more. The only place I would really love to cruise someday is the Aegean Sea, but I wouldn’t say it is actually a goal.
Q. Are you doing this alone? Why?
A. Yes, I am solo sailing (or, in the lingo, I am “single-handed”). It is not my goal to go solo, but the situation has not presented itself for a full-time partner to accompany me. There will likely be longer legs (“passages”) where I may take on crew to assist me. I am also open to whatever the future holds. 🙂
Q. How long are you going to do this?
A. Until I don’t want to anymore. 🙂
Q. I see in the photos that Serendipity’s home port is Sitka, Alaska. What does that mean? Did you sail her all the way from Alaska?
A. No, I bought her in Titusville on the east coast of Florida. Shortly after purchasing Vahevala I renamed her Serendipity. When naming a boat, one can choose any city to be the “home port”. It really has no purpose other than to further officially identify the vessel (you can think of it like a last name). Sitka is my favorite place and I wanted to celebrate that by listing it as Serendipity’s home port. What I didn’t realize at the time, however, was that it would appear that I indeed have sailed her all the way from Alaska. So, on the one hand, I have instant “street cred” with other sailors who pass me by. On the other hand, I think people are disappointed or think I’m trying to pull some kind of a fast one once I admit that the boat has never been there. But at least it has started a lot of conversations!
Q. What is your name?
A. Barry Calhoun
Q. What is your quest?
A. To seek a relaxing lifestyle.
Q. What is your favorite color?
A. Green. No, wait, yel-aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh
(More Q & A coming!)