Deborah Bach

I never thought I’d be a boater. I grew up near Vancouver, B.C., a city surrounded by mountains and water, but was never outdoorsy. I hate camping. I hate bugs even more. Outhouses scare me. I don’t think fleece is acceptable to wear to a restaurant, ever.

When I met Marty and found out he lived on a sailboat, I thought it was interesting and sort of romantic—his thing, not necessarily mine. I moved to Seattle from New York a year before we met and was scheming about when I could get back.

Naturally, the escape plans evaporated. My resolve to beat it back to Manhattan was quickly laid to waste by good times on the water. We spent weekends sailing to small towns, drinking in local pubs we never would have discovered otherwise. We anchored out in quiet harbors, eating dinner in the cockpit and sitting outside long after sundown.

I was a junkie in no time. We got married and honeymooned in Croatia—not because either of us have Croatian backgrounds or had even been there before, but because it met our criteria: interesting culture, beautiful scenery and fantastic sailing. We spent two weeks sailing on the Dalmatian coast among islands with pine forests and sandy beaches, cobblestone villages and castle ruins.

At first, I’ll admit, sailing was all about the destination for me. I’m a fast walker, used to getting wherever I’m going as quickly as I can (living in New York doesn’t do much for developing patience). Sailing forced me to slow down, adjust my internal clock to tides and currents and factors over which I had no control. In time I started appreciating the journey. My wanderlust and Marty’s fascination with powering a 17,000-pound hulk of fiberglass and wood by wind alone coalesced into a shared obsession.

One of the things I love most about sailing is that even a night away somewhere close enough to see the Seattle skyline can feel as transportive as a week’s vacation but without traffic, lineups or tourists.

And sailing is blessedly not camping. The boat’s tricked out with all the necessities: stereo, comfortable bed, heater, warm water, well-stocked liquor locker. It’s a vacation home with scenery and surroundings that can be changed daily.

Our long-term plan is to spend a few years sailing around the world, but for now we’re having a good time discovering the Pacific Northwest’s anchorages and marinas, its waterlogged characters and watering holes. We started this site to offer a look at the people, places and stories that make the Northwest such an endlessly interesting place to be.

See you on the water.

“The devil drives” – Sir Richard Burton

The Rest of the Crew:

• Marty McOmber — Editor
• Lily Winston Churchill — Cat
• About Us

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