Narrative of my 7 years living aboard

Article By George Sorrell

Shorty,

Your website struck a nerve so I thought I would write to tell you my story about sailing.

I’ve loved sailing since I was old enough to understand what a sailboat actually was. I had wanted one since at least 10 years of age, and finally acquired my first in about 1957. Here is a picture of my very first sail boat.

I kept her until I got married in 1960 and had to give it up for having babies.

However, in 1968, I bought a Dolphin Senior from Glenn Cochran in Houston Texas. They were brothers and they owned a small manufacturing place on 34th street called “Universal Plastics”. This is where so many Dolphin Seniors were build. Many of the Dolphin Senior boats had the name “Universal Plastics” a shiny sticker forward, under the mast. Eventually, time and the sun faded it out. These guys knew me because I would come by at least once a month to see what they had going on. They were always very nice to me because they knew one day, I would buy something from them which I eventually did.

One such day when I had just dropped by to day dream, one of the brothers invited me in the workshop to see his latest creation. At that time, it was just a fiberglass hull being laid up. You couldn’t tell much about it but he had a drawing to show what it was going to look like. That was the very first Dolphin 17’ ever built.

Here is a picture of my second boat and two of my daughters about to go for a sail in St Louis.

In 1991, being divorced, kids all grown and given the opportunity to retire early, I sold my Dolphin Senior and bought my final boat. I say final because I am not looking to take on the responsibility of a boat any longer. Here are a few pictures of my last boat, a Catalina Capri 26’.

This is at the Marina Faro Blanco in Marathon Florida where I lived for a year.

This is a photo of my boat (in the middle) anchored out at Bahia Honda. The overseas highway (A1A) is off in the distance.

This is a cheat photo because it was taken by a friend of mine, after I had sold her in 2008. She’s in good shape.

This picture shows the incredible blue water of the Florida Straits somewhere between Florida and Cuba.

Summary: I lived on my Capri from April 1992 until October 1998, or 6 months shy of 7 years. I lived in the Keys for 1 year, Amelia Island for 5 years and the rest of the time was spent cruising. My journey began at a place called Green Turtle Cove near Barkley/Kentucky Lake. I traveled up the Tennessee, down the Tombigbee, into Mobile Bay, across the gulf to Clearwater and eventually, down to the Keys. I then went up the east coast of Florida to Amelia Island. In 1998, I hauled her overland to a place called Shell Point on the Gulf, 30 miles south of Tallahassee Florida and I became a landlubber again.

There were plenty of storms along my journey including Andrew that hit when I was on Marco Island (the eye passed 30 miles south of me). The storm knocked some fiberglass chunks off one side but no real damage. Fortunately, a few weeks later I found a fiberglass expert down in the keys who lived on his boat anchored out. You got in touch with him by leaving a note on a board at a general store. He came by, fixed it and you could not tell it was ever damaged. I had already been told he was a genius and I must say, I had to agree.

If anyone asks “Is it as good as it sounds to live on your boat”, my answer is that it depends entirely upon the individual. For me, it was a dream come true and I relive it in my mind as often as time permits. I met many strange and wonderful people, saw things hard to describe and never regretted taking the trip even for an instant. If I were in the same circumstances at the same age, I would do it all over. I just wish my current wife and I could have got together sooner so that she could have enjoyed some of those adventures with me. She would have a much better appreciation for the pure joy of living on a boat, free as a bird.