Faith, The Schooner I Called Home For Four Years. For Colorchallenge Monday Red.

It was a foggy day the first time I saw Faith. A friend of mine George had motored his dingy over to tell me about her. I was living on a 29 foot Pearson, and was quite happy. The thought of a wooden boat did not appeal to me, especially one as big as Faith. He reminded me of a previous conversation that we had, the one where we spoke of the soul for wooden boats that came from the forest that they were built out of. His eyes danced when he spoke of it. I smiled, curiosity heightened.

Me braiding Georges hair after we crossed a channel.

I had heard of Faith, she was a local legend around the harbor. The man who had built her spent twenty years slowly shaping her. He was a high school football coach (American Football) and would mentor boys that had bad family lives. I had worked for one of those boys. He was now seventy five years old and had sailed around the world. He told me about building her with the coach, how it had affected him and how it was one of the reasons for his marine career. Faith had been built in a time of a cruising boat renaissance, alongside some of the most famous boats and sailing adventurers of our time.

I jumped in my dinghy and motored down the soggy harbor. I had been told that she had a group of big sea lions that were breaking her. I knew about this sea lion gang in the harbor, they weighed upwards of eight hundred pounds each and were aggressive to boot.

As I pulled up to her I saw her graceful lines beneath the neglect. Her beautiful, one of a kind charm. And as I kicked the sea lions off in a battle of strutting and loud noise making, I knew she was mine.

I spent the next four years fixing her and living aboard. I sailed all over Southern California. I lived in Catalina Island and worked at Harbor patrol.

My life will always be changed for the better because I met Faith.

Thank you for reading my blog, this is my Red for Monday.
Big Love.