Home Archive for October, 2008

Thalia, the sailboat that my husband and I live aboard, has been anchored at the mouth of Weem’s Creek for the past week or so. We are here to attend the Annapolis Sailboat Show, which we’ve come to see for the past eight years. There are hundreds of boats and endless booths with all kinds of stuff for sailing; the basics, like rope and paint, to the latest technology in electronic navigation and chart plotting. We go as much to meet our friends, old and new, as to see the boats and the gear on display. This year I was lucky enough to have a new friend along: Patrick Berzani.

Patrick is not your usual guy. He races big, fast sailboats across oceans. Storms, calms, snow, icebergs, big seas, Patrick tackles it all—not a sport for the timid—and goes back for more every time. Patrick’s also in love with Kate Stevens, who is not so sure that she’s in love with him. Kate’s a glass blower and not ready to commit her heart or her baby to a dare-devil like Patrick. Kate had an art show the same weekend and could not come with us. This gave Patrick and me the chance to talk about sailing and boats, two subjects close to our hearts.

Did I mention that Patrick is also the hero in my novel, Baby On Board?

Before you think I’ve gone nuts, give me a chance to explain. I’ve known Patrick for over a year now. I’ve spent many days writing his story, worrying if he will find love and win Kate’s heart. His struggle has consumed months of my waking life and, at night, drifted through my dreams. I like Patrick. I learn new things from him about sailing, sailboat racing and love. He’s become more real to me than some of the people I have known for years. I look at a new laminate sailcloth or a smart-looking foul-weather jacket and wonder “What Patrick would think about this?” And poof! Patrick sort of pops out of my imagination and begins to tell me what he thinks about it.

Am I crazy? Maybe. But I like being crazy like that.

So there we were, Patrick and I, walking the docks of the Annapolis sailboat show, looking at boats and talking to the brokers and builders, asking all kinds of questions. Well not exactly. Patrick is invisible and can’t really speak for himself. I must be his spokeswoman and ask his questions for him. He likes light-weight, high-tech racing boats. As a cruiser who makes her home on a boat, I’m more interested in things like large water tanks, comfortable berths, stout construction and lots of room to store food and my shoes. Patrick wants to know about hull construction, upwind performance, movable ballast—the things that make a boat go fast.

So with Patrick along, I see things at the boat show that I missed all those seven other times. I’m curious about them, because he is curious about them. Thanks to Patrick (and Kate and Ian and all my other characters), the world opens up to me and becomes a much more interesting place.