A Valentine to the Other Woman

Valentine’s Day is around the corner, and an article in my local sail’g rag, Latitude 38, brought a tear to my eye: the Forty Year Club. So far, I’ve got about 29 years of marriage under my belt, and always had a sailboat or two for about a dozen years before that. My wife recently said, “You’ve cheated on me!” Knowing that wasn’t the case, I asked if she could run down some of the highlights to jog my memory.

“That damn boat.”

“Guilty as charged, your honor.”

She was a ’71 Cal 39, rated 114, same as a Catalina 38, and she was hot. It’s not that there weren’t “signals.” When my wife was my girlfriend in November ’87, she said, “You’re quitting a good-paying job to do the Cabo Race?”

When your hand’s been in the cookie jar for so long, it’s pretty hard to deny the charges.

Knot a Clew became my mistress only 20 years ago. With seven knee-replacement surgeries in the last three years, I hadn’t been able to even do a Newport to Ensenada  Race in five years. So we decided to let someone else race her. Feeling like the guys at the bar in the song Dixie Chicken, I hope she pops into his dreams like my time with her does.