Purchased in 2006 for just over five grand Canadian, GEM was in mint condition and came fully found with a trailer, dodger cockpit enclosure, as well as a late model Johnson kicker ...a deal - genuine value by any measure.
I'd been sailing for a while at that point, starting out as a youth with Lasers and Invitations in the Eastern Townships and Laurentians of Quebec, and later graduating to larger boats on the Great Lakes of Western Ontario... always OPB, however....(other people's boats).
Oh, I'd like to brag that all those years of OPB experience led me smartly to buying the Sandpiper...you know, me, Einstein... together again? But, if you'd believe I'm really that intelligent, I've got a bridge over the Hudson to sell you....cheap! No cheques please. Truth be told, I arrived at my decsion to buy a Sandpiper precisely because of being slow and unable to decide quickly which boat to buy.
To start with, let's agree that all those years I'd spent sailing had proven at least one thing: when it finally came to buying my own boat, I was pretty well confused, adrift, and muddle headed. Fact is, I'd discovered I liked several aspects of sailing...wet/dry; fast/leisurely; predicatble/unpredictable; solo/group...in short, I liked it all, and pretty much equally too.
So, in choosing a boat for myself: confusion emerged all too clearly.
Hmmmm... (insert head scratch here) which boat should I get? became my mantra. All those boats out there... small ones, big ones; short ones, fat ones; light ones, heavy ones...I spent hours, days, weeks in fact, mulling the question. I was obsessed! The list was long and inexhaustible (unlike me), and at this point...my head hurt.
Undaunted, I pondered, pondered again, and then pondered some more....
On the one hand, I really enjoyed having martinis dockside with friends... (but the docking fees for a large boat would almost certainly and significantly compromise my bar fund, I surmmized). Still, I liked the look of those large, sleek, nouveau riche Beneteaus... But the purchase cost! Ouch! (there was that niggling bar fund issue again). Still, the convenience afforded by standup headroom in the head would be great... (but, if I didn't have a bar fund, I wouldn't really need a standup head much, now would I?). Oh, oh. My head was really spinning now....which was sorta bar fund-related I guess.
Anyhow, I was starting to wonder if I would ever find just the right boat. I struggled, but couldn't decide, and I was drowning in my own inability to make a decision. I needed help ...advice, and fast... if I were going to keep what little of my sanity there was left!
And so it was, that the stress of my indecision led me to seek respite at the docks that day. I sat... mulling (ok, ok, it may have been more like pouting) when an Old Salt (seriously) happened by and stopped. Mused by my plight, the sage regaled me with stories of his youth and sailing a Sandpiper. Suddenly, there it was. The answer.
How could I have missed it all this time? It was so clear, so obvious.
KISS was the way to go. At that moment, intuitively (and eventually pragmatically), I saw that by adopting my new approach and keeping it simple (KISS) ... I'm leaving out the 'stupid' part... hey, it's MY story... I would be more likely to use the boat, whichever way I went.
So by going back to basics, I became simple minded; not muddle-headed... albeit light headed with my new found clarity (clearly, of course, a clarity not bar fund related). Am I being clear???
Enter my Sandpiper.
I call her GEM. The reasons are obvious. She's easy on the eyes and easy on the wallet. This boat defines simple: simple to rig, simple to sail, simple to use. Simply put: she's fun
...and I use her a lot!
GEM is quick from the dock, using a fuel efficient 4hp gasoline outboard. She fuels excitement in all conditions of sail (I've sailed her in 30 knot winds without a worry). She responds predicatably and efficiently to the touch of the tiller.
When at rest, the cockpit affords plenty of room for friends and family....and by the way, I have all the head room I need... on deck.
GEM trailers effortlessly too, inexpensively quenching my thirst for varied sailing venues.
Oh, and speaking of quenching...
...my bar fund?
Well, it seems I can afford to buy the imported stuff now.