Halloween morning, 2018, Mrs Gemini and I found ourselves on the deck of our future boat. Having done a few trips on our 1980 Catalina 22, Bottoms Up, with our two sons and dog, we were ready to add a couple feet to the length overall. We had been keeping an eye on all the classifieds, when Gemini caught our attention.

We started cruising when our oldest son, George, was just five months old. We spent that first night in our Catalina 22, on the Chesapeake Bay, and it was an unforgettable trip. Nearly everything that could go wrong, did. Before even leaving the dock, it took two hours, and a new fuel tank, to finally get the outboard running. Once we got it started, we headed out into the bay.

We left Sandy Point State Park, and pointed the bow south towards Whitehall Bay. On that May afternoon, the wind was south with a two foot swell. The moment we crossed under the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, the motor that I had willed to start, gave out entirely. The south wind was slowly blowing us back towards a pylon belonging to the bridge we had just gone under. I quickly scurried out from under the bimini, and ran the mainsail up the mast.

In my hurry to get some canvas flying and make way, I hadn’t noticed that the halyards were twisted, and I couldn’t get a full hoist on the main. So we sailed for a couple minutes under a poorly tensioned mainsail. Once we were free and clear of any immediate danger, I made my way back on deck to get both sails flying correctly.

Once that hurdle was cleared, we actually had an enjoyable sail for about an hour. However, the moment we got comfortable, we were faced with the next obstacle; a following wave caught our port quarter stern and as it did, we looked back just in time to watch the outboard come off the mount and turn turtle. We didn’t lose the motor, but we weren’t going to be able to use it again that trip.

With the motor being dead weight, we sailed into Whitehall Bay, and up Mill Creek under mainsail alone. We met up with our group of friends, and rafted up to share the story of our adventure.

During the entire expedition underway, our son George was a fantastic little sailor. He hung out in the cockpit, and even slept a little bit. That evening was an entirely different matter all together. George cried, and screamed for what felt like an eternity that night before finally falling asleep with Mrs. Gemini on the galley table that was converted to a bed.

The following morning, we looked up the latest weather report. There was no wind in the forecast until evening, and that wind was leading a storm front to the Chesapeake Bay. Our entire group made the decision for us all to head back to port. We borrowed a 2HP dinghy motor from one of them and had an uneventful sail on a nearly glass smooth bay back to Sandy Point.

Even with all of the obstacles of that first trip, we were still hooked on sailing and cruising with our family. We continued to do short daysails and overnights. Last year, we brought our second son, Charlie, into the world. Charlie stole his big brother’s record of being the youngest to spend a night on the boat, by doing it at 4 months old.

With two boys and a beagle, it was time for a boat where we could stretch out a little bit. Gemini is a 1985 Catalina 27 with a Universal M-18 inboard diesel, and she has the room we need. When we bought Gemini, she went by a different name, had an inboard the didn’t run, and was overall a victim of neglect. The first day at the boat as a family, George made himself right at home playing with his trucks in the galley. I have already spent quite a bit of time this winter on a refit to get her back into ship shape. We plan to spend many weekends and day trips aboard her, teaching our sons how to sail.

This blog will serve as the vessel to chronicle our trips as a family, Gemini‘s, hopefully successful, racing regiment, as well as maintenance log, with tips and tricks. We already have many excited things planned in the future, so we hope you are as excited to share in the adventure as we are.