I'm excited that I've been invited to the American Yacht Club in Rye, New York, to talk about Holding Fast on May 19th. While searching for photographs to accompany the talk, I found a picture of Laughing Goat's galley, above, looking aft, to the rear of the boat. On the left, the companionway stairs leads up to the cockpit and in the middle, you can see a bit of the aft cabin where John and I slept. We had just bought the boat so there are no personal touches in the galley yet like the big plastic container of Milk Bones for Elmo, our Portuguese water dog, or coffee mugs on the shelf above the sink.
I remember making chicken tacos when we were in Isla Mujeres with fresh roasted chicken and tortillas from a little shop in town while delectable smells filled the boat, and my excitement to have a real closet (the hanging locker in the aft cabin), not realizing that in addition to our clothes, we'd also store the giant sump pump and hose. I remember John and Kate laughing in the cockpit while I was cooking, and I'd pop my head out the door to see why, while watching plates slide on the counter in the waves, but not fall off because the fiddle at the edge held them in place.
Everything on the boat had a reason for being, and often, multiple uses. The boat only felt small when rain trapped us inside too long and we got "cabin fever." Laughing Goat's compact, glowing space expanded my world so much.
New York and Connecticut friends, if you belong to the American Yacht Club, or know someone who does, I'd love to see you there on May 19th at 6:30pm!
Coming up in June, I'll be interviewed on Between the Covers TV Show. Taping is on June 13th, and the show will be aired beginning on June 22nd.
Read more about the boat in my memoir Holding Fast which outlines the sailing journey I took with my husband and daughter.
Holding Fast: A Memoir of Sailing, Love, and Loss