Wildcat Sailorgirl: Crew

New owners of s/v Honey Ryder May 2010

Cap10 Tom

Tom
Spent summers on Green Lake in Michigan (just south of Traverse City MI) swimming, fishing, paddling and general goofing around the lake. First sailing experience was a homemade sailboat minus a rudder - oops. The first lesson in sailboat design was learned that summer.

Tom's first sailboat

Next came high school summer sailing with a buddy and his Styrofoam Snipe. Once all the gear - including a case of beer (hey, they were high school boys) and themselves were loaded into the boat, only 2" of the gunwale remained above the water. But it was enough to make Tom fall hard for sailing. Lessons at that same KC lake followed. After college a business client offered up his Sweet 16 anytime and Tom took every opportunity to borrow it eventually parking it in his backyard as the client said "Keep it. You use it more than I do and my wife is pissed it's killing the grass in our backyard."

Sabrina wind surfing

Sabrina
She spent her summers sailing on small irrigation lakes, county and state park lakes in Kansas. Annual trips to Lake Cheney Kansas - rumored to be the second windiest place in North America next to the Columbia Gorge - found her crewing for her dad on his Flying Junior, wrapping the wave soaked lines around her blistered hands when the cleats wouldn't hold anymore.

The lake rig Sabrina grew up with - FJ, wind surfer and canoe

Sailing, wind surfing, canoeing and even trailer sailing (converting the sailboat trainer into a land sailor) were the norm.

Sabrina's Starfish and college sailing rig

Soon enough she took her little Starfish and headed for college at K-State. While in college, friends introduced her to recent K-State grad and SAILOR Tom. Their first date was sailing on Lake Clinton in the Sweet 16.

Summer of love

They spent the summer sailing and falling in love. Sabrina graduated from K-State and moved to Kansas City and the adventure really began.

Bailing water after a brisk sail across Lake Cheney - WINDY

Tom and Sabrina's lake rig

Lake weekends for just the two of them or with friends, it didn't matter.

Annual flyer for lake weekend

Then Tom proposed one Xmas. After 1 1/2 year engagement, they got married so people would stop asking "are you ever going to get married?" The wedding and reception at Wyandotte County Lake was perfect for them.

Official - crew for life

The honeymoon in Key Largo FL included sailing, paddling in a canoe and being on or close to the water.

Honeymoon love shack in Key Largo -$400 for the week, so expensive at the time we thought

Tom at the helm on a honeymoon sail

Sabrina at the helm of a rented Hobie in Key Largo

As K-State grads, many fun weekends were spent in Manhappiness tailgating, as well as road trips to away games and many, many, bowl games as part of the Wildcat Nation.

Iowa State game - ALWAYS a good time

Before a game? After a game? Bowl game weekend? Purple haze!

Their adventures were not restricted to sailing/water but that seemed to dominate through the years. A whole string of sailing vessels came and went through the years but that would is it's own blog posting for another day.