The Years Of Living Wet

"Some years ago, having little or no money in my purse and nothing particular to keep me on shore, I thought I would sail about a little and see the watery part of the world." Ishmael, Moby Dick, by Herman Melville, 1851. Has so little changed in 150 years? Finding myself unattached and wandering in the international technology arena, I sold my Victorian-era home, built in 1900 by a sea captain four blocks from San Francisco Bay, and went searching for a boat of my own. After months, I found a British-built catamaran that met my long list of desired on-board features floating in a "creek" of Chesapeake Bay near Annapolis. There was snow on the ground when I first saw Quo Vadis. Sea trials were sailed in gale force winds. The boat was snug inside, sailed flat and sure, and soon became my new home. One of its best features was its ability to take me places I'd never been, where I would meet characters I could not have imagined--or made up. One of them was an exciting woman. We hooked up at a high school reunion: our 40th. Now, I invite you to spend some time with a new, if vintage, skipper on this voyage of discovery. The years go by quickly, I promise you. John Huetter Born into a military family, John Huetter first sailed at age nine, during long summers on the Mediterranean. The boat was 12 ft. long, wooden, with a single canvas sail and hemp rigging. Nearly fifty years later, he went sailing again, this time on a cruising catamaran, from the U.S. East Coast to the West Coast stopping by the Bahamas, Caribbean, South America, en route to the Panama Canal, Central America and Mexico. In between, the author played football and rowed crew in high school, jumped for the USAF Academy Parachute Team, designed computer control systems, raced and tested off-road motorcycles, and started up alternate energy and technology R&D companies. He also had a long, happy relationship and two wonderful children. He's currently looking for that beach with clear, warm water and the perfect surf break.