"Whrrrrr..., Whrrrr...., Whrrrr....," the 30 foot two bladed prop spun on an engine-like mechanism high on a tower atop the rock outcropping.  "Yaewww....," it shifted gears as the wind increased, pumping ever more electricity into the grid.  We wouldn't launch today, I thought.
      "So, what kind of a boat is this, eh?" he asked, surprising me as I coiled the mainsheet while sitting aboard  Waterbed on her trailer near the ramp of the Spanish Municipal Marina.  He seemed quite pleased with himself while looking to talk.
      "It's called a Dovekie," I said for the millionth time.  "Made in Southern Massachusetts on Buzzards' Bay."
      "Those leeboards should serve you pretty well outside the breakwater.  Only 3 1/2 feet out there,  not enough for the big boats this year.  You'll be all right, but I'll have to watch it with my Catalina 25.  That's if the weather breaks." His eight year old round-faced son peeked over the coaming, "I can sail!" as his younger freckled faced sister with long, wet hair hung back.
      "How many in your club and where are you from?" the father cut in.
      "We have almost two hundred in our association, but it's not really a yacht club.  We're from all over..."
      "Oh, and only 8 of you up for a cruise?" he was reading the ‘TROY NY' on our quarter.  "Well, we have the same problem up here."
      "Let's climb that big rock, Daddy!" said his son, yanking his father's arm.
      "It's the women,"  he whispered, as his kids giggled off into the mist, their laughter louder than the wind and rain.  "So, here's my advice, and you should tell everybody in your club, if it's not already too late.  I got it from an old sailor, who told me what to do, and you can see that it works!
      "It was January a few years ago when I came home from work one night after a long overtime and I said to my wife, I said, ‘Honey, someday I'd like to learn to sail, get a sailboat, and then we could all go cruising around the islands.  It's beautiful country up here in the summer with lots of nice places close by.  Right now the money's good with all this overtime and I know that vacation's a long time from now.  Yet I've got this idea and I'd like to know what you think about it.  Here's my idea.  Why don't you take a sailing course this spring, and then we'll buy a used sailboat.  That way you will know how to adjust the sails, when to pull up the anchor and all that stuff.  You could teach me, and the kids would like it, too.  We could be sailing next summer...'"
     "That's a clever idea," I began.
     "So, she did!  Then we  bought a boat, and now here we are!  Not bad, eh?  Just listen to them. And, my wife loves cruising!  She knows when to let it run, or trim it in.  Of course, I do some of the cooking, too.  But guess what...  I don't really care if I EVER learn to sail!"  He positively radiated satisfaction.
      The wind let up a notch, still a thick mist.
      "Spread the word, eh?  See you out there!" as he hurried towards the rock, yelling something to his kids... .