The Swamp Fox

In case you haven't noticed or maybe you're wondering, the Swamp Fox does not refer to an American revolutionary war hero.

Although he does but he does play into this story

and we'll talk about that later. The name Swamp Fox does reference our boat and to be specific our Helms 27. Big deal right, I know, I usually feel the same way about stuff, but when you've poured a great deal of time and effort into a particular project sweat equity begins to accumulate and it begins to become more than just stuff.

Anyway, back to the Helms. This is what it looks like on paper.

I suppose to the great unwashed masses it pretty much looks like any other sailboat and they would be right. but what makes this boat so special are the lessons it's taught, the skills it has required us to obtain and more than anything the time it has let us spend together.

OK, now that we have the subject matter firmly in our grasp, let's move on with the story.

It was April 2012 and I was flying with my co-worker and good friend Marty, from South Carolina to Missouri for a training seminar. While packing for the trip I picked up a local classified paper The Carolina Trader to read on the flight. I don't know why, but I love to look through classified ads to see what people are trying to sell. Maybe it is the lazy form of going to garage sales. I mean you can see all sorts of stuff and don't even have to slow down and block traffic while you're trying to see if there is anything interesting looking left on the folding table in the driveway of someones home who you don't even know.

Anyway...we (Marty and I) are cruising along at 36,000 ft at approx. 600 mph and I'm looking through my Trader. 

Being a sailor, meaning I have sailed in the past, I was perusing through the boat section when a very small ad, maybe two or three lines, caught my eye. It said basically: For Sale 1984 27 ft. sailboat lots of extras and then the price. It was the price that caught my attention because it was low. I'm talking about "typo" kind of low. I read it again, dismissed it and moved on, but it was too late the seed had been planted.

I knew buying a boat was absolutely the last thing in the world I needed. I mean I had just gotten married in March to Lisa

 the most wonderful woman in the world, if I say so myself. We are combining families and relocating and all this change. I knew we didn't need a boat, or at least that's what I believed.