The Sailing Vessel Necessity

When I'm not working, remodeling, driving the kids to one of their many activities or just taking care of the house, I can be found on this little boat. At least, during the warmer months.

Necessity is a West Wight Potter 19 that we trailer to whatever body of water suits our fancy. Our goal (well, OK, my goal) is to sail in as many different lakes and rivers in Minnesota and Wisconsin as we can. I want to explore the area. All four of us can sleep aboard for a weekend, and the keel can be winched into the cabin, allowing us to beach the boat pretty much anywhere we want.

This year, we'll be keeping the boat rigged on the trailer at Windmill Marina in Afton, MN. That's at the southern end of Lake St. Croix, a wide area of the St. Croix River between Hudson, WI and Afton. The sailing is pretty good there, and we are within range of Stillwater to the north, and Prescott to the south. Each town is about two hours away by boat. We're also planning a trip to the Apostle Islands on Lake Superior, and a few trailer trips to other lakes.

Like all boat owners, I have a long list of things to get for the boat. Most of them are expensive, but some are not, and I typically put such things on my wish list for Christmas or my birthday. The next big-buck item on my list is a GPS. Julie gave me a depth finder for our anniversary, and it works great. Earlier last year, we got a great deal on an AM/FM cassette stereo with speakers. Since people are so interested in the details, here's our page of boat modifications.

If you want to see what we were up to on the water last year, take a look at our sailing adventures. We belong to the Minnesota Potters, a local group of fun sailors with, natually, exceptional sailing vessels.

If you like looking at pictures of all types of boats, check out this page.