Linda Petrat

While we are in Annapolis we've met several other cruisers. One is Linda Petrat.
Linda is nearly Social Security age and a lifelong mariner. As a child, she sailed with her parents and 6 younger siblings on a 70 foot wooden Alden schooner. The Alden had an 8'9" draft and plied the East coast of the US and the Bahamas (!). She has worked as a finish carpenter and has raised 2 daughters.

After divorcing some years back, she began sailing her Pearson Ensign 22. When the transport company dawdled this autumn, she left on her own to sail the boat from New Hampshire to Annapolis on the way to her new home in Sarasota, Florida. She regularly gets seawater baths and has virtually no protection from the elements. This boat is smaller than the boat Washington crossed the Delaware in, and has no fixed instruments, no heat, a 4hp outboard engine, a single bunk with a leak over it, effectively no tankage, a bottle of rum strapped in for emergency fortification, a cuddy cabin so small that Linda can't fully sit up in it, and one INTREPID captain with the gritty resolve to beat winter down the coast. After inviting her to dinner aboard our boat and hearing her story, we won't bet against her success.

Linda is a very nice person and an inspiration to all of us making the trip in more substantial circumstances. As I type this Captain Petrat is braving 50F rain at the tiller with no self-steering as she pushes down the bay. We'll report back on our blog what becomes of her.Pictures to follow when we have a real computer to send with.