kateandjohnsail.boats

­When we purchased Quintessa a year ago, I had inspected the boat from top to bottom, but had not actually sailed on her. This is actually quite normal, as we were quite familiar with the model of the boat, and a yacht surveyor had taken her out on a sea trial.

Imagine my surprise, however, on our first sail, when I discovered that the cockpit seats were not at all designed for a 5’1” sailor. I squirmed around and tried various ways of bracing, but could not sit comfortably either forward in the cockpit or behind the helm. It was like buying a new car and then finding out you couldn’t see over the steering wheel: nearly grounds for buyer’s remorse.

We experimented with various ways to rectify this situation for some time until finally, finally, one day this fall I was rummaging through one of our overfilled lazarettes. For you landlubbers, a lazarette is a storage area that you gain access to by pulling up a hinged lid. I our case, the rear deck lazarettes have deceptively small openings, each covering a cavern large enough to hold a medium-sized bear, but very difficult to keep organized. This particular day I came upon four old-school life jackets, taking up precious space where they would never be available for an emergency. Pulling them out, I strapped them into a bundle and put them in a mesh bag. Voilà! A cockpit foot brace that also keeps our emergency gear brilliantly accessible. It weighs almost nothing, so we easily throw it wherever it is needed to keep me vertical.

It even fits under the wheel at the helm.