Photos: Hauling our Kutter out of the water and preparing her for transport to our home in Gig Harbor.

People who love boats know you can’t have too many. A big boat needs a small boat. A small boat is never big enough. It’s a constant imbalance, like eating milk and cookies, and it fuels the yachting industry. When we were building our cruising boat, Woodwind, in our backyard, it was surrounded by assorted craft, each with a different purpose and importance. At least that’s what Bruce, an avid collector of boats, told me.

This past summer season we returned to one boat at our home in the Pacific Northwest. Just one. It’s a small speedster that’s great for calm days, but we felt the loss of not having a sailing vessel the second day the wind blew. We talked about different day-sailor options, fantasized about finding the perfect fixer-upper and vowed to keep our eyes and ears open for one. That boat now sits just 20 feet from our house … a 50-year-old, 23-ft. fir-planked beauty. A Norwegian Kutter, it came to us via the I-5 Freeway and an unusual set of circumstances that started with a visit to the home of sailing buddies, Jan and Tom Tallman.

In their workshop in Longbranch, Washington, sat another Kutter recently acquired from the Center for Wooden Boats on Seattle’s Lake Union. Their boat and several of its “sisters” had been donated to the non-profit organization by former owners and members of a short-lived yacht club on Lake Washington. The members had imported the boats during the early 1980s, and nearly a dozen of them crossed several oceans on the deck of a ship to become Bellevue’s Cozy Cove racing fleet. The Kutters were raced hard and well until time and fresh water took their toll.

Last month, three of the boats sat leaking at the Center for Wooden Boats dock, another two not far away in a boatyard. A few inquiry calls and a Sunday visit to the Center sealed the deal for us. One of the boats would become ours in a trade for a painting Bruce made of the wooden boat Mecca years ago. A down-on-its-luck boat swapped for an auction painting left both parties thinking they had the best end of the deal. Time will tell, right?

As we were settling paperwork and working out the logistics of moving the boat, we discovered the man behind the idea of the Kutter fleet was Fred Sundt, lifetime mariner and entrepreneur. Fred’s dream of starting his very own yacht club was followed by the re-building of a traditional, 60-ft. galleon in Florida. In the mid-90s he sailed that boat, Ayacanora, to the Caribbean, where we met him on the island of Carriacou. Rowing past his gilded galleon one day, I noticed his Gig Harbor Boatworks dinghy. We discovered our Washington State ties and I interviewed him for an article that ran in 48 North magazine.

As I look outside our window at the Kutter, now propped up in our yard, I realize Fred’s dream has segued into ours. The boat will “dry” over the winter and become next summer’s project. In its current condition, some might say it’s a “face only a mother could love.” And Bruce, who will bring it back to life, certainly does.

Jan

Photo: In addition to providing art for the walls and even the menus at Bahama Breeze, Bruce also recently designed billboards for them, like this one near the restaurant in Seattle.

At the end of a near perfect summer, fall came to town bringing with it wet skies and chilly temperatures. Our friends and neighbors are pulling out boots, sweaters and parkas. But not us. We’re packing our bags with summer duds, gearing up for a winter in the Caribbean aboard our “good ship,” Woodwind. The boat has been safely huddled with dozens of other yachts at the Virgin Gorda Boatyard in the British Virgin Islands awaiting our return.

So far so good, as far as not being in the path of the parade of hurricanes in the Tropics. ’Tis the season, though, until the beginning of December. We keep our fingers crossed and hope our luck continues.

This summer one of our favorite missions was to visit the local farmers’ markets to hunt down and consume the freshest food grown right here in the Pacific Northwest. Hood Canal oysters; Yakima Valley fruit; Puyallup-grown vegetables. It’s apple season now and they’re rolling out of the Wenatchee Valley in every color and size imaginable. It’s been a pleasure for these two-ocean sailors’ palates, after months of stale produce and a trail of canned grub.

Some of the best food we’ve encountered this summer, though – and we’re not saying that just because Bruce’s art graces the walls of all 23 of their restaurants -- came from Bahama Breeze, where they promise to give you the feeling of a Caribbean escape. Lucky us to have one just 30 miles from our door!

When we first heard about the concept of a Caribbean chain restaurant in the mid 1990s, we wondered how on earth anyone would make money on “beans and rice.” After all, West Indian food can be downright plain and simple. Sometimes even funky. Roti, for instance -- a sort of curried stew stuffed in a doughy, cooked jacket -- is often made with chicken or goat, bones included, no extra charge.

When we’re in the islands we occasionally enjoy a bit of “shack food.” In these small, box-like establishments, standing-room only, the offerings usually run with a theme. Barbeque ribs, barbeque chicken, goat (not barbequed) and conch fritters.

It’s all tasty, but the fare at Bahama Breeze is definitely a cut-above most shack food. For us, a visit there starts with either a Lemon Breeze or an Aruba Red Beer, accompanied by an order of West Indies Patties. Those little beef-filled pastries are nothing like shack food, yet each bite oozes with the aroma and flavor of Anguilla, Antigua and the spice island, Grenada. When friends accompany us, we encourage them to order the Bahamian Conch Chowder, the only conch in town.

Over the years, many great dinner selections have rotated on and off the Bahama Breeze menu. Bruce’s favorite, the West Indies Ribs, and mine, Seafood Paella, have remained constantly delicious and available. We’re also big fans of the many chicken dishes and anything prepared with jerk seasoning. All of Jamaica would approve of those flavors, accompanied by an artistic presentation of pleasurably prepared yams, sweet potatoes and roots like yucca. In the islands, these are called “ground provisions.”

Invariably we request a box to take home half our dinner, leaving room for Rebecca’s Key Lime Pie. Or Dulce de Leche Cheesecake. And if the desire to enjoy the one not chosen isn’t enough to bring us back soon, the new Warm Chocolate Pineapple Upside Down Cake certainly is!

Jan