The author and some of his new best friends ham it up at the rally
PHOTOS BY DAVID BLAKE FISCHERI
that was held at Catalina Island.
It was a spring afternoon and my sister Laura and I were chatting on the telephone, she in Michigan and I in Los Angeles. Days earlier, I’d accepted an invite from NAOS Yachts to tag along on a weekend getaway aboard a Lagoon catamaran to celebrate the manufacturer’s 40th anniversary. As an owner of a beloved Cape Dory 25, my regular sailing was about as far from a Lagoon as you can get, and I was curious to see what it was that drew such a massive global community to catamaran sailing.
“Did you get the video I sent?” I asked. I had the phone pinched between my ear and shoulder and was using every inch of the charger cord to reach across the kitchen and pack my weekend snack bag.
“My gawd,” Laura said after she’d watched the promo video. “These boats are amazing. Will you get your own kitchenette?”
I told Laura I didn’t know. Truth is, I’d received an itinerary but hadn’t read past the photos.
“Oh, that’s not good,” Laura said, sounding concerned. “What if you show up, and they shove a charcuterie board in your arms?”
“A charcuterie board?”
“Yes, David. What if you’re wait staff?”
Among her many qualities, my sister is an excellent phone-talker; she has a vivid imagination and has long been a cheerleader of my sailing adventures. As kids, we spent summers on a woodsy island in Northern Michigan where, when