Yeah, it was sweet! I think the electronics on that boat were worth more than my entire boat. Certainly more than my Tayana. Sitting at the nav station, I felt like Star Trek's Mr. Sulu.

I've often thought about taking up single handing if God forbid, something ever happened to my wife or she ever decides she would rather be a part time cruiser and part time grandmother instead of a full time cruiser. In thinking about it, other than missing her terribly and knowing that doing stuff alone is nowhere near as much fun as doing the same things as a couple, it's the issue of anchoring that concerns me most. I'd be willing to accept the risk of single handed passages (especially now that there's AIS) and operating the boat is no problem, but there have been a few times anchoring in high wind in a tight anchorage that I'm just not sure I could have done alone. In our Tayana, I guess I could have let go the stern anchor for a temporary solution before running forward and deploying the main anchor, but now that we've got a center cockpit, that option isn't even available. Also, in the S. Pacific, there were numerous times when one of us was up on the bow looking for coral heads and guiding the one on the helm. What do the single handers do in these situations?