The Boat

How the boat got its name...

Our Beneteau 361, (# 171) was Christened "Winpipe" (a play on words) to represent that she is a Piper's sailboat.

To most sailors, (thinking of an extra "D") the name would seem to mean "wind driven pipe", however, anyone who knows us is aware that the name actually means "winning pipe" & so the name makes sense from either approach.

Winpipe came into our lives in June 2001, following a bareboat charter in the BVI with a Moorings 362 in April of 2001 & we will always be so very grateful to Leslie Sides of The Moorings http://www.moorings.com/home.asp for helping us to discover how easy it is to charter a sailboat & grab a piece of paradise for ourselves.

We had decided to do a two week BVI cruise aboard a sister ship 361, to see how we it really was "down island" and how others were handling the cruising lifestyle, in boats of similar size to our own...and what a great time we had !!!

The concept of extended cruising had intrigued us for some time, however, it was during this trip and by speaking to so many that were "out there, doing it" that the possibility of doing it ourselves, actually became a realistic goal.

Winpipe is to us, much more than a nice sailboat, she's a commitment to our future, and our promise to "cast off" draws closer with each modification, improvement and gadget that we add, to make her better prepared to take us away.

For the present, we are upgrading the boat, studying & sailing as much as possible, meeting as many "inspirational sailors" as we can, and traveling south to some of the destinations that we will see, when we go cruising.

We have organized the area Club Beneteau Association, and the annual Beneteau Owners Lake Tour (BOLT) to bring ourselves (and a few friends) a bit closer to the cruising lifestyle, if only for a couple of weeks per year, due to our limited summertime weather in the Great Lakes region.

During our area Beneteau Owners Rally's, it seems that we are always being asked about the things we have done to Winpipe, and as the list of things keeps getting longer, this section of the website is dedicated to our modifications, improvements & gear that we have aboard, that make the boat more comfortable, more convenient, as well as easier & safer to sail.

It's a work of great fun, that's in constant progress.