end of an era, redux?

[ilanarama]

Just got home from a week-long backpack trip in Utah to see this email from our yacht broker:

Enjoyed reading your articles in Cruising World. Would you mind
if we referenced those articles with a link from our web site? Just for
your info your boat is back on the market. The young man that bought her
got into some heavy weather off of Fl, limped into Ft Lauderdale and called
me to sell the boat. He told me the waves were 30' high and the boat saved
his life. He admitted he just did not have the know how or the desire to
learn. I had recommended a professional Capt, but he fired him before the
first lesson and just took off. I'm just glad he did not get hurt. I'm
sending a captain to pick her up next week and bring her back to Beaufort.

Aie! My poor boat! What has he done to you? *cries*

So much for our vision of Windom being bought by some nice family who would go circumnavigate and keep a lavishly-illustrated blog that would let us vicariously cruise for a change. Sigh.