They say every man should have five sailboats for the range of his excursions in life. Mark Muldowney took family members sailing on the York River from their Pennsylvania and New Jersey roots, where he described his two lives.
“I belong to the Philadelphia Yacht Club, a prestigious name that belies the annual membership fee of $35. Every summer we would go down to Rock Hall, Maryland, and charter five sailboats of 38 to 52 feet to crew for the weekend. We would sail at night, go racing during the day, learn anchoring, get sail instruction and just have a lot of fun. Captains who were members of the club would take six of us at a time for each boat. They did it for free to keep up their captain’s license. At the end of the weekend we’d clean up the boats and refuel. I think each boat would require about a gallon of fuel.
“More recently, I’ve taken to sailing a kayak. It’s 10 feet long and 3 feet wide, with a sail borrowed from a Sunfish. I stay close to the coast of the lake I sail on and can go out for two hours or so.”
