Date: Fri 09-Apr-1999

Publication: Bee

Author: JAN

Quick Words:

Chacho-sailboat-Seagirt

Full Text:

Former Newtowners Take To The Sea

(with cuts)

BY JAN HOWARD

Former residents of Newtown are about to bring a dream to fruition that they

have talked about ever since they bought their 37-foot Tayana sailboat, the

Seagirt, several years ago.

Frank and Elaine Chacho had lived in Newtown for 35 years when they sold their

home on Parmalee Hill Road in November and went to live on their boat.

"It's something we've talked about since we bought the sailboat," Mrs Chacho

explained. "You have your house wherever you are. You eat, sleep and enjoy

yourself on it. If you like the neighborhood you're in, you can stay, or if

you don't, you can leave."

Mrs Chacho said their plans for living on the boat are open-ended.

"As long as we want to, we'll live on the boat. If we don't want to any more,

we'll buy a house somewhere," Mrs Chacho said. "The situation right now is

that our options are unlimited. We are not tied to anything."

The Chachos, whose boat will be anchored at a marina in Stratford until May,

have been sailing for several years. They have spent up to three weeks every

summer living on the boat. They have sailed on Long Island Sound and to Maine,

Bermuda, Shelter Island, Newport, Cape Cod, and Martha's Vineyard during the

summer months. They plan to do more of that this summer.

Then, around Labor Day, they will start south and spend a month or so in the

Chesapeake Bay area. They will then follow the Intracoastal Waterway to Miami

and from there, ultimately, to the Bahamas.

The sailboat has a diesel engine as well as sails, and the Chachos carry about

80 gallons of fuel on board.

Mr Chacho is an engineer by trade. "He makes the boat work, I make it pretty,"

Mrs Chacho said.

She said her husband has done a "fabulous" job in making repairs to the boat,

especially while sailing.

"We've had the engine quit and the sail rip. What can go wrong, does go

wrong," she said. "You have to be prepared.

"Once you have made a commitment to a boat, you're responsible," Mrs Chacho

said. "It's a major commitment."

She said it took them eight and a half days of sailing from Connecticut to

Bermuda. "It's only you and the water."

She said they don't always anchor at night, but keep sailing. They brought a

boat up from Chesapeake last year in 55 hours.

The sailboat has an enclosed pilot house. Below, there is a galley, main salon

with couches that convert into beds, and a master suite with bath.

The sailboat has all the amenities of home, Mrs Chacho said -- heat, hot

water, and refrigeration. "It's not like camping out. It's luxurious camping

out."

The only problem is laundry. There is no facility on board for washing

clothes, so the couple must go ashore to find laundromats.

The boat also has ample room for books and hobbies, as well as a TV, VCR, and

cassette player. Mrs Chacho enjoys doing needlecrafts, such as cross stitch,

ribbon needlepoint and crewel, and acrylic and watercolor painting, on shore

and on the sea.

"It's a house in a smaller area," Mrs Chacho said. "As a friend noted, this is

living the dream!"

The boat also is a workplace. Mr Chacho is retired, but Mrs Chacho is

self-employed, doing computer graphics work under the name of Seagirt

Associates. She has all she needs to do her job on the sailboat, including a

fax, modem, scanner, IBM laptop, color printer and e-mail.

Mrs Chacho has loved the ocean since childhood when she spent summers at the

Cape. "I can't picture us going someplace where there is a lake," she said. "I

guess it wouldn't be bad if it was Lake Champlain.

"Water has been a part of my life. Freedom is defined on the ocean," she said.

However, she said, there are signs, literally, that the freedom she has

experienced on the ocean and along the beaches is being slowly diminished.

There are more "No Trespassing," "No Dogs," "No Swimming," and "No Docking"

signs on beach fronts.

"There are places that don't allow you to leave your dingy. Some places are

getting antsy about how long you can stay anchored," she said.

Mrs Chacho says there are constant "fights" between the seagoing community and

the majority landowners.

"Boats are in the minority," she said. "The majority on land pass the laws."

Mrs Chacho enjoys the people they meet while sailing. "You meet some of the

most wonderful people," she said. "We have a lot in common. There is a strong

bond that makes us already friends. Everyone has some adventure to tell."

She said the nautical community is a network that communicates via VHF radio.

They tell each other about potential problems, such as storms, or where there

may be prohibitions on anchoring.

There are also a number of books that provide sailing charts and information

for the nautical community about where to go for services and other needs.

"We anchor out in the bay and use the dingy to go into the land. That's our

car, our lifeline," Mrs Chacho said.

She said once ashore they have never had any problem with getting around.

"Almost every place you stop there are transportation alternatives. Plus,

we're both hikers."

At the present time, the Chachos are making plans for their trip south in

September. "We've never been to the Bahamas before," Mrs Chacho said, noting

they intend to stay in that area through next winter.

"It's wide open as to how long we'll stay," she said, adding they may come up

here to see their daughters, Jodi Chacho-Fay in Bethel and Andrea Brady in

Ossining, N.Y. at some time.