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September remains request month here at the column, dear readers, so keep those phone calls and e-mails coming.
You send and I'll Go!
The only catch is that your request has to be more interesting than everyone else's. And you've got a tough act to follow.
Last week I got an e-mail from Annette Bell in Nokomis.
Here is one for you ... I'm now living here, a single female, in my 60s, and am looking for SINGLE people who need crew on their sailboat, male or female. I have joined the Venice Sailing Club and they are all married. I joined the Venice Power and Sail Squadron and everyone is married. ... I'm cute, skinny, smart and just love to sail. I even put an ad in the Sarasota personals and no takers. Now I'm not looking for the love of my life ... I just want to go sailing. Boats need to be over 28 feet. I will race.
Soooo, do you know of any sailing singles club or where do the sailors hang out? I'm not giving up my search!!! Annette
After that kind of introduction, I had to meet this lady.
Once a stewardess ...
We arranged to talk at an Osprey coffee shop. She was early, but I was earlier.
Bell wore a black skirt and matching blouse. Blue eyes, blonde hair and gold jewelry. A confident stride and a sly smile.
When I praised her e-mail, Bell waved off the compliment.
"I've got to put humor in everything I do," she said. "I don't send get-well cards to people who are sick. I do something different."
Bell grew up in Cleveland. After school she worked for Capital Airlines when being a stewardess was a glamour job. Later she helped open a U.S. office for Alitalia.
"God, it was a great life," she says. "They didn't pay much, but we got lots of free passes. We would leave work on a Friday night, do one of the cities for three days, and then come home. My favorite place was Portugal, the southern countries."
In the 1960s, Bell got married and had three kids. Her husband, a commander in the National Guard, was killed in a plane crash.
She never remarried, but she has lived a full life, flying and sailing from the Virgin Islands in the Caribbean to Fiji in the Pacific.
Next month, she and some friends from up North are going sailing off the coast of Croatia. Those are the kind of adventurers she'd like to meet in Florida.
"Sailing people are like airline people," she says. "They're easygoing -- other than the captain out on the water -- and they're outgoing, they want to meet people.
"You're not going to find them at home watching TV on the couch."
Riding 20-foot waves
Bell may be coy about her age, but she's confident in her seamanship. She doesn't get seasick. If there's trouble, she can bring a boat to port.
Which doesn't mean she hasn't been scared.
About five years ago, in the South Pacific, Bell thought her days at sea were over.
"We were sailing right into a massive tropical storm," she says. "We were in 15-, 20-foot waves. We couldn't see the other boats. It got to the point where we said we weren't going to put life preservers on, because there was no Coast Guard to find us."
Bell wouldn't want to relive that experience, but she's still interested in day sailing and short trips. A few years ago, she advertised in Cruising World magazine and got a great response.
It was like "Sleepless in Seattle" meets "Sailing From Ohio," or something like that.
"The e-mails came from all over the world," she says. "I felt like I was Meg Ryan. I couldn't wait to get to my computer."
And now Bell is ready to set sail on a new adventure.
If you're looking for a crew member, or if you're interested in starting a sailing club for singles, send an e-mail to
bellannette@juno.com.
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