YOU'VE HEARD THE STORY OF THE businessman who gives up his career to sail off into the sunset with the beautiful blonde? Well, Bob Decker of Marathon, Florida, did just that. Now, 20 years later, he and Fran are still living that dream.

A rush-hour traffic jam thrust him into sailing in 1977. Bob, then a 39-year-old computer-software marketing manager, was stuck on a Boston bridge when he spotted hundreds of boats sailing on the Charles River below. "It looked like fun, so instead of going to my business meeting I went to Community Boating (a Boston sailing organization)," he says. "In my suit and tie, I went sailing for the first time. My computer career ended then; my only interest was sailing.

"Next day I went back, plunked down my $35 dues, and took my first sailing lesson in a 15-foot Mercury. A year later, I bought a 29-foot Hunter sloop. After two years of Community Boating classes, I earned my six-pack captain's license."

In 1979, Bob bought a new Robert Perry-designed Cheoy Lee 35 sloop to fulfill his dreams of bluewater cruising. He took a leave of absence from Digital Equipment Corp. and advertised for crew to cruise the Caribbean for a year aboard Double Decker (named for the ice cream cone).

Fran Phillips, newly graduated with a degree in genetic biochemistry, was among those he chose for the voyage. She says, "I knew I wanted to go ocean cruising for I had lived on a boat, sailed Lasers, and cruised the coast of Haiti briefly."

Suffered knockdown
Luckily she's passionate about sailing. On that 1981 voyage Hurricane Christina struck them off Bermuda. Double Decker suffered a knockdown, her starboard windows were smashed in, and water half-filled her hull. Both Bob and Fran were washed overboard but their tethers held, and they were jerked back aboard as the sloop righted herself. They bailed, then continued on.

Later, approaching Martinique in 35-knot winds, the mast fell down. While the other crewmembers huddled below, seasick, Bob and Fran cut the mast loose, set up a jury rig, and set sail again. Upon reaching the first port, everyone but Fran jumped ship. "It was nicer sailing with just the two of us anyway," says Bob.

In Martinique they rigged a shorter replacement mast (which they still use) and continued cruising. In 1982 they sailed back into Boston Harbor. "After six months ashore, we missed sailing and began planning our escape from the rat race," says Fran.

They rented out Bob's house and lived aboard from April to Thanksgiving. After their 1984 wedding on Boston harbor, they took a short honeymoon sail around Cape Cod to save money for their big voyage. The next August they sold the house, quit their jobs, and sailed away to cruise the Caribbean islands and coasts of Central and South America.

Fran considers the San Blas Islands to be her favorite landfall. "We made so many friends, traded T-shirts and swapped old boat parts for old molas," she says. "I love living aboard. The boat's like a self-sufficient island, and it's great to be able to change your backyard by just sailing somewhere else."

She navigates
When cruising, Bob usually mans the helm; Fran cooks and works the foredeck. "I'd rather haul the anchor than maneuver through a crowded harbor," she says. Both can use a sextant, but Fran usually navigates because Bob gets more seasick than she does. They alternate watches each day, even though the Aries wind-vane steers. At sea, the night watch-stander sometimes catnaps, setting a 10-minute timer.

"After three years, we missed the U.S. and were broke," says Bob. "We landed in Key West, which we loved, but it was too expensive." They cruised up the Keys to Marathon, where they bought an octagonal canal-front home surrounded by tropical foliage and fruit trees. Decorated with casual furnishings, nautical gear, and souvenirs from their cruises, it provides the tropical-island ambiance they love and the U.S. amenities they appreciate.

They charter Double Decker upon request from Key West City Marina. Capt. Bob, who holds a 100-ton license, skippers, and Capt. Fran, who has a 50-ton license, crews when her new career as an artist allows. Two or three half-day or sunset cruises a week more than cover expenses. "Beginning sailors get hooked on sailing on our charters," says Bob. "It's easy to tune the sails, so little helm is needed, and Double Decker sails like a dream. She's not the fastest, but she's heavy and stable with an easy motion. Sometimes a guest will sail the entire cruise for me, and I'll just watch."

Vacation home
They also cruise Key West waters with friends, sharing "food, booze, and friendship," says Bob.

Perhaps more importantly, Double Decker is their inexpensive vacation getaway right in the center of Old Town Key West. "This harbor is vibrant, exciting, much more than my yard ashore," says Bob, now retired from land jobs. "I can just sit in the cockpit, watching all the harbor comings and goings -- tugs, ferries, catamarans, sport fishermen, big schooners, mega-yachts, dinghies, Coast Guard boats, pilot boats, you name it. And there' s the ocean view, the wildlife, the people, the music from the bars and restaurants."

"Living in a lovely harbor is wonderful," says Fran. "But being anchored out can be a nuisance, especially when you have to haul water, dinghy ashore in the rain, or wish you had AC or heat."

"When I bought Double Decker, I knew the Cheoy Lee 35 was a well-found bluewater boat," Bob says. "As I've gained experience, I've come to appreciate the boat more and more. It has saved my butt several times. Lesser boats might not have survived me or the weather.

"I've fixed, repaired, rebuilt, replaced, and loved every inch of this boat over the past 20-plus years." Apparently the original chainplates flexed where they took a bend passing through the deck, and six fractured above three of their four bolts. Bob replaced all the metal fittings --chainplates, winches, cleats, and hardware -- with stronger ones.

In 2000, he replaced the original 32-bp Universal gas engine with a new 40-hp Yanmar diesel. Last year, deck leaks prompted major repairs --removal of the rotten teak decking, adding a new fiberglass deck and Awlgripping the hull, deck, and cabin-top. (The salvaged teak now decorates the cabin, concealing repaired water damage in the interior plywood bulkheads.) Bob says the interior is 10 degrees cooler, and he doesn't miss maintaining the deck bungs. They also installed a stronger compression post in the main cabin beneath the mast.

Good for years
"We spent $47,000 on repairs, much less than the cost of an equivalent boat or a new one, as friends suggested," he says. "Now Double Decker is good for another 20 years."

The 11-foot beam creates a spacious interior, with 6-foot-plus headroom, traditionally laid out: forward cabin with V-berth, head to port, hanging locker to starboard, amidships main saloon with teak table that unfolds from the bulkhead to comfortably seat six, galley to port and double quarterberth to starboard. Inexpensive, replaceable carpeting in the main saloon creates a homey ambiance that the Deckers protect by having wet, sandy sailors clean up before venturing below.

Fran praises her gimbaled three-burner propane stove with its oven large enough for an 8-pound turkey, the lockers in every nook and cranny, and the comfortable angled, contoured cockpit seats. Ample hatches provide excellent ventilation at anchor or underway.

Double Decker's fin keel/spade rudder configuration officially draws 4 feet, 9 inches, but was over 5 feet when they were cruising. After the Deckers moved ashore -- a three-day unloading project -- they had to recompute the original waterline.

Lines run to the cockpit for easy single-handing. Port jibsheets are flecked with red, starboard with green, a help when inexperienced charterers assist.

"Two can live aboard Double Decker in great style, four can make do, six can survive. A dockside party for 15 is fun but a zoo," says Bob. "The Cheoy Lee 35 is as good a cruiser for a couple as you can get."

Cruising dreams
Fran would like more cruising. "I'll go sailing any time, anywhere, on any boat for any length of time," she says. She dreams of cruising Double Decker in the Bahamas.

Last year she helped neighbors sail their new 50-foot catamaran from South Africa to Marathon. "I'd do it again," she says. "We hit 21 knots in rough weather at first, but usually made 8 to 12 knots. When the speed dropped below 6 knots, on went the engine."

Bob is content with "the best of both worlds" balance they've struck between living aboard and ashore. "We're barefoot people who love Key West, partying, and sailing," he says.

"This spring we saw a video of Double Decker racing, the first time we'd ever seen her underway. She has such beautiful lines. We were very proud."