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2008-07-11 11:22 AM

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Master
2277
2000100100252525
Lake Norman, NC
Subject: The "official" BT SAILOR'S THREAD!!!

This is only for sailors/windsurfers/kite-surfers, etc. (wind-powered-boaters).  NO PWC'ers ALLOWED!  Tongue out

Let's swap notes, specs, tips and tales!

1.  What boats/boards/kites do you currently own?  Names?  Favorites?
2.  Are you into racing, daysailing, cruising?  Take any to the extreme?
3.  What's the main body of water that you sail on?
4.  How long have you been sailing?  When and how did you learn?
5.  What boats have you owned in the past?
6.  What boats have you sailed on in the past?
7.  Any other boats you have your eye set on?  Do you suffer from two-footitis?
8.  What was your latest sailing-related purchase and from where?
9.  What's your favorite sailing web sites?
10.  Tell us a good sailing story.

PICTURES IF YA GOT 'EM!!!  We'll then let the thread take on a life of its own.

 

 

 

I'll throw in my answers to start us off!

1.  What boats/boards/kites do you currently own?  Names?  Favorites?
Prindle 18.2 catamaran 'Special Treat', F2 Lightning sailboard, F2 Comet sailboard.  I LOVE my cat!

2.  Are you into racing, daysailing, cruising?  Take any to the extreme?
I've done lots of cruising in the past on my dad's big boats.  These days I'm into daysailing and racing in local regattas.  I haven't raced in big national or international events and I've never come home with the trophy mainly because I haven't invested in a faster, newer boat.

3.  What's the main body of water that you sail on?
Lake Norman, NC (just north of Charlotte) and the NC Outer Banks

4.  How long have you been sailing?  When and how did you learn?  What did you learn on?
30+ years.  Dad started with a 12' Puffer, then a 21' AMF2100, then a Nor'Sea 27 and finally a big Hans Christian 42 before he passed away.  We've cruised the Long Island Sound from NY to the Vineyard and Nantucket and three times blue-watered from NY to Bermuda!  I started on cats back in '82 at the age of 14 on a rented Trac-16 with my best friend.  We both went the multihull and sailboard route from an early age.

5.  What boats have you owned in the past?
The first was halvsies on a beat-up Hobie-16 when we were 16.  Then a Hobie 18 Magnum and finally the Prindle 18.2.  I started with a Bic board, one Mistral and then the two F2's which are still fine by me today.  My friend Dan has taken up kite-surfing and he's trying to sucker me into it as well.

6.  Do you crew or race on any other types of boat?
I'm always in demand to crew for the Flying Scot skippers.  I'm very good at sail trim and feeling boat balance because of my cat experience.  I can read wind and when the racing season starts, I get frequent e-mails asking me if I'll crew.

7.  Any other boats you have your eye set on?  Do you suffer from two-footitis?
I have no desire to cruise.  I like daysailing out of my house on the lake.  I am getting a little green over the Hunter 216 daysailor though.  That would be the perfect boat for the family, friends and guests!  My mother won't even look at the cat let alone climb aboard.

8.  What was your latest sailing-related purchase and from where?
Just bought some new Harken micro-blocks from www.pyacht.com  Have you guys seen their prices?!  Damn!

9.  What's your favorite sailing web sites?
www.catsailor.com  www.trailersailor.com  www.sailinganarchy.com

10.  Tell us a good sailing story.

(Copied from an old post on another board)... A big 40-footer, loaded with people came hauling a$$ in my direction. I was out on the wire, on a broad reach, doing about 15-knots, flying the windward hull at about 20-degrees. He was coming in off the port bow on the windward side. He wasn't turning, so I hit the airhorn. Oh he saw me all right and turned, RIGHT INTO MY PATH! He was barelling down on me on purpose! I've been involved in this game before. Big powerboat skipper drinks several beers and wants to impress the girls on board by how close he can come to the little sailboat and give it a real good rocking! Or they're too drunk to judge distance and speed and just hit you.

I had about three seconds to do a quick mental judge of where I was on the lake and whether I would bail and jump or cling to the boat if he hit me. No time to come in off the wire. Sure enough, he turned off about a boat length ahead of my bows at top speed.

I had just enough time to crank on the hiking stick to get the bows turned into his (what seemed to be a 5-foot) wake. True to form and design, at 12-knots, the bows didn't dig in and I didn't pitch-pole. They launched! The wind caught under the trampoline and the boat turned and did a stern stand in the water. I hung on to the shroud and she came down forward instead of backflipping. I smacked down hard on the hull, caught my breath and do a quick bricthes-check, but I was ok.

Where oh where are those 8 local county sherriff boats when you need them? A string of loud, horrible (NY-accent) expletives flew out of my mouth. Unfortunately, loud enough for this guy to hear it. Apparently, just as he crossed my path, he let off the throttles so that his guests could watch the carnage that he caused.

I was back on 'Treat" and sailing back in the opposite direction. And this guy decides to come after me. One of those, "What did you say? You wanna say that to my face?" kind of guys. Great, pissed off drunk at the wheel of a 40-foot cruiser and I've got nothing. No VHF to call for help. Not even a way to write down his hull numbers (I knew I couldn't remember them by the time I got to shore anyway). No way to defend myself or outrun him.

But I did have two red bandanas on my bows and that made me think of Doc. It made me think of him blasting away at a rattlesnake with his .45 A couple of ACP rounds across his bow would probably make him change his mind. Unfortunately, I don't carry firearms on my cat, maybe I should start though. But it also made me think about where I was and what I could use in my defense. The lake itself!

So this guys comes right up along side of me and gives me the, "What did you call me?" His friends are all telling him to leave me alone and drop it, but he won't hear of it. His girlfriend really laces into the guy, calling him a jerk and that what he did to me was really sh*tty. He tells her to shut up. Another girl says that if he doesn't apologize, she'll call the cops and tell them what he did to me. He simply tells her to f*ck off and returns his attention to me.

I apologize for calling him the names and say that since I wasn't hurt and my boat wasn't damaged, no harm's been done. I say that it was my fault, that I should have fallen off and let him pass because he was bigger. "You're damn right!" he agrees. There's just no reasoning with a drunk in a situation like this. Your best bet is to simply agree with him, defuse the situation, calm him down, make him feel proud of himself, raise your centerboards while you're talking, head off to the south about ten degrees, and keep him occupied until you ask:

"By the way, what kind of draft does that thing have?"
"Huh? What? What the hell are you talking about?"
"Because we're about to go over the Davidson shoals. See the sign right there?"

"Oh sh*t!" he screams. Well I guess I should have said, 'I' was about to go over Davidson shoals, instead of 'we are'. Oops! My mistake. I'm always getting my grammar mixed up. Well I went over, and he, well... didn't. With a loud metallic crunching sound, his stern drive hit the rocks, his hull drove up onto the sand, and he came to a wrenching hault. No getting off that spot! This is a dam-controlled lake. No tide. You either wait for Duke Energy to raise the level of the lake (unlikely) or call for a tow which is usually accomponied by one of those sherriffs I was talking about. Apparently, they like to know why someone would ground themselves on rocks when all the shoals are clearly marked with huge signs! Or should I say, how much someone was drinking, so that they couldn't read the signs.

I jybed and started to head back to my marina. I didn't want to take any chances that maybe he might be armed. As I sailed away, I heard him cursing and his friends laughing. I guess they would provide a decent enough buffer and calm him down after he sobered up. He probably won't even remember what my boat looks like, so I doubt revenge will be foremost on his mind.

As it turns out, it wasn't even necessary. As I approached the docks another powerboat came up to me and the girl at the helm said, "I saw what that guy did to you. I already called the cops on my cell phone. Are you all right?" "Yeah I'm fine," I responded, "thanks."




2008-07-11 11:39 AM
in reply to: #1522924

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Champion
6931
5000100050010010010010025
Bellingham, Washington
Subject: RE: The "official" BT SAILOR'S THREAD!!!

First thought was Popeye the Sailorman.

2008-07-11 12:05 PM
in reply to: #1522924

Subject: ...
This user's post has been ignored.
2008-07-11 12:06 PM
in reply to: #1522924

Sneaky Slow
8694
500020001000500100252525
Herndon, VA,
Subject: RE: The "official" BT SAILOR'S THREAD!!!
I swear a lot.  Does that count?
2008-07-11 12:11 PM
in reply to: #1522924

Iron Donkey
38643
50005000500050005000500050002000100050010025
, Wisconsin
Subject: RE: The "official" BT SAILOR'S THREAD!!!
No Barnacle Bill the Sailor?
2008-07-11 12:22 PM
in reply to: #1522924

Champion
5345
500010010010025
Carlsbad, California
Subject: RE: The "official" BT SAILOR'S THREAD!!!
Catalina 320 Mk II

I am a coastal Cruiser and do a few trips a year out to the Channel Islands here in California. My favorite destination is Pelican Bay on Santa Cruz Island.

Would love to upgrade someday to something a bit more handy for blue water sailing. I have a semi-secret desire to sail around the world someday. I took a little demo cruise on a Beneteau 46 and fell in love. When life gets to be too much of a drag, I just sell the house and be on my way

I learned to sail as a wee lad on Hobie Cats.

As for recent trips, I am actually leaving in a short while on a little surf trip down South. Will probably end up down at Todos Santos Island. (Surf is predicted to be pretty good this weekend)


2008-07-11 1:25 PM
in reply to: #1523071

Master
2277
2000100100252525
Lake Norman, NC
Subject: RE: The "official" BT SAILOR'S THREAD!!!
Rynamite - 2008-07-11 1:05 PM

I'm a PWC'er though... so I shall be gone.

While you seem like a nice guy.  There's usually only one way to deal with you "water gnats"...

 

http://www.thebeachcats.com/OnTheWire/www.west.net/_lpm/hobie/archives/v1-i2/humor.html

An old, but classic, anti-PWC bit!  Wink

 

2008-07-11 1:39 PM
in reply to: #1523114

Master
2277
2000100100252525
Lake Norman, NC
Subject: RE: The "official" BT SAILOR'S THREAD!!!

WaterDog66 - 2008-07-11 1:22 PM Catalina 320 Mk II

Thas a big boat!  Hope the real estate market is good by you - that Beneteau 46 ees preeety 'spensive.  My father (that is biological father, NOT 'Bigfuzzydad') never had a house.  He and his wife were livaboards on the Hans Christian.  They had a small apartment for the winters.

You know what I discovered about blue-water cruising?  A 46' boat is 46 feet on the first day, 42 feet on the second, 30 feet at the end of a week and by the time two weeks comes around, it feels like a Sunfish!  Tongue out

I never liked the design of most cruisers.  Too many berths.  Too much pressure on marketing to "sleeps 8",  "sleeps 10", etc.  In practicality, that B-46 is only good for four people for a long-haul, trans-oceanic trip.  Berths are too often used for stowage.  You need some serious stores to say, sail to Hawaii.  If only designers would back off on the number of berths, design the interiors for the true number of people that'll sail her, and allow for more actual livable room below...

Dad's HC-42 had two; double-cabins, a single berth cabin, a couch that acted as a single berth and of course the dinette which could act as a double berth.  "Sleeps eight".  And in reality, it was tight for just the three of us to sail from NY to Bermuda and back.  The couch should've been scrapped in favor of hanging locker stoage and a larger chart/electronics station.  And the single berth aft cabin removed all together.  42-feet.  Good for four, six when necessary.

But that's just my thoughts.  Wink

 

2008-07-11 1:46 PM
in reply to: #1523326

Subject: ...
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2008-07-11 1:47 PM
in reply to: #1522924

Master
2479
2000100100100100252525
Atlanta, Georgia
Gold member
Subject: RE: The "official" BT SAILOR'S THREAD!!!
A few years back, I went to a Basic-to-Bareboat class with the intent of eventually buying a boat to keep in Wilmington, NC. Unfortunately, this was right around the time I started doing tri, so the boat and all the attention I would like to give it will have to wait..To this day though, I am more comfortable sailing a cruiser than a Hobie..Just more time spent on big boats, I guess.

Thankfully, I have a client who has become a friend who owns a Hans Christian 38 that he kept in San Francisco(the marina right next to whatever they're calling PacBell Park these days) and has since moved to Puget Sound/Seattle. He keeps the boat in a small marina on Bainbridge Island. I have had the oppourtunity to sail all over San Francisco Bay, and Puget Sound as far North as Pt. Townsend. My chops are way off from lack of opportunity to sail lately but I really hope to pick this back up one day. I keep a chart of Puget Sound in my office, planning the next trip..

Best story was the time we were coming back from Monterrey.. Thanks to a malfunctioning gauge, we were almost out of fuel going against the tide, we got to Golden Gate around 2am - Freighters/barges flying past us every 5mins - That was white knuckle time -We thought the engine was going to cut off at any second(there was no wind).


2008-07-11 2:09 PM
in reply to: #1522924

Mountain View, CA
Subject: RE: The "official" BT SAILOR'S THREAD!!!
My mom and her brother used to race 505s in San Diego and Virginia, and I'd like to say my mom passed on some of that expertise to me... but I've done very little sailing. I can manage a laser under not-very-demanding conditions, but that's about it.


2008-07-11 2:12 PM
in reply to: #1523477

Subject: ...
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2008-07-11 6:53 PM
in reply to: #1522924

Veteran
147
10025
Rota, Spain
Subject: RE: The "official" BT SAILOR'S THREAD!!!

I opened this thinking it was a U.S. Navy Sailors thread...oh well. 

Sounds like you all have some nice "boats", a little smaller than what I am used to tho!

2008-07-11 9:17 PM
in reply to: #1524095

Master
2277
2000100100252525
Lake Norman, NC
Subject: RE: The "official" BT SAILOR'S THREAD!!!

VVATC - 2008-07-11 7:53 PM

...a little smaller than what I am used to tho!

I assume carrier duty based on your avatar? Which boat and what's your little role out of the 5,000 or so shipmates on that 'city on the sea'?

... Even if you're not a "sailboat-sailor" - I'm just curious.

 

2008-07-12 12:50 AM
in reply to: #1522924

Champion
9430
50002000200010010010010025
No excuses!
Subject: RE: The "official" BT SAILOR'S THREAD!!!
I am a huge Jimmy Buffett fan, does that count Undecided
2008-07-12 1:59 AM
in reply to: #1522924

Champion
7036
5000200025
Sarasota, FL
Subject: RE: The "official" BT SAILOR'S THREAD!!!

 

 

 

 

12 Meter Challenge in St Maarten this past February:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Edited by RedCorvette 2008-07-12 2:00 AM


2008-07-12 7:28 PM
in reply to: #1524348

Master
2277
2000100100252525
Lake Norman, NC
Subject: RE: The "official" BT SAILOR'S THREAD!!!
RedCorvette - 2008-07-12 2:59 AM


12 Meter Challenge in St Maarten this past February

Looks like a fun pleasure sail. I see they've added lifelines, keep all the tourists in the cockpit and there's a huge honkin' ugly reef in the main. I'm curious as to how many crew were on board. Those boats take a lot of hands to make them go. Obviously no one's changing sails or flying a chute on that day. I would love to get a chance to sail on an old America's Cup 12, but I would probably want to work. They would have me grinding out the coffee.

... But still looks like fun even if you weren't "washing the windows". Wink

 

2008-07-12 10:27 PM
in reply to: #1522924

Veteran
200
100100
Detroit, Michigan
Subject: RE: The "official" BT SAILOR'S THREAD!!!

yeah! a sailing thread on bt. this is the one sport that gets in the way of my tri training!

1) no boat owned - too busy sailing with other people

2) racing and cruising (when there's time) i have sailed three port huron-mackinac races along with key west, tons of overnight distance stuff, traveled with a melges 24 for a while and currently sail with a cal 25. my husband is currently sailing his 11th port huron-mackinac and raced his third newport-bermuda race this year. we're busy!

3) lake st. clair, great lakes, east coast 

4) my parents put me on a boat when i 2 weeks old and i've been sailing ever since. started racing at 10 in big boats with my dad and junior sailing at 12. learned to sail at bayview yacht club junior sailing in detroit.

5) no boats owned myself dad had a kaufman '45 and a c&c '44 along with some other smaller sailboats

6) i have sailed so many, i don't know where to start - fj, opti, laser, 420, cal 25, c&c '44, kaufman '45, melges 24, j120 to name a few

7) no time for anything but a powerboat

8) new north face sailing shoes

9) volvo ocean race and newport bermuda stuff (like tracking friends that are out sailing)

10) i can't tell any for fear of revealing some identities



Edited by Lizard13 2008-07-12 10:29 PM
2008-07-12 10:42 PM
in reply to: #1524200

Mountain View, CA
Subject: RE: The "official" BT SAILOR'S THREAD!!!
Bigfuzzydoug - 2008-07-11 7:17 PM

VVATC - 2008-07-11 7:53 PM

...a little smaller than what I am used to tho!

I assume carrier duty based on your avatar? Which boat and what's your little role out of the 5,000 or so shipmates on that 'city on the sea'?

... Even if you're not a "sailboat-sailor" - I'm just curious.

 


x2 on the curiosity (Navy family). 
2008-07-12 11:20 PM
in reply to: #1522924

Master
2447
200010010010010025
White Oak, Texas
Subject: RE: The "official" BT SAILOR'S THREAD!!!
This was one of my boats. 560 feet long 18,000 tons



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2008-07-13 3:09 AM
in reply to: #1522924

Elite
3972
200010005001001001001002525
Reno
Subject: RE: The "official" BT SAILOR'S THREAD!!!

well - I was out on a boat today....   but not a sail boat......  nor do I own one. So, not what you are looking for..... but I was quite ocean worthy today while everyone around me was losing their, a, lunch.  I owe it to my DNA - it was nothin' to the Winter Irish Sea.....

   but I dedicate this to my friends that did not fare so well:

I've had liquid laughs in cars, and I've hurled from moving cars,
And I've chuckled when and where it suited me.
But if I could choose the spot,
To regurgitate me lot,
Then I'd chunder in the Old Pacific Sea.

 



2008-07-13 8:09 AM
in reply to: #1522924

Expert
936
50010010010010025
Springfield, MO
Subject: RE: The "official" BT SAILOR'S THREAD!!!

I'm a stink-potter, but I've sailed once.  I think I'm too lazy to sail.  We just motor a mile or so from the marina, drop the hook and relax.

I hate jackasses like the one in your story and I have to say leading him onto that shoal is awesome.  He deserved that and more. I hope he went to jail.

Speaking of jackasses...a buddy told me this story he read about last weekend.  Apparently, this guy left a restaurant after dark, didn't turn on running lights and was speeding (30 mph limit after dark).  When he was pulled over they found some amount of cocaine, a gun, $10,000 in cash and...get this...his wife and kids in the boat.  Nice!



Edited by run joe run 2008-07-13 8:14 AM
2008-07-13 10:03 AM
in reply to: #1522924

Extreme Veteran
346
10010010025
Honolulu,
Subject: RE: The "official" BT SAILOR'S THREAD!!!
I'm with CBarnes. This was my boat and will be going back to one in a couple years.



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2008-07-14 1:02 AM
in reply to: #1522924

Sydney Australia
Subject:
2008-07-14 3:51 AM
in reply to: #1522924

Expert
1158
10001002525
A Husker stuck in VA
Subject: RE: The "official" BT SAILOR'S THREAD!!!
1. What boats/boards/kites do you currently own? Names? Favorites?
Arleigh Burke Destroyer

2. Are you into racing, daysailing, cruising? Take any to the extreme?
People usually get out of our way.

3. What's the main body of water that you sail on?
Atlantic, Pacific, Mediteranean, Persian Gulf, Black Sea, etc., etc.

4. How long have you been sailing? When and how did you learn?
17 Years

5. What boats have you owned in the past?
I wish I could afford them, although I pay taxes so I guess I own a pice of it.

6. What boats have you sailed on in the past?
Destroyers, Cruisers, Guided Missile Destroyers, Guided Missile Cruisers

7. Any other boats you have your eye set on? Do you suffer from two-footitis?
Naw, I retire in 3 years at 39 so I don't have to go back on them.

8. What was your latest sailing-related purchase and from where?
Marlinspike and knife, GSA.

9. What's your favorite sailing web sites?
www.navy.com

10. Tell us a good sailing story.
Dude, what happens away from port, stays away from port!!
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