Teaktart/Eileen,

Is that a 20' or 22" ? Nice job you're doing on it -- and I'm sure it didn't look as shipshape as it dos now :)

I've seen a few boats in my life in all kinds of conditions.

Your picture reminds me of my days as a kind of wharf rat back in the mid-70's in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Particularly a night sail from Christiansted St. Croix to St.John. On a boat similar to yours. Moonlit sailing, big swells, nice big chrome wheel. That was one fun night of sailing!

The paint scheme you chose for your baby also reminds me of those days and how some of the boats were painted -- cheerful colors.

Wild days those were, too.

I was at the time boat-sitting a replica of an 18th century schooner owned by a guy who looked a little like Daniel Day Lewis in "There Will Be Blood." He pulled a 45 revolver on me for breaking one of his Corningware dishes :)

The only way I could get to the boat in the harbor was to buy a 6 foot used fibergalss dingy. Imagine how much room I had left when I dragged into it my 12-string guitar case.

My one and only moment of "fame" down there with said guitar was opening in a bar called the Foggy Bottom for the then top-chart group, Starlight Vocal Band (of "Afternoon Delight" one-hit wonder fame).

Yup, quite a while ago - 1976.

I worked on various day trip boats, from cats to more conventional tug-boat looking things with glass bottoms; deck hand, misc other jobs and also snorkel guide (Buck Island reef).

There was this old barracuda that hung out at the reef for years with a partial tail, his name was Charlie. Pretty harmless but exciting to the tourists.

My Dad lived on a couple of sloops between 1945-55 in the Mediterranean while he was adjusting to turning international journalist and mystery magazine writer after being a WWII war correspondent.

He also did a little cigarette smuggling between Europe and Tangiers :)

I was conceived on the second sloop, and my birth pretty much ended that part of his life. He had to move off boat onto land (Rome, Italy).

He of course had to teach his son to sail later on too, though the sloop was sold within a couple of years of my birth. I went to a summer sailing camp in Sweden or Norway much later on.

My great grandfather also owned some small shipyard in south New Jersey at the turn of the century. So while I never was a bona fide sailor or skipper, I do have some nautical genes in me :)
____________________

So were you late to this thread?

Maybe you were, but seeing your boat sure triggered some fond memories, so thanks for that. Haven't been on boat or sea in many years.

Glad to see all the sailors on the forum!

My previous job was as a sailing instructor, working here in Abaco and at Castle Harbour. www.castleharbor.com

We have a C&C 36 named Kairos-that's where my screen name comes form. My now-wife and I lived on it for a year, sailing around central america till the money ran out and we needed to go back to work. After all we'd been through, we figured marriage and a new little bugger couldn't be so hard...

I could live on a small boat if it had FIOS internet and easy access to the mountains trails for jogging. Do they make slips like that?

Ah, yes. Teak. That's me in the foreground. Can't remember if I was skippering at that moment. 66' ketch. 1975. Straits of Mackinac.

Johnmeyer, did you do the Chicago to Mackinac race, Port Huron to Mackinac race or TravBay to Mackinac race that year? 1975 was the year I, ( not really a sailor like my brother-in-law) did a couple of races on a friend's family yacht, 61'ketch, I think. I remember someone racing a beautiful all wood old scooter(restored), don't remember size but big and did I say beautiful. My summer cottage was there until we brought one on Burt Lake for year around use for winter sports as well as summer stays before I starting staying at Vail during the late 70's & 80's. Now, I'm back up to Mackinac and Burt Lake for the summers. I miss those cravz days, in a way! But I don't miss Iran government collapse or Jimmy Carter Administration---no politics--- just bad memories!

Wow, I think we have a serious videographer/sailor subgroup forming here!

And, I think I detected that Serena's photo was onboard a boat of some sort. So far I think she's been the only woman posting as mentioned by others, and it turns out we both work around boats.

We're all coming out of the 'hanging locker' with stories, hopefully leaving the 'foul weather' gear behind .... gotta love it.

Back in my "bikini era" ( the late 70s to mid 90s) I stumbled into sailing and spent the better part of 15 years doing annual long distance boat deliveries around the N and S Pacific (returning racing yachts from Mexico and Hawaii most often), and once down the coast from Sweden to the Canaries.
I have that box full of slides and photos somewhere... and sure wish now that I'd had a camcorder of some sort for some really special places and events, not to mention weather challenges! One of these days I'll get that slide scanner out and start the storytelling, by first digitizing my photos before they all fade into oblivion....
After a long trip from Hawaii to New Zealand in '79, I returned home and just couldn't sit at a desk or be inside a building all day. Having worked in the office of Bill Lee Yachts here in Santa Cruz, CA where they were building cutting edge ultra light racing yachts, I had on occasion been dragged into the varnish booth to help out when there was a deadline to meet. When I came back from a second trip to NZ in '83 I decided to varnish boats for a 'part-time temporary job' till I figured out where to work next. That was almost 24 yrs ago and I'm still here, and someday will just have to sit down and figure out what I want to be when I grow up!

In the beginning I had a mindset about doing manual labor of sorts having a bachelors degree and all that, but eventually I got over that attitude and decided it paid better than most desk jobs in town, I got to be outside, call my own time, jump on boat delivery opportunities, and also...to live without much of a "security" net. Dicey at times, but really fun most of the time, especially if you love what you do no matter what it is.
(That sweet Alden 32' Cir. 1979 boat I'm working on today is not mine, shucks....but she gets a whole lot of compliments from folks walking the docks)

I can afford a couple of kayaks....!
Which makes me the master of my own 'ship'.... and can also be absolutely terrifying at times! But when the otters do let me hang out with them in the kelp beds there's nothing better. Getting that on tape, however is another story...

I'm amazed that with todays technology I am able to follow a couple of friends of mine who are literally sailing around the world on Don's home built 44' trimaran. They are able to email brief messages via ham radio while underway crossing oceans, or wait til they arrive in a port and email the stories and upload the photos. I get to ride shotgun thanks to all these new devices.

(In my day, you got home before the postcard, which was in transit for 6 weeks having been sent 'air mail' no less.)

One of their last ports of call was Salalah, Oman at the bottom of the Arabian penisula. Google that and then find the harbor, what a kick to be able to literally see where they are.
Then notice...there is absolutely no development on the long white sandy beaches, weird.
Then the lightbulb over my head goes off, and voila...perhaps they don't swim in the ocean due to cultural modesty. Can't imagine a woman in a burka trying not to drown... Definitely not California!

My friends are soon headed up the Red Sea and they have a simple camcorder onboard and I think it sits unused which drives me crazy. I"ve said if you shoot it, I'll help you edit it someday, but get it while you can...I'm jealous....

I have a couple of short sailing videos I'll add to this via a link once I learn how to upload to Google...one new trick at a time, getting a photo up last night was a new one...for me

Eileen

p.s.JimH:
I wonder if Pt Townsend, WA wouldn't suit your requirements or just about anywhere around the Seattle area. They brag about those kinds of outdoor activity, but usually fail to mention the weather!

Its amazing how fast those trimarans are! The last 8 years the Port Huron to Mackinac race has seen a lot of world class racing trimarans and personal build trimarans join the race with the 2ton, etc.. yahts. Their soo fast, that its hard to drive from Port Huron to Mackinac bridge and beat them without driving over 80mph, if there is any wind. The old 1-2 day race is not the same, of course, time is weighted by class and "other factors", but the old days of partying with crews at the start, midway, and end is a lot different now. My brother-in-law who's loves to crew-up with different teams from FL to HA, says its losing its excitement because its like racing the family car against a F1 Indy car, so, he's back into flying and now - horses.

C:\Documents and Settings\BURT WILSON\My Documents\My Pictures/BURT2.jpg

How does one go about entering a pictyure in one's reply, please?

Johnmeyer, did you do the Chicago to Mackinac race, Port Huron to Mackinac race or TravBay to Mackinac race that year? None of the above. I was in the Merchant Marine back in 1970, as a deckhand on oreboats going from East Chicago to Duluth, via the Straights of Mackinac, St. Mary's River, the locks, etc.

My old man was the real sailor. Back in the 1930s he had a boat on Lake Geneva and his crew included Buddy Melges (later skipper of the winning 1992 Americas Cup). A business friend with more dollars than sense had just purchased this amazingly beautiful boat, but didn't have a clue how to sail it. He had hired a crew but didn't know how to direct them. So, in 1975 the two of us got invited to come on board and give directions, but mostly to drink the owner's booze. So, we just went from Traverse City to the locks and back, over a period of two or three days.

Tough duty.

How does one go about entering a pictyure in one's reply, please?

[ img=C:\Documents and Settings\BURT WILSON\My Documents\My Pictures/BURT2.jpg ]

except don't put the spaces between the beginning/ending brackets and the text.

[i] "A business friend with more dollars than sense had just purchased this amazingly beautiful boat, but didn't have a clue how to sail it. "]
John: Isn't that a wonderful thing for the rest of us!

Roy Disney (Walt's Brother) has commissioned at least a dozen large 70'+ racing yachts over the years and raced to Hawaii and Mexico numerous times and always had to have the bleeding edge technology to get the edge on breaking the records.
In todays' world that means a whole lot of folks are on a payroll as a result of this one man's pleasure. The economy needs more of these folks to keep the rest of us employed...bless them and their passions!

Oh, of course today a race would include a feature length documentary as well. Sure would be a fun to be paid to sail and video at the same time as long as all the gear keeps working.

"Straights of Mackinac" where there is some serious wind at times and the weather changes faster than the Ex's mind. The cold water from Lake Superior going around Blanc Island and Mackinac Island can create problems if you're in the water.

So, you were manning one those big iron ore boats, looked like a tough job in the fall weather. Did you guys stop by Traverse City to drop off iro to IronWorks,( I think thats what it was called), my friend's family manufactured Fire Hydrants for the big cities there, (which I was surprised to found out).

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3182724008044415949&hl=en

Here's a little yacht racing for you....

Auckland harbor
You can actually follow individual boats on a big screen unlike this resolution, but you'll get the idea....used Cinescore for the audio.

Eileen

The picture has to be internet-accessible. The link used in the img= function has to start with http://

You can't link to a picture on your own local hard drive because the rest of us (HOPEFULLY) don't have access to your hard drive!

You can't link to a picture on your own local hard drive because the rest of us (HOPEFULLY) don't have access to your hard drive!
LOL. Yeah. I'm amazed at the people who will sign up for that remote computer backup service. Right. I'm gonna let some company I don't know, in an undisclosed manner, directly attach to my computer over the Internet and suck up the entire disk drive to be stored in a manner with undisclosed protections.

Try [ link ] http://my.url.com/picture.jpg [ /link ] (but remove the spaces)

I'm sure many of you guys saw these, but at the last America's Cup they did a great job of short video updates online. Some really cool shots, and summed it up well. Just wished they were more in-depth, but then BBC and Verses had the full story.

Check out: http://www.americascupanywhere.com/internet_tv

especially the last race-it was one of the best races ever.

Working humbly in the shade of the altar, and my own on-camera light.
Oh, and slanted because of the CMOS my camera uses:)

Wow, I hadn't perused this thread for a while, didn't realize that so many Vegas editors share a love of boats.

While in my 20's and single I bought an Ericson 27 and then proceeded to move in. This was in Marina del Rey, California, where all the beautiful people hung out (I was clearly the exception). Great lifestyle and a terrific magnet for attracting women. Looking back I sometimes wonder if they accepted my Saturday sailing invitations more because of the sailing and less because of the pleasure of my company. Whatever.

Anyway, I was one of the crew of Roy Disney's Shamrock, a very exotic and expensive S&S IOR racer. One fall three of us took the boat up the coast from LA to San Francisco for the Big Boat Series. I used up one of my 9 lives on that journey; I was alone on watch in the early a.m., with just the mainsail up to steady the boat and under diesel power and autopilot. I went to the starboard rail to relieve myself, when "WHACK!" something hits me in the side of the head. Hard. I manage to get back to the cockpit, and grab the big flashlight. Now, Shamrock was a very big boat, and the mainmast was fitted out with multiple halyards (the ropes used to haul the sails up) with exotic quick-disconnect titanium shackles on the ends. One of those halyards had gotten loose and this metal shackle was now a lethal weapon on the end of a 60' line, swinging wildly back and forth as the boat rolled rhythmically from side to side. Oh, and here's the best part: while at the rail earlier, I had forgotten to snap my safety harness onto the lifeline. I could have very easily fallen in the water with zero chance of recovery and survival.

Thank goodness I don't make any mistakes any more.

AHH, boat memories. While in the USN on a destroyer (60,000 horsepower) in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean steering this thing through two huricanes (helm) (+- 20 degrees rudder) the Captain decides to make a turn and the boat got parrallel to the humongious swells and almost capsized. (43 degree roll). In the Med almost got washed overboard twice. Such fond memories having the thought of swimming 2500 miles to safety. Oh yeah, forgot almost getting run over by the Aircraft Carrier Independence. You ought to see that thing up close when it is only 100 yards away from your ass end.
JJK

BURT WILSON

OK, I think I got it now. Many thanks for the tips.

1970, in the Merchant Marine. That's moi.

[IMG=http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh19/Teaktart/BlondieCrewSmall.jpg]

Came up on deck for a morning watch in the middle of the Pacific High on the SC70 "Blondie" ('93 Transpac delivery) and found that the guys had built me the "Perfect Crewmate".....

Looks like I lost a nose over time and my pixels got squished!

JohnMeyer: you were a real cutie on that ship!