An observation

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Don Guillette

Don Guillette

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May 17, 2004
2,111
Other Catalina 30 Tucson, AZ
Mates: Yesterday, I spent an enjoyable day on a Catalina 42 with the nicest couple you could ever want to meet. The boat was beautiful and had every bell and whistle that Catalina and Garhauer Marine makes. The interior is so big I thought I could play basketball inside. I showed up in old deck shoes, beat up gloves and shorts while these folks were dressed to the 9's but they made me feel very comfortable. When they greated me at the boat I felt like a dock worker and thought I should have listened to my wife, who told me to wear something nice. The food and drink was also wonderful and beautifully prepared. Anyway, the one thing that caught my attention with this beautiful and very expensive boat was that the folks did not know how to sail the thing. All they did was raise the main and roll out the jib and that was it. I have seen this situation many times and the question that goes through my mind but which I NEVER ask is why did they buy a sail boat in the first place? With the folks yesterday, they "knew what they didn't didn't know" and he was very concerned about the safety of his family if something went wrong or if he got in over his head. What we did was use my book as a program and we went through it from front to back. We worked every sail trim control for the main and jib for every point of sail and inside of 3 hours they had digested the material. I knew they understood and had mastered the material because during the 4th hour on every point of sail we stopped the boat and I messed up the controls. They easily put them back where they belonged for the point of sail and wind condition and got the boat going to full speed. Additionally, they could look at other boats on the water and determine what was wrong with their sail plan and tell me how they would correct the situation. The rest of the day we just cruised around and they tweeked the sails. One funny thing did happen. Toward the end of the day, a Catalina 30 with 2 young guys and 2 gals came up on us. I'm sure they thought lets take these old folks so to sucker them in I told the couple to ease out the sails a bit and when they came abeam of us I told my friends to trim in and go for it. And go for it they did. I didn't give them any sail trim instructions. I just sat on the stern perch and gleefully waved bye bye to the surprised C30 sailors. When I jumped off the boat at the dock I really had a great feeling of accomplishment. They thanked me so much that I almost got emotional and had to walk away - my wife says I'm a hard ass but I really do have a gentle side. I wish I could have more days like yesterday - it is a nice feeling.
 
W

wayne

Well Done Don

What a nice story Don. when are you coming to Melbourne Australia? You can come aboard My C380 anytime, even in your daggy clothes. I've had my Yacht for 6 months now. When I first started sailing her I was struggling to get 5 knots SOG, so I purchased your books and read a lot of stuff on this website. I had her slipped and cleaned and antifouled the hull, got rid of the standard 3 blade ( sea anchor ) and installed a Gori 3 blade folding, and also had the rigging re-set. I sailed her this weekend in varied wind conditions, firstly in light conditions I was able produce 5Knots in 7 to 8 knots of wind and when it picked up I reached 8 knots. I still think I have so much to learn. I struggle to get good down wind performance, and I notice I can't point as high as some yacht's, I better get back to your book. Thanks for all the help. Wayne
 
Roger F

Roger F

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Sep 25, 2003
100
Beneteau Oceanis 48 Casco Bay, ME
42 vs 24

I also enjoyed your write up and look forward to reading your book. My wife and I are relatively new to sailing and just upgraded from and old (too old to sink more money into old) 24' to a new Hunter 240. Last of it's breed sort from what I read. In NH we are just getting summer-like weather finally and we are anxious to get underway. Are your trim guidelines applicable equally to a 42' and 24' water ballast swing keel? What can I reasonably expect to excel to as far as speed with a tender trailer'able boat with proper trim? I am for the fun primarily (and a lot of R&R in remote 'no-better-place-to-enjoy-a-cold-beer-with-my-wife' place, but have to admit that I want to be competent with the boat I have and in certain instances, then some. Cheers
 
R

Rob Leimgardt

Keep Observing From The Dock!

Don, I am surprised that these fine people even let you aboard dressed like a California Bum! To answer your stupid question Re; Why did they buy a boat in the first place?? Because they can afford to! You petty fool! RL
 
Don Guillette

Don Guillette

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May 17, 2004
2,111
Other Catalina 30 Tucson, AZ
Robbie: Normally, I ignore idiots like you as there is always one of your type in every group but in your case your the kind of little fellow that I'd just love to meet face to face.
 
A

abe

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Jan 2, 2007
736
- - channel islands
Dont judge a book by its cover.... but

I have always taught my son, better to be overdressed than underdressed. First impressions are important...it doesn't not mean not to be yourself nor do I promote to be superficial. But the reality of life is that in most societies you will be judged by how you present yourself. Like it or not, go to Mexico and you look like a CA bum, the officials will treat you accordingly. You look presentable, you will get a long alot better. And unfortunately, you never know when the doors will be opened or shut based upon your presentation. abe
 
Don Guillette

Don Guillette

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May 17, 2004
2,111
Other Catalina 30 Tucson, AZ
Mates: This is a sail trim forum and not Gentlemens Quarterly!! It is written for average sailors like Roger and Wayne who saw through what I was talking about. Lets see if we can focus on the gist of the thread, which one poor soul from FL didn't get, and that was if you spend over $200,000 on something why not learn how to use it. That goes for most sporting things such as golf clubs, tennis rackets ect. Instead of focusing on what I was wearing, which I over exagerated to add flavor to the story, why not ask for some pointers on the lesson plan I used, which allowed my friends to progress from beginner to high intermediate in less than 3 hours. How many common seaman sailors out there would like to do that?
 
Jim Seamans

Jim Seamans

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Mar 21, 2004
2,175
Hunter 356 Cobb Island, MD
Hey Don, I'm still looking for light air

For the last 24 hrs, the winds have been ripping all the way up to 1.8 kts. The river is flowing faster than the wind....:) Still waiting to try the main hauled in on the outhaul. Generally, I'm very close to naked on my boat..... Jim S/V Java
 
J

John23907

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May 17, 2004
9
- - Pickwick lake
Anything you want

Hey Don, if you were to come to my boat and give me three hours of your time you can wear anything you want-and I'll wear anything you want me to. ;) And let me add, this forum has been and is invaluable to me. Thanks.
 
Don Guillette

Don Guillette

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May 17, 2004
2,111
Other Catalina 30 Tucson, AZ
Roger (Portsmouth, NH): The trim guidelines are the same for a 42' or 24'. It all involves how the wind flows over the sails. Your looking for a smooth flow of undisturbed air and you have to use the sail trim controls in such a manner to allow that to happen. You could install a broom stick on a 55 gal drum with a bed sheet for a sail and the sail trim principals would be the same.
 
Don Guillette

Don Guillette

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May 17, 2004
2,111
Other Catalina 30 Tucson, AZ
Wayne (Australia): I hope to get to Australia some day before I "pass over the bar". To me it is all about the people who live there. When the America Cup was held in San Diego a number of years ago, I socialized with many of the crewman from your beautiful country. None of them would ever allow me to buy a round for them but they included me and my wife every time. They were a fun loving lot of guys, who always had a smile on their faces. They were also the most massive guys I've ever seen!! The American crews would not give us the time of day. From a sail trim stand point, I think your already there. If you can sail in light wind, you can sail in anything.
 
Don Guillette

Don Guillette

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May 17, 2004
2,111
Other Catalina 30 Tucson, AZ
John (Pickwick Lake): Thank you for the nice words about the forum. I'm glad you are getting something out of it. It make the donated time I and other contributors spend on it all worth while. As a further note, when I do these "on the water deals" I don't charge the folks a dime. If the presentation is part of one of my sail trim seminars it is a different story and I charge $100 per person so the folks in the article got a good deal. How it came about was he bought my book and chart and them called with some questions about the material. He was so confused and so wanted to understand what he was doing from a sail trim standpoint that I just felt I had to help him. The bottom line is my goal is that I hate to see a beginner sailors go through what I had to in order to learn how to sail a boat. To me it is a labor of love.
 
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