Happy Anniversary Me! -- Owning/Sailing For 5 Yrs This Week

[rardiH36]

Five Years ago this week the 1980 Cherubini Hunter 36 Wildaire became mine.

Me/Family/Friends thought Wildaire an apt name for a sailboat, so we were happy to keep the concept of "wild air" prominent on the transome.

First ever sailboat. Previous sailing experience was doing my best to help my father keep his Lido 14 upright while a boy and teenager. The time gap between the last Lido sail and the Wildaire purchase was virtually 40 years.

Thank you forum members for all the good advice as I went at both the planned and unexpected repair/maintenance/upgrade items. Still more to do, but projects now are primarily for feel good reasons rather than absolute need.

And also thank you all for the on-line friendships.

Still enjoying my new hobby a lot. I figure I've had the boat away from the slip and on the bay 300+ times. A chance encounter on my most memorable sail, I discovered later was actually captured on video by a 25 kt windsurfer racer. He put the footage on line. In one of their electronic editions, Latitude 38 included a letter I wrote to them about the evening. I posted a url to it and the video on SailboatOwner.com about six months ago. For those that may not have caught it, here is the link to the requisite Latitude 38 page. 3rd article down: "Best Seat in the House". Click on the image of the GG bridge in the fog to start the video. The sound track is important if you do watch. My SailboatOwners.com avatar is a still shot extracted from the video.

www.latitude38.com/lectronic/lectronicday.lasso?date=2011-10-21#.T-DhVpE9iCk

Finally attached are two photos. Me on Wildaire on the first day of ownership and me and my wife drifting on a somewhat nicer looking boat on San Francisco Bay several months ago.

Been a fine five years.

 

[Ed Schenck]

Re: Happy Anniversary Me! -- Owning/Sailing For 5 Yrs This W

Congratulations Rardi! Nice pictures too. I could have an anniversary if I had any idea when I first sailed the boat. I do remember what happened the first day in the water though. The yard worker wanted to impress me with his motoring skills, rocketing backwards out from the crane and forward into my slip. I said, "this boat displaces over 18000, should we be going this fast?". Hit reverse, full-throttle, and bam, right up onto the dock. Now I wonder where I recorded that date? Or is it the first day of sailing?

 

[Stu Jackson]

Re: Happy Anniversary Me! -- Owning/Sailing For 5 Yrs This W

Congrats Rardi. Ed, I always thought LOG BOOKS were there for keeping track. When we first bought our C22 in 1983 I started using a ring bound small notebook, but have since changed to real ones.

Rardi, I think I've seen you out a few times, too.

Keep up the good work. Use it or lose it.

 

[rardiH36]

... I always thought LOG BOOKS were there for keeping track.

Stu: You are right. And I am guilty of eschewing the log book. No real excuse. Just that when I hit the dock after an outing (figure of speech -- don't really hit it -- most times), writing down a record of the sail is too difficult with all the other getting items to get squared away ... and particularly with a wife who really likes the actual sailing but then is impatient to get home afterward. My father, a King's Point trained ex merchant marine master, is critical of my lack of log book discipline. But from a practical matter, I just can't see the downside, except a book might be good to have if I say ever wanted to take the courses and exam for a six-pack license. But then from my days as a operations planner and chartering manager for bulk ore/coal carriers, I observed a thing or two from Greek (and other nationality) ship captains about the power of in-arrears creative log keeping.

I do however record all maintenance and repairs that I do to the engine. Very useful know when it's time to change out the oil (every six months +/-) and the oil filter (every other oil change = good enough since the Yanmar manual allows every 3rd oil change). Or that I still have another several hundred hours until the next a valve clearance check.

Rardi, I think I've seen you out a few times, too.

Stu: I just checked your profile for your boat name to refresh my memory. I know that I have crossed paths on the bay with an "Aquavite" and but at the time I just couldn't place why the name was familiar. (Other than aqauvit without your end "e" was the liquor of choice of some Norwegian shipbrokers I knew a long time ago.) I'll definitely remember your boat the next time it see the name.

 

[Stu Jackson]

Re: Happy Anniversary Me! -- Owning/Sailing For 5 Yrs This W

rardi, there is an Aquavit, too, (no E at the end) but it's a blue hull, racing boat, maybe a J boat. We're an AWB! Name's only on the stern, all lower case letters in blue.

I'm on my sixth log book, and it's fun to go back and read them. I'm never in a hurry to leave the boat! Maybe you just have to change some habits...

See ya out there. We're heading to Sausalito on Friday.

I've always got the VHF on scanning 14 & 16.

I keep a separate Maintenance Log.

 

[rardiH36]

... I'm on my sixth log book, and it's fun to go back and read them....

See ya out there. We're heading to Sausalito on Friday.

Thanks Stu: Yes it must be fun when the log book rekindles memories of certain outings that were just a bit different. Still on my boat was a log book from the original owner of the Wildaire. His name (from memory) was Giacomo Piffero. He was a member of several yacht clubs in the east bay and Stockton. After he sold the boat (apparently became sick after a respectable life-span) there were two more (very short term) owners before me. Anyway, the log book recorded a trip from Oakland to Mexico and back in the 1990's. One thing I learned from it is that the steering failed off Ensinada. After a day or two of drifting, Wildaire was towed in for a couple of weeks to repair. That info explained why the steering quadrant under aft lazerette seat still looks almost new.

I might be on the bay ex-Sausalito on Friday will keep and eye and ear out for you.

 

[SailH37]

Alright!

You gotta get with the local sailing club and go racing a couple of hundred times. I raced for 15+ years. It started out simply sitting there on the boat as ballast while everyone else worked. I learned things over the years and boy howdy, I went thru a steep learning curve when I bought my first boat, a pearson flyer 30' long. It's so cool to be out racing, knowing the rules, and be at the helm of your own boat, and drive it all day where you're inches from other boats, and then... you actually win a race. And, what an incredible social event afterwards. After you get wound up over that for many years, you really relax when out cruising, and it becomes a whole new level of cool. Here's a couple of pics of my old Pearson during two different races, I named it RadioFlyer.
Keep sailing,
Keith

 

[rhythmsurfer]

Re: Happy Anniversary Me! -- Owning/Sailing For 5 Yrs This W

Rardi,

You have done so much in 5 years. Congratulations to you and yours and many more years of fun. Thank you for sharing all of your knowledge. We enjoyed the video.

Tony