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Malcolm Young

Malcolm Young

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Feb 18, 2004
184
Catalina 36mkII Kincardine - Lake Huron
It was my Aunt and being a kid

In the mid 50s when I was about 10 or 11 my aunt gave me an Arthur Ransome book (English author well known for boating adventure books for kids) which whetted my imagination for sailing adventure. About that time she bought herself about a 21 foot bilge keeled wooden sailboat with cabin and Seagull outboard. At that age (and having read the book) I thought it was about the neatest thing going, however age and money stood in my way. (I still have her Chapman's from when she took the Power Squadron Course). In keeping with my interest in boating I bought the Popular Mechanics Book for Boys which contained plans for building a rowing punt among other neat things. I saw this as a distinct possibility given a bit more money. Then I went water skiing at about the age of 14.... I had to have a motor boat. My father said that he would buy a motor if I saved up, bought the materials and built the boat. So I did - complete with deck, self bailing motor well. We did quite a bit of water skiing. As time passed, I took the Power Squadron course and eventually my new wife sewed a convertible top and we took the boat through the Trent Severn waterway from Lake Ontario to Georgian Bay. However, in the intervening time, my older brother who was also influenced towards boats, bought himself an International 14 - which was an out and out racing dinghy. On my first sail with him I was out on the trapeze with the boat planing. This was even neater than water skiing. The problem was still money and competing priorities like house and family - so I bought a Mirror class dinghy which had a jib, main and capability to use a spinnaker. It was a great boat to learn on and has an active association in Ontario (so there were races). It was now the late 70s and we were keen to get a sailboat big enough to cruise in - and eventually we did in 1980. Since then we have done a lot of cruising in the Great Lakes and chartered in the BVI, Croatia, Greek Islands and sailed with a friend in the Bay of Fundy. Now I have just retired and my retirement present to ourselves was a Catalina 36 on which we spent 9 weeks cruising last year. I have taught for the Power (and Sail) Squadron for 17 years (and even developed a course for international workers when I worked in Austria). I love talking with other sailors about all aspects of boating (like on this forum). The morale of the story is that if you catch a kid when they have imagination and dreams then you hook them for good - in fact my wife says that I am addicted.
 
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Moose

Birds and Sails

As a young boy ... 3-5, I would sit on the top of a hill near our farm in western NY over looking the lake below. I was intrigued by the ease with which the birds above flew and the sailboats below seemingly effortlessly glided over the water ... It took me 15 years to join the birds but another 50 to join the sailors. :)Read the book, "Sailing for Dummies" and here I am cruising the Gulf, East US Coast, and the Bahamas :) Why did I wait so long ... ? :)
 
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jeff

First as a camper

I learned as an aquatic camper on a little lake in Ohio. After a while I was teaching other campers how to sail and dock it. 35 years later spent a week diving in Key Largo. We stayed in a hotel over looking a marina. The sight of those beautiful sailboats made me reminisce over the wonderful times I had on the water as a teen. Now I am learning all over again. This time I think I'll skip the sailing it in to the dock part.
 
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Rich

A lot of people took a leap...

Judging from the results of the survey so far, about half of the people who got into sailing did not have prior experience with it. I don't know how that compares with other sports, but it seems like a large percentage to me and perhaps indicates the inherent fascination people have with what they see going on on the water. I know I got into it as a non-boater after spending too many afternoons in Newport, Rhode Island, where sailboats outnumber people ...
 
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Glenn

San Francisco Pelican

In 1970, one of the guys I worked for was building a San Francisco Pelican. I would talk to him about it all the time. Later that summer my wife and I rented a board boat, Dolphin Sr, on Lake Travis. We capsized right out of the marina. Since we had rented the boat for the day and they wouldn't give us a refund, we sucked it up and spent the next 6 hours sailing. It was great. In November of that year a Sea Scout group had purchased 3 Flying Juniors from Oklahoma State to refit and sell. We bought one and for the next three years we raced it on Galveston Bay. Some time in 1974 or 75 we got side tracked on other activities and it wasn't until 1994 I bopught an old 470 with the intent of fixing it up and start sailing again. Illness prevented me from doing that, but the desire never left. We have a weekend (some day retirement) house on Clear Lake, we can see the lake from the house. We would walk around the "island" as it is called and watch all the sailboats passing. In September 2003, we bought our 84 Catalina 30. Our kids are grown, married and have children of their own. We all love to sail. I don't know why we waited so long to get back to sailing.
 
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wmurnahan

At 30

At 30 I took my cousins sailboat (he called it a California racing dingy), maybe a 12 ft. dingy out for a sail on the Ohio River. Everyone else I had ever seen try to sail it, always ended up down stream and walking home to get the trailer to bring it back. So I started out by sailing up river then across and back and was hooked ever since. The only instruction my cousin gave me was pull in on the sail till the wind fills it.
 
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Kailani

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May 17, 2004
41
Hunter 35.5 San Francisco
Cracked ribs and desire for salt water

My wife and I enjoy any recreation, which includes water. We kayak, swim and have earned our diving certificates. Typically engaging a sport or hobby out of shear will and with very little preparation, we acquired an American Skier tournament boat in 1988 to carve up the water in the Sacramento Delta. A purchase decision that was made without any skiing experience. Ten years, over 200 launches, four skis and three cracked ribs later, we decided to retire from slaloming and transition to a vessel, which would allow us to enjoy the salty water and the breathtaking views of the San Francisco bay. Again, without the benefit of formal training, we purchased a new MacGregor 26X. Our plan was to train on a boat, which possessed a swift ability to get us home after the wind dictated destinations. The 26X proved to be a challenging learning platform. Utilizing water ballast, a swing keel, fractional rig and a rear weight bias, this vessel required rapid skill development not to mention a humble apprehension of our sailing venue. SF bay, which looks very docile from the shore or the GG bridge, handed our lunch to us on more than one occasion. After two years of tweaking pivoting keels and rudders, the bay became such a great place to practice this new craft that we transitioned from the trailerable 26X to a Hunter 35.5. We have found this sport so appealing and the effort so rewarding that we now sail at lease one out of every three weekends.
 
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Jeff

Sailboats are for sissys ...

Well, they used to be anyway. I grew up on the beach in southern California in a family that had big powerboats. I was taught to believe that sailboats were the last thing a real man would own. If it don’t go fast and make a lots a noise, it’s not a boat; it’s a swim platform. Or better yet, aim at that big white triangle out there if you need a heading. During my forties, I lived inland on a lake and observed several people “flying” on cats and decided that it might be fun. Needles to say, 3 catamarans; a 26’, and a 38’ later, I’m REALLY hooked. And, for the life of me, I can’t figure out why some people want to go so fast and make so much noise ...
 
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DAVE C.5111

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Jun 23, 2004
23
Oday 302 VENTURA
Through BIL

Six years ago it was time to "Meet the Family". My girlfriend, at that time, decided it was time to introduce me to her family. Well it turned out Mary's family was her brother, Joe. Joe and his wife are long time cruiser, so off to the Sea of Abaco we went. Spent the next 10-12 days sailing around on Joe's 43 C&C Landfall. I haven't been able to get rid of this serious disease that I picked up. We bought our first sailboat two years ago, and in another five the plan is to be "out there". Just got back from a four day trip to the Channel Islands yesterday, then joy of joy in eight days, back to Abaco for a two week stay. dave....
 
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William

Conversion

Here's the boat that brought me over from the dark side. This is a soling, i learned how to sail on these boats in Boston harbor. Some clubs are still using this boat for lessons. They're fast and very responsive, important in a busy harbor full of frieghters, power boats, hi-powered ferry's, and cruise ships.
 
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Tim

Intrigued

In 1973 I wanted to take a tropical vacation and learn how to sail. I ended up in the Grenadines with a CSY "Sail and Learn Cruise" on a 39 foot centre cockpit. A year or so later I chartered a Bristol 34 in the BVI from CSY with my ladyfriend. That was it till 1978, when the only job I could find after a year unemployed, was teaching sailing for Club Med. Almost 5 years later, changing locations every 6 months, I settled in Texas. Since then, I have been sailing an old Irwin 28, and chartering in the tropics around the world, when I can afford it.
 
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Alan Korte

Down to the sea in ships

My first memory of sailing was on my grandfather's wooden 30'(?) boat on Lake Otario in about 1943 (when I was 7) I loved it, but I didn't have another chance until I was about 15 when a buddy and I decided it would be fun to sail - neither one of us had any experience at it, but who cares when you're 15. We found an old plywood catboat that still had a sail. We offered the owner $5 to rent it = we didn't tell him we didn't know the first thing about sailboats, but we'd grown up with outboards, and boats of all kinds, so why not - how hard could it be? So we set out onto Lake Ontario. It was a fair breeze (not the 6' rollers we had boated in), but off we went. It went well for awhile, until it started to heel pretty well. Panic time. Somehow I let go of the tiller and no problem, the bow swung around, we didn't dump, and figured we had it made. I guess we did, we made a deal to keep the boat all summer, and had some great times. We didn't learn much about the techniques of sailing, except by the seat of our pants, but after that, I rented boats in Lake Geneva, the bay of Cannes France, and back on Lake Ontario. After living in dry land areas (mostly midwest), I finally got old enough to retire and smart enough to move to a place 25 miles away from the second biggest lake in Illinois (after Michigan). Naturally a sail boat was the first essential. My wife (from Iowa) was doubtful, esp. with my arthritis, but she came around, and I (we} have a Catalina Capri 16' in the water there. Put our boat in the water today, maybe we'll see you there. Oh, my boat's "Beat's Workn'.
 
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will lancaster

My father the powerboater

Well when I was 7 or 8 years old ,my mom and dad bought a 9 foot livingston rowboat,My dad had a 14 foot sail on it and well I took it out sailing by myself and tipped it over manytimes,My parents had allways had powerboats eversince I can remember.My love for sailing started the first time I pulled the boom in and the sail cought the wind.I dreamed of being on my own sailboat for the last 16 or 17 years ,and finally my wife and I bougt our first sailboat last year,we bought a 1988 26 mac. We really love the boat and changed the inside to make it feel more comfy. My family and I love it so much that sometimes when it is to cold or rainy outside we sleep on it in our back yard. ehhe ,we take it out every weekend and my 12 year old daughter is learning to sail as well and I hope that she will have the same love for sailing that I learned from my father,(the powerboater).
 
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barry Loker

Arthur Ransome

Like Malcolm Young, I read the Arthur Ransome children's books. This was in the late forties. My dream was that my family would go on holiday to the Norfolk Broads and rent a sailboat. Alas, it was usually a boarding house in Scarborough (Yorkshire). Not that there is anything wrong with Scarborough! In 1970, now in Dorval, Quebec, I inherited a Sea Scout Troop. Having been a scout from the age of 12 to 18 and beyond I was happy to run the troop and did a week's course on sailing in Lasers. The troop bought 3 Flying Juniors to renovate and we were given a Mirror class dinghy. I spent many hours at camp standing waist deep in the lake, teaching sailing basics to small boys sailing up and down in front of me. I also crewed in a variety of boats in local club races. In 2000, my wife and I moved to Lunenburg. In 2001, a friend, who didn't know how to sail, took me out in his new boat, a 22, for lessons. Sailing out in Mahone Bay with all its islands and wonderful sea-room, I realized I had to do it before it was too late. So, at the age of 66, I bought my first boat, a Catalina 22. I love working on her and sailing her, single-handed sometimes. Her name? Oh, didn't I tell you? It's Swallow, after the children's boat in the first Arthur Ransome book, "Swallows and Amazons". I still read those books and my grandson in now reading them.
 
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Thames Las

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Jun 3, 2004
10
- - Bobcaygeon, Ontario
Arthur Ransom addict

Good old Arthur Ransome. Yes I read him too in the forties, learned to sail on an old gravel pit near Barking, Essex in a lugsail dinghy, then on to what was called a 'cadet', about 12ft long, with main and jib. I did manage a week on the broads in the early fifties, and after the army, (and marriage) about 15 years elapsed until I got afloat again, after a minor flirtation with a 15ft runabout, I got a Leisure 17, which I sailed on the Thames out of Holehaven. In Canada after another break of several years it was onto a Catalina 22, 'Sympatico' and two years ago up to an O'Day 272, berthed in Bobcaygeon on Pigeon Lake, with summer cruises on Georgian Bay. Arthur Ransome has a lot to answer for. Arthur Griffiths. p.s. I bought the O'Day at Barnegat, NJ. There is a diary of the trip from there to Ontario @ www.snurl.com/sailing adventure
 
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Jules Robinson

STANDING ON THE SHORE

Many times, years ago, I would stand on the shores of biscayne bay wondering what it was like to be on a sailboat looking at the ones standing on the shore. It always looked so peaceful and romantic in the classical sence of the word. I took a sailing course at Castle Harbor sailing club, I learned on Ensign 23's. I had taken this course before but then never sailed again and I knew that what I needed to do was to take the boat out by myself the same day the course ended. I knew that to prove to myself that I had really learned to do this correctly, safely and to gain the confidence I needed was to go out alone. And so I did, the wind was very strong, the boat would heel way way over when I tacked too far around, it was very frightening, but there I learned what I and that boat could do. I crossed that thresh hold and from then on it's been an obsession and I have always made opportunities to single hand because it makes me a more confident sailor. over the course of years I practiced on bigger and bigger boats and read and practiced and read and sometimes due to financial constraints I read far far more than I practiced to the point where I wanted to throw all the books and magazines in the trash. Comes a moment for me that I can't stand to read about it anymore if I'm not doing it. Today I know what it is to be the one on the boat looking at the shore and some times it's not so peaceful or romantic as I once thought, sometimes it's just allot of work but work is good and it gets easier and those peaceful romantic moments are always there inbetween somewhere as well. It's been a far more rewarding and a far more educational experience than I ever imagined. And the education and learning never ends, that's what I like about it the most. I'm still just a coastal cruiser, hope to venture across some large body of water some day. Cap Jules Freedom III Oday 39
 
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Capt J

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Mar 22, 2005
16
Hunter 31_83-87 Conway
Forever

I will have to start at the begining. My father was from a costal town in south Louisiana and my mother a town that was on a river that became a large TVA lake in the 50's. In other words both sides of the family had grown up on the water. My grandmother's house overlooked the lake and we spent time there when my dad was stationed at distant locations for short periods of time (USAF pilot). I was given a wooden rental fishing boat when I was 11 and fixed the hole in the bottom. Mowed yards all summer long to have the money to purchase an outboard for it. The shores of that lake were too steep to allow much in the way of wind so there were not many sailboats on the water. Many years later I owned a boat dealership on that lake and one of my customers, a transfer to that part of the country had a sailboat. He was elated when he was able to find enough wind to participate in the sport. I went with him on a few occasions and enjoyed it but would not have bought a sailboat because of the limited use there. Got out of the business and was away from boats for several years. I have two friends that have sailboats and was invited out with them on a few occasions and I "rediscovered" how much I enjoyed being on a sailboat. I have owned many powerboats but never felt the same about them. After a divorce five years ago, I decided that I would like to get back into boating once again but like many people that go though that financial downturn it was only last year that I could seriously start looking. Last winter, winter being a good time to negoiate and buy a boat, I started shopping. I found a 31' Hunter that met my needs and I purchased it. Like several of the other people that have responded, I had no real hands on experience but that was not a show stopper. I have had the boat three months and am keeping up with most of the boats at the dock and am learning every weekend. Along with several projects, the fellowship of the other boaters, and the fun of just being on the water I now have a renewed purpose in life.
 
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Luther Council

Love of Sailing

I was a troubled minor and my father told me to pick a boarding school. I picked "Sanford Naval Academy" in Sanford, Fl. at the age of 15. I attended and joined the Sailing Team, along with other activities. I learned to sail in Sanford, Fl on the Lake. I enjoyed it so that I continuted to sail with friends who had sailboats until I met my present wife. My wife was open to all types of different activities, such as scuba, flying, motorcycles, sailing, skiing, RVing, camping, etc., but she stopped me from continuing to skydive. We presently have a Pearson 26, Lancer 27 powersail, and a small 12 feet AMF. Unfortunely, we stopped sailing when the channel we have our P26 has been blocked by sand caused by the hurricanes last year and we are unable to get our sailboat with a 4 feet draft out to sail (there is no plan to clear the sand from the channel in the near future). We love sailing and have not completed re-storing the Lancer, so we sit on dry land. We are talking about getting a MacGregor 26M with a 12" draft with a trailer. We will wait until we can sell and buy another boat for sailing. I have a couple of small adventures while sailing but nothing like the ones I have reading and my wife started sailingabout 4 years ago and we have experienced a few hardships together and one liked to finished sailing for her. We ran aground and was on a sandbar for about 14 hours before we could get off by a high tide, this almost ended my sailing. She would have sold it for $1.00 if someone had offered. WOW she was mad! Anyway, Thank you allowing me to tell everyone about my love of sailing.
 
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sailinoday

hooked

I got hooked while dating a guy whose parents had a 38.5 and he had a lightning.They took me on cruises with them to Nantucket and up and down the Hudson. When I finally got married, my husband and I bought a Sea Ray 26 for our first boat. I grew up with a power boat that My Dad had.We kept the Sea Ray for one year and bought an O'day 190. We had it one MONTH! My husband was hooked and we traded it in on a Hunter 28.Later on we got divorced and the man I am with now for 20 yrs. is just as hooked as I am! We started with a Catalina 22 and then bought an O'day 240 new in 1988. She is still our pride and joy!! And she looks better than new. We cruise the ICW in the Wilmington,NC area and go on week trips when we can.We wish that O'day was still in business!!!!
 
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paul

Sea Snark

When I was about 10 my father bought a sea snark sail boat out of the back of a magazine. Cost 100.00 delivered to our house. This is a styrofoam 11 foot sailboat. I sailed this on a lake in our neighborhood for hours on end. Looking back, it was incredibly slow, but the lake was very small, so it was a good fit. It was the perfect boat and lake for a wreckless young boy to learn how to sail. We moved up to Sunfish, Y-flyer, ect as I got older, but the hours spent on the foam boat fueled the flame of desire for sailing that still burns tody.
 
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