Not all heroes wear capes

Phil Herring

Alien
Mar 25, 1997
4,918
- - Bainbridge Island
Where do you turn when you have a problem with your boat?

A trusted local mechanic, rigger, or yard? A dealer or broker? The manufacturer? Google? Or perhaps a forum or Facebook group?

Share your most heroic sources here.

heroes.jpg
 
Feb 14, 2014
7,400
Hunter 430 Waveland, MS
SailboatOwners.com ;)

My Son-in-law who used to own a boat repair business..

The rest are like searching for a Doctor, ask trusted friends for leads.

Always grateful...
Jim...
 
Apr 12, 2007
175
Hunter 420 Herrington Harbor South
First stop is here If not a direct answer then find out all I can from the forms then talk to a professional as an informed consumer.
 
Nov 18, 2016
150
Hunter 260 Lucky Peak, ID
Wow - interesting question. Branching out:

1. Friends who weld, fabricate and run a multimeter far better than me. They are not afraid to tell be how screwed up my modification ideas are.
2. You all here.
3. Vendors who will actually talk with you and have the expertise to solve issues.
4. Advocates who advance the sport: US Sailing currently has an awesome webinar program. The R2AK folk in Port Townsend keeping it real. The kids at Southern Idaho Sailing Outreach excited and planning on their next weeklong camp. My Dad for putting me in a sunfish.
 
Jul 7, 2004
8,402
Hunter 30T Cheney, KS
I do most things myself, but only after I come here and OEM sites. YouTube for sure.
None of you guys wear a cape right?
 
Sep 15, 2013
707
Catalina 270 Baltimore
The folks on this forum. Hands down. You tube is a distant second. I had to use a mechanic once.
 

WayneH

.
Jan 22, 2008
1,039
Tartan 37 287 Pensacola, FL
Didn't any of you watch "The Incredibles"? Edna the tailor specifically said "NO CAPES!" And none of my heroes wear capes. But they go to work everyday. Some of them drive ambulances, some of them drive bobcats and some of them say "You want fries with that?"
 

TomY

Alden Forum Moderator
Jun 22, 2004
2,758
Alden 38' Challenger yawl Rockport Harbor
Where do you turn when you have a problem with your boat?
Because I own and do all the work on an old, odd boat, I've struggled with its unique problems over more than two decades.

It's a fiberglass boat with a lot of wood; or a wooden boat with too much fiberglass: Take your pick.

I've learned to lie about my boat as I ask different skilled sources. The reason for this is because as a group; fiberglass boat owners are some of the most un-knowledgeable about anything-wood (sorry :) ).

Conversely, wooden boat owners are for sure the most un-knowledgeable group to ask advice on anything fiberglass.

But skilled wooden boat builders and owners have been my best source for dealing with all the wooden parts and pieces that are joined in intricate ways, and how to repair and care for them. The wood components of my boat are structural and require knowledge that isn't available except in the wooden boat world. I just don't go into the fact that my boats hull and deck are fiberglass.

And on fiberglass problems; savvy boat owners and skilled pro's are readily available online, many right here. I just stick to the fiberglass boat background and stay away from the wood aspect.

Most, likely all of the designers and builders of my boat are dead.

John Alden (holding the little girl, below), was still alive when my boat was launched in 1961(during the wood to fiberglass transition years). He had previously retired from John Alden Design in Boston Mass but no doubt followed the designs that evolved.

John Alden had the experience of years of successful boat design behind him.

I wonder what he thought? Was he a man that could accept the future of boat building, which was then fiberglass?

Or was Alden a wooden boat snob and disgusted by the gooey stuff?

I hope he was the former and glad to observe the future in his old age.

If he was the latter; maybe Alden Company's first fibreglass hull and deck killed him, as he died shortly after the launch.



John Alden and family.jpg
 
Jun 14, 2010
2,081
Robertson & Caine 2017 Leopard 40 CT
My ex Girl friend used to wear a cape:pimp:

She sent me her 68 year old picture below.
View attachment 177902

Jim...

PS: She told me, she put her uniform in that frame to avoid trying it on again.;)
Is that Linda? Years go she pulled up next to me at a traffic light in Boston. She was driving a Rolls, probably in her 30s at the time. Looked great! Still looks great at 68. ;)
 
Jun 14, 2010
2,081
Robertson & Caine 2017 Leopard 40 CT
Because I own and do all the work on an old, odd boat, I've struggled with its unique problems over more than two decades.

It's a fiberglass boat with a lot of wood; or a wooden boat with too much fiberglass: Take your pick.

I've learned to lie about my boat as I ask different skilled sources. The reason for this is because as a group; fiberglass boat owners are some of the most un-knowledgeable about anything-wood (sorry :) ).

Conversely, wooden boat owners are for sure the most un-knowledgeable group to ask advice on anything fiberglass.

But skilled wooden boat builders and owners have been my best source for dealing with all the wooden parts and pieces that are joined in intricate ways, and how to repair and care for them. The wood components of my boat are structural and require knowledge that isn't available except in the wooden boat world. I just don't go into the fact that my boats hull and deck are fiberglass.

And on fiberglass problems; savvy boat owners and skilled pro's are readily available online, many right here. I just stick to the fiberglass boat background and stay away from the wood aspect.

Most, likely all of the designers and builders of my boat are dead.

John Alden (holding the little girl, below), was still alive when my boat was launched in 1961(during the wood to fiberglass transition years). He had previously retired from John Alden Design in Boston Mass but no doubt followed the designs that evolved.

John Alden had the experience of years of successful boat design behind him.

I wonder what he thought? Was he a man that could accept the future of boat building, which was then fiberglass?

Or was Alden a wooden boat snob and disgusted by the gooey stuff?

I hope he was the former and glad to observe the future in his old age.

If he was the latter; maybe Alden Company's first fibreglass hull and deck killed him, as he died shortly after the launch.



View attachment 177910
What an interesting photo! Definitely about family, not profession. I like to imagine what life might have been like for people in old photos, and I pay close attention to their clothing and how they wear it. Granny’s spectacles, the shape of the men’s shoe soles, the garter button showing in the man‘s sock to the right, and what’s he wearing on his right foot?
 
  • Like
Likes: jon hansen
May 25, 2012
4,333
john alden caravelle 42 sturgeon bay, wis
What an interesting photo! Definitely about family, not profession. I like to imagine what life might have been like for people in old photos, and I pay close attention to their clothing and how they wear it. Granny’s spectacles, the shape of the men’s shoe soles, the garter button showing in the man‘s sock to the right, and what’s he wearing on his right foot?
i read that the reason people covered themselves head to toe back then was the bugs. pre DDT etc. makes sense. since those days we have had a war on bugs. bugs are a huge part of the food chain, oops.
that said, there is nothing worse than a swarm of mosiquitos half way through a nice varnish job.