What sail boating wil do to you!
- Thread starter emergpa1
- Start date
Hello guys. Just wanted to check in and be sure everyone was okay. I see a lot of new faces on the forum.
My wife and I are still on the Island packet on the coast of Georgia. We are learning and adventuring further and further out. I have not venture too far though as it is hurricane season, I still work a little bit in north Georgia, and have some family responsibilities in the north part of the state. However I have learned a lot, no longer get shaky knees and wet pants when I pull in and out of the dock, and have learned how to rig and set the anchor so that I can sleep easily. We have also enjoyed some Coast Guard auxiliary classes and I can even read a chart and accomplish some basic dead reckoning.
Currently we are away from the boat for a couple of weeks for some cool weather vacationing in Alaska. But this weekend we fly back to Brunswick Georgia and back to hot weather and boat projects.
I can never come back to this forum and lurk around without thinking of old Joe of Trinka. I would like to to suggested that you guys do yourselves a favor and Browse his albums and his modifications. He was a real gem and a wonderful fellow that we lost earlier this year.
For fun I attached a photo I took at the marina in seaward Alaska last week.
My wife and I are still on the Island packet on the coast of Georgia. We are learning and adventuring further and further out. I have not venture too far though as it is hurricane season, I still work a little bit in north Georgia, and have some family responsibilities in the north part of the state. However I have learned a lot, no longer get shaky knees and wet pants when I pull in and out of the dock, and have learned how to rig and set the anchor so that I can sleep easily. We have also enjoyed some Coast Guard auxiliary classes and I can even read a chart and accomplish some basic dead reckoning.
Currently we are away from the boat for a couple of weeks for some cool weather vacationing in Alaska. But this weekend we fly back to Brunswick Georgia and back to hot weather and boat projects.
I can never come back to this forum and lurk around without thinking of old Joe of Trinka. I would like to to suggested that you guys do yourselves a favor and Browse his albums and his modifications. He was a real gem and a wonderful fellow that we lost earlier this year.
For fun I attached a photo I took at the marina in seaward Alaska last week.
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Nice of you to come slumming back with us old ODay sailors. 
I've not been real active this season. I broke my elbow in a bike accident, then my brother passed away in May, so between nursing a busted wing and handling my brother's affairs, there has been little time to enjoy sailing. One great experience, though, was watching my son in a surprisingly confident solo sail out on the lake in a fair wind, the result of a week at sail camp (I wrote about this on the other forum). Things shift into a different gear at this time of year as the kids go back to school, which offers the two of us more opportunities to get out for a whole day if the wind and work schedules cooperate, and happily they often do. The elbow is nearly back to normal so things are moving forward, at least. If you don't mind Keith, I'd like to know more about the classes you're taking and what you are doing to increase your cruising skills. Someday, I fantasize that I'll be in your shoes...
I've not been real active this season. I broke my elbow in a bike accident, then my brother passed away in May, so between nursing a busted wing and handling my brother's affairs, there has been little time to enjoy sailing. One great experience, though, was watching my son in a surprisingly confident solo sail out on the lake in a fair wind, the result of a week at sail camp (I wrote about this on the other forum). Things shift into a different gear at this time of year as the kids go back to school, which offers the two of us more opportunities to get out for a whole day if the wind and work schedules cooperate, and happily they often do. The elbow is nearly back to normal so things are moving forward, at least. If you don't mind Keith, I'd like to know more about the classes you're taking and what you are doing to increase your cruising skills. Someday, I fantasize that I'll be in your shoes...
I'm very sorry to hear of your brother. It is so hard to realize how fragile and brief life is, and to lose the companionship and vitality of someone you love. We just got back from AK. give me a bit of time to settle in, and I'll try to give a brief narrative of my take on selling everything and moving aboard.Nice of you to come slumming back with us old ODay sailors.
Hello Keith. Glad to hear you and Lynn are enjoying yourselves. This year has been tragic on Lake Ontario. After the winter from hell we have had rain, rain and more rain. Then we get the doldrums for six weeks. Now the wind is howling with Small Craft Advisories which makes my harbor craptastic since the breakwall at the end makes access to the lake a risky proposition. The east side is too shallow to consider and the west is churning to the point that passage is a busted boat if anything doesn't go perfectly. Thanks for keeping in touch.
Another one of my " Hey Keith, what's it like to sell your house and live on a sailboat?" Posts:
"You went night sailing, Oh wasn't that fun?" NOT. Why go on a night sail with winds and seas making the boat buck, toss, turn and kick salty water all over you? While feeling like you might puke. And you can't see squat without a flashlight. And if you slip off this wet boat you will die. A night sail's challenges in somewhat rough conditions highlights weaknesses in boat and crew. And boy did it! for the record we saw 25 knots steady south all night, we just could sail close enough to stay in the channel, which is five miles out St. Simons' sound, then we sailed another five miles or so, around 0230 we turned and came back. Unfortunately. The wind also shifted to the SW. Around 0500 we furled the jib and proceeded under main and iron gennie. The sun came up before we were in sight of land so that was cool, and the westerly wind calmed the swells down by about 0700. We had a few glitches, but overall not bad. I have a four page list of "lessons and improvements" I made while sailing in this morning, sort of an after action report.What's it like? Start by putting the "permanent vacation and sunny Sunday afternoons at the lake" ideas out of your mind. It's a lifestyle. Not always fun, but always interesting. Also, this boat is our home. So once we get back after sailing all night there is all day to put the boat back together. Not to mention a light coating of salt all over everything interior and exterior. But hey, that's what we chose to do and I would not change it. I don't think Lynn would either!
"You went night sailing, Oh wasn't that fun?" NOT. Why go on a night sail with winds and seas making the boat buck, toss, turn and kick salty water all over you? While feeling like you might puke. And you can't see squat without a flashlight. And if you slip off this wet boat you will die. A night sail's challenges in somewhat rough conditions highlights weaknesses in boat and crew. And boy did it! for the record we saw 25 knots steady south all night, we just could sail close enough to stay in the channel, which is five miles out St. Simons' sound, then we sailed another five miles or so, around 0230 we turned and came back. Unfortunately. The wind also shifted to the SW. Around 0500 we furled the jib and proceeded under main and iron gennie. The sun came up before we were in sight of land so that was cool, and the westerly wind calmed the swells down by about 0700. We had a few glitches, but overall not bad. I have a four page list of "lessons and improvements" I made while sailing in this morning, sort of an after action report.What's it like? Start by putting the "permanent vacation and sunny Sunday afternoons at the lake" ideas out of your mind. It's a lifestyle. Not always fun, but always interesting. Also, this boat is our home. So once we get back after sailing all night there is all day to put the boat back together. Not to mention a light coating of salt all over everything interior and exterior. But hey, that's what we chose to do and I would not change it. I don't think Lynn would either!
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