“Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing – absolutely nothing – half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.” ― Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows
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From my youth up I never liked the city.
I never forgot the mountains where I was born.
The world caught me and harnessed me
And drove me through dust, thirty years away from home.
Migratory birds return to the same tree.
Fish find their way back to the pools where they were hatched.
I have been over the whole country,
And I have come back at last to the garden of my childhood.
My farm is only ten acres.
The farm house has eight or nine rooms.
Elms and willows shade the back garden.
Peach trees stand by the front door.
The village is out of sight.
You can hear dogs bark in the alleys,
And cocks crow in the mulberry trees.
When you come through the gate into the court
You will find no dust or mess.
Peace and quiet live in every room.
I am content to stay here the rest of my life.
At last I have found myself.
— Tao Yuan Ming (Tao Qian) Chinese, 365-427
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Welp, that’s quick. Hell, would have taken me four days and change in my FSS (Fast Sealift Ship), and that would have needed circa 700k gallons of dino juice to go up the stacks. Of course, there would have been tens of thousands of tons of tanks, trucks, helos, humvees, and boxes aboard, so there’s that.
Quite the machine, Comanche; impressive what a tenth of a billion gets you occasionally.
A boat is a hole in the water you throw your money into.
The 2 best days in a boat owners life are the day he bought it and the day he sold it.
The trick is to crew on somebody else’s boat.
I owned a 27′ +/- Pearson sloop for several years and loved sailing that babe even, occasionally, when the wind was blustering at around 20-25 kph. Don’t think that’s tough for a single hander, give it a shot and see.
But, even in my wildest dreams would I have gone out in that kind of blow. No way, Jose, even as a trained crewman. That voyage is long and hard and requires a little bit of different breed with a whole lot of crazy.
¿QUIÉN ES MÁS PROBABLE QUE QUIERA UN BEBÉ?MIS PASTELITOS
Still own three sail boats, sold my ocean Boat last year. We beer can race wed nights here on Klamath lake. Was racing a Santana 25, Refered to as a 525, older boat sails well. I ripped the keel about off last year tackling to port, for final approach the start line, for the evening race.
Hit a submerged rock at roughly 10/12 knots. The danger Bouy was a full 100 yards off. Hit so hard I pushed the front of the keel driving the rear of the keel thru the boats hull. We race the a class stayed with everybody but the boat kept “rounding up” becoming over powered, causing loss of directional control.
Lost by four boat lengths. At me slip, the foredeck crew guy opened the hatch, laughed and asked if the foot and a half of water inside the cabin was ok? Dam near sunk her right their. Was able to rock to boat to the crane, where she was lifted out for repairs. The keel isn’t back on yet, had three discs removed in my spine, Dr’s haven’t released me yet.
Also own a Hunter 25 cruiser and a 27 ft Oday, imrebuilding. I sold my Halberg Rase 35 two years ago.. I really dig sailing, more to the point I really enjoy making any sailboat push the envelope of speed in any wind!.
Dirk