dumb trick section?.....

[gerald]

do we have one?..cause todays sail certainly qualifies......no I wont tell what happened yet..but you will either groan in disgust or laugh cause you have done stuff like this....as soon as two other people write in..I will tell my story.....and I'm still laughing.....

gerald
ds II 10169

[Roger]

so it may as well be me. A few weeks ago my wife and I took a one week vacation at an all inclusive in the Greater Antilles. There were kayaks, hobies, and X-14 for use on the beach. I took an X-14 out. Let me describe this motorcycle... no unicycle of a sailboat. 14 feet long, about 4 feet wide, one sail and flippy as hell! On watching most other users for a part of the afternoon it was not hard to determine that this was a tender boat. Much of the time the occupant was trying to get back into in from the water, after it had dumped its contents and stayed over on its side.

Well DS sailor that I am, I figured that I should be able to manage something of this calibre, even tame it!

Out I went, with my tilley hat on, but not strapped on. The fickle wind near shore played havoc with my intended course and I found myself gybing a number of times to maintain my heading out away from shore. One of these times, the boom caught me from behind and knocked my hat in the water. I therefore started to negotiate tighter and tighter circles around my hat to recover it, each time, tacking or gybing as the need presented itself. My wife seeing this, was assuming that all sailing skills were left at more northerly latitudes, and started taking pictures of my ineptitude, until I recovered my hat, set a course due west and enjoyed a wonderful yet boisterous sail.

I had to do a lot of sliding around from side to side on my knees however, and because this was a beach boat, there was some fine sand onboard. I ended up with matching apple sized abrasions on both knees, like a 5 year old kid learning to ride a bike with skinned knees.

I'm not sure my wife believes me, when I tell her that I was in full control the whole time, but as for the skinned knees, its a bit harder to explain to others that as a 50+ year old, I acquired them playing in a small boat.

But I didn't dump that damn boat!!!

[calden]

You guys are killing me up here in the Inland Northwest. Already sailing!!!

We received a fresh snowfall a few days ago. Winter's trying to make a comeback! Oh well, I still have mast things to attach, some fiberglass repair, re-attach and caulk the coamings, rewire the trailer, etc. etc. etc.

Carlos

[michaelyogi]

Ok here it is...(let's hope it's the only one I need to post!!)
Last Friday I decided to get the boat out for a little after work relaxiation.
We get the boat rigged (hurry, the wind is really good right now) and launch (hurry the wind is really good right now!!) on our first tack I hear a sickening "PING" and at the same time the weather shroud just shoots to the sky. And I'm still watching as the mast starts a slow arc to the port side and (this is real sickening) comes down, almost. When the realization of what just happened hits us (we've been dismasted!!??), we quickly get sail off her and I'm able to grab the mast and get her stood again. I still can't believe it didn't just snap in two!!!
So after some looking around (shroud isn't broke, all rigging is good) we figure out that we (?) had only a thread or two on the shackle for the strbd shroud (hurry the wind is really good right now).
I'm really glad of all the work I've done to her now. The "beefy" custom tabernacle was bent but repairable and it all held together. The beefy compression post and and all the epoxy work on the cuddy top held together also. Had some scrape marks on the bottom of the mast but nothing structural. After some minor repair to the tabernacle we sailed her anyway (get back on the horse).

[gerald]

ok heres my shot at fame....a friend and I took my boat to panama city florida on an off day from work..I was so professional checking my shrouds and all the safety equipment ( my friend being a novice sailor)...we put in and raised the sails and started off nicely....I told my friend...well we have good wind so we should have a good sail...but something didnt seem right..I told him it seemed we were overpowering the boat somehow...when we tacked it was sluggish...then I noticed some water in the bottom of the boat...just a little...started looking for a source and saw some water coming in at the bottom centerboard control linehole in front...lots of mention of leaks in that area in here but this was gushing....we were about a mile from the boat ramp so I decided we might be well advised to start back that way...boat still sailing pretty well but slower than usual....got it on the trailer and saw the problem immediately...I had left the bilge plug out...I was sorry I had been so dumb but glad it wasnt a something bad wrong...so leave your plug in......

gerald
dsII 10169