Sea stories

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Steve Frost
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Sea stories

I was just reviewing our old site and noted we had a pretty fun thread started called sea stories.

I know some of you guys stop working and worrying about your boat occasionaly and go sailing once and a while. Lets hear some stories, I do not care if you imbelish, treat it like a loan application, we all know you can not go twenty knots but, you can tell us you did. Truth is acceptable if you use a lot of colorful language.

It is just fun knowing how folks use there boats.

Cepheus dream
C36 MK I # 825
MK I Tech Editor No Mas

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John Reimann
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I was sailing outside the Golden Gate Bridge when a giant whale - at least 200 feet long, suddenly surfaced. He (it?) took one look at us and saw my wife drinking a cool one, swam over and opened it mouth. My wife, however, being German, refused to give it a drop of her beer... anything but sacrifice a beer. The whale got mad and rammed the boat. Lifted it clean out of the water - at least five feet or more. However, our boat, with its famous robust Catalina construction, was not damaged in any way. My wife was furious, however, since when we came back down the boat made a huge splash and salt water got into her beer. I had to restrain her from diving in after the whale.

SF Bay
1998 C36

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Way to go john. Glad to see somebody washed the starch out of their skivies.

Cepheus dream
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John, I too am married to a German. Of course, she says she is a Bavarian first, then a German. They do appreciate their beer, though. That's a fine thing, I figure. Maybe we should establish a special sub-group (support group?) of the C36IA for those of us with German spouses. What do you think?

Larry Brandt
S/V High Flight #2109
Pacific Northwest, PDX-based
2002 C-36 mkII SR/FK M35B
 

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deising
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Larry, du hast ist eine sehr huebsche Frau (you have a very pretty wife), but the foulies aren't very flattering. That's one of the many reasons I moved to SW Florida - women don't have to wear much clothing. ;)

We have several friends here with German wives and I must say they are all fun-loving and nice people.

Duane Ising - Past Commodore (2011-2012)
s/v Diva Di
1999 Catalina 36 Hull #1777
Std rig; wing keel, M35B, Delta (45#)
Punta Gorda, FL
http://www.sailblogs.com/member/diva-di/

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Duane, the photos above of meine bayerische Frau have stories along with them.

The photo of her in foulies was taken in - believe it - JULY, while sailing in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. You would think July weather anywhere in North America would be warm, but this is the Pacific Northwest.

The photo with the Bavarian flag flying from the port spreader was taken during our June 2006 Canadian cruise, when the World Cup was underway. Germany wound up in the finals, but I don't remember who won. [Note: this heretical statement by itself will be enough to draw bolts of lightning from soccer fans on the Forum...but read on for worse.] I watched the final game in the laundromat in Sidney BC, frankly paying more attention to the tumbling laundry than the game. I don't understand why they don't just have the shootout first and save us the misery of the rest of the game. - - - JUST KIDDING!!!

Larry Brandt
S/V High Flight #2109
Pacific Northwest, PDX-based
2002 C-36 mkII SR/FK M35B
 

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gforaker
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My wife is Austrian, but prefers wine to beer.

Go figure.

Gene Foraker
Sandusky, OH
C36 #1786
Gypsy Wagon

Gene Foraker
Sandusky Yacht Club
Sandusky, OH
1999  C36  #1786
Gypsy Wagon

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1981 - I had just earned my private pilot rating and flew from Biloxi, MS with my girlfriend to Indian Rocks Beach on the Gulf Coast of Florida for a family reunion. Also visiting the Gulf Coast was a tropical storm named Dennis. The media was calling it "[I]Dennis the Menace[/I]". My sister was dating a guy at the time that had a Hobie style catamaran sailboat and he had it at the beach house. My cousin, Mark, (from Maryland) and I were on the beach and thought it was perfect conditions for a sailboat. Windy with good surf. You can keep your small craft advisory and out we went!

We left shore as fast as we could rig the boat. Mark on the main and working the tiller, me on the jib. If you've never sailed a small catamaran before, they accelerate like a rocket! And while they don't heel like a monohull, they are definately overpowered by the sail and with enough wind you can get a hull up and out of the water. While that hull is flying, the other hull is digging deep into the water to try to keep the boat tracking straight ahead. Well there we were, one hull just out of the water and the other one digging into the waves and sending a spray into in the air when it happened. The leward hull bit hard into a wave and stopped. The windward hull kept going! A spectacular Pitchpole that sent Mark and I flying into the Gulf of Mexico about a 1/2 mile offshore. Remember I said this was a Hobie style boat? It wasn't a true Hobie so the mast wasn't sealed and the boat turtled. At the top of a wave it was completely upside down and and in the trough the mast would hit the bottom and the boat would roll on its side. While we may have been pretty dumb to take the boat in these conditions, we figured out pretty quickly that the best time to attempt to right the boat was when it was in a trough. After about 20 minutes of attempting to right the boat we heard sirens and looked toward shore. There surrounding the beach house were several police cars, ambulances and fire trucks. Then Mark hollers, "Look!". We could see the white hull of a USCG cutter steaming towards us from Clearwater. The spray off the bow was a good indication that it was wasting no time getting to us. Well, before the cutter got to us we managed to right the boat and sailed it back to shore to the waiting police and EMS personnel. They were glad it was not a rescue mission but not too happy we were out there in the first place. Also not happy was my mother who called them when she saw the boat go over. She thought we were both dead. We promised the police that we would not take it out again and when I looked out into the Gulf I saw the USCG cutter turning around and heading back towards its home port in Clearwater.

I later bought a 16' Prindle Catamaran and for some reason I was never able to get my mom to go sailing with me. :(
She does like sailing on the Catalina though...

True Story.

Bill
s/v Lucky
1984 MK I Hull #266
San Antonio, Texas

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Bill,

Great story, now we are talking sea stories.

I had a simular experience on a Hobbie. About ten years ago my wife organinzed a familiy reunion (hers) at Lake Tahoe. On Saterday I found a place that had the only sailboat for rent around a Hobbie 16. I rented it for the afternoon and sailed it off the beach hauling my inlaws around the lake in zephers that bearly moved the boat.

The next day the rest of the family wanted to go gambling as it was to cool for the beach. The wind was up and I went back to the place renting the Hobbie. The lake was starting to develop white caps, I asked the guy with the rentals what he though of the conditions. He said that I should be fine. I stated I am a monohull sailor from the San Francisco Bay Area, He again said I should have no problem.
He had life jackets available, I asked about a wet suit, he had none I asked if anyone around had any. He went a few doors down to where they rented jet ski's and borrowed a wet suit that fit my fat ass.

He took me to the Hobbie helped me get the sails up and pushed me off, the word that comes to mind is EXILERATING, it was probably blowing 25 KTS. The boat took off like a freaking rocket, I was flying a hull and was about a mile off shore in a heartbeat. I was dumping the main trying to effect a fishermans reef to depower the thing, I could not get the jib cam cleat to release so I could tack and get back to the beach. I could not leave the windward ama to release it as I needed all the weight to keep it from capsizing. Capsize I did, the boat turned turtle, I was able to lever it up once only to get knocked down on the oposite side. I strugled with the boat for about 45 minutes, I was getting chilled and now lacked the power to try and right the cat. The owner of the rental shop came out on a Hobbie with no mast, it had a couch and an outboard on it. The Coast Guard was not for behind. The Hobbie guy said looks like you capsized, observant of you I stated, He said yeah the Hobbie sixteen is really intended for two crew and it take about 250 lbs pounds to right it if it capsizes. I guess he miss calculated my weight as I only weigh about 185. He helped me get the boat on its feet and said goodbuy. I took off again like a shot again with the only thought of getting that SOB Cat back to the beach. I was once again heading off shore and again could not get the jib released. I said screw it an dicided to jibe, I did not care if the rig came down, I was cold and tired.
The jibe was succesdfull, I drove the thing about fifteen feet up the beech under sail. Walked back to the rental center and gave him his life jacket an wet suit back

Having the fool renting this fool the Hobbie get a wet suit for me saved my life.

Cepheus dream
C36 MK I # 825
MK I Tech Editor No Mas

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My Hobie story takes place in the late '70s in Sydney Harbour, Australia, when my boss and I rented one for a spare day we had on a business trip. Nothing exciting happened other than just a great sailing day, made even better by the woman towed by us on water skis, topless. Lovely.

That makes for a real G'day, Mate. Time for an ice cold For-eeks. (Translation, an ice cold - the only way they serve beer in Oz - XXXX.)

Larry Brandt
S/V High Flight #2109
Pacific Northwest, PDX-based
2002 C-36 mkII SR/FK M35B
 

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deising
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One story happened last September. We had returned only several months prior from a 4-month sabbatical cruise to the Bahamas with few scary tales to tell. This was to be a short 3-day jaunt to the closest real local anchorage 3 hours away.

It was a typical late summer day in SW Florida in that the temperature and humidity were fairly high and there was the almost constant threat of afternoon thunderstorms. We got underway early enough that we should (statistically speaking) miss the high risk time, but 2.5 hours into the passage we noted a squall approaching from astern. I doused the mainsail and furled the headsail to about half the area.

When the wind hit it was a great sleigh ride; we were zipping along at about 8 kts. I don't have a functioning masthead anemometer and I was too busy to use the handheld model, but it must have been blowing about 35-40 kts. Everything would have been fine except for a few details.

I had delayed furling the headsail further until there was way too much pressure in it. When I tried to use the winch on the furling line (always a risky move), it got a severe overide. Now, I would have been fine staying at 8 kts until the storm passed us by in another ten minutes or so, except we were running out of sea room downwind. In just a minute we had to choose between shooting through a narrow approach to the anchorage with shoal water all around, or turning 90 degrees to port to run the ICW.

Shooting for the anchorage would have been a good choice, but a miscalculation meant running aground (in sand) at 8 kts with a lot of pressure in the sail and that would not be good for the keel or the rig. So, I turned to port and headed up to try and manage the overpowered sail. I now had the engine on for maneuverability but the sail was flogging like a son of a gun while I tried to get it furled. By the time the storm passed, much of the sail's exposed foot and leach was shredded.

The only good news was that the sail was almost 10 years old and that's old for a Florida boat. I am enjoying its replacement.

I hope I learned a lesson from that. If only the furler had no override; if only there was more sea room to leeward; if only the anchorage approach was not so tricky and shallow. If any one of these limitations had not existed, everything would have been fine. But, the lesson is that you never know what 'one thing' is going to spoil your day.

Duane Ising - Past Commodore (2011-2012)
s/v Diva Di
1999 Catalina 36 Hull #1777
Std rig; wing keel, M35B, Delta (45#)
Punta Gorda, FL
http://www.sailblogs.com/member/diva-di/

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Steve Frost
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GPS, how I love thee, let me count the ways. Weathermen, not so much.

Planned a trip from Alameda down the coast to Half Moon Bay (HMB), forcast of extream heat and offshore wind conditions. The thought of mid 80 temps and following wind down the coast sounded better than cooking in 100 degree weather at home. The weather guessers had been reading their chicken bones and tea leaves and had been talking about this event for a week. I planned to go Saturday but, the forcast was pushed a day so I postponed a day. Sundays forcast stated the the offshore conditions should start at 2PM, I had my hot weather clothes in my seabag and was ready to go.

My guests showed up a bit late as they needed to leave a car in HMB, we departed at about 11AM, this would put us at the Golden Gate at max flood, not the best time to go out the gate though sea state was mild.
By the time we reached the Bridge it was blowing 25kts plus and we could not see the deck of the bridge due to fog. We snuck under and sailed outside to evaluate the conditions, we had about a half mile visability and assumed that once the offshore winds kicked in we would be on easy street. We stayed on the south side of the shipping lane and worked our way offshore. Turning south we noted that we had the wind nearly on our nose. Oh well, we pounded upwind in the cold fog to HBC.

By the time we were near HBC we ran out of day light, the fog dropped and the visability went from half a mile to less than fifty feet sometimes much less. I have made the entrance to HBC four times now, the entrance is a bit tricky as you need to go south of the harbor about a mile to avoid a reef. On the north entrance inside one of the first channel markers about a quarter mile is Mavericks Beach, no this is not where McCain and Palin hang out but, the place where they have big wave surfing contests. You do not want to find yourself north of this mark unless you want to hang ten or twenty off the bow of your boat.

Let me state that I have a nifty little Garmin 3205C chart plotter GPS at my nav station, since installing it I have used it to note our position on several coastal trips and glance at it occasionaly in the bay impressed by it accuracy. On this entrance to HMB it became an essential piece of gear as we had zero visual reference. I was below doing Kagels (a sphicter strengthening exciersize) plotting courses headings and calling them back to the helm to my freind Jerry. His lady freind was alternating from looking very alert to feeding fish, she never complained and stated she liked adventure. I had some concern that we could smack into one of the channel markers as it looked like were nearly on top on the plotter but could not see them, only a ghostly green tint to the fog when its light blinked. We probably should have had someone on the bow with a white cane feeling for unseen objects.

My fuel gauge started acting up coming down the coast and by the time we were making our entrance it was reading EAST all the time just to add to the drama. We had three major concerns that would cause us to go offshore and heave to until the fog lifted. One being the fuel gauge was telling the truth and the engine quit. Two we snag a crab trap in our prop as we had seen many or 3 the GPS quits.

We did make it into the harbor it was nealy as soupy there though we could see stars looking staight up there was little forward visability. We sang praises to Garmin, the govenment for the satalites and all those who developed this system.

Our trip back to to San Francisco bay was less eventful though the fog never lifted. We were chilled, bundled up in jackets still listening to the marine weather forcast with its fifteen minute alerts about the great heat wave, cautioning us not to leave pets or peaple in cars with the windows up. We could of used one to warm up in. We entered the Gate with a quarter mile of visability, once agian never saw the deck of the bridge when we passed under it. We were fighting an outgoing tide this time but, I left the engine up at it 2700 cruise setting that had given us a 5.5 knots all day but now with a hefty wind on our beam we were seeing 8.5-9 knonts of boat speed passing the city front. Our miserable cold wet and nerve racking entrance into HMB had me questioning why I had a boat.
The screaming power reach into the bay revalidated my love for the boat.

I will be reading the Garmin manual a bit more in depth and will likely buy a hand held backup.

Cepheus dream
C36 MK I # 825
MK I Tech Editor No Mas

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chooch
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Larry,

I totally understand, having an Aussie Bride with a ton of Aussie Nieces, Nephews and in-laws. A while back, when Judi and I were living in Saudi Arabia, my well-meaning mother-in-law gave me a video of a Sydney Rugby match. No problem getting through Saudi customs, right?
Well, while the Matawa (religious police) were "viewing" my tape, I was asked to help them inspect one of the new-fangled CD thingys. At the time, I was Head of Computer Science at the Saudi Naval Academy, so they tabbed me for help. While the Matawa were screening a CD for evil content, I looked over at the VCR monitor to see an Aussie beer commercial complete with topless Aussie babes! Only 40 lashes, some jail time and expulsion if the Matawa looked up (they didn't). When asked, Mum said "Well, it wasn't as it they were naked!"
Aussies! Got to love them - I did, and married one!

Fair Winds,

Glenn "Chooch" Jewell
Nautae Luna 1232 (RIP Tara 389 Hurricane Sally 2020)
GO NAVY - BEAT ARMY!

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serena
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Adding to your catamaran stories: My sister in law, Diane, and I had enjoyed a very warm sunny day of sailing on a Prindle 16. As we approached the shore for a beach landing, a small wave lifted the boat, Diane lost her balance and her arms and legs extended out as she exited the boat. To my surprise, she took me with her. Now we both watched as the Prindle sailed itself to make a perfect landing. The spectators onshore held up ten fingers giving us their rating. A little embarrassing, but no harm, no foul.
Mike Serena

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Last Saturday, April 24th I took my neighbor for a quick day sail. We had spent the night aboard after an evening of music and merriment in the company of another long time freind. My neighbor is a lawyer and my old freind is a retired Judge. We stayed up until about 2:30 AM solving the problems of the world.

We finished breakfast in the morning, bid goodby to my freind Eric who headed home. My neighbor Chris and I got the boat ready and motored out of the marina for a days sail. I wanted to empty the holding tank enroute, and waited for about fifteen minutes while a power boater practiced approaches to the pumpout station dock while silmiltaniously he and his wife gave each other language leasons before we had access to the station.

We then motored out the Oakland Estuary, it was a sparkling day with maybe five knot gentle breeze. My non sailing freind Chris was enjoying the day and the fact that he is prone to seasickness the calm conditions were welcome.

I had the main up motoring out the estuary, unfurled the headsail once out in the bay, the tide was ebbing strongly. After clearing the entrance of the estuary I shut down the engine. I have been having battery problems and have one especialy weak bank, while on shore power I had run the refrigeration all night on the good bank and felt the charger should keep up. After I shut the engine down I switched the batterys to stronger bank and shut down the refer. We were just ghosting along enjoying the quiet after shutting the engine down. We engaged in some deep conversation, about what I do not recall though it obviously kept me from duty numero uno, driving the boat. I noted that we had gotten very near the southern tip of Yerba Buena Island. I decided to tack for to add some distance. Now I have made about a zillion trips past this point and consider it home turf, today I would get a new education.

The tide was running at max ebb, I could see the channel markers laying on their side off in the distance under the west span of the bay bridge. Normally when clearing this area in an ebb once past the Yerba Buena you get flushed out into the bay. Today the wind that was there was coming directly out of the north, normal conditions would give a northwesterly breeze a bit stronger than this days. I soon found myself in the lee of Yerba Buena and making no headway, by the time I ceased our conversation and concentrated on our position I was nearing trouble. I found we had drifted to within about a boat length or two of the rock face below the light house. I turned on the ignition and hit the starter only to hear that hated sound of uuurph, not enough weenies to crank the engine and that was on what I thought was the stronger bank.

I made the decision to not worry about the engine and sail the boat. I trimmed and I concentrated, I tried to fall off and noted I started loosing ground, I came back up and held steady, tried pinching up and started loosing ground, fell back off and held steady. I trimmed and concentated but we just sat there. I was trying not to show too much panic to my guest, I saw a fellow C36 aproaching from the east, he would be passing within a couple boat lengths of me soon, my mind giving thought to hailing him to throw us a line but, my foolish pride sealed my lips. He passed and the oportunity was lost. We sat there hovering in position for about another century it seemed, making no ground I had my guest take the helm, instructed him to just keep the boat pointed in the direction it is headed PLEASE. I was intending to go rip open the engine cover to access the compression release with the hope of getting the engine started. Before that I decided to select ALL batteries, in the past the weak bank would only appear to draw down the strong one. I found I had initally placed the selector on the the weaker bank and after selecting ALL, I called for my guest to hit the starter.
Ahhhh what sweet music it made, an instant start and I was no longer performing Kegels. We motored away, had a lovely sail about the bay in very light conditions.

The next day I had a look on the internet at the tidal flow graphics of the area where I heard the sirens calling. I was surprised to learn that the flow splits at the south end of Yerba Buena Island where far more water than I imagined flows north around Yerba Buena and Tresure Island befor heading westward toward the entrance of the bay. It looks as though what saved my stupid ass is that the southern tip of Yurba Buana acts like the bow of a ship, I susspect I was hovering on the bow wave keeping me off the rocks, my best bet would have been to have fallen off and let the current take me around to the east. Another salvation would have been to swallow my pride and hail the passing sister ship.

I nearly learned a very hard learned leason, putting my boat in greater peril than I ever have before. What am I doing next trip up to the boat, you guessed it REPLACING BATTERIES.

Cepheus dream
C36 MK I # 825
MK I Tech Editor No Mas

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deising
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What a well-written story, Steve. I am so glad the end result was just a scare and no damage.

My few close calls have not come from 'not paying attention,' but rather failing to to make the most conservative possible decisions. It may sound wrong to some, but if I thought every decision in life should be the most conservative possible, why leave the house?

Duane Ising - Past Commodore (2011-2012)
s/v Diva Di
1999 Catalina 36 Hull #1777
Std rig; wing keel, M35B, Delta (45#)
Punta Gorda, FL
http://www.sailblogs.com/member/diva-di/

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Duane,

I took me a few days to ponder posting the proof of my stupidity. I was reluctant but,felt if someone could gain from my experience it would be a good thing. I try and keep my Karma healthy as I may, no make that will, find myself in a pickle again and will again be relying on the gods to once again bail me out.

Cepheus dream
C36 MK I # 825
MK I Tech Editor No Mas

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Well, work has eliminated most of my sailing time this year so I have had few stories to tell.

I will pass on a land based story I just heard, I am certain it is true.

Two guys were out hunting in Kentucky, they ran accross a huge hole. They walked as close the edge as they dared and looked in. All they saw was darkness and exclaimed they had never seen a hole so deep. One of them picked up a rock and tossed it in and listened for the noise of it hitting the bottom and heard NOTHING. They decided they needed something bigger, they looked about and spoted an old transmission laying next to a tree. They drug it over next to the hole, hefted it up and did the old one, two, three heave and listened once again and heard nothing. They noted some rustling in the bushes behind them, turned around and saw a goat racing their direction. The goat ran past them and jumped straight into the hole, still they heard no noise. They were looking at each other and scratching there head when a farmer came by. He asked if they had seen a goat, the first hunter said odd that you should ask, there was one here just a moment ago, he charged out of the bushes over there and jumped right into this hole.

The farmer said why thats impossible he was chained to a transmission.

Cepheus dream
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Well, I will modify this to make it a sea story.

AN OLD SALT went to the dentist with a badly aching tooth. The dentist evaluated it and stated it was absessed and should come out imediatly as it could turn into a life threatening infection.

The patient agreed.

The dentist started making preperatations, turned toward the patient with a syringe in hand.

The patient naerly screamed " no needles I can not stand needles".

The dentist stated this is not an issue we have other means. He put the syringe away and rolled out the nitrous oxide tank and mask.

The patient looked at the mask and froze, he then stated he was exteamly claustraphobic and could not possibly wear the mask, it make him climb the walls.

The dentist stated you are limiting our options, after some thought he asked do you have any problems with pills.

No replied the patient no issues at all.

One moment says the doctor, he goes to his office and returns with a tablet and instructs the patient to take the tablet.

The patient does and then asks " doctor what was that medication".

The dentist replies Viagra.

The patient states " I had no idea that Viagra would help with pain".

The dentist states " it does nothing for pain but, will give you something to hold on to while I pull your tooth".

Cepheus dream
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I was out sailing the Bay a few weeks ago. I often sail singlehanded up to Horseshoe Cove at the N end of the Golden Gate Bridge. I usually douse the sails just east of the sewage treatment plant south of Sausalito. I did it this day, and then motored south to anchorage. I noticed I'd been set a lot closer to shore than my usual spot. Just as i turned the boat south, there was a loud BANG!

Looking at the GPS later, I noticed there was a prominent ROCK on the chart!

Now I know where it is, and managed to miss it the next time I sailed up there the following week.

Stu Jackson, C34IA Secretary, C34 #224, 1986, SR/FK, M25 engine, Rocna 10 (22#)

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Steve Frost
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Stu,

I have a loud bang story coming.

Further details to follow.

Steve

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pierview
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A fairy tale starts out "once upon a time".... a sea story starts out " no s--t, this really happened".

Chuck Parker
HelenRita 2072 Mk II
2002 Tall Rig - Winged Keel
Atlantic Highlands, NJ

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Steve Frost
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Big Bang Theory.

See attached.

Yes, you need to be a paid member to see attachments.

Steve

Cepheus dream
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MK I Tech Editor No Mas

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deising
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Well, Steve, that is quite a track record you have there. I am glad no one was hurt in either event and that the damage is all repairable.

You do tell a good story and I had to chuckle at your ever-present humor, despite the tragedy of it all.

Duane Ising - Past Commodore (2011-2012)
s/v Diva Di
1999 Catalina 36 Hull #1777
Std rig; wing keel, M35B, Delta (45#)
Punta Gorda, FL
http://www.sailblogs.com/member/diva-di/

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Steve, that is wonderful writing! Great story telling. Your story made my day as I am sure the actual event made yours. Thank you for sharing.

Larry Brandt
S/V High Flight #2109
Pacific Northwest, PDX-based
2002 C-36 mkII SR/FK M35B
 

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baysailor2000
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I though you were telling my story - no mine does not include the collisions.
I enjoyed your honesty.

Haro Bayandorian, 1999 C36 MKII, Sail La Vie #1787, M35B,
Coyote Point, San Mateo, CA.

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Steve, good conclusion! :D That green f*cker creeps up on me, too, even when I'm on deck. So does the green one NE of Alcatraz. They oughta put bells & whistles on them...oh, wait...:eek:

Stu Jackson, C34IA Secretary, C34 #224, 1986, SR/FK, M25 engine, Rocna 10 (22#)

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plaineolde
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Posts: 753

I just about hit one myself (among other things we won't discuss). I was sailing my prior boat, a C30 across the northern Chesapeake on a very light breeze. The tide was going out, probably a knot, knot and a half. Feeling nature's call, I scanned the area for boats, went below and, looking out the porthole whilst relieving myself, saw a red nun going slowly by within spitting distance :eek: I ran on deck and seeing I was being pushed toward the buoy by the tide, turned hard to get the stern to swing around it and.... had to push the top of the buoy away by hand and lift the dinghy painter over it.

Now THAT was a bit too close for comfort. The C30 had a flush transom, I'd never be able to reach the buoy on my C36. Would have been embarrassing to be stuck with the inflatable wrapped around the buoy trying to figure out how to get off....:mad:

Gary and Cathy Price
1997 C36 Mk II Tall Rig/Wing Keel Imagine...
Hull # 1617
Worton Creek, Md.
Northern Chesapeake Bay

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Nimue
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Posts: 429

I wrote this and it was run in Pacific Yachting Magazine. It was sort of a tongue-in-cheek ode to my parents and our cruising adventures, but is also not a bad story. Okay, I left the really bad parts out. I couldn't find the originals but here are links to the scanned pages from the magazine.

[url]https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BwKvf6OZTYGqcUM1aWF0ZUs4eFU/edit?usp=sha...

[url]https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BwKvf6OZTYGqd2lzNFM2cFg3Umc/edit?usp=sha...

Jason V
Vancouver, BC, Canada

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Nimue
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Posts: 429

I should add - two boats later I'd say it all ended well!

Jason V
Vancouver, BC, Canada

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deising
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Posts: 1351

Good story, Jason. It reminds me of the old saying, "the harder I work, the luckier I get."

I guess you could also say that lots of preventive maintenance and preparation make for fewer 'sea stories.'

Duane Ising - Past Commodore (2011-2012)
s/v Diva Di
1999 Catalina 36 Hull #1777
Std rig; wing keel, M35B, Delta (45#)
Punta Gorda, FL
http://www.sailblogs.com/member/diva-di/

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deising
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Posts: 1351

Well, I guess it is my turn. The attached story took place within the last two months as we finally got to use the boat for the first time after returning from our 7 month cruise in Oct.

Duane Ising - Past Commodore (2011-2012)
s/v Diva Di
1999 Catalina 36 Hull #1777
Std rig; wing keel, M35B, Delta (45#)
Punta Gorda, FL
http://www.sailblogs.com/member/diva-di/

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caprice 1050
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Joined: 7/1/07
Posts: 345

Duane

I thought you were going to claim that you wraped the anchor line around the prop on purpose to see if you could start the motor by pulling on the line like you would start an outboard motor.

__/)__/)__/)__Capt Mike__/)__/)__/)__
Punta Gorda Florida
1990 Std WK M35 Hull #1050

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deising
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LOL, Mike. I never thought of that trick. Maybe next time. :)

Duane Ising - Past Commodore (2011-2012)
s/v Diva Di
1999 Catalina 36 Hull #1777
Std rig; wing keel, M35B, Delta (45#)
Punta Gorda, FL
http://www.sailblogs.com/member/diva-di/

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