Association Forum - thanks for one of the best days ever!

Assn Members Area · Join

Home.

Association Forum

Ships Store

Cruising

Racing

Technical Tips

Photo Gallery - New

Boat Search - Updated

Manuals & Brochures

Swap Meet

Links

Officer Flag Line & Staff

Bylaws & Constitution

Members Area

Join the Association

Notice:
The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.

Association Forum

Username:	Password:
Save Password
Forgot your Password?

All Forums

Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

General Sailing Forum

thanks for one of the best days ever!

New Topic

Topic Locked

Printer Friendly

Author

Topic

JimB517
Past Commodore

Member Avatar

USA
3285 Posts

Initially Posted - 02/07/2004 : 22:43:03

Left the slip this morning side by side with Gary and Susan on Classical Cat. We sailed out of Mission Bay in light air - impromptu race to the red bouy. Then set sail for the La Jolla kelp, ate lunch along the way. Caught a 3 lb bonito. Morning light air turned into afternoon 10 to 15 knots. Seas came up to 2 to 3 feet. Fishing seperated us, but as I ran down wind to the whale watching boats Classical Cat caught up again. Spent about an hour watching 2 pairs of Pacific Grey whales - moms and yearlings. The 2 C25s than ran straight out to sea for a couple of miles. At 3:30 we turned and raced about 6 miles back to Mission Bay. Indiscipline was over 5.5 knots and up to 6 knots all the way. I could see Gary tweaking every inch of his canvas. He went low and we separated by over 1/4 mile. I though he was toast. I turned down a little for the mark and he caught up and passed at the very end leading me down the channel by over 100 yards.

C25 Wing tall rig with 110 genoa versus C25 fin standard rig with 135 genoa - a very close match. The fin points higher, the tall rig has an advantage in light air and the wing may have an edge down wind. All in all we could sail side by side most of the day close enough to pass lunch over. Gary's racing knowledge far exceeds mine, however and that makes all the difference.

Warm day, sunny, breezy, light waves, won a race, lost a race, caught a fish, observed whales, spent time with friends, nothing broke and didn't spend any money (ran engine less than 10 minutes all day) home in time for dinner.

Now that's a great day on the water!

Indiscipline 1978 FK SR #398

Edited by - on

Sea Trac
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

Vanuatu
1357 Posts

Response Posted - 02/07/2004 : 23:27:16

Damned Bastards! ;-) Sounds like great fun! Thanks for sharing.

Edited by - on

Leon Sisson
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
1893 Posts

Response Posted - 02/08/2004 : 00:25:36

Congratulations on a fine day! Some days are just magic!

Edited by - on

gnorgan
Admiral

Members Avatar

USA
563 Posts

Response Posted - 02/08/2004 : 00:38:31

Jim races very well, considering he fishes at the same time. I saw him trailing 2 lines so he can claim the fish were slowing him down

and I'd believe him.
I have to agree that today was the best day sailing of the winter so far. And J.B., it wasn't all that much fun because the air temperature made it necessary to wear a sweater while sailing under the shade of the main....and we HAD to make sure the whales didn't go ashore by mistake....and we had to make sure the whale watching boats had something to honk their horns at when I accidentally got in their way....and

, well, I got to take my wife to dinner afterward on Shelter Island so it wasn't all bad. And then there was the 1.5 hour drive home...in heavy traffic.
Here's looking for lots of sailing days just like this for everyone. BTW, I am just thankful for having my chance to sail again after nearly 2 years with our C25 on a trailer at home. And my wife and I couldn't be happier with our new sailing friends, Jim, and his wife, in the next slip to share our sailing days out on the old Pacific "pond".

Edited by - on

mmac
Navigator

Members Avatar

USA
168 Posts

Response Posted - 02/08/2004 : 03:49:58

I'm as jealous as everyone else and I'm in the slip next to you! The daughter's softball practice and birthday present shopping kept me from stowing away on your boat

But as you know I have to "unfreeze" that jib halyard shackle before I can go stem to stem with you guys in the bay.
Did you get a chance to fly your chute, Jim?

Edited by - on

Captain B
1st Mate

Members Avatar

USA
88 Posts

Response Posted - 02/08/2004 : 13:23:55

Wow! Talk about a great day. That's a memory that will last a life time. But alas, you story is probably killing those cabin bound folks in the north.

Edited by - on

Dave Bristle
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

Djibouti
10005 Posts

Response Posted - 02/08/2004 : 13:38:18

Hrrrrrrrmph!

Edited by - on

reuben
Navigator

Members Avatar

USA
202 Posts

Response Posted - 02/08/2004 : 16:03:15

To those of us working through February on the 47th parallel your story's a paradox, Jim - it makes us happy and sorry, like great blues. Thanks for putting it up. I'm going skiing now. Reuben.

Edited by - on

JimB517
Past Commodore

Members Avatar

USA
3285 Posts

Response Posted - 02/09/2004 : 13:21:34

Thanks to the man upstairs for the day
Thanks to Frank Butler for a boat that is still fun after 25 years
Thanks to this group for teaching me enough to make it out there
Thanks to friends for sharing it with me

PS. Sunday sailed about 10 miles out and back, south of Pt. Loma and near to the Coronado islands on my friends Cal 28. Great whale encounters, lots of fun beating back into strong afternoon headwinds healed up to 40 degrees, throwing spray, and seeing speeds in the 7s.

Edited by - on

Frank Hopper
Past Commodore

Members Avatar

Pitcairn Island
6776 Posts

Response Posted - 02/09/2004 : 13:48:38

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by JimB517
 Thanks to the man upstairs for the day
Thanks to Frank Butler for a boat that is still fun after 25 years
Thanks to this group for teaching me enough to make it out there
Thanks to friends for sharing it with me

PS. Sunday sailed about 10 miles out and back, south of Pt. Loma and near to the Coronado islands on my friends Cal 28. Great whale encounters, lots of fun beating back into strong afternoon headwinds healed up to 40 degrees, throwing spray, and seeing speeds in the 7s.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
When I try to explain sailing to power boaters here in Kansas one of the points I try to make is the existance of the sailing community. Here, power boaters pull up to a ramp, launch, do what ever it is they do, and then pull back on the trailer and go away, they always looked shocked when I sail past a few feet away and say "Hi". Then they always light up and say "Hi' right back. Sailors come to the slip where they see friends, recognize every boat there and can spend time enjoying their boat with lots of people. We are a community, the power boaters are alone. I suppose it is different for the big boaters, they too are "sailors" because their craft are in the water and they experience pretty much the same sense of community as we do. So Jim, you were a big boater, is sailing a different social event for you?

Edited by - on

JimB517
Past Commodore

Members Avatar

USA
3285 Posts

Response Posted - 02/09/2004 : 17:02:10

Sailing is a lot more fun, and much more economical. I had a 40 foot LOA sportfisher on a big dock in the Chula Vista Marina. We had many great friends there, sail and power. It was hard to get any boat work done - because I had to walk by too many other people saying "Hi! Have a beer!"

Here's a good photo of the gang on the A Dock just prior to our departure

I think the main difference is, in a power boat, you're always going somewhere, in a sail boat, you're there. In a power boat, you are going for a boat ride, sailing is a sport.

Of course, these were bigger boats, and not yacht club quality (it was the "cruiser's marina"). I think the type of go-fast, power drinking, young, testosterone-driven, young people you see on smaller power boats, PWCs, and fast fishing boats are too different from me to really set up any kind of friendship.

However, I give a big, friendly wave to ANY power boat that yeilds right-of-way to me.

Edited by - on

jwilliams
Captain

Members Avatar

USA
357 Posts

Response Posted - 02/10/2004 : 12:04:29

Hi Jim,

Loved your story. I'll be out on Hey Jude as soon as I finish the tender.

I read us waxing philosophical about the difference between sailing and powering. Think it might go deeper than that? Power boats are like cars are like TV are like paranoia. All about future and past and what ifing. Sailing on boats our size is just here and now.

All my life I have tried to live in the future or past. Not only does it not work, it is stressful and boring. Long before I found Hey Jude, I read a book (asian I think) about living in the here and now. Still working on it. But sailing confines our energy and thinking to the present, and that helps.

Now, you still must plan well, study, prepare and practice. Ok. But just try thinking about something else when you are gybing singlehanded and see how quick you get your a _ _ kicked!

I think Tristan Jones and Joshua Slocum had it figured out.

Jim Williams
Hey Jude
C25fk 2958
SF Bay

Edited by - on

OJ
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
4382 Posts

Response Posted - 02/10/2004 : 12:14:27

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Dave Bristle
 Hrrrrrrrmph!

<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Ditto

Edited by - on

Topic

New Topic

Topic Locked

Printer Friendly

Jump To:

Association Forum

Notice: The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.