Without an Instructor

21.05 in an, Boat Plans, instructor, without

I learned to sail, more or less, by myself; by taking out a small singlehanded pram, exploring the nooks and crannies of a river, enjoying the wind and water, no instructor in a coaches boat yelling in a bullhorn that I was doing this wrong or could I keep the boat a little flatter. I have quite a few sailing friends (all accomplished racers) that learned outside a formal program. Unfortunately, what is lost in a junior sailing program is that confidence gained for a pre-teen in their first independent driving; by steering and handling the sails of a complicated piece of machinery, without an adult hanging over us, telling us what to do next. Im sure that, going sailing by myself just racheted up the fun factor of sailing even more. Im also thankful that my parents made sure I knew how to swim, was wearing a life jacket and were willing to let me push off in my 8 foot "yacht" as long as I was back by dinnertime.

I have a soft spot for juniors who are learning on their own; maybe their form isnt quite right and they are capsizing right and left but, geez!, are they having fun.

Exhibit A is the junior duo in this video making all the mistakes and grinning the whole time.

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An ad on this blog

04.36 in ad, an, blog, Boat Plans, on, this

Well sort of... I thought this video put out by Vaavud, a company the sells anemometers for smart phones, is worthy of a repost, particularly since it has two Lasers bombing back and forth. Unfortunately, Im a fossil; I only own a flip-phone and have resisted carrying any smart technology. I have no knowledge of the performance of the Vaavud anemometer. My experience with hand-held anemometers, when using them on race committee to determine whether we have the required 4 knots wind speed to race, is they are somewhat dicey in their accuracy at low wind speeds. Maybe some of those technically hooked-in with modern devices could comment on the smart phone anemometers.


Sailing with Vaavud from Vaavud on Vimeo.

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An ode to boatbuilding

09.51 in an, Boat Plans, boatbuilding, ode, to

Twas the night before Christmas

and all through the house

dust coated each surface,

and even the mouse.

Peter worked on his boat,

built of mahogany wood.

Though his schedule was busy

he did what he could.

An hour here or two there;

it was that sort of thing.

With luck hed be sailing

by the end of next Spring.

The work, it went slower

than his conservative plan,

yet he pressed on with a will

and continued to sand.

Hearing protection, and goggles,

and mask, dont you know.

With the dust in the air

looking a little like snow.

The sandpaper stock,

he knew he had plenty.

100-grit was used first,

and then the 220.

As he labors away,

Peter wishes you might

Have the most Merry Christmas,

and of course, a good night!

Total hours 18.50.

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