Well I've learned that fjseymour shares my passion. Anbody else?
I grew up sailing on Narragansett Bay (Rhode Island) and Buzzards Bay (Mass). My parents still keep their boat, a Freedom 38 ,on Buzzards Bay in Padanaram Harbor (Dartmouth, MA). We often cruise Cape Cod, Martha's Vinyard, Nantucket, Newport, & Block Island. We've been as far north as Casco Bay, Maine & as far south as Long Island. Plan to visit Maine again next summer.
I even got engaged on the boat. I thought it was going to be a surprise for my wife, but she had it figured out. Our plan was to race to Menemsha (small harbor on the South Western end of Martha's Vinyard) with my parents. They ditched at the last minute for a "funeral". We placed second to last in the race. The Freedom likes heavy wind, of which there was little. We did, however, beat the other Freedom 38 in the race! Menemsha is known for its spectacular over the water sunsets (a rarity on the East Coast)
My father in law grew up sailing on a lake in Ohio. His father was very dissapointed that my father in law didn't spend more time sailing with his children. Needless to say, my father in law is thrilled that his daughter is enjoying sailing on a more regular basis. Wasn't too hard for me to win his favor [img]/forums/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img] .
He is retiring this winter and thinking about getting a boat! He plans to keep it on the Cheasapeke. I'm looking forward to exploring new cruising grounds.
Everytime I'm out on the water I can't help but feel spoiled. (Thanks dad!)
I started sailing (in Penguins and Lightnings) when I was 5 in St. Joseph, Michigan. Attended the local sailing school & in high school & college was an instructor. Started racing in Lightnings & graduated to “big boats†when I was 16 with my first Chicago Mac. Race.
My parents never had a sailboat, but in growing up 300’ from the shores of Lake Michigan I always had someone to go sailing with.
Hazmat, interesting parallel, I did not get engaged on a boat, but I did meet my wife during a Labor Day regatta in Chicago. At the time, I lived in Grosse Pointe Park, MI & she lived in Novi, MI, but we meet in Chicago. We were married 9 months later, and the closest thing we had to a honeymoon was delivering a friends Cal 43 Motorsailer from Harbor Springs, MI to Toledo, OH.
I spent almost 20 years as a Sailmaker with Hood Sailmakers, Great Lakes out of Grosse Pointe, MI. The owner of the loft (Tim Woodhouse) ended up buying Hood Sails and eventually move it from Marblehead, Mass to Portsmouth, RI.
I’ve had a great time sailing/racing all the Great Lakes (there will never be more than 5), sailing to St. Thomas, VI, Bermuda, racing on the east coast in the Annapolis Fall Series, some races in California, and a couple of (then) S.O.R.C. series in Florida, and the Bahamas.
My sailing now is confined to a friends boat in Northport, MI. I only get up there a couple of times a year, but enjoy every minute.
God does not count hours sailing against your time spent on earth.
How about a sailor wannabe? I earned small boat sailing merit badge in Scouts and did some time on Snipes, Lightnings and Sunfishes as a youth. Have recently spent a few hours on a friends' 32 footer on Lake Michigan. One of my retirement goals is to own a cruiser for the Great Lakes and perhaps take a voyage down the east coast. Not enough time available to justify it now, but I certainly have the bug. Keep the sailing stories coming for I'll live vicariously through you for now [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]
<font color="blue">One of my retirement goals is to own a cruiser for the Great Lakes and perhaps take a voyage down the east coast. Not enough time available to justify it now, but I certainly have the bug. </font color>
A good way to get sailing time w/o the expense is to crew on a boat at the local yacht club's wednesday night race series.
The funney thing about your retirement goal is more and more sailors dream of retiring from sailing to a nice motorboat to cruise around in. I guess after you smack your head on the boom enough, you're ready for the easy life [img]/forums/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img] . Lots of sailboat manufacturers have even started to build the boats. Hinckley, Freedom, Island Packett & Sabre to name a few. Freedom now builds more Legacy motor boats than they do sailboats.
I just sold our lake home and did not sail my cat this summer. Too much going on with the new house. I still live close to the lake but sailing will take a back seat for a while.
Glad to see there are some fellow sailors here. Looks like we have several things in common too. I proposed to my wife on the boat and I'm 27 as well.
I spent most of my summers growing up on the water on my parent's Tayana 37, cutter rig. Can't count the number of vacations that started in Mystic, CT thru the Cape Cod Canal and offshore until we came upon the light off Monhegan. From there, it's islands galore... Down here, I've expored the Elizabeth Islands and Narragansett Bay as well.
Actually, we just made the trip down from Rockland to Mystic a few weeks ago and had a rough trip, only 2 knots headway due to the wind and seas.
Did you happen to make the Newport Boat show this year? Well, phones ringing, so I'm signing off. Would love to hear some sailing adventures...
Sleepyhollow
Now, this is no lie (got to keep it clean for the kiddies [img]/forums/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img] )
Sailed the boat from Padanaram to Warren, RI on Saturday to put it to bed for the winter. There is a guy who runs a small boatyard there. He used to be the production manager at Freedom. He actually supervised the construction of Duet.
Well it was an adventurous trip. Quite windy. It was blowing a steady 35 knots for a while. The highest gust we saw was 44 knots. Pretty rough waves as well. The crew (my wife) was seasick [img]/forums/images/icons/frown.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/blush.gif[/img] . My dad (the navigator) wasn't feeling well either -- mostly due to a head cold.
Despite losing two of the mainsail battens, I think the boat enjoyed the trip more than the crew.
Went back this morning and took the sails off and some other equipment.
I started sailing in 1951 while stationed in Japan in a lug rigged 16 foot boat owner by the US Army. I was in the Navy Beachmasters stationed at Camp McGill.
My first boat was a lightning, then a moth, a San Francisco Pelican, a Victory 21, a south coast 23, an Irwin 23, a Albin 25, a Pilgrim 40 and now at age 70 I have bought a Com-Pac 23D which my young wife of 68 and I trailered to Corpus Christi Area fo a couple of weeks and brought it .back to Seguin TX today.
After I retired in 1978 I moved / delivered boats from Florida and the Virgin Islands to Texas and sailed my own on the ICW back and forth to Fla.
We decided to put the Com-Pac on Canyon lake for awhile as it is only 40 miles from home
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