teen age friend and i find styrofoam hull from one of those old kool
cigarette promotions (you gotta be old to remember those). jury
rigged it out. hauled it to the gulf on top of car sailed five miles
downwind along the beach. walked back to get the car when we
discovered that our craft would go to weather approximately 1 degree
less than 90 each tack. valuable lesson #1learned - some minor study
into the physics of sailing necessary when doing our jury rig. dog
claws hole through hull before modifications can be made.

Vessel #2 - we obtained a pirouge (spelling?, cajun canoe) full of
splits. started to glass it over prior to rigging for sailing.
valuable lesson #2 - a chemistry lesson. the catalyst actually is a
necessary component in the polyester resin. somewhere that boat is
still waiting to cure.

Vessel # 3- 17 ft wooden home built. Lightening class sails. we
rigged at the last moment (when marine stores closed) before departing
for Chandeleur island approximately 27 miles offshore. Nice trip out.
squall with gusts of 50 knots coming back next day. vaulable lesson #
3 - regarding tensile strength. aluminum body screen door turnbuckles
from Sears are never suitable for standing rigging no matter how small
the boat. Will give credit to divine intervention on this one for
getting back partially dismasted but alive.

Boats four and five - Columbia 24, Columbia 8.7

Boat six - looking now

Never had as much fun as with those first three. nor learned as much


On 17 Nov 2003 17:06:42 -0800, (Joe) wrote:

We made it in Ft. Worth. Lived near Benbrook lake. On a Hot Hot summer
day 1967 we found a sheet of corrigated tin. Me and my friends bent
one end in to a bow shape and we scraped tar off the highway to seal
the bow seam together. The stern we just cut the tin like a comb and
bent the teeth ends up to form a stern sealed it with highway tar as
well. Made a mast from a closet rod. It was a square rigged with bed
sheet sails. Had a great time sailing the lake. Bad part was we had no
keel and could only go down wind. 1 mile sail= 3 mile walk pulling the
boat back around the lake. Between that and soapbox derby on the
spillway we stayed busy that summer!

Took 30 years for me to get my next sailboat.

And You?

Joe
MSV RedCloud