Doug nailed it. There are limits to hospitality, especially to uninvited
guests. I don't feel bad. Also, taking ECHO would not have worked.

This trip had two purposes. First was to thank Fred for taking my lady
friend and I out sailing on his Valiant 37 a few weeks ago in New York
Harbor. Also, I've had an open invite to him to come sail HOOT, to
expose him to an Etchells. He had been looking forward to it. This was
the main reason for the days adventure. He loved it of course.

Fred's spent a lot of time on small boats. He's moved up to a bigger boat,
but I felt, that with his skills, he needed to be exposed to the cool
features
of an Etchells. Oz will understand, and so will Doug, or anyone who has
sailed a boat will lots of controls for sail shape.

When I raced Etchells in SF Bay, it was two years before I felt I was
really getting the hang of it. And I know that today, I still have much to
learn to get the most out of these boats. If you really want to learn to
sail well, you need a good mount.

Fred and I have been though some nasty rough conditions together. We
don't let each other down, and have a close bond. Some friends you don't
let down. That is the kind of friendship we have. If I live to be a
hundred,
I'll look back at my life and be glad that I had a few close friends like
Fred.

The second reason, was I wanted to try out that new spinnaker. I made
sure I had it, and I also made both new battens and mast blocks because
I wanted Fred to see HOOT looking it's best.

Regarding going out on ECHO. There were many reasons not to do
that. First, Fred already sailed on ECHO--he helped me deliver the
boat from South Jersey a few years back. That would not have been
special.

Also, ECHO has no mainsail until I get the Dutchman system mounted
later this week. There will be a time I'll invite Fred and his girlfriend
up
for a sail, and I'll make Liberty Landing a destination in the future.
Before
I do that, I want ECHO's rigging and interior to be in Bristol condition.
I'll allow my crew to see ECHO in less than perfect condition, because
they see the steady improvements. I don't want people to see ECHO
just once and remember something about the boat that needed work.

Each of these reasons was enough to eliminate ECHO from the equation.

Finally, HOOT is a "hoot" to sail. ECHO is big and comfortable, and
a nice party boat, but not as much fun to sail. HOOT is an E-ticket
white knuckle, avalanche, nose-bleed of a ride.

"DSK" wrote
Should have taken them out in ECHO.

katysails wrote:
No....but courtesy and politely informing them that this was not the
trip
for them was a necessity....Guys I've sailed with have been quite blunt
about it....

Why? Let them make the choice, which is what I gathered Bart did from
his post. These women decided to go sailing, for whatever reason, and
you assume that all social problems ensuing must be Bart's fault.

Being a native Southerner, I take hospitality seriously. But there are
reasonable limits, especially in a sporting activity engaged in by
mutual consent. By analogy, if I was going mountain climbing and some
friends of friends and wanted to tag along, I would do my best to not
let them fall... but I wouldn't feel an obligation to glue a pillow to
each and every rock...

DSK