cammon.. when I first got my 25-footer I sailed her from LA to San Diego,
110 miles, in 9-12 foot swells and wind whipping from 0 to 25 mph and back
to 0 in an instant, at night, with lightning cracking above my head and rain
pouring down so hard I had to sit in the cabin with my compass holding the
boat on course with a rope tied to the tiller, and there was nobody but
myself on the boat. And that was the first time I'd ever sailed in my
entire life. I didn't even know how to hoist a mainsail until I set out
that day. Just do it yaself and bring lots of caffeine tablets.


"Larry W4CSC" wrote in message
...
wrote in
oups.com:

my 14 yr old son

In spite of the really stupid answers I just read to your post......let me
ask you a question to think about.

You just fell overboard out there in the Gulf. You're fine
bobbing around there in your fancy, self-inflating Sospenders. Question:
Can he turn the boat around, by himself, and come back and get you in 8'
seas?

Whoever you take with you, just ask the same question about the lot of
them, as a group. Test it out on a daysail, sometime. Just let go of the
helm and throw a PFD overboard. Go sit down and say, "I just fell
overboard. What are you going to do?" It's a good idea to have up the
old
sails you don't really care about for the test...(c;

Sometimes thinking about the answer can be really scary! I hope you'll
seriously consider the answer. Everyone should test it with their "crew".