1st Sailboat
 

1st Sailboat
 

It's a shame the world has changed so much that kids can't do the same
kind of thing today. Will videogames and websurfing provide the same kind
of character building, not to mention fond memories in later life?

Agree. Trains at Christmas provided me fond memories.




S/V Express 30 "Ringmaster"
Trains are a winter sport

1st Sailboat
 

We lashed telephone poles together, used an sapling or something for a =
mast stuck between the logs...even had a tent on it...was so heavy the =
sail was really auxiliary to poling it..took several days to sink but we =
had fun in the meantime...

--=20
katysails
s/v Chanteuse
Kirie Elite 32
http://katysails.tripod.com

"Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax
and get used to the idea." - Robert A. Heinlein

1st Sailboat
 

Who are U--------- Batman?



Right, old chum!


RB

1st Sailboat
 

Agree. Trains at Christmas provided me fond memories.

The Express to the sanitarium no doubt.

RB

1st Sailboat
 

Sunfish . . .quickly followed by a Mercury class sloop . . .then . .. .
..and so on. Used to do powerboats until gas went up to 50 cents a gallon .
..

MST

1st Sailboat
 

Joe,

Good story. I too, have a memory of my first boat that is some thing
like that. I've posted it before but you give me a chance to post it
again. At my age we do like to re-tell favorite stories.

My first boat was an "Old Town" canoe, with a damaged bow. I brought it
for $10.00. I was twelve years old. The year was 1938. 10 bucks was a
small fortune, in those Deoression Years.My father almost killed me.

Anyway, it was a 16 foot canoe. I sawed 4 foot off the bow and cut and
installed a stern transom out of common lumber. Turned the boat around
and intalled a mast in what was the stern. The mast I used was a pole my
Mom used to jack the cloth line up in the middle. She damned near killed
me. I made Leeboards and a rudder out of a scarp piece of 1x10 plank

All my hardware was brought in Woolwards five and dime store. a brass
pulley for the mast, five threaded eyes
( Used for keeper for hook & eye latches)
By this time it started to look like a sailboat and my parents started
to help. Mom donated an old muslin sheet for the sail and Dad purchased
two bamdoo poles for booms for the Lateen Sail. I mounted the mast with
a 1x4 board with a hole drilled thru the center, the size of the mast
and fastened to the gunnel with brass washers and bolts. I also mounted
the Lee-boards to the gunnel the same way. ( I had no idea of center of
effort and I wanted to be able to adjust their location) The Rudder
mounted two eyes into the stern and two into the rudder, held in place
by a brass brazing rod (Dad was a Plumbing Contractor) he also provided
the sheet lead for the tips of the leeboards, to make them sink.

After a few capsizes she got balanced out and I'm here to tell you she
sailed like a Witch. She was a Master Piece for a Twelve year old boy.
It was a source of Pride and Hate for my Parents.

We lived in Huntington, New York and Bobsprit can attest to the tide run
at the Inlet to Huntington Harbor. I could sail thru it, hugging the
shore while other better built sailboats had to power or wait for the
tide change.

That first boat really had an affect on my life.It made me a sailor. I
wasn't afraid to go anywhere on Long Island Sound with that boat, Which
I did. Caused me to get the "Old Man" foot up my ass on many occasions.
It made me join the Navy in WW2. In 77 years I've never lived anyplace
that wasn't near water where I could sail.

Ah yes, sweet memories; And "I'll Drink to That!!!"

Ole Thom

1st Sailboat
 

Thom Stewart wrote:



That first boat really had an affect on my life.It made me a sailor. I
wasn't afraid to go anywhere on Long Island Sound with that boat, Which
I did. Caused me to get the "Old Man" foot up my ass on many occasions.
It made me join the Navy in WW2. In 77 years I've never lived anyplace
that wasn't near water where I could sail.

Ah yes, sweet memories; And "I'll Drink to That!!!"

Ole Thom


Great story Thom! Sounds like you sailed more in one day with that
canoe than Nutsy has in his life.

Cheers
Marty

1st Sailboat
 

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

1st Sailboat
 

Capetanios Oz wrote in message
...
On Wed, 19 Nov 2003 00:01:01 -0000, "Donal"
wrote:


Capetanios Oz wrote in message
.. .

Hmm so you didn't know what you wee doing then either!

Correct.

Why do you ask?

'twas a statement.

Technically correct, ... as usual!

Are you going to tell us about your sailing experience in the Solent? I
haven't been able to find anybody who had a crewmember who wore a Greek
Fisherman's Cap.



Regards


Donal
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