Neal and Jeff

Thanks for your response, and great advice. Obviously, my ambition is
larger than my
ability. Perhaps the same thing that killed John Kennedy Jr. and passengers,
To much plane
and not enough pilot.

I failed to mention I have had some time at Sea. I was a commissioned
officer in
the Naval Reserve unit in my home town for 12 years (O-4). I have spent
approximately
two years on active duty assigned to Coast Guard duty in the Gulf of Mexico
and
3 months or so total time in summer camp at sea training in San Diego . Even
with the excellent
schools years ago. A little knowledge can be a dangerous thing.

And I certainly don't profess to be a quantified sailor.

I had considered that I would need to hire at least (2) qualified crew. In
fact I believe
to use the Yapluka I referred to In Mexican waters I would have been
required to
use a certified Captain of Mexican nationality in order to insure the
vessel,
because of the level of non-experience I have.

I assure you I understand the risk involved and appreciate your advice.

I will re think my ambition. I think the crew time is a great idea. Maybe
someone will
let me cook.

I have always said Boat People are the greatest people in the world.

Thanks again for good rational advice.. I'll slow down fly the piper cub
before I start shopping for a twin engine plane.

With that said what would you suggest I consider as a learning curve boat.
Do you think at 54 I am to old to become somewhat proficient at sailing.
I am in good health and in fairly good shape, but I am certainly not 25
anymore.

GaleB.

wrote:


"Admitting to being slapped down" snipped


GaleB.

Whats the problem Gale?
You gonna let a retired coronodo sailor and some yacht jockey tell you
how to fly?

Thats BULL****. If you did indeed build 11 companies of any worth
then you know how to lead, how to plan, how to fight for and take what
you want.

If I had a few million I'd buy whatever boat I could afford to sail on
forever, with a little practice you soon will become the master of your
own ship, just as you were master of your corporations. You got to get
down in the bull pin and play with the bulls. Hell your in your 50's
and you might die tommorow. Go for the gusto! Lead! Take what you have
earned. Stepping stones is for the bobspirts of the world.

Don't lower your goals, raise the bar.

Gale......Thats a girly name. But thats a cool looking cat you picked.
Joe

Thanks Joe

I looked at Captain Neals web site. Its actually pretty good.
He is funny, well read, and full of shxx, I think I would like him.

And yes my parents wanted a girl and I got the girly name..
You should see some of the strange mail I get. I always
send everything Tampex sends me back.

The only time I was glad I had the name was my freshman
year in college..they put me in a girls gym class..took three
weeks to transfer..best three weeks in college I had.

Whatever boat I end up with..Maybe I name her
A Boy Named Sue

GaleB

Next time, save the Tampax, they're good for plugging small holes in a
boat.

Scotty

wrote in message
...
Thanks Joe

I looked at Captain Neals web site. Its actually pretty good.
He is funny, well read, and full of shxx, I think I would like him.

And yes my parents wanted a girl and I got the girly name..
You should see some of the strange mail I get. I always
send everything Tampex sends me back.

The only time I was glad I had the name was my freshman
year in college..they put me in a girls gym class..took three
weeks to transfer..best three weeks in college I had.

Whatever boat I end up with..Maybe I name her
A Boy Named Sue

GaleB

wrote in message
...

Do you think at 54 I am to old to become somewhat proficient at sailing.
I am in good health and in fairly good shape, but I am certainly not 25
anymore.

The helm of the boat I crew on is 74, and only has one arm (well, 1.5 arms).
When we sail two-up, and fly the spinnaker, I do foredeck while he handles
everything in the cockpit - minds the tiller, drops the jib, releases the
spinnaker pole up/downhauls, gets the pole up, and works the spinnaker
sheets to start it drawing until I come back to take them off him. Don't ask
me how he does it, but he usually has a sheet clamped in his teeth and
another wrapped around the end of his short arm (turning it blue as the
circulation gets cut off...).

Wally wrote:
wrote in message
...


Do you think at 54 I am to old to become somewhat proficient at sailing.
I am in good health and in fairly good shape, but I am certainly not 25
anymore.


The helm of the boat I crew on is 74, and only has one arm (well, 1.5 arms).
When we sail two-up, and fly the spinnaker, I do foredeck while he handles
everything in the cockpit - minds the tiller, drops the jib, releases the
spinnaker pole up/downhauls, gets the pole up, and works the spinnaker
sheets to start it drawing until I come back to take them off him. Don't ask
me how he does it, but he usually has a sheet clamped in his teeth and
another wrapped around the end of his short arm (turning it blue as the
circulation gets cut off...).

My mother took up dinghy sailing in her mid 50s and is in the process of
moving up to bigger boats 15 years later. Given reasonable health and
fitness, its your mental age not your real age that counts. The former
commodore of my dinghy club has just stepped down from commodore to vice
commodore to concentrate on his racing and he's about to turn 80.

Go find an oldish cheap 27 footer monohull in decent sailable condition
but maybe needing a bit of TLC and sail it for a year while you brush up
your theory with some shoreside courses. Meanwhile grab every chance yo
can to crew on 40+ footers. You'll soon see if you really want that big
cat, and you'll have a good idea of what you are weak at before you take
the helm of the big cat so you'll have a better chance of avoiding a
$1000000 prang. You shouldn't loose much if anything selling the 27
footer on in a year or two's time either.



--
Ian Malcolm. London, ENGLAND. (NEWSGROUP REPLY PREFERRED)
ianm[at]the[dash]malcolms[dot]freeserve[dot]co[dot]uk
[at]=@, [dash]=- & [dot]=. *Warning* HTML & 32K emails -- NUL:
'Stingo' Albacore #1554 - 15' Early 60's, Uffa Fox designed,
All varnished hot moulded wooden racing dinghy.