Time for some fun. Who has some good
"falling in" stories. "Falling in" the water, "falling
in" the dink, "falling down" the companionway, etc.

On Mon, 16 Jan 2006 20:31:01 -0500, "Bart Senior" .@. wrote:

Time for some fun. Who has some good
"falling in" stories. "Falling in" the water, "falling
in" the dink, "falling down" the companionway, etc.



At one time or another all of the above. And at no time was I
entirely sober.

Sailed my old 23' boat into Apalachicola one night in thunderstorms,
all lights in town were out so we were sailing by lightning flashes.
Got to the dock, it was very high, at least 4' above us but I stepped
up onto it and the edge gave way. I fell backward and hit my head on
the toerail on th way down and was out cold when I hit the water. My
friend Bob who was 62 at the time was as astrong as an ox reached in
and literally pulled me out by my collar and into the cockpit where I
came around.
Six years later on a sailign trip with Bob, it was very cold and we had
to sail waaaaayyy out to get around the shoal. About an hour out, I
noticed Bob was sitting very still and looked funny. I asked him if he
was ok and he said yes so we went on. Later, it became obvious he was
not OK and at first we thought he was just a little sick but he refused
to move and looked chilled to the bone so we tried to put a parka on
him which he refused. Still thinking he was just a little sick and
stubborn I didnt think it was bad but later he had a very glassy look
in his eyes but he refused help. I decided to try to see if anybody
else was out just in case so tried VHF asking for a radio check and got
nothing (not too unusual for this area then). By this time we were
heading back north to Shell Pt but it was about 20 miles. Bob didnt
look well at all and I could get nobody on VHF. Looked at the chart
and decided to go into Ocklocknee Bay as it would be the closest place
to get help. Went down the winding channel and finally ended up at at
a deserted dock and I figured I'd have to hitch a ride to a phone and
we were all frozen. I walked up the dock shivering and suddenly sqaw
my father walking toward me and thought I was hallucinating but it was
really him AND my mom. They had gone for a drive over to Carabelle and
had seen my boat was out of its slip. Looking waaaay out, they could
see us on the horizon thru binocs so had driven east following us till
they realized where we had to be coming in and they waited. It was
like a miracle cuz we got Bob to the car and drove him to the hospital
where we found he had a stroke.

Jeff the "Suicidal Sailor" was another sailing buddy of mine who at
firwst was fairly lucid and a very good sailor and as he truly loved
sailing, I gave him permission to use my 28' S2. After awhile he began
to act sorta erratic and told bizarre stories of sailing on "Ragtime"
under poor conditions. At this time, Bob (previous post) was
recovering from a second stroke and was in a longer term recovery place
like a short term nursing home. Jeff, by this time had started acting
very impulsively and talking suicide so I called the suicide hotline
but they were no help. I told Jeff he could not use my boat to kill
himself. Jeff and I decided to go visit Bob at the nursing place.
We made small talk with Bob for awhile while Bobs wife stood by. We
started joking about going on a sailing trip. Jeff started acting like
he was serious so Bob held up his arm with a bracelet saying that if he
tried leaving it would set off alarms. Jeff whips out a large knife
and in a flash suddenly cuts off the bracelet from Bobs arm and tries
to lead Bob out. Bob's wife yelling "NO, NO" while I got Jeff to see
reason.
Jeff kills himself a week later (gunshot). At his wake where everybody
was discussing his sailing skills, people would talk about how Jeff had
taken them on wild sailing trips in a boat called "Ragtime".
Bobs health goes slowly downhill and he dies a year later. I never
could bring myself to tell him about Jeff's demise.

wrote:
Jeff the "Suicidal Sailor" was another sailing buddy of mine who at
firwst was fairly lucid and a very good sailor and as he truly loved
sailing, I gave him permission to use my 28' S2. After awhile he began
to act sorta erratic and told bizarre stories of sailing on "Ragtime"
under poor conditions. At this time, Bob (previous post) was
recovering from a second stroke and was in a longer term recovery place
like a short term nursing home. Jeff, by this time had started acting
very impulsively and talking suicide so I called the suicide hotline
but they were no help. I told Jeff he could not use my boat to kill
himself. Jeff and I decided to go visit Bob at the nursing place.
We made small talk with Bob for awhile while Bobs wife stood by. We
started joking about going on a sailing trip. Jeff started acting like
he was serious so Bob held up his arm with a bracelet saying that if he
tried leaving it would set off alarms. Jeff whips out a large knife
and in a flash suddenly cuts off the bracelet from Bobs arm and tries
to lead Bob out. Bob's wife yelling "NO, NO" while I got Jeff to see
reason.
Jeff kills himself a week later (gunshot). At his wake where everybody
was discussing his sailing skills, people would talk about how Jeff had
taken them on wild sailing trips in a boat called "Ragtime".
Bobs health goes slowly downhill and he dies a year later. I never
could bring myself to tell him about Jeff's demise.

Do you have an uplifting sailing stories????

wrote:
Jeff the "Suicidal Sailor" was another sailing buddy of mine who at
firwst was fairly lucid and a very good sailor and as he truly loved
sailing, I gave him permission to use my 28' S2. After awhile he began
to act sorta erratic and told bizarre stories of sailing on "Ragtime"
under poor conditions. At this time, Bob (previous post) was
recovering from a second stroke and was in a longer term recovery place
like a short term nursing home. Jeff, by this time had started acting
very impulsively and talking suicide so I called the suicide hotline
but they were no help. I told Jeff he could not use my boat to kill
himself.

Why would he care if he had your permission or not?

... Jeff and I decided to go visit Bob at the nursing place.
We made small talk with Bob for awhile while Bobs wife stood by. We
started joking about going on a sailing trip. Jeff started acting like
he was serious so Bob held up his arm with a bracelet saying that if he
tried leaving it would set off alarms. Jeff whips out a large knife
and in a flash suddenly cuts off the bracelet from Bobs arm and tries
to lead Bob out. Bob's wife yelling "NO, NO" while I got Jeff to see
reason.

I have known a number of people who were nutty enough to do
stuff like this, but not suicidal maniacs.

Jeff kills himself a week later (gunshot). At his wake where everybody
was discussing his sailing skills, people would talk about how Jeff had
taken them on wild sailing trips in a boat called "Ragtime".
Bobs health goes slowly downhill and he dies a year later. I never
could bring myself to tell him about Jeff's demise.


It seems likely that your friend Jeff had some serious
family problems, it's a shame that he didn't get them sorted
out.

I've had to deal with a heart attack, dehydration,
hypothermia, drowning, and several forms of stupid
attacks... it's surprising how many emergencies arise in the
course of a few years sailing. One of my best sailing
friends died in a collision with a motorboat, but I was not
at the scene.

Regards
Doug King

wrote:
Sailed my old 23' boat into Apalachicola one night in thunderstorms,
all lights in town were out so we were sailing by lightning flashes.
Got to the dock, it was very high, at least 4' above us but I stepped
up onto it and the edge gave way. I fell backward and hit my head on
the toerail on th way down and was out cold when I hit the water. My
friend Bob who was 62 at the time was as astrong as an ox reached in
and literally pulled me out by my collar and into the cockpit where I
came around.
Six years later on a sailign trip with Bob, it was very cold and we had
to sail waaaaayyy out to get around the shoal. About an hour out, I
noticed Bob was sitting very still and looked funny. I asked him if he
was ok and he said yes so we went on. Later, it became obvious he was
not OK and at first we thought he was just a little sick but he refused
to move and looked chilled to the bone so we tried to put a parka on
him which he refused. Still thinking he was just a little sick and
stubborn I didnt think it was bad but later he had a very glassy look
in his eyes but he refused help. I decided to try to see if anybody
else was out just in case so tried VHF asking for a radio check and got
nothing (not too unusual for this area then). By this time we were
heading back north to Shell Pt but it was about 20 miles. Bob didnt
look well at all and I could get nobody on VHF. Looked at the chart
and decided to go into Ocklocknee Bay as it would be the closest place
to get help. Went down the winding channel and finally ended up at at
a deserted dock and I figured I'd have to hitch a ride to a phone and
we were all frozen. I walked up the dock shivering and suddenly sqaw
my father walking toward me and thought I was hallucinating but it was
really him AND my mom. They had gone for a drive over to Carabelle and
had seen my boat was out of its slip. Looking waaaay out, they could
see us on the horizon thru binocs so had driven east following us till
they realized where we had to be coming in and they waited. It was
like a miracle cuz we got Bob to the car and drove him to the hospital
where we found he had a stroke.

That's pretty scary....I would say there was some kind of divine
intervention there...

"Bart Senior" .@. wrote:
Time for some fun. Who has some good
"falling in" stories. "Falling in" the water, "falling
in" the dink, "falling down" the companionway, etc.



Frank Boettcher wrote:
At one time or another all of the above. And at no time was I
entirely sober.

Sobriety is over-rated.

DSK

Falling in the drink from the dock, mast in hand, in front of a good crowd.
Several people applauded, to came to check on me. :-)

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

"Bart Senior" .@. wrote in message ...
Time for some fun. Who has some good
"falling in" stories. "Falling in" the water, "falling
in" the dink, "falling down" the companionway, etc.

I've only fallen in once...but I meant to do it.


RB
35s5
NY