I was in a depressingly bad marina visiting a friend, and passed an old
boat of mine. I owned it a dozen years ago. I did a lot of racing and
did well.

There is still a strong class of them racing a little to the south, and
this was one of the good ones. Rigged properly, had some good sails.

The main traveler was missing, because it was in the way of the . . .
wheel. Yes, wheel. Geezus. This wasn't even a good wheel, looks like
it was designed for a Popeye cartoon. When I sold it, it had a top of
the line tiller auto pilot. No use to that boat anymore.

The main sheet was rigged through the spinnaker blocks, and a bunch of
lines were missing, even though some the blocks and cleats were still
there. It has a tabernacle mast (Great feature), but most of that was
missing, or used for other purposes. Winches removed, holes filled,
badly. How you gonna sail without winches?

The hull and deck were painted. If you were to hire a couple of 10 year
olds to paint a boat, that is what it would look like. The name was
changed, from "Velocity", to, I'm not sure, I couldn't make it out, hand
painted. By the same hand that did the rest of the boat.

The hatch slides were removed and the new owner said, "I'm going to
re-configure it." I'll bet it turns out great.

I know, it's his boat, but it was sad to see a still competitive boat,
that could still be out winning races, end up as a dock queen disaster.

I'd rather see it up on the beach. Never though I'd feel that way.

Hey it's still on the water and the fool who owns it is having fun.
Look on the bright side you moved on.

Jim wrote:

I was in a depressingly bad marina visiting a friend, and passed an old
boat of mine. I owned it a dozen years ago. I did a lot of racing and
did well.

There is still a strong class of them racing a little to the south, and
this was one of the good ones. Rigged properly, had some good sails.

The main traveler was missing, because it was in the way of the . . .
wheel. Yes, wheel. Geezus. This wasn't even a good wheel, looks like
it was designed for a Popeye cartoon. When I sold it, it had a top of
the line tiller auto pilot. No use to that boat anymore.

The main sheet was rigged through the spinnaker blocks, and a bunch of
lines were missing, even though some the blocks and cleats were still
there. It has a tabernacle mast (Great feature), but most of that was
missing, or used for other purposes. Winches removed, holes filled,
badly. How you gonna sail without winches?

The hull and deck were painted. If you were to hire a couple of 10 year
olds to paint a boat, that is what it would look like. The name was
changed, from "Velocity", to, I'm not sure, I couldn't make it out, hand
painted. By the same hand that did the rest of the boat.

The hatch slides were removed and the new owner said, "I'm going to
re-configure it." I'll bet it turns out great.

I know, it's his boat, but it was sad to see a still competitive boat,
that could still be out winning races, end up as a dock queen disaster.

I'd rather see it up on the beach. Never though I'd feel that way.