Is that to melt your way through the ice Tom? I have been sailing when it seemed just too hot to stay in the boat. It doesn't seem right but with water around for miles in all directions it is still stinking hot in the boat. Of course on top of being too hot there is always no wind.
It gets hot on the water here too. We can go from roasting to freezing in a matter of 30 minutes. On a calm day with clear sun, you can burn in a very short time. On a cloudy day, the cold water takes over. Tom
My step-father used to take me on his outboard to Catalina Island. In the afternoon, coming home, the seas always come from the north and the boat is right-hand drive, so I was always the one getting hit by the spray. It made the cherry brandy very attractive. I was an alcoholic by my mid teens.
He never let me drive the boat. Maybe just as well. It was kind of rough out there and I might very well have capsized it. Besides, he had to drive the car back home once we reached the marina.
I don't have to drive home after we get to the marina, but I do have to get the boat into the slip, which is not a trivial task. Passengers always want to help, but mostly what the do is jump up and block my view right at the critical turn into the slip. Either that, or they think they can stop 16,000 lbs with an arm or a leg: "Please stay seated and keep arms and legs inside of the vehicle at all times." I think maybe I will get one of those recordings that they use for rides. Tom
I announce to passengers just before docking that they are not to talk to me or move about until we are safely in. In smaller boats just moving about changes pivot center and can screw up a perfect landing. Cheer up my northern tier friends, spring has sprung here on the left coast, so it's a'comin to your area soon. Now you guys can plan for the mud and fly and mosquito season. All is not perfect here either. There are far too many people and now quite a few are broke, homeless, and worried. I regularly get men knocking on my door looking for work, businesses are closing daily, abandoned houses are being stripped of appliances and plumbing and our local elementary school is having the new solar pannels ripped off. Spring flowers can't overcome the sadness of the times.
At 15 I don't think I could have driven home. That was L.A., not a farm in North Dakota. One time I took a day trip on a small sailboat. The guy used the little motor to get out of the marina, but he returned under sail, dropped the sail at just the right moment, and brought us right into the slip perfectly. It goes without saying (though they always say it) that you remain seated, out of the helmsman's line of sight, and with all body parts well inside the boat, whenever the boat is being docked, launched, or moving within the marina. At least I know that much about boats. But most of the boats I've been on are big enough that if inside the cabin (and not blocking the helmsman's view) moving about is not a problem.
Big sailboats seem ideally designed for death and destruction. Not only are the boats themselves heavy, but they are covered with lines and wires straining under thousands of pounds of force. Add to that a deck cluttered with toe stubbers and a boom that can knock off your head in an instant. Remind me again: why do I like to sail? Tom
That is starting to happen up here, especially in oil patch communities in Alberta. Consider Iceland (All their banks have failed, their stock market down 90%, currency down 50%, desparate times, etc etc) and the same thing WILL happen here We're in deep s***, all thanks to a handful of crooks who wanted more
That's most of the fun right there. Nothing like the possibility of decapitation and/or drowning to turn a boring day into a fun day of adventure and excitement
Sorry for the obtuse Brit-com reference, but every time I see this thread I can't stop wondering if qbee42 wasn't possess by the spirit of Mrs. Bale from "As Time Goes By"....
Canoes? Kayaks? Those are fun, too. Because they are quiet. No goddamned motor noise and no filthy diesel stink. 15 year olds are not allowed to drive in my country. It's precisely because people drive like idiots that I don't drive in big cities. I did fly an airplane solo before I got my first driver's license. Then my step-dad sold his plane and I never got my private pilot's license. I saved my student license as a souvenir, and I think it's still around somewhere, some 4 1/2 decades later. It's just as well I had to quit. I'd probably have crashed and killed myself.
I'm pretty sure the average driver now get's their license in a box of Cracker Jacks. Again, have you seen the average driver quality? I don't see how a 15 year old kid could have done worse, especially if the "responsible adult" was s***faced Careful, attentive pilots rarely make fatal mistakes. The ones who seem to crash and burn - literally - are the daredevils who always try to prove something Of course, I can only dream of having the same ability as Captain Chesley Sullenberger, the US Airways pilot who very successfully ditched a fully fueled and loaded Airbus A320 after a double bird strike disabled both engines
The bigger the boat the bigger the hole in the water in which to pour your money down. I like big boats. Sailing on San Francisco Bay in a small one is down right frightening. I like stink pots. I like sail boats. I like kayaks.
