Working Toward a Dream

[sharptrack2]

Hello everyone,

As recommended, I am taking a couple of minutes to introduce myself.

I'm a 55 yr old, part time "wanna be" sailor. In my younger years (13 to be exact), while still in the United States, I learned to sail on a 18ft yacht, in the state of Montana of all places. Flathead lake was where I learned to tack, gybe, get wet, and generally have fun, all for the sake of getting a Boy Scout merit badge.

Unfortunately, I moved away from that wonderland of water fun way too soon and lost opportunities and interest. Fast forward 31 years later, the location is Sydney, Australia. Opportunities abound but work, an older, less flexible body, and a skittish wife make for convenient excuses to not be out dangling legs, arms, and head, out over the toerails. Then a miracle, while vacationing in Vanautu for our 27th anniversary, I managed to get my wife out on a Hobie Cat and she enjoyed it, even when capsized (several times ).

A couple of months later, I was the proud owner of a fixed keel version of the Southern Cross 23 trailer sailer. We joined the local club, Gosford Sailing Club, and started learning. A little less than a year later, tragedy struck in the form of a springtime nor'easter that de-masted my pride and joy. Insurance didn't cover as much as I would have liked (lesson learned there - read the fine print ) and it took another 3 years to save up enough to get started on repairs.

Present day - yacht is on a hardstand in the driveway, getting refurbished as time and money allow. I have a new mast section and boom nearly ready to paint. The hull is mostly stripped down to the gel coat, which is in poor condition (again lessons learned about buying a boat ). The interior is in shambles, but there is hope for all of it.

The dream lives on! Hojeco will get back in the water, I will sail once again! I only need to keep working toward the dream.

Looking forward to chatting with people along the way. I may not visit very often at first, but I am sure I will depend on this forum for the wisdom it has to share as time marches on.

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Kevin.

[Steadman Uhlich]

Howdy Kevin! Welcome Aboard CF!

I enjoyed reading your good intro.

Good luck on repairing your boat and continuing your sailing adventures!

Since you are new to this forum, let me mention a few things you might miss but that could help you more enjoy your time here:

There is an amazing amount of shared knowledge found in the thousands of threads on this forum. If one has a common question, the answers are usually there, often with different possible solutions. The trick is finding those threads and answers as they can be "lost" in the many threads, which are often not titled well.

Here are my favorite Tips for newcomers to this forum:

WIKI
Take a look at the Cruising WIKI that is found via the tab up on the top menu bar of the forum. It has a LOT of information in it you might find fun, interesting, or helpful.
____________

Looking for Quick Answers?

This is the best and fastest method I have found to the answers I seek here.
Since you are relatively new to the forum, here is my favorite friendly forum search tip: Look at the menu bar on the forum pages for the drop down "Search" menu. Click on that to drop down a list of search functions. From that drop down menu select the GOOGLE CUSTOM search feature (the second box down) and then enter several different descriptive or key terms for your topic of interest. That will do a Custom google search of ONLY this site and it is likely to find answers to your questions or results for you. Note: this is VERY different from using the regular forum search box or field (which I never use because of poor search results). Also note, this is NOT found if you use the CF mobile app. It IS found if you use a web browser such as Safari, IE, Firefox, etc.

Note: The ordinary "search" field on this forum has yielded less helpful results for me when I perform searches. That is why I prefer and suggest the use of the alternative "Google Custom Search" instead. I see a very clear and big difference and find the Google Custom Search much easier for scanning (with my eyes) threads for relevant comments and information.

[sharptrack2]

Thanks Steady,

Appreciate the tips, I'll get plenty of use out of them I'm sure. Have several books on boat maintenance, but nothing beats real-world experiences.

[JPA Cate]

sharptrack2,

Welcome aboard. Good luck with all the projects.

Ann