Challenge: Pirate Attack! Which Anchor is Best?

[sandy daugherty]

1970, 21 years old, Navy Pilot living in Virginia Beach, flying sailplanes on the weekend, and "Beach Patrol" during the week. 1986 Corvette convertible, 750 Honda, and a Babe-Magnet roommate who shared. "Thank you Aunt Em. It's going into CDs cuz I can't think of anything else I need right now."
Forty years later I'm yelling at the younger me "Buy a camera you fool, no one's gonna believe you later in life!"

Forty years later I'm yelling at the younger me "Buy a camera you fool, no one's gonna believe you later in life!"

Now THAT is good advice. Funny, I was thinking yesterday that of all the bikes I built, I do not have any photos. I never had a camera until about 5 years ago, and, as a result, the only evidence of my adventures, is the memories that I have. They make for a great story, but it is much more enjoyable to have photos.

[Talbot]

Funny you should say that. I have just retired my old camera and bought a new one

Panasonic Lumix TZ5 basically a pocket camera (big pocket) that has a big optical zoom (10:1) and if you reduce the pixel count to 3.1mpixels, will go to a massive 16:1 with digital zoom.

It has a video capability of 1024x768

It also has a decent underwater case

I am looking forward to clicky clicky

[Schuyler]

Originally Posted by ronniesimpson

I am still planning to leave San Diego, solo, on Oct. 1 for Hawaii. and then head south.

......Ronnie is in route and not doing so hot at the moment. If you are religious or a believer of self manifesting thought, then it would be a great idea to think kindly of him right now.

Welcome to the Open Blue Horizon | Open Blue Horizon | Ronni

[SelkirkWind]

Originally Posted by Schuyler

......Ronnie is in route and not doing so hot at the moment. If you are religious or a believer of self manifesting thought, then it would be a great idea to think kindly of him right now.

Welcome to the Open Blue Horizon | Open Blue Horizon | Ronni

Thanks for the post of his condition. I am sure we are all very concerned for him, and I pray that he is fine.

I do not know what the condition of his sails are, but it is possible to sail his boat using his main sail and his traveller without the rudder (as long as it is either free or locked straight.) Using the main with three reefs, and NO headsail, he can run the traveller out and stear the boat. The link to the technique if he is not familiar with it, is here:
Giulietta's Sailing Instruction Videos - SailNet Community

In 30-40 knots, nothing is easy and I know he is exhausted!
Chip

[Robertcateran]

A drogue could be employed to keep the boat stern on rather than beam on until the weather subsides. It certainly ain't easy doing anything in those conditions.
Robert

In the spirit of this thread, I am curious if Ronnie has any regrets over trying. I did notice his blog says this is not the end.

[David_Old_Jersey]

Just to complete / add to the story:-

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ice-20095.html

Now rescued and on a slow boat to China (literrally!).

[Highlander40]

This points to the advantages of experience. My first boat came in my late 30's. Now almost 52 yrs old and really enjoy boating.
Now I have some money and don't have to gamble my life on low budget equipment.
But then I still work..
My boat however is way cool and gets used a lot. Even with the price of fuel (power boat) we took off for 17 days from CT to the eastern end of Maine (Machias bay). Almost every day in a place very few visit and new to us. Powerfull adventure!
The thing is that coastal cruising is so much more interesting and survivable. I know this will get a rise, a power boat is just better at ARRIVING.
At 21 there is no way I could make the choices and have the smarts to arrive alive.
Oh yea, 30 grand doesn't pay the dock,insurance,storage,service and refit for one season, nevermind a world cruise.

Carl

[blahman]

Hey all,

As a twenty-one year old, I have really enjoyed reading this thread. I did not come into a lump of money, but I did buy a fixer-upper that is a good boat (Westsail 32) and having been restoring it with my father during my breaks from college. I have two semesters remaining of undergraduate work, and will likely go on to master studies while someone is willing to pay for it. Meanwhile, I'll keep on getting the boat to be exactly as I want it, sailing locally and doing short trips during my longer breaks.

After I have degrees and can play well enough (I'm a trumpeter, studying music in school), I'll probably drop it all and go sailing. If I came into $30k, I'd pay off my few student loans, fix my car, and put the rest in a CD or some other long-term account for a time when I need it.

But I'm no fun

Cheers,
Aaron N.

[Québec 1]

Originally Posted by blahman

Hey all,



But I'm no fun

Cheers,
Aaron N.

But you've got a boat!
Q1

[Captn_Black]

Hi all,
Interesting topic, though I can honestly say, I've always wanted to travel, and sailing has interested me since I read Willard Price books when I was 10-12, and later went sailing with my Dad while living in South Africa. I'm now 29, and lucky enough to own a small flat (apartment) which I shall be renting to pay for my adventures at sea.
I'm glad in a way that I had to wait till now to actually buy a boat, as over the years I have done much research, and am much better prepared than I would of been at 21.
My boat is a Columbia 27', which is the most seaworthy I could afford. 'The Seaworthy Offshore Sailboat' by John Vigor was very useful to me when making this choice, aswell as giving useful tips for improving a boats seaworthiness. The main expense for getting her ready to sail, will be a new jib, and solar and wind power. But I'm proficient with electrics, and teaching my self sailmaking, so I hope I can do all the work within my budget before hurricane season in the Caribbean prevents me (at the insistance of the insurance companies) from reaching Panama.
Any advice and/or tips will be helpful.

[seacap]

A qoute from Sterling Haden.
A little over the top for most people, but it contains a lot of truth too.

To be truly challenging, a voyage, like a life, must rest on a firm foundation of financial unrest. Otherwise, you are doomed to a routine traverse, the kind known to yachtsmen who play with their boats at sea... "cruising" it is called. Voyaging belongs to seamen, and to the wanderers of the world who cannot, or will not, fit in. If you are contemplating a voyage and you have the means, abandon the venture until your fortunes change. Only then will you know what the sea is all about.

"I've always wanted to sail to the south seas, but I can't afford it." What these men can't afford is not to go. They are enmeshed in the cancerous discipline of "security." And in the worship of security we fling our lives beneath the wheels of routine - and before we know it our lives are gone.

What does a man need - really need? A few pounds of food each day, heat and shelter, six feet to lie down in - and some form of working activity that will yield a sense of accomplishment. That's all - in the material sense, and we know it. But we are brainwashed by our economic system until we end up in a tomb beneath a pyramid of time payments, mortgages, preposterous gadgetry, playthings that divert our attention for the sheer idiocy of the charade.

The years thunder by, The dreams of youth grow dim where they lie caked in dust on the shelves of patience. Before we know it, the tomb is sealed.

Where, then, lies the answer? In choice. Which shall it be: bankruptcy of purse or bankruptcy of life?

Sterling Hayden

[GordMay]

Oh, to be forty again (my dear little baby girl is forty).

A Pirate Looks at Forty ~ Jimmy Buffett

Mother, mother ocean, I have heard you call,
Wanted to sail upon your waters
since I was three feet tall.
You've seen it all, you've seen it all.

Watch the men who rode you,
Switch from sails to steam.
And in your belly you hold the treasure
that few have ever seen, most of them dreams,
Most of them dreams ...

... Mother, mother ocean, after all these years I've found
My occupational hazard being my occupations
just not around.
I feel like I've drowned,
Gonna head uptown.

[Cowboy Sailer]

Gord, this morning I turned to my wife and asked, "When did we get to be old folks?" It just snukup on us!