Visit our Popular Forums

Randyonr3 · 27-07-2011, 10:16

I know this guy here at the Marina, in His 80s, been a member of St. Frances Yacht Club sence 1956.. sailed the boats on the Bay when he was 10.. over 70 years of sailing and racing experance..
And every time I set down with him, I am entertained with another of his stories.. and Name dropping, not to impress anyone but just telling a story, and the names will include Ed Monk, Gary Mull, or Myron Spalding and all on a first name basis..
Yesterday we were chatting and the Spalding boat yard came up.. he mention that him and Myron were setting around when Myron came up with a design for a 5/8 rig on a new design.. they lofted and built the boat and sailed it down to San Diego, where they joined in with Gary's new boat (gary Mull) with a mast head rig and did the transpac.. a picture of the boat they sailed is on the back of the flyer that the "Non-Profit" spalding wooden boat yard sent out..
The whole story took just a few seconds but when you think of what was intailed in the story, the lofting, the building, the sailing to the race and the race across the pacific, it would have taken months to do..
And another time, he told me of when he was about 16, him and some friends took a dinghy out to the mooring field and would steal a 12 meter and go racing around the bay only to have it back on its mooring ball befor the sun came up.. ( joy riding on a 12 meter)
The stories he tells will soon be lost in time as are the people he talks about, Ed Monk, Myron Spalding, gary Mull, and a host of others......
If anyone has any experance in putting these type of stories together, please let me know..
the information he holds is to valuable to lose..
How do I do It?????????????????

speakeasy · 27-07-2011, 10:26

I thought you sold your canvas business and headed south a year ago. I guess you're back or I'm getting addled. The way to do it I would think, is to set up a series of conversations and record them all, then transcribe. Also ask to see any mementos or photos he has to add to any written account of his life, which is what it will be unless you get into historical archival research and broaden the scope to say, sailing on the bay in the 20th cen. A worthy project. Good luck.

captainKJ · 27-07-2011, 10:37

ask if you can write his autobiography. tape the conversations, get some photos, older the better. then hire a ghost writer to put everything together and get a commission and royalties from it. Then sell it to the cable channel to make a movie on it. Make more money, buy a bigger sailboat (120 foot) hire crew, sail the world. Easy, anything else you need solved?

Capt Phil · 27-07-2011, 10:42

Started a similar project (still unfinished!) back in the 80's about the early years of hand logging and the history of the towboat industry on the BC coast. I used the oral history method, tape recording some of the real old timers who had survived the era from the 20's after they came back from WWI and started the jippo logging outfits and shoestring towboat companies up and down the coast. Many of the recordings were done in pubs up and down the coast from Skidegate down to Jervis Inlet, BC. when I was working in these area.
Tracked a few of these old geezers down in resthomes in the lower mainland around Vancouver, BC and recorded them years ago.
Using a small tape recorder worked well and not as intrusive or invasive as todays video tape, besides they weren't invented yet!
Once these old guys get on a roll, they'd come up with some amazing stories that taken by themselves are entertaining but, combined with a bunch of other vignettes, really paint a picture of what life was like in the bush and on the water back then.
It is really important to have a record of this history IMO as it gives us a sense of how we arrived at our present way of life.
I really must ressurect those old tapes and get going on the project...
Capt Phil

svHyLyte · 27-07-2011, 11:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by Randyonr3

I know this guy here at the Marina, in His 80s, been a member of St. Frances Yacht Club sence 1956.. sailed the boats on the Bay when he was 10.. over 70 years of sailing and racing experance..
And every time I set down with him, I am entertained with another of his stories.. and Name dropping, not to impress anyone but just telling a story, and the names will include Ed Monk, Gary Mull, or Myron Spalding and all on a first name basis..
Yesterday we were chatting and the Spalding boat yard came up.. he mention that him and Myron were setting around when Myron came up with a design for a 5/8 rig on a new design.. they lofted and built the boat and sailed it down to San Diego, where they joined in with Gary's new boat (gary Mull) with a mast head rig and did the transact.. a picture of the boat they sailed is on the back of the flayer that the "Non-Profit" spalding wooden boat yard sent out..
The whole story took just a few seconds but when you think of what was intailed in the story, the lofting, the building, the sailing to the race and the race across the pacific, it would have taken months to do..
And another time, he told me of when he was about 16, him and some friends took a dinghy out to the mooring field and would steal a 12 meter and go racing around the bay only to have it back on its mooring ball befor the sun came up.. ( joy riding on a 12 meter)
The stories he tells will soon be lost in time as are the people he talks about, Ed Monk, Myron Spalding, gary Mull, and a host of others......
If anyone has any experance in putting these type of stories together, please let me know..
the information he holds is to valuable to lose..
How do I do It?????????????????

Randy..

The next time you sit down with him, take along a recorder, or better yet a small video cam and ask if he minds if you record your conversations with him for posterity sake. Our Club historian did that with several of the old--late 70's to 80's--members of our yacht club and the edited video tapes, interlaced with still photos of some of the yachts and places described/discussed in the stories, is quite fascinating.

FWIW...

MarkJ · 27-07-2011, 11:57

Record them digitally, email to a transcription service in India. Have them email the recordings back in Word.

Simple and cheap.

then you edit on Word.

Outsource Audio Transcription, Speech to text, Speech transcription to India
$36 per audio hour.

Capt Phil · 27-07-2011, 14:22

Does it come back in english or hindi? CP

MarkJ · 27-07-2011, 20:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by Capt Phil

Does it come back in english or hindi? CP

Hindi.

But the dancing is free

delmarrey · 27-07-2011, 21:36

The stories are really nice to listen to but reminds me of the freedoms and adventures we've lost over the years due to the population growth. And how society has put so many "can't do laws" into play.

As a kid my parents, on a whim, would drive to Yosemite just to go fishing and camp out for the weekend. Had to take & carry our guns because of the bears. We'd catch out limit (10) of trout before the day was out and have'm for dinner and do the same the next day.

Now one has to make reservations a year or two in advance just to get in the place, with kid rangers running around telling people "don't do this or that". Along with some huge hotel or lodge that's been put in.

I'm just wondering when we won't be able to sail freely anymore.

zeehag · 27-07-2011, 22:09

tomorrow.

i bet your friend knew tom blackaller also--he was a goood sportsman..auto racer and round the world alone sailor. good friends with gary mull...

Boatinglifeaway · 30-07-2011, 23:40

I like the comment regarding the excess of laws. All the laws come from people complaining and politicians thinking that they have to do something about it to gain a vote.