Introductions / How did you find sailFar.net?

[Red Planet]

Just bought a 2005 Com-Pac Eclipse, the Luna-Sea, from her previous owner in Harlingen, Texas, and corresponded briefly with Rich Hutchins at the factory. Rich answered my questions and referred me to the Com-Pac Yacht Owners Association Web forum, which I am still reading. Lots of good info there and an active group.

I noticed that CaptK, the administrator of the Com-Pac forum, included a link to SailFar.Net in his signature, so I followed it. It's like Yogi Berra said, "when you come to a fork in the road, take it."

[nowell]

Welcome Aboard! Just be careful for that Captain K character, hes usually in lockup more than being productive! Picture a modern day Jack Sparrow!

[AdriftAtSea]

Welcome aboard... I'd agree with nowell, and and CapnK has dogs instead of Kiera Knightly and isn't quite as photogenic as Johnny Depp..

Welcome Aboard! Just be careful for that Captain K character, hes usually in lockup more than being productive! Picture a modern day Jack Sparrow!

[Tim]

Hmmm, I am not so sure





 

[Captain Smollett]

LOL, Tim, Grog for that one.

One point though: I took that picture, and I DO NOT remember Kiera Knightly there....he must have stowed her away and I was TOO TIRED to notice.

He is, after all, a slippery, sneaky {dude}.

 

[SV Wind Dancer]

There isn't enough meat on Kiera Knightley's bones for even a desperate dog (apologies to KK if she's on the board, but for pity's sake! Send some home cookin' on a one way trip down that hole under your nose...TYVM)

[Marc]

I'm back!!!  It is so nice to see all the old names from before.  Found out that the site was back up from a freind here in Iowa.  Old times are back.

[River Wytch]

hello . . .
first off,i found sailFar while asking the googler to find things about "single handed sailing" and "solar battery charging" for me . . .
you never know what kind of people you'll attract by posting something on the net . . .

anyways . . .
i'm very happy to find a group of people who not only love old sailboats but will actually take them out and use them as the builders were hoping we would . . .

my boat is a 1967 Karlskrona-Viggen and i'll post more about her in the forums . . .
i'm based out of catskill point on the hudson river and have so far, covered the river from van wie's point to sandy hook . . .
i've fallen in love with my river and i'll be posting about that too but for now you should be making plans to sail the section between peekskill and newburgh at least once in you life . . .

as far as myself goes,i'll call myself a "newbie" . . .
due to the nature of my work,i had to go without a sailboat from the ages of twenty to fifty-four . . .
after my wife passed away from cancer,i went through the "there must be more to life" thing and thought an old swedish sailboat i found in craigslist might be the answer . . .
first,i had to re-learn sailing and my only experience was really just sailing nothing bigger than a sunfish on barnegat bay in jersey back when i was a kid and now i think i'm going to master a twenty-four foot sloop with a one meter draught,on a river no less . . .
i forgot to mention that i've been an over the road trucker for thirty-five years and we're not really known to  be too terribly brilliant . . .

anyways . . .
up here where i live, isn't exactly "sailing central",so at first i had to teach myself by reading "sailing for dummies"(how apt !) , "sailing fundamentals" and whatever i could find asking "the googler" during the winter months and hoped that would be enough to keep me out of trouble . . .
it wasn't . . .
i was doing "alright",i was able to move the boat around under sail and all but i wanted to start taking her out on trips right from day one out on the river and headed south to kingston,twenty miles south,because i didn't know anybody to tell me that i shouldn't do that yet . . .
there are five other sailboats that use the (free) town mooring field here and they're all a great bunch of guys,one of them,lyle ecker,decided that i was too painful to watch any further and started giving me the "tip of the day" whenever he felt i was worth teaching something to . . .
i like lyle alot . . .
he's been sailing on the river from the day he fell out of a crib and landed on his head  . . .
and he's an old truck driver too and sails a chrysler and i think i've seen at least two other chrysler sailors in here,i sent him the link to this forum and i hope he can handle being told his that his password doesn't have enough caps and numbers in it twelve times to join us. . .

lyle's been a fantastic teacher/role model out there and has a way of pointing out to me as to why i'm an idiot without making me feel that the entire enterprise is hopeless and keeps me honest by giving me this look like he's caught me masturbating or something whenever he see me running with my engine on,or even in the down position . . .
after about a month,i was finally  "getting it",somewhat . . .
river sailing is very different from what most of you have done and you will not find much,if anything written in books about it,the only two books that i've found that were any help were "the sloops of the hudson" ,written by captains william e, verplanck and moses w. collyer back in 1908 and mark twain's "life on the mississippi",the former will teach a sailor how to work with the tides and sailing techniques and the latter has plenty of information on how to read the surface of the water . . .
anything else you'd like to know,just ask me and i'll be more than happy to tell you what happend to me when i tried that and i'll try to find lyle and ask him what we're really supposed to do . . .

that's about it for now . . .
i hope to learn many things from you all in the future . . .

Dennis Willard

[Auspicious]

Welcome aboard Dennis.

You might enjoy First you have to row a little boat by Richard Bode. If you learn anything about sailing from it, it will have been an accident. The book uses Mr. Bode's sailing experiences to talk about his life experiences. It is however a lovely book and most of the sailing does take place on a river.

I carry a couple of extra copies to give away to people who may appreciate it.

My sister lives in Wappinger Falls NY. I have limited experience sailing on the Hudson (some) but can appreciate your joy in that river.

[River Wytch]

thank you !
i read your post,"early scoot" . . .
i'm thinking that it's going to be awhile before i'll be catching up with you anytime soon,so i better get the book myself and you can find me something else to read when we do meet . . .
it sounds like something that i would enjoy reading . . .
A philosophical celebration of sailing. When he was a boy, Richard Bode was taken under the wing of a legendary local sailor and learned from him how to ..."

the verplanck/collyer book actually has plenty of helpful things a river sailor should know in it . . .
the river's been dredged and the channels are marked now but the winds and tides are the same as they were in the 1800's . . .

i've been able to find other river related stuff on the net but hardly anything in book form . . .
i love reading the old stuff . . .
you just can't beat a line like this . . .
"and the amount of profanity uttered by the vexed sailors was sufficient to demoralize the whole district."
Benson Lossing describes the overslagh near Castleton in 1866
i love it !

once again,have a good trip and i'll be waiting to read about it . .

dennis

[jotruk]

Just wanted to say welcome aboard. I think that you will find a lot of people here that will willingly share there knowledge and will be very helpful

[matt195583]

welcome to sailfar Dennis. Its an awesome feeling getting out on the water and learning a few things about sailing for your self. I have been doing the same thing here in Brisbane Australia for the last 12 months.

[CharlieJ]

 From aboard Tehani anchored off Punta Gorda,  Fl

Welcome aboard to the two latest members. It's a really good group to hang with.

[Mario G]

Hey Dennis 
I bet it would be hard to beat a river sail in the fall where your at.
I grew up just west of you.  Like you I triped feet first back into sailing after many year , 6 mounths  of practical reading (this fourm) before splashing but have enjoyed getting out and staying on my Chrysler C-22 every weekend since.   Yes I'm one of those guys,  Please tell Lyle to email me if he hasn't gotten on the Chrysler fourm Maybe he can straighten out the guys over there.

[tomwatt]

A link, to a link, to a link... I don't honestly remember how I found the site. I was chewing through info concerning my (new to me) boat, and ran across the site, thought some of the advice seemed sound, the folks friendly, and decided to join (after having been declined from another site, perhaps because my boat is too small?).
Glad to be here... it's going to be a rough passage, as my boat has sat on the hard for at least 5 years while the owners were elsewhere engaged.

[nowell]

Welcome aboard! What kind of boat do you have? Give us a bit of background! Lots of great people and information here.

[MSter]

Hello All-

I found this group via Google while searching for related info on "Cruising on a small sailboat".

My name is Marty. My wife Janice and I are relatively new to sailing but have been constant in our search for knowledge and experience. I regularly crew aboard a friend's 47' Catalina and to date have participated in several coastal trips and my first offshore race from St Pete, FL to Isla Mujeres, MX.

We keep our '81 Watkins 27 in Apollo Beach, FL on the dock closest to the Tiki Bar...by design. It makes for the perfect pit stop, to and from the truck, when unloading the boat after a weekend sail.

I am a computer consultant and am able to take my work with me as long as I have broadband or WiFi connectivity. Having this ability, starting in May 2010, we decided to take a 2-3 month cruise from Tampa bay, down the West Coast of Florida, and into the Keys and maybe even the Dry Tortugas on an extended weekend.

In the short time we have been sailing, we have found this is how we want to retire, albeit on a bigger boat. Its amazing how fast this one shrunk!!!  Anyhow, we figure we can someday sail off into the sunset and repair our "new to us" boat in exotic Caribbean ports....

I hope to use this forum as a means to possibly meet people along the way, pick up some local knowledge from folks who have been there and done that, and contribute where I can.

Fair winds to ya......

MSter

[nowell]

Welcome aboard to you two! I also do computer work, but wish I could telecommute more! Sounds like you guys are off to a great start! Are you sure the boat has shrunk or is there just alot of stuff that might need a re-consideration, that's cluttering it up? 

[tomwatt]

Welcome aboard! What kind of boat do you have? Give us a bit of background! Lots of great people and information here.

Well, you know I'm still trying to navigate my way around, and finding replied to posts isn't happening that well for me, although I shouldn't plead lack of web-saavy. Sorry to not see this until now.
I have an old, somewhat gutted and almost free Bristol Corsair 24 that needs love, attention and lots of cash. Honestly, despite the boat being a bit dirty and rough, I count myself lucky at having a shot at bringing this old gal back from the boneyard.
My plans include making a live-aboard out of it, with an eye towards retirement in a few years, and doing my fix-ups in a customized way to enhance that ability.

[nowell]

I have an old, somewhat gutted and almost free Bristol Corsair 24 that needs love, attention and lots of cash. Honestly, despite the boat being a bit dirty and rough, I count myself lucky at having a shot at bringing this old gal back from the boneyard.
My plans include making a live-aboard out of it, with an eye towards retirement in a few years, and doing my fix-ups in a customized way to enhance that ability.

Excellent platform! They are little tanks from what I hear! Can't wait to see and hear about your restore project! Good luck!