Posted on 11/25/2013 7:47:39 AM PST by Travis McGee
Isn't that the dufus in the white hut?
No wait I'm confusing it with Coruptus Cahoutes
/Emily Latilla "Never Mind"
I lived in Santa Cruz for 20 years. The ocean is a place we took out of towners. I have a treaty with jaws. He stays in the water and I stay on land. Sharknado aside.
I know, right?! It's already set up to single-hand. Roller reefing and all. All he really needs is a desalinator and maybe some solar panels. The dang thing only draws like 4 feet or less and it's got a full length keel instead of a dagger skeg. Yeah it lumbers along on a light breeze and you can barely feel the wheel, but it seems an almost ideal survival vehicle. But then again, he is a shrink and he usually casts a long sideways glance at me when I point out some imminency to the threats. He loves a good conspiracy and he always loved to be a "prepper" but it was for fun (to him). He doesn't like to think about it all really coming to pass in the "here and now." His dad flew the "Hump" over Burma in WWII and everywhere he landed he picked up a Colt 45 or some other gun for about $10. Left his kid a prodigious collection. Everything from a pre-64 Winchester .375 H&H magnum (the old man always called it his "engine room" gun) to S&W M41 in 22LR (match grade). Everything in between. The old man and I were close because we were always talking guns all the time, from the time I was in about the 6th grade. He was a great guy. He passed a number of years ago, God Bless his soul.
I would think that knowing the local laws of where you sail would be very important as well.
Thanks for posting this. My thoughts have been sailing the same course for a number of years. My biggest hurdle is being landlocked in NM, but that hasn’t stopped me from dreaming and planning. I went down to the kid’s place in Florida, and bought a Thompson 260 in need complete repair, stripped it down to the hull, replacing the stringers, giving them multiple coats of epoxy, a silicon coating, and encasing them in fiberglass. The deck got the same treatment, multiple layers of epoxy, covered with silicon, and encased with fiberglass.
I believe this boat could sit for thirty years under water and not have any touch the stringers or deck. The outdrive has been completely torn down and rebuilt with new parts, and the upper replaced. All cables, hoses and wiring have been replaced, along with the gauges, motors, sump pumps, everything electrical. It has a new engine, built on a 350 four bolt main, finished in my shop with Vortec heads and stainless valves. Every cylinder has exactly the same compression.
We stripped it down to the gel coat, and gave it multiple coats of epoxy topped with multiple coats of polyurethane and clear coats. Everything from the anchor wench to the toilet has been stripped down and rebuilt, inside out. The fitting and materials are better than when it first rolled out of the Thompson factory.
I hope to sell it, or trade it for a good sailboat, something that can be moved to Boston where friends have offered me their dock, so long as I keep the boat down to a 40 footer.
Another great essay. Even in my late 40’s, I am tempted.
I’m a geezer, so I prep on dry land and have an 18’ Buccaneer for the 100 acre lake I live next to.
It sure is amazing. And I’m glad to know you are out there doing it!
When a sailboat malfs, you crank up the diesel and keep going.
When an airplane malfs....
We have a 1978 40 foot Yorktown that I recently changed the color and painted the non-slip areas. Am currently removing all the old portlights and putting in new smoked deadlights. OMG! Everyone on our dock keeps stopping and commenting. Has changed the whole look of her and I did it all by myself. Makes me proud.
Most Excellent!
Thanks you!
A hole in the water, surrounded by wood (or fiberglass, etc.,) into which you throw money.
I also wonder how often you get asked to show your passport.
Echo and the Bunnymen! Are you also an XMRadio Channel 33 listener?
hahaha
No, hadn’t heard. Ever since the movie “Jaws” I’ve been a terra firma gal.
home run! hacer been shopping for a larger powerboat, will turn attention to sterling aboard a buddies sailboat and learning to sail before I make my final decision. thanks brother
Sailing is about FREEDOM! Something beyond the comprehension of those under 35.......
I guess they didn’t bed/seal the portlights with 5200 back then. That stuff seals great but it is difficult to remove.
I used to have a Morgan 35 for a number of years, and took the kids cruising for a week or 10 days at a time in the Maine islands. But that got too expensive, so I traded it in for a 26-footer with a swing keel that let me get into shallow water. But that got too expensive, so I sold it and abandoned the sailing cruises for picnics in a small powerboat. But that got too expensive . . . .
So it goes.
I’m not sure if I’d recommend the sail cruising life unless you’ve grown up with it. Emergencies happen very suddenly, sometimes—squalls, thunderstorms, reefs, fog, and so on—and you need to know what to do, sometimes without time to think about it.
We’re in the process of selling our house, putting a few things in long term storage, and, buying a 38+/- foot boat.
We’re going to live on the boat until I retire in a few years, learn as much as we can about sailing that boat off the coast here, and then when it’s time, shove off and sail off into the sunrise.
First we have to sell the house.
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