Kind hearted sailor needed (Mystic Area in CT)

I just saw this post on Bone on its Teeth whose author found this request on Craigslist. I though it worth passing on to my readers too....

Can someone -- anyone -- be a hero or assist in finding a good Samaritan for this dying fellow sailor? The listing is posted in it's entirety below, and the original can be found here.

Kind hearted sailor needed (Mystic Area CT) 

Date: 2012-05-02, 12:08AM EDT 

Reply to: g8tgd-2991232640@sale.craigslist.org 

Special request please. My dad 93 yrs old lifetime sailor and current sailboat owner is asking me his son to take him sailing "once more". The problem I have is that his sailboat has a keel leak and I can't get it repaired fast enough and the boat rigged and launched before he passes away. He just got released from a week in the hospital and has been sent home with Hospice care and about 3 months of time left on his meter. We are doing his bucket list and the thing he wants most of all is to sail again. Just to be on the sound one afternoon under sail is all that would make this great guys life complete. I'm afraid to spend my last few months working on his boat and not making it happen and he also lives with me so I'm taking care of him through this. I'm cutting out the middle man (me) and his boat and just asking outright if someone who might be taking a casual sail one day very soon to help me make a life time sailor one with the sea and wind again. We had a slip in Mystic last year and he went aground at the rock pile buoy at by the lighthouse / Mystic river. Boat developed a leak and we hauled it. Surveyor inspected and work was to be done, but not in time I fear. He would be escorted by me, he is completely self contained and 1000% with it, a real nice guy and great sailor. He is you, but older and his boat is dry docked and sadly there is a time limit on this plea. Thank you so much for your consideration. Please email me and let me know what you think about this. I'm trying anything at this point.

I'm Going off the Rails on the Crazy Train

Summer Nights in Bohuslän

Just stumbled across another entry in last month's group writing project Top Sailing Destination on the Planet. Which reminds me, if you do decide to participate in one of these group writing projects, please do send me an email to let me know about your post, otherwise I may not see it and it won't get reposted here.


Peter Gustafsson writes a blog called BLUR which is mainly in Swedish. But thankfully his post for this project, Summer nights in Bohuslän, is in English. First he considers some of the classic sailing destinations and races which, frankly, I thought more people might have chosen...

Antigua, Auckland, Newport, Perth, Sardinia, Sydney or Valencia? Closer to home is Cowes, La Trinité Sur Mer, Sandhamn or Marstrand? Or is it long stretches of downwind sailing from California to Hawaii or the legendary courses of Fastnet or Sydney Hobart?

But eventually he chooses one of his favorite places that he keeps coming back to...

Since I was a kid we’ve been cruising in the Bohuslän archipelago on the west coast of Sweden. A family of five spent over a month each summer exploring the thousands of island in a small 7 meter sailboat. When we grew up we ticked off all the party destinations; small fishing villages like Smögen and Fjällbacka that turn into never ending parties during the warm and light summer nights.

His post is mainly about a race through the Bohuslän archipelago...

Then I heard of a small double handed race, Bohusracet, that pretty much went through the whole archipelago in little more than 30 hours. At first it sounded like a crazy idea; to race 170NM shorthanded at night in some of the trickiest waters in the world. But after a while it grew on me. It might actually be the perfect combination of racing, endurance, navigation and the wonderful scenery that can only be found in Nordic summer nights.

And so it proved to be. Read the full story at Summer nights in Bohuslän which has many marvelous photos of the racing.

Thanks for contributing to our project Peter. It's not every day I get to use names like Bohuslän and Smögen and Strömstad on this blog. And let me just say Måseskär and Fjällbacka. And Hållö to you too.

Whooshing Sound

"I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by." - Douglas Adams

There's always one. Sometimes there are more. Every time I run one of these group writing projects, it seems like there is always at least one post that comes in after the deadline. That's OK. This is only for fun after all.


The latest post in last month's group writing project Top Sailing Destination on the Planet is from Bridget who writes a blog called VILLAGEHOMESTEAD. Her recommended destination is PENOBSCOT BAY: LITTLE BIT OF HEAVEN ON EARTH. The pictures are in a separate post LOOK. Bridget paints a delightful picture of exploring the islands of Penobscot Bay (which is in Maine for the geographically challenged) in various family boats.
 

What can be more ideal than a sail or outboard cruise in the fairly well protected waters of Penobscot Bay and most especially Vinalhaven thorofare and Hurricane sound. Fog and breezy conditions can make conditions inhospitable even there, but on a light breezy day with the sun shining bright, it provides a little bit of heaven on earth!!!

Well said Bridget.

I see that at least one of the usual suspects wants an extension of the deadline. And another regular thought he might win a free hat if he sent in the last post. So I will keep the project open for another day or two before writing the wrap-up post.

Sailing Families at Play

Sailing is many things. It is adventure. It is challenge. It is competition. It is exercise.

But sailing is also play. And for many sailors, it is about playing with their families.

The final two entries in last month's group writing project, Top Sailing Destination on the Planet, illustrate perfectly how important sailing has been and still is to two such families.

In Comfort Zone, Baydog waxes lyrical about the Jersey Shore and, in particular, Barnegat Bay. This wonderfully nostalgic post (perhaps the best he has written so far since he started his blog) describes Baydog's many summers at the Jersey shore, growing up with his extended family.

As with our parents before us, there were always boats to play in, on land or in the water. Every family had boats, didn't they? It was just a given that the shore houses would always be there and we'd be down the shore all summer long, for the rest of our lives.

My2fish has written about Michigan: a great place to sail.  He gives us many reasons why Michigan is a wonderful sailing destination but, for me, the best part of his post is when he writes about sailing with his wife and his sons, and other family members. Oh yes, always in a Sunfish.

The fellowship of sailing with a friend, or the sheer joy I see on my kid’s face (or that of any other child I’ve had a chance to give a ride on the Sunfish) has been amazing. My 3 1/2 year old son has already asked me a few times this spring to take him sailing again.

I didn't come from a sailing family, and was never able to enjoy the experience of sailing with my father like Baydog did. But I did take my sons out on my Laser when they were little, just like my2fish in that photo. We never had a family shore house, but racing in Sunfish and Lasers was one thing that I was able to do with my sons as they grew up. Now I'm looking forward to the days when I can sail with my grandchildren.

Thanks to everyone who participated in Top Sailing Destination on the Planet. There will be a wrap-up post coming soon.

Heavy Air Laser Sailing with Marc Jacobi

Heavy Air Laser Sailing with Marc Jacobi - Reach and Downwind from Laser XD on Vimeo.

Ride along on the bow of Marc Jacobi's Laser during the reach/downwind legs of a Harry Anderson Race in heavy air last Sunday afternoon. This footage is from the Cedar Point Yacht Club spring frostbite series. Cedar Point Yacht Club is located in Westport, CT, USA.

The America's Cup is Coming Home

Not Rowing in the Rain

Another entry today in this month's group writing project Top Sailing Destination on the Planet.

Contrary to what many Americans think it does not actually rain all the time in my home country, England. Sometimes they experience long dry spells lasting months. The local media go crazy over this, spinning wild stories about how the water supply will run out and everyone will have to drink beer instead of water and stop flushing their toilets and other dire measures. Eventually things get so bad the D-word is invoked and it's officially declared that the country is suffering from a "Drought" as if they were in Somalia. Sometimes they even appoint a Minister for Drought. This always works. As soon as the D-word is used, the heavens open and it rains solidly for 40 days and 40 nights. The Minister for Drought is hailed as a hero and immediately renamed Minister for Floods and eventually promoted to Baron (whatever that means.)

It seems that the old country is in one of those phases right now, enjoying what one of my friends waggishly called "the wettest drought on record." It was raining so heavily yesterday that even a hard-core rower like Chris of Rowing for Pleasure didn't think there would be any pleasure in rowing. Instead he retreated to the library in his country house and wrote a post for our group writing project.

What I imagine Chris's library looks like

Surrounded by books by such authors as Anthony Hope, Richard Adams, H.P. Lovecraft, Anatole France and Robert Louis Stevenson, Chris dreamed of the top rowing destinations on the planet and ventured to waterways that even Ryan Air cannot reach. Much more fun than Rowing in the Rain.

Today is YOUR last chance to write about YOUR recommendation for Top Sailing Destination on the Planet. What are you waiting for?

Lobster Roll

Thanks to Diabolo214 for this entry in our group writing project Top Sailing Destination on the Planet.

Drifting along the river early on a beautiful summer morning, watching the wildlife on shore. Planing across a mile of bright sunny water on a breezy afternoon. Cruising around a peaceful inlet as the sun sets behind the pines. The New Meadows River off Casco Bay in Maine is the best spot to sail in the world.

With your boat, be it Laser or Sonar just in front of the house, it's only a couple of minutes to be afloat whenever the mood takes you. 1 mile across and 3 miles from the open bay, there are many smaller inlets and islands to explore. Seals can be seen basking on rocky ledges when the tide goes out. Ospreys and Eagles are often seen sitting in the trees watching for prey and their babies can be heard calling for food.

If you feel peckish yourself, Cundys Harbour is on the other side of the river where Holbrooks can supply you with a drink, ice cream, or a lovely lobster roll while you sit on their pier amongst the lobster boats as the sun goes down.

Each Sunday all the local sailboats have a handicap race around the buoys and the fleet can be anything from an Optimist to a Tartan 38. The "Excuses Tea" follows as competitors sit on our deck, overlooking the river while drinking tea or lemonade and cookies. The results are read out and excuses start to flow with many stories about what might have been if only!

What could be better?

The Wine Dark Sea

One of the most gratifying things about this month's group writing project Top Sailing Destination on the Planet is that many of the contributions have been by bloggers from whom I hadn't heard before. Most of the usual suspects have been absent without leave this month, but the newcomers have filled the gap admirably.

Today we have a post from another first-timer whose blog isn't even a month old yet. And he's another "senior" Laser sailor, to boot. The author of Reaching Broadly sails out of the Abu Dhabi Sailing Club. I've never sailed in the Middle East but rumor has it that the Laser Masters Worlds will be in that part of the world next year, so I might have to follow his blog to pick up some tips. I did like his story about how on hot days (and I guess that means really really hot in Abu Dhabi) you have to hose the Laser down after you take the cover off so that you can touch the spars!

Our friend's top destination is The Wine-dark sea. I am sure that all my readers know that the phrase "Wine Dark Sea" first appeared in Homer's Iliad in the the scene where the grieving Achilles looks out to sea just after the funeral of his beloved Patroclus. But, in his post, the Broad Reacher is referring to the waters around the Dodecanese islands, the northern part of the Croatian coast and Turkey around Gocek which he would like to explore with his friends from the Abu Dhabi Sailing Club.

So now it's time for YOU to tell us about YOUR Top Sailing Destination on the Planet.