Background in Sail?

V

Valkyrie

New member
Hi Everyone!

A while back El and Bill ran a thread asking about teachers/retired teachers as C-Dory owners and got quite a response. Well, here's my question: how many C-Dory owners have a background in sail?

Marcia and I recently sold our Jeanneau sailboat that we had for 18 years. Before that I worked for a couple summers teaching scuba and Caribbean history on a 105' barquentine schoolship. Anyone else care to chime in?

Excuse me if I'm stretching here. We don't take delivery of our new 22 cruiser until May 12 and I'm trying to deal with the wait, six inches of new snow and another week coming up with temps below freezing. (I know I won't get much sympathy from our Alaskan brothers!)

Nick
"Valkyrie"
 
Hi-Nick I have owned several sailboats both fiberglass and wood from 16' to 41' these included Erickson 30, Tartan 30, Flicka 20 (Pacific seacraft), CT 41 pilot house ketch,Modified H-28,Drascombe longboat,Yankee Clipper, 35' Finnsailor,modified T-bird, Vega 27, etc. And this list, some of which, I would like to forget, does not include a few powerboats. Actually more working on and paying slip rent and mortgages then using. So I down sized.- Rich
 
I've only owned one sailboat, a 16 foot spritsail rigged cutie. But, I have sailed since I was 9 or 10. A Port Madison, Racoon Flyer, Columbia 19, 22, 26, and 36, Morgan 30, Flying Scott, C-Scow and a CT 41. My brother is the hard core sailor, and most of my sailing has been crewing for him. He likes to race, but I am too laid back for too much of that. Case in point; yesterday, racing out of Everett in what he said were 15-30 mph winds, with the shoot up, the mast broke and went overboard!! Thank goodness no one was hurt. :shock: And, thank goodness, I was out in my C-Dory, far far away. Robbi
 
Nick,

We had a 31 ft trimaran sailboat for 12 years before we got our C-Dory.

Sold the trimaran in 94 to build a 44 ft trimaran, now nearing completion.

We still plan to keep the C-Dory.
 
Nick --
El has been sailing since before she could walk -- she raced dyer dinks as a kid. When we were married, she taught me to sail -- and we have had a variety of sailboats since then. Used to coach a prep school sailing team. Our last sailboat was a Pacific Seacraft 20' Flicka, that we lived aboard for about three years and took around the Great Loop.
 
I had two different sailboats back in the late 80's to early 90's. First one was a 14' C-Lark that I owned for one year. Moved up to a Sea Pearl 21 for 5 years. Discovered an interesting thing about sailing in Puget Sound: When you want to go north, the wind is from the north. As soon as you decide to go south, the wind does a 180 degree shift! I decided that I make a better power boater than a sailor.
Best Regards, Leo.
 
I have had a Hobie 16 since 1983 (Wings) and a Fuji 40 sloop (Zephyrus) since 1992. Funny how when I'm out in Island Flyer (22 C-Dory) I wish for fast passasge, direct courses, no wind and calm waters. When I'm out in Zephyrus, the more wind the better, breaking waves, no hurry to get anywhere and you rarely go straight to your destination. There is a sense of power, peace and excitement when you trim the sails just right and that same sense appears when you advance the throttle on the C-Dory. They both require balance and control. Both ways have a wonderful purpose and satisfaction and I wouldn't trade any of the great experiences in either mode. When I fuel up the sailboat it costs alot less (they say the wind is free but the boat isn't), but the cost for the lines to moor and control the C-Dory aren't even in the same league. I've heard it said that the best days of owning a boat are the day you buy it and the day you sell it. I actually have found the best is in between. Being on the water is good for the soul, no matter how you do it. :wink:

Rhys
 
My wife Cathy and I owned and raced El Toros, FJ's, and lastly Lido's for32 years until retiring from both teaching and sailboat racing and moving from the Bay Area to Redding, Ca. Raced about 150-200 races a year, on the average. Won 72% of all the races we sailed in the Lido during the last eight years from 1995-2003. Total change of gears from absolute competition to laid back fishing and cruising. Retirement is GOOD!!! Joe.
 
Nick:

We also made the transition. First sailboat was a Newport 30 for 5 years and then a Morgan 382 for 6 years. Plied the water of South Texas. Arghhh.
 
Was a racing crew member on a 72-foot Britton Chance design called Dance II out of Chicago in 1984. Did three Chicago-Mackinac Island races on it in subsequent years. Got a paying job as crew on a 93-foot New Zealand-built sailboat called Odyssey. Took it from Chicago through the lakes, up St. Lawrence River, and outside passage to Florida. Didn't have much more to do with boats (other than kayaks) until 2001 when we got the Otter but would echo what Rhys wrote so nicely above. Sail, motor, or kayak -- being on the water is indeed good for the soul.
 
As a matter of fact, "Snowdon" is the first power boat I've had even a little faith in. Jane raced Moths as a child in New Jersey. I thought sailing was hot, tedious, and slow, as well as terrifying for the first few years of our marriage, but came around. We've owned a variety of boats, including a 25-foot cat yawl leeboard sharpie by Ray Bolger, and currently own a Drascombe Lugger and a Tremolino trimaran (we specialize in strange but pretty neat boats) as well as "Snowdon". Anyone want to buy a trimaran which uses a Hobie 16 rig, sails upright at two-digit speeds, and feels like you're sailing a fork? All of our boats have been used for cruising--on some you slept on the floorboards, but had unlimited standing headroom.
 
Wow, lots of neat boats and experiences under sail out there: Flickas, Dracombs (always admired , but have never seen one) and multis. Many cult type boats, long distance cruisers and even a Chicago-Mac veteran.

I crewed on a Piver 61 tri in the Lake Ontario Multihull Challenge: Toronto to Rochester, leaving at sunset. About 90 nautical miles and we set the pace with a winning time of 4 hours 59 minutes. Running a 5200 sq ft chute after dark is a challenge!

Nick
"Valkyrie"
 
Hi All,

I started reading about sailing when I was in grade school - Francis Chichester and Gypsy Moth. I started sailing on a styrofoam Snark sailboat while in school at a tech. college. After getting a job I got a West Wight Potter 15 and learned about sailing on San Francisco bay ( almost ruined the wife for boating with the learning curve). We went on to share a 23ft and a 26ft sailboat with some good friends until I got the bug for a larger boat on the bay. My last one was a 1974 Tartan 30. Had a lot of fun sailing the bay with lots of people.

I got tired of not being able to take it where I wanted to go such as the San Jauns. I sold the Tartan around 1998 with the idea of getting a trailerable sailboat. Then I started sea kayaking. This kept me on the water since I could not find the right boat.

I had seen and admired the C-Dory for years but did not think I could give up sailing (although I allready had). I got the bug about this time last year and bought my 22 in Sept. We spent 15 nights on board in the San Juans and Gulf Islands. And a friend just bought an Olson 30 sailboat - now I can do both.

Steve
 
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