What is your earliest sailing recollection? Your story?

[CaptainScott]

Just getting to know you guys!

What is your earliest sailing memory? How did you get to sailing today?

Mine?

As a kid around fourth grade my dad got a wild hair and brought a Sunfish home! He took me sailing on Moses Lake Wa. I clearly remember the cold air, water spray, and ducking under the sail when we tacked. It was cold, wet, and I was hooked! Over the next several years I sailed with him every chance I got! Love that 'ole Sunfish!

<Fast Forward>

Now in early High School I ws sailing almost every summer weekend and as many days after school as possible. See, my parents had since bought a house on the water! All I had to do was slip one of the now TWO Sunfish's off the dock and go! One day to my excitment dad decided to sell sailboats! YEP! Guess which ones? CHRYSLER DAGGERS! He ordered 3 brand new! Promptly sold two and worked a deal for me to buy the third from him! Yep! Had my first sailboat before my first car! Well, the Chrysler thing did not work out and he never bought another Chrysler again. However I was in! I had a Dagger!

<FF> just a year or so. Dad worked for the local community college. He decided to teach sailing as a college summer elective class. Nice. You see we lived on the lake and the college provided 8 Sunfish stored where? OUR HOUSE! Yeah! Now 10 sunfish and one Chrysler Dagger in our back yard!! Now for the unexpected added bonus! Colledge girls are attracted to sailing it seems more than guys. Well in Moses Lake anyway. WOO HOO! I was a high school kid at home with twice as many colledge girls than guys at our house on the nice weekends and they were in bikini's!! Yep! They ALL needed help! You see, I could sail very well by then!!!!!

Well, needless to say, sailing was permanently infused in my blood by then. That Chrysler Dagger stayed with me until my late twenties. I had to sell it. I was buying a house and desparately needed a downpayment.
It was one of the hardest sells I ever made but one of the best. You see, selling that boat only opened the door and acted as a stepping stone towards bigger and better days of sailing. Many boats later I find myself yet again in the Chrysler family! I've never owned a Chrysler car. Go figure.

OK, that is the synopsis of a few events in my life leading to my current sailing style.

I would LOVE to hear some of yours.
Do not whimp out and indicate that your story is not worth the read. They all are. It is not one story that makes it fun, it is the compilation of many stories to sift through!!

Bring them on!!

Scott

[FranS]

I got started late. In my first job after Law School I worked for The City Law Department. My boss and his father had a sailboat , about 24 feet, they kept out in Sheepshead Bay in Brooklyn. He took every Friday off in the summer to go sailing with his Dad and he would invite 2 or 3 of us each week to go along. It was my first time on a sail boat, when he cut the engine and the wind hit the sails I loved it. John , my old boss died about 10 years ago and I never got a chance to tell him how that one afternoon affected my life.

It was about 7 years later that a friend asked me if I was interested in taking sailing lessons with her. Having time and disposable income I agreed. We got ASA Basic certfication and then bareboated twice in the BVI. My sailing life went into another hiatus for a while until I got hooked up with a volunteer group which crews antique schooners here in NY at the South Street Seaport. I did that for about 5 years. I then meet my husband and those 8:00Am Saturday morning training sails didn't seem so attractive anymore.

Right before we got married we spotted our 22 on e-bay. Bought her four years ago . I think that sailing will be a permanent part of our lives from now on.

[Gus]

Just getting to know you guys!

What is your earliest sailing memory? How did you get to sailing today?

Mine?

As a kid around fourth grade my dad got a wild hair and brought a Sunfish home! He took me sailing on Moses Lake Wa. I clearly remember the cold air, water spray, and ducking under the sail when we tacked. It was cold, wet, and I was hooked! Over the next several years I sailed with him every chance I got! Love that 'ole Sunfish!

<Fast Forward>

Now in early High School I ws sailing almost every summer weekend and as many days after school as possible. See, my parents had since bought a house on the water! All I had to do was slip one of the now TWO Sunfish's off the dock and go! One day to my excitment dad decided to sell sailboats! YEP! Guess which ones? CHRYSLER DAGGERS! He ordered 3 brand new! Promptly sold two and worked a deal for me to buy the third from him! Yep! Had my first sailboat before my first car! Well, the Chrysler thing did not work out and he never bought another Chrysler again. However I was in! I had a Dagger!

<FF> just a year or so. Dad worked for the local community college. He decided to teach sailing as a college summer elective class. Nice. You see we lived on the lake and the college provided 8 Sunfish stored where? OUR HOUSE! Yeah! Now 10 sunfish and one Chrysler Dagger in our back yard!! Now for the unexpected added bonus! Colledge girls are attracted to sailing it seems more than guys. Well in Moses Lake anyway. WOO HOO! I was a high school kid at home with twice as many colledge girls than guys at our house on the nice weekends and they were in bikini's!! Yep! They ALL needed help! You see, I could sail very well by then!!!!!

Well, needless to say, sailing was permanently infused in my blood by then. That Chrysler Dagger stayed with me until my late twenties. I had to sell it. I was buying a house and desparately needed a downpayment.
It was one of the hardest sells I ever made but one of the best. You see, selling that boat only opened the door and acted as a stepping stone towards bigger and better days of sailing. Many boats later I find myself yet again in the Chrysler family! I've never owned a Chrysler car. Go figure.

OK, that is the synopsis of a few events in my life leading to my current sailing style.

I would LOVE to hear some of yours.
Do not whimp out and indicate that your story is not worth the read. They all are. It is not one story that makes it fun, it is the compilation of many stories to sift through!!

Bring them on!!

Scott

You lucky dog!!! I didn't get to sail for the first time until 2005. I went to fish, and there was a ramp near by, so I went to check out the boats and what not, and I was talking to this couple of ex military guys (vietnam vets) and they took me for a short sail, but sadly there was no wind.
So basically, the first time I sailed was the second time I got my Chrysler out in the water. The first time I went out AS IS. Big mistake, the boat leaked everywhere, ex wife got seasick, her kid got seasick, my kid got seasick, etc. Turned around and went home thinking that I was going to sell the boat. I didn't touch her for a month, then one day just clicked, fix everything I had to fix, went to the lake, and I had a blast.
Oh, on the side note, I've been attracted to sailboats since early age, I used to drawn sailboats in pieces of paper all the time.

[Wag4513]

[Bhacurly]

Not fair at all Capt Scott!

My first sail was in Tucson AZ in the mid 70's with a buddy who took me out in a Sunfish,, 2 of us and a case a beer,, it was in more of a pond then a lake and we had more water in the lil boat then out I think... but it was a blast...

Didn't sail much again for years when we would rent a boat on Lake Coeur D'Alene in North Idaho and go with the ex and family... Ex mother in law bought a 16' Sloop "Peregrine" made in Nova Scotia and I was the only one one that could sail... Nice lil boat with roller furler and could tow it with a VW GTI, launch by myself in 15mins... Blew off a lot of studying in college to go sailing...

I won't say how I broke that boat : ) but divorced and didn't sail again until few yrs ago when I found my C-22 down the road in need of repairs. My Sweety (Pam) an daughter enjoyed it so much I bought a Catalina 27 project boat I hope to have done this summer... Pam has a brother that lives in Southern Alaska and we're thinking we may want to head up the inland passage eventually.

Sailing is something we both really enjoy, if we could just get the 5 horses and 5 doggies on board some how it would be perfect!

[Banshi]

It was 1969 or there abouts, my Uncle Harry (who was actually my grandmothers brother so great uncle i guess) bought a snark for my cousin so we could all learn to sail out to the islands running up the middle of the Sebastian river. He owned a home on the west side of the river directly across from the Sebastian Inlet. The boat was foam so he glassed the bottom to keep the oysters that blanketed the shallow west side of the river from cutting it to shreds. Before he let us sail I remember him taking us out on the porch table, with the cool ocean breeze blowing through the windows, with a small model sail boat showing the basics of sailing and the rules we would have to follow if we wished to keep sailing. We had many great days of sailing, I was the grand old age of 6. I sailed off and on up until high school where I raced lightnings out of the rudder club in Jax but stopped sailing until recently when I bought my 22 and my Sunfish. The Sunfish reminds me most of those early years. I still have a picture of that little boat
I am 7 or 8 years older in the picture but this is where we sailed you can see how shallow the water is. That is my Uncle Harry in the yellow, my mother behind him, my brother next to me on the far left and two cousins.

[EmergencyExit]

Oh, man, look at that menthol filter brand logo on the sail !

[Banshi]

It was a different time

[EmergencyExit]

Yep, it was. Looks like is was a great time as well !

[CaptainScott]

More stories anyone?

Awe come on! I'm sitting here on a conference call! I need something to read!

Help out a guy would ya!


Scott

[EmergencyExit]

Really Scott how shameful looking for posts while on a long conference call. Really.

Play Scrabble online like a normal IT guy, geez.

[CaptainScott]

[thepartydog]

IT? I knew there was something wrong with you EE. Would be curious to see how many IT geeks are on this board.


Darin

[EmergencyExit]

At least 3. Scott, me, and (I'm not telling, they'll have to 'fess up)

[Wag4513]

IT = International Taxation?

[Banshi]

Do to a change in profession make that 4 IT=Interstate Trucker

[lecker68]

My earliest sailing was at age 8 I was crewing for an older friend on his Penguin which the next year when he got a lightning and mind you these both had wood mast and boom. I know I am dating my age when I say that but that sailing with him the first year got me hooked and my father did not like sailboats so when I was 11 the same man got a thisstle and gave me the lightning. So I had a friend that was a river rat like myself and he got the Penguin and we all sailed and raced for many years but all in different classes so we raced for 1st over all and we even went to the extreme of leg extentions and trappeze to get weight as far off the gunwhale as possible. We were lucky that we did not kill ourselves with some of what we concocted like 4' stilts and a 6' rudder extension. Needless to say my racing days are probably over but if I want I will keep that option open.

[2nd generation]

The first time I remember was at a beach party on Lake Michigan I was 13 years old and someone had a 14' Hobie cat. I asked about it and was given a five minute lesson and sent out solo. It was a sail or swim situation. Lucky for me it wasn't too windy that day. I sailed for about 20 minutes and was hooked.