Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Gotta' Love 'em
I spent most of my adult water time in sailboats, having come to kayaking late in life. All my life my eye has been held by the curve of a boat's hull/sail, the quiet slicing as it parted the water and its ability to walk quietly with the wind. I have had the privilege of owning and skippering good sailboats up to 42 feet in length, but my heart always went out to the day sailors in which I was right down there on and with the water. So I couldn't help but snap off a few images of this home-made, gaff-rigged sailing dingy with a loose footed mainsail and side board.
Her owner and builder, a bit frustrated by the light wind, hollered back at me, "I should have brought my kayak." He also called out his e mail address which I memorized and, since, have followed up with copies of these pics. It turned out to be a dual joy. In addition to everything else, I have an invitation to sail with him.

Paddle safe...
DS

6 comments:

Captn O Dark 30 and Super Boo said...

she's a beauty!!

Michael said...

Interesting craft. I built a similar sailing dory years ago with a tanbark sail, leeboards, but a flat bottom, one of Phil Bolger's designs. Let us know how she sails when you get out on her!

bonnie said...

Very nice indeed!

Learning to sail little boats has been one of my favorite things about Sebago. I'd worked as crew on a beautiful schooner doing passenger trips in NY Harbor for 5 years & it was FANTASTIC, but I gave that up in part because I loved the idea of learning to sail a whole entire boat by myself, not just my assigned part of a boat!

And it's been great. I haven't gotten any fancier than a Sunfish but I love sailing those little guys.

Silbs said...

Seems we all like the little sailors. After selling the big one, I got an 8-footer that one of my daughters and I enjoyed a great deal.

Unknown said...

Grandpa Jerry had a gaff rig that he was terribly proud of. It didn't sail well at all, but then, it wasn't about getting anywhere specific. He was happy to just be moving on the water with it. Just back from the RI boat show this weekend. The sail boats were gorgeous. I will be posting the pics later this week.
Rosemary

Silbs said...

You know, it's that messing around in boats thing. I believe we should do PET Brain Scans and find where in the brain this desire and love resides