Hi gang, I wrote this for someone else, but thought that you might find it interesting too. --------------------------------- Your interest in becoming a rag sailor (power boat owners are call stink potters by rag sailors ) will have you opening a new book that leads to a life-time of learning a whole series of new specialty subjects. It starts with the know-how of basic sailing, but as soon as you have mastered that you are off, into a whole new world of sailor-specific topics and knowledge. - Weather, and weather forecasting: and what do weather maps tell you? ... is it safe to undertake the planned trip? .... or should you wait till the front has passed? - Sails: since they are your power source, how can you get the most out of them? Additional sail controls? How do they work, and what do they do for sail shape? - Sail maintenance and repair. If a sail tears you have to be able to fix it. (sailor's palm / sail needles / waxed thread / scissors / sailor's knife) - Anchoring: This is a skill that is hard to learn, because you can't see the bottom where your anchor is looking for a holding spot, but it is _/*not*/_ just drop the anchor and hope for the best, keeping your fingers crossed that the anchor holds. To be safely at anchor, you have to KNOW that your anchor is holding properly. That becomes the art / science of anchoring, gained the hard way.... - Boat maintenance / painting / modifications / improvements. Each requires accumulated knowledge to be applied to the problem at hand. You have to learn knots; and where they are used and why; you have to learn how to splice lines; it is part of being the self-sufficient sailor. - Navigation. Just how do you get from A to B, or is it better to get to B by going via C? Wind directions / tide status: incoming or outgoing? with you or against you? .... GPS is fine, and very useful, but what do you do if the batteries are dead, or if you drop the GPS into the water and it no longer works? What then? That is why you need a chart, a compass, and know how to use them. Fog is something that you encounter on the water. Can you sail / motor in the fog and reach your destination safely? Do you know where you are located, or are you just guessing? Eventually, as you stretch distances and new places you wish to explore you will have to learn to sail at night: what do the flashing lights on buoys tell you? Can you identify lighthouses? It is a step-by-step learning process; the more you sail the more you learn; and the more you know, the further you want to go. - On the water you meet maritime birds: the gulls and terns, the cormorants; and the things living in the water. You see a fin sticking out of the water. What are they? ...or in Florida you may sail with a manatee, or large turtles, or spot alligators sunning themselves on a river bank. - Sailing on a small boat also influences your thinking. You have to ask yourself is this large item I want on the boat worth the storage space it requires? . ..or can I find a smaller version that does the same job better and requires less space? You will find that line of thinking will also apply at home. - Maritime history: That is another subject you find yourself immersed in. It is why Brazil speaks Portuguese and the rest of South America speaks Spanish. Why? Well, back around 1494, Portugal and Spain each were claiming ownership to half the world. It was finally settled by a Treaty of Tordesillas, brokered by the Pope, that gave Spain the western half of the world, and Portugal (who already knew their way out to the East Indies -Indonesia) the eastern half. The line that was drawn through the Atlantic Ocean gave the South American bulge, which is now Brazil to the Portuguese, while what remained became owned by Spain. This is also the reason why other countries went off looking for a route to the East Indies (to get to the very lucrative spice trade - controlled by the Portuguese) -Columbus went west; Henry Hudson went north; someone else tried to go over the top of Russia and got stranded in the winter ice and escaped on foot back to Europe.... They all were trying to get around the Pope's Treaty dividing up the world between Spain and Portugal. They wanted their part of the wealth too. You are thinking of entering a new world through sailing. Open the door, start learning, and enjoy it for your whole lifetime. It is a never ending learning process that is always fun and interesting. Connie -
A good sailing class is also worth the time and expense. Check your local marina, or the various sailing journals such as "Small Craft Advisor", "Good Old Boat", "Sailing" (for higher budget sailors), and the publishers of "WoodenBoat" offer excellent classes. Steve M-15 # 335 ----- Original Message ----- From: "Conbert Benneck" <chbenneck@gmail.com> To: "For and about Montgomery Sailboats" <montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Monday, June 23, 2014 12:36 PM Subject: M_Boats: Musings
Hi gang,
I wrote this for someone else, but thought that you might find it interesting too.
---------------------------------
Your interest in becoming a rag sailor (power boat owners are call stink potters by rag sailors ) will have you opening a new book that leads to a life-time of learning a whole series of new specialty subjects.
It starts with the know-how of basic sailing, but as soon as you have mastered that you are off, into a whole new world of sailor-specific topics and knowledge.
- Weather, and weather forecasting: and what do weather maps tell you? ... is it safe to undertake the planned trip? .... or should you wait till the front has passed?
- Sails: since they are your power source, how can you get the most out of them? Additional sail controls? How do they work, and what do they do for sail shape?
- Sail maintenance and repair. If a sail tears you have to be able to fix it. (sailor's palm / sail needles / waxed thread / scissors / sailor's knife)
- Anchoring: This is a skill that is hard to learn, because you can't see the bottom where your anchor is looking for a holding spot, but it is _/*not*/_ just drop the anchor and hope for the best, keeping your fingers crossed that the anchor holds. To be safely at anchor, you have to KNOW that your anchor is holding properly. That becomes the art / science of anchoring, gained the hard way....
- Boat maintenance / painting / modifications / improvements. Each requires accumulated knowledge to be applied to the problem at hand. You have to learn knots; and where they are used and why; you have to learn how to splice lines; it is part of being the self-sufficient sailor.
- Navigation. Just how do you get from A to B, or is it better to get to B by going via C? Wind directions / tide status: incoming or outgoing? with you or against you? .... GPS is fine, and very useful, but what do you do if the batteries are dead, or if you drop the GPS into the water and it no longer works? What then? That is why you need a chart, a compass, and know how to use them. Fog is something that you encounter on the water. Can you sail / motor in the fog and reach your destination safely? Do you know where you are located, or are you just guessing? Eventually, as you stretch distances and new places you wish to explore you will have to learn to sail at night: what do the flashing lights on buoys tell you? Can you identify lighthouses? It is a step-by-step learning process; the more you sail the more you learn; and the more you know, the further you want to go.
- On the water you meet maritime birds: the gulls and terns, the cormorants; and the things living in the water. You see a fin sticking out of the water. What are they? ...or in Florida you may sail with a manatee, or large turtles, or spot alligators sunning themselves on a river bank.
- Sailing on a small boat also influences your thinking. You have to ask yourself is this large item I want on the boat worth the storage space it requires? . ..or can I find a smaller version that does the same job better and requires less space? You will find that line of thinking will also apply at home.
- Maritime history: That is another subject you find yourself immersed in. It is why Brazil speaks Portuguese and the rest of South America speaks Spanish. Why? Well, back around 1494, Portugal and Spain each were claiming ownership to half the world. It was finally settled by a Treaty of Tordesillas, brokered by the Pope, that gave Spain the western half of the world, and Portugal (who already knew their way out to the East Indies -Indonesia) the eastern half. The line that was drawn through the Atlantic Ocean gave the South American bulge, which is now Brazil to the Portuguese, while what remained became owned by Spain.
This is also the reason why other countries went off looking for a route to the East Indies (to get to the very lucrative spice trade - controlled by the Portuguese) -Columbus went west; Henry Hudson went north; someone else tried to go over the top of Russia and got stranded in the winter ice and escaped on foot back to Europe.... They all were trying to get around the Pope's Treaty dividing up the world between Spain and Portugal. They wanted their part of the wealth too.
You are thinking of entering a new world through sailing. Open the door, start learning, and enjoy it for your whole lifetime. It is a never ending learning process that is always fun and interesting.
Connie
-
I need an old salt like you on the power side of boating. The Yacht Club is full of older power boaters. I need to get back to that crowd. I just can't stand the Pot Luck Dinners. I just never fit in somehow.....Larry with the C-Dory 22 and the new cockpit enclosure. On Monday, June 23, 2014 12:37 PM, Conbert Benneck <chbenneck@gmail.com> wrote: Hi gang, I wrote this for someone else, but thought that you might find it interesting too. --------------------------------- Your interest in becoming a rag sailor (power boat owners are call stink potters by rag sailors ) will have you opening a new book that leads to a life-time of learning a whole series of new specialty subjects. It starts with the know-how of basic sailing, but as soon as you have mastered that you are off, into a whole new world of sailor-specific topics and knowledge. - Weather, and weather forecasting: and what do weather maps tell you? ... is it safe to undertake the planned trip? .... or should you wait till the front has passed? - Sails: since they are your power source, how can you get the most out of them? Additional sail controls? How do they work, and what do they do for sail shape? - Sail maintenance and repair. If a sail tears you have to be able to fix it. (sailor's palm / sail needles / waxed thread / scissors / sailor's knife) - Anchoring: This is a skill that is hard to learn, because you can't see the bottom where your anchor is looking for a holding spot, but it is _/*not*/_ just drop the anchor and hope for the best, keeping your fingers crossed that the anchor holds. To be safely at anchor, you have to KNOW that your anchor is holding properly. That becomes the art / science of anchoring, gained the hard way.... - Boat maintenance / painting / modifications / improvements. Each requires accumulated knowledge to be applied to the problem at hand. You have to learn knots; and where they are used and why; you have to learn how to splice lines; it is part of being the self-sufficient sailor. - Navigation. Just how do you get from A to B, or is it better to get to B by going via C? Wind directions / tide status: incoming or outgoing? with you or against you? .... GPS is fine, and very useful, but what do you do if the batteries are dead, or if you drop the GPS into the water and it no longer works? What then? That is why you need a chart, a compass, and know how to use them. Fog is something that you encounter on the water. Can you sail / motor in the fog and reach your destination safely? Do you know where you are located, or are you just guessing? Eventually, as you stretch distances and new places you wish to explore you will have to learn to sail at night: what do the flashing lights on buoys tell you? Can you identify lighthouses? It is a step-by-step learning process; the more you sail the more you learn; and the more you know, the further you want to go. - On the water you meet maritime birds: the gulls and terns, the cormorants; and the things living in the water. You see a fin sticking out of the water. What are they? ...or in Florida you may sail with a manatee, or large turtles, or spot alligators sunning themselves on a river bank. - Sailing on a small boat also influences your thinking. You have to ask yourself is this large item I want on the boat worth the storage space it requires? . ..or can I find a smaller version that does the same job better and requires less space? You will find that line of thinking will also apply at home. - Maritime history: That is another subject you find yourself immersed in. It is why Brazil speaks Portuguese and the rest of South America speaks Spanish. Why? Well, back around 1494, Portugal and Spain each were claiming ownership to half the world. It was finally settled by a Treaty of Tordesillas, brokered by the Pope, that gave Spain the western half of the world, and Portugal (who already knew their way out to the East Indies -Indonesia) the eastern half. The line that was drawn through the Atlantic Ocean gave the South American bulge, which is now Brazil to the Portuguese, while what remained became owned by Spain. This is also the reason why other countries went off looking for a route to the East Indies (to get to the very lucrative spice trade - controlled by the Portuguese) -Columbus went west; Henry Hudson went north; someone else tried to go over the top of Russia and got stranded in the winter ice and escaped on foot back to Europe.... They all were trying to get around the Pope's Treaty dividing up the world between Spain and Portugal. They wanted their part of the wealth too. You are thinking of entering a new world through sailing. Open the door, start learning, and enjoy it for your whole lifetime. It is a never ending learning process that is always fun and interesting. Connie -
Thanks Connie, Always interested in your wit and wisdom... Chris On Mon, Jun 23, 2014 at 10:21 PM, larry hughston <lahughston@att.net> wrote:
I need an old salt like you on the power side of boating. The Yacht Club is full of older power boaters. I need to get back to that crowd. I just can't stand the Pot Luck Dinners. I just never fit in somehow.....Larry with the C-Dory 22 and the new cockpit enclosure.
On Monday, June 23, 2014 12:37 PM, Conbert Benneck <chbenneck@gmail.com> wrote:
Hi gang,
I wrote this for someone else, but thought that you might find it interesting too.
---------------------------------
Your interest in becoming a rag sailor (power boat owners are call stink potters by rag sailors ) will have you opening a new book that leads to a life-time of learning a whole series of new specialty subjects.
It starts with the know-how of basic sailing, but as soon as you have mastered that you are off, into a whole new world of sailor-specific topics and knowledge.
- Weather, and weather forecasting: and what do weather maps tell you? ... is it safe to undertake the planned trip? .... or should you wait till the front has passed?
- Sails: since they are your power source, how can you get the most out of them? Additional sail controls? How do they work, and what do they do for sail shape?
- Sail maintenance and repair. If a sail tears you have to be able to fix it. (sailor's palm / sail needles / waxed thread / scissors / sailor's knife)
- Anchoring: This is a skill that is hard to learn, because you can't see the bottom where your anchor is looking for a holding spot, but it is _/*not*/_ just drop the anchor and hope for the best, keeping your fingers crossed that the anchor holds. To be safely at anchor, you have to KNOW that your anchor is holding properly. That becomes the art / science of anchoring, gained the hard way....
- Boat maintenance / painting / modifications / improvements. Each requires accumulated knowledge to be applied to the problem at hand. You have to learn knots; and where they are used and why; you have to learn how to splice lines; it is part of being the self-sufficient sailor.
- Navigation. Just how do you get from A to B, or is it better to get to B by going via C? Wind directions / tide status: incoming or outgoing? with you or against you? .... GPS is fine, and very useful, but what do you do if the batteries are dead, or if you drop the GPS into the water and it no longer works? What then? That is why you need a chart, a compass, and know how to use them. Fog is something that you encounter on the water. Can you sail / motor in the fog and reach your destination safely? Do you know where you are located, or are you just guessing? Eventually, as you stretch distances and new places you wish to explore you will have to learn to sail at night: what do the flashing lights on buoys tell you? Can you identify lighthouses? It is a step-by-step learning process; the more you sail the more you learn; and the more you know, the further you want to go.
- On the water you meet maritime birds: the gulls and terns, the cormorants; and the things living in the water. You see a fin sticking out of the water. What are they? ...or in Florida you may sail with a manatee, or large turtles, or spot alligators sunning themselves on a river bank.
- Sailing on a small boat also influences your thinking. You have to ask yourself is this large item I want on the boat worth the storage space it requires? . ..or can I find a smaller version that does the same job better and requires less space? You will find that line of thinking will also apply at home.
- Maritime history: That is another subject you find yourself immersed in. It is why Brazil speaks Portuguese and the rest of South America speaks Spanish. Why? Well, back around 1494, Portugal and Spain each were claiming ownership to half the world. It was finally settled by a Treaty of Tordesillas, brokered by the Pope, that gave Spain the western half of the world, and Portugal (who already knew their way out to the East Indies -Indonesia) the eastern half. The line that was drawn through the Atlantic Ocean gave the South American bulge, which is now Brazil to the Portuguese, while what remained became owned by Spain.
This is also the reason why other countries went off looking for a route to the East Indies (to get to the very lucrative spice trade - controlled by the Portuguese) -Columbus went west; Henry Hudson went north; someone else tried to go over the top of Russia and got stranded in the winter ice and escaped on foot back to Europe.... They all were trying to get around the Pope's Treaty dividing up the world between Spain and Portugal. They wanted their part of the wealth too.
You are thinking of entering a new world through sailing. Open the door, start learning, and enjoy it for your whole lifetime. It is a never ending learning process that is always fun and interesting.
Connie
-
-- Chris
Chris, Larry here. Just read Connie's Wit and Wisdom piece. I always feel quite the fool when I read anything that Connie publishes. I would love to be the fly on the wall when he talks of anything that has to do with sailing or even (I just became one with humble apologies) a power boater after like me and my minimal sailing in local lakes in the Sacramento region. Connie has given his blessings to my power boat endeavors and for that I grateful. I am now having more time on the water (Sacramento River) but still bumping things at the dock on my way to the slip. The winds in the valley are not dependable so this was the obvious choice. But I was a proud owner of my M-15 which is now for sale and is in great (not perfect) condition (1981 build by Jerry M.) "Fair Winds"...... Larry with "Loreley" my C-Dory 22 -----Original Message----- From: montgomery_boats [mailto:montgomery_boats-bounces@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Chris Smith Sent: Tuesday, June 24, 2014 7:37 AM To: For and about Montgomery Sailboats Subject: Re: M_Boats: Musings Thanks Connie, Always interested in your wit and wisdom... Chris On Mon, Jun 23, 2014 at 10:21 PM, larry hughston <lahughston@att.net> wrote:
I need an old salt like you on the power side of boating. The Yacht Club is full of older power boaters. I need to get back to that crowd. I just can't stand the Pot Luck Dinners. I just never fit in somehow.....Larry with the C-Dory 22 and the new cockpit enclosure.
On Monday, June 23, 2014 12:37 PM, Conbert Benneck <chbenneck@gmail.com> wrote:
Hi gang,
I wrote this for someone else, but thought that you might find it interesting too.
---------------------------------
Your interest in becoming a rag sailor (power boat owners are call stink potters by rag sailors ) will have you opening a new book that leads to a life-time of learning a whole series of new specialty subjects.
It starts with the know-how of basic sailing, but as soon as you have mastered that you are off, into a whole new world of sailor-specific topics and knowledge.
- Weather, and weather forecasting: and what do weather maps tell you? ... is it safe to undertake the planned trip? .... or should you wait till the front has passed?
- Sails: since they are your power source, how can you get the most out of them? Additional sail controls? How do they work, and what do they do for sail shape?
- Sail maintenance and repair. If a sail tears you have to be able to fix it. (sailor's palm / sail needles / waxed thread / scissors / sailor's knife)
- Anchoring: This is a skill that is hard to learn, because you can't see the bottom where your anchor is looking for a holding spot, but it is _/*not*/_ just drop the anchor and hope for the best, keeping your fingers crossed that the anchor holds. To be safely at anchor, you have to KNOW that your anchor is holding properly. That becomes the art / science of anchoring, gained the hard way....
- Boat maintenance / painting / modifications / improvements. Each requires accumulated knowledge to be applied to the problem at hand. You have to learn knots; and where they are used and why; you have to learn how to splice lines; it is part of being the self-sufficient sailor.
- Navigation. Just how do you get from A to B, or is it better to get to B by going via C? Wind directions / tide status: incoming or outgoing? with you or against you? .... GPS is fine, and very useful, but what do you do if the batteries are dead, or if you drop the GPS into the water and it no longer works? What then? That is why you need a chart, a compass, and know how to use them. Fog is something that you encounter on the water. Can you sail / motor in the fog and reach your destination safely? Do you know where you are located, or are you just guessing? Eventually, as you stretch distances and new places you wish to explore you will have to learn to sail at night: what do the flashing lights on buoys tell you? Can you identify lighthouses? It is a step-by-step learning process; the more you sail the more you learn; and the more you know, the further you want to go.
- On the water you meet maritime birds: the gulls and terns, the cormorants; and the things living in the water. You see a fin sticking out of the water. What are they? ...or in Florida you may sail with a manatee, or large turtles, or spot alligators sunning themselves on a river bank.
- Sailing on a small boat also influences your thinking. You have to ask yourself is this large item I want on the boat worth the storage space it requires? . ..or can I find a smaller version that does the same job better and requires less space? You will find that line of thinking will also apply at home.
- Maritime history: That is another subject you find yourself immersed in. It is why Brazil speaks Portuguese and the rest of South America speaks Spanish. Why? Well, back around 1494, Portugal and Spain each were claiming ownership to half the world. It was finally settled by a Treaty of Tordesillas, brokered by the Pope, that gave Spain the western half of the world, and Portugal (who already knew their way out to the East Indies -Indonesia) the eastern half. The line that was drawn through the Atlantic Ocean gave the South American bulge, which is now Brazil to the Portuguese, while what remained became owned by Spain.
This is also the reason why other countries went off looking for a route to the East Indies (to get to the very lucrative spice trade - controlled by the Portuguese) -Columbus went west; Henry Hudson went north; someone else tried to go over the top of Russia and got stranded in the winter ice and escaped on foot back to Europe.... They all were trying to get around the Pope's Treaty dividing up the world between Spain and Portugal. They wanted their part of the wealth too.
You are thinking of entering a new world through sailing. Open the door, start learning, and enjoy it for your whole lifetime. It is a never ending learning process that is always fun and interesting.
Connie
-
-- Chris
On 24-Jun-14 9:48 AM, Hughston, Larry@DGS wrote: Hi Larry, Playing on the water is the main thing, but the kind of playing you can do is largely dictated by your local "playing" conditions. With wide open waters (large lakes, or the ocean) you can be a sailor, but if your local conditions (twisty river / gusty winds from all directions / or commercial traffic) then the answer is a powerboat. We had one for several years when the Company had us move from Cologne, Germany to Paris. In Paris all we had to play in was the Seine (Paris' open sewer system that smelled terribly in late summer when the flow rate was way down 1963-67) that was full of commercial barge traffic, or the inland waterways. They were nice places to putter around on but not a place where you could sail. So, our solution, that I found at the Amsterdam Boat Show, was a standard Norwegian fishing boat with small cabin and a stand-up pilot house. It had a 10 HP single cylinder SABB diesel with a variable pitch propeller (using that spoils you forever). We had one built in Norway and took delivery in Rotterdam. Then we traveled via inland Dutch, Belgian, and French waterways back to Paris. We went through about 120 locks, with most of the French ones, all hand operated, .... and French canals went through long unlit tunnels.... The following year we went down the Seine to Le Havre and back to Paris. Below the last lock on the Seine you are at Rouen, which is a maritime port, subject to 25 foot high tide changes. From Rouen to Le Havre you can only go with the flow... and the outgoing tide takes you down river at boat speed ~ 10 knots + 5 to 6 knots water speed. It's quite a ride. We lived with our putt-putt for three years, but then my wife complained. There were no sheets to adjust / no halyards to tighten / the helmsman was the only person doing anything, and as I said before the Seine stank in August. So we considered buying a sailboat. The problem became where to keep the boat. With the 24 to 26 foot tides on the English Channel, all the small French ports had locks that were only opened about a half hour before high water and closed again at high water. The only place we could come and go at any stage of the tide was Le Havre. After working out the logistics of how to get there on a Friday afternoon, we bought our sailboat and sold the powerboat. Connie Chris, Larry here. Just read Connie's Wit and Wisdom piece. I always feel quite the fool when I read anything that Connie publishes. I would love to be the fly on the wall when he talks of anything that has to do with sailing or even (I just became one with humble apologies) a power boater after like me and my minimal sailing in local lakes in the Sacramento region. Connie has given his blessings to my power boat endeavors and for that I grateful. I am now having more time on the water (Sacramento River) but still bumping things at the dock on my way to the slip. The winds in the valley are not dependable so this was the obvious choice. But I was a proud owner of my M-15 which is now for sale and is in great (not perfect) condition (1981 build by Jerry M.) "Fair Winds"...... Larry with "Loreley" my C-Dory 22 -----Original Message----- From: montgomery_boats [mailto:montgomery_boats-bounces@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Chris Smith Sent: Tuesday, June 24, 2014 7:37 AM To: For and about Montgomery Sailboats Subject: Re: M_Boats: Musings Thanks Connie, Always interested in your wit and wisdom... Chris On Mon, Jun 23, 2014 at 10:21 PM, larry hughston <lahughston@att.net> wrote:
I need an old salt like you on the power side of boating. The Yacht Club is full of older power boaters. I need to get back to that crowd. I just can't stand the Pot Luck Dinners. I just never fit in somehow.....Larry with the C-Dory 22 and the new cockpit enclosure.
On Monday, June 23, 2014 12:37 PM, Conbert Benneck <chbenneck@gmail.com> wrote:
Hi gang,
I wrote this for someone else, but thought that you might find it interesting too.
---------------------------------
Your interest in becoming a rag sailor (power boat owners are call stink potters by rag sailors ) will have you opening a new book that leads to a life-time of learning a whole series of new specialty subjects.
It starts with the know-how of basic sailing, but as soon as you have mastered that you are off, into a whole new world of sailor-specific topics and knowledge.
- Weather, and weather forecasting: and what do weather maps tell you? ... is it safe to undertake the planned trip? .... or should you wait till the front has passed?
- Sails: since they are your power source, how can you get the most out of them? Additional sail controls? How do they work, and what do they do for sail shape?
- Sail maintenance and repair. If a sail tears you have to be able to fix it. (sailor's palm / sail needles / waxed thread / scissors / sailor's knife)
- Anchoring: This is a skill that is hard to learn, because you can't see the bottom where your anchor is looking for a holding spot, but it is _/*not*/_ just drop the anchor and hope for the best, keeping your fingers crossed that the anchor holds. To be safely at anchor, you have to KNOW that your anchor is holding properly. That becomes the art / science of anchoring, gained the hard way....
- Boat maintenance / painting / modifications / improvements. Each requires accumulated knowledge to be applied to the problem at hand. You have to learn knots; and where they are used and why; you have to learn how to splice lines; it is part of being the self-sufficient sailor.
- Navigation. Just how do you get from A to B, or is it better to get to B by going via C? Wind directions / tide status: incoming or outgoing? with you or against you? .... GPS is fine, and very useful, but what do you do if the batteries are dead, or if you drop the GPS into the water and it no longer works? What then? That is why you need a chart, a compass, and know how to use them. Fog is something that you encounter on the water. Can you sail / motor in the fog and reach your destination safely? Do you know where you are located, or are you just guessing? Eventually, as you stretch distances and new places you wish to explore you will have to learn to sail at night: what do the flashing lights on buoys tell you? Can you identify lighthouses? It is a step-by-step learning process; the more you sail the more you learn; and the more you know, the further you want to go.
- On the water you meet maritime birds: the gulls and terns, the cormorants; and the things living in the water. You see a fin sticking out of the water. What are they? ...or in Florida you may sail with a manatee, or large turtles, or spot alligators sunning themselves on a river bank.
- Sailing on a small boat also influences your thinking. You have to ask yourself is this large item I want on the boat worth the storage space it requires? . ..or can I find a smaller version that does the same job better and requires less space? You will find that line of thinking will also apply at home.
- Maritime history: That is another subject you find yourself immersed in. It is why Brazil speaks Portuguese and the rest of South America speaks Spanish. Why? Well, back around 1494, Portugal and Spain each were claiming ownership to half the world. It was finally settled by a Treaty of Tordesillas, brokered by the Pope, that gave Spain the western half of the world, and Portugal (who already knew their way out to the East Indies -Indonesia) the eastern half. The line that was drawn through the Atlantic Ocean gave the South American bulge, which is now Brazil to the Portuguese, while what remained became owned by Spain.
This is also the reason why other countries went off looking for a route to the East Indies (to get to the very lucrative spice trade - controlled by the Portuguese) -Columbus went west; Henry Hudson went north; someone else tried to go over the top of Russia and got stranded in the winter ice and escaped on foot back to Europe.... They all were trying to get around the Pope's Treaty dividing up the world between Spain and Portugal. They wanted their part of the wealth too.
You are thinking of entering a new world through sailing. Open the door, start learning, and enjoy it for your whole lifetime. It is a never ending learning process that is always fun and interesting.
Connie
-
-- Chris
Wow. Your life continues to amaze and inspire me! Sounds like quite an adventure. Also sounds like you have one heck of a first mate! On Tue, Jun 24, 2014 at 12:22 PM, Conbert Benneck <chbenneck@gmail.com> wrote:
On 24-Jun-14 9:48 AM, Hughston, Larry@DGS wrote:
Hi Larry,
Playing on the water is the main thing, but the kind of playing you can do is largely dictated by your local "playing" conditions.
With wide open waters (large lakes, or the ocean) you can be a sailor, but if your local conditions (twisty river / gusty winds from all directions / or commercial traffic) then the answer is a powerboat.
We had one for several years when the Company had us move from Cologne, Germany to Paris.
In Paris all we had to play in was the Seine (Paris' open sewer system that smelled terribly in late summer when the flow rate was way down 1963-67) that was full of commercial barge traffic, or the inland waterways. They were nice places to putter around on but not a place where you could sail.
So, our solution, that I found at the Amsterdam Boat Show, was a standard Norwegian fishing boat with small cabin and a stand-up pilot house. It had a 10 HP single cylinder SABB diesel with a variable pitch propeller (using that spoils you forever).
We had one built in Norway and took delivery in Rotterdam. Then we traveled via inland Dutch, Belgian, and French waterways back to Paris. We went through about 120 locks, with most of the French ones, all hand operated, .... and French canals went through long unlit tunnels....
The following year we went down the Seine to Le Havre and back to Paris.
Below the last lock on the Seine you are at Rouen, which is a maritime port, subject to 25 foot high tide changes. From Rouen to Le Havre you can only go with the flow... and the outgoing tide takes you down river at boat speed ~ 10 knots + 5 to 6 knots water speed. It's quite a ride.
We lived with our putt-putt for three years, but then my wife complained. There were no sheets to adjust / no halyards to tighten / the helmsman was the only person doing anything, and as I said before the Seine stank in August. So we considered buying a sailboat. The problem became where to keep the boat.
With the 24 to 26 foot tides on the English Channel, all the small French ports had locks that were only opened about a half hour before high water and closed again at high water. The only place we could come and go at any stage of the tide was Le Havre.
After working out the logistics of how to get there on a Friday afternoon, we bought our sailboat and sold the powerboat.
Connie
Chris, Larry here. Just read Connie's Wit and Wisdom piece. I always feel quite the fool when I read anything that Connie publishes. I would love to be the fly on the wall when he talks of anything that has to do with sailing or even (I just became one with humble apologies) a power boater after like me and my minimal sailing in local lakes in the Sacramento region. Connie has given his blessings to my power boat endeavors and for that I grateful. I am now having more time on the water (Sacramento River) but still bumping things at the dock on my way to the slip. The winds in the valley are not dependable so this was the obvious choice. But I was a proud owner of my M-15 which is now for sale and is in great (not perfect) condition (1981 build by Jerry M.) "Fair Winds"...... Larry with "Loreley" my C-Dory 22 -----Original Message----- From: montgomery_boats [mailto: montgomery_boats-bounces@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Chris Smith Sent: Tuesday, June 24, 2014 7:37 AM To: For and about Montgomery Sailboats Subject: Re: M_Boats: Musings Thanks Connie, Always interested in your wit and wisdom... Chris On Mon, Jun 23, 2014 at 10:21 PM, larry hughston < lahughston@att.net> wrote:
I need an old salt like you on the power side of boating. The Yacht Club
is full of older power boaters. I need to get back to that crowd. I just can't stand the Pot Luck Dinners. I just never fit in somehow.....Larry with the C-Dory 22 and the new cockpit enclosure.
On Monday, June 23, 2014 12:37 PM, Conbert Benneck <chbenneck@gmail.com> wrote:
Hi gang,
I wrote this for someone else, but thought that you might find it interesting too.
---------------------------------
Your interest in becoming a rag sailor (power boat owners are call stink potters by rag sailors ) will have you opening a new book that leads to a life-time of learning a whole series of new specialty subjects.
It starts with the know-how of basic sailing, but as soon as you have mastered that you are off, into a whole new world of sailor-specific topics and knowledge.
- Weather, and weather forecasting: and what do weather maps tell you? ... is it safe to undertake the planned trip? .... or should you wait till the front has passed?
- Sails: since they are your power source, how can you get the most out of them? Additional sail controls? How do they work, and what do they do for sail shape?
- Sail maintenance and repair. If a sail tears you have to be able to fix it. (sailor's palm / sail needles / waxed thread / scissors / sailor's knife)
- Anchoring: This is a skill that is hard to learn, because you can't see the bottom where your anchor is looking for a holding spot, but it is _/*not*/_ just drop the anchor and hope for the best, keeping your fingers crossed that the anchor holds. To be safely at anchor, you have to KNOW that your anchor is holding properly. That becomes the art / science of anchoring, gained the hard way....
- Boat maintenance / painting / modifications / improvements. Each requires accumulated knowledge to be applied to the problem at hand. You have to learn knots; and where they are used and why; you have to learn how to splice lines; it is part of being the self-sufficient sailor.
- Navigation. Just how do you get from A to B, or is it better to get to B by going via C? Wind directions / tide status: incoming or outgoing? with you or against you? .... GPS is fine, and very useful, but what do you do if the batteries are dead, or if you drop the GPS into the water and it no longer works? What then? That is why you need a chart, a compass, and know how to use them. Fog is something that you encounter on the water. Can you sail / motor in the fog and reach your destination safely? Do you know where you are located, or are you just guessing? Eventually, as you stretch distances and new places you wish to explore you will have to learn to sail at night: what do the flashing lights on buoys tell you? Can you identify lighthouses? It is a step-by-step learning process; the more you sail the more you learn; and the more you know, the further you want to go.
- On the water you meet maritime birds: the gulls and terns, the cormorants; and the things living in the water. You see a fin sticking out of the water. What are they? ...or in Florida you may sail with a manatee, or large turtles, or spot alligators sunning themselves on a river bank.
- Sailing on a small boat also influences your thinking. You have to ask yourself is this large item I want on the boat worth the storage space it requires? . ..or can I find a smaller version that does the same job better and requires less space? You will find that line of thinking will also apply at home.
- Maritime history: That is another subject you find yourself immersed in. It is why Brazil speaks Portuguese and the rest of South America speaks Spanish. Why? Well, back around 1494, Portugal and Spain each were claiming ownership to half the world. It was finally settled by a Treaty of Tordesillas, brokered by the Pope, that gave Spain the western half of the world, and Portugal (who already knew their way out to the East Indies -Indonesia) the eastern half. The line that was drawn through the Atlantic Ocean gave the South American bulge, which is now Brazil to the Portuguese, while what remained became owned by Spain.
This is also the reason why other countries went off looking for a route to the East Indies (to get to the very lucrative spice trade - controlled by the Portuguese) -Columbus went west; Henry Hudson went north; someone else tried to go over the top of Russia and got stranded in the winter ice and escaped on foot back to Europe.... They all were trying to get around the Pope's Treaty dividing up the world between Spain and Portugal. They wanted their part of the wealth too.
You are thinking of entering a new world through sailing. Open the door, start learning, and enjoy it for your whole lifetime. It is a never ending learning process that is always fun and interesting.
Connie
-
-- Chris
-- Chris
One, Thank you endlessly for your military service. And Two, thanks for sharing your life's high points with all of us in the Montgomery Community on line. I may never meet you but I am old enough to know a little of what you have been through. --- Larry Hughston and "Loreley" (I am just barely a WW2 baby at the time of the Battle of Bulge) -----Original Message----- From: montgomery_boats [mailto:montgomery_boats-bounces@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Chris Smith Sent: Tuesday, June 24, 2014 1:02 PM To: For and about Montgomery Sailboats Subject: Re: M_Boats: Musings Wow. Your life continues to amaze and inspire me! Sounds like quite an adventure. Also sounds like you have one heck of a first mate! On Tue, Jun 24, 2014 at 12:22 PM, Conbert Benneck <chbenneck@gmail.com> wrote:
On 24-Jun-14 9:48 AM, Hughston, Larry@DGS wrote:
Hi Larry,
Playing on the water is the main thing, but the kind of playing you can do is largely dictated by your local "playing" conditions.
With wide open waters (large lakes, or the ocean) you can be a sailor, but if your local conditions (twisty river / gusty winds from all directions / or commercial traffic) then the answer is a powerboat.
We had one for several years when the Company had us move from Cologne, Germany to Paris.
In Paris all we had to play in was the Seine (Paris' open sewer system that smelled terribly in late summer when the flow rate was way down 1963-67) that was full of commercial barge traffic, or the inland waterways. They were nice places to putter around on but not a place where you could sail.
So, our solution, that I found at the Amsterdam Boat Show, was a standard Norwegian fishing boat with small cabin and a stand-up pilot house. It had a 10 HP single cylinder SABB diesel with a variable pitch propeller (using that spoils you forever).
We had one built in Norway and took delivery in Rotterdam. Then we traveled via inland Dutch, Belgian, and French waterways back to Paris. We went through about 120 locks, with most of the French ones, all hand operated, .... and French canals went through long unlit tunnels....
The following year we went down the Seine to Le Havre and back to Paris.
Below the last lock on the Seine you are at Rouen, which is a maritime port, subject to 25 foot high tide changes. From Rouen to Le Havre you can only go with the flow... and the outgoing tide takes you down river at boat speed ~ 10 knots + 5 to 6 knots water speed. It's quite a ride.
We lived with our putt-putt for three years, but then my wife complained. There were no sheets to adjust / no halyards to tighten / the helmsman was the only person doing anything, and as I said before the Seine stank in August. So we considered buying a sailboat. The problem became where to keep the boat.
With the 24 to 26 foot tides on the English Channel, all the small French ports had locks that were only opened about a half hour before high water and closed again at high water. The only place we could come and go at any stage of the tide was Le Havre.
After working out the logistics of how to get there on a Friday afternoon, we bought our sailboat and sold the powerboat.
Connie
Chris, Larry here. Just read Connie's Wit and Wisdom piece. I always feel quite the fool when I read anything that Connie publishes. I would love to be the fly on the wall when he talks of anything that has to do with sailing or even (I just became one with humble apologies) a power boater after like me and my minimal sailing in local lakes in the Sacramento region. Connie has given his blessings to my power boat endeavors and for that I grateful. I am now having more time on the water (Sacramento River) but still bumping things at the dock on my way to the slip. The winds in the valley are not dependable so this was the obvious choice. But I was a proud owner of my M-15 which is now for sale and is in great (not perfect) condition (1981 build by Jerry M.) "Fair Winds"...... Larry with "Loreley" my C-Dory 22 -----Original Message----- From: montgomery_boats [mailto: montgomery_boats-bounces@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Chris Smith Sent: Tuesday, June 24, 2014 7:37 AM To: For and about Montgomery Sailboats Subject: Re: M_Boats: Musings Thanks Connie, Always interested in your wit and wisdom... Chris On Mon, Jun 23, 2014 at 10:21 PM, larry hughston < lahughston@att.net> wrote:
I need an old salt like you on the power side of boating. The Yacht Club
is full of older power boaters. I need to get back to that crowd. I just can't stand the Pot Luck Dinners. I just never fit in somehow.....Larry with the C-Dory 22 and the new cockpit enclosure.
On Monday, June 23, 2014 12:37 PM, Conbert Benneck <chbenneck@gmail.com> wrote:
Hi gang,
I wrote this for someone else, but thought that you might find it interesting too.
---------------------------------
Your interest in becoming a rag sailor (power boat owners are call stink potters by rag sailors ) will have you opening a new book that leads to a life-time of learning a whole series of new specialty subjects.
It starts with the know-how of basic sailing, but as soon as you have mastered that you are off, into a whole new world of sailor-specific topics and knowledge.
- Weather, and weather forecasting: and what do weather maps tell you? ... is it safe to undertake the planned trip? .... or should you wait till the front has passed?
- Sails: since they are your power source, how can you get the most out of them? Additional sail controls? How do they work, and what do they do for sail shape?
- Sail maintenance and repair. If a sail tears you have to be able to fix it. (sailor's palm / sail needles / waxed thread / scissors / sailor's knife)
- Anchoring: This is a skill that is hard to learn, because you can't see the bottom where your anchor is looking for a holding spot, but it is _/*not*/_ just drop the anchor and hope for the best, keeping your fingers crossed that the anchor holds. To be safely at anchor, you have to KNOW that your anchor is holding properly. That becomes the art / science of anchoring, gained the hard way....
- Boat maintenance / painting / modifications / improvements. Each requires accumulated knowledge to be applied to the problem at hand. You have to learn knots; and where they are used and why; you have to learn how to splice lines; it is part of being the self-sufficient sailor.
- Navigation. Just how do you get from A to B, or is it better to get to B by going via C? Wind directions / tide status: incoming or outgoing? with you or against you? .... GPS is fine, and very useful, but what do you do if the batteries are dead, or if you drop the GPS into the water and it no longer works? What then? That is why you need a chart, a compass, and know how to use them. Fog is something that you encounter on the water. Can you sail / motor in the fog and reach your destination safely? Do you know where you are located, or are you just guessing? Eventually, as you stretch distances and new places you wish to explore you will have to learn to sail at night: what do the flashing lights on buoys tell you? Can you identify lighthouses? It is a step-by-step learning process; the more you sail the more you learn; and the more you know, the further you want to go.
- On the water you meet maritime birds: the gulls and terns, the cormorants; and the things living in the water. You see a fin sticking out of the water. What are they? ...or in Florida you may sail with a manatee, or large turtles, or spot alligators sunning themselves on a river bank.
- Sailing on a small boat also influences your thinking. You have to ask yourself is this large item I want on the boat worth the storage space it requires? . ..or can I find a smaller version that does the same job better and requires less space? You will find that line of thinking will also apply at home.
- Maritime history: That is another subject you find yourself immersed in. It is why Brazil speaks Portuguese and the rest of South America speaks Spanish. Why? Well, back around 1494, Portugal and Spain each were claiming ownership to half the world. It was finally settled by a Treaty of Tordesillas, brokered by the Pope, that gave Spain the western half of the world, and Portugal (who already knew their way out to the East Indies -Indonesia) the eastern half. The line that was drawn through the Atlantic Ocean gave the South American bulge, which is now Brazil to the Portuguese, while what remained became owned by Spain.
This is also the reason why other countries went off looking for a route to the East Indies (to get to the very lucrative spice trade - controlled by the Portuguese) -Columbus went west; Henry Hudson went north; someone else tried to go over the top of Russia and got stranded in the winter ice and escaped on foot back to Europe.... They all were trying to get around the Pope's Treaty dividing up the world between Spain and Portugal. They wanted their part of the wealth too.
You are thinking of entering a new world through sailing. Open the door, start learning, and enjoy it for your whole lifetime. It is a never ending learning process that is always fun and interesting.
Connie
-
-- Chris
-- Chris
Like I have said before Connie, "Ya gotta start writing down your experiences, Now". I would buy your book but it has to have lots of photos too. I have see bits and pieces of Europe but not the Europe that you have experienced. It is as if you did all the amazing things only a retired person could do earlier in your life. I hope the Sacramento River does not get too much lower....the unseen snags are starting to show up. Still learning to drive this "Dory" shaped boat with two Hondas on the backside. One good item, no alcohol in the fuel bought on the River....at $6.00 a gallon of course....Larry on the river with "Loreley". On Tuesday, June 24, 2014 10:28 AM, Conbert Benneck <chbenneck@gmail.com> wrote: On 24-Jun-14 9:48 AM, Hughston, Larry@DGS wrote: Hi Larry, Playing on the water is the main thing, but the kind of playing you can do is largely dictated by your local "playing" conditions. With wide open waters (large lakes, or the ocean) you can be a sailor, but if your local conditions (twisty river / gusty winds from all directions / or commercial traffic) then the answer is a powerboat. We had one for several years when the Company had us move from Cologne, Germany to Paris. In Paris all we had to play in was the Seine (Paris' open sewer system that smelled terribly in late summer when the flow rate was way down 1963-67) that was full of commercial barge traffic, or the inland waterways. They were nice places to putter around on but not a place where you could sail. So, our solution, that I found at the Amsterdam Boat Show, was a standard Norwegian fishing boat with small cabin and a stand-up pilot house. It had a 10 HP single cylinder SABB diesel with a variable pitch propeller (using that spoils you forever). We had one built in Norway and took delivery in Rotterdam. Then we traveled via inland Dutch, Belgian, and French waterways back to Paris. We went through about 120 locks, with most of the French ones, all hand operated, .... and French canals went through long unlit tunnels.... The following year we went down the Seine to Le Havre and back to Paris. Below the last lock on the Seine you are at Rouen, which is a maritime port, subject to 25 foot high tide changes. From Rouen to Le Havre you can only go with the flow... and the outgoing tide takes you down river at boat speed ~ 10 knots + 5 to 6 knots water speed. It's quite a ride. We lived with our putt-putt for three years, but then my wife complained. There were no sheets to adjust / no halyards to tighten / the helmsman was the only person doing anything, and as I said before the Seine stank in August. So we considered buying a sailboat. The problem became where to keep the boat. With the 24 to 26 foot tides on the English Channel, all the small French ports had locks that were only opened about a half hour before high water and closed again at high water. The only place we could come and go at any stage of the tide was Le Havre. After working out the logistics of how to get there on a Friday afternoon, we bought our sailboat and sold the powerboat. Connie Chris, Larry here. Just read Connie's Wit and Wisdom piece. I always feel quite the fool when I read anything that Connie publishes. I would love to be the fly on the wall when he talks of anything that has to do with sailing or even (I just became one with humble apologies) a power boater after like me and my minimal sailing in local lakes in the Sacramento region. Connie has given his blessings to my power boat endeavors and for that I grateful. I am now having more time on the water (Sacramento River) but still bumping things at the dock on my way to the slip. The winds in the valley are not dependable so this was the obvious choice. But I was a proud owner of my M-15 which is now for sale and is in great (not perfect) condition (1981 build by Jerry M.) "Fair Winds"...... Larry with "Loreley" my C-Dory 22 -----Original Message----- From: montgomery_boats [mailto:montgomery_boats-bounces@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Chris Smith Sent: Tuesday, June 24, 2014 7:37 AM To: For and about Montgomery Sailboats Subject: Re: M_Boats: Musings Thanks Connie, Always interested in your wit and wisdom... Chris On Mon, Jun 23, 2014 at 10:21 PM, larry hughston <lahughston@att.net> wrote:
I need an old salt like you on the power side of boating. The Yacht Club is full of older power boaters. I need to get back to that crowd. I just can't stand the Pot Luck Dinners. I just never fit in somehow.....Larry with the C-Dory 22 and the new cockpit enclosure.
On Monday, June 23, 2014 12:37 PM, Conbert Benneck <chbenneck@gmail.com> wrote:
Hi gang,
I wrote this for someone else, but thought that you might find it interesting too.
---------------------------------
Your interest in becoming a rag sailor (power boat owners are call stink potters by rag sailors ) will have you opening a new book that leads to a life-time of learning a whole series of new specialty subjects.
It starts with the know-how of basic sailing, but as soon as you have mastered that you are off, into a whole new world of sailor-specific topics and knowledge.
- Weather, and weather forecasting: and what do weather maps tell you? ... is it safe to undertake the planned trip? .... or should you wait till the front has passed?
- Sails: since they are your power source, how can you get the most out of them? Additional sail controls? How do they work, and what do they do for sail shape?
- Sail maintenance and repair. If a sail tears you have to be able to fix it. (sailor's palm / sail needles / waxed thread / scissors / sailor's knife)
- Anchoring: This is a skill that is hard to learn, because you can't see the bottom where your anchor is looking for a holding spot, but it is _/*not*/_ just drop the anchor and hope for the best, keeping your fingers crossed that the anchor holds. To be safely at anchor, you have to KNOW that your anchor is holding properly. That becomes the art / science of anchoring, gained the hard way....
- Boat maintenance / painting / modifications / improvements. Each requires accumulated knowledge to be applied to the problem at hand. You have to learn knots; and where they are used and why; you have to learn how to splice lines; it is part of being the self-sufficient sailor.
- Navigation. Just how do you get from A to B, or is it better to get to B by going via C? Wind directions / tide status: incoming or outgoing? with you or against you? .... GPS is fine, and very useful, but what do you do if the batteries are dead, or if you drop the GPS into the water and it no longer works? What then? That is why you need a chart, a compass, and know how to use them. Fog is something that you encounter on the water. Can you sail / motor in the fog and reach your destination safely? Do you know where you are located, or are you just guessing? Eventually, as you stretch distances and new places you wish to explore you will have to learn to sail at night: what do the flashing lights on buoys tell you? Can you identify lighthouses? It is a step-by-step learning process; the more you sail the more you learn; and the more you know, the further you want to go.
- On the water you meet maritime birds: the gulls and terns, the cormorants; and the things living in the water. You see a fin sticking out of the water. What are they? ...or in Florida you may sail with a manatee, or large turtles, or spot alligators sunning themselves on a river bank.
- Sailing on a small boat also influences your thinking. You have to ask yourself is this large item I want on the boat worth the storage space it requires? . ..or can I find a smaller version that does the same job better and requires less space? You will find that line of thinking will also apply at home.
- Maritime history: That is another subject you find yourself immersed in. It is why Brazil speaks Portuguese and the rest of South America speaks Spanish. Why? Well, back around 1494, Portugal and Spain each were claiming ownership to half the world. It was finally settled by a Treaty of Tordesillas, brokered by the Pope, that gave Spain the western half of the world, and Portugal (who already knew their way out to the East Indies -Indonesia) the eastern half. The line that was drawn through the Atlantic Ocean gave the South American bulge, which is now Brazil to the Portuguese, while what remained became owned by Spain.
This is also the reason why other countries went off looking for a route to the East Indies (to get to the very lucrative spice trade - controlled by the Portuguese) -Columbus went west; Henry Hudson went north; someone else tried to go over the top of Russia and got stranded in the winter ice and escaped on foot back to Europe.... They all were trying to get around the Pope's Treaty dividing up the world between Spain and Portugal. They wanted their part of the wealth too.
You are thinking of entering a new world through sailing. Open the door, start learning, and enjoy it for your whole lifetime. It is a never ending learning process that is always fun and interesting.
Connie
-
-- Chris
On 24-Jun-14 10:24 PM, larry hughston wrote: Larry, I considered all sorts of maps and photos for the book, but then I said, what a waste of time and effort. If I mention , Pula Harbor and the Pula Colosseum, and you would really like to see what it looks like, you can go to GOOGLE Maps, and get far better pictures, and as many as you want there, compared to the one or two that might appear in the book. The same applies to maps. If I say "Cortellazo, Italy" and you go to GOOGLE maps, you can see in great detail what I tried to describe in words. If I say "Adriatic crossing from Cortellazo to Pula" GOOGLE maps does a far better job than I could do. WIKIPEDIA can show you a lot more - along with the history of the city or town, than would be possible to do in a few small-scale maps in a book. ---------------------------------- In 1956 I quit my Field Engineer position with Sperry Gyroscope Corporation, and a friend and I went to Europe for 6 months, skiing all over, from early January till late March, when the snow melted. I had bought a new Austin-Healey 100, and my friend had bought a new Porsche 356 convertible. We then chased each other across the map of Europe, first heading south to one of the last Mille Miglia road races in Bologna, Italy and then on to Rome. From Rome we headed north again to the Grande Prix of Monaco, the Grande Prix of Belgium, and continued northward until our vacation funds gave out in southern Sweden in mid-June. That's when we returned to the USA to find another job. I connected with United Aircraft International Corp. and was sent back to Germany to take over the Cologne office from Sergei Sikorsky, the oldest son of Igor Sikorsky. We lived in Cologne for 6 years till our home office decided to consolidate all the European offices in one spot - Paris. It was great for the executives bringing their wives on a business trip to Paris: but miserable for us working stiffs, since Paris had two airports, one in the north of Paris and the other in the south, miles apart, and a phone system that only worked for local (around Paris) dialing. All calls outside of Paris went via the operator, with indeterminate waiting time.... In 1967, a new fighter aircraft project between Germany and the USA had me opening an office in Munich, where we lived for another 7 years until a top management change in Hartford resulted in the new guys, tossing all us international marketing types out the window. From Munich we would truck out T-L29 to Italy and explore the Yugoslavian coastal islands, or sail friends boats in the Med, or Sweden. That was when we were going to sail our 29-footer from Europe back to the USA (the Company was going to pay me for 6 months; the children were old enough to stand watches en-route; and the time-of-year was ideal). That fell through when my friends at the German aircraft engine company in Munich asked me what was happening, and when I told them the story, they hired me to represent them back in Hartford at Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Co. on a new joint commercial aircraft engine program that was just starting. I had to be there immediately, if not sooner, so there went our trans-Atlantic trip. Back in the USA our home port was Noank, CT and our sailing area was between Cape May, NJ and Boston (we shipped our Tripp-Lentsch 29 back to the USA as deck cargo on a container ship) In 1985, while on a business trip to Munich I picked up a German yachting magazine and found a classified ad for the big brother of our T-L29, a Northeast 38 - also designed by Bill Tripp. It was being sold by a Hamburg Yacht Club. I made them a ridiculous offer, that was accepted. So now we owned a fully equipped, and I really mean fully equipped, 38-footer, with a Volvo diesel engine / 10 bags of perfect sails / life raft for 6 people / inflatable dinghy / pots/pans/ spare parts / excellent electronics / and a diesel powered cabin heater (nights get cold in northern latitudes) that I bought for $15K ( used Northeast 38s in New England had asking prices around $80K) . We took deliver the following June, sailed down the Elbe River and went through the Kiel Canal to the Baltic. Then we cruised the Danish Islands for 5 weeks to find out what sorts of problems I had bought. The intent was to have them fixed; and the following year, we would sail from Hamburg to the Med. visit the Greek Islands and then leave the Med by late October and head for the Canary Islands. Then when the winter trade winds are firmly established, usually by mid-December, you head out and sail to Barbados on a broad reach, under sunny skies. We gave up that idea after we got home and had contemplated our navels. We came to the conclusion that bigger isn't better. It is just heavier, and requires more man-power to operate. So we sold it again in Hamburg, and kept our T-L29 for a few more years until we decided to down-size to trailer sailing (the powerboat crowd was too obnoxious: 500 watt loudspeakers on tuna towers broadcasting terrible music that the whole anchorage was forced to hear; lack of couth; and finally making us the ham in a powerboat-sailboat-powerboat sandwich, with them passing me on each side at 30 Knots in a narrow channel and in a No Wake area. That was the last straw. We got out of there, and went to places where we could find peace and quiet again. So, that's our story in a few paragraphs. Ciao, Connie
Like I have said before Connie, "Ya gotta start writing down your experiences, Now". I would buy your book but it has to have lots of photos too. I have see bits and pieces of Europe but not the Europe that you have experienced. It is as if you did all the amazing things only a retired person could do earlier in your life. I hope the Sacramento River does not get too much lower....the unseen snags are starting to show up. Still learning to drive this "Dory" shaped boat with two Hondas on the backside. One good item, no alcohol in the fuel bought on the River....at $6.00 a gallon of course....Larry on the river with "Loreley".
On Tuesday, June 24, 2014 10:28 AM, Conbert Benneck <chbenneck@gmail.com> wrote:
On 24-Jun-14 9:48 AM, Hughston, Larry@DGS wrote:
Hi Larry,
Playing on the water is the main thing, but the kind of playing you can do is largely dictated by your local "playing" conditions.
With wide open waters (large lakes, or the ocean) you can be a sailor, but if your local conditions (twisty river / gusty winds from all directions / or commercial traffic) then the answer is a powerboat.
We had one for several years when the Company had us move from Cologne, Germany to Paris.
In Paris all we had to play in was the Seine (Paris' open sewer system that smelled terribly in late summer when the flow rate was way down 1963-67) that was full of commercial barge traffic, or the inland waterways. They were nice places to putter around on but not a place where you could sail.
So, our solution, that I found at the Amsterdam Boat Show, was a standard Norwegian fishing boat with small cabin and a stand-up pilot house. It had a 10 HP single cylinder SABB diesel with a variable pitch propeller (using that spoils you forever).
We had one built in Norway and took delivery in Rotterdam. Then we traveled via inland Dutch, Belgian, and French waterways back to Paris. We went through about 120 locks, with most of the French ones, all hand operated, .... and French canals went through long unlit tunnels....
The following year we went down the Seine to Le Havre and back to Paris.
Below the last lock on the Seine you are at Rouen, which is a maritime port, subject to 25 foot high tide changes. From Rouen to Le Havre you can only go with the flow... and the outgoing tide takes you down river at boat speed ~ 10 knots + 5 to 6 knots water speed. It's quite a ride.
We lived with our putt-putt for three years, but then my wife complained. There were no sheets to adjust / no halyards to tighten / the helmsman was the only person doing anything, and as I said before the Seine stank in August. So we considered buying a sailboat. The problem became where to keep the boat.
With the 24 to 26 foot tides on the English Channel, all the small French ports had locks that were only opened about a half hour before high water and closed again at high water. The only place we could come and go at any stage of the tide was Le Havre.
After working out the logistics of how to get there on a Friday afternoon, we bought our sailboat and sold the powerboat.
Connie
Chris, Larry here. Just read Connie's Wit and Wisdom piece. I always feel quite the fool when I read anything that Connie publishes. I would love to be the fly on the wall when he talks of anything that has to do with sailing or even (I just became one with humble apologies) a power boater after like me and my minimal sailing in local lakes in the Sacramento region. Connie has given his blessings to my power boat endeavors and for that I grateful. I am now having more time on the water (Sacramento River) but still bumping things at the dock on my way to the slip. The winds in the valley are not dependable so this was the obvious choice. But I was a proud owner of my M-15 which is now for sale and is in great (not perfect) condition (1981 build by Jerry M.) "Fair Winds"...... Larry with "Loreley" my C-Dory 22 -----Original Message----- From: montgomery_boats [mailto:montgomery_boats-bounces@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Chris Smith Sent: Tuesday, June 24, 2014 7:37 AM To: For and about Montgomery Sailboats Subject: Re: M_Boats: Musings Thanks Connie, Always interested in your wit and wisdom... Chris On Mon, Jun 23, 2014 at 10:21 PM, larry hughston <lahughston@att.net> wrote:
I need an old salt like you on the power side of boating. The Yacht Club is full of older power boaters. I need to get back to that crowd. I just can't stand the Pot Luck Dinners. I just never fit in somehow.....Larry with the C-Dory 22 and the new cockpit enclosure.
On Monday, June 23, 2014 12:37 PM, Conbert Benneck <chbenneck@gmail.com> wrote:
Hi gang,
I wrote this for someone else, but thought that you might find it interesting too.
---------------------------------
Your interest in becoming a rag sailor (power boat owners are call stink potters by rag sailors ) will have you opening a new book that leads to a life-time of learning a whole series of new specialty subjects.
It starts with the know-how of basic sailing, but as soon as you have mastered that you are off, into a whole new world of sailor-specific topics and knowledge.
- Weather, and weather forecasting: and what do weather maps tell you? ... is it safe to undertake the planned trip? .... or should you wait till the front has passed?
- Sails: since they are your power source, how can you get the most out of them? Additional sail controls? How do they work, and what do they do for sail shape?
- Sail maintenance and repair. If a sail tears you have to be able to fix it. (sailor's palm / sail needles / waxed thread / scissors / sailor's knife)
- Anchoring: This is a skill that is hard to learn, because you can't see the bottom where your anchor is looking for a holding spot, but it is _/*not*/_ just drop the anchor and hope for the best, keeping your fingers crossed that the anchor holds. To be safely at anchor, you have to KNOW that your anchor is holding properly. That becomes the art / science of anchoring, gained the hard way....
- Boat maintenance / painting / modifications / improvements. Each requires accumulated knowledge to be applied to the problem at hand. You have to learn knots; and where they are used and why; you have to learn how to splice lines; it is part of being the self-sufficient sailor.
- Navigation. Just how do you get from A to B, or is it better to get to B by going via C? Wind directions / tide status: incoming or outgoing? with you or against you? .... GPS is fine, and very useful, but what do you do if the batteries are dead, or if you drop the GPS into the water and it no longer works? What then? That is why you need a chart, a compass, and know how to use them. Fog is something that you encounter on the water. Can you sail / motor in the fog and reach your destination safely? Do you know where you are located, or are you just guessing? Eventually, as you stretch distances and new places you wish to explore you will have to learn to sail at night: what do the flashing lights on buoys tell you? Can you identify lighthouses? It is a step-by-step learning process; the more you sail the more you learn; and the more you know, the further you want to go.
- On the water you meet maritime birds: the gulls and terns, the cormorants; and the things living in the water. You see a fin sticking out of the water. What are they? ...or in Florida you may sail with a manatee, or large turtles, or spot alligators sunning themselves on a river bank.
- Sailing on a small boat also influences your thinking. You have to ask yourself is this large item I want on the boat worth the storage space it requires? . ..or can I find a smaller version that does the same job better and requires less space? You will find that line of thinking will also apply at home.
- Maritime history: That is another subject you find yourself immersed in. It is why Brazil speaks Portuguese and the rest of South America speaks Spanish. Why? Well, back around 1494, Portugal and Spain each were claiming ownership to half the world. It was finally settled by a Treaty of Tordesillas, brokered by the Pope, that gave Spain the western half of the world, and Portugal (who already knew their way out to the East Indies -Indonesia) the eastern half. The line that was drawn through the Atlantic Ocean gave the South American bulge, which is now Brazil to the Portuguese, while what remained became owned by Spain.
This is also the reason why other countries went off looking for a route to the East Indies (to get to the very lucrative spice trade - controlled by the Portuguese) -Columbus went west; Henry Hudson went north; someone else tried to go over the top of Russia and got stranded in the winter ice and escaped on foot back to Europe.... They all were trying to get around the Pope's Treaty dividing up the world between Spain and Portugal. They wanted their part of the wealth too.
You are thinking of entering a new world through sailing. Open the door, start learning, and enjoy it for your whole lifetime. It is a never ending learning process that is always fun and interesting.
Connie
-
-- Chris
Great story, sounds like an exciting life. Keep the post coming really enjoy them Gary Valetti former M17 owner -----Original Message----- From: Conbert Benneck <chbenneck@gmail.com> To: larry hughston <lahughston@att.net>; For and about Montgomery Sailboats <montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Wed, Jun 25, 2014 5:23 pm Subject: Re: M_Boats: Musings On 24-Jun-14 10:24 PM, larry hughston wrote: Larry, I considered all sorts of maps and photos for the book, but then I said, what a waste of time and effort. If I mention , Pula Harbor and the Pula Colosseum, and you would really like to see what it looks like, you can go to GOOGLE Maps, and get far better pictures, and as many as you want there, compared to the one or two that might appear in the book. The same applies to maps. If I say "Cortellazo, Italy" and you go to GOOGLE maps, you can see in great detail what I tried to describe in words. If I say "Adriatic crossing from Cortellazo to Pula" GOOGLE maps does a far better job than I could do. WIKIPEDIA can show you a lot more - along with the history of the city or town, than would be possible to do in a few small-scale maps in a book. ---------------------------------- In 1956 I quit my Field Engineer position with Sperry Gyroscope Corporation, and a friend and I went to Europe for 6 months, skiing all over, from early January till late March, when the snow melted. I had bought a new Austin-Healey 100, and my friend had bought a new Porsche 356 convertible. We then chased each other across the map of Europe, first heading south to one of the last Mille Miglia road races in Bologna, Italy and then on to Rome. From Rome we headed north again to the Grande Prix of Monaco, the Grande Prix of Belgium, and continued northward until our vacation funds gave out in southern Sweden in mid-June. That's when we returned to the USA to find another job. I connected with United Aircraft International Corp. and was sent back to Germany to take over the Cologne office from Sergei Sikorsky, the oldest son of Igor Sikorsky. We lived in Cologne for 6 years till our home office decided to consolidate all the European offices in one spot - Paris. It was great for the executives bringing their wives on a business trip to Paris: but miserable for us working stiffs, since Paris had two airports, one in the north of Paris and the other in the south, miles apart, and a phone system that only worked for local (around Paris) dialing. All calls outside of Paris went via the operator, with indeterminate waiting time.... In 1967, a new fighter aircraft project between Germany and the USA had me opening an office in Munich, where we lived for another 7 years until a top management change in Hartford resulted in the new guys, tossing all us international marketing types out the window. From Munich we would truck out T-L29 to Italy and explore the Yugoslavian coastal islands, or sail friends boats in the Med, or Sweden. That was when we were going to sail our 29-footer from Europe back to the USA (the Company was going to pay me for 6 months; the children were old enough to stand watches en-route; and the time-of-year was ideal). That fell through when my friends at the German aircraft engine company in Munich asked me what was happening, and when I told them the story, they hired me to represent them back in Hartford at Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Co. on a new joint commercial aircraft engine program that was just starting. I had to be there immediately, if not sooner, so there went our trans-Atlantic trip. Back in the USA our home port was Noank, CT and our sailing area was between Cape May, NJ and Boston (we shipped our Tripp-Lentsch 29 back to the USA as deck cargo on a container ship) In 1985, while on a business trip to Munich I picked up a German yachting magazine and found a classified ad for the big brother of our T-L29, a Northeast 38 - also designed by Bill Tripp. It was being sold by a Hamburg Yacht Club. I made them a ridiculous offer, that was accepted. So now we owned a fully equipped, and I really mean fully equipped, 38-footer, with a Volvo diesel engine / 10 bags of perfect sails / life raft for 6 people / inflatable dinghy / pots/pans/ spare parts / excellent electronics / and a diesel powered cabin heater (nights get cold in northern latitudes) that I bought for $15K ( used Northeast 38s in New England had asking prices around $80K) . We took deliver the following June, sailed down the Elbe River and went through the Kiel Canal to the Baltic. Then we cruised the Danish Islands for 5 weeks to find out what sorts of problems I had bought. The intent was to have them fixed; and the following year, we would sail from Hamburg to the Med. visit the Greek Islands and then leave the Med by late October and head for the Canary Islands. Then when the winter trade winds are firmly established, usually by mid-December, you head out and sail to Barbados on a broad reach, under sunny skies. We gave up that idea after we got home and had contemplated our navels. We came to the conclusion that bigger isn't better. It is just heavier, and requires more man-power to operate. So we sold it again in Hamburg, and kept our T-L29 for a few more years until we decided to down-size to trailer sailing (the powerboat crowd was too obnoxious: 500 watt loudspeakers on tuna towers broadcasting terrible music that the whole anchorage was forced to hear; lack of couth; and finally making us the ham in a powerboat-sailboat-powerboat sandwich, with them passing me on each side at 30 Knots in a narrow channel and in a No Wake area. That was the last straw. We got out of there, and went to places where we could find peace and quiet again. So, that's our story in a few paragraphs. Ciao, Connie
Like I have said before Connie, "Ya gotta start writing down your experiences, Now". I would buy your book but it has to have lots of photos too. I have see bits and pieces of Europe but not the Europe that you have experienced. It is as if you did all the amazing things only a retired person could do earlier in your life. I hope the Sacramento River does not get too much lower....the unseen snags are starting to show up. Still learning to drive this "Dory" shaped boat with two Hondas on the backside. One good item, no alcohol in the fuel bought on the River....at $6.00 a gallon of course....Larry on the river with "Loreley".
On Tuesday, June 24, 2014 10:28 AM, Conbert Benneck <chbenneck@gmail.com> wrote:
On 24-Jun-14 9:48 AM, Hughston, Larry@DGS wrote:
Hi Larry,
Playing on the water is the main thing, but the kind of playing you can do is largely dictated by your local "playing" conditions.
With wide open waters (large lakes, or the ocean) you can be a sailor, but if your local conditions (twisty river / gusty winds from all directions / or commercial traffic) then the answer is a powerboat.
We had one for several years when the Company had us move from Cologne, Germany to Paris.
In Paris all we had to play in was the Seine (Paris' open sewer system that smelled terribly in late summer when the flow rate was way down 1963-67) that was full of commercial barge traffic, or the inland waterways. They were nice places to putter around on but not a place where you could sail.
So, our solution, that I found at the Amsterdam Boat Show, was a standard Norwegian fishing boat with small cabin and a stand-up pilot house. It had a 10 HP single cylinder SABB diesel with a variable pitch propeller (using that spoils you forever).
We had one built in Norway and took delivery in Rotterdam. Then we traveled via inland Dutch, Belgian, and French waterways back to Paris. We went through about 120 locks, with most of the French ones, all hand operated, .... and French canals went through long unlit tunnels....
The following year we went down the Seine to Le Havre and back to Paris.
Below the last lock on the Seine you are at Rouen, which is a maritime port, subject to 25 foot high tide changes. From Rouen to Le Havre you can only go with the flow... and the outgoing tide takes you down river at boat speed ~ 10 knots + 5 to 6 knots water speed. It's quite a ride.
We lived with our putt-putt for three years, but then my wife complained. There were no sheets to adjust / no halyards to tighten / the helmsman was the only person doing anything, and as I said before the Seine stank in August. So we considered buying a sailboat. The problem became where to keep the boat.
With the 24 to 26 foot tides on the English Channel, all the small French ports had locks that were only opened about a half hour before high water and closed again at high water. The only place we could come and go at any stage of the tide was Le Havre.
After working out the logistics of how to get there on a Friday afternoon, we bought our sailboat and sold the powerboat.
Connie
Chris, Larry here. Just read Connie's Wit and Wisdom piece. I always feel quite the fool when I read anything that Connie publishes. I would love to be the fly on the wall when he talks of anything that has to do with sailing or even (I just became one with humble apologies) a power boater after like me and my minimal sailing in local lakes in the Sacramento region. Connie has given his blessings to my power boat endeavors and for that I grateful. I am now having more time on the water (Sacramento River) but still bumping things at the dock on my way to the slip. The winds in the valley are not dependable so this was the obvious choice. But I was a proud owner of my M-15 which is now for sale and is in great (not perfect) condition (1981 build by Jerry M.) "Fair Winds"...... Larry with "Loreley" my C-Dory 22 -----Original Message----- From: montgomery_boats [mailto:montgomery_boats-bounces@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Chris Smith Sent: Tuesday, June 24, 2014 7:37 AM To: For and about Montgomery Sailboats Subject: Re: M_Boats: Musings Thanks Connie, Always interested in your wit and wisdom... Chris On Mon, Jun 23, 2014 at 10:21 PM, larry hughston <lahughston@att.net> wrote:
I need an old salt like you on the power side of boating. The Yacht Club is full of older power boaters. I need to get back to that crowd. I just can't stand the Pot Luck Dinners. I just never fit in somehow.....Larry with the C-Dory 22 and the new cockpit enclosure.
On Monday, June 23, 2014 12:37 PM, Conbert Benneck <chbenneck@gmail.com> wrote:
Hi gang,
I wrote this for someone else, but thought that you might find it interesting too.
---------------------------------
Your interest in becoming a rag sailor (power boat owners are call stink potters by rag sailors ) will have you opening a new book that leads to a life-time of learning a whole series of new specialty subjects.
It starts with the know-how of basic sailing, but as soon as you have mastered that you are off, into a whole new world of sailor-specific topics and knowledge.
- Weather, and weather forecasting: and what do weather maps tell you? ... is it safe to undertake the planned trip? .... or should you wait till the front has passed?
- Sails: since they are your power source, how can you get the most out of them? Additional sail controls? How do they work, and what do they do for sail shape?
- Sail maintenance and repair. If a sail tears you have to be able to fix it. (sailor's palm / sail needles / waxed thread / scissors / sailor's knife)
- Anchoring: This is a skill that is hard to learn, because you can't see the bottom where your anchor is looking for a holding spot, but it is _/*not*/_ just drop the anchor and hope for the best, keeping your fingers crossed that the anchor holds. To be safely at anchor, you have to KNOW that your anchor is holding properly. That becomes the art / science of anchoring, gained the hard way....
- Boat maintenance / painting / modifications / improvements. Each requires accumulated knowledge to be applied to the problem at hand. You have to learn knots; and where they are used and why; you have to learn how to splice lines; it is part of being the self-sufficient sailor.
- Navigation. Just how do you get from A to B, or is it better to get to B by going via C? Wind directions / tide status: incoming or outgoing? with you or against you? .... GPS is fine, and very useful, but what do you do if the batteries are dead, or if you drop the GPS into the water and it no longer works? What then? That is why you need a chart, a compass, and know how to use them. Fog is something that you encounter on the water. Can you sail / motor in the fog and reach your destination safely? Do you know where you are located, or are you just guessing? Eventually, as you stretch distances and new places you wish to explore you will have to learn to sail at night: what do the flashing lights on buoys tell you? Can you identify lighthouses? It is a step-by-step learning process; the more you sail the more you learn; and the more you know, the further you want to go.
- On the water you meet maritime birds: the gulls and terns, the cormorants; and the things living in the water. You see a fin sticking out of the water. What are they? ...or in Florida you may sail with a manatee, or large turtles, or spot alligators sunning themselves on a river bank.
- Sailing on a small boat also influences your thinking. You have to ask yourself is this large item I want on the boat worth the storage space it requires? . ..or can I find a smaller version that does the same job better and requires less space? You will find that line of thinking will also apply at home.
- Maritime history: That is another subject you find yourself immersed in. It is why Brazil speaks Portuguese and the rest of South America speaks Spanish. Why? Well, back around 1494, Portugal and Spain each were claiming ownership to half the world. It was finally settled by a Treaty of Tordesillas, brokered by the Pope, that gave Spain the western half of the world, and Portugal (who already knew their way out to the East Indies -Indonesia) the eastern half. The line that was drawn through the Atlantic Ocean gave the South American bulge, which is now Brazil to the Portuguese, while what remained became owned by Spain.
This is also the reason why other countries went off looking for a route to the East Indies (to get to the very lucrative spice trade - controlled by the Portuguese) -Columbus went west; Henry Hudson went north; someone else tried to go over the top of Russia and got stranded in the winter ice and escaped on foot back to Europe.... They all were trying to get around the Pope's Treaty dividing up the world between Spain and Portugal. They wanted their part of the wealth too.
You are thinking of entering a new world through sailing. Open the door, start learning, and enjoy it for your whole lifetime. It is a never ending learning process that is always fun and interesting.
Connie
-
-- Chris
participants (6)
-
Chris Smith -
Conbert Benneck -
Hughston, Larry＠DGS -
larry hughston -
stevetrapp -
tommyval＠aol.com