How I got into sailing

Before my first sailboat
March 11, 2013

Thanks guys! Gary, I guess the joke was on her. She's been divorced three times, me, just once. I was number two and was with her the longest, (twenty years). Aside from her daughter, we have two wonderful children, girl and boy. Both married with children of their own. I got my first sailing experience when I was six or seven years old with my Dad on a small Styrofoam open sailboat. It was kind of scary. We were on Lake Norman near Charlotte, N.C. one Saturday afternoon sailing along. We were having a great time. I was fascinated with how the wind makes the boat move. That's when I discovered I have a natural understanding of sailing and I fell in love with it. Back to that afternoon, it was cloudy and only getting heavier. It wasn't long when we started seeing lightening, the wind kicked up and it started raining, hard. We were in a race to get back to the safety of that little cove where we put in. I was seeing lightening like I had never seen it before, totally exposed, not in the safety of inside a building. Finally, we were safe. I still remember my heart pounding in my chest and the comfort from knowing my Dad would keep me safe. We left the sailboat at the lake lot and couldn't get back to it until the next weekend. When we returned, all that was left were small chunks of Styrofoam all over the place. Dad figured some teenagers must have gotten hold of it and chopped it up just because. A couple years later he was killed in his 1962, MGA sports car. I was just ten years old (1971). No more opportunities to go sailing until I was eighteen. I have a cousin that had a Sunfish. He let me take it out for a day. It was not very satisfying due to lack of wind. But, at least I got the experience handling the boat myself. It was like I'd been sailing all my life. The next year, opportunity to sail came (1978) when I moved to Morehead City, N.C., (Emerald Island) to live with my Mom and younger sister, while recovering from a back injury. They had moved there a few years earlier. My little sister introduced me to some friends of hers and then came my first time both on the ocean and on a Hobie Cat 16’. Loved it! The fellow, Frank S., owner of, the “Desperado II “, and his brother and my little sister spent the summer sailing on both Frank’s Hobie Cat and his Dad and brother’s San Juan 21’. Some months later, I moved back to Charlotte to go to college. That following Easter, I went visit my Mom. We were invited to go watch Frank race in the three heat; “Camp Morehead Easter Regatta”. Upon our arrival, Frank introduced me to another Hobie Cat owner (Elbert), who’s crew didn't show and asked me if I would crew for him. I jumped all over the opportunity. Despite that I had never raced before, we managed to take second place, beating Frank coming in third! Wow! I was really hooked. Let me point this out; the water was very cold at that time of the year, so as advised, I was loaned a wet suit. The funny part is, I was handed a pair of pantyhose. I was expected to wear them? So I did. Later, finding out just how much warmer I was, wearing them under my wet suit, out on that cold water. Not so weird after all. Later, mid summer, Frank called me to see if I could come to crew for him, as his crew couldn't make it this time for; “The 1982 Emerald Island Ocean Regatta”, a five heat, two day race. I accepted on the spot and began making arrangements to go. I invited a buddy. We arrived early on a Friday morning. After getting settled in, we went for an afternoon sail were I learned why they named the deck of a Hobie Cat the “trampoline”. The ocean and wind was rough, just under gale condition. As Frank and I were attached to trap lines, my friend was being bounced around like he was on an uncontrollable trampoline due to the water being very choppy. At first it was funny, but soon we decided it was too ruff, so we called it quits. The next day, we got set up for three heats of racing. The weather was perfect for sailing. There were, what seemed like hundreds of Hobie Cats. All sizes from 14’, 14’ turbo, 16’ and 18’ Hobie Cats of all different colors, lined the beach and lots of people. Sailors, their friends and families, tourists and there were lots of girls walking around. I was in hog heaven. As I was setting my harness and trapeze rigging before the race there were a lot of people walking by, most of them taking pictures. I must be in several hundred stranger’s photo albums. Not such a big deal now with the internet, Facebook, Youtube and all. But, for me, being in my early twenties and single, the attention was awesome! Frank and I were racing in class “B” 16’ Hobie Cat. We raced three heats that Saturday and two heats Sunday finishing the last heat with a lightening storm blowing in on our stern. Commonly, afternoon summer storms in these parts come and go quickly. After the storm passed, the post race ceremonies commenced, at which awards were handed out. To my surprise, we had taken first place in our class as well as earning enough points to graduate to class “A”. After Frank and I received our decanters with “1982 E.I.O.R. 1st Place Skipper Class B” on his and mine reading the same except, instead of Skipper it read Crew of course. Wow! What an exciting time in my life it was. That was the last of my racing days. Soon after that race, Frank moved to Saint Augustine, Fl., sold his Hobie Cat, bought a Harley-Davidson and joined the Navy. I haven’t heard from him since. I tried looking him and brother up some time back with no luck. I wish I could tell him Thanks for the wonderful and cherished memories he left me with to reflect on for the rest of my life. It would be fifteen years, two careers, marriage, and children later before I could reacquaint myself with my passion for sailing.