Introductions / How did you find sailFar.net?

[lions pride]

Hello to all,
       I retired a year ago. I have a dream to sail. I bought a small 19 ft. last year to start learning on and had a great time. This past winter I bought a 26 ft Chrysler and started working on her. So far new sails, new interior, new paint, refinished all the teak, new carpet, new wiring well you get the idea. I hope to sail the great lakes this summer and maybe be ready for the scoot next April. I have a lot to learn and plenty of work to do but I am loving it.

[maxiSwede]

Hello to all,
       I retired a year ago. I have a dream to sail. I bought a small 19 ft. last year to start learning on and had a great time. This past winter I bought a 26 ft Chrysler and started working on her. So far new sails, new interior, new paint, refinished all the teak, new carpet, new wiring well you get the idea. I hope to sail the great lakes this summer and maybe be ready for the scoot next April. I have a lot to learn and plenty of work to do but I am loving it.

Cool, welcome onboard and keep us posted!  Scoot seems like a great idea! ;D

[polecat]

Welcome aboard Lions Pride - You'll like it here.  Can you trail the Chrysler?  It sounds like your making good progress.  See you in April
polecat

[AdriftAtSea]

Welcome aboard Lions Pride.

[Joesaila]

[ftp]Hi, nice to be here. My wife and I happily own a 77 Morgan OI 30'. We sail Massachusetts and where the wind blows us and the time allows. We've done several sailing vacations and enjoy overnighting with our grandchildren who swim, fish, eat and explore with joy. Looking forward to another adventurous season and your good advice. Joe

[Oldrig]

Welcome aboard, Joe.
Where in Massachusetts do you sail. I keep my boat on Buzzards Bay and tend to stay south of the Cape.
--(another) Joe

[AdriftAtSea]

Hey Joe—

Good to see you here... :)

Dan

[mrb]

Welcome Joe

Maybe you have a few adventures to share along with advice?

[Polunu]

Hi, I am Cliff, my boat is Polunu, my dingy is chubby.
We are in the San Diego bay area. At this time I am in the planing stage of my trip, which is west till i get bored. ;D
Polunu is 29' loa and 16' boa the hull is strip plank.

[AdriftAtSea]

Welcome to sailfar.net... what kind of boat is Polunu??

[Polunu]

she's a Waller 880 design cat, that i built over a 5 year period of part time work. The hull is  strip planked with western red cedar and glassed on the inside and outside.

[Lone Palm]

Hello,
My name is Kevin. I stumbled across this site from a link on TSBB where I've been lurking occasionally for several years. I like what I see here, I like the "Go now!" attitude.

I have a Catalina 22 I've had for about 10 years. I'm in the St. Louis area and kept her on the MS river but this year I think I'm heading to Carlyle Lake, though I'm not sure how I'm going to like the commute. Previously I had a South Coast 22 I kept at Carlyle, but that was 20 years ago when I didn't mind driving so much.

I've finally been able to talk my wife into a slightly bigger boat in the 25-27 foot range. She really does like boats and sailing but with both of us ~6 feet tall the C22 is just a little tight so she doesn't usually come along and I end up just going out solo. Maybe with something a little more "comfortable" I can get her out more.

Cliff, I stumbled across your build log on themultihull.com. That's quite an impressive project! Congratulations!

[AdriftAtSea]

Welcome Kevin.  What boats are you and the missus looking at...

[Lone Palm]

Thanks Adrift.
Haven't really decided on a particular manufacturer or designer. Mostly just looking at accommodations for the moment. We are both tall and have trouble in most boats, particularly with sleeping arrangements and the head (or rather the lack of). Being inland the selection around here is slim, mostly Catalina and Hunter though I have seen a couple of Pearsons and a C&C or two.

I would like a Beneteau 28.5, it has the headroom we are looking for but I haven't seen one for years. Unfortunately it seems around here stuff is either 22 feet or less, or 32 feet and more. That happy middle ground is missing, though they do show up on occasion. Just have to watch and wait.

[Luv2Row]

I'm not 100% sure how I "sailed" into this website, but it had to do with one of the many searches I have been doing on Google to find out people's opinions on dinghies, a.k.a. "dinks."

Many years ago I went rowing on a beautiful lake in southern Germany -- der Staffelsee -- an exquisite lake with seven islands nestled in the Bavarian Alps. The first time I went rowing on this lake was with a German friend of mine, and I got the worst sunburn on my legs EVER! But the rowing bug had bitten, and the disease still lingers in my blood. However, I don't have a boat of any kind, and it's something that I want. I don't need to go sailing on the high seas; I just want to row in a boat on a lake. I've had my eye on a Walker Bay 10-footer for a few years now. And then I started reading about other boats that are similar to the Walker Bay dinghies. Somewhere along the line, I read about the Porta-Bote, but I could never quite get a feel from others who have owned them what it's like to actually row one.

So when I started reading the forum on dinghies at this website, I was hooked! Reading about s/v Faith's account of rowing in circles on "Mr. Smiles" had me laughing out loud. And then when I read about Pixie Dust trying the Porta-Bote for the first time, I couldn't stop giggling. "Rows like a barge" -- ha ha ha ha! "Begged them to take it back" -- I think I found my answer. And the whole business about "ugly dinks" had me rolling. What a humorous bunch of sailors you folks are! So I just had to sign on to say "thank you" for your candid responses and hilarious accounts of dinghies you have loved and hated.

This is what I want dinghy-wise: I want a Porta-Bote that I can easily load on top of a car and drive to a lake. And then when I get to the lake, *POOF!* it instantly turns into a rigid dinghy like a Walker Bay 10-footer. (sigh)

There are too many minuses with the Porta-Bote that make it sound not worthwhile for rowing. However, I need to figure out, if and when I get a dinghy, whether I should load it on top of a car or put it on a small trailer behind the car. Any ideas, opinions, suggestions?

~ Suzie B. in San Jose, CA ~

[s/v Faith]

Welcome aboard Suzie,

  Glad you found us.  I just bought a new (to me) dingy day before yesterday.  If all goes well, it will be Faith's new dingy.... I will post some pictures soon.

Welcome aboard!

[dnice]

Welcome aboard suzie

I'm wondering if you've considered a canoe? Seems it would meet your needs for portability and would have as much space and usefulness as a dingy. I've been shopping around for a dingy style boat for fishing, I just recently realized all I need is a canoe or even a kayak. actually they both end up being around the same price if you buy new. But finding a decent used canoe can be much cheaper than a dingy style boat.

just a thought, glad you found us :)

[Luv2Row]

Canoes and kayaks are cool, but I would rather row. I like the feel of rowing vs. paddling. And I like to row a good distance, stop rowing, read for a while and let the boat carry me where it wants. The rental rowboats at a lake I like to visit are HEAVY.  :o

[dnice]

How about something like this:


Just kidding   ;D

I say save up for the walker bay and maybe get the 8' instead of the 10', that way you can afford the sailing rig :)

[AdriftAtSea]

welcome to sailfar.net suzie. 

Personally, I like the way my portabote rows.. :) Dinghies and anchors are a often a point of personal preference and strong feelings among sailors. :)