Introductions / How did you find sailFar.net?

[AdriftAtSea]

Karletto-

Welcome.  I think you're in the right spot on the internet for what you want to do.  The people here are pretty good eggs, even the ones with the overly large boats. :) I'd recommend you get John Vigor's book, 20 Small Sailboats To Take You Anywhere, to start with. 

[driftingnowhere]

Greetings guys from Houston.  Noobie to cruising but someday dream to singlehand the Caribbean.  Prefer Catalina 27, but would settle for 25.   I have much, much more homework to do.

Life is too short.  I was in Chicago when Pat cashed in and sailed across the world:  www.bumfuzzle.com.  I still think he's crazy but he did it, and he's still going (wish I had a trust-fund)!!!

I'll go post in the proper place but I need closure on the Pixie Dust story!?!  Where is she, what's happening!?!

Some great websites for tracking hurricanes:

http://web.tampabay.rr.com/wolfy/

http://www.stormpulse.com/

[CapnK]

Welcome aboard, y'all! There is a great crew of people here, you will have fun. :)

I DO have a drinking problem. His name is "Frank", and he's a Canadian, eh? But... that's an old story... in our archives somewhere... ;D

Seriously, though - Looking forward to getting to know y'all better, hearing of your stories and boats and such. :)

Exchanged a couple emails with Connie/Pixie this past week. She is down in the Bahama's, working for a salvage operation on Staniel Sampson Cay, and is loving the life. I don't see her coming back to the States other than for visits for a long time to come.:)

[s/v Monomoy]

Hello all. 

My name is Ben Harris and I'm a sailaholic; whew, glad I got that off my chest first thing.

My wife, son, and I sail a Catalina 27 in Pensacola, FL.  We originally named her 'El Santo Salmonete' from a family tale, but folks over the radio always seemed to have a hard time hailing us and would generally call for BenH.  Since we never plastered the name on the vessel, we decided to rename her (yep, did the ceremony and all) to 'Monomoy', which is the name of a sloop in our son's favorite book titled 'The Ghost Ship'.  We still don't have the name on her, because we keep planning to repaint the topsides and bottom, so we keep putting it off.  Soon enough though...

I've been browsing your site off and on for the last couple of months, but for some reason never joined till today.  I really enjoy reading all of the postings from everyone and the overall kind spirit that everyone seems to have is really great.  I dislike forums where you get the feeling that everyone is a snob and you are afraid to post, because you think you might get jumped on, but I don't get that feeling from this site.

I run the SailingPensacola.com forum and first learned of Sailfar from a posting by Craig of s/v Faith some months ago when he joined my forum.

I'm sorry I took so long to become a member and introduce myself, but now that I am here, I look forward to much more reading and posting.

Fair winds everyone.

Ben

[Frank]

Good to have ya aboard.Whew...'El Santo Salmonete' is a mouthful.I'd pay to hear Capt K saying that 3 times in a row to hail you after a few  :o  Have fun and welcome.

[AdriftAtSea]

Welcome aboard BenH. :)

[triton318]

James Baldwin suggested this site.

[s/v Faith]

Welcome aboard!

Hello all. 

My name is Ben Harris and I'm a sailaholic; whew, glad I got that off my chest first thing.

  You are in good company here Ben.   ;)

Glad to have you aboard, and thanks again for the SailingPensacola.com Site.  It is a great resource for Pensacola Sailors.

[s/v Faith]

James Baldwin suggested this site.

  Welcome Aboard Jay!  I picked up Faith in Hayes VA.  Pretty area, great place to sail.  I will never forget the first time I saw here at a little community marina.... the fog was riding off the water, it was love at first site.   ;D 

 

[chris2998]

James Baldwin who has the website http://atomvoyages.com/atom/aboutatom.htm
just gave me your website. It has been a dream of mine since I was about 16 to sail around the world bouncing from island to island i'm now 29. I just learned to sail two summers ago and really haven't sailed since then. I'd really like to but the local yacht club is so dang expensive to join I could almost go out and buy a 12 or 13 ft sailboat myself and sail it rather then joining there over priced club. Still I hope to buy a sailboat in about a year and hopfully another year working and saving and fixing the boat up to do my little circumnavigation adventure. I am so amazed of how many people are sailing everywhere on such a small boat. I have been on a allmand 35ft boat and it just felt small on the inside but to do it on a 28ft around the world I just don't know if I could handle being so cramped. I haven't been on alot of boats but I'd say from a 30-a 35ft boat I think would be ideal for me but who knows I haven't been on enough boats to see what is really best for me. I gotta say I really do like the Southern Cross boats I just like the way they look and they just look like they could take a serious beating and just keep going. I think when I buy my boat I will name it Dreamer people always say I am a Dreamer but I do make my Dreams a reality with lots of hard work. So yeah thats about it I better shutup now i'll be typeing forever LOL

Chris

[s/v Faith]

Chris,

  Welcome aboard SailFar!  Glad you are here, I think that you will find some folks here that are 'Dreamers' too.   ;)

I'd really like to but the local yacht club is so dang expensive to join....

  That is a shame. The club we were with in NC was a great place for folks to get the feel for sailing.  Sadly, many are just expensive social clubs that have little intrest in helping people get into sailing.  I have noticed though, that Sailors (especially small boat Sailors) tend to be a good group.  If you hang out around the docks, and have a good attitude (and the right shoes) you can sometimes get onboard peoples boats.  Some of the most enjoyable sails I have had were with dockwalkers who I had just met.  :)

  Where are you located?  There may be some people here that could help you look for a boat, or maybe get some time out on the water with.

  Glad to have you aboard, and good luck.   ;D

[AdriftAtSea]

Chris-

Welcome to Sailfar.net. 

[chris2998]

Chris,

  Welcome aboard SailFar!  Glad you are here, I think that you will find some folks here that are 'Dreamers' too.   ;)

I'd really like to but the local yacht club is so dang expensive to join....

  That is a shame. The club we were with in NC was a great place for folks to get the feel for sailing.  Sadly, many are just expensive social clubs that have little intrest in helping people get into sailing.  I have noticed though, that Sailors (especially small boat Sailors) tend to be a good group.  If you hang out around the docks, and have a good attitude (and the right shoes) you can sometimes get onboard peoples boats.  Some of the most enjoyable sails I have had were with dockwalkers who I had just met.  :)

  Where are you located?  There may be some people here that could help you look for a boat, or maybe get some time out on the water with.

  Glad to have you aboard, and good luck.   ;D

I'm in Covington Louisiana the yacht club nearest me in Mandeville LA is like $500.00 dollars inishiation fee then like $100 a month that is way over priced I feel I say I could save up and buy a nice used sunfish for that much maybe a $1000. I'm not so much in it for the socializeing well I am but more in it to want to be a good sailor. If i had kids I think this place would be great to join but where I am in my life right now I don't think it is for me.

Chris

[xirii]

Whew!  Tons of intros here!  So, intro to me???  I'm addicted and I haven't found a 12 step program I can deal with, so I just keep sailing.  :D  How sad does that make me?  Not very!  I'm currently in FL, but boatless!    :'(  There's a local club with a boat I can sail though, so I get my fix in.  When my lotto ticket cashes in (read: after a long winter eating pasta and frozen veggies to save money) I'll be moving aboard the CD22 of my choice to attempt to make my millions from a floating base.  I make/repair sails and teach sailing for a living, neither of which are completely stunning in their ability to fund my dreamboat, but both of which are a blast and allow me MUCH time on/near boats.  That's what counts!  I'm excited to finally find this forum, as I've been bookmarking sites since I first sent money to AOL 13 years ago, and following links like a mad-woman... So how on earth did I miss a forum filled with people who think like I do?!??  SOOOOOOO happy to be here!

[s/v Faith]

Welcome Aboard!

  Glad to have you here.  It is a little different then the other forums here... unique brand of crazy folks drawn to the idea I guess...  ;)

  The CD 22 is a great boat, can't go wrong with an Alberg drawn boat...   8)  Where in FL are you located?  What is the origin of your user's name?

  Ok, here is your first grog to enjoy while you answer all the questions..  ;D

[Frank]

Welcome aboard!! Alberg...who's this Alberg guy anyway? And 22ft...now that's silly.  ;D Grog to little Albergs and big dreams!! :o

[xirii]

Oh Carl, how do I love thee, let me count the ways... :-)   In direct answer to questions, I'm in St Augustine for the moment, I'll be going to the cold, cold north - PA -  for the winter. (I know, I have it backwards.)  And 'xirii' is a name I made up for a login once when my standard name/initial derivatives had already been taken.  I figured x words are uncommon enough and just started adding other letters.  Then I learned that it's a form of the Somalian word meaning connection/connected/tied together/related/close...  I decided that the next boat will bear the name as well, since it seems like a good thing to be close/connected to one's boat.  ;-)  It may be shackles sometimes, but it's still a good thing!  Thanks for the welcome!  Can't wait to get to know you all! 

[AdriftAtSea]

Welcome to sailfar.net Xirii. :) Once you get your CD22, where do you plan to take her. :) 

[CharlieJ]

Used to live in Jax and spent a good bit of time in St Augustine. Love that city. Used to sail my trimaran down from Jax Beach offshore and anchor in  Salt Run. We'd dinghy over to the Conch Hut for a few drinks then walk across the Bridge of Lions to some place for dinner.

How long do you expect to be in St Augustine this year?

[HeyItsBorch]

I just registered here after browsing the forums for a couple of days. Two years ago I bought a 1977 Hunter 27 on the cheap with free mooring for as long as I want. Last year I sailed mostly in the Long Island Sound area around Queens and the Bronx. The boat's Yanmar was never reliable enough to do the trip down the East River into New York Harbor until this year. So a month ago we took the trip down the East River and have been keeping the boat on the Jersey side of the Hudson, much closer to where I live, directly across from the Empire State Building.

I've gotten a lot of good tips for fixing up the boat since I've been reading the forum. So I must thank you all in advance.

And now for some pictures. A friend pressured me into going for a short trip through the harbor yesterday, even though we had terrible weather. But we went anyway and got some shots of some familiar places.

The southern tip of Manhattan engulfed in fog. You can see the Brooklyn Bridge to the far right.


And my friend who goaded me into the trip saluting Lady Liberty.


Cheers,
Lawrence