Liberty is being free from the things we don't like in order to be slaves of the things we do like.--Ernest Benn

Thursday, March 24, 2011

The 1970's & 1980's


When we were courting, Trophy Wife and I shared 14 feet of fiber glass. It was a Schock International 14 which we named Wet & Wild. Of course, it is not like the current INT-14's: our boat had only one trapeze and no open transom. Strictly for race, it gave us lots of thrills & spills racing on lakes and Newport Beach, Alamitos Bay, del Rey, King Harbor, and San Diego, etc. Just learning 'the ropes', we never were competitive in our local fleet, and were crushed by sailors from San Francisco and Seattle. However, we did have our share of days and triumphs over another boat skippered by "Break'em-off-by-the-Neck-Johnson". It was fun.

We also had lots of on-board disputes about tactics as to who should be the skipper and who should be crew. So, we parked the I-14 in the back yard and bought two 13-foot Kites and had a tandom trailer built. Big mistake. Those boats were so heavy, I dropped one the first week I had them. Trophy Wife had been arguing all along for Lasers. She had just read about them in Sports Illustrated. Happily, our Kite dealer was also a Laser dealer and we swapped them out, pronto.


Lasers to resolve this issue as to which of us was to be the boss (on the water). We raced and raced and raced and raced. Eventually, the two Lasers were replaced by three new ones as my 2nd oldest took up the sport and joined the fleet.

By the time we became adults and bought our first keel boat, and until this very day, we have not resolved which of us is the best helmsman. (er, Helmsperson!)

8 comments:

  1. Holy Moly, Doc! Now you're talking. How pure those photos are, and how low those Laser numbers are. My first was 802. If you've got any more, post them. If you think nobody else is interested, just send them directly to me. Seriously

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  2. By the way, nice John Newcombe mustache and glasses! And the sails looked crinkly new too.

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  3. For the most part I have no idea what your talking about. That being said I love to drop by and get lost in a nautical story each time I'm here. I enjoy it very much Doc.

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  4. Wow, great pics, Doc, and wonderful story. Thanks.

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  5. Kites? Who's ever heard of them? Good call on the part of T-Wife! I'd say she won the who's-going-to-be-the-skipper contest, hands-down!

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  6. I also sailed a Laser in these happy years. What a dangerous pleasure to be the skipper AND the crew.
    Now, Doc, Velux leg 4 start is approaching fast.
    Will you be there ? And will you open a new post for this occasion ? It'd be great !

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  7. Is that a Mirror dinghy in the last picture? Where was that?

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  8. Mirror Dinghy? Good recall, Tillerman. I wouldn't have been able to recall that one. But I think you're right!

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