About Me

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Sacramento, California, United States
so salty pieces of coral from surfing Hawaii in the 60's and 70's getting reef pounded living in my body fall through my skin from time to time!

sailing to Oahu

Jimi Hendrix was playing on Oahu. I had never sailed. Surfed Mexico, California, Hawaii! Aw, how hard could it be to sail 90-110 miles from Kauai to Oahu? Piece of cake, right? Remember it was the 60's! This is so bad. We thought we were looking at Kaiena Point,Ohau, knowing we weren't going to make the concert! But at least we were in site of Oahu-wrong! Coy, who had never sailed before, me,who had never sailed before, jeff and Abbott etc. We were looking at the sleeping giant on Kauai! We had done three-sixty's in the night! We sailed on the only tri-marran I've ever sailed on ( except later ) in my life, missed the concert! It was at the Waikiki Shell Ampitheater ( Moon eclipsed . We finally made Nawilwili Harbor! The Skipper tried to give us his boat saying, " It's trying to kill me"! We watched him go stark raving mad not even realising that had we got caught in the channel current we were on our way to Japan! Remember it was the 60's and we were going to see Hendrix. I left out some of the good stuff but I will make up for it later!

Friday, December 18, 2009

Ben Kelly

      In Cairns Australia a boat was sold to a wannabe part of a sailing community without paying Davie his due!  You know the style or lack of!  His name isn't important but his character or lack of is.  He figured he could buy a pedigreed sailboat, throw some money around buying drinks at the Cairns Yacht Club when it was located near the mouth that talked to Grafton Passage.  Get a crew together to sail to Cooktown and invaribly learn everything there is to know about sailing and sailors.  My wife of today ( girlfriend then )  He chose as paid skipper.  Many sailors availed themselves as he ( new owner ) is truly a generous and kind man.  I can speak of this because I was one of the other three he hand picked to deliver Ben Kelly and his self to Cooktown.  Alan, the son of the husband and wife that sold Ben Kelly, was one of the chosen.  Uly, a german, my friend,(as is Alan) and a Captain and owner of his own boat was also hand picked by the new owner.  What a motley crew!  The combined knowledge of the crew and the feel of the spitit of the sea made for a great fellowshipical adventure and maiden introduction for a new salt who bore the jokes with good interpertations of harmless but needful teasing and pranks that are designed for the benefit of the uninitiated!  For instance.  If I ask someone if they can tie a bolan and their response is, " Are you pulling that sailor shit on me "?  My answer would be, " No, not by any means ", but then, " Would you show me a knot you feel comfortable with?"  So they tie any manner of knot.  And then after I makefast I ask them to un-tie it.  They can't, of course, and I'm sure not going to hand them my marlinspike!  So they learn something they didn't get when they were a boyscout!!  Simply if you only learn one knot, let it be a bolan!  It can save your life!!   So we sailed.  Inside " The Great Barrier Reef ".  The largest living organism or life form on the face of this sailboat sailing through space called " Earth "  I think Terra Tempory might have been better than Terra Firma!?  Terra Temporaius sounds like an aquarium people might pay money to sea.  One of my favorite sailors ( I lied, he is ) Captain Cook managed to stumble ( yea, right! ) inside " The Reef ", and then couldn't find his way out.  Two ways in-no way out without a chart!  Oh yea, he created them!  Go figure!  So0o with a following sea and a following wind ( rare ) we sailed Ben Kelly at times faster than her hull was designed for.  I always loved the concept that a vessel that arrives at a speed beyond her design will drive herself underwater!  Ballast and balance and let her go!!  We were wing and wing with all skippers aboard who liked each other! Nay!  God forbid!  In broad daylight, unchallenged, the wind, tide and swells drove Ben Kelley, not we, but one. The owner learned on that cruise more or less than he was entitled.  Dues have been and are being paid by every man ( woman ) who goes to sea.  Captain Cook's offloaded canons, brass monkey balls, anything of weight has only been found recently. ( the last fifty years )  Cooktown is named for him where he came in the river and put his hull back together with native timber.  Good thing he ran aground then because there is no timber anywhere near Cooktown today that you could appropriate.  It just isn't!  I owe this next bit to my wife of many years and the bearer of my our children.  Once we arrived and dropped our pick upriver, I didn't trust the tide flux and river current to hold.  I errored and set another anchor in what can be called " A bermuda triangle ".  It's a double pick drop and it failed with no damage because she, as THE skipper caught the error.  What can I say, " Sorry " .  And that is what the owner Jim learned  on his first sail on his new boat Ben Kelly!  It is O.K to ask questions.  It is O.K. to knot know the answer.  Always recomember " A WISE MAN ASKS WHAT A FOOL PRETENDS TO KNOW "  and all sailors will be alright!  God Bless

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