Tasted the dark side

SCORPIO

SCORPIO

Well-Known Member
Apr 7, 2008
2,743
Delaware
Boat Info
1989 300 DA
Engines
Twin 5.7 Merc Alpha I
I went sailing with a friend on his new Island Packet 38 today. Was a nice day with variable winds up to 30 kt gusts. Ive never sailed before so he showed me how to rig out all the sails and has me actually do it. Then to my surprise, he turned over the helm to me and we sailed down wind, a beam reach, tack, jibe etc. It was a bit intimidating at first, especially being a neophyte and.being trusted with the helm of a very expensive boat. It was a very informative and enjoyable day and i learned a lot. It was also a lot of work! I could have covered the same ground in my boat in a few minutes without all the efforts to keep the boat in trim. I won't be buying a sail boat but I look forward to going out again. Thanks Roger!
 
I've been out on a few different sailboats over the years. I've always been cold with wind at my back and can never get comfortable in the cockpit seats. Most sail boaters like to brag about how they spent only $40 a year in fuel but when you ask them where they went all summer they reply with some local trips that I can make in 15 minutes. Not the kind of boating I enjoy.
 
I think being a passenger might be relaxing but it sure looks like a lot of work. Not what I like doing on my days off...lol
 
I love sailing on a hobie cat.

Anything bigger than 16 ft, way too much work for a fat boy like me


Mark
 
I switched from sail to power when my boating moved from the coast to an inland lake. Not sure what I would do if we went to back to the coast. Love both. I get my sailing fix now with yearly charters in the BVI and a Flying Scot on the lake.
 
I like boats. I have had both power and sail. As a kid growing up in OH my dad always had a Sail Boat on Lake Erie and we had a ski boat. I once spent 2 years live aboard cruising in Mexico on a sail boat. I now have a 270 Sundancer I keep on Roosevelt lake in AZ. Our plan is to cruise it on the big lakes here in the West trailer it to S California and to the Sea of Cortez in Mexico when we retire. We may even buy a trawler and do the Great Loop.

I get bored fast just motoring from point A to point B. I have sailed a boat up and down the 20 miles of Roosevelt many times & it was different every time. When I motor it, it is just like driving a car. Sailing is a lot of work but it is also a challenge. It takes some brain work to know the workings of the boat and the wind. It is NOT the dark side any more than Motoring is the Bright side.
I was recently invited to go out for a sail with some folks at the Marina. When the Jib was out I sheeted it home and trimmed it the skipper asked for the traveler to me adjusted and since I was sitting next to it I did. At that point the comment was made that I seem to know a lot about sailing for a "power boater". No one knew my experience and after some discussion it was determined that I had sailed more than everyone else on that boat combined!
I know this is a power boat forum, I own and operate a power boat which is why I check in here. But we are all boaters power or sail. None are on the Dark Side one is not better than the other. We all just like different things. If I was 20 years younger I would still be sailing. But I'm older and the power boat is less effort to run.
It's all fun if you ask me...
 
In 1984 my grandfather bought an O'Day 28. I took it on week-long trips with my friends and little brother before I was even old enough to have my driver's license. Grandad would drive around Lake Champlain to the port we were at to help me cast off alone, because my crew wouldn't awake until noon. I'd motor until the bums awoke, then we'd sail to the next port where Grandad would be waiting to catch a line. He'd make sure we were secure, he'd pay our transient fee and go home until the next morning.

Grandad passed a decade ago, but my uncle still has the boat. We took her sailing on Saturday. She has a reefing jib, so it's really not that much "work". Hoist the main, trim the jib and let her lean over and cut across the water in silence, for free. Nothing is wearing, nothing is vibrating, nothing burning, smoking, steaming or emptying. I didn't have to constantly pan between the plotter and radar. I don't have to worry about the auto-pilot, because that consists of a knob that locks the wheel.

Sailing is definitely not dark!

Ironically, the only sad part was that as good as she still looks and sails, Grandad wanted an Island Packet. I wish he had bought one. (what's Roger's number? lol)
 
I grew up on Lake Huron on a Sailfish and spent several summers on that boat. Many years laterI bought a 16' Hobie Cat and sailed it on the Columbia but I found that river sailing isn't as much fun as lake sailing because you're always fighting the current.

Now, I like being able to turn the keys, slip the lines and go wherever I want, current be damned.
 
I was re-living those days with the family last wkd. That was before cellphones, so Grandad would take the hand-held home and we'd hail him with updates from the boat. Since he didn't have a station license, he told us to hail ourselves so he could pretend to be us.

One day he didn't answer right away, so with typical teen-ager patience, we tried to hail him, "persistently".

"Sagittarius, Sagittarius, Sagittarius, come in, over. Sagittarius, Sagittarius, Sagittarius, come in, over. Sagittarius, Sagittarius, Sagittarius, come in, over."

Right about then a nearby boat with a really powerful radio chimed in with, "Sagittarius, will you please answer this god-d@mn idiot?"

We waited a few hours before trying again.
 
I like sailing, not that I would want a sailboat in place of a power boat on an inland lake like LKN, but there are a lot of them there. As a kid spending summers at my grandparents lake cottage, we were not allowed to operate a motor boat over 10hp alone until we were 14. We had a little skiff with a Merc 9.8, but also had a SunFish and later a Hobie and a Laser. I spent hours and hours sailing around that little lake in the SunFish. We used to vacation at Pawley's Island SC and would take the boats there also - the Hobie was just a blast in the ocean. The great thing about sailing is once you know how, you know, the principles are the same whether in a SunFish or a 50ft sloop.
 
My kids (now 17 & 20) spent many summers growing up in a sailing program and loved it. The club they sailed at was filled with great people, but as much as I liked them, the sailing wasn't for me.
 
I used to own a sailboat in a previous life. My experience was almost always getting seasick every time we went out. Also it frustrated me not to be able to really get anywhere within a reasonable amount of time. When we're in our Sea Ray we can be in an entirely new area within just a couple of hours. In the sailboat you could easily sit with sails luffing and not making any headway while turning green all the while.

I recognize that it's a beautiful sport however it's just not for me!

Sandy
 
I'll sail some day. Got my feet, and everything else wet, in Turks and Caicos. Rental place asked if we've ever "boated" before. Being the smart ass I am said, "Of course!". I learned alot that day on a 16' Hobie. Guess we were supposed to bring it back in a half hour but he didn't tell us that when we left. We were out there for three hours laughing and having a great time. I'll get a sail boat and some good lessons some day.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Forum statistics

Threads
113,220
Messages
1,428,857
Members
61,115
Latest member
Gardnersf
Back
Top