Hello All,
So, we are telling kid sailing stories...!
Ok, we live on an island, so, guess what we do most of the time?.....yep, hit the water!..swim,..snorkle,..fish,..sail
Colin would be on the Hobie 33, since we came to St. Croix, we would cross over to Tortola to see the grandparents, whether by sail, power, ferry, plane, cargo plane,..whatever,...we go.
Coming back from St. Thomas Rolex in the H33 one year, we hit a 180 degree wind shift and full blown #$&* storm,....yep, right on the nose,..8 hrs later in horizontal rain we made St. Croix at midnight,.....he was 5,...he remembers it today,..so we make a rule,...if the seas are over 6 feet and the wind over 25, we do not go....
....but 3 foot waves and 15 mph is the norm here and he does the YC optis and sunfish like the rest of the kids. The kids race at the YC, inside the reef, the waves are less than 1 foot but the wind is up,..it is fun to see, for downwind, the kids spend most of the time getting water outof the optis,...they call it 'bail and sail' here
...now, at 12, he has been on since 10, I take him on the I-17 and he grabs the tiller out of my hand and laughs( of course I get miffed, I mean, this is still MY TOY)......yeah, yeah, yeah, they love hangin' on the wire too, of course....his comment is '..Make the boat go faster Dad.."...this year he will go to the regattas and set up the boat, instead of sitting on the RC boats eating sandwiches and drinking sodas.....hopefully in 2-3 years he can take the boat over,..no pressure,..his call.
regards ,
Bruce
St. Croix
