So, who has a good sailing story?

Here's one to start with:

Here's one from the Sea of Cortez and a fellow I met, while goofing off in and near Marina Real, just north of San Carlos.

OK...when I first met him, I wasn't goofing off...I was salvaging a catamaran, which had broached and gone down.

Contrary to my crew's version, my story is it didn't actually sink, it only swamped pretty bad.....

I say this becasue it only completely filled with water...but since it's bow tips were still and inch or so above the surface, it doesn't count as a sinking..... but that's another story... Here's my story of the fellow I met:

In August 1998, on a sailing, snorkeling, scuba diving trip I took to the Sea of Cortes in Mexico, I met a fellow who had "escaped" from Czechoslovakia about ten years ago.

He moved himself and small family to Alaska where he worked on as a cook on fishing boats. After scrimping and saving his money, he moved to New Port Beach, Calif.....bought a run down diner and worked to improve it. He sold the business and then began repeating this whole process many times.

After he and his wife raised their family, he asked his wife about the prospect of buying a 32 foot sail boat and sailing it to the Sea of Cortes, Mexico. (A man after my own heart.)

She, knowingly asked what experience he had sailing.

He related to me he cited navigational and boat handling skills he'd acquired during their Alaska experience, on the fishing boats.

She noted those where power boats and there was a big difference between power and sail boats.

He pointed out what an adventure it would be.....she agreed, but told him she would join him on the adventure only after he'd successfully made the open Pacific Ocean coastal passage to the contained water of the Sea of Cortes.

He had read lots on the subject of sailing to augment his other skills and was determined to start this next chapter.

His approach was interesting. He followed a "learn-as-you-go" approach, figuring this trip would provide lots of time to "learn how to sail".

From New Port Beach, California, he sailed straight west until he could see no land...determined his position via electronics, maps, etc.......He then simply turned south and began experimented with the sails and sailing while underway.

He would sail the warm breezes and enjoy the trip until overcome by sleep. Because he was alone on this first trip...he would set the auto-pilot and sleep for several hours...after which he would wake....come back up on the boat's open deck.....look to ensure he was not close to dangerous rocks, other boats, etc.....again fix his position, via his electronic gear and maps...then adjust his course and repeat the process...which included enjoying the trip...and he was successful in arriving at his destination.

I asked him if he was ever frightened during the trip. He responded he was on only two occasions.

The first one was when he saw a squal approaching fast.

He said he watched as it arrived. However, having waited too long, he then had a lot of trouble taking the large sails down, due to the dramatically increased wind levels produced by the squall.

He knew he must replace the large sails with smaller ones to compensate for the higher wind velocities. His fear came from the difficulty he had in removing the large sails and knowing that leaving them up could result in either damage to the sails or the boat being "knocked down" and forced onto its side by the force of the wind against the large sails.

The second time he was fearful was also associated with a fast moving squall. On this second occasion, he said he saw the squall approaching fast. However, using his recently acquired experience with the last squall, he decided to change sails well before the squall actually hit him and his boat. However, as he was taking down the large sails, one sail became entangled near its top and jammed. No matter what he tried, he was unable to free the sail. To remedy this problem, he put the boat on auto-pilot, climbed the mast and was successful in "dropping" the sail. He explained, however, he was not able to descend the mast, before the squall's high winds hit. Fearing he would loose his grip and be thrown from the mast, possibly injuring himself or being thrown overboard, he decided to just hang on where he was. He said he just "hung on like a monkey" at the top of the mast until the squall past and the winds subsided. He acknowledged this second experience was very frightening because of the angry seas and his precarious position at the top of the 60 foot mast, which further exaggerated the sea's angry motion. However, he then quickly added as he laughed and laughed, even these experiences were no comparison to being shot at during his escape from his former communistic home land...so it really wasn't that bad at all......

He was a funny character and fun to talk to........

I wish I would have gotten his name.