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we've done all the above plus pulling the boat out with the motor down. Minor scrape in the ramp and minor scrapes on the "skeg"? We should get in the club for trying to fly our spinnaker..first time out of the bag. Just snapped in the jib halyard and hoisted away...whoops...no sheets attached. (It was about 100 deg that day) After Jim got it stuffed in the bag we attached the sheets and hoisted away...whoops had the jib in the wrong corner. After Jim stuffed her in the bag for the second time...sweat just a running...me a laughin ( that last part didn't help) we realized it would have been smarter to pull it out at home and have it all rigged first. I'll bet all the fishing boats watching knew why they were fishing instead of sailing.

New stupid trick from Catigale today

Out with my mother and the twins, and came into Coeymans dock to have lunch and let the kids offshore to play in the park.

Easy docking against a 10-12 mph wind, and a 2.5 mph current coming from the South - Came into the dock from the North, and easily hopped off onto the floating dock, grabbed and secured the bow line...then realised to my horror I had forgotten to pull back into neutral before hopping off. The wind and tide had brought me to a stop at idle, and, you guessed it, the minute I hopped off the wind dropped.

So I am sitting on a dock, holding the boat back against a MERC 50HP at idle, trying to get my mother to shut it down, and then told my 7 year old, RED SWITCH DRILL,....she jumps into the cockpit and hits the emergency shutdown switch.

If you had told me yesterday I would jump off a boat on a dock leaving it powered up with guests on board, I would have asked what you were smoking....

That could have been an ugly ending....and cant imagine trying to explain that to the Admiral. I was very thankful abd kind of proud that I had drilled the kids on how to shut the engine down in an emergency - they got a good ice cream reward for that one.

I will gladly accept an advanced level position into the Stupid Mac Tricks Club for this one...

Yea , another screw-up. yesterday,there was hardly any wind, maybe 5-6 knots in gusts. I drifted into the no-wake swimmers area with full main and 150 genoa. We were making maybe 3 knots, when suddenly a pwc shot across my bow at full throttle. He was followed by the coast guard siren, and serendipitously a microburst. Suddenly I was forced to turn broadside to a 30-40 knot wind with full sails. I had always thought that You could free the genoa sheet just by jerking it back and up, but thats not always true evidently. WhoaWhoaa..Whoaaa! as the boat heeled way past the inclinometer limit, maybe 45 degrees. I lost my composure and yelled at Andy (a former trucker, and no wimp), Andy , free that sheet what? Free that Sheet, Andy, just let it go! By this time my Cousin is looking a little more than petrified. Dont worry, Mary. When it heels over enough , it will dump the air out and come back upright. Yea Right, Ill bet you read that someplace. Andy politely informed me that the cam cleat wouldnt budge, and it was too late to tell him to use the winch handle.( Yes, It really is a handy tool after all), Meanwhile, I decided to head downwind, and hopefully put her in irons. I couldnt leave the wheel, and my small cousin was no match for the main, so what I thought I could do gently , (Jibe Ho!) was anything but Well! The boom came across with such violence that it tore the plastic loops off all my sail slides. The next thing I saw was The 18 sail slides coming out the bottom of the mast and rolling into the drink like white teeth after a cartoon right hook. The big white main was loose now, kinda of like those 1950 Tide commercials gone horribly wrong. We released the halyard, and the main fell gently towards the outboard. Yes, that added a few more anxious moments I didnt need. The worst part was that a Catalina 25 that was a hundred yards away, handled the microburst just fine apparently, and simply sailed away at a high rate of speed. I was chastised by the Coast Guard, although they acknowledged the PWC had violated the road rules, but I think they thought I could have handled the situation better. My pride having been dealt a near fatal blow, My cousin asked if she could take up smoking again after that? The news announced that a small Storm front had raced up the front range spitting lightning bolts, Hailstones, and sudden winds in excess of 70 MPH, so that helped a little..If it wasnt for that darned Catalina?

Catigale, Im impressed by your concern, and the teaching. On Sat. when the aforementioned incident occurred, I was waiting in the launch line. Ahead of me were a couple modestly poor young families, maybe 7 or 8 in all with an old tired looking pontoon boat. They were trying to turn the wheel , and it was frozen. I offered an assist since I had my toolbox nearby, and proceeded to dismantle, oil, hammer, and twist the cable with them until it finally freed up, just as the last boat ahead of them went down the ramp. I asked them how long since the boat floated, and they said about 8 years. I was so happy to see them and their kids off to have a good time. I asked them if theyd tried their outboard, and they assured me they had. Well ! about an hour later I saw them listing to port, bow up, in the middle of the reservoir, and motored over to check on them. They were slowly headed back to the docks under the watchful eye of the Coast Guard. My thought was, of all the things to check out before putting kids on board would be Does it float? God bless them, but you my friend are way ahead of the curve on good parenting, I think, and I am so glad that I didn't help a boating accident occur.

I think Ill carry that image around of those two poor little ones who drowned up on Champlain in 2002 for the rest of my boating life. Ive been out with a much more experienced guy and we took the boat 'past the limit' but when the kids are on board, its a different sport imho...

Its scary when you see whats on the water, isnt it?? I do feel a bit like you should watch out for those less fortunate trying to build some memories with their kids....Rich - dont think for a moment that you helping them out at the dock doesnt touch the kids lives, and realise they are important no matter how much money the family does/doesnt have...