Rite of Passage
Capt. Dean: Who among us doesn’t count boating memories as tops in life? When I recall the friends I’ve made over the years from shared experiences on boats, it affrms my belief that there is no better medium for bringing people together than time on the
62With the 100 Motoryacht, Ocean Alexander presents a versatile vessel suited to handle charter—and anything else thrown in her path.
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KWrite to us at: Yachts International, The Quay, 1535 SE 17th Street, B201,
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33316. Or e- mail us at: yachtsmail@ aimmedia. com enny: Your waterborne life anecdotes in “Blood and Water” (From the Masthead, March 2015) made for a fun read and brought back some sailing memories of my own. I started way before you. As a photographer working in San Francisco, I would take lunch with a marine artist friend by the St. Francis Yacht Club, where we would dream of escaping to the South Seas. I eventually rented a tired, old, wood landing craft made into a houseboat moored at the Nunes Brothers Boat and Ways Company in Sausalito. They also built Errol Flynn’s yacht. What mine lacked in comfort, it made up for in the view of San Francisco from my bunk.
My skill as a photographer earned me some sailboat rides, which led to being a deckhand, which led to racing. As you know, winch grinders are always in demand. An owner once invited me to help with the “coffee grinder” winch running the big jib on a very old 12 Meter—one of the frst ever built—in a big-boat regatta sponsored by St. Francis. The frst leg required a tack past the club so spectators could enjoy the race. As we tacked in very close, I was tailing the winch as fast as I could. As fate had it that day, my pants split from belt line to belt line and I mooned the club. It took years to live that one down.
But perhaps my fondest memory on the water happened after sailing a charter to Panama. On our return to St. Thomas on a nearly windless night, the city lights were all on and we could hear the steel band playing from the shore. It just doesn’t get better than that, and I, too, have never regretted my decision to go to sea.
dAvid PollArd dpollard@aimmedia.com Jill BoBrow dUdlEy dAwSoN JUStiN rAtCliffE (EUroPE) mAry SoUth CAPt. riChArd thiEl ANdrEw PArKiNSoN aparkinson@aimmedia.com
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