Letters “Decisions,” a Similar Story
I want to thank you for the article, “Decisions”, in the January 2011, 48° North. It reminded me of many opportunities we had with our children at similar ages, as well as my personal sailing history. I grew up in Seattle, and began sailing on Puget Sound in a lateen rigged, canoe shaped craft. Most of my sailing at that time was done at Indianola, on the Kitsap peninsula, north of Bainbridge Island. I didn’t know anything about sailing, but my father purchased a handbook called, The Small boat Sailor’s Bible. From that we learned the theory of the various points of sailing, which I then tested for hours during the summers off the beach at Indianola. This was a pretty idyllic beginning. A girlfriend’s family had a cabin on the beach about a mile west of the town, and I would sail down that direction and look for their car parked behind the cabin to see if they were there. Our next boat was an ElToro that my brother commissioned a neighbor to construct. It was well built, and with it my brother sailed circles around me. In fact, though he no longer sails, I believe he could still sail circles around me in whatever boats we might choose. In the mid-sixties, my parents purchased a
Thunderbird. It was moored at Edmonds, and the slip came with it. We got involved in the local T-Bird fleet #13, as well as the fleet sailing out of Edmonds, and joined in their races for the next several years. We sailed and raced as a family, and my dad allowed me to steer most of the time during the races. I can still remember the first time my dad allowed my brother and I to take the boat without him on board. We decided to cruise over to Poulsbo, and spend the
night there. Our father and a friend helped us cast off, calling farewell, as we motored out of the harbor and raised our sails. The wind was brisk from the southwest, which meant a beat to Jefferson Head, and then a close reach through Port Madison, and a beat through Agate Pass. The tide was going with us, so that part of the trip was pretty exciting. Upon our arrival at Poulsbo, we were surprised to find our dad and friend there waiting to catch our lines and help secure the boat. This was not a terrible thing, because this meant we would be going out to eat, rather than preparing something on the alcohol stove in the boat. The next morning was clear and bright, and we had a good sail back to Edmonds. My parents sold that boat while I was getting my
education. When I returned from completing my degrees, all we had left was the El Toro. My brother was not sailing it at the time, so I asked if I could take it and do some sailing at Lake Steilacoom which was just a couple of blocks from where I was living. He agreed, so I sanded it and gave it a new coat of paint, then took my wife and young son down to the park and launched us on our first
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48° NORTH, MARCH 2011 PAGE 13
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