Ocean Springs with his fishing boat in tow. A local resident had spotted Rosie that morning and told us where she was located. So finding her was rather easy. Towing her in was another story. We couldn’t remove the rigging, and the sea anchor created by the sails and mast easily defeated our 200-horsepower engine. When we finally made the decision to cut everything away from the hull, the waves had risen above three feet and we weren’t willing to risk getting back in the water and under the boat. I was frustrated and prepared to just chop a hole and sink her. Mark was determined to not be defeated—and was likely looking for an excuse to avoid attending a baby shower— so he insisted we come back the next day. On our second try we were successful in cutting away the sails and rigging, towing Rosie to shallow water and getting her upright. Other than the center- board falling out as we pulled her out of the water, the ride back to Ocean Springs Yacht Club was uneventful. So what do I do with the boat now? Te centerboard can be


reinstalled, the slightly bent mast can be straightened, the gear I’ve amassed over a lifetime of sailing can be replaced, but my ego has taken a pounding. Te fact that due to age and injury it takes me almost two hours to raise the mast and rig Rosie simply makes sailing less fun, and each time I go out there is always something I forgot to rig, or rig properly. As the capsize proved, such failures to adequately rig the boat can cause real problems. So it is likely that in an effort to be cautious I will in the future take even more time to rig Rosie by checking and double checking everything. Tat increase in setup time will translate into sailing less and less. Perhaps I’m just getting too old to sail this boat? My wife


says the boat should go and I should grow up and hang out with those guys who walk the mall each morning. Some friends, who think they look better in Spandex than they actually do, think I should take up cycling. My sons suggest that I just use my Holder 12, and that I should only sail in sight of shore…and only when the wind is under 10 miles per hour. My daughter thinks I should sell the boat and take her to Spain with the proceeds. (She doesn’t know its real value..I doubt we could get


32


all the way to the Waffle House down the road and have enough cash leſt for breakfast.) As for my crew, Mark says he will never sail with me again, not because of the capsize, but because he believes I cheated at “Name Tat Tune.” Well, I do my best thinking when drinking bourbon, and a


few nights aſter the event (with the help of some Four Roses, Sin- gle Barrel) I came up with a solution. Tere are quite a few folks out there who have been sailing Potters for years with a lateen rig. Utilizing a setup identical to a Sunfish, they moved the mast forward about a foot, braced it in the cabin and turned the Potter into a catboat. Setup time involves less than 10 minutes because of the simplicity of the rig and the light weight of the 10-foot mast. Generally, with a lateen rig the boat performs better down wind and only slightly less effective into the wind. Te fact that I could simply drop the lighter, unstayed mast into a hole and quickly set sail means I could sail alone and not need a second pair of hands to rig her. Should the weather turn on me, I could drop the main quickly and sit out a squall. With only one line to control the sail and one halyard to worry about, my margin of error would become rather broad. Actuaries would tell me that, on average, I have less than 15


years leſt to live. While I hope to challenge their math I have no intention of doing it without sailing. It is time to adjust my rig- ging to fit my age and lack of skill, but it’s not time to walk away from the Gulf of Mexico. I will have my Rosie all pretty and trim again (this is where I remind everyone that I am talking about my boat and not Rosie, my wife.) Uh, wait...that didn’t come out right—I wasn’t implying that Rosie the wife was not pretty and trim, and I’m already in enough trouble. And, once refitted, I’ll sail Rosie out to Horn Island again and watch the pelicans roost, the dolphins leap, and the sun set over the sea. I have a standard reply when people chastise me for being an


accident-prone sailor: Sailing is like kissing; even if you aren’t very good at it, you still want to do it again and again.


A.G. Monaco continues to sail the Gulf Coast in his now lateen rigged P-15...Rosie. He has bought a new life jacket.


SMALL CRAFT ADVISOR


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84