The Last Day of May

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Messing About In Boats - 2013

“Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing — absolute nothing — half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats. Simply messing about in boats — or with boats. In or out of 'em, it doesn't matter. Nothing seems really to matter, that's the charm of it. Whether you get away, or whether you don't; whether you arrive at your destination or whether you reach somewhere else, or whether you never get anywhere at all, you're always busy, and you never do anything in particular; and when you've done it there's always something else to do, and you can do it if you like, but you'd much better not”
                         - Water Rat in The Wind in the Willows

James Locker, Linda Ge, Austin Eilering, Cynthia Shallit & Ryan Wilkerson in 2013 at Lake Washington Sailing Club.

Music is That's a Good Question by Peter Kaukonen from the Black Kangaroo album.

Learning to Sail

Cowan Lake

The first time I ever went sailing was at Cowan Lake, near Wilmington, Ohio.  I'm not sure exactly when it was, probably the spring of '72 or '73.  A college sailing regatta was being held there. I knew quite a few of the Wright State team's members as there was a large overlap between the Ski Club, which I was very active in, and the Sailing Team.

I'd spent a fair amount of time in boats before this, but it had all been in either powerboats, canoes or rowboats.  I was intrigued by sailing, and hoped I might get a chance to try it, but I had come just to watch the race and visit with friends.  When I arrived I spoke to a few of the people I knew and was introduced to others.

Not long after this Reiner, the Team Captain (also a skier). and another man came over to the WSU contingent.   They were looking for a WSU student to "crew" on one of the boats as one of the scheduled sailors had not shown up.

Wright State Campus

I wasn't paying much attention to these two -- I wasn't a sailor, heck, I wasn't even a member of the Sailing Club.

Then I heard Reiner say, "Hey, there's Tom.  He can do it!"

This really surprised  me.  I explained to them my total lack of experience and non-membership.

"That doesn't matter," Reiner claimed, "you're a WSU student and I can fill out the membership paperwork later.  You can "crew" easily -- you've been in boats a lot and you're a great athlete, the best skier in the Ski Club.*  [Forgot the name of this sailor] will show you what to do.  It'll be fun."

So a few minutes later, there I was, setting in a Flying Junior Sailboat in the middle of the "start melee" trying to take in the instructions the skipper was giving me (1 - move to the high side of the boat. 2 - adjust the "jib sheet" so that the two pieces of yarn on the front sail are both flowing straight back al0ng the sail and not fluttering.)

The first heat was fine, we finished somewhere in the middle of the slow part of the fleet.  Reiner was second as I remember.  The next heat wasn't so good.  We capsized before we got to the first mark.  Looking back on it, I now realize that he wasn't a highly skilled sailor. After the capsize we drifted into some bushes along the shore and he didn't know how to get us upright, off that leeshore and moving again.  A powerboat had to come out and tow us, with a hull-full of water, back to the marina.

Reiner told me later not to feel bad about the events, "I'm sure it wasn't your fault," he said, "[The skipper whose name I can't recall] capsizes just about every time he goes out."

* The only part of this sentence that was true was the part about being in boats a lot.

  ***********

Sea Stories

Well, not exactly sea stories, but a few things about Dad, boats and the US Navy.

Growing up in Dayton doesn’t usually bring boating into a boy’s life, but Dad and some of his friends did use canoes on the nearby Mad River and rowboats fishing in lakes and water-filled gravel-pits.  Dad was fond of boating and, although he didn’t own a boat until after he retired, we often went boating with his friends.

After Dad got out of high school and began working at Delco Moraine the draft was still in effect.  He knew that he would soon have to make a decision about joining or waiting for his draft notice.

One day several of his friends approached him.  They had talked to an Army recruiter who’d promised them that if they all joined up at the same time they could go to boot camp together.  They all thought this would be a grand plan.  Dad did too, with one exception – he wanted to go into the Navy.



The others didn’t really care what branch they joined, so the next day they talked to a Navy recruiter and found that the Navy offered the same scheme.  A few weeks later the gang was off to the Great Lakes Naval Training Station near Chicago.



USS Lansdowne in Tokyo Bay for Treaty signing



After completing training everyone went off to their respective assignments.  Dad was sent to the Charleston Navy Yard, where he served as a Machinist Mate in the engine rooms and the damage control sections helping to prepare surplus WWII Destroyers for transfer to the Turkish Navy.  Among the ships Dad worked on were the USS Lardner - DD-487, the USS Lansdowne - DD-486, the USS McCalla - DD-488 & the USS Buchanan - DD-484.  Dad went on many day cruises out to sea a number of times, helping to train the Turkish sailors.  He once told me that they never got out of sight of the shore, which was a bit of a disappointment for him.

Dad had an adventure in boot camp that I wrote about before.  He also told me about an incident that he experienced in Charleston.  They were being taught to extinguish onboard fires.  The instructors lit a large amount of fuel.  Dad and two other sailors were to attack the flames with a large hose, probably a 2-1/2” line, and a high volume nozzle.  Dad was second in line. 

Something like this, but with less protective gear and a larger hose.

As they got close to the fire, suddenly the first sailor, the one holding the nozzle, panicked.  He let go of the nozzle and ran.  Dad had three or four feet of hose twisting and whipping around and, since the water curtain was no longer always between him and the fire, it suddenly got very hot.

Dad was tempted to “follow the leader” – drop the hose and run.  But he realized that if he did so the third sailor and others nearby might be hurt.  So he inched his grip forward on the hose until he got control of it.  He and the other sailor successfully extinguished the fire.

Sometime after Mom and Dad had gotten married, but before I was born, the Navy offered Dad a slot at Officer’s Candidate School.  Accepting would mean an additional four years in the Navy.  Dad considered it, but he really didn’t want a career in the Navy, he had a good job waiting for him in Dayton with Delco Moraine and they had me on the way, so he turned it down.

A few months later, not long after I was born, Dad was honorably discharged and they went to Dayton.  A few weeks after arriving home, the Korean War broke out.  Dad said, “I didn’t even have time to unpack my seabag.  Then I figured I might as well not unpack as I was sure I’d be called back up.”

He wasn't though.

Sailing With James

“Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing — absolute nothing — half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats. Simply messing about in boats — or with boats. In or out of 'em, it doesn't matter. Nothing seems really to matter, that's the charm of it. Whether you get away, or whether you don't; whether you arrive at your destination or whether you reach somewhere else, or whether you never get anywhere at all, you're always busy, and you never do anything in particular; and when you've done it there's always something else to do, and you can do it if you like, but you'd much better not”
                         - Water Rat in The Wind in the Willows


My posts on this website are usually stories from the past, but this one is more of a diary entry.  Today (July 14, 2012) James and I went out to the Lake Washington Sailing Club.  It was a workday when the members spruce up the clubhouse and grounds.  As soon as we got there James ran into one of the sailing instructors he knows who asked him if he wanted to go out in one of the Sabots that he has been sailing in his lessons.

Although we were supposed to be there to get some work done, I agreed to let him sail instead (how many chances does one get?).

He puttered around in the Sabot while some other students were getting instruction.  He also got a chance to try a Minifish sailboat, which he thought was a little too “wobbly.”

When I finished my work, we went out together, him in the Sabot and me in the Minifish.  This was the first time that we have ever done this and I’m not a good enough writer to express how much joy this gave me.

I know that using this song with sailing footage is corny and sentimental, but I love this video I’ve made from footage I took today.