The Saltina Chronicles

Here are some true sailing stories of my time on the water....check back occasionally as new tales are added as they come to my mind.  Note, some of the names have been changed to protect the guilty(you know what I mean;)....enjoy:

How'd I get "into" sailing?

The recent news of Laura Dekker's completion of her round the world sail led me to recall how I first became intriqued with sailing. 

While living on Siesta Key surrounded by beautiful water I happened to see an old movie on the A & E network (is that still around?) that caught my attention.  It started out with cinematography of just beautiful blue water and the sound of wind.  The sheer beauty allured me in and I watched the movie "The Dove".   http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071438/

That was the beginning for me and I'd never sailed at that time.  I'd  been a power boater my entire life as was my entire family.   However that was all about to change.

But, on the note of the movie, The Dove, it's interesting to see what happens to old(er) sailors as they leave sailing culture behind.... 
http://preview.sailmagazine.com/racing/robin_lee_graham_on_the_latest_teen_circumnavs/

And on the note of teenagers and sailing... what were you doing when you were 16????  http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?id=4233223

Me....I didn't think about sailing until I was around 30.  That movie put the idea of sailng in my mind so when I noticed a neighbor had a sun fish sailboat in their yard for sale I thought that might be fun and I figured I could put it on a small hand trailer and drag it to the beach near my apt. in Siesta Village and have some fun on the water.   That did not happen since some one else beat me to the purchase.  But sailing was now on my mind.

Less than a year later I happened to be at a waterfront restaurant on a date and he, my date, asked me if I'd ever thought about sailing.   I relayed the above story and he said what about a bigger boat that you could actually live on...hmmm...I asked about how big the boat would have to be and about how much it would cost.   He thru out some  numbers  and I said "hey that sounds like fun and it could cost less than a house". 

The sailing seed was now firmly planted in my mind:)  






Into The Mystic

    We had just finished putting the beer away.  That is we had successfully stowed 10 cases of canned beer which was the required contribution or fare I'd requested from my new passenger or first mate aboard Little Wing, a 34' Columbia, Tripp design.  The planned voyage or cruise was to set sail from Crandon Park Marina on Key Biscayne in Miami FL to "cross" the Gulfstream into the Bahamas where we would clear customs at West End and then head into the Abacos for a good time.  

    I found my new first mate thru a mutual acquaintance who had met her in Key West as she was on a wild woman gallivant. 

    -following is a description of her wild woman gallivant....for those not interested please skip this section-

    She, her cruising "handle" was Blossom, flew into MIA from Seattle and rented a convertible to drive to Key West.  Blossom checked with the KW Tourist Bureau as she hit the town and they suggested a nice hotel but wondered if she minded if it was clothing optional.  Not a problem for her so onward with the gallivant.  She lived it up in KW and while doing so met a guy I knew who happened to be in KW on a sailboat.   He introduced blossom to the Capt. and they became instant buddies.  They invited her on their sail back to Miami where they'd come from and would soon be returning.   In true wild woman fashion she accepted the invite.
    To the best of my recollection the sailboat was a 42' schooner of some type.  Not bad looking and pretty well equipped.   So, off they sailed.  I heard the passage was just about perfect and by the time they reached Miami there were no tan lines and very happy people.
    Our now mutual acquaintance, Mike, brought "Blossom" to Crandon Park Marina to meet me.  He'd told her about my plans to sail to the Bahamas and hang in the Abacos and I guess that sounded appealing to her.  She wanted to know if I needed crew which led to me saying yes if you could provide 10 cases of beer which she did.  -  This is Section 1 of 3 regarding this wild woman's Gallivant - to be continued later in the Saltina Chronicles....
 
    Ok so now I had "crew" for the "crossing" of the Gulfstream which I was quite nervous about as a skipper with very little experience.  "Crossing" involved many things I'd never dealt with like very deep water, like 700', a rapid current of a few knots, possible very high seas,  large ship traffic, Int'l waters, and finally if all went well clearing customs.  

    I felt fortunate that a new friend of mine who ran a sailing school and was a mechanic and a Capt., thought it would be fun to come along. So he joined our crew... that was a definate ease on my nerves.  

    Another lady sailor/capt./skipper of her own 34' contest sailboat named "Gentle Rain" happened to be at the marina ready to cross also and thought it would be a good idea if we "crossed" together as there might be some safety and reassurance in numbers.  I agreed so that was a part of the plan.

    The plan was to enjoy an evening sunset sail down Biscayne Bay and out thru the somewhat shoaled channel past "stilts-ville" and around the corner of Key Biscayne to be into the open water by dark and then sail thru the night. If all went well we'd be to West End in the morning for sunrise and head into the West End marina on Grand Bahama Island at day break.

    Believe it or not the plan went off without a glitch!!! My first "crossing" was wonderful and at sunrise as a "rage" developed all factors(20-25knots wind and 8-12'swell waves) were to our advantage. I'd been napping after a long stint on the wheel so when I awoke and looked up thru the companionway to see the large wave behind Blossom who was at the wheel, I was somewhat apprehensive until I joined them in the cockpit to realize everything was right and beautiful.... and a pod of dolphins joined us by frollicking and jumping around Little Wing as we headed toward the marina which was now in sight.  We ate some chocolate and marvelled at it all.  I'm not making this up.  It's true.
    
  ok so why is the story called "into the mystic',  well I'll tell ya....

    My neighbor at the Crandon Park Marina was a 38 or 42 or something like that Catalina owned and frequented by a nice family.  The man of the family, Pete, spent quite a bit of time at the marina and knew about my upcoming voyage so to be a jovial salt had invited a bunch of other sailors and salts to the marina for a bon voyage party.  They'd invited me and crew to the nearby bar/restaurant for the festivities in our honor however we were caught up in preparations-putting the beer away and had not noticed how the time flew by... until the party arrived at Little Wing:  A bunch of somewhat smelly and drunk salts showed up wanting to know what was going on.   We explained as we had just finished "putting the beer away" so there was a good laugh about that pun.   They all came aboard and we proceded to drink and tell tales and me being the music lover that i am decided we must listen to "into the Mystic" by Van Morrison.    But for some reason once wasn't enough since it just sounded and felt so perfect for the occasion and everyone was just "right" enough to go along with me playing that song repetatively many, many times over as we all sang and felt the beauty.  I really can't say how many times we played it but it was A LOT yet everyone seemed to still enjoy it until it all wound down and we said our good byes.  bon voyage....yes it was!  Thanks y'all.  


Don't laugh.....it could happen to you....

When I lived on Siesta Key back in the day when I was t.n.t.(tone-n-tan), oh the good ole days, my good friend's power boat sunk at the dock.   When I heard about this I laughed and remember him giving me "the eye" like I was sacriligious or something... 

The sinking happened because the boat was not tied up just right after a late nite of boating and in the wee morning hours as the tide came up, one side of the boat was caught under the dock and the water pushed the other side up at an angle severe enough to allow water to flow in on the other side stuck under the dock and the boat started going down.  Luckily for my friend the boat dock was near a road and easily visible to passerbyers. Plus it was very close to his residence and also his work place so when an alert friend noticed that something looked wrong while driving by he called .  They were able to save the boat from being completely submerged and limited the damage.  

Why did I laugh?  I even drove by the site to shake my head and roll my eyes and smirk..... 

Don't laugh....it could happen to you....



























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