Sit back and think of England.
On 10/29/07 12:38 PM, "[EMAIL PROTECTED]" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Hmmm ... > > 4 chapters, ending on 10/31, ominous groans, etc. Methinks we're being taken > for a ride. > > Tom > > > > > > > "Ralph E. Ahseln" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Sent by: [email protected] 10/29/2007 12:38 AM > Please respond to > [email protected] > To > <[email protected]> > cc > Subject > catalina27-talk: Race Day - II > > > > > RACE DAY II > > The clouds were dragging their feet across the foothills. A typical Pacific > Northwest Fall day, a drizzling rain. It was like a fog on the water. > Visibility was less than a quarter of a mile. There was, however, a fresh > breeze coming in from the Southwest. That usually meant a good sailing wind. > Not like the prevailing Northwesterly that blew strong for an hour or two, > then clocked around as much as 45 degrees before dying. Today was going to be > a Sailor¹s day. > > I¹d gotten to Hidden Cove Marina¹s ³F² row a few minutes before I was > supposed to. Since it was ³spitting² rain I decided to slip on my foulies. > Keeping dry and warm before a race is always a good idea. > So here I was standing ³Yellow² at the end of the slip. A new boat to play on > and new acquaintances to explore. > This was going to be fun. > > Suddenly, I felt cold. What had been a warm Southerly breeze, called the > ³Pineapple Express², had turned to chill. And even though I was covered in > Gortex and wool, I felt it go right through me. You know that kind of body > cooling you feel when you first step into a walk-in Freezer. I shuddered and > pulled the jacket collar up a bit tighter. But it didn¹t seem to help much. > I glanced at my watch. It was exactly 1700. > > First I heard that laugh. Then a mix of voices all trying to talk at once. As > I looked out towards the entrance to the marina, there was a bow poking > through the hazy drizzle. Then, like parting a curtain, the full boat popped > out. Even from this distance I could see the gold letters ³Yesterdays² in > cursive print along the hull. > They were here, and right on time. > > Standing at the stern rail was the owner Mason "Mase" Todd. At the wheel was a > woman (Even covered by a foul weather coat and hat, I could tell). Standing in > the forward part of the cockpit I could see two guys and up front, by the mast > was another gal. No guess here. She had long red hair tied back with the > biggest and the most outrageous pink ribbon I¹ve ever seen. > They all started jumping up and down and waving at me. Then, on cue, they all > started singing. It was one of the Bawdiest songs I¹d ever heard. I can¹t > repeat all the lyrics, here, but it went sort of like.... > ³Oh what¹ll we do with this brand new crew? We¹ll strip him naked and paint > him Blue... and Then we¹ll find some ugly shrew, who¹ll give him ² > Well, You get the idea. > It looked like it was going to be an interesting few hours. > I THINK it was going to be fun. > > The ³Yesterdays² was under mainsail and sliding slowly into the marina. > Turning around she came to the end of the slip. The singing stopped and > without a word, everyone moved to their positions. The woman at the wheel was > sharp. As they luffed up, she eased the helm over and came Starboard side > along the length of the slip. The boat slowed down to a creep and within an > inch or two of the dock, it slid along, never touching. I just stood there in > place until the lifeline gate came by. Then with no effort, I stepped on > board. The boat never stopped and never touched the dock. This was one hell of > a sharp crew! I was going to have my head on straight and my skills at peak to > keep up with them. > > Moving away from the dock, the main was trimmed and the boat began to pick up > speed. I looked up at the sail and saw something I¹d never seen before. It > was some kind of high tech material, Gin clear, see through, with a kind of a > Spider Web stitching. The Cut was also something I¹d never seen. An odd > checker board Star Cut. > But with the ³points² of the star going INWARD to the center of the sail. > A quiet command from the owner, Mase, and one of the guys in the cockpit > started raising the Genny. It was of the same material as the main and cut in > a similar fashion. > I told myself to find out what the heck the material was and what the cut was > all about.. > But, I¹d do that later. Now was the time to introduce myself and to get to > know the rest of the crew. > And, to discover just what kind of a boat this was. > > As we pulled out of the marina and headed to where the committee boat would > be, everything got a little quiet. > There was some idle chatter and the occasional big laugh from the owner, > Mason. > But since there was a kind of ³settling down², I thought it must be a signal > for me to start my introduction. > I began with thanking them for letting me join the crew and then I listed the > experiences I¹d had. From Dinghies to the 200 footer I once crewed on. > I told them that I was really looking forward to helping them get a few > Firsts. > They all laughed and the foredeck gal even whistled at that line. > I finished up saying that I hoped that I could ³fill the shoes² of their > former Trimmer. > There was an immediate change in everyone. They all went silent and hung their > heads. > I stammered and ask them to forgive me ³If I had offended anyone² They said > nothing. > > Mase spoke up.. ³It¹s OK, We just miss him. He was our friend and we miss > him². > It was like a window had opened up. Everyone began to chatter and laugh again. > The foredeck kid gave me a big hug and said, ³Don¹t worry, you¹re one of US > now².. > > She started; > ³I¹m Beth, I foredeck and I¹m damned good.. I¹m good at Foredecking too! ³ > The laughter erupted. > Beth was a tall, thin, redhead (with a huge Pink bow) and athletic. I came to > find she was exceptional on the foredeck > Next was a bull of a man. 6 foot something and all brawn. > ³Hi, I¹m Chuck, I guess you could say I do all the heavy work around here. > Mostly I handle the winches² > A loud feminine voice from the foredeck called out ³And all the WENCHES too!² > More laughter from the rest of them. Chuck just shrugged his shoulders. > ³I¹m Kevin; I¹ll work the Main, Most of the time, well, that is, if Chuck gets > out of the way² > Giggles and a Nose Snort from Mason. > Kevin is a medium build kid in his 20s, and Quick! > Every move he made was quicker than anyone I¹ve ever seen. I¹d get to see him > move to a problem and fix it, before we could finish thinking about it. > And he was always correct solving the problem. He was thoughtful, courteous > and always willing to help but never getting in the way. > Then Mason spoke up. ³I guess you could call me the crewman least likely to be > missed if I should fall overboard² > Gales of laughter.. > ³I¹m just the owner and designer of the boat. And when the Helmslady allows > me, I make tactical suggestions² > Groans and Giggles from the crew. > ³And because none of these characters will spend a buck, I also buy the beer > and snacks after the race² > Hoots and whistles.. > There were a few seconds of noise and then a pause in the laughter. All waited > for the last one to speak. They had a kind of a reverence for the lady on the > wheel. > > She, mid 40s I¹d guess, elegantly handsome. You don¹t call a lady ³handsome² > unless she is special. She was special. > She had polish and grace. A kind of a person that you could accept any command > from..... and know it¹s right. > > ³Welcome to the crew, I¹m Janell. If you have any questions about how the ship > runs, please ask. We want you to feel at home as soon as possible. We DO plan > on winning a few FIRSTS as you suggested. Your help is welcomed.² > I did feel welcome; this was a crew that made you feel like you¹d been with > them for a very long time. > I felt like I¹d come home to my family. > > We were making our way to the committee boat to see what the course would be > for today¹s race. > So things had slowed down a bit. Everyone was relaxed and hanging around. > I knew what my job would be but I wanted to check out the boat. > Even from the cockpit I could see there was a LOT different with this boat. > > I asked Mason if he could take me on a tour before we had to get down to > serious racing. > He smiled and waved me over to where he sat. > ³I wanted to do something that hadn¹t been done before. To hell with PHRF. I > just wanted a boat that would go fast. Be the first to cross the line. Be > first, be fast. So there¹s a lot here that ain¹t exactly marine architecture. > As example this boat is built like an egg shell. Thin hulled and curved like > and egg. The underbody is grooved. To allow the water to ³channel² and act as > tiny jet engines. In effect making a nearly perfect Laminar Flow of water. The > keel isn¹t really a keel like you¹re familiar with. It¹s a Stainless steel 6 > inch solid rod with a reverse torpedo shaped ballast Bulb. The working keel is > actually a vertical, moveable foil that I can raise or lower on the rod, > depending on the point of sail. I can drop it down to 5 feet or raise to just > a few inches below the hull. It also has trim tabs used to help change the > Center of Effort at will. The rigging is pretty standard stuff but each shroud > has a quick adjust turnbuckle. We can make adjustments on the fly. Everything > else is normal. I didn¹t want to have to train a crew to do things they > weren¹t used to. Experience is valuable too. I just wanted to make a boat that > had some new ideas but could be still run by humans..² > Then he leaned back and did one of his ³patented² belly laughs. > > We had about 2 miles to go to get to the Committee boat and the start line. > Moving well under a broad reach, the wind had gone light. > Things were kind of mellow. It was pretty quiet out there in the misty > drizzle. I could hear dogs barking on the shore and an occasional car horn. > In the distance I could hear a low rumble. Like a jet plane starting to take > off. But it was mostly quiet. > > We could just begin to see the committee boat through the mist. Beth was > hanging out on the bow pulpit straining to see if she could make out the Menu > Board used to mark the course. The broad reach was a comfortable way to travel > in this wind. We were probably making about 3 knots. I could hear crew¹s > voices and engines of the other boats all heading to the same spot. > As we got closer, I began to hear that sound again. A kind of ³Rumble². Deep > and far away. > I looked over at Chuck. He wasn¹t laughing anymore. > Beth had stopped leaning over the rail and was turning around and around > Looking for something. > Mase and Janell had stopped talking. > > ³What IS... that sound? ³ I asked. > Janell said, ³I don¹t know. We¹ve heard it before but we don¹t know where it > comes from² > As suddenly as it started, the sound stopped. Everyone relaxed. > > We were now close by the Committee and Beth read out the course number. It was > going to be a dull, Beat, Reach, Run, and Close haul finish kind of race. With > the winds out of the Southwest, at least it should be consistent. > I could see Janell standing at the wheel with her eyes closed and deep in > thought. > Then she said something that made us all stop what we were doing and listen. > Slowly she spoke. ³The wind will change direction before we get to the > weather mark. I think we should plan to set the spinnaker as we approach that > mark. We should be able to get at least 4 to 5 boat lengths on the rest of the > fleet before they can react²... > If she was right, we were going to slam the rest of the fleet. > This WAS going to be fun. > > Fun? Yes! But, I couldn¹t help wondering just what the hell THAT rumbling > sound was. > > Because....IT had begun again! > ³ > > > (Continuing) > > r.ahseln > October 2007 >
