Setting Sail In Feb 2008

[sailman]

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I am new to this group and I am finding it very useful for information and fun. I cruised twice to Central America in the eighties and wished we had computers and GPS. I also was in the Coast Guard in the 60s and would like to see the changes to the 22 South Pacific islands I visited. I also lived and worked on Eniwetok in the Marshall Islands for over a year. I am planning a solo trip to the South Pacific in my 30 ft Newport that is being fitted for blue water to re-live my past. Complete navagation and HF radio.email and weather fax are all included. I have backups for all radios and nav. equipment. This boat is very small compared to other boats I have sailed but it's mine. It is also a great boat to handle solo. My trip is going to start from San Francisco and head South to Costa Rica and then Southwest starting Feb 2008. I plan to take two years and totally relax and sail only when the weather patterns are fair. I hit the tail end of a typhoon in the North Pacific in1959 and I don't wish to repeat it. I was on a 180 ft bouy tender with a ice breaking bow and round bottom and it was scarey.

My call sign is KI6HDF and I will be working the nets while at sea. I will also be recieving and sending e-mail.

This is my retirement gift to me.

[Auzzee]

Welcome to the forum. Have a happy and long retirement. You will feel the years slipping away when you eventually set sail. Very best wishes for your journey and I hope we see more from you here at Cruiser Log.

David

[sailman]

Thanks David

[Harbor_Pilot]

Welcome Sailman,

Keep us posted on your progress and future travels.

Jeff

[Lighthouse]

Great to have you aboard here Sailman. Great looking boat. We look forward to reading many contributions from you here.

[sailman]

Thanks Jeff. I have a long way to go to reach your territory.

[Nausikaa]

Yep.....nice boat!!!

Welcome to the gang. Have a great and long retiement. I will be joining you in 10(?) years. Who knows, we may bump into each other somewhere.

I can sympathise with you regarding the typhon issue. Many years ago I was a cadet aboard a 12,000 ton cargo /passenger liner. We lay at A2 buoy in Hong Kong. It was supposed to be typhoon safe but we received a warning of an approaching tyhoon the old man (master/captain) announced that we were putting to sea. I was on my first trip to sea andI thought he was cracking up. He, on the other hand, had had a lifetime of experience on the China coast.

So, we put to see and battened down best we could. The typhoon arrived and for 36 hours we battled against it in the Taiwan Strait. The engine (it was a motor ship) ran without fault and we hove to with the wind about 30 degrees on the bow. By the time the typhoon had passed and the wind eased (there was still an awful swell running) we had been blown almost 100 NM astern. As soon as possible we returned to Hong Kong. What devisatation! appartment blocks had been swept away due to mud/landslides caused by torrential rain. Tweleve ships (if I remember rightly) had been washed ashore and many of these from typhoon buoys. We had suffered no dammage at all except for the loss of our awnings which we had not had a chance to take down - the crew having been despatched to secure more important and dangerous items.

The year was 1971 and the typhoon was named Rose.

I learnt a lot during those few days. I learned that the old man was right and I had been wrong. Above all else, I learned that there is no substitute for experience.

Enjoy you retirement and may the weather gods be with you

Stephen

yacht NAUSIKAA

[gltea]

Hello Sailman,

Are you planning to visit the Touamatoes, formally known as the Dangerous Islands? Were you there before GPS became popular?

I admire your ambition. Have a great journey.

Suzy Q

[ichyprints]

Sailman - great self-gifted retirement gift! Dream it, then live it!

Hopefully you'll be able to keep us land-locked folks deep in the dream for the time being. I'm presently in the same (kind of) boat that Stephen (Nausikaa) is. I've got about 10 years ahead of me before I cut the ties that bind and wander out among the islands. But ... I sure do understand it when you say that boat is "mine"! I just purchased my first command. She's only 22 feet, but she's mine, and there's just nothing like kicking back in the cockpit, savoring a cold-one, and relishing the thought that she's going to help teach me what I'll need to know in the not too distant future! She's mine (and I guess I'm hers, too).

Cheers!

Phil