SIDE VIEW
Many thanks to Jack Allen of the Maritime Heritage Foundation for his entertaining and informational presentation in September. I’d dare say that if we had to go through what he described just to tack, there’d be a WHOLE lot more of us running round the water in power boats. Imagine having to deal with twelve lines per sail. No, you won’t have to imagine. Later this month there will be several fine examples of Tall Ships moored downtown.
The HMS Bounty is scheduled (at the time of this writing) to arrive on October 24th. Note that date on your calendar, it’s a Friday. I know a lot of us were looking forward to getting out to Mayport to escort the Bounty and her two sailing companions to their berths, but as you know, tides, time, and schedules beyond our control wait for no one. It sounded like they were going to time their arrival for the midday period, keep your eyes on the newspaper and TV for a final announcement of the arrival. I can’t wait.
This has been an exciting year for me. It has been a challenge to try and come up with programs that live up to the expectations grown from prior years programs. As you know, the November meeting is the general election so at this point, I’ve no plans for a program next month. This month, I’m arranging with an industry representative to come in to discuss the magic miracle mystery of Global Positioning Satellites. If you’ve ever had a question about what your G.P.S. tells you, or a question about whether you ought to replace the LORAN, this will be your chance.
Now, to personal stuff. For those of you following my trials and tribulations with the power plant on LAUREL ANN, there’s good news and bad news. The good news is the engine is apparently undamaged. The transmission took the brunt of the punishment (to the point of spinning a seal in the box). The bad news is that rebuilding is a labor intensive hobby, but this particular model is no longer manufactured. So it comes down to a choice of rebuilding the current one or repowering the boat with a new engine.
Either way, it’s better to happen here and now then a few years down the rhumb line in a distant and foreign land. Somehow I think that by the time we get to sail off into the sunrise, we’ll have a twenty five year old Morgan 38 with an investment similar to a NEW Crealock 37. In the long run, though, I know it’ll be worth the time and trouble......