Finally

Tuesday, the 17th I finally got Dim Sum into the water. This was the first time this year I've had it out. The weather was beautiful: clear sky, enough wind and temps in the mid 70s. It was the perfect day to get reacquainted with my boat. The lake I chose was Joe Pool which is about 7 miles from my house. There were three or four other boats, sail or motor, on the lake. That's one of the perks of being retired. You have the lake to yourself during the week.

One major change I've made to my boat is the addition of a new Honda 2 HP motor. It took several pulls to get it to start but I'm pretty sure it's an operator thing. A little fumbling with the choke and throttle should straighten that out. In the past I've used a battery powered Minn Kota trolling motor and it's amazing how much more power the gas Honda has. I used the motor only a few minutes to leave the dock and return but I could easily have motored all over the lake if I wanted to.

This is the first new OB motor I've ever owned. It's going to be interesting to see how the good and bad (some sailors might say "evil") balance. There are lots of stories about outboards that won't start at critical times and get called #$%#@$%! Hopefully those times are rare.

A Boat You Don't See Everyday

What's a Penobscot?

These videos and stills show a Penobscot 14, and were taken over a period of years at three different locations. The boat was hand crafted by Al Meyer. Not only is it a beauty to look at, its performance lives up to its looks. Al never fails to draw onlookers who are in awe of a boat that's not plastic. The boat is wonderfully built and attention has been paid to the tiniest details, i.e. the fenders are hand made of line (rope), the anchor is bronze, and real belaying pins are used.

In the video, clips that have a 4:3 aspect ratio were shot at Offatts Bayou in Galveston, TX with a Flip camera. The 16:9 (wide screen) were taken at Lake Somerville, TX with a Kodak Zi8 HD camera. The stills were taken at Matagorda Bay with a Canon Powershot A540.

When it's cold and rainy outside I watch this video and tell myself I'm going to build a boat like that someday. Or maybe I'll just sit by the fireplace and enjoy Al's work.

Sailing Lake Somerville

Aug. 28-30, 2009

Well, it's been a little less than a year since I sailed here at Somerville and here I am again. This time Al, Luis, Wayne, Bill, Noel, Joe and Randy made it. The weather cooperated and

everyone had some good sailing. I was able to check out Joe's boat, a trimaran, for the first time. It's like a different animal from my slow-poke Potter. It looked like a Formula 1 car zipping around a bunch of station wagons. I've been using every cliche or rule or life style that has to do with making things simple, small or gone on Dim Sum. KISS, less is more or Zen: I'm trying to apply them all. My plan is to make sailing on Dim Sum more fun and safer.