MY LIFE IN BOATS

I assembled this a few years ago because even I forget some of the boats and events I sailed. Still fond memories; and still making more.

SAILING THROUGH LIFE

This is in response to those who asked:”Who are you?” It is a least a dimension.Boats have always been a part of my life. Naturally interwoven with the story of Newport.

OLYMPIC FEVER

I love watching the Olympics. Ben Anslie is probably the best know name in sailing. He will be in San Francisco four days after he finishes in Weymouth; sailing for Oracle. So much for national pride.
For most of you the idea of sponsorship is an everyday thought. For me, the tiny reference about his coach sailing when there was no sponsorship and you had to make your way on your own resonates. I had qualified, but the idea of asking other people for help so I could go sailing was more than I dared to do. I could not afford to persue that path and had to move on. It is a different world. When I sailed in the America’s Cup it was amateur as well. As one friend said to me:” we were lucky to get a T shirt or a belt.”

When there was no limit on weight

I am not a big person. I have had to deal with my size all my life. I am not whining, I is a simple statement of fact.

In my early years of sailing there was no limit on the amount of weight one could carry. I carried as much as I could bear, more than most other people. I would wear knee pads the wrong way around. I exercised, I built a hiking bench. I would sit, hiking out stacking books or weights on my chest. It should come as no surprise that I had lower back problems.
I had made hiking jackets, by sewing groups of eight sweat shirts together. Then either bailing water onto myself or dunking myself in the water, to gain weight. Once I wore so many, when I turned my head I could not see over the collar of the weight jackets.