Konrad in Lincoln Posted June 11, 2005 Report Share Posted June 11, 2005 A variety of factors have kept me from sailing my Vacationer very much for the past 3 years. Primarily, they lowered our best lake by 4 feet to rebuild boatramps, and the water never came back up. The birth of both boys in the last 23 months has also slowed the sailing down. But I'll take that trade any day of the week. :wink: Anyway, I tooled around inside the boat for about 2 hours this morning, standing the rigging and even raising sails in the driveway, checking for loose connections and hardware (I did find some, so check over your boat) Then called my buddy Tom and we met at my "new lake" which is small but extremely close to my house. I can be there in 13 minutes, even going slow at 50 mph towing the boat. Winds were perfect at 12 - 15, out of the southwest. Temp steady at around 83 deg. Skies were 4/10 clouds, the big cotton ball kind. Stood the rigging with no drama. Backed the boat in and floated it with no drama. Motored out and raised sails, all with no drama. Everything went just about as well as could be asked, considering this boat was only sailed ONE TIME last year. The lake is basically a rounded square footprint, and we banged all four corners during the afternoon. Never raised the jib, we were doing fine on the main alone. A perfect day all around. I will post a couple of pix either later this evening or tomorrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 11, 2005 Report Share Posted June 11, 2005 Nice to see that you are bonding again with your long lost buddie. Have you introduced your social buddie to your boys yet? Its never to young to teach them to paddle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Konrad in Lincoln Posted June 12, 2005 Author Report Share Posted June 12, 2005 Oh yeah, Tom knows the kids well. I probably won't take Collin (23 months) out on the boat until he's at least 3. He doesn't yet understand that there are dangers in the world, and when I tell him "no" he doesn't really get it yet. It's still a game for him. A little frustrating, but it's just because he's still very young. Most of his "talking" is really just mimicking the words he hears us say. He can be a handfull when he decides he wants to do something. I can just see it now: I'm trying to keep the outboard pointed the right direction while trying to hoist the main, while keeping Collin from jumping overboard or fooling with the running outboard. :shock: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 12, 2005 Report Share Posted June 12, 2005 Great news, as I had a simular experience after my first two kids were born with my very best buddie during my growing years. My best friend seemed to shy away and we lost contact for thirty plus years, sometimes talking on the phone. Just this past monday, he showed up at the shop. He had gone his seperate ways, loosing a leg, below the knee and having a liver transplant ten years ago. I was hoping to be able to get him in the water, but the rain hindered that for now. I traveled with my kids on the boats, since about nine days from birth, and its a wonderful time being able to spend the time on the water when they are young, even with some of the trials and tribulations that goes with the unknowns of the youth in them. In the teenage years, which will come sooner than you think, other interests will consume them and it will be back to enjoying mamma, or so says me. :wink: So if you enjoy boats, do what you can to keep some form of one around you and ready to go at a moments notice. Of course, teach them to swim in these years, even if you are thousands of miles from any water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Diebert Posted June 12, 2005 Report Share Posted June 12, 2005 Man, when the kids are small it can be tough to get some play time for Dad. I didn't have a sailboat when my kids were small but I did have a 14' runabout with a 20hp merc and took the boys out boogie boarding whenever we could. We cruised around the lake camped and had picnics and went fishing. One of my guys ended up loving the water, is learning how to sail but the other is a geek His idea of a good time is sitting in front of the monitor. It is really quite amazing you got yourself out Konrad. Excellent. As Oyster says, it would be great to be able to keep a boat around of some kind and introduce your kids to the water life. I hope you can get out more yet this season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Konrad in Lincoln Posted June 13, 2005 Author Report Share Posted June 13, 2005 Here are some photos. First one is at the dock, with some free help from bystanders. (The boat always gets free help.) Second one is while we were motoring out to the middle to raise sails. That is a perfect Nebraska Summer sky right there, folks. I kind of forgot how much fun the boat is to sail, and it's no slouch in the water either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Day Posted June 13, 2005 Report Share Posted June 13, 2005 So Konrad, What lake were you at? I wasn't able to recognize the lake from the pictures. Good to hear you got out. I only have one weekend left in Nebraska. We will be in the area this coming weekend, in Dallas the 25th and we take off for Alabama on July 1st. All of the boats were already hauled down to the new house. Not a whole lot of time left. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Diebert Posted June 13, 2005 Report Share Posted June 13, 2005 Looks like it was a perfect breeze for your day out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buck Posted June 14, 2005 Report Share Posted June 14, 2005 Excellent Konrad! Lovely to see that boat looking so good! The vacationer is one smart looking ship. You got to keep it now. Your son will soon be at an age where you can both really enjoy it Buck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Konrad in Lincoln Posted June 14, 2005 Author Report Share Posted June 14, 2005 Hiya Steve, I was kind of wondering about you. That's at Connestoga, which is 13 min from my driveway. It's small, but how can you complain about 13 minutes?? Blue Stem is probably about the same distance, but it's an oddball shaped lake. I think Blue Stem might be a little bigger, though. Well if we don't connect before you take off, I hope your travels go well. My e mail address is bosch232@yahoo.com Save it and give me a shout when you're back this way. Konrad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Day Posted June 14, 2005 Report Share Posted June 14, 2005 Konrad, I took a look at Conestoga with http://maps.google.com/ and there is a really good satellite photo of the lake with the parking lot and boat ramp showing nicely. That lake would have been really good for the Spindrift, but I never got to it. 50 miles is just a bit far to go on a whim. Sorry we won't be able to link up, but the retirement thing kinda snuck up on us. My e-mail is srday@alltel.net right now and I will keep this for a while. I don't know what it will be after the move, but I will keep it up-to-date with Frank and this forum. Enjoy that boat! Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Day Posted June 14, 2005 Report Share Posted June 14, 2005 According to NE Game & Parks, Bluestem is a little over 400 acres and Conestoga is around 250. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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