Posted by Patrick Weaver (patrick@…>)
A tenant in my commercial townhouse
said to me during a late evening conversation: “You usually have to wait
until they are 30 before your kids acknowledge that you influenced them.”
Reading the following essay my daughter wrote to accompany her New
York University application I realized I had received a fivefold
acknowledgement. She:
1. Shares my passion for
sailing;
2. Understands sailing can
be a metaphor for life;
3. Gets how tough it is to
balance time, money, and passion;
4. Exudes confidence; and
5. has fond memories of time
spent with me
What more could a father ask for—and at Christmastime, no less:
“Daddy–When asked about a place that means a lot to me, this is
what I wrote. This is for NYU.
All I need is a coastline, a hot day, and a strong wind. I’m not
sure if that’s because I was made for sailing or if that’s because
sailing made me that way. I’ve never gotten motion sickness, but maybe
that’s because I spent so much time on the water. I can’t remember
a time when I didn’t wish I was a seagull, but maybe that’s because
they always got to stay behind, perched on the boat at the end of the day. My
favorite smell has always been of sea salt wind, but that could very well be
from knowing with that fragrance, comes a good day. It is the ocean that brings
with it the feeling of endless possibility. It is the boat that carries me
where I dare to go. It is my heart that believes I’ll one day reach the
place where sea and sky touch. Nothing confines me.
My family has owned the same trimaran for most of my life. A sailboat
like this consists of three parts; the main boat and two “wings”
that fold out and are connected by trampolines. It was only a few years ago
that my father had to sell the boat in order to buy a building for his business
in Chelsea, NY.
We now have a bigger catamaran that is just aching to be cleaned up and taken
out for spring. It won’t go out this coming spring though. And probably
not the spring after that either. To own AND sail a boat, one needs time.
I’ve found over and over again that lately, time is just not something my
family has. It is a hard life to live when you find you have just enough money
to own the things you love, but never enough time to use them.
There seems to be a trade off somewhere. You either have the time or
the money. Not both. I’m a smart girl though. I know that if I want, if I
really try, I can get there. I can get into that tiny little percentage of the
world’s population that has time AND money. I’m
eighteen and I’m perfectly aware of how easy it is to make or break my
future. But, in a way, that fills me with the same feeling of endless
possibility. It is my mind and determination that will carry me where I dare to
go. It is my heart that believes I’ll one day reach this seemingly
impossible possibility. Nothing confines me.
I remember sunny days spent pulling that sail in tighter and tighter
despite the rope burn on my hands because we just needed to go faster. The wind
was strong and the boat seemed ready to tip, but my dad was in control and I
knew it couldn’t. I remember anchoring on 4th of July nights
and watching the Red Bank fireworks, BAM BAM BAM, reflecting off of the surface
of the calm, dark bay. I remember the day on which my dad says he realized I
have the gene, the love, the want, whatever is it that makes us sailors. It was
early spring and not the warmest of days. The clouds looked heavy, but the wind
was moving so fast we didn’t care. I was at the bow of the boat when a
frosty wave came up over us and caught me right smack in the face. My dad was
at the stern and I turned back to him, drenched and grinning. And he knew.
I can take a hit. I love it. I can face my fears. I’ll win.
There’s nothing like it for me. I know that one day, despite all the
obstacles, the rope burn, the waves, I’ll get to where I want to be. All
I need is a coastline, a hot day, and a strong wind. All I need is an
education, a sturdy goal, and a little nerve. And man, I’ll sail.”
It breaks my heart that she can’t see the boat going in this
spring—and makes me all the more determined to get it there.
Why is a multihuller on the Freedom 21 site? Think “biplane
rig:” one main per hull where the masts are unstayed, carrying 180 sq.
ft. each. With a lower center of gravity, I ought to be able to get the wife
onboard (she does not have the gene). While I started out looking for masts and
sails from F21s, I’ve realized that the boats outlast the rigging.
Instead, I’ll probably build two aluminum or CF tabernacled masts to F21 specs and use secondhand F21 sails—perhaps
with jibs in up to 10 knots of wind. I figure if it doesn’t work out,
there ought to be plenty of people interested in the masts! So far, I have
found one sail. I need two sets of battens and a second sail. So any of you racers
who are upgrading and want to help a guy fulfill his daughter’s dream, I’d
love to hear about your used sails and battens. And if anyone happens to have a
mast…
Patrick
-----Original Message-----
From: freedom21@yahoogroups.com
[mailto:freedom21@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf
Of Max Lent
Sent: Thursday,
December 28, 2006 3:44 PM
To: freedom21@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [freedom21] Re: 1973
Freedom 21For Sale! $4,000
Brennan,
Have you read A Speck on the Sea by William Longyard? I just finished
it and several of the books it mentions. A must read book for small
boat passage sailing.
Please tell us more about your planned trip? Are you building a boat?
Do you have a Web site?
Happy New Year,
Max
.
\