Sailing with twins.

On a clear breezy day, we had the opportunity to race and sail with twins.  Not twin sailors, but twin sailboats.  A friend of ours bought his first large sailboat which was a Bristol 29.9, an upgrade from his 26 foot Catalina.  David’s brother, Jon also had a Bristol 29.9 and all three sailors agreed to meet at Bunch Beach.

Here are the players:

There was Captain David Bickel, an old salt in his 28 Phillips Rhodes; Anhinga.  He raced for years in Tampa Bay.  They called him the Kat! With the rushing clang of the halyards against the running gear, the grinding spin in the lines of the winches, and with the sound of the luffing of the jib he knew the moves.   He was an expert from stealing the wind in a tacking war to counting the puffs to propel any boat further and faster.

And there was Jon Bickel, a seasoned single handed sea dog, brother of the competitive Bickel clan. He was sailing in his Bristol; High Voltage2.  This seaman would take off for weeks finding solitude of the Marquesas just to hear the quietness of nothing.  Comfortable on the water Jon would spend days in search of solitude anchoring in secluded mangroves, or the peaceful beauty of a silent island.

Lastly we have Mystery Mike in his Bristol; Black tip.  He was a low keyed seafarer with a passion for wooden boats, who still was unsure of his abilities in a larger sailboat; more used to taking picnic sails with his wife on the eastern coast; where the sailboats soar on mystical winds and the sound of seagulls is heard flapping off the bow through the mist of clammy dawn.

The agreement was to race from the Sanibel marker to the bridge and back.  The sailboats were all close-hauled heading into a breeze of 13 knots.  Straight away, David tacked Anhinga taking away High Voltage2’s wind and swung in front of Jon.  Mike was in last place.  Suddenly there was a velocity shift; Mike took a 90 degree turn swinging The Black Tip into first place.  The move took us all by surprise with a lot of woohooing coming from Mike’s boat.

Afterwards we anchored back at Bunch Beach, grilled burgers, and  watching the sun set over the light house on Sanibel Island.  What fun day around the bay of Fort Myers beach.

 
Posted by Scott Q Boating Pro Tips Cruising

Anhinga’s song

Every Mariner knows that a ship wants to be in the water.  This keeps a boat healthy.  It’s not just the maintenance one does before a trip, the stroke of sandpaper along her teak, the replacement of worn moving parts, or the re-stitching of a weak clue in the jib.  A happy boat needs to keep moving.

Likewise, every Seaman has heard the call of the sea, when the wind tumbles with untamed waves sending a breeze of a whisper saying, “Come out with me, and immerse yourself with me.”  It’s not just a call, but a drawing of one’s soul back to the primal source of life.

We almost lost our boat in the Bahamas.  David and I were finishing up a 3 week sail in our 28 foot Phillip Rhoades sailboat, Anhinga.  We anchored on the leeward side of a rocky island as a weak Northern front was coming through.  By 3 o’clock in the blackness of night our anchor alarm went off.  We were about to slip towards the mass of jagged rocks off the stern.  I was on a pitching bow holding onto two anchor lines like a bull rider; below David was trying to start our Yanmar diesel engine with failing starter wires.

David got the engine roaring and we gingerly maneuvered around the rocks to be sheltered from the wind.  That morning we woke up to what could be called a white squall.  It’s all I could see, it was glorious.  I could not keep the rain from pouncing through the bin boards of the companionway.  When the storm passed we were amazed to see a large water spout spinning alongside the leeward part of the island right where we had anchored that night.  Anhinga became our sanctuary.

The sun came out and the winds turned southwesterly, so we set off our way back to Bimini, at a running pace of 7 knots.  Quite fast for Anhinga!  We were having the ride of our life!  The 4 minute clip below is what I put together from the sail after the storm I call, “Anhinga’s song.”

We had watched a film about a young man named Charlie Cloud, who raced sailboats in high school.  He was showing his little brother the ropes; they stood together in the dawn watching the sailboats set off from an unnamed shore.  His little brother said to him, “Charlie where do you think they are going?”  Charlie whimsically looks across the bay and says, “Everywhere.”

Go and Enjoy!  Sharon Bickel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIHmb4r4ccw&feature=youtube_gdata_player

www.theshipwrightshop.com

Posted by Scott Q Boating Pro Tips Cruising