1st Annual Pirate Rendezvous, Roust and Rescue

Captain John

hereby announces

My intention to indulge a fantasy, go over to the Dark Side, become a Pirate, kidnap a Blogger Sailorwoman, or Blogger Reader (or her offspring), abscond with the victim to a Deserted Island, and challenge the other Sailing Bloggers to rescue said maiden. Or at least alert others to her whereabouts.

Whew, that's a lot to do in a day, but my desire is strong.

This event will be in the form of a contest, Rules and Regulations* have been established.

There is a particular deserted Island on San Francisco Bay that looms large in my memory. I don’t remember what age I was when I first laid eyes on it. My mother would tell tales about exploring it when she was a child. There are caves on this island, and the stories revolved around her father telling her that there were skeletons in the caves. She would confess that she did not have the courage to enter those caves.

Other tales relate a dismasting that occurred during a Vallejo Race my grandfather was in. Landfall II jibed near the island, and her main boom carried away the rig of another yacht that was to windward before the jibe (Tilly, do you know which rule applies here?).

As a child I witnessed the strangest Man Over Board (MOB) I’d ever seen. This event occurred as we were anchoring (under sail!) in the cove of this island. Chapman covers anchoring under sail, but the way my grandfather did it was not mentioned.

This cove is very difficult to sail into. The island in question is small, and smack in the middle of deep channels which pass it on either side. The tidal and river currents are treacherous. Please pay close attention to the current conditions if you foolishly take up my challenge.

We approached the cove (which is very small) on a downwind run. Jibed and rounded up to drop the anchor while in irons in the cove, which was on that day, in the lee of the Island during a Flood tide

The individual disappeared from the deck and reappeared miraculously soaking wet and shaking back on deck in the same spot. He’d been standing in the wrong place at the wrong time when the jibe started. Positioned on the windward quarter before the jibe started, he made a split second decision to avoid being killed by the boom, jumping over board. He grabbed the mainsheet when he was in the water.

As the main went all the way out, the mainsheet went from slack to ramrod straight and catapulted him back on deck. He landed on his feet exactly where he was standing before.

This happened over the course of about five seconds.

The slack jawed expressions on the crew members who witnessed this resulted in other crewmembers turning their heads at the splash, too late to see what happened.

”What the . . . ? How did you get wet?”

The poor victim was speechless. He had to be taken below as the witnesses tried to convince those whose attention was focused on anchoring and taking in the sails as to the fact of the matter. It wasn’t easy.

I attempted a landing on this island in my third Tornado in the 80’s. It was a beater, and I’d gotten it just to introduce my young kids to the joy of sailing a very fast craft.

I’d always wanted to explore the island and go into the caves my mother talked about. My two oldest kids were with me that day (ages 7 and 5) and I chickened out when one of my rudder fittings broke during the landing. It was a foolhardy attempt.

I’m older now, not necessarily wiser, and I want to go back. It’s a line item on my bucket list to see if there really are skeletons in those caves.

_____________________________________

*Rules and Regulations

Ha! You fell for that drivel? THERE ARE NO RULES! I’m a Pirate! You thought there would be rules? You fool, if you fell for that you aren’t very likely to find the maiden.

There will be clues however- I think "Clues not Rules" is part of the Pirate Creed or something like that.

Prizes? Hah!, who needs wimpy prizes when treasure is involved!

At the very least, the honor of a maiden is at stake. What heroic sailing blogger could refuse such a challenge?

If you've guessed that my intention is to send the maiden into the cave first to check out whether there really are skeletons in there, then you are very smart indeed, and may just win the honor of rescuing the maiden.

She may however, go into the cave anyway.