[Rhodes22-list] A New Rhodie Joins the Ranks

[Bob Weber]

Bill, Congrats.  When I heard innagural sail and winds 18+ I was preparing 
myself for a horror story.  I am glad it went like silk.  It was probably a 
blessing that you were riding the rail for your son's first sail - he may be 
hooked for life.  As far as names, you have come to a good place for 
creative brainstorming.  "Wicked Women" comes to mind.

Bob Weber
Odyssey Sailing School

>From: "William E. Wickman" <wewickman at duke-energy.com>
>Reply-To: The Rhodes 22 mail list <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
>To: rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org
>Subject: [Rhodes22-list] A New Rhodie Joins the Ranks
>Date: Mon, 18 Oct 2004 19:31:22 -0400
>
>After lurking here for a little while, I guess its time to come out the
>closet and introduce myself.  I acquired a new (to me) 2000 model Rhodes
>about a month ago.  Anyway, I am located on Fort Loudon Lake in Knoxville,
>TN at Concord Yacht Club along with another "Rhodie" that is in the process
>of restoring a 1976 era Rhodes.  Wally, you may remember me as the guy from
>CYC that came down to visit and look at your boat last spring.  Seems like
>a long time of searching and waiting for the right boat has finally come to
>an end; and just in time for some late fall sailing.  Stan was
>right....again.  He said to be patient and the right boat will come along.
>Kind of like cats, I'm not sure if we pick our boats or our boats pick us.
>If you are so inclined to read on, I would like to share my first
>experiences with the boat.
>
>After cleaning up the boat and admiring it in my driveway for about a
>month, I couldn't wait any longer and launched it last week.  During the
>past week, I have entertained a continuous barrage of interested sailors
>stopping by for a look and tour of all the neat and unique features of the
>Rhodes.  It has been very heartwarming to be on the receiving end of
>comments such as "beautiful!"  "Awesome boat!"  "Luxurious"  "comfortable"
>"opulent" "unbelieveable" "I want one."  Talk about pride of ownership!
>
>Several of you have related tales of wild rides during the heavy winds that
>swept through the Southeast late last week.  Well, my inaugural sail was on
>Friday afternoon.  My 16 year old son called me from school (for the first
>time ever) and asked if I would take him sailing.  Well, those of you who
>have teenagers will understand that you should never turn down your teen
>when they actually want to do something with you.  The wind was
>irresistible so I left work early and headed to the dock.  When my son, his
>friend, and I got out on the lake I suggested that we reef as the winds
>appeared to be blowing around 18-20+ knots and I was not really familiar
>with the boat outside of what I read.  Well, being the testosterone filled
>teenagers that they are (into extreme sports and all), and me not wanting
>to be thought of as the old man, I relented and put up full sails; not even
>dropping the boom to its lower position (at least I kept the pop top
>closed).  What a ride!  I kept saying to myself over and over as I stood
>vertically on the inside edge of the seat looking almost straight down at
>the water; water that was sliding up over the rail, "Stan said that it is
>impossible to capsize this boat...Stan said that the boat will not
>sink...how tragic, I'm going to capsize and sink on my first time out!"
>
>Well, the boat did neither.  In fact, just like everyone has said, it
>stiffened up tremendously as soon as the gunnel hit the water, and then
>simply rounded up.  It did this several times to the whoops of my son and
>his friend.  They thought it was great sport.  I was afraid I was going to
>slide out of the boat into the chilly lake, although I too found it
>exhilarating as soon as I realized that we were not going over.  I finally
>convinced them that we would go "faster" if we experimented with some
>reefing.  The evening came too soon we and returned to port safe and dry.
>My son and his friend could not wait to do it again.  I was looking for any
>rum that the previous owner might have stashed in a secret place.
>
>I learned several valuable lessons on that first sail.  The Rhodes cannot
>be capsized (or if it can, I would hate to see the conditions).  In heavy
>winds anyway,  the Rhodes sails with the exhilaration of an oversized
>dinghy.  Even when you have buried the rail, you stay bone dry.  The Rhodes
>is a boat that can captivate the interest and excitement of a 16 year old.
>It most certainly passed the extreme sailing test.
>
>In contrast, I gathered my whole family of five (my other kids are 13 and 8
>years old) for a quiet Sunday evening sunset dinner cruise.  I was
>interested to see how the boat would handle a family of five.  The winds
>were light to nil; more typical of what we see on our lake.  Other than a
>few nasty power boat waves, it was smooth sailing.  What a contrast to
>Friday.  We set up the cockpit table, spread the table cloth and munched on
>hor'derves and wine (soft drinks for the kids) while a whisper of breeze
>ghosted us along as the sun slowly set.  The kids enjoyed bundling up
>together at the bow as we slowly motored back to the slip.  My 13 year old
>like it so much she begged me to haul the boat out and trailer it to
>Charleston for the weekend where we are going to my son's high school
>sailing regatta.  The boat most certainly passed the "family" test.  I hope
>their enthusiasm remains over time.  Mine has only grown in the short time
>that I have had the boat.  The possibilities are endless...
>
>Sorry, I didn't mean for the is posting to be so long, but I guess my
>enthusiasm just got the better of me.  I also love reading about everyone
>else's adventures and thought you might enjoy mine.  It sure beats
>politics!
>
>And now...to think of a name for her.
>
>Bill Wickman
>
>__________________________________________________
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