New Forum Member -- OarClub

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Date Posted: 19:36:42 10/27/09 Tue
Author: Wanderer
Subject: New Forum Member

Hello Oar Club!

Count me in; I'm with you. Motors only get you into trouble. Skill, seamanship, self-reliance and a capable boat are what get you where you want to go and bring you back every time. Motorsailors may call themselves sailors; but I've seen 'em in action... most of them are are helpless without an iron wind to save their ass. I can't understand why anyone would want to ruin a perfectly good adventure by using a motor to make sail or keep themselves moving when the going gets tough.

Me? I've got a 27 foot Pearson Renegade in South San Diego Bay. She's beat up and needs new topside paint, but the hull and decks are sound. This past summer, I removed the old Atomic 4 lump of iron from the under-cockpit storage hold along with the fuel tank, shaft & drag inducing bronze thing that the motorsailor's curiously refer to as a 'propeller'. I also removed the raw water intake and the speed log fitting from the starboard side.

Once the work was finished I could tell immediately how much better she performed. Oftentimes, I'm the only one out when the wind blows over 25 knots as she sails beautifully in strong winds. Next month I'm set to redo the standing rigging. I plan to remove the roller furling and refit the headsail luffs with bronze hanks. I expect that I'll get better shape out of the genoa and the working jib by doing so as well as better tension fore and aft on the mast to help ensure that I can make to weather under conditions that'd send the motorsailing crowd to safe harbor.

Although I'm still in training, I look forward to the day when I can meet the Oar Club Challenge. When I do, I'll consider myself in good company with the finest bunch of sailors around. Until then, I hope no one minds if I pitch in from time to time on this forum - I may not always know what I'm talking about, but I usually have an opinon. Whether it's right or wrong - I'll let you be the judge.

If there's any of you in San Diego, please give me a shout out and let me know there's still sensible people left on this planet. You can reach me by posting here or calling 'Wanderer' on channel 16 most anytime the conditions are good.

Until then, Fairleads Compardres!

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