[C320-list] Commitment #867

[cinichols at btinternet.com]

Many thanks for all you hard work Chris. Might I suggest you can scratch your sailing itch also with a radio yacht? 
As we sail about in C320 no. 476 I take aboard a radio yacht and regularly fund groups of ex big boat racers gathering to compete in radio sailing. Look it up as it is great fun and means all your sailing experience can still be used to great advantage.

Best

Chris Nichols
+44 7963 190 667

-----Original Message-----
From: C320-list <c320-list-bounces at lists.catalina320.com> On Behalf Of Allan Field
Sent: 02 December 2021 16:00
To: C320-List at catalina320.com
Subject: Re: [C320-list] Commitment #867

Hi Chris - Congrats on the sale of *Commitment*. And many thanks for sharing your story with us. Linda and I also are realizing that we will eventually be aging-out (I'll be 74 next week) of sailing and wonder what's next. But most of all, I want to acknowledge your commitment (no pun
intended!) to the Association for so many years. It was a pleasure to serve on the Association Board with you, to always value your wisdom and input, and to know that what you put back in was so appreciated and always spot-on. Best wishes always in your sailing retirement and may "what's next" always "float your boat!"

Allan S. Field
Sea Shadow - C387, #103 (formerly C320, #808) Columbia, MD


On Thu, Dec 2, 2021 at 9:39 AM Chris Burti <clburti at gmail.com> wrote:

> Commitment has a new Owner, Richard Sloop. Hopefully, he will join the 
> Association. I'll continue to stay on the forum for a while as we shop 
> for a trawler.
>
> For those wondering why...We loved Commitment, but last June we were 
> crossing the Pamlico Sound with a forecast of SW winds at 16 -17 kn, 
> which should have been a perfect reach to Ocracoke. Unsurprisingly, 
> NOAA got it wrong. What was surprising was how wrong.
>
> By the midway point, the winds had increased to the 20-25 kn range and 
> by the time we reached the entrance channel into Ocracoke, they were 
> steadily in the thirties with gusts into the mid forties..Needless to 
> say, it was a fast and rough crossing. Preparing to go into Big Foot 
> channel, it took all my strength in the big Lewmar's low speed to 
> winch in the genoa (something I rarely do)  and we had to crab all the 
> way up the channel to avoid being blown out of it into the shoals 
> (another sailboat coming in 9 Foot channel was blown out of the channel and had to be pulled off by the USCG).
>
> Our C-320's are great sailing boats and with the sails properly 
> trimmed, they can handle far more than we can. As we were heading in 
> crab style under WOT, I was thinking to myself: "This is the time a 
> lot of less experienced sailors decide it is time to sell the boat". 
> Sure enough, as soon as we were tied up at the dock and things were 
> settling down, the Admiral shocked me by saying it was time to think 
> about it. Well, the rest of the trip was great, good weather and good 
> sailing, but the seed had been planted.
>
> We are in our seventies, the Admiral is petite and I came to the 
> inescapable conclusion that if i were incapacited in those conditions, 
> she could not have gotten the sails in and in those winds, the engine 
> would have been inadequate to overcome the sails, so rescue was improbable.
>
> I'm not ready to limit my sailing to light wind days, a little 
> daysailer is fine for that, and I ascribe to the wisdom of Clint 
> Eastwood as Dirty Harry where he observes that "A man has gotta know 
> his limitations." The Admiral is capable at the helm and can get a 
> powerboat to safety, we are not ready to give up being on the water, so ...stinkpots. here we come.
>
> We've made a lot of friends, virtual and in person from this group 
> over the years and wish everyone fair winds and following seas...
>
> Fair winds
> Chris Burti
> Farmville, NC
>