About
I have loved the water for as long as I can remember. Growing up in Northeastern Ohio, I spent a lot of time at Hovercraft rallies or sailing on a small inland lake; and sometimes Lake Erie. When I wasn’t on the water, I spent a lot of time in “Northcoast” Great Lakes towns from Cleveland to Vermilion. Yes, I do actually like Cleveland — and feel fortunate to have grown up near the Great Lakes.
Me (passenger) riding a Hoverbike hovercraft when I was young
School lead me to study Chemical Engineering & Polymer Science at The University of Akron. A Co-op program helped me put myself through school with hopes of working in polymer recycling. I did that for a few years — turning soda bottles and X-ray film into carpet and clothing fiber. It was a great job and really fun to learn about (yes, I’m that geeky) the science and munufacturing process. However, I was living in a town that was way too small; and didn’t have anywhere near enough sailing. A job change brought me to the Annapolis area in 1998; and I’ve been racing sailboats since 2006.
As a child, I spent time in the shop helping my Dad build stitch & glue hovercraft. Yes, you can get a 6 year old to crawl into a really small space and help with construction if she thinks it’s a game. I’m sure that early experience lead me to study engineering.
Over the years, I’ve worked on multiple boat rennovation projects — many of them in pertnership with my Dad. My favorite boatworking tool is an angle grinder; and I have an extreme dislike for the stickiness of 3M 5200. I’ve logged plenty of hours working on cruising boats — but, to me, the real fun is getting out on the water and going fast in a racing sailboat.
I’m afraid of heights, but I’ll be the first one to go up the mast. I can rationalize that I’m safe in my harness because it was designed and tested by engineers — and engineers are smart : ) No, fears are not rational.
I’m always cold. So, I’m looking for warm weather sailing opportunities and vacations as soon as the weather starts to turn cold. Although, I did the pool portion of my scuba certification in an outdoor pool with a bubble over it during a February ice storm (what was I thinking?!). My open water dives were completed in St. Martin and Mexico because I didn’t want to dive in a cold quarry in a mid-Atlantic state.
You go girl – great blog and site. I sailed last week of Oct in Tenn in a regatta. We took 2nd in a 23 foot Beneteau. Great time and 15 kt winds. Talked with your dad today. Glad everything is going great. Greg
Sorry to clutter up you’re blog with an off topic post but I’ll blame your dad:-) He is a member of a Yahoo group that I posted a message to. He said you might be able to help and gave me the URL of your site. I’m looking for sailing opportunities in Hong Kong. I’ve pasted the email I sent to the group below. If you have any suggestions for me my email address is haynesd2@bellsouth.net. I’m really more interested in cruising than racing but either would be great!
It looks like my company is going to be sending me to Hong Kong for a
week or two starting 12/26. I’ll be couped up in a building or hotel
working most of the time but I plan to take at least a day or two for
sight seeing & fun. I would love to get in some time sailing but don’t
have a clue how to go about it. I don’t really want to rent a boat and
go single handing on a strange boat in unfamiliar waters.
I’ve spent a little time on Google but haven’t come up with anything.
I’d love to take a harbor cruise on a Chinese junk if I can find a
company that does public cruises that you can buy tickets for or maybe
hitch a ride with someone. Is there anyone on the list that is going
to be in the area during that time frame or knows someone that will
be? Any ideas, referrals or suggestions would be greatly appreciates!
Dennis
Hi Dennis,
I would recommend checking out the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club site. They have a Crew Board page on their web site where you can post experience and what you are looking for. That web site is http://www.rhkyc.org.hk/Crew.aspx. There is also a lot of fun to be had exploring the islands and water transportation is pretty inexpensive. I spent a short tme in Hong Kong this summer. From what I remember, an hour ferry ride was only a few dollars. I especially recommend exploring Cheung Chau. You can also take a ferry to one side of Lamma Island, hike across the island and choose from many seaside restaurants for a meal of fresh seafood. I got a lot of valuable information from the Discover Hong Kong web site at http://www.discoverhonkong.com. Have a great trip!