>I promised to tell you about my midadventure with a buoy last Saturday.
>This is a true story which I have been too embarassed to tell any of my
>friends. Fortunately my wife is sympathetic and has also kept mum about
>this.
Don't worry; your secret is safe with us. :)
>
>What happened is that when I did the tack (alone as the family was in the
>cabin) the buoy went into the blind spot caused by the jib where it meets
>the deck. I was holding such a steady course, with a steady wind, that
>the buoy never came out of the blind spot and "crunch." The moral for me
>is to take a better look, around the sails, when changing direction or
>when on the same point of sail for a long period of time although I will
>swear that I was looking ahead the whole time and the buoy must have
>been placed in front of me just before I got there. Fortunately it was a
>small buoy and we struck a glancing blow.
>
>Anyways I hope that I have used up my buoy collision chips. What are
>the odds of hitting a small object, such as a buoy, when there is so much
>sea room around the object?
In my experience, 10 to 1.
Thanks for the story. We can all use a remeinder to keep a better lookout.
Harry Gordon
P14 #234, Manatee
Mountain View, CA