RE: 15 or 19?

Sayer, Chris (ChrisSayer@StratfordGroup.com)
Sun, 26 Dec 1999 21:04:59 -0500


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West Wight Potter Website at URL
http://www.lesbois.com/wwpotter/
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With a P15 you will likely sail more and spend less. I found this a
persuasive position for my non-sailing spouse. To my delight, she has taken
to Akala (perhaps because it is cute), but I know that object now dominating
our garage would be less welcome than it is if it had cost 50 - 75% more and
was used less frequently. Making the boat hard to hate is an important first
step toward getting your mate to love it.

Any Potters planning on being on the Bay this week? I'm looking at Wed in
Redwood City myself. Love to hear plans of others.

Chris Sayer
P15 #2380 Akala
San Jose CA

-----Original Message-----
From: TillyLucy@aol.com [mailto:TillyLucy@aol.com]
Sent: Saturday, December 25, 1999 1:43 PM
To: roblimo@slashdot.org; wwpotter@tscnet.com
Subject: Re: 15 or 19?

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West Wight Potter Website at URL
http://www.lesbois.com/wwpotter/
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Robin,

I'm going to avoid giving you any specific advice as I have
never sailed or
spent a night on a P-19. However, I think at least some of
my experience with
the P-15 may be of interest to you, as I am 46 and married
to a woman who is
tentative about sailing at best.

More than 90% of the use our boat sees is daysailing. With
three teenagers in
the family, the chunks of time available for sailing come
down to a few
hours here and there. You can't beat the P-15 for quick
set-up and launch,
especially if you are solo. The 15 is a light and responsive
boat, ballasted
mostly by it's occupants. While this makes it big fun to
sail, I've found
that Francesca is sometimes startled by the sudden movements
brought on by
gusts of wind or the wakes of other boats.

Francesca spent a night on the boat at Tahoe this summer.
You can see some
pictures at http://potter-yachters.org/sails/tahoe1.html .
Our boat is the
one with the brightly colored sail furled on the boom. I've
just asked her
how she would describe it and she said it was pleasant. It
is tight getting
situated but comfortable once in bed. She is also reminding
me that it is
important to "travel light" since whatever is stored in the
cabin during the
day has to be moved in order to use the bunks.

Francesca also has another pieces of advice, which I'm
afraid is not too
flattering to me - Send your wife to sailing lessons, do
not attempt to
teach her yourself!

That said, she's actually very capable with the boat,
frequently steering and
handling the sails (and she has yet to go to a lesson).
We've had many
wonderful times together on the boat, and made many new
friends as a result
of our involvment with the Potter Yachters.

Merry Christmas,

Dave & Francesca Kautz
P-15 #1632 Tilly Lucy
Palo Alto, CA

In a message dated 12/25/99 11:32:43 AM Pacific Standard
Time,
roblimo@slashdot.org writes:

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> I'm getting ready to buy a Potter; I've admired them for
years; they're a
> close
> to a real (wood) boat as you can get in plastic, and I've
sailed on several
> P-15s over the years a feel they're the best boat for a
47-year-old guy
who
> no
> longer has the time/stamina to maintain a proper wooden
vessel.
>
> Now here's the problem: I'm married. If I buy a "no
amenities" 15, I'm
> afraid
> my wife will never spend a night aboard with me. But I
still like the
> classic
> lines and simplicity of the 15, and figure that in
reality I/we will
mostly
> do
> daysailing and not spend a lot of nights on board.
>
> Has anyone else faced this problem? If so, how do
non-sailing wives adapt
to
> a
> 15? Has anyone managed to make the cabin on one comfy
enough to attract a
> citified female? Or should I just bite it and get a 19?
>
> Does anybody have pictured of a fancied-up 15 cabin? Or
does anyone on this
> list within a reasonable distance of Columbia MD own one
I could peek at?
>
> BTW, http://www.lesbois.com/wwpotter/ doesn't respond;
seems to be a DNS
> problem. ;-)
>
> - Robin "roblimo" Miller