[Rhodes22-list] engineering types

[Peter Thorn]

Roger,

My dear father was a mechanical engineer, so I am very comfortable and quite
familiar with engineers.  Starting when I was about 8, he taught me to sail
and work on a variety of  boats, some of which we built and others we
"reworked" to suit the desired purpose.  In the basement we built a Sunfish
and a 3/4 scale Shark catamaran.  We sailed a Lightning and a Crescent on
Barnegat Bay.  Last February, about 10 boats and 38 years later, he passed
at the age of 83.

In 1976, after I had flown the nest, Dad purchased a new Rhodes Continental
in New Jersey.  Subsequently as the result of a new job, he relocated the
family to Indianapolis and sailed the Rhodes at nearby Lake Monroe.  In club
races, Dad never performed as well as he hoped he would, so he applied an
engineering solution:  he cut the keel/cb off the Rhodes.  In it's place, he
installed a daggerboard with a 400 pound lead bulb he forged in my mother's
pottery kiln from recycled tire weights.  This device was lowered to a six
foot depth with a trailer winch.  The daggerboard housing pretty much ruined
the cabin space.  However, after the  "improvement", his Rhodes was a lot
stiffer and very much faster!

The following racing season, Dad screamed around Lake Monroe.  From his
viewpoint, nothing was better than superior boatspeed in a sailing race.  I
suppose it took the local handicappers a little while to catch on, because
he had the best racing record of his life that year.

I have learned that engineers can find wonderful solutions to physical
problems.  For my father, devising engineering solutions was kind of like
playing -- he seemed to really enjoy his work.

Roger, I have read a lot of your writings, and let me assure you, nothing
has offended me.  I appreciate it when you take my R22 questions seriously
and also appreciate your thoughful responses to the concerns of many on the
list.

Best of  luck to you!

PT



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Roger Pihlaja" <cen09402 at centurytel.net>
To: "The Rhodes 22 mail list" <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
Sent: Sunday, October 19, 2003 8:27 PM
Subject: [Rhodes22-list] Engineers Are Intrinsically Anal


Gentlemen,

When it comes to designing & building things, the devil is in the details.
So, engineers tend to be hard wired to be anally-retentive.  Would you want
to fly in an airplane or drive an automoble designed by a nondetail oriented
engineer?

So, that's Mr. Anally-Retentive Nerd to you buster!

Peter, if I somehow offended you with my recent post re keel weight, that
was not my intention.

Roger Pihlaja
Dynamic Equilibrium


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