[Rhodes22-list] A New Rhodie Joins the Ranks

Wed Oct 20 11:59:31 EDT 2004

Bill,

I let my wife name the boat.  She loves the name she picked, and thinks fondly of the boat every time she refers to it, always using the name she picked.

Bill Effros

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----- Original Message ----- 
From: William E. Wickman 
To: The Rhodes 22 mail list 
Sent: Wednesday, October 20, 2004 8:58 AM
Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] A New Rhodie Joins the Ranks

Thanks to everyone for the kind remarks.  I will certainly put your name
suggestions on the short list.  It's amazing how hard something as simple
as naming a boat can be.  Perhaps the best way to do it is the native
american way...go out into the wilderness with the boat and wait for an
epiphany.  Or, shorten the process and go out for an evening with a bottle
of rum.

One thing that I learned from my prior boat is that no matter what you name
it, your spouse will come up with their own name if they don't like the
boat.  For example, no matter how often I corrected her, my wife would only
refer to my prior boat as "That Damn Boat".  I think the new Rhodes will be
different, though.  She actually likes this one.

Bill Wickman

> After lurking here for a little while, I guess its time to come out the
> closet and introduce myself.  I acquired a new (to me) 2000 model Rhodes
> about a month ago.  Anyway, I am located on Fort Loudon Lake in
Knoxville,
> TN at Concord Yacht Club along with another "Rhodie" that is in the
process
> of restoring a 1976 era Rhodes.  Wally, you may remember me as the guy
from
> CYC that came down to visit and look at your boat last spring.  Seems
like
> a long time of searching and waiting for the right boat has finally come
to
> an end; and just in time for some late fall sailing.  Stan was
> right....again.  He said to be patient and the right boat will come
along.
> Kind of like cats, I'm not sure if we pick our boats or our boats pick
us.
> If you are so inclined to read on, I would like to share my first
> experiences with the boat.
>
> After cleaning up the boat and admiring it in my driveway for about a
> month, I couldn't wait any longer and launched it last week.  During the
> past week, I have entertained a continuous barrage of interested sailors
> stopping by for a look and tour of all the neat and unique features of
the
> Rhodes.  It has been very heartwarming to be on the receiving end of
> comments such as "beautiful!"  "Awesome boat!"  "Luxurious"
"comfortable"
> "opulent" "unbelieveable" "I want one."  Talk about pride of ownership!
>
> Several of you have related tales of wild rides during the heavy winds
that
> swept through the Southeast late last week.  Well, my inaugural sail was
on
> Friday afternoon.  My 16 year old son called me from school (for the
first
> time ever) and asked if I would take him sailing.  Well, those of you who
> have teenagers will understand that you should never turn down your teen
> when they actually want to do something with you.  The wind was
> irresistible so I left work early and headed to the dock.  When my son,
his
> friend, and I got out on the lake I suggested that we reef as the winds
> appeared to be blowing around 18-20+ knots and I was not really familiar
> with the boat outside of what I read.  Well, being the testosterone
filled
> teenagers that they are (into extreme sports and all), and me not wanting
> to be thought of as the old man, I relented and put up full sails; not
even
> dropping the boom to its lower position (at least I kept the pop top
> closed).  What a ride!  I kept saying to myself over and over as I stood
> vertically on the inside edge of the seat looking almost straight down at
> the water; water that was sliding up over the rail, "Stan said that it is
> impossible to capsize this boat...Stan said that the boat will not
> sink...how tragic, I'm going to capsize and sink on my first time out!"
>
> Well, the boat did neither.  In fact, just like everyone has said, it
> stiffened up tremendously as soon as the gunnel hit the water, and then
> simply rounded up.  It did this several times to the whoops of my son and
> his friend.  They thought it was great sport.  I was afraid I was going
to
> slide out of the boat into the chilly lake, although I too found it
> exhilarating as soon as I realized that we were not going over.  I
finally
> convinced them that we would go "faster" if we experimented with some
> reefing.  The evening came too soon we and returned to port safe and dry.
> My son and his friend could not wait to do it again.  I was looking for
any
> rum that the previous owner might have stashed in a secret place.
>
> I learned several valuable lessons on that first sail.  The Rhodes cannot
> be capsized (or if it can, I would hate to see the conditions).  In heavy
> winds anyway,  the Rhodes sails with the exhilaration of an oversized
> dinghy.  Even when you have buried the rail, you stay bone dry.  The
Rhodes
> is a boat that can captivate the interest and excitement of a 16 year
old.
> It most certainly passed the extreme sailing test.
>
> In contrast, I gathered my whole family of five (my other kids are 13 and
8
> years old) for a quiet Sunday evening sunset dinner cruise.  I was
> interested to see how the boat would handle a family of five.  The winds
> were light to nil; more typical of what we see on our lake.  Other than a
> few nasty power boat waves, it was smooth sailing.  What a contrast to
> Friday.  We set up the cockpit table, spread the table cloth and munched
on
> hor'derves and wine (soft drinks for the kids) while a whisper of breeze
> ghosted us along as the sun slowly set.  The kids enjoyed bundling up
> together at the bow as we slowly motored back to the slip.  My 13 year
old
> like it so much she begged me to haul the boat out and trailer it to
> Charleston for the weekend where we are going to my son's high school
> sailing regatta.  The boat most certainly passed the "family" test.  I
hope
> their enthusiasm remains over time.  Mine has only grown in the short
time
> that I have had the boat.  The possibilities are endless...
>
> Sorry, I didn't mean for the is posting to be so long, but I guess my
> enthusiasm just got the better of me.  I also love reading about everyone
> else's adventures and thought you might enjoy mine.  It sure beats
> politics!
>
> And now...to think of a name for her.
>
> Bill Wickman
>
>

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