[Rhodes22-list] Stan the Man or Why I bought a Rhodes22

Tue Apr 9 21:21:11 EDT 2013

Mr Babs,

I am also in MA and just picked up my recycled boat two weeks ago.

When I went to get my boat Stan was in the hospital but fortunately I had the pleasure of meeting him just weeks before. He is a trip. I enjoyed every minute of our conversation and endless emails over the past few months. I was hoping he could teach me a thing or two about sailing when we picked up the boat but it looks like i'll be learning most everything the hard way. I have taken an ASA class but I am defiantly a newbie with big dreams.

I was told some rather sage advice from a long time member of the list--have faith...Stan will deliver. Well, Stan delivered in spades. I think mine is the prettiest boat in the world.

I was able to sail her around Edenton for a few days with my brother and we had a blast!

Maybe we need to have a New England Rhodes Flotilla?

Ted 
s/v AIRPOWER 1991/2013
Massachusetts 

On Apr 9, 2013, at 7:59 PM, Stephen Staum <snstaum at gmail.com> wrote:

> Mr. Babs,
> 
> Where do you hail from?  I live in Needham, MA & sail an '83 Rhodes out of Squantum Yacht Club in Quincy, MA. 
> 
> Stephen Staum
> s/v Carol Lee 2
> Needham, MA
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone
> 
> On Apr 9, 2013, at 7:18 PM, Mrbabs <Marc at babineauins.com> wrote:
> 
>> Like many, since I was young, I dreamed of sailing away. Life interrupted the
>> dream, with children, work, responsibilities etc. etc. and that just made
>> the sailing dream seem, just that. A dream.Fast forward to June of 2012 when
>> my significant other and I found ourselves talking about sailing again. I
>> started reading sailing magazines, looking online, dream weaving. After a
>> couple months I read something online from another dreamer (there are lots
>> of us out there) who was looking for the "perfect" boat. An anomymous
>> someone posted "Just get a Rhodes22".I found the Rhodes22 website and
>> laughed myself silly reading everything. I didn't know who Stan Spitzer was,
>> but he was one very funny guy. And I thought, I really like his sailboat! I
>> traded a couple of emails with Stan and we decided to head south to the
>> Annapolis Boat Show. This was about as far North as Stan was travelling and
>> we wanted to see the Rhodes. This was our first boat show ever and boy were
>> we overwhelmed with boats and equipment. Coming around to the Rhodes
>> display, I mentioned to the man in one boat that I loved his website. He
>> pointed to the guy sitting in the other Rhodes and said "Oh that's Stan over
>> there, he's 86". What???!!!!  Stan is 86 years old!!  We immediately hopped
>> boats and introduced ourselves as newbies. In our short discussion, Stan
>> told me he had discovered the secret to immortality - many of his friends
>> had retired and died. He figured if he just kept working he would live
>> forever! To make a long story even longer - we hardly slept a wink Saturday
>> night not knowing what to do. Sunday morning, we figured we would put a
>> deposit on a boat. On the way over we ran into Stan leaving and I asked if I
>> could put a deposit on a boat. He said sure, and when I asked how much, he
>> replied $1,000. When I told him I didn't have $1,000 on me, he offerred to
>> loan me the money!  Well I emptied my pockets of cash and handed it to him
>> on the dock and we parted company. When we arrived back home in
>> Massachusetts, I couldn't believe I had handed $800 to some guy on a dock in
>> Maryland and walked away without a receipt, no information on the boat,
>> nothing. He didn't even have our names! Talk about clueless!Over the winter
>> we satisfied ourselves that Stan is real person and sells boats!  We figured
>> out what we bought and it appears as though the dreaming is over as we now
>> own a 2007 Rhodes22.  The last time I sailed was on a Sunfish 37 years ago
>> so we have signed up for a sailing classes in Newport and will be keeping
>> the boat on the Narragansett Bay.  We are clueless, but very happy to have
>> found this group. We are also happy to have met Stan, who happens to be one
>> of the most remarkable people I have ever encountered. I hope he lives to
>> 186!  It appears from this group, I am not alone with these thoughts.We will
>> be leaving to pick up the boat in 9 days and we may even learn how to use it
>> this summer!Cheers
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> --
>> View this message in context: http://rhodes-22.1065344.n5.nabble.com/Stan-the-Man-or-Why-I-bought-a-Rhodes22-tp45374.html
>> Sent from the Rhodes 22 mailing list archive at Nabble.com.
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