Most of the lakes available to me here in MidMo are long and narow and run north/south, Thomas Hill Lake and Longbranch Lake, and inevitably the wind blows north/south, so sailing has been a lot of hard work. So I decide to head up to Mark Twain Lake which runs east/west, it's 1.5 hrs drive away so I make a day of it, leaving at 6.00am. I picked Friday 'cause the weatherman said good SSE winds. I get to the lake and what a treat, the wind was 14 mph steady, not gusting too much. I found myself trapped out for OVER HALF AN HOUR!! The wind was so constant that I could leave the mainsheet cleated, I have not had such enjoyable sailing ever. I even saw 2 other sailboats, both monohulls, one was some kind of dingy and the other was a day sailer. I went past them as if they were going backwards, but we were all on the same tack. I just never realized how much faster cats were as I've been sailing by myself 99% of the time. But what a great day to close out the season, if I have any more days of sailing, they will be considered bonus. I just love my H16 and blasting along on the edge of no control. The next best thing? maybe blasting along on a H18 on the edge of no control, we'll see.

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TurboHobo
H14T
H16
P18
G-Cat 5.0
P16
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sounds great.... welcome to the 1/2 hour club! :)

If you hit the lotto... consider a F18... modern design is a huge step towards performance (i jumped from a 84 H18 to a 95 Mysetere 5.5. the boats are basically the same size but the handling and performance is night and day.)

Sounds awesome,

I've been sailing at Mark Twain Lake twice now, both times on big daysailers and it is a beautiful lake. I still have yet to reach the 1/2 hour club on the trap, but I hope to solve that on my H18 soon. Congrats again

Thanx Andrew
I looked at a Mystere 5.5 on e-bay, as well as a couple of the Nacra's, I think the hull shapes are superb. Also the fact that they do not have the raised tramp platform would give them more rigidity is a plus. It all comes down to cost, I have my H16 up for sale on this website and if I can turn around and use that money to upgrade to an 18' without adding too much additional funds, would maintain peace and tranquility in the blissfull world of marriage. You see my dilima? but like you say, if I hit the lotto!!!

--
TurboHobo
H14T
H16
P18
G-Cat 5.0
P16
--

Thanx Yellowhulls
Next time you come up this way, drop me an e-mail, maybe we can hang out together, pun intended. I will definitely use Mark Twain Lake more often in future, just wish all these lakes had more cat-friendly beaches where one could beach the cat without the mud and rocks and mud and big stones and did I mention mud? the red stuff that stains hulls and turns tramps into a red/tan mess, yuk.

--
TurboHobo
H14T
H16
P18
G-Cat 5.0
P16
--

Last weekend on Lake Michigan for us sadly. Forecast was 10-15 both days but never materialized. Still beautiful weather but no long trapeze runs. It was a good weekend however to teach my son to sail. Had to cut the padlock off our locker today and that was the trigger to load up the gear for the season.

Next weekend the mast comes down, hulls get washed and the cover goes on for winter storage. Akkk!

PS: Despite *##@@!!! beach pebbles clogging my Dagger Board boxes from time to time, I always pinch myself when contemplating our sailing beach which is a 15 minute drive from our house.

Only 15 minutes!!!! Wow, I would never get anything else done if I lived that close to where I sail. Unfortunately, this coming weekend I am derigging the cat, maybe after one more sail . I am storing up my collection of sailing vids for winter (gotta get through it somehow) now, and maybe get new toys for the H18.
This is always the worst part of the sailing year though, because on Lake Springfield we get the best wind right now, always a steady 15-20, but the water is getting really cold.

Turbohobo,

My only bad memory of Mark Twain Lake were the many pilings and possiblility of hitting partially submerged trees. Quite a bit of tree debris in the lake when I was there in the spring. Fortunately, with a few tons of lead under me the trees were just more objects we could batter ram into .
Its not the best lake to cat sail on for sure, but its the best option in north MO I believe. If you ever get the chance to go to Lake Carlyle, IL to sail, do it. Awesome sailing, can go on beam reach for 5 miles on that lake. Something like 60 cats at Carlyle Sailing Association and good people. It also has a beach

RE: 15 Minutes.....We don't get anything else done! Our washing machine died and we should have been out getting a new one this weekend. I contracted out a lawn service and between travel and sailing no longer have time to do my own maintenance on the house. I have a $3500 custom road bike that came off the rack once this summer. Told my dog when we got home last night that he was officially no longer a sailing orphan

LOL sailing orphan.... here is a solution to that (bad pic but look for the dog at the front beam)




PS thats not my 5.5... it's my friends 6.0.



edited by: andrewscott, Oct 13, 2008 - 05:45 PM

Hard to tell here but is that a black and tan Shiba Inu?

Great pic! Doubt my Shiba would tolerate that.

PS Where did the wings come from?

i am also curious where those wings came from, they look good on a nacra.

WOW Larry! Good eyes... Yes, that is my dog Diamond. She is a Shiba. -
http://www.metalfree.com/a/cat/dog.asp

Those are Mystere 6.0 XL wings. they came from the Mystere factory in Canada (i think). As i said that isnt my boat. I was at the beach and my friend let me take Diamond for a ride... to see how she would handle it. She did pretty well. She is a bit of a nervious dog around other people, bags, things she doesnt know... but... She LOVES her a rabbit !!!

I did not sheet in or travel in at all... and i was sitting back... i was not trying to go fast, actually i was trying to go slow for her first sail.


I think she would like to sail and be on the water.. but all i wanna do is fly a hull 10' and i can't be worried about her all day and have fun... so home she will a'stay.



edited by: andrewscott, Oct 14, 2008 - 01:09 PM

Andrew,

So you know the soulful Shiba guilt look! My wife agreed with me on the call. Cute PIC...I had a 5 year old B&T named Snickers who got herself killed last Feb.in a blizzard chasing what else? (Rabbit) Sad, stupid, tragic story and we are still grieving but she was a maniac. She's in an urn on the piano. I have a Red Sesame Male named Banzai who nailed a Possum this morning. As you know these dogs are a handful but we love em. True story, my neighbor regulary requested their services for Rabbit control. As a team they could clear her fenced yard in 5 minutes. Snickers would flush and Banzai would do them in with a snag and a shake.

Larry

I am sorry to hear about your dog. that is so sad

i have learned not to let her off leash unless in boat parking or the dog park. she listens most of the time (most). she is actually VERY calm indoors... almost lethargic ... but in the dog park... she is a sprinter.

Hardwired to hunt. Once they lock on they stop listening. Constant vigilance. Banazi is mister compliant until he senses prey, then he's a wolf. (Who like his comforts)

any pics of Banazi ? I would like to see what "Red Sesame" looks like...

Love to..How do I upload like you did with the Winged Nacra + Diamond Pic?

You must upload the images somewhere first (like thebeachcats image area). once it is uploaded you right click on it (click on propertys) to get its url.

Then in the forum you simply click "image" when you reply (on the post).

PS ITS A MYSTERE 6.0 NOT A NACRA!~!!!!!!!!!! :)

Andrew..I stand corrected. Here are my two with Banzai in front.

nice!... again sorry about Snickers...

Question about Rabbits.. after they tag teamed and got the rabbit... what next? did they give it to you? or just run away with it?

Thanks, we loved her despite her spectacular naughtiness. When they caught the rabbits generally there was no need to give them too much dinner that night. There have been many, many rabbits, possums, mice, chipmunks, squirrels(I hate when that happens), raccoon(I stopped that one before the coon lost), skunk (that was a long night and big vet bill), snakes, birds(including a goose who foolishly attacked Banzai)...Rabbits and mice are the food items. The rest are dropped and forgotten as soon as they stop moving. Banzai has accounted for most of this tally. They were bred for this so its hard to control.

Banzai is usually pretty good about dropping the game on command. Snicks would run and chew.

"spectacular naughtiness"... LOL - great term.

Well i know they are Japanese hunting dogs... but i have not seem much in the "retrieving" or "handing over" trait so i wondered what your dogs did with the kills. Diamond did get a baby rabbit one day in my boat parking area (fenced in) and she didn't kill it... (but it was not moving much), nor did she eat it (she may have just been catching her breath before a snack... but i intervened).

Boy we sure have hijacked this thread... oh well...

another question...
What is the typical indoors disposition of this breed?

i just got Diamond from my ex gf,she is 4 (the dog, not my x) and she basically sleeps ALL DAY, regardless of my attempts to play with her.

When i get home from work or sailing she is excited to see me (or actually to have me throw her chew toys) for about 5 minutes and then back to the couch/bed or carpet for more "down time". I walk her 4 times a day, and try to get her in the dog park every day to exercise her...

but she is borderline lethargic indoors... is this typical?

Thanks, Andrew



edited by: andrewscott, Oct 16, 2008 - 09:29 AM

They served three purposes in Ancient Japan. 1) Village Rat Catcher 2)Track and Flush small game (they ran big circles around hunter) 3) Keep wounded boar from charging hunter and hold it in place for the kill. There are a few articles on the web. What hunting they do today seems similar to what Beagles are used for. No retrieving.

Your description of her is very normal. They are very cat like at home. They demand excercise and play (on their terms)in 5 minute intervals like you described. That said, they can run hard all day. If they don't get it they will find activities that will amuse them and give you an aneurism. There is a ton of info in the web and there are several excellent books available on Amazon.

You are the proud guardian of one of the worlds 15 oldest breeds closest to the wolf gemome. So you don't have what most folks would consider a std dog.

Awesome data. Thanks for the info...

No problem. If you ever have any questions don't heasitate to e-mail me. Sounds like Diamond is already pretty compliant and obviously bonded to you so you. You are already doing a great job with her. Constant vigilance and building that relationship based on positive reinforcement and mutual respect are my advice. I did rescue/fostering for several years and have seen it all. If I could shut down the puppy mills and stop pet stores from selling this breed I would. I stopped because Banzai gets upset & lack of time. Any time I can help a new owner I jump at it.

Here are some good resources:
-"Shiba Inu - Complete Pet Owners Manual" - Laura Payton - Avail @ Amazon & Cheap but best book on everyday living with the breed.
-"Japanese Dogs" - Michiko Chiba & Lucy North - Tough to find but well worth it.
-WWW.Shibas.org - National Shiba Club - See Jacey Holden's Excellent Article.
-WWW.i-am-shiba.blogspot.com - Go to "Misanthropic Shiba" for a humorous by highly accurate perspective.

Larry

cheers

Now to return you to your regularly scheduled program content!!!!

Shutting down for the season this weekend and building my spring maintenance and parts replacement punch/shopping list. Depressing.