Commander vs Tall Ship

There was some complaining about lack of stories recently, so I thought I'd give you something to laugh about (I have to bear the embarassment).

I live in Chicago and we have the 'Tall ships' visiting us this week. Plenty beautiful sailing ships among them, and I'm planning to visit them tomorrow on foot since many are open for tours.

Yesterday I take a friend of mine out for her very first time on a sailboat and, as there is only minimal wind, I start the OB and hand her the tiller to drive us to the "Picton Castle", a great three-master that's lying along the pier. She is getting a little close while we are passing along the side of the tall ship, maybe 15 feet or so, but I don't want to take the tiller away from her. I keep a sharp lookout in front for any lines or anchor rode, but of course fail to look up into the sky.

We are going maybe at 3 knots. You guys guess the rest....

Suddenly I'm being thrown forward and my Commander starts rearing up in front - I'm shouting where is that chain we ran on, I can't see anything...
The stern goes under completely, water coming into the cockpit through the lazarette opening. The OB dies underwater. My friend thinks we have to abandon ship!
Our boat slowly slides backwards and the guys from the tall ship shout down to us if we are ok. We had hit their yardarm with our mast, and got rotated around it forward and up - our forestay lifting the bow up by 5 feet or so and meanwhile submerging the stern. I shout if we damaged their yardarm - they are laughing their heads off - they think we would more likely lose the mast before we would scratch the varnish on that huge spar which is jutting out at least 17 feet from each side.

It took us some time and a tow to get back to our mooring. Today I got the OB running again after changing the spark plug and draining the carburetor. No damage done - but I've learned yet another lesson - if close to a tall-ship, look out for obstacles in the sky!

Stephan

I'm in Chicago as I type this.Was here for a convention...nice city...BIG waterfront !! Saw 2 commanders as we walked and looked at boats on their moorings.The tall ships are impressive as are the smaller ones also in for the event.Lots of ole 'woodies' here too. We fly out early tomorrow....wish we had more time to check out the waterfront. PS..when playing 'chicken' with a ship.....look up. ;) PSS..the band 'Chicago' played for the final eve of the convention tonight at soldier stadium...they may be gettin old but still put on an awsome show.

Frank,

you must have seen my boat ("Das Boot", dark blue, a little beaten up) and my neighbor (pale yellow, a bit further out). I haven't spotted any other Commanders in Chicago, at least none in Monroe harbor.
Glad you enjoyed it here! The weather hasn't been too good for sailing recently, mostly too little wind, and on top of that this crazy heatwave. I hope for it to get better soon since the season is half over already.

Stephan

Yo! Total buzz killer, Dude! :D

Hey, wasn't "Das Boot" a submarine? Maybe you should change the name.

Yep....it was your boat we saw...with the other just back of it. The marina has a small fortune in tenders ! I counted 5...all nice,conoe sterned,diesel powered and real pretty. Must be fairly expensive there. We tried to go in for a drink,but it was 'members only'.It was real hot and Judy who seldom drinks was craving a cold beer.Lots of boats there...I was surprised.Nice city you live in Stephan....clean,lots happening and felt 'safe' walking.A group of us got a little 'fuzzy eyed' at a seedie blues bar (my favorite type)on thurs night...had a hoot.We decided to walk the 5-6 blocks back to our room and it was quite late .Not once did any of us feel uncomfortable. PS..was that varnish I saw at the top of your mast ??? PSS..any of us travelling should post where we are going so that members living there could share some local knowledge,places to see or things to avoid.It would be nice to meet some of the members and maybe have a beer or 3 over a sailing story.

Anyone visiting the Portsmouth Virginia area from the association stop in for a cold one, class of wine and a sail. However, email me first she-who-must-be-obeyed needs some notice. Yesterday it was above a hundred in the shade and not much wind. Late September through December is fine sailing here. Oh, should anyone know of someone in need of a good ol boat I may be selling my 1975 Pearson 26. Boat is sound needs some work such as spreader replacement which I have and some rigging work. Hood Seafurl needs bearings. I bought the boat for my brother-in-law who has never seen it, he changed his mind. Boat has new bottem paint. This boat would not take a lot of work to get right. First $1600 gets it. Oh, the cockpit deck is soft but that should not be much trouble to fix, see some of the Pearson 26 web sites.

The Monroe harbor marina and the Chicago Yacht Club are separate operations, fortunately. I'm not a member of the Chicago Yacht Club - I've heard some things about them that doesn't sound appealing to me anyway, like an initiation fee of $1000 times your age in years and that they are not giving reciprocal rights to visitors.
The tenders are indeed part of the harbor operations and very nice and efficient. Being on a mooring is actually the cheapest and only option for a starter in Chicago, since slips have long waiting lists. Monroe harbor has around 1000 cans! It costs me about $1200 for the season, which includes the tender service fee, taxes and so on. Of course, the season is only 4-5 months here, in fall the harbor closes down and in winter it freezes over for a few months.
I went to see the square rigger I tangled with and looked at their yards - they are actually steel and my mast didn't leave a scratch on them. This square rigger is a great ship with a home port in Nova Scotia. It's a training ship and offers both long and short trips. It's pretty costly, but sounds like a wonderful experience and way to learn your ropes literally.

Excellent story.

You'll need a different strategy to capture that Prize.

I'd suggest deck guns or a limpet mine