Adventures in Sailing

Dave Schantz 2021

Dave Schantz 2021

This slide presentation came as a result of a conversation I had with a friend, Len Lyons, about sailing and particularly some of the experiences I had. He asked if I would share them with a work group we both are part of. Which I agreed to do. Included are some of the experiences I have had since learning to sail in 1976 or so, when I was about 36 years of age. My first sail was on a 14 foot board boat, with a friend, George Meyers, which in turn opened up a whole new world of adventure which I still continue to enjoy. So let’s begin

Learning to Sail • There are many ways to learn to sail: • You can just jump in a boat with a friend and try to learn from experience • You can sign up for a formal course at a sailing school • You can buy or borrow a small sailboat and do it on your own • No matter how one does it, it helps to understand the boat and what's involved in sailing.

In learning to sail, a good first step is to sail with a friend or as part of a sailing course and learn the mechanics of sailing. Eventually you may want to buy a boat so you can begin to sail and practice on your own. In my case I learned from friends, bought several boats and took advantage of any opportunity I had to sail. In doing his one of the first things you learn are the different parts of .the boat and how they work

Learning to Sail After a ride on a friend’s Laser Board boat Laser 14’ Dingy Sailboat I bought a Sunfish 14’ Sunfish Sailboat

I grew up around water, did a lot of swimming but the best I ever managed to do early on was to rent a row boat on the Arthur Kill River which runs between New York’s Staten Island and New Jersey and flows into the Raritan Bay. We would rent the row boats at Jake’s Rentals for fifty cents an hour. For some reason though we never got the picture about the effects of the tides and some times we would rent them during a still tide get caught as the time went out and struggle to return them before the costs got too high. But like most of us, there was this attraction to being near and on the water. Many times I would walk along the docks at yacht clubs and marinas along the Genessee River and just enjoy looking at the different sailboats, not really understanding the makeup of them, until a friend invited me to take a sail on a 14 foot Laser Board Boat. I was hooked. At first I bought a Sunfish, a 14 foot board boat, sailed it for a bit, then sold it and bought a 16 foot day sailor

Parts of a Sunfish Sailboat 14’

Learning to sail a Sunfish board boat should be easy enough, I thought. There isn’t much to it. A main sail, a mast, a boom, actually two booms, a rudder, a dagger board, a main sheet and a tiller. So I bought one, took it to a local pond and gave it a try.. Somehow I quickly found out that I really knew nothing about sailing, especially when it came to stopping it. As you might imagine, I ran it into the rocks and put a small dent in the hull. I was able to fix that easily enough. But I needed to learn more about this wonderful sport. So, I took a course from the Coast Guard Auxiliary and learned the fundamentals. I sailed this Sunfish for a bit longer and got pretty good at it. But then, as often happens with boat ownership, I thought I needed something bigger.

Parts of a Sailboat

So I then bought a 16 foot day sailor. While, this is not a picture of that boat it does show the different parts of one. Added were a a mail sail controlled by a main sheet, a fore sail also known as a genoa or a jib controlled by port and starboard sheets,, a cockpit and small cuddy cabin, a small outboard engine, and a little more to work with. Rather than dry sail it (and specifically rigging it and unrigging each time I want to sail it), I rented a dock at a local marina and sailed the boat from there for a few seasons.



Of course, another thing that is important to learn right away, when learning to sail, are the points of sail. On a sailboat you seldom go from point A to Point B in a straight line. Rather it requires sailing a course dependent on the direction of the wind. This slide shows the different sail setting that one might encounter, from being \"close hauled\", or sailing as close to where the wind is coming from, to, \"running\" downwind, with the wind coming from behind.



As you get more involved in larger boats suddenly there are halyards, cunninghams, outhauls, vangs, main sails, jibs, genoas, stay sails, spinnakers, masts, booms, working sheets, lazy sheets, blocks, luffs, leeches, drafts, tell tales, working guys, lazy guys, belowdecks, overheads, heads, galleys, hatches, port, starboard, tacks and gibes, and on and on Eventually all of the terms become part of your vocabulary and when some one say “ease the outhaul” or sheet the main you just know what needs to be done It’s all part of the learning process.

Getting Started in Sailboat Racing • went for a sail at the Brockport Yacht Club • was asked to crew on a Pearson 26’ boat racing at BYC • applied and was accepted for membership at BYC • (took advantage of sailing opportunities on Pearsons, Lightnings, Highlanders, any boat I could get a ride on.

So that’s a quick overview of what’s involved in making the boat go and some of the things that you learn along the way. I sailed the 16 foot day sailor on Lake Ontario out of a local marina, and was bitten by the sailing bug. This led to talking to others about sailing and before long I found my self sailing more and more, not only on my own boat but on other sailors boats as well. One in particular, was a member of the Brockport Yacht Club (BYC) who got me involved in sailing at that club, and crewing on a Pearson 26. This in turn led me to becoming a member of BYC and eventually buying yet a bigger boat, a Grampian 26 foot sailboat.

Sailing and More Sailing – continued racing, day sailing and taking short cruises – Became friends with the salesman at the Yacht Center • Through him started sailing on still other boats and different races Genesee & Rochester Yacht Club Sunday Races • Highlight of doing this was sailing on a 1929 8 Meter Sailboat LARA • Invited to sail on a Laser 28 in the CORK races in Kingston, Ont

Having my own, larger boat led to yet other adventures. In addition to sailing it on Lake Ontario around the Brockport Yacht Club, I began to take short cruises to other yacht clubs within 20 miles or so to the East and West. In addition, shortly after buying the boat, the salesman, Tommy Smith, was looking for crew to help him sail his C&C 24 in races with the Genesee and Rochester Yacht clubs and I figured why not. We sailed his boat for a bit and then began crewing on still other boats ranging in size from 24 to 33 feet. One of the hightlights of doing this was crewing on a 8 Meter sailboat that was built in 1929. One of the many experiences in sailing hat I will never forget. It had no life lines and walking along the deck while tending to the sails truly felt like walking on water. He was a member of both yacht clubs. Doing this I found myself sailing on many boats, including back in ‘79 an 8 meter boat that was built in 1929. What a treat that was.

Getting into Off Shore Racing – Started sailing in Long Distance races • Rochester to Youngstown via Toronto • Rochester to Kingston via Scotch Bonnet Island and Main Duck Island • Fairhaven to Main Duck Island • C.O.R.K. Kingston, Ont.

The more one becomes involved in sailing and especially racing, the more other opportunities seem to crop up. In 1978,or so, the same friend who took me on my first sail on the Laser 14’ board boat, gott a C&C 27 and asked me to join him on a “Freeman Cup” race which went from Rochester to Youngstown NY via Toronto. At the time GPS and even Loran was not available. So using just a compass, a nautical chart, and a radio beacon we sailed through the night and found our way first to Toronto, Ontario and then to Youngstown, New York. In Youngstown, we were moored to a mooring buoy in the Niagara River and from there enjoyed the hospitality of the Youngstown Yacht CLub and a few days of day racing in that area of Lake Ontario. A few years later, I joined this same friend on a race from Rochester to Kingston via Scotch Bonnet and Main Duck Islands. And then with still another sailing friend, crewed on a race from Fairhaven, New York around Main Duck Island and back to Fairhaven on a 30 foot boat. During this time, I also began crewing with Tom Maynard on his Laser 28 which eventually led to traveling to Kingston, Ontario and participating in the Canadian Olympic Regatta at Kingston a.k.a. CORK.

Key Learnings • Team work • Sleeping in tight quarters while the boat is bouncing over three or four foot waves (or not sleeping at all.) • Keeping the Belly Full and the Bladder Empty • Sail trim, working in tight quarters, communications

Certainly in doing these races and transports, much in the way of learning about yourself happens. You learn to work, and live, in close quarters, with the other crew members. Staying alert during your time on watch is important. So too is getting some rest when off watch. Resting on a few sail bags that aren’t always dry and bouncing through the lake as you hit wave after wave does not always lend itself to getting any sleep, but you try. In the meantime, you are sailing for some 20 or 30 hours and during that time you need to “try” to keep your belly full and your bladder empty. Something, I learned during my days aboard ship in the Navy.) And, of course, each time your learn more and more about how to sail.

Sailing on Larger Boats ~35-44 – Began sailing on a 41’ aluminum hulled boat called the “Susan B Anthony” – got invited to sail in a race from Stamford, CT to Newport Rhode Island (Astor- Trophy Race) – Did a transport from Bermuda to West Nyack, NY

This learning about teamwork, sailing for extended ipmerpioordtsanotf wtimheen, amnodvilnivginfgroimn tsigmhatllqeurarttoerlasrigseersbpoeactiaslly (35 feet and bigger). But when doing so, the adventures grow exponentially. As I said at the beginning, before I learned to sail, I would often walk along the docks and just admire the lTinheesreowf tahseomneaninypsaaritlibcoualatrs tIhwatoualldwasyese.caught my attention. It had a deck without any ports. I couldn’t envision how it might look below, but I just loved the lines of the boat. It was called the “Susan B. Anthony” and was an aluminum hulled 41 foot boat built by, Palmer Johnson, a company with roots here in Rochester.

Sailing on Larger Boats ~35-44 – Began sailing on a 41’ aluminum hulled boat called the “Susan B Anthony” – got invited to sail in a race from Stamford, CT to Newport Rhode Island (Astor- Trophy Race) – Did a transport from Bermuda to West Nyack, NY

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Astor Trophy Race Stamford, CT to Newport RI. Start 16:00 (Fri) Finish ~15:00 (Sat)

So I started crewing on the Susan B Anthony in 1983 and in July of the following years found myself going on the Astor Trophy Race. Obviously, the boat made its way down the Oswego and Erie Canals the down the Hudson and into the Long Island Sound. I wasn’t part of that transport Rather, I got a ride down with other crew members on the night before the race. The race was to start at about 4 in the afternoon (16:00 hrs.) so we had a day of hanging around and looking at some of the other boats in and around the marina where we were docked. A friend and I went aboard several “mega yachts” and marveled at the size of them and the gear aboard. Huge spools of spare line and cable, and just everything much larger that I had ever imagined it to be.

Astor Trophy Race Stamford, CT to Newport RI. Start 16:00 (Fri) Finish ~15:00 (Sat)

So the race started at about 4 PM and off we were sailing through the Long Island Sound against the tides and winds . At about 5 AM the following morning as we were breaking out of the Long Island Sound into the ocean, one of the other, younger, crew members had to go up the mast to retrieve a jib halyard that found it’s way to the top of the mast during the night. So with the boat heeled at about 30 degrees and about 70 feet to the top, “Dave Holt” went up the mast. When he go back on deck, I made some comment about how gutsy he was to go up.. His response was simply “excuse me while I go down and empty my pants”. My job for the most part on this race was in tacking the jib, the fore sail. This required doing one of four different jobs that were required during the tack- releasing the jib, haouling it in, tailing while it is being brought in and them fine tuning or trimming the sail once it is far enough to do so. While that was my primary job during most of the race, at the finish, as we rounded Block Island and headed into Newport, I had the pleasure of trimming the spinnaker. While much was learned while doing the distance races on the 27, 28 and 30 foot boats, doing a distance race on a 41 foot boat was quie different. For one, you actually were able to get some shut eye as watches were better adhered to. Of course, sleeping was in a pipe rack on the high side of the boat, and when there was a tack your sleep was interrupted as you went from one side of the boat to the other. Some Key Learnings Crewing on larger boats is much different that crewing on smaller boats. There is a need for “teflon shoulders” The comforts of home just aren’t there Good communication is essential

Next Stop Bermuda July, 1984

For me the Astor Trophy Race, may have been a warm up for the next adventure, I opted not to go on the Newport to Bermuda race but I did fly to Bermuda to help bring the boat back to New York. Most of the crew that did the Newport to Bermuda Race had the wives or significant others join them in Bermuda where the rented places to stay for a bit so there was plenty of room aboard the boat to stay in. The nice part of that too was that the end of race celebration was going on for a few days at the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club and accommodations and the party headquarters were close at hand. At the time, July 1984 cruise ships were still small enough to dock right in Hamilton. One did while we were there, which livened up the town a bit but one friend and I also managed to explore some of the Island and one of the beaches by taking buses and hitch hiking. One evening as well on the night before we were to leave, the whole crew went to dinner at a neat restaurant located in what appeared to be an old castle.

Preparing to Leave July 8, 1984 Hamilton to St George, Bermuda

But then it was time to leave. The first part of doing so was , to move the boat from Hamilton to St. George. Several of the race crew’s spouses and lady friends came aboard while we did this. When we got to St George as we were looking for a place to spend the night we pulled alongside wall where the Queen of England’s yacht was soon to arrive. We were told in no uncertain term to get out of the area quickly. We moved it and wound up at the St. George Dingy & Sports Club which turned out to be a great place to spend the night. Dick Benzoni, who was the designated cook during our passage, went ashore to do some shopping while the rest of us did the other tings that were needed for the trip.

Preparing to Leave July 9, 1984 St George, Bermuda

In the morning on July 9th we went to get some fuel for the trip. As we were waiting to get in to fuel dock, we ran around on a coral reef. After about an hour or so, we were able to get free and get to the fuel dock. After getting off the reef and getting to the fuel dock, I learned how valuable fresh water was in Bermuda. Hot and sweaty from working to free the boat in the hot sun, I picked up a water hose with which I was going to hose some water over myself. I never made it. An attendant at the marina, grabbed the hose from me and let me know using any of it wasn’t going to happen..

Open Ocean Sailing July 9-14, 1984 St George, Bermuda to Nyack, New York • left in ~ 15-20 knot winds • by early afternoon winds built to ~ 35-40 • waves 12-14’ Winds steady out of the SE • trip took 4 ½ days ~670 miles • at night steered by using the North Star • crossed through the Gulf Stream

By early after noon we did get underway. -we left in 20 knot winds which built to about 30-40 - waves heights were about 12-14 feet with a steady roll an a rogue wave about after every 5 or six waves - wind was steady, about 30 -40 knows off the port stern quarter so we went along at about 8 -10 knows with a reefed main and storm jib. ~670 miles of open ocean - No GSP – used traditional navigation - At night were able to steer using the North Star - Had dolphins swimming alongside us several times, and at night saw the green phosphorescence formations sliding along the sid of he boat. - Experienced the wave and cloud formations and changes when breaking through the Gulf Stream - 4 ½ days of continuous sailing

Open Ocean Sailing July 9-14, 1984 St George, Bermuda to Nyack, New York • left in ~ 15-20 knot winds • by early afternoon winds built to ~ 35-40 • waves 12-14’ Winds steady out of the SE • trip took 4 ½ days ~670 miles • at night steered by using the North Star • crossed through the Gulf Stream

Things I learned along the way - Importance of sleeping/relaxing when off watch - Getting along in tight quarters - Hot bunking - Adjusting to changing circumstances - Helming in12-14’ waves - Self confidence

Back in Rochester • Continued day races out of RYC • Went to Toronto Royal Canadian Yacht Club for day races following the LYRA Freeman Cup Race • Sailed my own boat at Brockport Yacht Club • Just enjoyed being on the water

Once the boat returned to Rochester, we continued racing on Wednesday and Sunday, fpr the Summer and Fall series, with a break in August for the Freeman Cup race. Being still the new kid on the block, even though I had done these races on other boats, I was not aboard for the distance3 part of the race which went from Rochester to Toronto. I did, however take a bus to Toronto and got aboard there for the day races hosted by the Royal Canadian Yacht Club. I was still a member of the Brockport Yacht Club and still had my own boat to sail and maintain. Although I found myself spending less time on it, I did enjoy being on the water and grabbed opportunities to sail whenever I could.

Kewero 1985-1993 Changed boats and crewed on a 36’ Boat – Weds and Sunday races out of RYC – Distance Races on Lake Ontario • LYRA races (Rochester or Sodus -> RCYC-Toronto, IYC-Toronto, RHYC- Hamilton, SBYC-Sodus Bay, KYC-Kingston, RYC-Rochester, YYC- Youngtown, ABYC-Ashbridges Bay, Ont., Port-to-Port Rochester-> Oswego -> Chaumont Bay -> Kingston -> Sodus • Centennial Feeder Races – Levels Regatta(s) out of Youngstown – Lake Ontario International Races – Port to port transports – GYC Scotch Bonnet Race

So I had some good experiences and learned a lot while sailing on the Susan B Anthony, but when it was sold and replaced with a newer design boat, crew came out of the woodwork or is it fiberglass. Not sure I liked some of the crew interactions. I met the owner of the F-3 (A Frers 37) while buying some things at the West Marine store in Irondequoit, we talked and he asked it I might sail with him. I decided to do so. So in ‘85, I went aboard “Kewero”. I was told that Kewero means North Wind in some language but have never been able to verify that

Kewero 1985-1993

In the photo on the left, that’s me in the white polo standing in the main hatchway. Crew from aft were the owner Rob Holt, Rick Sullivan, Rob’s Nephew Jeff Holt, Dave Schantz, Bill Jesmer and Eric Snavely. In the photo on the right winds were probably 15-20 knots and crews weight was on the rails. Hard to identify just who was on board.

Distance Races LYRA races (Rochester or Sodus -> RCYC-Toronto, IYC- Toronto, RHYC-Hamilton, SBYC-Sodus Bay, KYC- Kingston, RYC-Rochester, YYC-Youngtown, ABYC- Ashbridges Bay, Ont., Port-to-Port Rochester-> Sodus -> Chaumont Bay -> Kingston -> Oswego->Sodus

These typically would start at one yacht club and end at another with four days of day races at the host club. Races were generally in the 100 mile range and of course further depending on the direction of the wind. The Rochester Yacht Club or Sodus Bay Yacht Club started many of the races which then went on to such other clubs as the Royal Canadian Yacht Club, Ashbridges Yacht Club, Island Yacht Club (all near Toronto), Kingston Yacht Club and the Youngstown Yacht Club. The last one of these I did on Kewero, was a port-to-port race from Rochester to Oswego to Chaumont Bay to Kingston and finishing at Sodus Bay

Lake Ontario International National Yacht Club Rochester Yacht Club