kinardly

Yes, and not to sound too misogynistic but it's one of the reasons there are so many jokes about foreign born drivers here in California, where we have a lot of both. You take an immigrant from some place where operating a vehicle isn't universal and expect him or her to adapt to a society where he can't even get to work or the grocery store without driving, run that person through a course designed to impart the minimum amount of skill and know how to a teenager who has probably been keen to drive since the age of 10, let the applicant bring a "translator" to the licensing exam and you get the predictable result.

Cool graphics!

Isn't that a little undercanvassed?

I don't know what's worse, seeing your face on the news for being drunk and disorderly in a rubber duckie or showing your blubber belly to the world. Those were poster kids for fitness boot camp.

Meth is rife in the sport fishing industry in San Diego but, my God, the hours those guys work during tuna and yellowtail season, I don't see how those deckhands could survive otherwise.

That pogie looks similar to something I remember pulling out of Naragansett Bay in the 50s called a scup. Dad was stationed in Rhode Island for a few years. 'Course I was like 5 yrs old at the time, memories change.

Fufkin, if you pass another car on the right in Germany you lose your license for something like 30 days. It's not a ticket, the LEO that catches you takes your license, your car is towed to an impound lot where it can be picked up by a licensed driver and you'd better not even think about driving until it's restored. I learned this from a German friend who also told me something interesting about letting fools kill themselves without a risk to others. It seems the government allows the Nurburg ring to be regularly opened up, rain or shine, for anyone who pays the fee, drives alone and wants to go as fast or stupid as he can. If he kills himself, fine and some do. It's all on him or her. And actually, the open speed limit portions of the autobahns are now pretty limited due to traffic volume.

Since the OP said he had some Yamaha 33s in his area, suggest again taking a serious look if you like headroom with decent looks. Sunfast 32i rates 141 in NorCal and the Y33 is 144. Both are undoubtedly good choices but the Yamaha has to be a lot less expensive due to its age and boasts 193 CM in the rear of the main saloon, probably189 forward. Best construction and interior of any boat in that size that I ever experienced. 50/50 ballast to displacement for the Yamaha vs 27/73 for the Sunfast and they are within 150 KG of each other (roughly 4464 vs 4200KG) dry. You are thinking about single handing, right? That would sure be the deciding factor to me.

Sorry, WG but, much as I champion individual freedom, there's a point at which the unfettered exercise of same leads to rampant abuse of the rights, enjoyment and safety of others and, at this point, there is a mandate for government to step in and create sensible, non-intrusive standards for that exercise. My general impression is that in your country, there is less tendency to excessive and irresponsible consumption of the fruits of our economic prosperity. Sad to say, here in the US, it's all too frequently that we encounter fools on the water in equipment they have no business operating whose sole qualification is they made enough of a pile to write that big check and thumb their collective noses at the suggestion that they actually know a little about how to use their boats.

I can just hear the handoff at ATC: "Hey Joe, I've got Tomcat 205 on a Lobster 1A departure out of NAS Brunswick, initial climb to 5,000 for ten miles, 10,000 after. Clear the Victor airways to Oceana." Joe: "Aw, crap! Why don't those guys just stick to crab?"

Am I the only on having a hard time reconciling Mr. Beer’s debonair yachtie image with a covid ponytail?

Are they going to let you know when your age group requires one? I actually would favor a more thorough licensing exam with maybe a practical portion similar to a drivers license but, as with most things like this, I will probably procrastinate until it’s a hard deadline.

I generally stay out of these political and frequently pro/anti US arguments but I do think this Is BS. I’ve been in Miami many times and, as far as I can tell, we got the best of the deal with the Cubans who come to S Florida. Conservative? Sure! Maybe because they got a good look at extreme socialism. But very successful and extremely self sufficient. I vote for more of them.

Like some other posters I have sail tracks on the main. Also a Dutchman system that controls the main pretty well on the drop and a 1/2” right angle Milwaukee drill with winch socket bit that grinds the 433 SF main up easily while Otto steers into the wind. My boat has a german main sheeting arrangement that is de rigeur for racing with a dedicated main trimmer but a PIA for me short handed. I adapted a 4 part preventer I had made up previously with suitably sized shackles as a mainsheet tackle and it takes 5 minutes to convert back and forth. With more than 8 kts of wind I do have to luff up to get enough leech tension so may make up another with more purchase soon. If I were to keep the boat another five years I might relocate the cockpit spanning traveler to the cockpit sole. Finally, I ditched the big headsails and sail with a jib unless it’s too light, in which case I crack a beer and sit in the cockpit at the dock. At 75 I’ve finally quit beating myself up just to prove I can. Boat is 40 ft LOA give or take.

When I was a staff officer in Alexandria, VA, maintaining flying proficiency involved taking a T-28 two seater (think radial engine, 1,425 HP fun machine) from Andrews AFB to all parts of the East Coast. A favorite run was to fly up past Boston, tool around this area taking in the sights and land at NAS Brunswick, nearby. We'd meet a lobsterman just outside NAS Operations and take delivery of a crate of bugs, throw it into the aft hellhole and fly home. One of my classmates from UCLA ROTC got stationed up there flying P3 Orions and the last time I saw him he told me he was never coming back to California except to visit. What a wonderful part of the world.