 Bill Mattson Sailing season is here! Sailing season is here! Finally got the boat out of cobwebs a couple of weeks ago. I know there are many others dusting off the tramps. With sailing comes stories. So, if you've got a good one, let's hear it! This month, Gary Willcox shows us how to install Hobie 20 style tiller connectors. Gary put considerable effort into this fully illustrated guide. I'm sure this will be another popular feature, as was his last article on rebuilding rudder cams. If you embark upon either of these projects, make sure and drop Gary a line on how it went. Sailing Rules. Where did they come from? Who develops and maintains them? Mike Fahle has the answers in an article which will provide a great basis for anyone wanting to understand the rules. Next month, Mike will provide information on learning them. This is really good stuff, and I hope Mike becomes a regular contributor. This month, William Wallick returns in his regular column with a book review of Race Winning Strategies by Tom Linskey. Another great job, as usual. As you build your sailing library with help from Mr. Wallick, support On The Wire by buying books through our links to Amazon.com. Thanks to those who have already done so! Save your pennies, boys and girls. On The Wire T-shirts are currently in development, and will probably be available in our next issue. We'll be cranking them out as soon as we get our new URL established. Soon, you will be able to show your "love" for personal water craft with our shirt based on the popular missile article. My editorial just would not be complete without some pathetic begging for content. A couple of months ago, I almost threw in the towel. But then I started getting stories just too good not to run. I've got a deal for the readers: You keep sending this stuff, and I'll keep staying up 'till 2am putting it together. Heck, I'll even throw a T-shirt your way. With enough writers, sponsors, and T-Shirt orders, maybe we'll be around a while. Sail fast, sail safe,  William R. Mattson, Editor mattson@earthlink.net |
 Frank Pineau Well, I've finally gotten to the first sail of the year. You would think that living in Southern California we would sail all year, and in fact, some do. I readily admit tho, that I am a recreational sailor, and that warm water thing really appeals to me. This month we've included the "Top 10 best things about the first sail" to start things off. I realize that some locations may still have very cold weather, but I also knpw that Tami's been sailing quite a bit down in "Loose Banana". I'll try to curb some of my enthuiasism for a few more months. Speaking of Tami, she sent the staff of OTW some care packages from the Cajun culture. Now I believe those "Tabasco" commercials. Bill was hoping we could do some testing of the hot stuff for this issue, but my dance card is full up at the trauma center. Maybe next month. If you look real close, you'll notice in the article about the tiller connectors, Mary Wilcox is wearing an official "OTW" finger splint. We normally would save this picture for our annual "Busted Digit" issue, but the content was so good, we needed to bring it in. (And yes Gary, I do find that very sexy!) Between the two of us, we can count to 18. Enjoy this issue, and start cutting the "Kudsu" vines off the hulls.  Frank "nine fingers" Pineau, Editor frp@pacificnet.net Next Month: Learning the Sailing Rules A visit with the Coast Guard 
Retraction: In our initial June issue load, Mike Fahle's name was misspelled. This has been corrected in a maintenance load. If you have printed this issue, please reprint the cover, editorial, and Mike's article. My apologies to Mr. Fahle. Cover Photo by Bill Mattson |
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