my best memories are of the Hobie lifestyle. No racing, family, beach, grills and coolers. Sailing was fun, not the only reason to be there.
Eric... I will bet a nickle that those days were not scheduled, planned or organized. Each day you dropped in the party was a bit different. The once popular sailing beach (Sandy Point on the Chesapeake) is still open but it is a rare event to see a recreational sailor trailer in and go sailing... much less the casual sailing scene of the past.
Today... it is all about schedules. Would you elevate a beach party day on you calender and/ or replace a race day? Would you choose to organize a beach party or a race day?
IME, the sailors that do the organizing, coordinating and fleet building are hard core racers. These folks (me for one have been there done that) would not trade a race day for a beach party (much less organize one). Moreover, all of the rec sailors in my club on Hobie Getaways or old Hobies and Prindles are family oriented and they would not schedule a beach party over a family day either.
What venues (public beaches or even private clubs) still exist where casual beach party... drop in for some recreational sailing is the general order on a weekend in season???
Back in the day... Notable places for a casual beach party sailing scene were
Barn Island in Connecticut
Heckshir State Park on Long Island
The Jersey Shore Communities. (boats on the ocean beach)
Sandy Point State Park Maryland
Dunedin Causeway in Florida
Do they still exist... what's the scene like this past season?
The best beaches in FL have come under scrutiny of the local town fathers, who have seen beaches and boats of all types as a money a making opportunity, by tacking on boat registration fees, parking fees, etc. and not allowing sailboats or jet ski's or kites or windsurfers into what is left of the public beaches. You have the 'liability issues' too, what happens if a cat runs over a kid in the water?
The overdevelopment (think huge Condo's instead of mom'n pop motels) of the beaches caused a lot of good public beaches to go private as well, which reduced the amount of launch sites. It's tough to find a place on a 'public' beach to park a trailer, set up and launch, without getting a ticket for...something.
Our community has a sailing center. It costs about $400 a year for the entire family and they have over 100 boats, paddle-boards and kayaks to choose from, along with
fun
races once a month and cookouts on race day. It also has a strong youth team. They also have cheep, mast up, storage.
Barely 20% of the people who are at the center actually get out on the water. Most seem to like to hang out on the verandah, chat and watch the boats from shore (especially this time of year.) I guess this is the kind of thing Eric is reminiscing about?
Dan, where is Palm Harbor, is it near Stuart? Or is that Palm Bay?
Palm Bay is north of Sebastian on the Atlantic Side.
So...where is Palm Harbor? Too damn many Palm...this and Palm that, in Florida!
Just like too many Peachtree's in Atlanta!
Palm Harbor is just outside of Dunedin.
Are you guys telling me that Dunedin has gone the way of Hobie Beach in Miami?
The sailing center is in Clearwater. http:/
Lately, we have had Vipers in the water, and one Capricorn. The center has a Hobie Tiger for members as well.
Have you looked into mast up storage costs? It's about 1200/year (including the mandatory sailing center membership) for an 18' boat. thats not cheap to me.
Not 100% sure what you guys are referring to with the Hobie life, but here in Dunedin there are a dozen(s) of cats out every weekend (except winter, then it's just a few of us die-hards), we 2 nights of mast up storage (with $100 annual permit), no beach fees, and 1/2 dozen organized races per year. I know this is rare, and thats why i live here.
I am not knocking the community center but they don't serve us (cat sailors) well at all. The costs are prohibitive, the center does nothing to promote the sport or include cats in their races (with a few exceptions) and the mono-skipper i raced with a few times was so unhappy with the PRO's they moved their races to a bridge and have their own on water officiating.
we do it every weekend here.
We just spent 10 days camping on spoil islands.
MN3,
The last apartment I rented charged $600 per year for boat storage (not mast up,) so yes, $1200 doesn't sound too bad. That said,
if I had my own boat, I probably wouldn't store it at the sailing center. The reason I want my own boat is so I can sail it other places (including Dunedin Causeway,) so mast up storage would be a bit of a pain. I don't consider what the guys do at the causeway
mast up storage
though. It's more like
leave the boat on the beach and hope the tourists don't bother it too much
storage. It's on par with leaving your boat in a busy park.
As for the Sailing Center not serving cat sailors... I have to agree to some extent although they are trying to get better. They have plenty of cats (Waves, Getaways, a H16, H17, and a Tiger,) but the space to sail in is really too limited for a Tiger or F16. I watch the F18s and F16s and by the time they have the spinnaker up and drawing well, they have to take it down.
My goal is to get an F16, keep it at home and sail in Dunedin, Clearwater, and maybe compete in Hiram's Haul one day. I will still keep my CCSC membership though. The community there is grate.
Since you're in that area, you owe it to yourself to add a few more races to your schedule... DIYC has a good bunch of them, as does TBCSA and Sarasota Sailing Squadron.
You'd be able to sail/race almost every other weekend during season within 1 hour's drive from your house.
1 1/2 hours and you could do the Clermont/Eustis stuff, too. I know a lot of those guys run to DIYC/Dunedin for races often.
mast up storage
though. It's more like
leave the boat on the beach and hope the tourists don't bother it too much
storage. It's on par with leaving your boat in a busy park.
As for the Sailing Center not serving cat sailors... I have to agree to some extent although they are trying to get better. They have plenty of cats (Waves, Getaways, a H16, H17, and a Tiger,) but the space to sail in is really too limited for a Tiger or F16. I watch the F18s and F16s and by the time they have the spinnaker up and drawing well, they have to take it down.
I agree, we don't have mast up storage in dunedin... but 2 nights a week is great (they were going to make it 2 nights a month). I also agree we take a risk leaving our gear there, but so far the worst to happen is sand on the cats, and the occasional beer can (ok we have found a few other gross items) but for 20+ cats guys that have permits (or dont), to not get our gear messed with year after year, is pretty damn great. Sure couldn't do that in NY or Los Angeles.
I am not 100% sure what you are saying about
space to sail in is really too limited
, we do spin runs from Dunedin to Bellare and the gulf is pretty damn huge (are you guys not permitted to take the cats in the gulf right around the corner?).
Again i am not knocking the center, it has produced some Olympic sailors and i like to see the sport being promoted but i also think the center is CRAZY for taking the opti fleets under the sand key bridge into the pass. That pass has serious tides, currents, and when all the conditions are right (or wrong) it is a washing machine in there.
space to sail in is really too limited
, we do spin runs from Dunedin to Bellare and the gulf is pretty damn huge (are you guys not permitted to take the cats in the gulf right around the corner?).
Correct. We are not allowed to take the center's boats out of Clearwater bay (basically we can't go under any bridges or cross the intercoastal. There are also lots of shallow spots in the area that we can sail in. I took the Tiger out once and was very frustrated because the speed of the boat didn't mesh well with the limited space to sail in.
But to get back on thread/topic. The center has a very
hang out
sort of feel with lots of socializing and regular cookouts. We are having a sunset sail on Dec 10th out to the nearby island where we plan on having a bonfire.
hang out
sort of feel with lots of socializing and regular cookouts. We are having a sunset sail on Dec 10th out to the nearby island where we plan on having a bonfire.
Everyone was extremely nice when i participated in the Carlyle races and very nice when i raced on day sailers a few times
I like Carlyle. CCSC has hosted Alter Cup and Area D several times.
You missed Thanksgiving week on snake island. Sailors, campers, fires, fried turkey (5 this year), blackened red fish, direct TV, on and on. 19 people for thanksgiving and 35 for Friday dinner.
Our next large organized trip will be Memorial day on snake island. We've had 100 people and live music there. Anyone is welcome. If you like I'll remind you when it gets closer.
For us this is a lifestyle not a sport.
I don't live in Florida but I spent 2 weeks with 2 F18s and a trailer with a third at CCSC last November over Thanksgiving. We kept them all there for less than $100, it was a steal. They even gave us a key to the gate (which I still have!) They were super accomodating and friendly.
We sailed the boats everywhere, under the bridges, up the intercoastal up to Dudedin, out into the Gulf numerous times, and then sailed from Clearwater to Sarasota. We have plenty of water to sail everywhere.
I've also sailed regattas out of there a few years back where it seemed very well run.
I don't know what the membership is but $1,200 is a steal for year round mast up storage. I've paid $650 for a similar facility up here for 5 months. Our F18 fleet in New England is cheap but I'm sure most of our fleet would store their boats if it was $1,200 a year.
I understand what you guys are saying about Dunedin though, $100 is a good deal to sail there all year. But leaving a newer boat like an F18 is quite a bit riskier and I'd rather pay extra for the fenced in gate and security camera any day of the week.
Please put me on your reminder list, sounds like fun.
The family membership is around $400. The storage is another $800 (depending on boat size).
The reason I don't keep my cat there isn't completely the money, but the people and attitude we have in Dunedin. On most weekends we have about 10 cats that sail together and island hop.
we have new and old f16's f18, cars, unlocked sail boxes unlocked cars and even the occasional car/truck with the windows and even doors wide open (accidentally) with little problem. This year i had an cop come up to me to tell me the car next to me left it's doors open and she closed them at 1am. I have Friends that leave their blocks on the cat, even radios... and little problem.
I am certainly not saying we are crime free, but it has a pretty good track record and history.
Nice pics catman. You may have captured the last shot of Zack's USA spin (ever). He has gone to the German team for his new spin