SC20TR - Bill Roberts

Gary,

This scar hole thing is a myth, this is actually a hole through which the dolphin "breathes", because of this boats like the mystere are actually faster, the sudden rush of speed you are describing when on a Hobie 18 is due mainly to the initial panic of the dolphin as you block its airway, but this speed cannot be maintained as the dolphin soon passes out.

Hooking the fold does not panic the dolphin quite as much but allows you to ride for longer maintaining a higher overall speed.

I have had trouble tacking and gybing when using the dolphin striker does anyone know how to get them to turn?

dangle a fish from the end of your tiller extension when you want to tack or gybe.

has always worked for me.

Personally, I feel that harnessing the pelicans with my striker is more effective. It might not be as fast as the dolphins, however, the pelicans provide more lift in my bows, and I avoid that nasty habit of dolphins to dive. Pelicans aren't very intelligent either, so they work for peanuts 😛

Hmmm. I take a different approach when I sail. I try my best to hook up with mermaids...

Keith, dare I ask what a mermaid striker looks like?

Mary - Some things might be better left to musings and imagination after a few rations of rum!

Not too much of the rations, though. That might have been what got the mariners of old thinking romantically about manatees...

SOMEONE SAY MANATEE!??!

(Here's George, the friendly manatee that visited us in Bahia-Honda)

I'm sure someone can correct me (in the legal sense - there's no hope for the rest), but aren't we NOT allowed to mess with manatees?

You are right. However, in this case, we are not sure this is a manatee. I think it is a rock with a dog head stuck onto it, and Rick thinks it is a watermelon with the back half of a pig sticking out of it. If it is a manatee, it appears to be giving birth to an alien.

it was a manatee.

We were docked in Bahia-Honda state park... we were sittin around, and we heard this loud yell in the direction of one of the cigarette boats that was docked. Alot of people were heading over to the boat after a while, so we checked it out.

The guy with the hose owned the boat, apparently he was hosing the salt off his watercamaro, turned aft and saw the sea-cow propped up on the swim deck staring up at him, licking the fresh water rolling off the stern. He drank fresh water out of the hose for about an hour straight. The park ranger came out and said that its unusual for them to venture that far south from the everglades, and the big guy was probably in desperate need of some fresh water. The whole time a ranger was there, and the manatee seemed to enjoy the crowd... after he had his fill, he went back underwater and left.

Now that we've completely hijakced this thread from the dolphin/pelican striker debate...

I'm glad you said that was a water hose. I was afraid it was the hose end of a beer-bong from the party going on! Maybe that's what the manatee was really looking for.

Manatees seem to migrate much further than anybody ever thought. There is the sometimes mentioned one dubbed Chessie that was first found at the mouth of the Chesapeake. He was tagged, and supposedly theyfound that he was making a yearly trek from Florida up the coast to the Bay and points much further north, only to return to Florida for the winter. Just like the rest of the snowbirds. I'm not sure if they're still tracking him or what.

I once had a seagull crash into the tip of the mainsail about 2 feet from the top while sailing with GARY on his Mystere off of Anacapa Island. I suspect he got surprized by either our speed or possibly our tip vortex. I just heard the thud, looked up, and saw him sliding off behind the main, with one "arm" still wrapped around the leach to windward! I couldn't see how he faired after that as the main was in the way.....never saw him again.

Alan Thompson
I20 - San Diego