The Cheapest Cat Sailing I have ever found

So, I'm sauntering down a lightly used beach, & I see a mast way down at the end. I walk the 1/2 mile to find a Cat, a Franken Cat to be sure, but a Cat none the less. It's rough, tramp is loose, actually saggy, saggy, baggy loose, plus it has a few large frayed holes, bleached grey, & the ends of what in another epoch I presumed used to be hiking straps .
Hulls are equally rough, of a maker that I cannot identify. Mast looks reasonable, but the forestay has some broken strands. It's hard to tell how many, as it has been "fixed", by laying a piece of cable alongside, then connecting the two via 5 of those U shaped cable lock things you bolt on.
It actually has a tiller extension, a bamboo pole, but hey, lots of people use them.
It has a sign, unreadable, so I inquire.
"Ten dull-ah" the man says.
I'm thinking the tramp might not support me, but hell, it's 33C & 90% humidity. I have no idea of the currents, or sharks, or what lies further down the coast, but the wind is onshore, & I'll stay inside the bay, so I can drift the wreckage back to the beach if need be.
We hoist the rags,(never once does he inquire if I have any inkling of what I'm doing) & he helps me shove off.
I sail around the bay for an hour, the boat is still in one piece, so I stay out another 90 minutes.
Eventually I come back & we manhandle the boat up past high tide. I ask him what I owe, he says, "ten dull-ah".
I say, "I've been out over 2 hours".
He repeats, "ten dull-ah".
I realize he speaks less English than I do Cambodian, so I hand him a soggy ten spot, & buy a couple of beer of unknown origin, for the princely sum of 50 cents each, & hike back to look for my wife.
That was the cheapest Cat sailing I've ever done, though you have to go to Cambodia to get it.
I really wanted to hike back & take some photos, of the most derelict boat I've ever been on, but wifey insisted she be escorted to a local market to look for T&T, trash & trinkets as I call them.
Actually it was damned good bit of fun, & you can't expect much for ten dull-ah. Who would think you could rent a boat at a village like this?
http://www.thebeachcats.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=112903&g2_serialNumber=4
http://www.thebeachcats.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=112906&g2_serialNumber=4



Edited by Edchris177 on Jan 29, 2015 - 08:49 AM.

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Hobie 18 Magnum
Dart 15
Mystere 6.0XL Sold Was a handful solo
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Nacra 5.0
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Nice report! Thanks for sharing. Do wish you had the pictures of what a $10 rental boat looks like though.

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Damon Linkous
1992 Hobie 18
Memphis, TN

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