California or Texas?

Do not tell John Williams this. He got a ticket for doing about 60 with a trailer coming back from the Santa Barbara Regatta.

Later,
Dan

Whats Kalifornistan's issue with trailers? Yet another reason to stay out of that freak show of a state.

A little late to the discussion, but I'll put in another vote for Texas. Wife and I head down every year for a week at Bird Island Basin in the Padre Island National Seashore just south of Corpus. Though I don't really recommend the intercoastal for cat sailing (too shallow in many places), there are tons of good launches from Port A all the way down to the Mansfield Cut in PINS. You can drive on the beach more places than you can't. I used to launch my 17 just north of Bob Hall Pier.

If you go, don't miss Snoopy's at the Causeway. And if you come down at Thanksgiving, slide down into Bird for a cold beer. Stop @ Worldwinds and ask for Dog. They'll point me out.

Hey Dog,

Are you still at Mariners? Haven't seen you in there the past few times I have been in.

_________________
'88 Nationals Blue
Hobie Alter Signature Model
Sail #11

Hobie Mirage Classic

Hey ET,

You haven't seen me because I left Mariner back in March. Mariner was a lot of fun (especially the "helping the customers" part). But it had been six years. The 50 mile daily commute was wearing down me and my car. I missed having weekends with my wife, since I had to work on Saturdays. And I was pretty much topped out as far as job growth. It was time.

I didn't have a good plan when I left, but figured I'd sort it out. And I had been suffering from an itch to get back into something more in line with my education (I have a B.S. in electrical engineering).

After spending some time polishing my skills, I joined a renewable energy start-up in the Summer. I've been playing with solar power for years, so it seemed like a good direction to head. Ontility is a distributor for renewable energy products, and provides training in the design and installation of those products. We officially launched in October and business is already booming.

My time is divided fairly equally between designing Photovoltaic (PV) Solar systems and teaching a NABCEP Entry Level PV course. I have an office in Houston I occasionally visit, but work from home when I'm not on the road. I teach classes around Texas and Louisiana (soon to expand to NM, OK and AR). It's been fun so far, and in some ways not that much different from Mariner. I just get paid a lot better.

The company details are here: http://www.ontility.com
I especially like this page (scroll down): http://www.ontility.com/about-us/management-team

If things go according to plan, I'll take the NABCEP PV Installer Certification test in the spring and become a member of a very small group of nationally recognized Solar Pro's.

So yeah... It's all good. Though I do miss harassing Matt on a semi-regular basis.

Cheers
Brian C

Glad things are going well for you. An aquaintance in my town now installs solar panels on houses around the area. It seems to me like you are getting in on the ground floor of something that can only grow exponentially. Although I never did get to Mariner Sails very often, it was always nice chatting with you and having you help me out with my Hobie dilemas. I wish you the best of luck with your endeavors.

Walter

_________________
'88 Nationals Blue
Hobie Alter Signature Model
Sail #11

Hobie Mirage Classic

Thanks Walter,

I appreciate that.

Your friend out that way wouldn't happen to be Rudy Wright?

Brian C

[quote="The Dog]Your friend out that way wouldn't happen to be Rudy Wright?

Brian C[/quote]

No, his name is Dale Beggs. Lindale.......just north of Tyler.

_________________
'88 Nationals Blue
Hobie Alter Signature Model
Sail #11

Hobie Mirage Classic

Dale would have been my 2nd guess. I've worked with Rudy. I've not worked with Dale.

Thanks so much guys for the info!!!

It's been extremely helpful...! Our final decision is to go to texas.. thanks again!

_________________
1985 Hobie 16 86068

After the Thanksgiving Weekend update for California: Great days for sailing Saturday and Sunday. I am in Long Beach, but I am sure the weather was fine in SD as well. Friday was a bit cooler, maybe 68. All in all we could not have experienced better sailing weather.

Later,
Dan

Thanks again all for the advice!

The trip was good. We sailed in the Gulf on Monday, had a steady 10 mph breeze, small surf. Unfortunately on tuesday a 40 mph wind came with some cold front, and after locking everything in the car, including shoes, and walking the mile to the camping office to call a locksmith, we didn't do any sailing..

Wednesday + thursday we sailed in the bay (the wind was heading away from shore, and the rigging is old, didn't want to risk it), was fun!

I think next time we'd go to San Diego though, Texas is very industrial and doesn't seem like the best place to sail.

does anyone by chance know how much it would cost to be rescued by the cost guard if something happens in the sea? My friends say it's free, but this is the USA, thus, it should cost a lot (to rescue a mountain climber with heli costs like 5grand)

_________________
1985 Hobie 16 86068

Depends on how far out you are. Generally, how far offshore do you sail?

_________________

Happy Sailing,

David

This was our first time sea sailing, so i don't think we went further than 1/2 a mile. Had we replaced the rigging, we might have gone further

_________________
1985 Hobie 16 86068

That would've probably been a freebee on the Los Angeles County coast line. I've seen the Long Beach Life Guards give free tows to catamatans from much farther away than that. However, for larger boats, I've seen them refuse to even come out unless the boat has tow coverage or proof of ability to pay in non life threatening situations. Go figure. I mean, they'd save your life but not tow your boat.

_________________

Happy Sailing,

David