No crew, no problem.

I went out to Big Creek in Des Moines this morning to set the boat up and the family was going to meet me there later. Unfortunately they all woke up feeling like death warmed over....so here I am all dressed up and no where to go.

The winds were steady at 15-20 with gusts near 30, so I was needing a crew and none of my friends stepped up to help me out (one lame excuse was...he need to take the dog to the groomer!!?!)

So I here I am feeling helpless, when I walk by a family having a picnic and one individual said nice boat....I offered to take him out and he snarfed his lunch and was in a harness and life jacket in like...10 seconds.

He was from Germany, lives in Crecsent City, CA...and was here visiting family. I gave him a quick tutorial and with his previous sailing experience he was good to go.

He learned quick, was fearless, and had the time of his life. We flew a hull most of the time and Mario was quick on and off the wire. He was one of the best crew I have had the pleasure of sailing with. He was even in good spirts when I lost the main sheet and dunked him while he was trapped. Without his eager assistance I would have been stepping the mast and heading home.

I love Hobie cat sailing!

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Double Take
91 H18SX

Excellent!

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Tom
Fleet 259, Central Coast CA
H18 ('81)
H18 ('85)
H20 ('97)
H18 ('78)

The proper expression for this stunt is "tea bagging". Most skippers think it's funny to tea bag crew, but not so for the drenched crew.

This happens to me all the time... My mainsheet blocks like to tell me to cool off every so often

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Mike

'79 H18 standard 'Rocketman II' sail #14921 RIP
'78 H18 (unnamed) sail #14921
'08 H16 sail #114312
'97 H21SC sail #238