A Boat You Don't See Everyday

What's a Penobscot?

These videos and stills show a Penobscot 14, and were taken over a period of years at three different locations. The boat was hand crafted by Al Meyer. Not only is it a beauty to look at, its performance lives up to its looks. Al never fails to draw onlookers who are in awe of a boat that's not plastic. The boat is wonderfully built and attention has been paid to the tiniest details, i.e. the fenders are hand made of line (rope), the anchor is bronze, and real belaying pins are used.

In the video, clips that have a 4:3 aspect ratio were shot at Offatts Bayou in Galveston, TX with a Flip camera. The 16:9 (wide screen) were taken at Lake Somerville, TX with a Kodak Zi8 HD camera. The stills were taken at Matagorda Bay with a Canon Powershot A540.

When it's cold and rainy outside I watch this video and tell myself I'm going to build a boat like that someday. Or maybe I'll just sit by the fireplace and enjoy Al's work.

Sailing Lake Somerville

Aug. 28-30, 2009

Well, it's been a little less than a year since I sailed here at Somerville and here I am again. This time Al, Luis, Wayne, Bill, Noel, Joe and Randy made it. The weather cooperated and

everyone had some good sailing. I was able to check out Joe's boat, a trimaran, for the first time. It's like a different animal from my slow-poke Potter. It looked like a Formula 1 car zipping around a bunch of station wagons. I've been using every cliche or rule or life style that has to do with making things simple, small or gone on Dim Sum. KISS, less is more or Zen: I'm trying to apply them all. My plan is to make sailing on Dim Sum more fun and safer.

Sailing Where I First Learned to Sail

Jul. 24,25, 2009

After nearly 40 years I returned to sail Offatts Bayou. Galveston is where a friend of mine taught me to sail after I got out of the Navy. Herold Moore told me about his sailing experiences and pointed out the various "philosophies" involved in picking out a sailboat. I bought a brand new Venture Cat and learned to sail at places like Galveston beaches, Offatts Bayou and the Ship Channel. The boat never caught on but for me it was a perfect beginner's boat. I could beach it. I could roller-reef the jib and it would just fit in my garage. Whenever I had the boat on the beach it started an instant party.