The Cult of the Laser

[Cactus Cowboy]

This is a blog of a story I wrote 27 years ago, and the published version in the San Diego Reader was totally botched... some functionally-illiterate assistant editor (with no clue about Laser sailing) inserted mistakes, bad grammar, etc. I even saw some chumpish knockoff on the web, with my name under the picture of some total kook with p!ss-poor hiking technique, but that's another story, PFFFFFFT. I already posted a couple pics of myself here at this site, so any fool with the I.Q. of a garden vegetable can note the discrepancy. Meh, no longer my problem, just know that "media" and "editors" NEVER get it right, while independent authors field much of the abuse, LOL.

No worries, here's a funny story with some historical trivia thrown in for good measure... this is what it was like, growing up while sailing on San Diego Bay & environs. This being a blog version of the original story (which earned $500 despite the botched job by the assistant editor), I have doctored profanity and kept most surnames private in order to protect the criminally insane, LOL. Those same fooliots were my friends & acquaintances, don'tcha know? Ah, yes, we shared many nautical adventures, and to be perfectly honest with y'all, many of these same individuals are now deceased. That's what happens as life goes on over the decades... truth be told, I'm a bit surprised that I'M still here, considering past events.

The Cult Of The Laser

I also noticed another blog that I created, and y'all can actually FEEL the antisocial tendencies which developed over years of my life, LOL. In this story, my original mission was to sail out to Los Coronados, rounding Isla Norte to take primo photos before returning to the mainland, but light airs prevailed on the second day of that voyage, though there were occasional periods of fresh breeze. Anyway, my mission was aborted a number of miles offshore & I sailed back to Dago without bagging any more shots of Isla Norte... my spiritual home if ever there was one, the perfect place for an aspiring Zen master to hang out & commune with nature. Meh, no worries, I have enough memories of the island chain to last a lifetime...

Small Craft Sailing As A Zen Exercise

TIME FOR ANOTHER BEER, FEEL FREE TO COMMENT UPON EITHER STORY, MAKES NO DIFFERENCE TO ME, REVISIONIST HISTORY DOESN'T FLY HERE... AND IT NEVER WILL, NO BOOKS TO BURN & NO STATUES TO TEAR DOWN EITHER, LOL.

 

[Cactus Cowboy]

Ya know, I was generally hammered whenever I wrote these stories, so you'll find mistakes here & there, LOL... many of the original stories were written over a quarter-century ago, so that also comes into play, as I never bothered to update them.

I remember someone here at this site claiming that Laser production numbers began with #101... dunno if that's true or not, but if it is, that would actually make my boat #1969, right? Helluva year, 1969, I was living in Europe at the time and my family was still together...

Big year for rock & roll too, heaps of good bands making excellent music that year... Pink Floyd, The Mighty Zep, The Who, Jethro Tull, The Guess Who, Janis Joplin, ELP, Procol Harum, Santana, etc., just a boatload of good bands, LOL.

P.S. Can't forget the Rolling Stones, their old material was great, wasn't until the late '70s that the band went downhill, LOL. But their old stuff was excellent, I still listen to their old school tunes now & then, I just can't handle their later junk...

 

[posas13]

Thanks for writing and sharing.

 

[Cactus Cowboy]

You're welcome... these small craft never get enough credit, even though they bring so much "quality time" into our lives.

Search the website for my original "Laser Island Voyages Back In The Day" thread (now closed for whatever reason), and you'll find some classic Laser stories on the first page... that to me was what Laser sailing REALLY meant, heading offshore into the unknown and having a blast upon every voyage.

And now for something completely different, LOL... one of my "Tales From The Road" randomly pulled from the list of 18 such stories. Trucking was a lot like sailing in centuries past: heading into the unknown on voyages of exploration & discovery, LOL. Having a 90-m.p.h. rig didn't hurt either...

For The Birds

 

[posas13]

For some reason I have a lot more fun sailing the smallest dinghies. Adding family, size, and weight can get a little slow, heavy, and irritating. I'm working on it.

 

[Cactus Cowboy]

Haha, I hear ya... though I draw the line at Sabots and the like, they're not comfortable enough for a full-sized adult. Lasers and the 'Fish family, they're not bad, they're easy enough to transport and two people can fit aboard... or one can sail solo and have a blast.

I always liked scows too, I almost bought an old sailing scow built by Carl Eichenlaub, it was a cool craft and his name alone would've brought bragging rights, LOL. You can Google him, he was one helluva sailor and shipwright, based in San Diego like I was for so many decades.

To this day I regret not buying that boat, but it was built with marine plywood on a wooden frame and it needed heaps of work... guess I didn't feel like tackling the project at that time. Whoever bought the boat scored a bit of nautical history, and hopefully the buyer restored that scow to its former glory.

Nothing wrong with a boat built by Carl Eichenlaub, he was a real hand when it came to shipwrights... he was one of those guys who could've strolled through a wrecking yard, selected various components, and put together a winning sailboat, LOL. A friggin' nautical genius at boat design...

Edit: There was actually an old quote uttered in Dago sailing circles, it had variations but it went something like this...

"ANY OL' SLOB CAN SAIL AN EICHENLAUB..."

Or...

"ANY SLOB CAN WIN IN AN EICHENLAUB..."

 

[Cactus Cowboy]

Found a few links to ol' Carl, he was really a cool hand... often helping competitors to get their boats right before regattas. I tried to find a web page which had some classic stories in tribute to Carl Eichenlaub, maybe it's buried somewhere in my original "Laser Island Voyages" thread. Anyway, here are some links and at least one video which will give ya an idea just how cool this guy was:

San Diego Sailing Legend Carl Eichenlaub Dies at 83 – The Log

Olympic shipwright, sailor Carl Eichenlaub dies at 83

Eight Bells: Carl Eichenlaub >> Scuttlebutt Sailing News

Okay, time for me to watch a movie on the 65" curved screen... I did manage to fill out more apps with trucking outfits, including one company which is looking for dedicated drivers on a regular run from Nogales, AZ, to Columbia, MO. This wouldn't be a bad run, no CA traffic, not far enough east to get into more traffic, home every weekend... and I've rolled every mile of that route before, as I'm no stranger to Nogales. Meh, we'll see, maybe that county job will come through as well, and nothing beats their retirement plan. Be sure to watch that Eichenlaub video, he's a funny guy... Cheers!!!

Edit: Wait, I found those tribute pages in one link above, here they are...

Carl's Cadenza - Comments from the day Carl passed away

Carl's Cadenza - More Stories about Carl

Got a few typos in there, but don't sweat the small stuff... Carl Eichenlaub was larger than life, one of my nautical heroes from way back in the day.