G Flight Yacht Club
My water post a few days ago got me to thinking about why I avoid the state of “being on the water.” That wasn’t always true. When I was growing up, my dad would take me fishing on his 12 foot aluminum outboard “skiff.” Not a perfect boat but its purpose was to put you over where the fish were and the rest was up to you. For that purpose, it was good for the small lakes and rivers of South Dakota (but not the Missouri!). Ironically, I picked up the sailing bug in the wilds of western Texas…where flat, dry plains with little water, is the normal landscape. But not for a group of intrepid instructor pilots from a long gone Webb Air Force Base in Big Spring, TX.
Somehow or another, most of the instructor pilots in “G Flight” of the 83rd Flying Training Squadron, started to sail…in West Texas. There were no bodies of water, I repeat no bodies of water, to sail in close to Big Spring. Why we got this bug…I do not remember, probably youthful exuberance, testosterone, stupidity. (Back then all pilots were male) But. Sailing became a thing. I am not sure if I’ve got all the names right…I think the first “sailor” was Bill Atwater. He smoked Kool cigarettes. In those days, if you sent in so many Kool package “stickers,” they would send you stuff from the Kool Catalogue and one of the things you could get was a “Kool Sailboat.” A.T. Water was determined to get one. He smoked and smoked and smoked and finally got enough stickers to cash in for the boat. What he got was a mast, a sail, a keel board, plenty of rope (er, lines), a rudder, sheets of fiberglass, resin, and a styrofoam hull. The instructions had him “fiberglassing” the entire thing, installing the hardware, and then hoping it all “balanced” and stayed afloat. And, of course, the sail had a large “Kool” logo. He started the process, said it was horrible, but he finished and it was a thing of beauty.
Fun!! Now everyone in the flight of 8 or so pilots thought they should have a sailboat. Well, not everyone, but some. We named our group of landlocked sailors the “G Flight Yacht Club.” I bought a 12 foot Sea Snark, a plastic covered foam, unsinkable craft, perfect for a wannabe sailor and a flatlander. “Fish” Pyrch bought something similar but racier, and the end-all-to-be-all purchase…John Nicholson bought a 16 foot Hobie Cat! There may have been others who also had little boats but those gray cells are on recess. Lima Bravo…maybe. Terry…maybe. Timmie…maybe. The only place to sail in that part of Texas was Spence Lake, a reservoir about an hour’s drive away. Many weekends we would gather up our gear, our beer, and our sense of derring-do and head for the lake. We raced (hah), tried all sorts of fun maneuvers, and got our adrenaline rush when allowed to sail John’s Hobie. The Kool boat was not durable and I believe it put A.T. Water in the water. My boat, like so much of my stuff from those days, is probably in a landfill near Big Spring. Years and years later, I ran into John at the Pentagon. He’d moved up and I think I remember him saying he had a 70 plus foot boat he kept anchored somewhere on the Texas coast.
Those were the days. So, no. I haven’t always been a water avoider. I guess I’ve gotten more timid in my experienced years.
I am still working on video stuff. I know I said I’d stop but…. A few years ago the US Coast Guard Cutter “Eagle” docked in Old Town Alexandria. I went out twice, one rainy day, one sunny day. I did a quick “trailer” video of some of the images. A Coast Guard presence at Spence Lake probably would have been comforting to the G Flight Yacht Club.