Never Done... (Chapter Five)

While "Firebird" was hauled out (of the water) to replace those major components of her spine along with planking (yes she was made of wood), caulking, and fasteners, we continued to live on, or rather in her... For some time we could actually walk up a couple of steps into the bow (front) while the forefoot was being replaced. We had no working plumbing, no real galley (kitchen), or any other conveniences. We had a kitchen of sorts set up on the concrete floor of the shed Firebird sat under during her reconstruction, refrigerator, grill, hot-plate, etc... Fortunately there were also bathrooms close by that had showers, so the mid-night wake up call by mother nature, did not require a long distance walk. Our dishes were washed by us kids. We would take the dish pan filled with dirty dishes down to the dock next to the elevator that hauled our new home out of the water, along with the Lemon Joy (more on Lemon Joy later) and a hose; we would wash the meal's dirty dishes. We took turns doing this for quite a while. That is, until my mom noticed (during an extremely low tide cycle) our silverware shining back up at her from the bottom of the river. It appeared that one of my brothers (who shall remain nameless) got tired of washing the silverware and started dumping it into the drink. He was later assigned "Dishes for Life" by Mom.

Speaking of Mom... At this point we boys were not attending a traditional school... We were introduced to correspondence school, which we would continue after Firebird was re-commissioned and we started our voyage. Needless to say, the home schooling (of sorts) required very little time. Mom had to keep us all occupied with tasks (TV was not a major time consuming option at this point except for a new 1/2 hour long, black and white daytime drama called "All My Children", with a then 24 year old Susan Lucci, playing the 15 year old Erica Kane). Needless to say, the bitch-diva Erica Kane has been a part of my life ever since. My classes later in college were all scheduled around "All My Children", "One Life to Live", and "General Hospital". Thanks Mom, for giving me direction in my life as to priorities and which "soaps" to call my own...

Dad was working during the week, so Mom was left with the four of us during the same time. Mind you, we were all born between 1954 and 1958, so were all in those early teen/pre-teen years. While personally (speaking from experience with my own), I feel boys are much more cooperative than girls during this stage of their development... It's when they (myself included) turn 15 or so, that the terrible teens come out... The rebellion, the quietness, the secretive comments, the defensiveness, yeah you all know what I am talking about... And the anger that a 15 year old boy feels is never directed at their Mom. It's always poor unsuspecting, working all week, looking out for the financial security of his family, Dad.

Need to take a break, as to not to ignore my household duties...

Over and totally "Out", from Portsmouth, VA

Never Done... (Chapter Four)

I like doing this and apparently there are others enjoying it as well (based on the number of recent visitors)... Regardless, time marches on and my parents have located "Firebird" in Ft. Lauderdale... She was one of the boats Dad had considered while we were in the Virgin Islands (she was being chartered out of St. Thomas at the time), but he felt she would not be large enough to accommodate the family, nor the dream...

The house in Coral Gables sold quickly. The purchase of "Firebird" happened with as much speed, as did the surveyor's report after his inspection... She needed some major work and after the survey the price went down considerably... My parents always enjoyed a challenge and believed in the "fixer-upper" motto... They could make it better...

This is where time takes a twist. It seemed like years that we were at Summerfield's Boat Works, in Ft. Lauderdale. Yet I think it happened in a much shorter time frame. Firebird needed some major work. She needed a new stem and forefoot (those core structural elements in the front or bow of a boat); additionally there were many ribs that had rotted with time that needed to be replaced or "sistered". There was also decking (although teak, which can last forever) that needed re-fastening and re-caulking. Not to mention a lot of painting and "stripping" and varnishing that needed to be done, including the 65' and 55' masts and 30' and 40' booms, made of spruce that needed refinishing...

Our months at Summerfield's were quite educational in more ways than one. We learned basic carpentry skills, we learned basic electrical skills, we learned mechanical skills, and we learned how to paint and varnish without brush-stokes (insisted by Mom, the ever practicing perfectionist)...

I also learned something more. I learned that I was not the only male in the universe that liked men... Now, I know I have never been so blunt here in my writings, but it was in those months in my 13th year, that I realized I was not the only freak, misfit, or abnormal one on the planet. I certainly didn't learn how to be gay from Frank (and yes, there are people in my life that will know who that is), but what I did learn was that I was not the only one to have these feelings. Frank and I had many a playful tryst while working in the engine room on Firebird...

This is a picture of one of the Malabar racing schooners designed by John Alden:

Firebird was designed quite similarly, but had a Marconi main, rather than a gaff. Her foresail was gaff (and yes you can Google the terms to see what I mean). 

More to come...

Over and "Out" from Portsmouth, VA 

Never Done... (Chapter Three)

Circa, Fall 1968... Shortly before man landed on the moon (the following year)... and yes, I remember watching that, not unlike Tom Hanks' characters family and friends in "Apollo 13". All seated around the closest, largest (25") console color TV, only to see the broadcasts from the lunar surface all in black and white (like the All My Children episodes we watched with Mom)... Anyway, just a 54 year old's recollection of the event, and yet I wander, once again, from my original post's intent...

Welcome to Coral Gables, Florida. 730 South Alhambra Circle was in a "newer" area of the city. The home my parents purchased was built in the 1930's. There were similar homes in the immediate neighborhood, but also homes that were built more recently... Including the home directly across the street, built by Anthony Abraham, a well known auto dealer in south Florida, and later purchased by Ben Novak, owner of the Fountainbleau hotel (later known as the Fountainbleau Hilton) on Miami Beach. My parents were pretty smart to buy this run down home in an upper crust neighborhood, live in it, make the needed improvements on it, and then a year later make a decent profit on it's sale, to propel us to the the next level in the "dream" of the father.

While using Dad's contacts and resources at the job he had landed with an aircraft ground support equipment manufacturer, Mom used her more basic skills and shopped the salvage shops and (literally) the dump, the solid waste disposal place, to decorate and furnish this house, while they continued to search for a sailboat that would accommodate the six of us (and the cat and dog) on an extended voyage...

Side note here... Our cat was Charlie Brown, a seal point Siamese (with crossed eyes and a kinked tail). Charlie Brown took offense to the the Abraham's boxers coming over to our yard across the street, and had, on more than one occasion, jumped one of them (he was 24 lbs in his prime) and literally flipped them over until they yelped their way back across the neighborhood street, to the security of their own home.

While living in the house on South Alhambra, I attended Ponce de Leon Jr. High. I was in the 7th grade when we left California, but since we had taken so much time off (from school) my parents thought it would be best to have me start 7th grade all over... I hated it... Not so much for the academics, as for the phys-ed class. It required me to participate in sports (which I had no understanding of) and then strip and shower with kids my age that had hair (and other things) I didn't have yet. It was very uncomfortable for me, and yet somewhat exhilarating (and embarrassing) as I always got a "little boy" hard-on during this process and was always looking for a way to hide it... Again, I hated it. I felt ashamed and knew there had to be something wrong with me, so I hid it and did my best to fit in...

Before we found "the boat" soon to be known as the John Alden designed Schooner "Firebird" I started the 8th grade at Ponce... I chose to take an additional class, called an "Early Bird". This class started at 7:00am and was with Ms. Bricknell (the history teacher)... If there were ever a person in my young years that impressed or influenced me, it was Ms. Bricknell... I have always loved history since that year, and have even contemplated going back to school to get my teaching credentials, so that I might impress another, like she did me... Where-ever you are Ms. Bricknell... Thank you!

To be continued...

Over and "Out" from Portsmouth, VA, over 40 years later.

Where I was Going...

I know these have been around for a couple of years, but while watching an episode of "Ugly Betty" the other night, I saw one of these PSA's and had to investigate.  This is by far the best:

And here is another:



Over, "Out" and Oh So Gay, from Portsmouth, VA

A break...

Just a little filler, and to also suggest where this might be going!

Over and "Out" and sweltering in the 90 degree Spring, from Portsmouth, VA

Never Done... (Chapter Two)

St. Croix, in the US Virgin Islands... It was the summer of 1968 and I do remember celebrating my 13th birthday in the house my parents rented near Cane Bay... The memories are a little fuzzy, as I know we lived in two different houses there. One overlooked the bay (really just a very large cove) and on a clear day you could see St. Thomas, to the north, in the distance... The second and the one we were in on my 13th, sat atop a small hill overlooking an old sugar mill. The yard was fenced and doubled as a goat farm.

Dad found some free-lance work as an electrician (his two degrees were in mechanical and electrical engineering) as he was also a journeyman electrician it was a no-brainer fitting in. He also found the time between jobs to scour the lower islands for "THE" boat that would take us on his dream. Bill, my older brother, got to do most of the island hopping with Dad, but it didn't prevent the rest of us from having a blast. The time we were there was prior to the riots and uprisings of the 70's in St. Croix... Hitchhiking was commonplace, and we kids would thumb a ride into nearby Christiansted to roam around, not unlike the kids of the 90's hanging out at the mall...

We also explored the island with the family. I was so amazed that one end of the island was like a jungle from a Tarzan movie. You could, and we did, literally swing from vines while the canopy from the trees blocked all but only the finest rays of sunshine. The other end of the island, probably no more than 20 miles away (and no, I didn't do any fact checks so it may be more or less) was like the desert southwest of the US mainland. Sand, Cactus, and Iguanas... Lizards as big as I was at 13...

The search for the sailboat that would take us around the world seemed endless. Mom and Dad finally decided that they needed to re-coup some of the savings they had used in the search thus far... We left St. Croix and flew into South Florida in the fall of 1968...

Ahhh, The Sunway Motel and efficiencies in Ft. Lauderdale, near the border of Pompano Beach on US-1... Another adventure for us kids; it was a 40's style (Mom and Pop) kind of place. There was a drive-in movie theater next door, and during the day we would jump the fence and turn up the speakers on the posts closest to our 2 units so we could hear the movie that night, sitting on the little sun deck of the flat topped Motel... Life was grand!

The Sunway and the Drive-in are now a hospital complex, but I digress... Mom and Dad were looking to find a house they could "flip" to recover some of the funds spent in the Islands... And yes, while they didn't call it "flipping" in the late 60's (it was referred to as "speculation") the technique/practice existed... Next stop: 730 South Alhambra Circle, Coral Gables, FL...

Is anyone interested in this? It's ok if not... I am trying to keep my brain sharp by poking my memory of 40 year old events, and re-living them as I write!!!

Over and "Out" from a beautiful Easter Sunday, here in Portsmouth, VA

Update: April 6, 2010...  One of my brothers emailed me and corrected me, it was 1968, not 1969...  Thanks JRR...

Never Done Before...

I teased some of my blogging friends not too long ago. I mentioned that I spent many of my teen years (well, actually all of them) sailing the Bahamas and Caribbean, and never followed up with any stories. Well, here is the beginning (of probably many):

Flash back to 1968 (yes, I am that old and was 12, almost 13 at this time), Carmichael, CA (a suburb of Sacramento)... The Rimington family has lived on Marshall Avenue since Dad graduated from Cal Poly. We (the four sons) attended John Barrett Elementary, then Albert Schweitzer Elementary (when Barrett became a middle/Jr High School) and then back to Barrett as 7th graders (and yes, the Barrett family, one of the kids my age and a friend, still lived on a plot of land next to the school)... My best friends were Randy and Lee Brock (who lived next door) their Dad was a friend of Art Linkletter, which really impressed me at the time... Our best family friends were the Baldwins (Mr and Mrs) and their children Judy, Terry, and Michael, I remember playing with Michael's GI Joe dolls (not sure if that actually means anything) and Judy and I were always hanging out...

As we became older, I truly think Dad became worried about us as we got closer to High School age (I am #2 son of the 4 and the 60's were just the beginning of the pot, drug, and sex laden 70's)... I think also, he had an unfulfilled dream that he needed to realize...

He said he wanted to take his wife, 4 sons, cat, and dog. Find a large sailboat, work when necessary (mind you, as I recall, my Dad designed the guidance control system for the minuteman missile, working for Aero Jet General after attaining his 2 degrees) and sail around the world...

The dream started to become a reality that year. Mom and Dad sold the house on Marshall Avenue, their most important belongings were shipped up to my grandparent's house, and as Dad said; we can't see the rest of the world without seeing the USA... The "Griswold Family Vacation" was off and running... We visited my Great Grandparents in Tucson AZ; we drove through the continent of Texas, visited family living in St. Louis (at the time that MLK was assassinated), drove on to Washington DC, and then finally back to my Aunt and Uncle's place in Blytheville, AR...

Dad had made arrangements to deliver the family truckster (a 1965 Cadillac Sedan Deville) to a buyer nearby in Tennessee, which is also where we flew out of on our trek to find "the" sailboat that would take us on our journey. We flew out of Memphis, into New Orleans for a brief stop, and then on to San Juan, Puerto Rico... On our way to St. Croix, in the USVI...

Interested to find out more?

Stay tuned, Over and "Out" from a warm spring day, in Portsmouth, VA