PERSONAL DAY

Friday evening was my 45th class re-union. I attended St. George's School. Suddenly I wonder where the time went. It is the second re-union I have ever attended and I never really took the time to look back. Amazingly I was able to recognize everyone and recall their names. I had a very nice time listening to the life story of those I was able to speak with. As you all know everyone has a story.
     This evening was made possible by Jim Gubelmann, classmate, shipmate, friend. who with his wife hosted a dinner for us at his house. I call Jimmy "The glue that binds" He always finds a way to bring people together.
   The re-union continues this weekend, however, this was my only event, I am shortly off to attend Lee Chesneau's weather course. I have been waiting for several years for him to give this course in my area.

CAIN AND ABEL

This is a copy of a sermon given at the Chapel at St. George's School in 1964. Obviously it made a strong impression on me as I have kept this copy all these years. The story of two brothers is found throughout literature. Romulus and Remus, another example. The bible is a marvelous piece of literature regardless of your religious beliefs.

The exceptional ability to explain the complexities of the human condition has always been what separates great literature from good .

"Norrie The Story"

I wrote yesterday about Norry Hoyt and my fond memories of him. I should add that he sailed across the Atlantic at least 28 times, never mind all the other sailing he did. His stories captured my imagination.

Later in Life I came to understand that the truth should not stand in the way of a good story. My copy of "Addicted to Sail" has numerous annotations in the margins, since for many of the stories I was either present or knew the parties involved. Sometimes multiple stories were blended together. Mind you I am not in the least trying to be disparaging about Norrie. I have reached an age or sufficient time has passed that I am entirely capable of unintentionally doing the same thing. Sometimes the words just plain flow better.

St. George's School

I attended St. George's School, "the hilltop" in Newport, RI. I played hockey, ran cross country, and sailed.

As in all boarding schools, nicknames were prevalent; our coach was affectionately know as "mad dog", someone who suffered fools with difficulty and was always eager to challenge you intellectually. He was a good sailor and a smart coach.

During my tenure at SG I had a classmate, Steve Moore, "wonder boy" He was light years ahead of the rest of us as far as sailing was concerned. Interscholastic sailing in this time was primarily team racing. It made sense, more people participated, and acted as a team. There was a problem, "Wonder Boy" was so good, he was simply too fast. the combinations usually depended on a first.

We sailed Fireflies, hot moulded boats, still used in the Wilson Trophy, in the UK. Paul Elvstrom's first Olympic gold was in a firefly, which was sailed single-handed in the Olympics