Summertime Back Then: Sabot Lessons
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Sun, Jul 21, 8:02 PM
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I wasn't very good. In fact, although good at other sports, I was awful at this. I remember how much difficulty I had taking the little boat out of the dock and getting all the ropes straight and everything. Dinghy trouble, I wasn't a natural or anything, in fact I was a total amateur who with the benefit of retrospection I now concede probably should have been under greater supervision. The biggest issue was steering the boat in the correct direction as I recall, port and stern and all. Check the wind and the sail. Need ballast...help! But lovely memories, a lot of people there did know what they were doing so I got to enjoy the experience of going out on the water in a boat, however modest it was. Dad was a big time sailor aficionado and so it is cool to remember him out on a boat, unshaven and ready to go, breathing in the salty air and getting into his Humphrey Bogart role. Mom was the dedicated troubadour as always, the foundation of our family, the last line of defense. If you have any memories of those days I would love to hear them. Sweet times...
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Sun, Jul 21, 10:45 PM
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Many good memories of Sabot. I thoroughly enjoyed sailing and especially the races. One time I capsized out in the bay almost in front of Auntie Mattsye and uncle Earl's house on the water and felt like I was a total failure. Then, I was "rescued" by a much more experienced sailor on a larger boat. He then told me that you're not a real sailor until you have capsized and suddenly, my failure turned into a success! Now I can consider myself a "real" sailor.
I remember occasionally on I believe it was Friday evenings Dad and Mr. Archibald would join us at the bay and we would grow some hotdogs and stay later than normal. We would even go out sailing but the wind would be so calm we would hardly move. But to me the feeling out on the bay in the evening was surreal. I enjoyed the rush of speeding along the water when the wind was strong in the risk of capsizing but I also enjoyed the calmness of the evenings when we did go out.
I also remember getting her briefings in the "yacht club" clubhouse which I later found out was more of a poor man's yacht club compared to the real one down the street, which I think was the Long Beach yacht club.
1 of the rules was we were never supposed to take the Sabot out in the "ocean." So, as a kid, after we became more proficient, that became more of a temptation and a challenge. I remember tacking back and forth in the jetty and I think once or twice venturing out just barely into the ocean to see what it felt like. It was scary and exhilarating all at once. We survived and got back in one piece and thought ourselves very lucky.
You are right about the awkwardness of working with that Sabot. It took several of us to carry it in walking across the sand always made it a challenge. Then, "reading it," meant putting the metal pin in for the rudder but with the rudder up until we got into deeper water. The leaderboard was also raised up until we got into deeper water. The mast had to be put in the mast whole but with the sheets loose so that the sale would not catch the wind. Depending on how windy it was we had to be very careful to get the boat launched before the wind would catch the sale and either flipped the boat over or take it away from us entirely.
Going directly with the wind was called a "reach," I believe where the sale was left totally out but more commonly we would tack back and forth. Tacking was when the sale was brought in somewhat tight and you were sailing almost into the wind directly which to me seemed like a contradiction in terms but it seemed to work. Always watching out for gusts of wind that could put more power in the sale and we were ready for potentially that is when you could capsize. If you wanted to slow down, you would let the sale out and it would "luff," which meant that there would be some wind on the opposite side of the sale by the mast and would take some of the power and speed out of the sale. Pulling the sheets so that there was no "luff," was maximum power and speed.
Then there was the ordeal of turning the boat around. The normal method was pushing the teller towards the boom (the pole that was perpendicular to the mast) and calling out the command, "hard-a-lee, meaning "hard to the Lee," or leeward side. One advance maneuver was called a jibe which is where you would turn away from the wind And make a turn that way but was considered more dangerous because the wind could catch the sale and even snap the mast you were not careful.
Another memory I had which mom would have to is that I believe Dad told us that we could get a Sabot if we would start earning and saving our money as a family. I think there was a jar and we would put money that we wanted to contribute into that jar and once Dad thought we had done enough and he had the balance, we would get the Sabot, which we ultimately did.
I can probably come up with some more memories as I think about this because I really enjoyed sailing and have some great memories of those experiences.
Thanks, Bob, for starting the discussion.
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Mon, Jul 22, 1:20 PM
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You are such a gifted writer Bob. Thank you for sharing those memories. I was never old enough to sail that sabot but always thought it was so cool to have a little boat we could sail in. Love that our growing up included summer bay days that were our normal, swim lessons that were fun, Friday races with foster freeze ice cream cones to celebrate anyone’s win with good friends! What a privileged and blessed childhood!!
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Mon, Jul 22, 3:25 PM
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So that makes two of us that were better passengers than captain! 
. (And I can't use my age as an excuse!). You make a great point Kathi about Mom and Dad giving us swimming lessons, I remember later meeting other kids that couldn't swim and feeling sorry for them. You grew up and never learned how to swim? That seemed so alien to me since our parents were smart enough to take us down to the water so often. Great memories Kathi, thanks for sharing with us. Speaking of swimming, I was okay freestyling but for some reason entered a swim meet in the backstroke competition. I remember my shock when I got to the edge of the pool and nobody else had entered the race. The officials told me to go ahead and swim it to earn the medal. Unfortunately, right from the beginning I kept veering into the rope, flailing mightily away on my back. I just couldn't straighten my stroke out and it was a battle to the death between me and the ropes all the way to the end....I can't imagine how funny that must have looked to people watching and I probably mortified Dad while Mom no doubt was crying inside for me. Let the record show though I persevered and made it to the end and earned my gold medal. I do believe though that was the end of my championship swimming career...
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Wed, Jul 24, 10:45 PM
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loved everyone's comments. so many fun times with the Sabot especially when we flipped it over for fun :)
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Thu, Jul 25, 6:54 PM
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Love these memories Bill! Don’t know how I didn’t see your email before.
Rich family memories and history♥️ Thank you for sharing!
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