< Previous10 COASTMONTHLY.COM | JuNe 2022 O n June 4, 2000, an email arrived in my inbox titled “Das Boat.” The email was from my father and part of weekly writings he called “Monday Muse.” I saved all those emails, remembering how sometimes they magically appeared at my most homesick moments. I found the title intriguing, considering his email was meant to mark the 48th anniversary of his induction into the U.S. Air Force, not the Navy. But the theme wasn’t about his military service or love of flight. It was about a youthful mishap involving a sunken boat that was for him a turning point and perhaps foreshadowed his and my family’s uneasi- ness about sailing, be it on ferries or yachts. In the email, my father writes of a summer day in Corpus Christi when he was about 13 years old. Buccaneer Days were ap- proaching and he and his best friend, Jerome Johnson, had made kites from scratch and flown them successfully. Jerome’s sister had painted a skull and crossbones on Jerome’s kite and a pirate wield- ing a knife between his teeth on my father’s. They arrived at the beach and made their way down to face the cliffs at Cole Park. “We had somewhere along the way acquired swords (sticks) and a questionable, although enthusi- astic pirate vocabulary.” They spied a dark object bobbing about 50 yards offshore. It was a sunken skiff, 8 or 9 feet long. My father and Jerome started out to it, wading in waist-deep water. The boat was waterlogged, but buoyant enough to push almost to the beach, he said. Jason, a boy on the beach with a stick, was watching. “We voted to allow him to help us and become one of the crew.” They turned the skiff upside down on the sand. It was intact, but all the caulking was gone. My father had spent the previous summer in Port Lavaca recaulking his uncle’s crabbing boat. “So, I had an idea of what needed to be done to refloat the skiff,” he wrote. “There was always stringy seaweed laying along the beach, so we twisted it as tight as we could and forced it into the cracks, seal- ing them, at least temporarily.” With the confidence of youth, they launched the boat back into the mighty surf, their destination the boat docks between L Head and the Peoples Street T Head for more permanent repairs. Finders, keepers. The skiff floated ponderously out to sea, with Jerome and Jason paddling furiously with boards they had found and my father steering with a makeshift rudder. Their course took them out and around the rock breakwater. “On the first leg of our journey, it was dead into the wind and with great seamanship on my part, and effort on theirs, we made it,” he wrote. “But we were now being pushed toward the rocks and some of the seaweed caulking had begun to let go.” The skiff was taking water. “I was born and raised in Corpus Christi, so I knew the danger of letting the waves take us on the rocks. Barnacles were my main concern, among other things, and I suddenly went from a boy play- ing pirate to a concerned young man who was in a pickle and brought my friends with me.” They were approaching the end of the rocks and exhaustion was setting in, he said. A fisherman saw them and their peril and hailed a motorboat that threw them a line and towed them to calm, protected waters and to shore. My father was no sailor, but he could tell good sea stories. I’m not sure his misadventure that day was the reason, but he avoided boats after that, sticking to planes and automobiles. When he went abroad, it was usually on an EC-135. But my father loved the water. He was a devout wade fisherman. Re- galed with his stories about Corpus Christi Bay, my siblings and I pooled our funds and bought him a used catamaran. He never used it. Not once. I’ve never had good luck with boats. I’m prone to seasickness even on a ferry. And on one Coast Monthly photo shoot, Design Editor Melissa Rivera went overboard. Only now can we laugh about it. But oddly, I love to look at boats and read about boats and the people who sail them. This issue is dedicated to people who seek adventure on the seas. LAURA ELDER Coast Monthly editor FROM THE EDITOR A NAUTICAL MISADVENTURE PERHAPS MADE ME A LANDLUBBERA trusted name with over 50 years of real estate experience Carolyn T. Gaido REALTOR ® CLHMS, CRS, RSPS, SRS 713.851.3377 CarolynGaido@SandNSea.com CarolynGaido.com Sand `N Sea Properties, LLC Top Agent Since 1999 Michael J. Gaido, III REALTOR ® 409.457.4900 MichaelGaido.com Kimberly A. Gaido REALTOR ® , SRS 713.498.2020 sandnsea.com 3624 AVENUE R Charming 2BR/2BA beachside cottage a few blocks from the beach. 4218 SAN DOMINGO Better than beachfront 4BR/3.5BA house in Pirates Beach. 3415 AVENUE O 1/2 Great 2BR/1BA in mid-town Galveston. 1008 SEALY Two costal cottages bundled together on one lot. Both houses have 2BR/1BA. 22118 MATAGORDA 2BR/2BA updated canal front house in Sea Isle. 2411 42ND STREET Mid-town 5BR/3BA house with a pool, chefs’ kitchen and good rental history. G aido R eal e state G Roup12 COASTMONTHLY.COM | JuNe 2022 SHORELINES WE ASKED ON FACEBOOK: “Hammer” by Joe Mungo Reed, “French Braid” by Anne Tyler and “Mercy Street” by Jennifer Haigh. All good reads for the summer. Or for anytime of the year. Bert Feinman Don Winslow’s “City on Fire” is amazing. Then, all of his books are great. Ginny McDonald “One Italian Summer” by Rebecca Serle. Glynda Parker Oglesby My wife just finished “Atlas of the Heart” by Brené Brown; and I am starting “The Golden Couple.” I hear “Verity” is good, too. Jerry Jones “Bad Blood Sisters” by Saralyn Richard. Susan G. Carpenter Sanders “everything Sad Is untrue” by Daniel Nayeri. A compelling true story of a boy’s journey from a stable home in Iran to a refugee camp because of his mother’s conversion to Chris- tianity, and then landing in Oklahoma and all of the odd- ities along the way. A great, interesting and meaningful read! Great story-telling, too. Richard Rhoades Because I binge-watched both seasons of “Bridgerton,” it’s probably time to read the books. Should be interesting. My niece assures me liberties were taken! Holly Thorson “Black Cake” and “West with Giraffes.” Cheryl Fortune Sherrrilyn Kenyon’s books. Wanda McWhorter Huddleston What are your picks for a good summer read? Amazon offered free Kindle downloads of some interna- tional books on World Book Day in April. I was delightfully surprised to read a nonfiction book called “The Puma Years: A Memoir” by Laura Coleman. Karen Barbier “When We Believed in Mer- maids” by Barbara O’Neal. A great read! Jan Hines Tony Robbins’ “Life Force.” Linda Chapa-Gionet “Lonesome Dove.” Hal Rochkind “Siren Song,” written by local San Leon author George Dismukes. Jenni Bahena Meador One of my many favorites is “The Secret Life of Bees, or a good one is “The Return” by Nicholas Sparks. easy and happy reading. Karolina Kilbergerova “The Big Rich” by Bryan Burrough. Seth Alford Books by local authors Saralyn Richard and George Dismukes G e TTY IMAG e SNeed emergency care? Visit houstonmethodist.org/er to fi nd emergency care near you. If you are experiencing a serious or life-threatening medical emergency, please call 911. AN EMERGENCY IS ALWAYS AN EMERGENCY Don’t Ignore Your Symptoms 24/7 It’s important to know where to go when unexpected injuries or illnesses occur. Whether you have a minor emergency or a life-threatening one, Houston Methodist provides state-of-the-art emergency care 24/7/365 to patients of all ages. We offer: • Board-certifi ed emergency doctors and nurses • On-site laboratory • Full-service X-ray, CT and ultrasound • Private treatment rooms HOUSTON METHODIST CLEAR LAKE HOSPITAL W. FAIRMONT PKWY. FM 518 KEMAH SEABROOK WEBSTER DICKINSON FRIENDSWOOD LEAGUE CITY HOUSTON NASSAU BAY 45 146 225 FM 2094 E. PARKWOOD DR.FM 528 HOUSTON METHODIST EMERGENCY CARE CENTER IN DEER PARK Houston Methodist Emergency Care Center Houston Methodist Clear Lake Hospital Emergency Room14 COASTMONTHLY.COM | JuNe 2022 FEATURE HERDING CATS Two Texas sailors plan first national Prindle regatta in 20 years story by MICHAEL A. SMITH | photos by STUART VILLANUEVA T wo Gulf Coast sailors have a mes- sage for Prindle Catamaran owners far and wide — “Come and take it.” In this case, “it” is trophies and bragging rights for the fastest boats and crews in what organizers be- lieve is the first open national Prindle regatta in a little more than 20 years. And somewhat by coincidence, the regatta, set for June 3-5 at Crystal Beach on Bolivar Peninsula, will happen 50 years after two West Coast surfboard makers produced the first Prin- dle at a factory in Santa Ana, California. At the helm of the organizing effort are Chris Holley and Scott Tuma, avid sail racers and Prindle enthusiasts. The two had wanted to hold a regatta last year, but, like much else, it was postponed because of COVID-19. That was, perhaps, a happy delay because it meant the regatta would be held in 2022 — 50 years after 1972 when the Prindle 16 hit the market. Holley cites all sorts of reasons for wanting to organize a Prindle regatta. The main one, prob- ably, is he and his mates like to go fast, like to test their skills against others and like to do all that on Prindle catamarans. (Above) Chris Holley adjusts his son Ben’s life jacket before an afternoon sail from the Seabrook Sailing Club. (Opposite) Father and son sail by the Kemah Boardwalk in a 1987 model Prindle 19 catamaran. COASTMONTHLY.COM | JuNe 2022 1516 COASTMONTHLY.COM | JuNe 2022 FEATURE If you asked a landlubber to name a brand of catamaran, odds are he’d say Hobie Cat. The brand name is almost synonymous in the popular mind with the small, twin-hulled sail boats the company produces. That’s a shame, Prindle sailors lament, because their boats, they argue, are better. Prindle Catamarans are the product of collaboration between California surfboard makers Geoff Prindle and Sterling Santley. The two had been making surfboards since the 1950s and in 1968 decided to launch a line of catamarans. They founded a company called Surfglas and started fabricating fiberglass hulls from a factory in Santa Ana. The company billed its boats as the fastest, safest, most so- phisticated on the water and racked up enough regatta wins and design awards to back that up. For two years straight, the Prindle 16 won the “Most Effi- cient Catamaran” award at the Pacific Multihull Association’s World Speed Trials, according to online sources. Prindles were particularly lauded for a hull design that helped sailors avoid a phenomenon called pitchpoling. That nautical maneuver is when the bow digs too deeply into the water and the boat capsizes forward — that is it somersaults stern over bow — typically launching sailors and anything else loose on deck into the brink. Pitchpoling is a function of too much speed, too much sail and sometimes too much weight too far forward on the boat. All that and avoiding the consequences, which at very least is very inelegant, is among the main reasons Holley sails Prindles, he said. “I’m a big guy and I like to go fast,” Holley said. “The hull design on the Prindle just lets it cut through the water better. Hulls on the Hobies like to play submarine when they get going fast.” Chris Holley and his son Ben, 8, prepare their catamaran for an afternoon sail at the Seabrook Sailing Club. (Opposite) Chris and Ben zip across Galveston Bay. COASTMONTHLY.COM | JuNe 2022 1718 COASTMONTHLY.COM | JuNe 2022 FEATURE If the Prindles were far better than the competition, their story follows the same trajectory as automobile brands such as Tucker, Packard and Studebaker, which died off despite innovative design and high production standards. In 1988, Performance Catama- rans Inc. bought the Prindle name, factory and designs, which were incorporated into its boats. NACRA North American bought Perfor- mance Catamarans in 2007 and now claims the Prindle lineage in its boats. But Prindle boats live on in the hands of passionate sailors who like to go fast very near to the water. Holley and Tuma want to get as many of them as possible together in June for three days of racing and associated fun on Bolivar Peninsula. They plan what apparently will be an old-school regatta. One of the reasons for Prin- dle’s decline was that sail racing changed, Holley argues. Courses running just upwind and down- wind replaced “reaching” courses in which the boats had to also navigate across the wind, he said. The upwind-downwind courses favored other types of boats and the Prindles fell out of favor, he said. Courses planned for the Crystal Beach regatta will not be restricted to upwind-downwind, Holley said. “We’re going to be doing things that these boats do well,” he said. “We want to put out a call to all the Prindles all across the country — Come and take it.” Prindle 50th Year North Americans: https://bit.ly/37DY65a For more information, contact Scott Tuma at 281.705.3712 or TexasTuma@Comcast.net (Above) Carl Bohannon sails a Hobie Wave catamaran across Clear Lake at the weekly Wednesday Night Races on Clear Lake. (Opposite) Chris Holley and Kevin Bergan sail a 1987 Prindle 19 catamaran during the night race. COASTMONTHLY.COM | JuNe 2022 19Next >