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A Bit of News
- Thread starter Ergo
- Start date
Jonathan Gutoff
New member
A great sailor and the embodiment of the SSS spirit.
BobJ
Alerion 38 "Surprise!"
When Bill was Commodore he usually ended each meeting with the question "Is there anything else for the good of the order?" While the phrase was probably borrowed from his past service in a fraternal organization, I believe Bill was indeed most concerned for "the good of the order."
He was a good leader, a good sailor and a good friend, and he will be missed.
He was a good leader, a good sailor and a good friend, and he will be missed.
Bill embodied what is good about SSS and the essence of its members: Tough. Sensitive. A caring member of our extended family. Bill defined the expression "Comrade-In-Arms."
Good sailing, my friend.
We were cutter-rigged and rakish,
With long and lissome hulls,
And we flew the pretty colors of asymmetricals.
With staysails pulling mighty in the fore,
We sailed the Single Handed Transpac in alternate years of yore.
With a boom preventer amidships, like a well-conducted ship,
We'd each a brace of feather jigs and a tether at the hip;
It's a point which tells against us, and a fact to be deplored,
But we chased the golden mahi, and laid their fins aboard.
And flying fish filled the scuppers and squid dried beneath the pole,
And the varnish was all splattered with scales on the sole.
But we soon were washed and rinsed, as the squalls marched slowly by.
And tradewinds blew us foaming westward under popcorn in the sky.
O! Then it was while lying beneath the myriad night time stars,
We could hear the dolphins squeaking as they swam in from afar.
Then having trimmed the boat asleep, with little else to do,
We danced a quiet hornpipe as the old salts taught us to.
O! The slack key on the stereo and our slapping naked soles,
We danced a little jig and curtsied as she rolled!
Ah! the thirsty solo sailors and the radio pranks we played,
Would be told beneath the Tree at the ending of the day.
With the silver seas around us and the full moon overhead,
And the look-out gazing westward as his cigar was glowing red.
The cutters and their merry crews will be anchored not far away,
A little south of sunset in the Bay of Hanalei.
~sleddog _______/)___/)_____
Good sailing, my friend.
We were cutter-rigged and rakish,
With long and lissome hulls,
And we flew the pretty colors of asymmetricals.
With staysails pulling mighty in the fore,
We sailed the Single Handed Transpac in alternate years of yore.
With a boom preventer amidships, like a well-conducted ship,
We'd each a brace of feather jigs and a tether at the hip;
It's a point which tells against us, and a fact to be deplored,
But we chased the golden mahi, and laid their fins aboard.
And flying fish filled the scuppers and squid dried beneath the pole,
And the varnish was all splattered with scales on the sole.
But we soon were washed and rinsed, as the squalls marched slowly by.
And tradewinds blew us foaming westward under popcorn in the sky.
O! Then it was while lying beneath the myriad night time stars,
We could hear the dolphins squeaking as they swam in from afar.
Then having trimmed the boat asleep, with little else to do,
We danced a quiet hornpipe as the old salts taught us to.
O! The slack key on the stereo and our slapping naked soles,
We danced a little jig and curtsied as she rolled!
Ah! the thirsty solo sailors and the radio pranks we played,
Would be told beneath the Tree at the ending of the day.
With the silver seas around us and the full moon overhead,
And the look-out gazing westward as his cigar was glowing red.
The cutters and their merry crews will be anchored not far away,
A little south of sunset in the Bay of Hanalei.
~sleddog _______/)___/)_____
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When I'd heard that Bill was planning on coming out to race the Vallejo opener on Green Buffalo, I was so optimistic that the treatments he was getting were doing the trick.
I'm so honored that I was able to help with some of the loose ends that made the inevitable a bit easier on Sara. Ergo is in a new happy home and back playing on the race course again.
Fair winds Bill.
PS. some photos that I found of Bill from the 2006 SHTP
I'm so honored that I was able to help with some of the loose ends that made the inevitable a bit easier on Sara. Ergo is in a new happy home and back playing on the race course again.
Fair winds Bill.
PS. some photos that I found of Bill from the 2006 SHTP
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solosailor
New member
I just caught this. Bill was an honest competitor, a friend, a staunch defender of the spirit of the SSS, a mentor to many..... sad days.
solosailor
New member
Go Ergo !
Matt
Tinker - Wilderness 21
What a great picture Greg. Thanks for that. If I could have my wife express in a painting all that is shown in that picture, it would be a great work of art.
I have had some difficulty lately with how best to fulfill one of Bill's request's, not to mention just some difficulty lately.
Bill asked me a while back to scour through the forum and SSS web pages for relevant and useful information from previous Singlehanded TransPac forum posts to post in an SSS library. This is still a work in progress. But I did do this recently. I entered "Merrick" in that search box you see in the upper right corner of the screen. Then, I copied and pasted all of Bill's useful and wise posts into one file. It's very amusing, informative, heart wrenching but I think you all might like to read it. Bill's SSS Forum Posts This file is also a work in progress like a lot of things and I hope to add more to it from the TransPac Logs, links to pictures... Anyone that would like to contribute content can send me a message or email.
Matt
I have had some difficulty lately with how best to fulfill one of Bill's request's, not to mention just some difficulty lately.
Bill asked me a while back to scour through the forum and SSS web pages for relevant and useful information from previous Singlehanded TransPac forum posts to post in an SSS library. This is still a work in progress. But I did do this recently. I entered "Merrick" in that search box you see in the upper right corner of the screen. Then, I copied and pasted all of Bill's useful and wise posts into one file. It's very amusing, informative, heart wrenching but I think you all might like to read it. Bill's SSS Forum Posts This file is also a work in progress like a lot of things and I hope to add more to it from the TransPac Logs, links to pictures... Anyone that would like to contribute content can send me a message or email.
Matt
I was just re-reading my log from the 2006 Transpac over the weekend. In it were several anecdotes from Bill who I checked in with at noon each day on the SSB while we were floating around on glass seas the first week plus. One afternoon he checked in with a chuckle in his voice. He had just extricated himself from inside his lazarette which had closed and latched shut while he was inside fixing a steering issue. He was good humored about it to say the least. I had the heebie jeebies for the rest of the day!
Here's a link to some video of Ergo passing me on our way back to the barn during the 2009 Longpac. He declined my offer of a hot dog if he slowed down.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyh_jWWkZkI
Fair winds Bill!
Chris
s/v Carroll E
Here's a link to some video of Ergo passing me on our way back to the barn during the 2009 Longpac. He declined my offer of a hot dog if he slowed down.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyh_jWWkZkI
Fair winds Bill!
Chris
s/v Carroll E
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