Old C-Brats

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bridma

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You'll never guessed who I just bumped into in La Cruz, Mexico. Sam from the Friday Harbor gatherings. He just arrived from the San Juans in his Norhavn 50. No fuel stops, San Juans to Mexico in one hit. Got a tour of his beautiful boat and caught up on old times.
He says Hi to all his old C-Dory friends, including Jan & Stacey, Pat & Patti, and Harvey.
He is heading further South tomorrow and then will return to La Cruz for the month of January. Looking forward to going out on his boat then.

Martin.
 
Howdy Martin. Funny thing, I was just talking to someone today and the conversation was about going south for the winter. I thought of you, wondered if your were able to get south, and was wishing I was somewhere near some warm clear water.

Be sure and tell Sam "Howdy" from me. (FYI for folks who don't know Sam, he is definitely not one of the "older" C-BRATS. He did definitely move on and move up. Sam is the originator of the annual C-BRAT Calendar.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon

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I expect you are talking about Sam Landsman? He just updated his blog not to long ago about heading south. And his beautiful new boat. I finally met him in person while cruising the Inside Passage a couple years ago. I envy his travels. Colby
 
Perhaps Sam would be described as a growing up C Brat. We first met him when the whole family was on Retriever. Later that summer Sam took the 22 on his own--and look where he is now! A truly C Brat success story!
 
Old? Here's another Sam Landsman story: Joan and I were walking on the walkway that goes by the Cap Sante Marina. We passed by a young man walking by himself. He then came up behind us and asked, "Are you Jim and Joan from Wild Blue? I'm Sam."

"Sam...?" I figured he might be the kid of someone we met while cruising.

He said, "Sam Landsman."

I had corresponded with Sam via the C-Brats, but never met him in person. I never pictured him as this young face guy we were looking at. I thought I played it cool 'till my mouth said, "You're Sam Landsman? But, you're so... young!"

"I get that a lot."

Wise and experienced beyond his years. The next time our paths crossed, he was the Executive Editor of the Waggoner Cruising Guide. By then, I was driving commercial whale watch boats in the San Juans, and Sam asked if I'd write a sidebar for the Waggoner Guide, explaining what the whale watching regulations were at the time. He was living on his 35' Nordic Tug and invited us to visit him on the boat; he came by Wild Blue and picked us up in his dinghy; we were in the Port of Friday Harbor Marina, and he was in the Seattle Yacht Club Outstation docks (IIRC). He was about to take on his first flotilla to Alaska.

He still looked like a teenager; well that could be my age perspective. :wink: A lot of water under the keel since then. I still wouldn't describe Sam as "an old C-Brat"... maybe a long-time C-Brat... with youthful exuberance and many years of real-world experience as a most capable mariner.
 
I had corresponded with Sam via the C-Brats, but never met him in person. I never pictured him as this young face guy we were looking at. I thought I played it cool 'till my mouth said, "You're Sam Landsman? But, you're so... young!"

"I get that a lot."
Click to expand...

I didn't want to say that James, but you took the words right out of my mouth. When I met Sam, I was expecting someone a bit farther in years. lol. I don't know if I said anything to him at the time, but I'm sure my expression showed it. I guess some folks just age better than the rest of us. :lol: BTW, I'm sure he'll read this thread at some point. He had followed a lot of my Alaska planning and other posts and knew I would be up there when we met. Colby
 
Our First meeting with Sam was in Tracy Arm Cove during 2012. That year we did three months in SE Alaska starting in mid April & Sam made his solo trip up the inside Passage in the CD22 Retriever. He was 22 at the time & looked much younger. We had last anchored at Fords Terror & during the day cruised to Dawes & both Tracy Arm Glaciers before arriving at Tracy Arm Cove for the night. Sam was anchored there with his brother aboard.. They had been to the Tracy Arm Glaciers & had plans to see Fords Terror the following day. Our description of the huge rock slide just happening before us arriving at Fords Terror & another slide just after leaving, causing the mini cruise boats to not enter for the rest of the season had Sam only seeing the entrance to it that year. On following years it has become his favorite destination in SE Alaska. Sam hadn’t yet seen a bear on his trip that year & while JoLee & I were visiting him & his brother aboard the Retriever, a bear cub came by on the shore near us. JoLee & I had seen many bears already that season & Sam mentioned we had brought that luck to him. We pulled anchor & left before the Retriever & seeing the Retriever still anchored in that setting showed us just how small our little CD22 appears to others.

Since then we’ve crossed paths with Sam several times & I follow his blog. I wasn’t surprised by Sam’s abilities at a young age, as I’ve had experience with many young people who are extremely capable. Taking his present Nordhavn down from the Seattle area to Mexico & how he overcame problems on the way demonstrates well, how he’s continued to advance his boating skills.

Jay
 
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