FROM THE HELM
STEVE MORRELL,
Hobie 16 Boat Review In this issue, we have a boat review of the Hobie 16 by Dave Ellis. I imagine that most sailors out there have sailed one at some point. The Hobie has a special significance to me since I was brought up on the beaches of Southern California only a few miles from Hobie Alter’s original surf shop in Dana Point. Having surfed in high school, the name Hobie was legendary, but by the time the 16 came out in 1969, I had already moved away to Northern California—and away from the beach life. Over the years, though, I kept up my sailing and sailed on a 16 off various beaches. It was, oddly enough, when I was living in southwest Colorado in the ‘90s that I ended up owning one. While in Colorado, I missed the water and had friends who sailed in the summer on a nearby lake. So, my wife and I decided to buy a 16. It was all great fun, but it seemed the wind only came up in the morning and evenings, and we spent many hours floating around on the trampoline in the hot sun, paddling to shore to get out of the heat. Since that part of it wasn’t so much fun, we decided to upgrade to a Catalina 22 that had a cabin and motor, making the no-wind times much more enjoyable. I’ll never forget the first time we flipped the 16— it seemed like a slow-motion movie. And when it started, it was obvious there was nothing we could do to stop it.
Hypothermia in Florida This month, King Barnard writes a story about hypothermia on a day sail in west Florida. Hard to believe it’s possible, but I can see how it happened. Myself—I like cold weather and have spent many great days enjoying it. That includes snow camping, diving in 50-degree water, swimming in cold mountain lakes, and
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EDITOR
skiing in subzero weather. But I never really wondered if I was getting hypothermia until I was sailing my Windrider 17 trimaran in Florida on a cold and windy February day a few years back. A friend of mine and I took our Windriders out on Tampa Bay. It was great fun sailing fast and getting thrown around by the ill-defined waves. The Windrider in such conditions is a very wet boat. I had on only a foulweather jacket, but I was getting soaked. My adrenalin must have been keeping me going, because I never felt real cold until I was back on shore. I couldn’t wait to get into the car and drive the 20 minutes home with the heater on. I shivered the whole time and went straight to the shower on getting home. I was feeling hypothermic—or close to it. But it’s this story that I have never forgotten: During World War II, the British cargo ship, the SS Empire Howard, was sunk in the Arctic Ocean. Most of the crew was lost, but some survived in the 29-degree water and were picked up by a trawler. “I was the last man to be picked up,” recalled Captain H.J.M. Downie. “Everyone was conscious when taken out of the water, but many of the men lost consciousness when taken onto the warmth of the trawlers. Nine of the men died on board soon after being picked up. We were all given a small mouthful of spirits and this made us sleep. These unfortunate men went to sleep and did not wake up again.” Besides the alcohol, it was the body’s movement in warmer conditions and sudden warming that put demands on the heart, which was not prepared for such sudden changes. They say the body should be slowly warmed, so it doesn’t go into shock trying to meet all the demands at once. So, even in Florida—be cautious. The water in the summer reaches the mid-80s and is paradise, but the Gulf in the winter can get into the 50s in winter. I love cold weather, as being warm in cold weather is one of life’s greatest pleasures, but being cold and wet is no fun at all.
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