Crew Finder Detail:

Name: Jim Dale

E-Mail: jim@daleandassociates.com

Day Phone: 972-897-9523

Evening Phone: 972-897-9523

Comments:
I've owned or crewed boats (the kind that have tall poles in the middle with bedsheets tied to them as opposed to engine-driven, noisy, breakdown-prone gas guzzlers - you know: those hulks we true men of the sea call flotsam) of all types and sizes up to 63' since my early teens. Can handle anything up to 50' single-handedly. Not by choice and not an ego thing - I just had a great instructor who insisted we know how to get things done solo at critical times - like docking in a crowded basin with a stiff breeze on the beam, etc. Done the bare boat thing a couple of dozen times everywhere in the world except the S. Pacific and Seychelles. I know boats from stem to stern (not wild about cats), rigging, systems, routines, how to handle MOST moderate issues with a diesel and/or electronics and, most importantly, how to accept and follow a skipper's orders to the letter - make CORRECT log entries, maintain charts when underway (electronic or paper). Fun to be with when it's time for fun, but strictly serious when on watch - dogwatch always preferred - I'm a star junkie. Not a fanatical America's Cup-type racing wannabee, but I'll hitch up to the jack-lines and pop a spinnaker right along with the best of them. Name a knot and I can probably tie the thing - Portuguese bowline, anyone? A desk-time passion from my former life in corporate America - a highly decorated vet from the Suit & Tie Wars), know Chapman's Piloting from cover to cover and have owned boats all my life until selling C'est la Breeze - Cat 30' Mk III - just prior to moving to Port A about two years ago. A nut about cleanliness and keeping lines organized, tools ready to go, you know - basic marlinspike seamanship. The kind of guy who can fix a decent meal in stiff seas. In other words, no bologna sandwiches slapped together in the cockpit. Paid my way through college working summers & a semester or three at sea in the Merchant Marine & still have a valid Coast Guard "Z card" - I believe. Rated as an Oiler/Wiper but in addition to engine room & grueling deckhand work - anchor handling - for months on end all over the Gulf, managed to annoy the Captain by hanging out in the wheelhouse to watch & learn when off duty. Mastered Loran C, radio lingo & dead reckoning chart basics (this was 1978-80 and that's what we had), but also picked up the triangles and become fairly proficient at offshore NAV, set & drift, tide tables, all that fun stuff. Have ASA and NSAA tickets for Coastal NAV, Offshore, Cruising & the other basics - even Celestial Nav. I tend to think 3-4 steps ahead at all times (landfall timing, currents, etc.), particularly with regards to safety. Not my favorite job, but I'm not afraid to head over the side to unsnarl some idiot's old nets from the prop, shaft & keel (so long as I hide the engine keys prior to taking the plunge. Aged 53 and packing an extra lb. or two of ballast at the waistline, but otherwise in perfect crusty old bosun shape - tend to be the guy who ends up at the chart table & helm when everyone else is chundering over the side in a nasty following sea. In a nutshell, the kind of guy who lets the skipper catch a full off-watch nap with no worries & never raps on the cabin door without a stiff mug of molasses-like joe for said skipper. Cool under pressure & experienced enough to know that if you think there might be a squall building far out on the horizon, you're already 10 minutes behind in taking in a reef or furling up half the foresail. Safety is absolutely #1 for me and I WILL NOT take short cuts that put vessel or crew at risk in even the slightest way - period - so don't ask. Saw way too many accidents in the days before OSHA figured out they were five years behind all the renegade companies going wild all over in the Gulf 35 years ago. Also, if your boat isn't in darned near Bristol shape for serious blue-water cruising - i.e., all systems in tip-top shape, plenty of spares, all safety gear checked out annually & a skipper who knows what to call the pointy end of the vessel - I ain't your guy. Missed the big regatta this year, but live in Port A and am always looking for any type of cool blue-water adventure - I hear there may be some other lesser fleet-type things that head to Mexico during the winter - would be very cool indeed - Yo hablo Espanol. Self employed, so I'm available to step aboard pretty much any time. Glad to crew on deliveries, too. I work well with pretty much anyone, but prefer laid-back pros who actually know what they're doing. Final note: There's a big blob on the charts showing an underwater obstruction called "Von Bock's Rock" just outside the harbor entrance to Spanish Town on Virgin Gorda. I'll die a happy and successful sailor if I NEVER have anything on a chart named after me, as I'd bet a four-hour wheel watch that Von Bock's keel - maybe his boat, too - is laying right next to Von Bock's Rock. Not good. Argghh & aye, aye, Skipper. Let's go sailing. - Jim

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