Xanadu

Someone who cares finally bought our old boat Xanadu, or as Bob calls it Karumba.  The Kadizzle family spent twelve good years sailing that boat and had a lot of great times on it.  Our two girls grew to be brave and love the outdoors every weekend sailing on that ship.  Xanadu went through storms, groundings, and every sailing mishap imaginable.  Kadizzle helped the new owner get the old girl going again.  It will be so nice to see that yellow hull one more time one the lake.  Sadly too many idiots owned and never used it.  They put things away incorrectly and ruined a lot of good equipment.  Xanadu has an unusual engine. It has what is called a saildrive.  The engine is like an outboard that sticks right through the bottom of the hull behind the keel.  The idea has some merit.  Sailboats if moderately taken care of will last a long time in fresh water.  There are really no moving parts to speak of and the sails can go a long time if cared for.  We fiddled around with some polishing compounds and it seems like the color will come back with some work.  Just cannot wait to see that boat cleaned up and sailing like the days of old.  Remember so many good memories with Megan and Erin on that boat.  Kadizzle cannot recommend any better way to raise girls than making sailors out of them.  They become self confident, and learn a lot about decision making. 

When the girls were growing up and we were sailing it became the custom if there was squabbling to just throw the offender overboard.  Dad would say if you don't behave you are getting "pitched".  Pitched became part of our language at home and on the lake.  The best part was Kadizzle would actually do it.  Just pick the little rascal up and throw them in the lake.   It was a wonderful solution. The cold water usually changed their attitude and they could watch the boat sail away.  Sometimes even if they were behaving they got pitched.  It was a safety drill.  A good crew and ship should know how to retrieve someone from the water.  What better way to do it than throw a kid overboard.  On a warm sunny day we would pitch someone by surprise.  Then the drill started and the boat maneuvered under sail to pick them up.

We used to have an inflatable kayak.  Megan and Erin would be back behind the Xanadu in the Kayak for a long time having a good ride and mom and dad got some peace and quiet.  Both kids turned out to be good water dogs.  Erin always amazed us with how cold water did not bother her at all.