A Site For Bamboo

A Site For Bamboo The Sail Home1 The Sail Home2 Bamboo's Cabin Projects Sailing Related Links Bamboo Thumbnails Bamboo Adventures 11-20-06 Thumbnails Thunbnails  July 14, 2007 Under Motion My Photos Blog

Check Ponce Inlet Prevailing Winds


(best viewed with Internet Explorer)

Welcome to the World

Hi, my name's Dave Robbins. I was born in Jackson MI on October 18,1959, the youngest of 4 boys to Richard and Shirley Robbins. I'm told I was boating Duck Lake in a classic power boat by the time I was 6 months old. Soon after the parents bought a Lake Catamaran and I was introduced to sailing for the first time. I remember trailing my toy boats behind the cat as we sailed and going out at night with a lantern hanging from the forestay. The summer of 1965 my dad rented a 27 foot sloop and sailed us to Beaver Island for a week. Wow! how much more fun could a kid have?

Change of Venue

   The Michigan stuff was over in 1967. Dad was transfered to Daytona Beach. OK, even MORE water!! Only this time instead of a boat I picked up a surf board and did the whole beach thing for several years. Then in 1976 dad bought a 40 foot yawl. A wood boat built in 1941 I believe. She was a blue water boat, not much room for a 40 but nicely done. I loved it and I loved the whole sailing/marina kind of life. Spent a lot of time rowing around the area in the boat's dink and of course flirting with the local babes! Ahhh, I'll never forget Barbara Alexander!!

Left Photo; from left to right are brothers Dave (me), Brad, Steve and Ron.

Right Photo; from left to right are Ron, Dave, Cousin Crystal and Steve. 

All Good Things ............

    Well,all good things must come to an end and so did childhood. I went off to school in 1977 and the parents downsized. Gone was the house on the beach, and the sailboat.

    In 1983 I got my hands on a Catalina 22 and sailed the heck out of it for the next three years. In addition to a bunch of local sailing, one year I went to Sabastian Inlet for a week, the next year to Ft. Lauderdale for two weeks, and in 1985 beyond the last bridge in Miami, across the neon aqua water of Biscayne Bay and on to Key Largo for 2 weeks. That was fantastic! The boat was sold in 1986 or 7 and then didn't sail much until this year. Had several small power boats, fished a lot but no sailing to speak of.

Bamboo

    The per capita income for Volusia County Florida is $19,700. That's not a good way to be able to afford a boat, but in the years since '87 my salary has slowly come up and this year I decided I'd look for a one. I looked all over the internet and in all the local boat yards but didn't see anything to exciting until my brother's stepson Tim came across this 1989 S/R C-25 wing keel. The pic looked good, price reasonable, so I took a ride to Melbourne to check it out. It was even nicer than the picture. I made the owner an offer and he took it! By the time I had sailed Bamboo the 65 or so miles back to Daytona I was totally in love! What a great boat! She sailed very nicely, was in good shape and I was in business!! Now I'm enjoying the little projects that turn a boat into YOUR boat, Having a blast keeping up with the forums on catalinaowner.com, The Catalina International Association, boatus.com. sailnet.com. And of course refreshing my memory/learning of all things sailing.