"F#@K it! The Halliburton's up the Sputnik."...

    
     I can remember faces, places, the smallest detail of the most mundane event, but names escape me.  When I worked at a dinner I'd often hide in the kitchen to avoid people I'd met but couldn't remember their names. I started using a word association memory trick, don't remember the real name of it, known as Kristine speak.  Learning sailing lingo was harder than learning to sail.

     One of the first things that needed to be done were the sails.   Of the three Jib sails we had, two were too big and one was too small.   Being located in Stuart Florida at the time we called Mac Sails.  (Very known and reputable sail makers.)  A guy came out measured everything said someone would be out the next day to pick them up, and asked us to have them ready and bagged.  About an hour later we were still staring at the Jib wondering how to get it down.  (The Jib that was up is from the 60's and has it's own wire.)  I felt better after two more seasoned sailors came by to help, and couldn't figure it out either.  Finally I just undid the line and down it came.  I quickly pulled on the Jib line to secure it off, all proud of myself, and herd a loud clank.  DUH! I just pulled the halyard all the way up the mast.  We tried everything to get it down, but without a way to get to the top we had no luck.

      The next day the guy from Mack Sails came, and to my surprise it was Collin Mack himself.  I tried to explain what had happened with the halyard but couldn't remember the proper names.   So I blurted out, "F#@K it!  The Halliburton's up the Sputnik.", hung my head, and pointed up.  Collin quickly figured out Kristine speak, and said a guy with a bosun's chair coming out to the marina later that day.  At twilight we got to go up the mast for the first time.  Later that week when Collin returned our sails he asked about the "Halliburton".

      The Halyard works great, Sputnik on the other hand another story for another blog....