From: Georgs Kolesnikovs <gxk@interlog.com>
        To: Trawler World List <trawler-world-list@samurai.com>
        Date: Saturday, April 17, 1999 4:52 AM
        Subject: TWList link-up at Melbourne

A quick shot to summarize my impressions of the weekend just past. I don't have a lot of names and numbers, others can possibly fill those in. Anyone who wants to ponder the reason for the success of these Trawler Fests has only to look at the header of this posting from Georgs: From: Georgs Kolesnikovs <gxk@interlog.com> To: Trawler World List <trawler-world-list@samurai.com> Date: Saturday, April 17, 1999 4:52 AM Subject: TWList link-up at Melbourne Five o'clock Saturday morning, in the middle of the TrawlerFest, and fighting off the flu, and Georgs is on the net apologizing to all the rest of the listees for not keeping the list better informed......jeeeshhh!! 575 registered attendees, up some 80% from last year......logistical nightmare, but still handled with flair and good humor by all......someone came in a 58 foot Hatteras, someone else in a seventeen footer.......at least one of us came from right there in Melbourne, Colin Smith came from Australia.......full seminar sessions, with everyone interested and few, if any, complaining of the seat shortage......smiling folks everywhere you turn......impressive buffet lunches, the Radisson did a great job.......four hundred people eating lunch in the hallways and lobbies on Saturday while it raaaaaaiiiiiinnnnned outside.......Capn Wil carrying on on the sixteenth floor with about four hundred pounds of assorted anchors, rodes, shackles, and wire rope spread all around him.......I'm told that Wil's oil seminar outdid them all, though I couldn't make that one......one or two pair of boatshoes or sandals on the dock beside many of the open show boats, as most owners preferred not to have shoes aboard, and visitors were very cooperative.......my first sight of Winnie the Pooh, as I walked around the stern to get to the boarding side, and came upon about fifteen pair of shoes jumbled on the side deck. A popular place to be.......chatting with Brian and Jackie Smillie, great old friends I've just met, aboard FINALLY!, their new K39, with Fred Myers and a few others whose names, I'm sorry, I can't recall.......the West Marine folks were everywhere--couldn't believe the level of support they turned out, from people doing things, to donated prizes for the auction, and gifts for attendees. Major Kudos to them.......Dennis Bruckel wrestling with the podium while delivering this marvelous descriptive on the Great Circle trip. Then we got a free trip to the Galapagos in the bargain.......Mark and Susanne Richter, making the amazing sound simple and funny as they describe how to live aboard and cruise on an unbelievable budget, making solid, well-thought decisions to construct the life they want with a few less zeros on the end than most of us think is essential.......Bob and Marie Austin rattling off these seven-syllable medical terms as if they were counting one-two-three. Guess what?? The folks in their seminar got it!! There seemed to be some really sophisticated questions coming from that group. These trawler people are somethin' else.......And, finally, know what?? The most fun was finally putting faces on the names. Finally got to meet Morley and Tricia, Al and Pat Rice, and many others. Go to the next TFest, and you'll find that not many of the good folks you talk to on this list match the mental picture you may have built! Be careful!! Paul Kruse IS NOT a crusty old engineer! Georgs does not resemble a management type immersed in detail. The Richters don't fit anyone's definition of "boat bums", trust me. And Peter Denton, Ph.D., doesn't live in any Ivory Tower, unless the Ivory Tower is issuing beatup khakis, tank tops, boat shoes, and has a homebuilt trawler in it's back yard! No one got to meet Captain Al, unfortunately, but by Saturday night the rumor mill had all eyes scanning for someone about 8'2" tall!! And Captn Wil is.....well, he's just CaptnWil, 'nuff said, and everyone I met was just thrilled to finally meet him. I was surprised to discover that in tone and texture, CaptnWil could be a twin of my father-in-law from Ripley, MS; and folks, believe me when I tell you this is not a bad thing. Good food, good friends, good times.....dammit, isn't that why you bought the boat in the first place?! If you've been hesitating, stop. Get to Poulsbo or Solomons; you'll not regret it. Regards, John Gaquin

John You wrote------ No one got to meet Captain Al, unfortunately, but by >Saturday night the rumor mill had all eyes scanning for someone about >8'2" tall!! >Regards, >John Gaquin =========================================================== John, Thank you for your wonderful post and bringing me up to date on the trawler fest. My not being there was my loss for it seems I missed meeting an awful lot of nice people and seeing a lot of great boats. By my not being there you really didn't miss much for I am a very quiet, reserved, inconsequential, unopinioned person that doesn't have much to say on any topic and is only 6'6" instead of 8'2"(some days I appear to be 8'2" or taller, all according what mood I'm in) and probably the most Boating Knowledgable person you will ever meet, so if I was there, it would have been very easy to overlook me. A suggestion to other listees - please put pictures of yourself in your homepage so that I can see what you look like and know who I am having a discussion with for it you want to see what I look like, check my homepage and there I am in living color. Maybe Georgs could create a rogue's gallery. Our plan is still going up the waterway to Cape Cod for the summer and will certainly look you up. Right now I am real curious where Sesuit Harbor is. I'm going to look it up right now, spent about 20 years cruising the Cape but have never been in that harbor. Hope we cross wakes along the way... Al . Captain Al Pilvinis "M/V Driftwood"--Prairie 47 2630 N.E. 41st Street Lighthouse Point, Fl 33064-8064 Voice 954-941-2556 Fax 954 788-2666 Email - CaptainAl@Juno.com Website http://home.earthlink.net/~yourcaptain