Where It All Began

by Pam 

Oops! Yes, our site was down for a day. The site somehow stopped updating on various blog rolls and was stuck at a post 2 months ago.  A little messing about behind the scenes and and we got the dreaded 404 error.  Maybe the updating is fixed ... maybe not.  For now, we're back up and running!

 

Tillerman, of the ever so popular Proper Course blog, once told us that he was asked which came first, Proper Course or Improper Course. This gave us a good laugh. There are many excellent sailing blogs out there with lots of great information but we only link to one blog on our site, Proper Course, and we clearly state that it is the “blueprint for our blog - but way better.”

We tend to use people’s real names, pick sides and jump into the middle of Laser politics, and even hang our dirty laundry out for the world to see. We are improper. However, we attempt to redeem ourselves by only pointing to Proper Course. There you will find the jumping off point to all the great sailing blogs as well as a blogger who has been doing it the right way for a very long time. Proper Course is the yang to our yin. We are grateful that Tillerman was such a good sport about us sort of stealing his blog name.

The Improper Course blog officially began 4 years ago during the Florida Masters’ Week on February 12, 2012. Doug was away (like he is now) and I was at home alone and bored (like I am now). His first post was his lessons learned at the 2012 Florida Laser Masters Championship. He said he was doing ‘horrible’ with a 9th place and had ‘tipped more than anyone.’ There were 42 competitors. By the third event that week, he finished 1st. One of my first posts was Masters Week - The Rest of the Story.

The first time I ever heard Doug’s name, I was told a story about how just after he won the Masters Worlds, he was on the docks of his home club showing off his trophy. Meanwhile his Laser was behind him and had untied itself and sailed away. And that is Doug. Just a big doofus who makes mistakes like all of us and yet he somehow manages to do pretty dang well. It’s hard not to feel that if Doug can do it, then so can I.

I found that Doug was more than willing to share everything he knew with anyone that wanted to know. We had been writing for the Butterfly Fleet 20 blog but it was hard to justify adding Doug’s favorite subject, all things Laser, to a Butterfly blog. I found ways to add it but eventually decided to do a spin off blog and moved the Laser focused posts and started Improper Course. That way I could also publish all his Worlds Journals which I found fun to read. And the rest is history. Literally, his story.

Doug likes to refer to the blog as simply being love letters between the two of us. It sort of is. It is our common ground and we do speak a different love language than most. My second post was a Valentine’s Day poem that I wrote since Florida Masters Week means being apart for Valentine's Day. I still wouldn’t have it any other way.

Ode to a Sailor

It’s Valentine’s Day
and my sailor's away.
On, Cupid! On, Donner and ...
er ... oops, wrong red holiday.
I’m just not myself
when my sailor’s away.
But don’t pity me,
for I wouldn’t have it
any other way.
Road trips and regattas,
not chocolates and flowers.
While most women are being adored,
I'll be checking the computer
to see how he scored.
Good news or bad,
either way is okay.
So long as he calls
at the end of the day.
I simply wouldn’t have it
any other way!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Doug was in 4th place at the end of yesterday. Today, he's already moved down to 6th. That man just does not listen to me. I specifically told him to move up and not down. Oh well. He's having a great time I'm sure. Yesterday was light and today was supposed to be heavy. Doug is using the old sail and many are using the new sail. Will be interesting to see if the results show one sail to be better than the other.  

Dallas - RIP Bear

by Pam 

A very special nod to Bear, the 120 pound dog, who was the glue behind Improper Course.

Bear came to me as a foster dog when he was about a year old and a little less than 100 pounds. He had been repeatedly discarded, adopted out and returned until he came to live with me. His legs were scarred from some affliction from the first year of his life and his nose was healed up from what looked like a trauma that had split it open. He reacted badly to loud voices or noises. He was a reflection of the humanity he had encountered in the first year of his life and it wasn't pretty.

After about a month I had to take a two week trip out of the country and since he'd been in quite a few shelters, I left him on a dude ranch where he could roam. When I returned to get him, he caught sight of me and froze. I swear I heard him say "you came back!" as he ran toward me and wrapped his paws around my waist. He adopted me. I became a foster failure.

When Doug was abruptly ejected from his home, I offered him a spare room. I came home from work one day and the two were playing and Doug was singing "Ba-ba-ba-Bear, Bear, Bear, where is the Bear" and I swear I heard Bear say "can we keep him?". Bear adopted Doug. I eventually realized he had chosen well.

We lost our dear boy on Friday to late stage liver disease.  Blood work at his wellness exam in April was perfectly fine. The liver is the one organ in the body that can completely regenerate itself but it can also be 80% to 90% damaged and still function normally so by the time symptoms show up, it's too late. 

So, for all you beer drinking and Ibuprofen popping sailors out there ... take your Milk Thistle to keep your liver healthy. We just added it to our daily supplements.

Rest in peace my dear boy ... you were one of a kind.