Charles Chiodi – The Legend is Back
Charles Chiodi needs no introduction to multihull enthusiasts who know him. Here is what he lets us know:
“After an 18-month-long hiatus of doing nothing except gradually becoming lazy, I woke up one morning and I realized that I miss the gentle motion of a berth on a multihull, the parallel bow-waves of a catamaran slicing through the azure-blue waters of the Chesapeake, the Caribbean, the British Virgin Islands, or even the murky gray bay of Boston Harbor.
For 35 years I roamed these waters, they mixed with my blood, and without that lifestyle I feel like an old fish out of the water. I cannot let the salt in my veins dry up, lest I will die like that old fish that ended up on the hot, dry beach sand, flapping hopelessly.
So, when Gregor Tarjan called the other day and asked me to write a monthly column for his newsletter, I readily accepted the offer because it is going to be a lifeline back to my past, even if only on paper – writing about the sea and catamarans, just to keep me, and my memories, alive. I may be no longer agile enough to climb the mast and change an anchorlight bulb, or hang off the bow to wash the muck off the anchor that we just pulled up, but getting close to being an octogenarian I don’t think anybody expects me to do that.
I can still steer an accurate course, tell cruising stories to entertain the crew of your boat – or a bar full of drunken sailors. But, before I hang up my life jacket and put away my binoculars for the last time, I want to reconnect with you and multihull sailing.
In my 70+ years of sailing (yes, I started early, as a child), and my experience of building a trimaran from scratch, then enjoying 35 years of sailing nearly every type of multihull, I have a vast treasure trove of knowledge that I will share with you in the coming issues of this newsletter. I will also make myself available, as a consultant, to new multihullers or those who want to “trade up” to a larger craft.
As Dick Newick would say, and Jennifer Aniston would concur, I will sign off with just one word:
Cheers!
Charles
