Good Old Boat Issue 142: Jan/Feb 2022

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Boat Show Buddies, The Exit Not Taken, and Remembering Bill Sandifer

What’s in a Word? Thanks very much to Good Old Boat and John Vigor for a most informative and delightful article about Albert Einstein the sailor (“A Sailor, Relatively,” September/ October 2021), and his boat, which Mr. Vigor described as “a battered 17-foot daysailer called Tinef —meaning worthless, or of no intrinsic value.” The article did not mention that Einstein was Jewish and that tinef is a Yiddish word, and its meaning may be slightly different. According to an August 8, 2007, article in “The Forward,” (the English-language publication descended fromwhat once was The Jewish Daily Forward ), it might also have meant “a little piece of junk” or even “filth.” I am not a Yiddish scholar, but my background in Jewish history and maritime history drewme to this story, as I have continued to learn more about

Jewish sailors. As a side note, there was another physicist and sailor, also named Albert and also born into a Jewish family, who conducted experiments on the speed of light as early as 1877. A contemporary of Einstein’s, Albert Michelson in 1907 won the Nobel Prize in Physics and became the first American to win the Nobel Prize in science. He was a midshipman, naval officer, and then professor at the U.S. Naval Academy, where a building is named in his honor—one of four at that institution named for Jewish officers, the others being Rickover, Crown, and Levy. That is certainly not “tinef.” — Paul Foer , Annapolis, Maryland Doggone Good Dogwatch I don’t know who put the latest edition of The Dogwatch together (October, 2021), but let me say that I thoroughly enjoyed the

articles by Ed Zacko (“Dead in the Water”) and John Laskowsky (“Coming About.”) The exhaust episode reminds me to check my own exhaust system this winter, and John’s sailing story should be a must read for everyone climbing aboard shiny new boats at the boat shows. — Bert Vermeer , Natasha , Sidney, BC New Day, New Reader Doug Vaughn awoke to this sunrise (0pposite page) in Galesville, Maryland, aboard Abaco Rose , his 1985 Sirius 28, while attending the U.S. Sailboat Show in Annap- olis in October. At the show, he stopped by the Good Old Boat booth, met the team, learned about the magazine, and signed up on the spot. “I've already read two of the pieces,” he wrote when he sent us this pic a day later, “and am glad I subscribed.” The Atomic 4, Always Hooray! Finally, a positive article about the Atomic 4 (“The Atomic 4 Engine: Smooth, Worth Another Look,” The Dogwatch , October 2021). I have a 1977 Catalina 30 with the original Atomic 4 with minor repairs and upgrades. I hate the smell of diesel fuel and the noise of diesel engines. I like the Atomic 4’s smooth, quiet, low-fuel-odor running. One thing not mentioned in the article is horsepower versus weight and size. A well-running Atomic 4 supposedly puts out 23 horse- power. The replacement diesel (same size) is about 15 horsepower. Replacing with a diesel to match the Atomic 4’s horsepower

Good Old Boat Creative Director Kelley Gudahl caught this classic sloop sailing in front of the Lynde Point Lighthouse coming into Saybrook, Connecticut, after a crossing from Cuttyhunk, Massachusetts.

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