This was in today's Scuttlebutt E-Newsletter:
* From Bill Hardesty, Sr: My first time ever sailing was in 1968 at Da Nang, Vietnam (China Beach.we called it RED beach) on a Hobie 14. While in the USMC, when we had in-country R&R, they would pull us out of action for four days and give us anything we wanted - beer, food, beach, sailboats (and other things).
There were about four Hobie 14s, but not knowing how to sail (being from Iowa), I just checked them out until I met a guy from California who said he could sail. So one day he and I checked out a boat and went sailing... DOWN WIND. heading for an Island off Vietnam. When we came about and sheeted in,
the sail came down and we couldn't get it back up. We gradually drifted out to sea for about three hours, using the sail as a cover against the 100+ degree sun. Eventually a 300+ foot Navy ship came by and picked us up.
After all these years, I still wonder how the Hobies got to Vietnam in 1968. If somebody knows anything about this, please post it in the Scuttlebutt Forum:
http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=7409 
