• Sailing - I love sailing / boats and everything about them!  I got my start in sailing with my Dad and my first cognitive memories were sailing on Sid Scott's Shark and with my parents on Bob Carey's 26 ft sloop out of the Youngstown, NY harbor.  All my children have developed an interest in sailing and other aspects of waterborne activities.  They have become a part of fourth the generation Hays family sailing tradition that began with my Grandfather Norman B. Hays.  Both Justin and Hannah secured positions as instructors in the Youngstown Yacht Club Jr. Sailing Program this summer and Josh is on the Advanced Racing Team.  I assume much of the new content posted to this site over the summer will be focused on sailing activities. Below are some of my favorite boating related Web sites:

	Performance Handicap Racing Fleet - Lake Ontario: http://www.phrf-lo.org/

	Catalina 22 National Sailing Association http://www.catalina22.org/

	22 USA Class Association http://www.usaj22.com/

	Youngstown Yacht Club http://www.yyc.org/

	Club 420 Class Association http://www.club420.org/

• Hays Family Sailing History - 

  I want to thank my Uncle Jim for this contribution and it is written in his first person:

  The snipe was a "Dunphy" which it think was built in southwestern NY near Chautauqua but I am not sure of that location. It cost $100 complete.  It never was competitive even if one of us had been good sailors.  A great boat to learn to sail on though.  Had several adventures on it with Jack Beatty.  Capsized one day about half way to Lewiston and the boat turtled.  The hinged centerboard fell up into its trunk and so we could not right the boat.  Climbed on top and drifted down into the mooring field where I think it Louie Mies who saw us and came out and helped get us going again.  Another time Jack and I planned a "cruise " to Port Dalhousie.  Got as far as the old Canadian army firing range and decided that the wind was too strong on the nose so we beached the boat and walked in to Niagara on the Lake and went to a movie.  When we got back after dark we found that the wind had come up enough to wash the boat back into the lake, turn it broad side and pounded on the beach.  A piece of drift wood buried in the sand punched a hole in the side.  Wave action then filled the boat with water and much sand.  Spent the night in the outhouse on the range.  Fortunately it had not been used lately.  Next day went home and got a wide board and nailed it over the hole and sailed it home.  Not a very happy homecoming.

  Before the Snipe Dad bought a boat called a Great Scot.  It was about 21-22 feet, open cockpit, keel, multi chine and a sloop.  It was an excellent sailer and comfortable.  In the hurricane of 1939 it sank at it's mooring.  The south wind was very strong and the boat had little freeboard so that the chop kept splashing over the bow which could not rise due to the heavy pull on the mooring tackle.  It just filled quart by quart.  Your uncles David and Brownie trolled for it and hooked into the rigging.  It was raised and I think Dad sold as was.  Too bad as it was a nice boat.

  Your Dad sailed quite a while with "Mr. Russell" or "Ros" as he was known to adults.  He must have started with him in 1940.  I was never invited so I don't know too much about their experiences.  Mr. Russell was not a drinker and did not party with the club crowd.  He loved to race and did well with what he had.  I expect your Dad learned much of his seamanship from that experience.

  Mr. Russell had a machine shop just off N. Main Street near the old railroad bridge that crossed Main a little way south of the Spirella factory.  Guess all those landmarks are long gone by now.

   

• Computers - I enjoy spending the spare winter hours while in hibernation from the cold chill of a Western New York winter messing about with computers. This winter I built a new PC and will I post items that others may find interesting relative to this project.  My premise for building a new PC was that I felt I needed a machine that would take me to the next level and allow me to do various computing tasks that I could not accomplish with the PC I was using.  My goal was to build a PC that would edit video and create digital files from analog tape.  I also needed a PC that would last for several more years and successfully run the latest operating systems and programs.  Some of my friends may ask why build a PC when you can simply "Get a Dell Dude".   For the most part I enjoy process and if the PC requires maintenance I have intimate knowledge of the construction and components.  Also starting with my first PC about 17 years ago I've always built them myself.  At that time the only way I could afford a PC was to build it.  I have assembled several PCs through the years and I've always enjoyed the process.  The PC I built recently includes a 10, 000 RPM SATA Western Digital "Raptor" hard drive model WD360GD, an ASUS model A7N8X Deluxe main board, Gigabyte Radeon 9600 PRO graphics accelerator, AMD 2800+ "Barton" CPU, TDK INDI DVD + - Drive and a Western Digital 120 MB storage hard drive model WD1200JBRTL.  These are some of the web sites that I either purchased components from or I used to assist as reference.

Tom's Hardware Guide http://www.tomshardware.com/ 

Overclockers.com http://overclockers.com/

DVDRHelp.com http://www.dvdrhelp.com/

Cables to Go http://www.cablestogo.com/

Price Watch http://www.pricewatch.com/

Newegg.com http://www.newegg.com/

Sysinternals http://www.systernals.com

Bootdisk.com http://www.bootdisk.com

 

• Computer Aided Design (CAD) - This is my vocation having spent most of the last 16 years in the area of CAD while employed as a Supervisor in the Design and Records Department for the New York Power Authority at the Niagara Power Project.  While I can't say that I'm an expert in any particular area of the CAD profession I have experienced and developed a wide variety of skills related to CAD and supporting systems.  Most of my family and friends probably won't have a great deal of interest with the technical areas focused on CAD.  When I come across sites of general interest that have ties to the CAD world I will post them here. 

  John Walker is the founder of AutoDesk, Inc. and co-author of AutoCAD, which is the leading software company for computer aided design.  He stepped back from the CEO position some years ago, to apply the talents and energy that made AutoDesk so successful to a wide range of personal interests.  He maintains a huge website in which you can find scientific excursions into astronomy, consciousness studies, nutrition, nano technology, statistics, and physics, alongside science fiction stories and non-fictional studies of business, economics, and politics. The awesome array is matched by a fine attention to detail, but what makes it most interesting is John's sense of humor and appreciation of the ironic. Recommended especially for folks with a bit of the techie in them, his website is at http:www.forumilab.ch.

   

• Web Site Design and Development - This Web Site has been developed and is being maintained using Microsoft FrontPage and this site is hosted at Mecca Hosting.  If any of my friends are looking for a good web host I suggest they try Mecca Hosting.  Their monthly rate for 50 MB is $2.49 with no advertisements, pop ups and includes FrontPage extensions.  The domain name registration was simple and costs $9.95 for the year.  Below are some sites that I found helpful:

                   Web Design http://webdesign.about.com/

                   WC3 http://www.w3.org/

                   Mecca Hosting http://www.meccahosting.us/