Joan Price is the author of"Better Than I Ever Expected", an utterly superb book on the challenges of older age sexuality. This is in response to a query in her blog.
Joan,
I so admire you and your book.
Please do send me the questionnaire
.
I will be able to provide some uncommon perspective. I am a 68 year old single male who is enjoying the best sex of a long and very sexually adventurous life.
My diversion from "normal" began in my early twenties when I took and later taught classes at the now departed (and sorely missed) Elysium, a spiritual learning center in L.A.
.
I took, then taught classes in sensual massage, androgeny, and sexual subjects in general. The first major epiphany of my life came when a workshop participant told me "You are a sexy and beautiful man". I was totally taken aback. I sputtered some kind of a "thank you" and spent a sleepless night wondering what she meant. All my life I had been overweight, socially inept, and ignored. I had always been the invisible guy, the guy no one remembered having been at a party. I finally deduced that she was talking. about the inner me, the compassionate and caring me.
Well! If skills, knowledge and caring made ME sexy and beautiful, I would acquire all the skills and knowledge that I could! I became a "lifelong student of a beautiful artform" as once described by a lover.
I can now relate to anyone. I can validate anyone’s “special needs” with knowledge and skill.
Most importantly I have learned how to “tune in” to my partner, to feel what they feel, and know where they want to go. With the right partner, we can soar way beyond the ordinary to a place that that transcends time and space,. a place where our minds as well as our bodies are in unison, a place of spiritual retreat. This could not have been when I was 30 or even 50. I simply was not mature then. I hadn't fully "grown up".
So do send the questionnaire. You are welcome to use any or all of the above. I would welcome any further inquiries or just conversation. I do have a unique perspective and feel a need to share it with other seniors.
Again, I greatly respect you and the work you do.
Nolan Dean Wixom
aka capttop
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Mantras
"All things in life boil down to a choice between love and fear. Chose love and you will thrive. Choose fear and you will begin to die" Dean Wixom
"If you're not busy being born, you're busy dying" Bob Dylan
"We were all born with open, curious minds.
Most of what we “know” has been taught us.
If we accept that most of what we have been taught is other peoples’ opinion, it is easy to unlearn it… and form our own opinions". Dean Wixom
"The easiest way to rid yourself of temptation is to yield to it" Oscar Wilde
"When faced with a choice between two evils, choose the one you havn't tried yet" Oscar Wilde..
"The future belongs to those who prepare for it." Calvin Wixom, my father
"The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation." Thoreau
"Desperation is created by fear. It will not guide my life" Dean Wixom
If you were going to die soon and had only one phone call you could make, who would you call and what would you say? And why are you waiting? ~Stephen Levine
Isak Dineson ... Through all the world there goes one long cry from the heart of the artist: Give me leave to do my utmost."
"If you're not busy being born, you're busy dying" Bob Dylan
"We were all born with open, curious minds.
Most of what we “know” has been taught us.
If we accept that most of what we have been taught is other peoples’ opinion, it is easy to unlearn it… and form our own opinions". Dean Wixom
"The easiest way to rid yourself of temptation is to yield to it" Oscar Wilde
"When faced with a choice between two evils, choose the one you havn't tried yet" Oscar Wilde..
"The future belongs to those who prepare for it." Calvin Wixom, my father
"The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation." Thoreau
"Desperation is created by fear. It will not guide my life" Dean Wixom
If you were going to die soon and had only one phone call you could make, who would you call and what would you say? And why are you waiting? ~Stephen Levine
Isak Dineson ... Through all the world there goes one long cry from the heart of the artist: Give me leave to do my utmost."
The Sailing Years ...... Magazine review
Nor'Sea 27
A stout pocket cruiser for the far seas that can travel by road as wellBy Brian Fagan with pictures by Geri Conser
Imagine spending a month in the San Juans one summer, three weeks on the Great Lakes the next, and a leisurely two weeks at Christmas time in the Bahamas later the same year- -all in your own yacht. Imagine doing this in a 27-footer and then a short time later taking the same vessel on a circumnavigation or transatlantic voyage.
That's what Lyle C. Hess designed the Nor'Sea 27 to do as a matter of routine. No less than four of them have circumnavigated and nearly half of the 300 or so sailing have crossed an ocean. Quite a track record for a small cruising yacht, especially one that can be loaded on a trailer and transported thousands of miles with the greatest of ease.
The Nor'Sea 27 is a luxurious cruiser throughand through.
I must confess that I was somewhat skeptical about the Nor'Sea 27 when I arrived at Dana Point Harbor, south of Newport Beach, California, on a gorgeous late May day for my test sail. How could a large trailer yacht possibly be capable of crossing oceans? I found I was laboring under a misconception. The 27 is a transportable cruising boat, not a trailer yacht in the strict sense of the word. She isn't a yacht that you'll launch for a quick afternoon's sail, then haul home in the evening. This is a real little ship designed to explore remote and not-so-remote cruising grounds, with a trailer to take the tedium out of long passages to windward. My skepticism evaporated in minutes as Bob Eeg of Nor'Sea Marine explained the rationale behind what turned out to be a gem of a small cruising yacht.
"We build Nor'Seas for strength, to withstand tough conditions far offshore," Eeg said. "At the same time, they are easily transportable so their owners can sail in remote cruising grounds without having to invest a year or more getting there." As we talked, I admired the attractive sheer of our test yacht, Sundance, her dark blue, clinker-style hull nicely set off by the white sheer stripe. A short, teak bowsprit and handsome outboard rudder with beautifully laminated tiller set off the sheer, while the graceful main cabin house adds to the overall effect. Small yachts of somewhat traditional design often look fussy and somewhat boxy. Lyle C. Hess has created a classic, timeless design, which at the same time bristles with ingenious and sometimes unconventional features. For its part, Nor'Sea Marine lavishes superb craftsmanship on each boat. The quality of the fiberglass and woodwork is the finest I have ever seen in a yacht of this size. This was apparent from Sundance, a used 27 traded-in by the yard. She was built four years ago but showed few signs of wear and tear. It is a compliment to the quality of the construction that all that was needed was a good hull polish to make her look like new.
Sundance felt right the moment I stepped aboard. The bulwarks and lifelines give a nice sense of security and the LeFiell (now forespar) spars and rigging are solid and designed to take real weather. The narrow side decks are easily accessed so it is easy to go forward underway.
The chart table is accompanied by a drawerfor standard-size charts, ample shelving andspace for electronic gear.
Once there, you step down into a well-like foredeck with its own drains that is an excellent, secure working platform for sail changing and anchoring. The teak bowsprit is a masterpiece of design, complete with twin bronze bow roller, and, best of all, a teak seat where you can sit to hank on sails, work on anchors or simply contemplate life, wineglass in hand at anchor or underway. Aft, an optional permanent boom gallows with bronze handholds is a boon in rough seas and comes into its own when towing. The Nor'Sea 27's mast is mounted in a simple tabernacle and rigged so you can lower it with the greatest of ease. Eeg says that it only takes about three hours to rig and launch a Nor'Sea, a remarkably short time considering the complexity of the rig.
I was astonished to find that Sundance had a center cockpit and an aft cabin, something I have always associated with much larger yachts. I am an ardent aft cockpit fan, but my prejudice vanished when I slipped down through the aft hatch. Two berths pass forward under the cockpit seats and you can put in an insert to make a larger double berth if you wish. The comfortable bunks are only moments from the helm if need be. In fact, you can stand in the aft hatch and steer from below. There are ample lockers under the bunks and at the stern. Indeed, the 27 bulges with locker space, more than enough to carry food and other supplies for a passage of a month or more. There's also a 40-gallon water tank aft. While lying in the aft cabin, I admired the fine tongue-and-groove planked finish on the interior, a feature carried throughout the boat. This sophisticated liner eliminates condensation and reduces water noise underway and at anchor.
The cockpit is supremely comfortable, with a deep, narrow locker athwartships on the bridge deck. Here, as elsewhere, comfort comes first. The sides of the aft cabin house are gently sloped so that you can lounge at the helm or sit on the house with a fine view all round. This is one of those cockpits in which you can wedge yourself comfortably sailing to windward or rig a filler piece across the well and use cushions to sleep on deck. Nor'Sea will build a cockpit table for you if you wish.
A steep companion ladder leads into the main cabin, with the head to port and the galley to starboard. An owner can specify an outboard or inboard head system depending on regulations in home waters. There is space for a neatly tiled kerosene heater installation just forward of the compartment. The icebox is aft to starboard under the simple electrical panel, with a CNG stove and sink forward of it. Most boats are equipped with a two- burner stove and grill, but there is space for an oven or microwave for use when alongside or even on the road. There are reports of Nor'Seas being seen parked in truck stops in the heart of the Midwest being used as mobile homes as their owners move to new cruising grounds. Now that's when the microwave comes into its own! The entire galley is small and cozy, but ingenious design and construction make it seem much larger. The builder's fanatical attention to detail shows through again. How nice to find a standard stainless steel safety bar in front of the stove, a rack for stowing the icebox lid when loading it and a wonderful sliding countertop that comes out from under the chart table and slides into a groove under the sink for cutting sandwiches, serving meals and even doing simple carpentry.
The navigation table lies to port forward of the head compartment. There is a drawer underneath for standard-sized charts, sufficient shelving for cruising guides and space for the radio and a loran or satnav. You must stand to work at the chart table, but the builders can modify the station if you prefer to sit.
Two bunks with waterproof lockers behind and under them occupy the remainder of the main cabin. They are separated by an ingenious saloon table that can be collapsed to form the base for a large double berth. There is even a waterproof locker under the table, which provides valuable storage space low in the boat. The bilge, with its automatic and manual pumps, is under the companionway. The entire effect of the saloon is very pleasing. The builders have used light woods and their own bronze ports, as well as a fine teak hatch to give an air of functional airiness. This is a cabin to be enjoyed and lived in for long periods of time. The bow compartment is devoted to the anchor locker and contains ample space for sails, warps and other bulky gear.
This boat is exquisitely fun to sail to windward in smoothwater and a slight chop, responding to puffs like a dinghy.
The 20-horsepower Yanmar carried us smoothly into the harbor channel with minimum fuss and noise. You can cruise at 5.5 knots for hours, with a maximum in the 6.5-knot range. We set the full main and 100 percent jib in the channel and moved effortlessly downwind, accelerating rapidly in the 10-knot puffs funneling around Dana Point. When we turned round for the photographer, Sundance responded beautifully and tacked about 35 degrees to the wind, turning in her own length and tracking beautifully when we pinched her round the corner. This boat is exquisitely fun to sail to windward in smooth water and a slight chop, responding to puffs like a dinghy.
Outside the harbor we found a lumpy sea and 12 knots of wind. Sundance settled to her work with enthusiasm, shouldering her way through the lumpy stuff with no hobbyhorsing or pounding. On a reach, the long keel and modified forefoot gave her outstanding balance. The first reef is tucked in at about 13 to 15 knots of wind. The boat never seemed overpowered and the helm needed but a finger. The Nor'Sea 27 is utterly sea kindly and surprisingly fast. We recorded 6.25 knots with 12 knots of wind apparent on a close reach.
By any standards, the Nor'Sea 27 is a remarkable yacht, constructed to a standard that is rare in a cruising boat of this size. With her one-piece, hand-laminated hull, all lead ballast, top-quality metalwork and remarkable joinery, she is not cheap, but then the kind of experienced sailor who buys a boat like this knows the cost for quality.
What kinds of sailors buy these boats? Cruising couples, professional people who want to sail in many places but have jobs they love and limited time afloat, retired folk with all the time in the world and a yen to explore distant waters without making ocean passages, and plenty of sailors who just want to cruise near home. The Nor'Sea 27 is the ultimate in transportable yachts and is built to a quality rarely seen these days. She is destined to be one of the classic cruising boats of our time.
A stout pocket cruiser for the far seas that can travel by road as wellBy Brian Fagan with pictures by Geri Conser
Imagine spending a month in the San Juans one summer, three weeks on the Great Lakes the next, and a leisurely two weeks at Christmas time in the Bahamas later the same year- -all in your own yacht. Imagine doing this in a 27-footer and then a short time later taking the same vessel on a circumnavigation or transatlantic voyage.
That's what Lyle C. Hess designed the Nor'Sea 27 to do as a matter of routine. No less than four of them have circumnavigated and nearly half of the 300 or so sailing have crossed an ocean. Quite a track record for a small cruising yacht, especially one that can be loaded on a trailer and transported thousands of miles with the greatest of ease.
The Nor'Sea 27 is a luxurious cruiser throughand through.
I must confess that I was somewhat skeptical about the Nor'Sea 27 when I arrived at Dana Point Harbor, south of Newport Beach, California, on a gorgeous late May day for my test sail. How could a large trailer yacht possibly be capable of crossing oceans? I found I was laboring under a misconception. The 27 is a transportable cruising boat, not a trailer yacht in the strict sense of the word. She isn't a yacht that you'll launch for a quick afternoon's sail, then haul home in the evening. This is a real little ship designed to explore remote and not-so-remote cruising grounds, with a trailer to take the tedium out of long passages to windward. My skepticism evaporated in minutes as Bob Eeg of Nor'Sea Marine explained the rationale behind what turned out to be a gem of a small cruising yacht.
"We build Nor'Seas for strength, to withstand tough conditions far offshore," Eeg said. "At the same time, they are easily transportable so their owners can sail in remote cruising grounds without having to invest a year or more getting there." As we talked, I admired the attractive sheer of our test yacht, Sundance, her dark blue, clinker-style hull nicely set off by the white sheer stripe. A short, teak bowsprit and handsome outboard rudder with beautifully laminated tiller set off the sheer, while the graceful main cabin house adds to the overall effect. Small yachts of somewhat traditional design often look fussy and somewhat boxy. Lyle C. Hess has created a classic, timeless design, which at the same time bristles with ingenious and sometimes unconventional features. For its part, Nor'Sea Marine lavishes superb craftsmanship on each boat. The quality of the fiberglass and woodwork is the finest I have ever seen in a yacht of this size. This was apparent from Sundance, a used 27 traded-in by the yard. She was built four years ago but showed few signs of wear and tear. It is a compliment to the quality of the construction that all that was needed was a good hull polish to make her look like new.
Sundance felt right the moment I stepped aboard. The bulwarks and lifelines give a nice sense of security and the LeFiell (now forespar) spars and rigging are solid and designed to take real weather. The narrow side decks are easily accessed so it is easy to go forward underway.
The chart table is accompanied by a drawerfor standard-size charts, ample shelving andspace for electronic gear.
Once there, you step down into a well-like foredeck with its own drains that is an excellent, secure working platform for sail changing and anchoring. The teak bowsprit is a masterpiece of design, complete with twin bronze bow roller, and, best of all, a teak seat where you can sit to hank on sails, work on anchors or simply contemplate life, wineglass in hand at anchor or underway. Aft, an optional permanent boom gallows with bronze handholds is a boon in rough seas and comes into its own when towing. The Nor'Sea 27's mast is mounted in a simple tabernacle and rigged so you can lower it with the greatest of ease. Eeg says that it only takes about three hours to rig and launch a Nor'Sea, a remarkably short time considering the complexity of the rig.
I was astonished to find that Sundance had a center cockpit and an aft cabin, something I have always associated with much larger yachts. I am an ardent aft cockpit fan, but my prejudice vanished when I slipped down through the aft hatch. Two berths pass forward under the cockpit seats and you can put in an insert to make a larger double berth if you wish. The comfortable bunks are only moments from the helm if need be. In fact, you can stand in the aft hatch and steer from below. There are ample lockers under the bunks and at the stern. Indeed, the 27 bulges with locker space, more than enough to carry food and other supplies for a passage of a month or more. There's also a 40-gallon water tank aft. While lying in the aft cabin, I admired the fine tongue-and-groove planked finish on the interior, a feature carried throughout the boat. This sophisticated liner eliminates condensation and reduces water noise underway and at anchor.
The cockpit is supremely comfortable, with a deep, narrow locker athwartships on the bridge deck. Here, as elsewhere, comfort comes first. The sides of the aft cabin house are gently sloped so that you can lounge at the helm or sit on the house with a fine view all round. This is one of those cockpits in which you can wedge yourself comfortably sailing to windward or rig a filler piece across the well and use cushions to sleep on deck. Nor'Sea will build a cockpit table for you if you wish.
A steep companion ladder leads into the main cabin, with the head to port and the galley to starboard. An owner can specify an outboard or inboard head system depending on regulations in home waters. There is space for a neatly tiled kerosene heater installation just forward of the compartment. The icebox is aft to starboard under the simple electrical panel, with a CNG stove and sink forward of it. Most boats are equipped with a two- burner stove and grill, but there is space for an oven or microwave for use when alongside or even on the road. There are reports of Nor'Seas being seen parked in truck stops in the heart of the Midwest being used as mobile homes as their owners move to new cruising grounds. Now that's when the microwave comes into its own! The entire galley is small and cozy, but ingenious design and construction make it seem much larger. The builder's fanatical attention to detail shows through again. How nice to find a standard stainless steel safety bar in front of the stove, a rack for stowing the icebox lid when loading it and a wonderful sliding countertop that comes out from under the chart table and slides into a groove under the sink for cutting sandwiches, serving meals and even doing simple carpentry.
The navigation table lies to port forward of the head compartment. There is a drawer underneath for standard-sized charts, sufficient shelving for cruising guides and space for the radio and a loran or satnav. You must stand to work at the chart table, but the builders can modify the station if you prefer to sit.
Two bunks with waterproof lockers behind and under them occupy the remainder of the main cabin. They are separated by an ingenious saloon table that can be collapsed to form the base for a large double berth. There is even a waterproof locker under the table, which provides valuable storage space low in the boat. The bilge, with its automatic and manual pumps, is under the companionway. The entire effect of the saloon is very pleasing. The builders have used light woods and their own bronze ports, as well as a fine teak hatch to give an air of functional airiness. This is a cabin to be enjoyed and lived in for long periods of time. The bow compartment is devoted to the anchor locker and contains ample space for sails, warps and other bulky gear.
This boat is exquisitely fun to sail to windward in smoothwater and a slight chop, responding to puffs like a dinghy.
The 20-horsepower Yanmar carried us smoothly into the harbor channel with minimum fuss and noise. You can cruise at 5.5 knots for hours, with a maximum in the 6.5-knot range. We set the full main and 100 percent jib in the channel and moved effortlessly downwind, accelerating rapidly in the 10-knot puffs funneling around Dana Point. When we turned round for the photographer, Sundance responded beautifully and tacked about 35 degrees to the wind, turning in her own length and tracking beautifully when we pinched her round the corner. This boat is exquisitely fun to sail to windward in smooth water and a slight chop, responding to puffs like a dinghy.
Outside the harbor we found a lumpy sea and 12 knots of wind. Sundance settled to her work with enthusiasm, shouldering her way through the lumpy stuff with no hobbyhorsing or pounding. On a reach, the long keel and modified forefoot gave her outstanding balance. The first reef is tucked in at about 13 to 15 knots of wind. The boat never seemed overpowered and the helm needed but a finger. The Nor'Sea 27 is utterly sea kindly and surprisingly fast. We recorded 6.25 knots with 12 knots of wind apparent on a close reach.
By any standards, the Nor'Sea 27 is a remarkable yacht, constructed to a standard that is rare in a cruising boat of this size. With her one-piece, hand-laminated hull, all lead ballast, top-quality metalwork and remarkable joinery, she is not cheap, but then the kind of experienced sailor who buys a boat like this knows the cost for quality.
What kinds of sailors buy these boats? Cruising couples, professional people who want to sail in many places but have jobs they love and limited time afloat, retired folk with all the time in the world and a yen to explore distant waters without making ocean passages, and plenty of sailors who just want to cruise near home. The Nor'Sea 27 is the ultimate in transportable yachts and is built to a quality rarely seen these days. She is destined to be one of the classic cruising boats of our time.
The sailing years, The Nor'Sea 27
by Dean Wixom, #77The idea for the Nor'Sea generated in the early 1970s. I wanted a small vessel that would be at home voyaging any ocean. There were a few good small boats suitable for cruising, but none that I would call voyagers. I began to sketch various profiles of my ideal boat. I then complicated the design process many-fold by deciding this boat should be capable of being trailered from ocean to ocean.
I won't elaborate on the design parameters and virtues; Nor'Sea owners already know them. Ease of construction was not one of the virtues. Tooling the boat for production was a very difficult, length, and expensive process. Most 40-footers were tooled and produced for less!
One of the most difficult jobs was finding a naval architect. If I hadn't had the strength of my convictions, I might have let most of the designers convince me I was insane or at least hopelessly misguided. "You want a trailerable 27-foot world voyager? A liveaboard? Big tanks, big diesel? Standing headroom? A low profile? Full galley and chart table?" Some designers were cruel and some were not, but most shied away from the challenge. Then I met Lyle Hess.
Lyle has a fine reputation for small boats, which came to light with the huge publicity of Lin and Larry Pardey's 24-foot Serafyn. Lyle and I talked on the phone a bit, met, and within minutes had rough ideas of what was to be the Nor'Sea 27.
I can't recall who first mentioned an aft cabin, but Lyle seized on the idea. "With the fullness of the buttocks lines, we have plenty of room for a really useable aft cabin. Let's do it!" I concurred, thinking that the novelty of a really usable aft cabin in a 27-footer would get a lot of press attention, even though I truly believed the conventional aft cockpit version would eventually be more popular.
I have never been more wrong, as later production would bear out. I did build an aft cockpit version for my own voyaging, but Nor'Sea owners disagree about 6 to 1!
We assembled a superb team of talented people to produce the Nor'Sea, bought a ramshackle old building squeezed between oil wells and tank farms and went into production. Most of those years are a blur to me now, but I distinctly remember the thrill and pride of launching hull #1 (now located in Santa Rosa, CA).
I am very proud of the quality we put into those boats. I did make a fatal mistake: I built a product that I had fallen in love with. We built the boats without enough regard to cost. We already had the world's most expensive 27-footer, yet I could not bring myself to cut corners in areas seldom seen. Our dilemma was eventually solved by a real estate agent with a stunning offer for our property. We had the only lot in the area zoned for an oil tank farm! We then had to weigh the cost of moving a break-even business versus the emotional investment of ourselves, our employees, and our dealers. The knowledge that the boat would continued to be built tipped the decision. Most of our employees went to the new builder, who continued the tradition of quality.
I decided to follow my customers and go cruising. A few years ago, I stopped counting at 30,000 nautical miles and ten years of living aboard.
Please address comments or
I won't elaborate on the design parameters and virtues; Nor'Sea owners already know them. Ease of construction was not one of the virtues. Tooling the boat for production was a very difficult, length, and expensive process. Most 40-footers were tooled and produced for less!
One of the most difficult jobs was finding a naval architect. If I hadn't had the strength of my convictions, I might have let most of the designers convince me I was insane or at least hopelessly misguided. "You want a trailerable 27-foot world voyager? A liveaboard? Big tanks, big diesel? Standing headroom? A low profile? Full galley and chart table?" Some designers were cruel and some were not, but most shied away from the challenge. Then I met Lyle Hess.
Lyle has a fine reputation for small boats, which came to light with the huge publicity of Lin and Larry Pardey's 24-foot Serafyn. Lyle and I talked on the phone a bit, met, and within minutes had rough ideas of what was to be the Nor'Sea 27.
I can't recall who first mentioned an aft cabin, but Lyle seized on the idea. "With the fullness of the buttocks lines, we have plenty of room for a really useable aft cabin. Let's do it!" I concurred, thinking that the novelty of a really usable aft cabin in a 27-footer would get a lot of press attention, even though I truly believed the conventional aft cockpit version would eventually be more popular.
I have never been more wrong, as later production would bear out. I did build an aft cockpit version for my own voyaging, but Nor'Sea owners disagree about 6 to 1!
We assembled a superb team of talented people to produce the Nor'Sea, bought a ramshackle old building squeezed between oil wells and tank farms and went into production. Most of those years are a blur to me now, but I distinctly remember the thrill and pride of launching hull #1 (now located in Santa Rosa, CA).
I am very proud of the quality we put into those boats. I did make a fatal mistake: I built a product that I had fallen in love with. We built the boats without enough regard to cost. We already had the world's most expensive 27-footer, yet I could not bring myself to cut corners in areas seldom seen. Our dilemma was eventually solved by a real estate agent with a stunning offer for our property. We had the only lot in the area zoned for an oil tank farm! We then had to weigh the cost of moving a break-even business versus the emotional investment of ourselves, our employees, and our dealers. The knowledge that the boat would continued to be built tipped the decision. Most of our employees went to the new builder, who continued the tradition of quality.
I decided to follow my customers and go cruising. A few years ago, I stopped counting at 30,000 nautical miles and ten years of living aboard.
Please address comments or
The Motorcycle Years from "Motorcycle Design" by Craig Vetter
This is from the manuscript of a new book on the History of Motorcycle Design after 1939
by Craig Vetter, motorcycle designer and now historian and writer.
Preface to Wixom
May 24
1662 words
1967: The “Summer of Love”. I rode my 350 Yamaha from Illinois to LA to
interview people who had already done the kinds of things that I wanted to do. I
scheduled visits with Floyd Clymer, Bruce Meyers, Bill Van Tech and Dean
Wixom to ask them what advice they could give me so I would not make the
same mistakes they made. Well, I wanted take a trip too. All right, I also wanted
to check out Haight–Ashbury in San Francisco..
Floyd Clymer, founder and owner of Cycle Magazine, was ornery and
uncooperative. He wouldn’t even let me ride his Munch Mammoth. Bruce
Meyers, inventor of the Meyers Manx dunebuggy, advised me to spend all my
efforts on molds: “Get them as perfect as you can”. ( Bruce was forever haunted
by a crooked rear fender on his Manx ) Bill Van Tech must have made a some
kind of mistake because by the time I got to LA, he was employed by Grant
Industries and “unavailable”. Dean Wixom, fairing designer, was a real
gentleman, taking me under his wing, even inviting me to stay at his home.
We had taken two very different approaches to fairing design. The Wixom fairing
mounted to the handlebars while the Vetter fairing mounted to the frame. Dean
could see that I too had designed for the American riding style. “Really”, he said,
“the only advice I can give you is that very few people are going to pay $100 for a
fairing”.
I couldn’t do that. It cost me too much to make! I was counting on the fact that
there would be a place for my design too.
We became friends and competitors in the fairing business. But, it wasn’t until
researching for this book that I learned just how far his influence extended
through motorcycling.
I am honored to tell of his contributions to motorcycle design.
America’s first fairing designer, Dean Wixom
May 24, 2005
Dean Wixom was an industrial arts student in Long Beach in 1960.
He rode a BMW with an English Peel fairing, which he recognized as not being
right for the American riding style. Dean had learned fiberglass at a summer job
in high school. You know what came next.
.
By 1964, Dean Wixom was getting America warmed up to fairings.
Dean Wixom was a motorcyclist. He understood materials and he had a good
sense of design. And he was industrious. He had all the ingredients for success.
Dean designed and made what he wanted on his motorcycle. In so doing, he
made what many American riders wanted too. Brother, Stan left his job at IBM to
invest in the venture. Wixom Brothers became the biggest fairing manufacturer in
America.
There were challengers
Avon and Butler, the major fairing companies in England, now set up distributors
in the US to sell Café Fairings - which were street versions of streamlining they
saw on the tracks.
They were called cafe fairings because the English Rockers of the era used them
as they raced from café to café. Americans thought they looked cool, but we did
not ride from café to café. We rode from coast to coast. The Wixom Brothers
understood that. They made real touring fairings for the way Americans rode:
The Wixom Brothers struck gold in 1966. When the Wixoms put their fairing on the Harley Big Twin, they hit the mother lode of the fairing business.
The Wixom /Harley combination became one of the All time Classic Designs of
motorcycling. Forty years later, Dean’s design lives on in the Harley Davidson
“Batwing”:
1967: The Summer of Love and Airflow
Dean Wixom’s motorcycle career is entwined with that of famous engine
designer, Jerry Branch. When Dean was beginning, Jerry was working as a
mechanic at a local Harley shop, learning how engines breathed – or “flowed”.
Legendary Harley Racing Manager, Dick O’Brien had come to rely upon Jerry
Branch. In 1967 Jerry Branch set up shop flowing engines above the Wixom
Brothers’ fairing factory on Signal Hill in Long Beach, CA.
In 1967, Dick O’Brien told Jerry that Harley wanted to win Daytona in 1968.
Think about it: The OHV Triumph had won in 1967. In 1968 the Yamaha 350
would be here, ridden by the best Americans and international riders from
Europe. How could they possibly make their old, 1953 flat-head design
competitive?
Jerry Branch knew what to do with the engine and he knew just where go for the
right fairing design.
It was that summer that I met Dean and Jerry on Signal Hill. Dean hinted about
something exciting they were working on but could not talk about. Thirty eight
years later they talked.
Dick O’Brien had told them he was prepared to do whatever it took to win
Daytona. He began by buying a block of time at the Cal Tech wind tunnel. The
AMA had not allowed streamlining on Class C road racing machines until a few
years earlier in1962, so nobody in the US really knew how to tell a good race
fairing from a bad one. Dean and Jerry were about to find out.
The cuurent H-D racer had xxx hp would go 135, not enough to win
Daytona any more. Dean tells of the hours they spent, adding clay here and
there - finally giving up and building a new fairing from scratch.
Until they spent their time in the wind tunnel, everyone had assumed that a
skinny fairing was better. Everyone was wrong. The fairing and seat, they
discovered, needed to be as wide as the man on the bike to help the air flow by
easily. One of the surprise sources of air drag, incidentally, turned out to be the
“whetted area” of the air entering the engine opening. When they taped over the
opening, the drag went down measurably. Each time the air slams into
something – the forks, the frame tubes, the engine cases, the fins - it causes
drag.
Besides shaping the fairing and seat, Dean sculpted the beautiful new 6 gallon
fuel tank while Jerry focused on getting the fuel/ air mixture into the engine and
getting it burned. Jerry upped horsepower to xxx. Dean did the “big air” while
Jerry did the “little air”. The top speed rose to over 150 mph.
As Don Emde, fellow road racer, says in his book: The Daytona 200,
“When they arrived in Daytona for the 1968 races, the team bikes did not even
remotely resemble the machines of the year before. They were all painted in
identical Harley orange, black and white colors”
Harley did indeed win Daytona in 1968, and again 1969.
Cal Rayborn shocked the world winning the 1968 Daytona on that old Flathead KR TT.
Vetter Design Truth #10: “There is no more new frontier… We will have to
make it here” … is bunk.
(Eagles, Last Resort”)
Designers get to work in new frontiers.
Dean and Jerry agree that he FIM streamlining rules of 1957 which require the
rider and wheels to be exposed, make it virtually impossible to really streamline a
racing motorcycle today. The biggest area of improvement, they found, was to
help the air flow smoothly over the rider’s back. This was so important, Dean
says, that he flew to Daytona a few days early to personally hand-cut each
windshield to fit each individual rider in the Harley team!
Wixom had designed the best road race stream;ining possible. Period. Any deviation from
this design would be contrived just to be different. It seems unlikely that it could
be more efficient.
The story is not over
Harley had found One-Stop Shopping on Signal Hill. After their 1968 success,
Dick O’Brien brought over the first XR 750 chassis for the Jerry and Dean to
finish up. Again, Dean designed and built the tank and seat while Branch made
the heads flow.
1970 Harley XR 750 (picture)
Wixom and Branch had produced another classic, being produced until xxx.
Maybe the most rewarding part of this venture is, according to Dean, that Willie
G. Davidson, in charge of Harley’s design, simply rubber-stamped it.
The last fairing that Dean designed before selling Wixom Brothers ended up as
the ubiquitous CHP fairing made famous on the TV show, Chips.
The brothers sold their fairing company in 1977 and went on to design another
classic, the Nor’sea 27 sailboat.
This fibreglass sailboat has been in production longer than any boat in history.
Dean now enjoys a third career inlaying gemstones, in a process called
“Intarsia”. Only a handful of artists produce intarsia in the US.
In 2007 Dean won the coveted "Gemmy Award" this country's highest award for the Gemcutting Arts. .
You may E-mail encouragement to him at: ndw1928@yahoo.com
Stan Wixom died in 2004.
Jerry Branch is the world’s youngest 80 year old. (See Jerry Branch )
Dean Wixom was nominated to the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2007
by Craig Vetter, motorcycle designer and now historian and writer.
Preface to Wixom
May 24
1662 words
1967: The “Summer of Love”. I rode my 350 Yamaha from Illinois to LA to
interview people who had already done the kinds of things that I wanted to do. I
scheduled visits with Floyd Clymer, Bruce Meyers, Bill Van Tech and Dean
Wixom to ask them what advice they could give me so I would not make the
same mistakes they made. Well, I wanted take a trip too. All right, I also wanted
to check out Haight–Ashbury in San Francisco..
Floyd Clymer, founder and owner of Cycle Magazine, was ornery and
uncooperative. He wouldn’t even let me ride his Munch Mammoth. Bruce
Meyers, inventor of the Meyers Manx dunebuggy, advised me to spend all my
efforts on molds: “Get them as perfect as you can”. ( Bruce was forever haunted
by a crooked rear fender on his Manx ) Bill Van Tech must have made a some
kind of mistake because by the time I got to LA, he was employed by Grant
Industries and “unavailable”. Dean Wixom, fairing designer, was a real
gentleman, taking me under his wing, even inviting me to stay at his home.
We had taken two very different approaches to fairing design. The Wixom fairing
mounted to the handlebars while the Vetter fairing mounted to the frame. Dean
could see that I too had designed for the American riding style. “Really”, he said,
“the only advice I can give you is that very few people are going to pay $100 for a
fairing”.
I couldn’t do that. It cost me too much to make! I was counting on the fact that
there would be a place for my design too.
We became friends and competitors in the fairing business. But, it wasn’t until
researching for this book that I learned just how far his influence extended
through motorcycling.
I am honored to tell of his contributions to motorcycle design.
America’s first fairing designer, Dean Wixom
May 24, 2005
Dean Wixom was an industrial arts student in Long Beach in 1960.
He rode a BMW with an English Peel fairing, which he recognized as not being
right for the American riding style. Dean had learned fiberglass at a summer job
in high school. You know what came next.
.
By 1964, Dean Wixom was getting America warmed up to fairings.
Dean Wixom was a motorcyclist. He understood materials and he had a good
sense of design. And he was industrious. He had all the ingredients for success.
Dean designed and made what he wanted on his motorcycle. In so doing, he
made what many American riders wanted too. Brother, Stan left his job at IBM to
invest in the venture. Wixom Brothers became the biggest fairing manufacturer in
America.
There were challengers
Avon and Butler, the major fairing companies in England, now set up distributors
in the US to sell Café Fairings - which were street versions of streamlining they
saw on the tracks.
They were called cafe fairings because the English Rockers of the era used them
as they raced from café to café. Americans thought they looked cool, but we did
not ride from café to café. We rode from coast to coast. The Wixom Brothers
understood that. They made real touring fairings for the way Americans rode:
The Wixom Brothers struck gold in 1966. When the Wixoms put their fairing on the Harley Big Twin, they hit the mother lode of the fairing business.
The Wixom /Harley combination became one of the All time Classic Designs of
motorcycling. Forty years later, Dean’s design lives on in the Harley Davidson
“Batwing”:
1967: The Summer of Love and Airflow
Dean Wixom’s motorcycle career is entwined with that of famous engine
designer, Jerry Branch. When Dean was beginning, Jerry was working as a
mechanic at a local Harley shop, learning how engines breathed – or “flowed”.
Legendary Harley Racing Manager, Dick O’Brien had come to rely upon Jerry
Branch. In 1967 Jerry Branch set up shop flowing engines above the Wixom
Brothers’ fairing factory on Signal Hill in Long Beach, CA.
In 1967, Dick O’Brien told Jerry that Harley wanted to win Daytona in 1968.
Think about it: The OHV Triumph had won in 1967. In 1968 the Yamaha 350
would be here, ridden by the best Americans and international riders from
Europe. How could they possibly make their old, 1953 flat-head design
competitive?
Jerry Branch knew what to do with the engine and he knew just where go for the
right fairing design.
It was that summer that I met Dean and Jerry on Signal Hill. Dean hinted about
something exciting they were working on but could not talk about. Thirty eight
years later they talked.
Dick O’Brien had told them he was prepared to do whatever it took to win
Daytona. He began by buying a block of time at the Cal Tech wind tunnel. The
AMA had not allowed streamlining on Class C road racing machines until a few
years earlier in1962, so nobody in the US really knew how to tell a good race
fairing from a bad one. Dean and Jerry were about to find out.
The cuurent H-D racer had xxx hp would go 135, not enough to win
Daytona any more. Dean tells of the hours they spent, adding clay here and
there - finally giving up and building a new fairing from scratch.
Until they spent their time in the wind tunnel, everyone had assumed that a
skinny fairing was better. Everyone was wrong. The fairing and seat, they
discovered, needed to be as wide as the man on the bike to help the air flow by
easily. One of the surprise sources of air drag, incidentally, turned out to be the
“whetted area” of the air entering the engine opening. When they taped over the
opening, the drag went down measurably. Each time the air slams into
something – the forks, the frame tubes, the engine cases, the fins - it causes
drag.
Besides shaping the fairing and seat, Dean sculpted the beautiful new 6 gallon
fuel tank while Jerry focused on getting the fuel/ air mixture into the engine and
getting it burned. Jerry upped horsepower to xxx. Dean did the “big air” while
Jerry did the “little air”. The top speed rose to over 150 mph.
As Don Emde, fellow road racer, says in his book: The Daytona 200,
“When they arrived in Daytona for the 1968 races, the team bikes did not even
remotely resemble the machines of the year before. They were all painted in
identical Harley orange, black and white colors”
Harley did indeed win Daytona in 1968, and again 1969.
Cal Rayborn shocked the world winning the 1968 Daytona on that old Flathead KR TT.
Vetter Design Truth #10: “There is no more new frontier… We will have to
make it here” … is bunk.
(Eagles, Last Resort”)
Designers get to work in new frontiers.
Dean and Jerry agree that he FIM streamlining rules of 1957 which require the
rider and wheels to be exposed, make it virtually impossible to really streamline a
racing motorcycle today. The biggest area of improvement, they found, was to
help the air flow smoothly over the rider’s back. This was so important, Dean
says, that he flew to Daytona a few days early to personally hand-cut each
windshield to fit each individual rider in the Harley team!
Wixom had designed the best road race stream;ining possible. Period. Any deviation from
this design would be contrived just to be different. It seems unlikely that it could
be more efficient.
The story is not over
Harley had found One-Stop Shopping on Signal Hill. After their 1968 success,
Dick O’Brien brought over the first XR 750 chassis for the Jerry and Dean to
finish up. Again, Dean designed and built the tank and seat while Branch made
the heads flow.
1970 Harley XR 750 (picture)
Wixom and Branch had produced another classic, being produced until xxx.
Maybe the most rewarding part of this venture is, according to Dean, that Willie
G. Davidson, in charge of Harley’s design, simply rubber-stamped it.
The last fairing that Dean designed before selling Wixom Brothers ended up as
the ubiquitous CHP fairing made famous on the TV show, Chips.
The brothers sold their fairing company in 1977 and went on to design another
classic, the Nor’sea 27 sailboat.
This fibreglass sailboat has been in production longer than any boat in history.
Dean now enjoys a third career inlaying gemstones, in a process called
“Intarsia”. Only a handful of artists produce intarsia in the US.
In 2007 Dean won the coveted "Gemmy Award" this country's highest award for the Gemcutting Arts. .
You may E-mail encouragement to him at: ndw1928@yahoo.com
Stan Wixom died in 2004.
Jerry Branch is the world’s youngest 80 year old. (See Jerry Branch )
Dean Wixom was nominated to the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2007
Sensual Massage
Hello to all.
I have been approached by several people who want to learn more about what I call “sensual dominance” scenes, for lack of a better term.
I like to define sensual dominance as taking a person to “the zone“, a state of exquisite consciousness where time, space and environment cease to exist, where there is only an elevated concentration on feeling; the feeling of the lightest of sensory inputs.
I find it curious that many people who are sexual often have difficulty receiving sensuality.
A (scary) number of decades ago, I worked at Elysium and Esalen, clothing optional learning centers in California. You might remember Esalen, the 1970’s “touchy-feely” resort made famous by people like singer Joan Baez.
There I taught workshops and seminars on exotic aspects of sexuality such as Tantric sex, Kama Sutra, Sexual Androgeny, multiple orgasm, orgasm control for men, etc.
That took me into working as a sexual surrogate, working as part of a three person team; the surrogate, the mental health professional, and the client who has special needs.Though all that, I found that many people have trouble receiving. It’s as if they resist giving up control of their bodies and minds. They have trouble allowing themselves to drift into erotic consciousness, or “the zone“. Many have a feeling they don't deserve such kind attention.
For those reasons, an Elysium team and I developed what we called “sensual massage,” to facilitate taking a person to the deepest kind of relaxation. This can be the goal in itself, or it can be preparation for sensual sex play.
Sensual massage is one of the greatest gifts a couple can give each other. It breaks down unseen barriers to real intimacy It brings a connection that is almost spiritual.
I would be happy to do this workshop in the near future.
Dean Wixom
I have been approached by several people who want to learn more about what I call “sensual dominance” scenes, for lack of a better term.
I like to define sensual dominance as taking a person to “the zone“, a state of exquisite consciousness where time, space and environment cease to exist, where there is only an elevated concentration on feeling; the feeling of the lightest of sensory inputs.
I find it curious that many people who are sexual often have difficulty receiving sensuality.
A (scary) number of decades ago, I worked at Elysium and Esalen, clothing optional learning centers in California. You might remember Esalen, the 1970’s “touchy-feely” resort made famous by people like singer Joan Baez.
There I taught workshops and seminars on exotic aspects of sexuality such as Tantric sex, Kama Sutra, Sexual Androgeny, multiple orgasm, orgasm control for men, etc.
That took me into working as a sexual surrogate, working as part of a three person team; the surrogate, the mental health professional, and the client who has special needs.Though all that, I found that many people have trouble receiving. It’s as if they resist giving up control of their bodies and minds. They have trouble allowing themselves to drift into erotic consciousness, or “the zone“. Many have a feeling they don't deserve such kind attention.
For those reasons, an Elysium team and I developed what we called “sensual massage,” to facilitate taking a person to the deepest kind of relaxation. This can be the goal in itself, or it can be preparation for sensual sex play.
Sensual massage is one of the greatest gifts a couple can give each other. It breaks down unseen barriers to real intimacy It brings a connection that is almost spiritual.
I would be happy to do this workshop in the near future.
Dean Wixom
Friday, February 1, 2008
Bus Station Heartbreak
The Bus Station
Baton Rouge, a week after Katrina
It took a full day to get my friend out on a bus.
I wish a TV camera had been there to record the scene. Hundreds of shocked, weary people stood patiently in lines. These were people that we of the middle class seldom see. The old, the maimed, the hugely fat, the emaciated, the junkies, the single mothers with three kids, the young gangsta wannabees no longer trying to look cool or tough..
The noise, with stressed out moms yelling at screaming stressed-out kids.
A few had brand new luggage, most had their belongings in garbage bags.
My buddy, James L, a former demon motorcycle racer and kind, gentle soul was moved to reach out, comforting kids and moms. After an hour or so, we looked at each other in the eye, and I said “you feel it too”. We both teared up. We both knew what I meant. In one little bus station in one small city, the human tragedy was almost overwhelming.
These were people who had little, but they at least once had a place. They once had an old and rich culture. They had family. Now it all was gone, and they were headed to an unknown future in a place they didn’t know.
To me it felt disturbing, but strangely familiar. Then it hit me. I had seen this scene at train stations in India, Indonesia, third-world countries. But this was America, these were Americans! This was the third-world America that few outsiders seldom see, and don’t want to know about.
The images stuck with me, and occupied my thoughts as I tried to sort it all out. Then, the overwhelming reality struck me…… Most of these people are never going back.
Landlords, if they rebuild, will not rebuild places these people can afford.
The city fathers will not be anxious to rebuild public housing, create new project housing, or rebuild affordable housing.
Third-world New Orleans was poor, but rich in tradition and culture. It gave us jazz, the first uniquely American music. It gave us a unique American culture. It gave us the soul of the French Quarter. Now it is broken apart and scattered all over our country.
I fear that the highest and best part of these people will be left behind.
Wherever they scatter, they will group together for the comfort of each other, and the comfort of their unique family oriented culture. A very few will turn or return to a violent, drug ridden life. Those people will gather the headlines and the suspicions wherever they go.
New Orleans will rebuild and rebound, but not for most of these people, who created the soul of the city.
The city fathers, the Old Guard, the politicians, the investors , will relish an opportunity to “clean up the place” as it is rebuilt. The money will go where it makes money. It won’t be used to create an opportunity for the 60-some per cent of the New Orleans population who were poor. Many will say “that’s a good thing, it will put them to work”. Indeed, the FEMA money will create an opportunity for some to return and work, ….if they can find a place to live.
Most of the people I saw in that bus station simply cannot work.
They have lost themselves.
What will happen to them?
Baton Rouge, a week after Katrina
It took a full day to get my friend out on a bus.
I wish a TV camera had been there to record the scene. Hundreds of shocked, weary people stood patiently in lines. These were people that we of the middle class seldom see. The old, the maimed, the hugely fat, the emaciated, the junkies, the single mothers with three kids, the young gangsta wannabees no longer trying to look cool or tough..
The noise, with stressed out moms yelling at screaming stressed-out kids.
A few had brand new luggage, most had their belongings in garbage bags.
My buddy, James L, a former demon motorcycle racer and kind, gentle soul was moved to reach out, comforting kids and moms. After an hour or so, we looked at each other in the eye, and I said “you feel it too”. We both teared up. We both knew what I meant. In one little bus station in one small city, the human tragedy was almost overwhelming.
These were people who had little, but they at least once had a place. They once had an old and rich culture. They had family. Now it all was gone, and they were headed to an unknown future in a place they didn’t know.
To me it felt disturbing, but strangely familiar. Then it hit me. I had seen this scene at train stations in India, Indonesia, third-world countries. But this was America, these were Americans! This was the third-world America that few outsiders seldom see, and don’t want to know about.
The images stuck with me, and occupied my thoughts as I tried to sort it all out. Then, the overwhelming reality struck me…… Most of these people are never going back.
Landlords, if they rebuild, will not rebuild places these people can afford.
The city fathers will not be anxious to rebuild public housing, create new project housing, or rebuild affordable housing.
Third-world New Orleans was poor, but rich in tradition and culture. It gave us jazz, the first uniquely American music. It gave us a unique American culture. It gave us the soul of the French Quarter. Now it is broken apart and scattered all over our country.
I fear that the highest and best part of these people will be left behind.
Wherever they scatter, they will group together for the comfort of each other, and the comfort of their unique family oriented culture. A very few will turn or return to a violent, drug ridden life. Those people will gather the headlines and the suspicions wherever they go.
New Orleans will rebuild and rebound, but not for most of these people, who created the soul of the city.
The city fathers, the Old Guard, the politicians, the investors , will relish an opportunity to “clean up the place” as it is rebuilt. The money will go where it makes money. It won’t be used to create an opportunity for the 60-some per cent of the New Orleans population who were poor. Many will say “that’s a good thing, it will put them to work”. Indeed, the FEMA money will create an opportunity for some to return and work, ….if they can find a place to live.
Most of the people I saw in that bus station simply cannot work.
They have lost themselves.
What will happen to them?
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