Got to do an incentive ride in T-37 while at Luke during summer camp when in ROTC. Lovely airplane. Very forgiving, especially with ham-handed nonflyers like me. If I had had opportunity to do even a little flying when younger, would have shown much better than I did. As it was, my pilot scores on the AFOQT were 90. So, I must have had some semblance of skill even then. Never got accepted to pilot school though. Would have been 6 months too old, even though AF could have waivered in view of my previous fours of active duty Wind through the sails.

Sir! Congratulations on your transition.

Funny story relating to paint. Reese AFB was a Model Installation Prog.....flag, eagle chasing a star. Wing Comm flew T-38, Base Comm a T-37...ATC.

The Wing Comm was returning from, as I recall, Luke, with two wingman. Cruising at Mil he had to occasionally bump into AB to keep up. AR found that the pretty jet he was flying had 7 or 8 coats of paint. I don't know how many man hours went into correcting the "discrepancy".

From one air rat to another, I went from E-4 to O-3, and loved almost every minute. Did 60 days at TSN, RVN way back when. You are right about the escalation of debt. Just a new paint job alone would run almost 200k-500k. And that is a conservative estimate.

Hmmmm....how to turn an initial 135k of debt into 1 million...sign the paper.
No sir I was not Navy nor Officer. Commander is an honorary from my few years in Air Force. I've the honorary of Captain from my peer group of professional sailors....these folks are not six-pack licensed. It is all about knowledge attained and professional approach to whatever endeavor I participate within.
I did have one hell of a role model. An uncle was 6 year Corps and 25 as a Navy fighter jock, retiring at Captain as Assistant Chief of Naval Flight Training in 77.

That IS a beautiful boat. If you don't mind me asking, is that Commander (as in O-5)? If so, you might like this:
https://www.yachtworld.com/boats/1943...

I've enjoyed a few of this type.
The posted link is of one I was contracted to do the mast refit. EOS required refitting the 72' mast from Merlin, a Santa Cruz 50, to a 66' sail plan. I still have the hand written records of that project from 2006. Bill Hooper, Hooper's Yachts, Afton MN, approached me with the project. It took over 3 weeks with a full machine shop to accomplish. I went way over estimated time. Worth every extra hour to bring this beautiful vessle to completion.
https://www.yachtworld.com/boats/2007...
And this weekend will be spent making sure my rig is fully ready for Lake Michigan. Such a beautiful body of water until.......

The couple featured in the video are originally from MI and WI. You might enjoy the whole vlog journey.

Right in your back yard.....just across the reservoir.
https://www.cedarcreeklake.com/event-...

I sailed with the St Croix Sailing Club bordering Wis and Minn since 2004. Small water and fun times. Odds are great if you call and ask for boats needing crew.

Not many sailing clubs in deep East Texas. Best I could do would be some smallish lake sailing. Even finding someone who will teach might be problematical. Closest big water is Houston and that is 5 hours, minimum.

I know, been there, done that...even so, I wish I still had our beloved Carlinda, a 37 foot Hunter Sloop.

Ha! Great.

My mother lived on a big catamaran for many years, sailing all over. Her boat happened to be in dry dock for some work when they filmed a scene for the movie "Failure to Launch" under it. She pissed Mathew McCanahey(sp?) off that day interfering with his deal...haha. Most beautiful place I ever visited was on that boat...The Abacos...

Vagabond 42 "John Galt" for sale in 2011. If you want to know ownership at present look up the international watercraft registry.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTUM3...

The Tartan 37 these kids are outfitting is a comfortable offshore cruiser. That she's a 79 means looking in all the crooks and crannies. Work?....LOVE.....and mortality for anyone sailing big water. Spending a year or four understanding the vessle and making it second nature is SURE to save you injury or death during the first year at sea. I've never heard an SOS, I've heard 4 PAN PAN in 16 years.

If you have opportunity to join in a sailing club, I highly recommend. You'll find a concentration of independent, innovative, self-reliant folks who without ever hearing of Rand emulate much of what objectivism offers.