--- Tom Leonard wrote:
A Russian homemade sailboat docked at our club in NY three years ago.
A couple of us became friends with the skipper and he invited us aboard.
I think that the primary tool used to construct the boat was a chain saw, it was approx 60' long and made of rough sawn lumber and a lot of paint. We never saw any electric lights, the crew used oil lamps to eat and read by. The tiller was a long log that set in a notched plank like a boom crutch, the rudder was a barn door size stern mounted affair.
The captain heard us talking about how hard it must be to steer and how lucky we were to have autopilots. In his best showman-like outraged Russian voice he informed us that he did indeed have an autopilot, in fact his had a remote control. In a voice that could be heard half way across the Hudson river He pointed and said
"WIFE turn this way,,,,,, WIFE turn that way...".
I think it was 15 minutes before I stopped laughing, actually the only one not laughing was his wife, I think he slept on the deck that night.
Tom