[aasault]

Fred, you''re my hero! That might have been the greatest Sailnet pickup paragraph ever written!

The finer points;

1. You successfully defended a basic male instinct.

2. You wove a wonderful tapestry of your intimate understanding of human nature, and how you''re above first impressions. Always real big with the ladies.

3. You don''t tender a date invitation until after her response. Perfect timing.

4. You reduced Marybeth, a well traveled, highly experienced sailor, to "Well, thanks Fred". I thought I heard her giggle!

I have only one criticism. Next time delete "I''ve never seen a homely woman". I don''t think Marybeth bought that one, but the rest is so good, she probably overlooked it.