Robert Gainer has passed away

[ehmanta]

Farewell Robert,

"Crossing the Bar"
by Lord Alfred Tennyson


Sunset and evening star,
And one clear call for me!
And may there be no moaning of the bar,
When I put out to sea,

But such a tide as moving seems asleep,
Too full for sound and foam,
When that which drew from out the boundless deep
Turns again home.

Twilight and evening bell,
And after that the dark!
And may there be no sadness of farewell,
When I embark;

For tho’ from out our bourne of Time and Place
The flood may bear me far,
I hope to see my Pilot face to face
When I have cross’d the bar

[Bermudahigh]

his tag line pretty much says it all..."all the best"

[merlin2375]

Though I did not have the pleasure of knowing Robert, his contributions were extraordinary. My condolences to his family and wishing him fair winds.

[CBinRI]

I never met him but found him to be helpful, generous with his knowledge and gentlemanly on this board. He will be missed.

[Valiente]

I read this with distress: Mr. Gainer was a clear and concise writer, and even though his seamanship and experiences outstripped that of most of us here, he had a very patient and tolerant way of posting his opinions that showed respect and decency.

He will be missed.

[sailaway21]

Robert was a most genuine man. You'll not search far through the archives of sailnet without finding one of his posts gently chiding someone that yes, it can be done, I've done it. He didn't comment much on the GPS threads and such because he didn't own a GPS and wasn't real sure he was going to get one. You could always imagine a bit of an unseen twinkle in his eye as he concluded some of his posts, especially in the threads where it was a "given" that you needed a 40' boat and every electronic device known to man to cross an ocean safely.

He was slow to anger being very careful in these parts to make absolutely sure he had a reason to be angry, and then, he didn't stay angry for long. He was quixotic in his posting; he might not comment at all in a thread that one would presume he had an abiding interest in and yet he'd pop up in a learning to sail thread with the neatest idea or anecdote as well as an encouragement to keep learning. I think he wrote somewhere that none of us are born as seamen and that we all have to learn it anew. He was a great help in that quest for many.

He was an encourager of the young to pursue their ocean-crossing dreams. Many times he'd make a short post offering his view that they'd be best served by going small and going now. Like his advise, he went while young and instead of a life spent dreaming, he regaled us with a life lived.

We last corresponded at the holiday time and I'm glad that part of that correspondence was to tell him how much his posts here meant to me and others. I just somehow have a notion that God had some rigging issues, wanted someone who could make a proper splice with none of those fancy modern clamp things, and Robert decided he'd at least be willing to show him how until he got the hang of it himself. No doubt he had other plans himself, but he never seemed to let those plans stop him from taking the time with someone else who could benefit from his knowledge. RIP, Robert Ganier and, "all the best".

[xort]

Robert
'All the best' to you.

[tdw]

I'm sorry to hear about that. He was a relatively young bloke as well. Good to see he got in plenty of 'messing about in boats' while he was here. I do hope it went easy for him.

edit - "gentle soul who sought solutions rather than fret over problems, who enjoyed making easier the lives of those around him, and who believed in kindness always" Who could ask for a nicer obit ? Certainly not me.

[soul searcher]

This truely is a great loss.
For those that don't know his posts I think this one will give you some insight.
http://www.sailnet.com/forums/115289-post.html
Go in Peace Mr. Gainer

[ReverendMike]

Rest in peace, "Tartan34C".

Here he lies where he long'd to be;
Home is the sailor, home from the sea,
And the hunter home from the hill.