Couple of Great Sails

Headed over to the boat on Friday afternoon for a sail to Oakland and Jack London Square.  Winds were in the high teens and I made it over towards Angel Island.  Headed for the bay bridge and notice a CG boat under the bridge.  As they are dismantling the old bay bridge, this boat is turning folks away so no debris will fall on the boats.  No worries, I will go around him and further east.  Make it down the estuary and find my assigned slip at Jack London Square.  I eat a quick bite and then head down to meet Drew.  We are heading to The Fox to see String Cheese Incident.  What a great venue and show.  Head back in a cab and go right to sleep.

 In the morning, Kona and I are up early as we need to get back to Emeryville to pick up crew.  We head out with the coffee brewing.  By the time we hit the bay, the blueberry pancakes are ready.  It's a beautiful day.  I meet the crew at 11 and we do a quick sail change.  Then we are off and it is a windy day.  We try to get to Angel but the winds are overpowering.  Instead we head to McCovey Cove and the ballgame is on.  We anchor and the Giants stage a comeback win and the crowd is going nuts.  We drop off a few crew in SF and head back with much lighter winds. 

Yesterday I was lucky enough to get out once more for a sunset sail.  Winds were in the teens again and I had a nice sail to the city front in SF and then up towards Angel.  I donot think I have ever seen so much tanker traffic in one day.  It was busy.  But also some great sailing.  A great way to start the week!

Crash & Burn

Tow-in session of January 28th in Nazare, Portugal. / 28.01.2013 from Band-Originale on Vimeo.

From Nazare, Portugal, location of the biggest surfable waves on the planet. 

Looking forward to some sailing this weekend along with some wine tasting in Napa with a local group.  Hope you get out to the waters in your area.

Pics of the Week

My Top 10 Sailing Links

Here is a list of sailing sites I visit every week.  Some are resources and some are blogs but I think you will enjoy them all.

Blogs:

 Sailing Anarchy Racing from around the world.

Lectronic Latitude Cruising and racing from around the world.  If you sign up, it comes right to your in box thrice weekly.

 Download the monthly sail rag as well for great reading.
 Latitude 38

Pressure Drop Racing and cruising news.

Sail Feed Half a dozen awesome sailors writing on one blog about many aspects of sailing.

Blue Planet Times Kimball Livingston is a great writer/sailor with lots to say.

Resources for sailing the bay:

Wind and Tides Just like it says.

Wind speed Current wind speed at all the buoys on the bay.

OCSC Sailing More resources and cams on the bay.  Sign up and get free access.

If you are counting, that was only 9 (the headline sounds better if you put 10).

Sonos to Change Direction of Streaming Music in the Home

Sonos is beta testing some new software that eliminates their hardware and uses Wifi and a smart phone to shoot music throughout your home or business. They have a program that may allow you to become a beta tester if you qualify.  Could be very cool.  Apply here.

Here is a little bit of a look back at my musical journey: (this is what I sent to Sonos)
First, I am a music lover.  I started listening to my parents music as a boy in the early 60's.  Frank Sinatra, Brazil 66, show tunes, etc.  Then my older sisters started listening to The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Simon and Garfunkel and the rock and roll of the 60's.  My life totally changed when FM radio arrived in the early 70's.  I graduated HS in the mid 70's and began my journey into progressive rock. In college, I discovered Emerson, Lake and Palmer, The Grateful Dead, Ambrosia, Yes, Jethro Tull, and many more.  In the 80's I started taking over the turn table at parties.  Hearts of Space has been a big influence on my life as well as all types of jazz and meditative music.  By 1991, I had my first paying DJ gig at a corporate party in Napa.  I have done over 500 gigs and have become an accomplished DJ/MC for corporate events in the Silicon Valley.  As well, I have over 100,000 songs on my hard drive.  Wifi and LTE has allowed me to download from iTunes during my gigs if there is a request I do not have, which is HUGE.  In my house, I have Airplay in all the rooms using Airport Expresses or Apple TV's.  Music is always on during the day and most of the evening.  Drives my wife nuts, but I play stuff she can enjoy too.  Have access to Sirius, Rdio, and Hearts of Space as far as paid subscriptions. My favorite radio program is 10@10 with Dave Morey which is broadcast on KFOG.  Dave has retired and they still play it every weekday at 10am and 10pm.  If you own a digital radio tuner, you can hear it 24/7 and commercial free with Dave at the helm on KFOG-2.

I am a bit of a nostalgic person and these songs bring me back to the day of whatever year they play. Analisa hosts the show now and is a good DJ and she plays some great songs but the original show with Dave as host was the best.  He even grew up in my area of the east coast (DE/PA) and is the same age as me.  We have similar tastes in music and very similar musical influences (back then it was AM and FM radio mostly).

Here is a nice sample of 10@10 from 1975.  10 great songs from one great year.
1. Jigsaw - Sky High
2. Ambrosia - Holdin' on to Yesterday
3. Nils Lofgren - Going Back
   (Tv: Starsky & Hutch)
4. Wings - Venus & Mars/Rock Show
   (News: The Pet Rock)
5. KISS - Rock and Roll All Night
   (News: Elton John)
6. Elton John - Captain Fantastic and
   the Brown Dirt Cowboy
   (Movie: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest)
7. Willie Nelson - Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain
8. Bruce Springsteen - Born to Run
   (News: Jimmy Hoffa goes missing)
9. Linda Ronstadt - You're No Good
   (News: Nixon Subpoena)
10. J. Geils Band - Love Itis

Bonehead Move of the Week

We have had several incidents in the last few months with folks not wearing a kill switch on the wrist and the boats getting out of control and hurting people.  These folks were lucky but might not be so lucky next time.  Make sure you have a kill switch attached to your wrist on your inflatable.



Here is a recent report on a tragic accident of a boater without a wrist kill switch on:
According to witnesses, the operator of a large dinghy with powerful engines — assumed to be 30-40 hp — was thrown from his boat while speeding through the La Paz anchorage. Because he was not wearing a kill key lanyard, his dinghy continued to roar around the area at high speed.
Seeing the mishap, La Paz-based cruiser John Spicher of the 31-ft sloop Time Piece reportedly jumped in his dinghy and retrieved the ejected driver from the bay. They were headed to shore when the wayward dinghy glanced off an anchored boat and turned straight for Spicher's boat, running over the top of him. The deadly prop badly mangled his leg and both he and the rescued man were thrown overboard.
As Spicher attempted to climb back aboard he was struck again by the unmanned craft. This time it pinned him beneath it. The two men were rescued by a Mexican captain who administered first aid to Spicher's leg. Although we don't yet have all the details, Spicher was reportedly medevaced to the UC San Diego trauma center that same afternoon.
Needless to say, the whole bloody incident could have been avoided if the dinghy driver had been traveling at a more reasonable speed — and even more importantly, had been wearing a simple plastic kill switch lanyard around his wrist. If you don't have one, get one.

Pics of the Week

Heading up to the boat today to enjoy one of my favorite activities.  We are sailing over to watch the Giants game.  We reserve a slip at the harbor next to the park and have a little tailgate in the slip.  Head to the game and then sail home after.  No traffic, great wind and soooo nice!

Clipper Yachts Poised for Arrival in SF

The round the world race is about to roll under the Gate in the next few days.  After a 25 day sail from the China, these 80' foot monsters are about 200 miles from SF as of yesterday.  They will be staying at South Beach Harbor near the ball park.  Next week, you can do a walk thru of the boats.  This race is manned by amateurs with the intent of pushing the crew to it's maximum potential as they sail the planets oceans.  In the Pacific, they saw some winds topping 60 knots and seas up to 30 feet.  They even lost a crewman overboard during a sail change.  He was recovered an hour or so later, thankfully.  Here is their projected arrivals thru the Golden Gate:

Henri Lloyd - Thurs 10 April Early AM
GREAT Britain - Thurs 10 April Early AM
Invest Africa - Thurs 10 April Early AM
Qingdao - Thurs 10 April AM
One DLL - Thurs 10 April AM
Old Pulteney - Fri 11 April AM
Switzerland - Currently in Stealth Mode
Derry~Londonderry~Doire - Fri 11 April PM Team Garmin - Sat 12 April Early AM
Mission Performance - Sat 12 April PM
Jamaica Get All Right - Sun 13 April PM
PSP Logistics - Sun 13 April PM

Kite Foil Cool

I have seen these guys out on the bay.  Awesome stuff.

One more...Beauty and the Beat!

HBO's Silicon Valley is a Riot

HBO is allowing everyone to see it's first episode of Silicon Valley by posting it on Youtube.  I watched it last night and enjoyed the biting satire that makes this valley so fascinating.  I moved here in 81 when HP was the big kahuna and Apple was just getting going with the intro of the Apple 3.  Boy have we seen some changes since then.  Who would have thunk we would wear computers on our faces?  Anyway, here is the show and I know if you know anything about this crazy vallley we live in, you will love it.  The director, Mike Judge also created Office Space and Bevis and Butt-head.

Apple III

Bad luck solo sailor looses mast in HI

I have been following Ronnie for the past 6 years or so and even met him on the Haha.  Because he does alot of long distance solo cruising on old boats, he increases his chances of disaster.  Let's review; he gets hit by a rocket launcher in the Iraq war and is released due to his injuries.  Not going anywhere in life, he decides to visit his bro in HI.  Buys an old boat and 400 miles off the coast, he loses his rudder in a late season hurricane from Mexico.  A passing freighter picks him up and drops him in China.  Not the island paradise he was hoping for.  He decides to continue over land...by bike and bound for the UK!  Something like 9000 miles later, his bike is stolen as he drinks a beer near London.  He soldiers on and decides to race a donated boat to HI.  Bringing his boat back from the islands, he loses his keel...I said keel!  700 miles from the Gate and he places everything on the boat down on the floor for some stability.  The weather cooperates and he motor sails with the jib all the way home.  Fast forward to last month, he had bought a very well used Cal 2-27 in Tacoma and refitted it to be an engine less world cruiser.  He makes it to Maui and promptly loses his mast in 18 knots and a lee shore.  Rescued by the CG, he is now hoping to re-rig and continue to Australia. 
Here is the scoop on his latest escapade.

A great day to sail the bay!

We had a wild week of weather in the Bay Area last week with lots of rain, lighting strikes, hail and snow on the mountains ringing the bay.  On Friday, it was lots of clouds with a mixture of sun.  I had a few hours in the afternoon and headed up to the boat for a sunset sail.  Dark clouds were forming at the Gate.  I headed out preparing for wet and sure enough the rain stated coming down shortly after departure.  I was able to get under the dodger and enjoy the 20+ knot wind and rain as the Addiction steered herself into the storm.  It cleared out 30 minutes later to blue skies and a bit lower wind speed.  We headed for a splendid sail out near Angel Island and were rewarded with crystal clear views, emerald green hills and clouds looking like whip cream on top of an amazing sundae.  Kona and I were loving it as we were about the only boat out there except for some passing ferries.  Good sleep on the boat followed by some tea and blueberry pancakes from the galley.  Hooked up to the net using an app on my phone called tether.com.  For $30 annually, it allows me to tether my phone to the computer.  Not bad.  Had some boat chores in the morning and at 11am, John is there for a sail.  Lake like conditions turn to 15-18 knots about noon.  We are fighting a flood tide as we head towards the Gate.  A boat on fire near Angel gets our attention.  All the passengers are in the water and the CG is nearby for a rescue.  After a half dozen long tacks, we get close but we are not moving very fast.  Finally we hit the other side of the bridge and we are flying.  A few tacks and we start the ride back.  More long tacks make this a ride to remember.  We make it back around 6:30 and feel fantastic after that wonderful sail.  I head home for dinner and crash hard.  A nice beginning to a wonderful weather weekend.

Drone videography is the coolest.  St. Barth's Bucket Race, French West Indies.

Post # 2000 - Yippee!

According to Blogger, this is my 2000th post on H2uh0!!  I started blogging after two big accidents on the bay.  I thought, why not learn a lesson from folks that make bonehead moves?  Since then, I have had a ball with my site and met some cool folks as well.  Here are some of my sailing highlights over the last 32 years of sailing the San Francisco Bay Area:

Taking my first bay cruise back in 82' with my friend Jeff on a rented boat with our Michigan friends.  What a hoot and we did it a bunch of times in those early days.

Discovering windsurfing in 1984 at Leo Ryan Park in Foster City.  My girlfriend and I were living on the lagoon and a friend gave me his Bic that he had but was not using.  From 84 to 2000 I was hooked!  Sailing all over California, Hawaii, Florida and the east coast.  Even started a windsurfing club in Delaware and we had some fine adventures with 20+ members.

My future wife, Bridget, gave me a Sun Fish sailboat for my birthday in 1993 when we lived on the lagoon in Redwood Shores.  It was leaky and would take on a bunch of water but it got me out there.  My trusty golden Sierra would join me for sails and swimming. Hey boy!

In 1999, I bought a 16' wooden sailing dory and trailer for $450.  She needed work, but I jumped in and repainted her and dropped her in Lake Elizabeth for the first time.  She was an awesome boat with a retractable dagger board. She had a rig from a 505 sailboat and I took her to many of the nearby lakes, sloughs, lagoons and dams.  Once I got my feet wet, I started taking her out on the bay in San Leandro and Sausalito. The Honky Dory was a sweet ride!  My last sail, I almost got arrested for sailing naked on Quarry Lakes.  I gave her away in 2012 to a friend from the Haha.  Awesome times!

In 2000, I convinced two friends to form a partnership and purchase a nice 30' keel boat for sailing the bay.  I started the hunt and we found her quickly in Alameda.  She was a 1981 Newport 30.  My criteria for the perfect boat was this:  30', diesel, 6'4" headroom, legal head, sleeps 4, wheel steering and turnkey.  The Addiction had all this and more.  None of the partners had much experience and the Alameda Estuary proved to be a safe and beautiful spot to learn the ropes.  Soon we were taking out friends to the far reaches of the bay.  After a year or so, we took our first trip to the Delta. Then the Napa River and on to the Petaluma River.  All the while, having the time of our lives.  We are approaching 14 years of ownership and now have 6 partners and we each pay $3 per day to sail one of the greatest bay boats ever built!  She has brought so much pleasure and fun into our lives.  I have now sailed her over 1000 times and over 20,000 nautical miles!  In that time, I estimate I have introduced the bay to over 500 folks.  Thank-you Addiction!

In addition to all my bay sailing, I have done the Baja Haha (750 miles from San Diego to Cabo San Lucas) 3 times aboard other boats.  Chartered in the BVI's, Sea of Cortez and Belize.  Amazing trips all!!!  My next charter is in 2014 in the Grenadines.  I hope to purchase a late model 40' sailboat in 2017 and prepare for the trip of a lifetime to New Zealand and Australia via the South Pacific in 2018.  My friends will be joining me for different legs to bring the boat safely to Sydney.  We are calling it our Radical Sabbatical.  You can only imagine how much I am looking forward to this voyage.

Here is a toast to the next 2000 posts and sailing on the seas of our beautiful planet!  I hope you will join me in this grand adventure!

April Lat38 is Online and Downloadable

Fresh off the presses and for your reading pleasure.  Download it here.  Looks like they are releasing most of the boats from the Mexico impounding.  338 boats were restricted to their slips for no good reason.  One boat owner had a typo on his permit and was up against some huge fine for a clerical error made by a Mexican official.  He took off in the middle of the night and is now headed for San Diego in an attempt to flee the bureaucracy.  Hope he makes it.  The impounding of these boats has really upset the owners and has ended many cruisers life long dreams as many were stuck at the dock for up to four months.  Its a shame and I hope it never happens again.  The good news is, its mostly done and the Baja Haha will go on as scheduled in 2014.  I hope to join the migration from San Diego to Cabo as crew on one of the Haha boats.  This will be my fourth in five years!

Cosmos Redo

Hope you have been watching the first several Cosmos on TV.  Awesome TV!  Here is a look back at the original with Carl Segan.  You can watch all the old ones on Youtube (as well as the new ones).