Droning at Mav's with 35' Sets

12-20-14 and a stellar day on the San Mateo Coast!

Video: Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race Day 1 - Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race 2014

It’s a race which started as a cruise 70 years ago when nine little yachts set sail from Sydney to Tasmania. Now the Sydney to Hobart is recognized as one of the world’s most testing ocean races in the world.

The course:

Sailors race 628 nautical miles from a startline on Sydney Harbor to the finish on the Derwent River in Hobart, Tasmania.  In between is some of the most treacherous waterway in the world - Bass Strait. This stretch of water is renowned for steep, sharp seas which can cause disaster for yachts and their crews.  It was here in 1998 that six men lost their lives at sea in the worst storm on record.

Today, almost 120 yachts approach the starting line with the planet's fastest racing sleds vying for line honors at the 70th edition of the race. 

Watch the start of the race here.

Hobart Race 2004 - One Last Look Back

Happy Holidays to all Sailors!

Mind Blown

I am amazed at this guys exploits with his wing.  I love the thought of flying like this and Jean makes it look like child's play.  I also appreciate the danger of this sport and thus have never tried.  My theory is, the closer I am to ground...the better.  Sailing is a bit similar to paragliding in that in sailing, you are flying.  My wing is vertical instead of horizontal.  I also like be able to share the moment with other folks like you can on a boat.  Yeah, I think I will stick closer to the surface although it's looks so tempting to experience this amazing feeling of flight.  On one of the Haha adventures down the coast of Mexico, we were playing some volley ball at Santa Maria and a guy from the Haha lands with his wing on the beach.  He had hiked up the 1500' mountain, flew around the valley for 15-20 minutes and back to the beach.  I thought, how cool to sail to a beautiful spot, hike to the top and jump off.  What a thrill!  One of my goals before the trip across the Pacific is to take some lessons and learn the sport of kite boarding.  I windsurfed for 20 years on the bay so I hope the learning curve won't be too steep.  The great thing about having a kite on board your cruising boat, it's light and it does not take much space.  And you can whip it out (the kite board) almost anywhere there is wind.



Again, I think I will be sticking closer to the ground than these guys in the flick.

Holy Ship!

Storms Sink Boat, But Dog Swims to Safety

During last weeks storms in the Bay Area, a boat sank while the owner was away.  His dog was on board and was smart enough to swim to safety a mile away.  He was reunited with his ecstatic owner a few days later in what some are calling a "miracle".  Read the full story
here.

Heres's a quick vid of my boy Kona.

Giants Fall Classic to be Rebroadcast

With the Giants winning their third world series in 5 years, the talk has been of a dynasty team.  The Bay Area is bursting with pride over our boyz of summer.  CSBA (Comcast Sports Bay Area) is rebroadcasting the top games over the next few weeks so warm up those DVR's.  If you are not in the Bay Area, you can order DVD's of the series at MLB.com for about $60 (a gift idea for your Giants fanboy?), if you are so inclined.  I have been a big fan over the last 25 years and always watch a bunch of games on TV as well as sail to the games each summer.  It one of my favorite days of the month when we berth at South Beach and walk over to the game.  It actually costs less to park my boat there than my car at many of the local lots.  And their is no traffic by boat!  Go Gigantes!

'World Championship Classic’ on CSNBA
Wed., 7 p.m. — NLCS Game 5
Dec. 24, 7 p.m. — World Series Game 1
Dec. 26, 7 p.m. — World Series Game 4
Dec. 28, 7:30 p.m. — World Series Game 5
Dec. 29, 7 p.m. — World Series Game 7

The parade will also be broadcast on 12-25 at 10am and 1-1 at 9am if you are not too weary.

Where did the names of Months come from?

Pics of the Month

 Amsterdam!

Check out that dude at the top of the mountain, yeeha!

The holidays are upon us and more rain this week and most of the week.  It's all good.  Over the last 4 years the weather has been sublime with many winter days on the water.  Now is the time to replenish and recharge.  Planning a trip to the Grenadines this spring with a bare boat charter through
 Bare Foot Yacht Charters. If you have ever put one together, you know it's a chore getting folks to think ahead and put the cash on the line.  Will let you know how it goes.

Two Gals on a Boat

You are in your 20's and looking for adventure with your best friend from childhood.  You decide to buy an inexpensive boat and sail into the sunset.  Found this great blog with the above theme.  They decide to sail the great loop with a side trip to the Bahamas.  Join Kate and Jessie aboard their Cal 27 as the live life to the fullest.  I can't decide which one I like better as they are both so cute.  So wish I had done something like this when I was in my 20's. Oh well, my time will come!  Just 40 years later and on a beautiful Beneteau 42!  Check out their very cool
 blog and share their enthusiasm and adventure. 

Sailing Goals 2015

Wow!  What a year it has been for my family and I.  Lots of fun and travel (Caribbean, Hawaii and Mexico), business doing well, sailing a bunch and too much fun!  The big news on our boat was the transition to an electric motor from a 33 year old diesel.

 I set some sailing goals each year and its fun to look back and see where we have been. 

Here are last years goals:
Start looking at boats for the radical sabbatical to New Zealand and Australia departing 2018 for a 1.5 year adventure +
A 5 day trip to the Delta
Plan a trip for 2015 to the Grenadines +
More spinnaker sails
Sail in the 21st annual Baja Haha and the 2nd annual Socal Tata via Latitude 38 +
Six nights at anchor on the bay
Sail with John on his new to him 41' Islander +
Raft up in Clipper Cove
Sails to Giants day games +
Be safe! +

+ = Done!

Here are my goals for 2015:
Sail the Grenadines
Continue the search for the perfect boat to sail to the South Pacific
Sail to Napa
Take out more friends and family for day sails
Baja Ha Ha 2015
More night sails
Raft up Clipper Cove
Sail to Tomales Bay with Tex
Be very safe!

Some of my highlights included:
Sunset sail on Maui with 20 knots and a beautiful night
Many solo sails with Kona and our sail on Labor Day
All my friends who joined me this year on the Addiction
Cat sailing off the beach in Anguilla
Baja Ha Ha fun and the awesome beach parties
Cat sail in San Diego
Sail out the Gate in Feb with Hillary, Dave and John
Clipper Cove overnight and day sail to the ball game with John
The new electric engine is awesome!
Father's Day sail solo
Green flash then full moonrise off Magdalena Bay in MX
Day sail with Rich out to Raccoon Strait
Day sail with my best bud Steve from Delaware and his mastering the toe steering!

The years seem to get better and better as we sail along. I am one fortunate sailor and I hope the good fortune continues.  Here's to a fantastic 2015!  Cheers.

And here is one more bonehead move to finish off the year.

Hot Tug in Amsterdam

We are very excited to be the first people in Amsterdam with a Hot Tug, a wonderful Dutch-designed engineering marvel that is exactly what it sounds like: a hot tub with a motor. Why sit on a floating tour bus wearing headphones when you can glide along the canals in your bathing suit with a drink? This is the best and most unusual tour in Amsterdam and probably in the world.

You can rent a private hot tub boat or split a boat with strangers at 3pm daily. The boat holds six people plus the captain and we go out with a minimum of three people.

 Big storm heading for the bay and will hit us on Thursday.  They say it will be our biggest storm in 5 years. Lots of wind and snow in the Sierra Nevada.  Gusts to 45 on the bay.  Cowabunga!

Was Apollo 11 Faked?

It's always interesting to see what the conspiracy folks come up with when they scrutinize the minute details of an event.  However sometimes they hit the nail on the head and point out some thing very questionable.  In July of 69' when Armstrong and Aldrin walked on the moon, many think it was staged in an effort to beat the Russians to the moon.  I ran into a site that breaks down 10 such observations that deserve pondering.  Such as: Conspiracy theorists have pointed out that when the first moon landing was shown on live television, viewers could clearly see the American flag waving and fluttering as Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin planted it. Photos of the landing also seem to show rippling in a breeze, such as the image above which clearly shows a fold in the flag. The obvious problem here is that there’s no air in the moon’s atmosphere, and therefore no wind to cause the flag to blow.

Read all 10 here.

Nat Geo Pics of the Year

This is over the course of several years.  Stunning pics all.  And get on the water this weekend if at all possible, it's good for the soul.

Rainy with a chance of Rainbows

Fiji Vignette 3/3 from Taj Burrow on Vimeo.

We have had a rainy and stormy week in the Bay Area.  Lots of thunder storms and when the sun pops out in the late afternoon, some pretty cool rainbows.  Lord knows we need the moisture, however, it is doing nothing towards those spinnaker runs we love in the winter.

Bonehead Move of the Month/Year?

Volvo Ocean Race Accident.  Early Sunday Team Vestas Wind went aground on a reef on Cargados Carajos Shoals, Mauritius, in the Indian Ocean.  Fortunately, no one has been injured.  They have abandoned ship and are safe.  How do some of the top sailors in the world hit a charted reef at 18 knots?  A boat filled with many round the world sailors.

Lord knows and shit happens on the open ocean and in inland bays.  Just goes to show you that this can be a brutal sport.  Hopefully they will be able to get the boat off the reef at some point.

A Look Back at the 74' Sydney Hobart Race

With the 70th edition of the race a month away, let's look back to a simpler time when men wore baby oil and boats did not have self tailing winches.  1974 was the year and the winds were light.  The start of the race features a stalled tanker in the middle of the race course.  It's a very cool look back at these now vintage boats.  Go full screen.



Had a beautiful sail on Saturday on my friend Tex's new to him boat.  This is the second boat I have helped him find.  This one is a 76' Pearson 35'.  It was raining pretty good on Saturday morning.  One portion of the crew cancelled.  I was tracking the weather and new it was going to clear.  Headed up and the skies were blue and the wind was blowing.  We headed under electric motor and raised the sails.  Glorious!  We tacked past the pier and deep into Richmond.  Another tack and we were off to the city.  Tex is much shorter than I and has no problem with the boom that extends half way thru the cockpit.  He took the helm most of the day.  A quick run towards the barn and I am feeling sorry for the excellent sail my friends missed. Rain check!

Breaking: Bermuda Will Host Next Cup

My sources tell me that the America's Cup will be held in Bermuda in 2017.   The announcement should come later today from Team Oracle.  Speaking under the condition of anonymity, they went on to say that San Diego just does not have enough wind to fly these beasts (their words).  While their is little shock to their decision, it is disappointing that SF was dropped from contention due to the fact that Larry and the SF City Council did not get along.  Larry made some promises that he later bowed out of and the City claimed they were $11m in the hole after the races completed.  I think that was a very short sighted view on the part of the City as the world wide exposure from the event will pay dividends for years to come.  The excitement on those piers during the races is something that I hope we see again but doubt that it will come to be in my lifetime.  I wish the best to the future cups but I doubt we will ever see a race that was as exciting as we saw on the bay they call San Francisco!

The Best Sailboats of All Time

There are so many sailboats to chose from that many buyers take years to make their final decision.  What if you could chose any boat you wanted for your next cruise?  Would you go for speed and a modern design or maybe something that combines traditional lines with a bullet proof build?  What if you took a poll and asked folks to pick their top choices from a list?  Well that is what Cruising World Mag did.  And they came up with a wonderful list indeed. Check it here.  And start dreaming of tropical sunsets and iced adult beverages.  What would be your first pick for that cruise of a lifetime??

#13 is the boat I hope to sail to New Zealand and Australia in 2018/19.

Red Bull Youth Regatta

During the SF Americas Cup, they staged a weekend regatta with some of the top young sailors from around the planet.  They used the 45' cats that had been part of the World Cup races.  If you remember, the Oracle boats were being inspected for these races and they found some illegal weights in the bows that gave Oracle an edge in the light winds.   This resulted in a 2 race penalty for Oracle during the finals.  Even though they had won 3 races. Oracle was down 8-1 when they made some adjustments to the boat and crew and came back to win it all.  I digress, check out the vid and enjoy these great sailing moments.

Bonehead Moves Of the Month

Storms and much needed rain on the way to Cali.  Not much sailing at this time.  Hoping for a great couple of sails in December.

New Device WIll Alter SCUBA Diving Waterscape

A new invention looks set to change Scuba and diving in general. It’s shocking task lies in the idea of microscopic, nano scale ‘artificial Gills’, can effectively separate the oxygen from the water while diving, on demand. A series of tiny threads or strands have microscopic holes along their width, which are smaller than water molecules.

It’s called the ‘Triton Oxygen Respirator‘ (Image Below), a miniature but incredible device that will do away for the need to move bulky tanks on dives, and allow the dives to last much, much longer than can be had with current equipment.

Electric Motor Review - 3 Months in and Going Strong

Our diesel died in May after 33 years of faithful service.  We purchased the boat 14 years ago with any where from 3-6 partners on board and the boat out of the slip 6-8 times per month, so heavy usage over that time period.  She served us well.  We installed the electric motor in July and by mid August we were sailing again.  A few weeks after install, we had a small glitch when we exceeded 2000 rpms.  She stalled out.  We sent a note to our supplier and they sent us a new engine controller and we have been issue free since.  The motor has proved to be powerful enough to get us out of the harbor when the wind is blowing over 25 kts.  We mostly use the engine to get in and out of the harbor and to a lunch spot.  Plenty of juice to do that.  I have had her down past 50% only once and she has done fine.  We are very pleased with the new power plant and would recommend it highly as long as your range was under 15 miles or so.  There alot of boats that will need repower in the next few years and we highly recommend electric.  Our supplier was Electric Yachts of Southern California.

Here were the other power options we considered for our Newport 30.
Options:
Outboard old $1500
Outboard new $3000
Electric new $8000 (including batteries)
Diesel rebuild $8-10000
Diesel new $12 -14000

Submitted For Your Approval

Great to be back from the Haha but I am still thinking about all the fun we had as well as the sunsets and sunrises (and the full moon rise on the 6th just as the sun set).  If you ever get a choice in watch schedules, take the 4-8 time slot and you will see both each day (depending on time of year and latitude). 

A Day in the Life - Volvo Race Around the Planet

On The Cusp of a Hurricane - Baja Haha 21 Recap

 That's me enjoying the game and hammock.

 Turtle Bay

Hurricane Vance

Our adventure in to the 21st annual Baja Haha begins with a recent trip to San Diego.  I was visiting my son in San Diego two weeks before the 750 mile rally from San Diego to Cabo.  I had a few hours in the morning and thought I would head to the docks and see if I could snag a ride on this years voyage.  Sure enough, after knocking on a few hulls I met a gentleman who was heading down with his young family and he needed some help.  The boat is a 42' Waiquez ketch.  I told him I would return the following weekend and prepare to shove off for Mexico. 
This is my fourth Haha. In 2010, I joined Rainbow, a 36' cat with a crack crew.  In 2011, the boat I was on failed to make it SD and I joined Go For Broke, a 52' steel cutter that was overbuilt for MX cruising and we motored the whole way.  In 2012, another boat failed to make it to Cabo and I joined a young family with an 18 mo. old boy.  The boat was a 41' cutter.  All the trips were great and I learned much as I am preparing for my own cruise in 2018/19 to Australia and New Zealand. 
I joined this years boat on Sunday evening, the day before the start.  The crew is a family of four from BC.  The skipper is a pro mariner who owns a barge and a tug operation near Victoria.  His wife Tina and two kids of 5 and 7 years.  The boat is well prepared and I hope to learn a bunch from the seasoned captain.  In the morning, we head out to the parade and start.  There is little wind so we begin 3 days of motor sailing and very little sailing to our first stop at Turtle Bay.  We arrive and drop anchor at 1am and head to bed.
The highlight of the stay is the beach party.  I am in charge of setting up the volleyball net and bocce.  We are ready to go and I grab some lunch with my friends.  The games begin and the ball is very wet and difficult to hit.  We have a blast anyway and lose every single game.  Oh well, it was fun anyway.  My old sailing instructor is on the trip this year and it is great to hang with him.  We meet many others and the weather is perfect.  Head back to the boat and I am beat and go straight to bed.
The next morning, the Fleet Captain announces we will not be departing due to the hurricane the is churning near PV.  Hurricane Vance is still 700 miles away but we need to be cautious and see what develops.  We decide to go for a sail and the conditions are spectacular.  15-18 kts and sunny.  We catch a few fish along the way and head home.  Steve and I talk in the cockpit after dinner and have a great time.  Soon it is time to hit the hay but I linger on deck and enjoy the moon and stars. 
Sunday morning we are hoping to depart but there is alot of uncertainty with the weather.  We are getting conflicting reports about the depression and there is a chance we may stay another day.  The Poobah does a roll call of the 150 boats to determine if they want to go our stay.  The majority want to go but there is a large contingent that wants to stay and be cautious.  About 30 boats decide to depart and head in to the fray.  My skipper is gung ho and we hit the highway.  Officially, we have dropped out of the Haha.  We hit the outside of the bay and it is 15 knots and climbing.  All the sails go up and we are flying.  During the afternoon, we see gusts above 30 and the boat hits a high of over 10 kts,the waves are substantial as well.  We have some fresh fish for dinner and I retire for the evening.  Of all the Haha's I have participated in, this is the most wind I have encountered.  And one of the best sailing days as well.
During my 4am to 8am watch, I head out on deck to watch the stars and listen to some BS&T.  The seas are a bit lumpy as we head towards Santa Maria and the wind is in the 15kt range.  As we finish this leg, the winds come back up in to the low 20's.  We enter the bay near midnight with lots of shrimp boats near our path.  Steve has a great set up at the helm with a chartplotter and radar combo.  We enter the bay with about 20 boats already at anchor.  With the anchor down, we hit the hay.
Tuesday is spent on the boat, resting, swimming and listening to some of my favorite tunes over the newly installed speakers in the cockpit.  Its blowing 22 by 11am and we are having a great time aboard.  The rest of the fleet is beginning to arrive as they started a day later.  The whole hurricane issue was a nonfactor and all of us understand that the fleet captain needed to be cautious as he cannot put the fleet in harms way.  Thursday is the beach bash with a band, food and more vball.  More soon.


Looking back on our sail and day in Santa Maria:
Our sail into SM was sublime.  I joined the skipper on deck about 2 hours out.  Winds had picked up into the low 20's and we were cooking.  Lots of large shrimp boats were in the area and we stayed well clear.  The entrance to the bay is five miles wide so we do not expect any issues. We enter the bay towards the south side and head in.  A perfect landing and the anchor is down.  

Tuesday we spend the day on board and the wind is in the 20's most of the day.  I have a two hour nap in the afternoon and it is glorious.  Dinner is nice with some peppercorn steak.  Everyone heads to bed at nine and I stay up and enjoy the fine evening and some tunes in the cockpit. The bay is littered with over 100anchor lights which looks very cool.  I think about life and how wonderful it all is and how fortunate I am to be here.

Beach party today and I head in early.  By 11:30, the net is up and the breeze is there again. Up on the bluff is where the food and band are set up.  Lunch is served and I am the first in line.  During lunch I meet some fellow haha'ers and we have a nice time.  One of the gals is not getting along with her crew and she talks of jumping ship.   About 3pm, the wind has calmed down and I announce the volleyball game.  We head to the beach and the games begin.  Lots of laughter and good times ensue. My friend Steve and Sonny are there and we have some big fun. Head back to the boat for a quick meal and bed.   We depart at 5am and and the winds are 10-12". We put up all 3 sails and motor sail toward Cabo.  Have some fun with the kids and we have a green flash sunset and a full moon rise.  It's my 21st wedding anniversary and I shoot off a quick email to my wife thru sail mail.  

It now 530am and I am standing my last watch. Jupiter has been looming large the entire trip.   We should arrive in about 6 hours. It's been one of the best haha's ever and I hope to have many more.
One of the more amusing things that happened was my skipper Steve from the 2011 haha.  He did not join this year but was shading the group.  Just as we depart Turtle Bay, he arrives in the bay looking forward to the beach party.  His favorite part.  He breaks into the morning net asking about the party, sorry you missed it by a day.  Happened again in Santa Maria as we had to push the party up a day due to the extra day we spent in Turtle.  He again breaks into the morning net as we are all departing and asks about the beach party.  Sorry again Steve, you missed it!  I am sure his crew was even more bummed! 
We sure had some great weather along the way and we met some great folks as well.  Here's to another successful Haha and many more. Adios amigos!

-- Craig Russell s/v Addiction Newport 30 1981 Emeryville, CA

Haha Pics (from years past)

Departing: Baja Haha

Ahoy,

I depart shortly for the 21st Annual Baja Haha.  I will be joining a boat for the voyage from San Diego to Cabo.  We start on Monday and arrive in Cabo 10 days later.  There are 170 boats and 600 folks which is a very large group.  Our first leg is 325 miles to Turtle Bay.  A small fishing village in the middle of no where.  We will have baseball game with the locals on the first afternoon and a beach party on the second day.  Then a 250 mile run to Santa Maria Bay for another beach party with a band.  Another 24 hours and we will be in Cabo San Lucas, MX.  I will be seeing some old friends and meeting many new ones.  Wish me a bon voyage!


Start at the 5 min. mark for a look at the Hahahahahahahahah.  This is from last year and the only year I have missed out of the last 5.

Sailing Tip: Fairlead Positions

It took me a while to understand the positioning of the fairleads that control the shape of the jib.  Here is a great explanation.

Sunday Pics

We are on Mission Bay in San  Diego for the weekend.  There are several boat rental spots nearby.  One boat had no clue how to sail the boat.  They would tack and did not know you need to get the jib to leeward and they kept crashing into the rocky shore.  I ran out to advise them to release the jib sheet when you tack and secure on leeward.  They finally got it.  Also, we visited the wild animal park and went on safari and hand fed a white rhino.  Amazing.

Ha Ha Bound

Just got back from knocking on hulls for the 21st annual Baja Haha.  I found a boat with a small family heading down and will join them next week.  She is a French boat about 45' and well equiped for the trip.  I am feeling very lucky as this is my 4th Haha.  The event is a 750 mile rally from San Diego to Cabo San Lucas.  We have two stop overs in small bays along the way with the highlight being the beach parties which are always epic.  More beach parties when we arrive in Cabo.  This year we have a big fleet with over 170 boats and 600 friendly folks.  It's going to be an awesome trip and I will be sharing my log on this blog once the Haha is completed.  Can't wait to get out on the Pacific once more!

Financial Happiness

One thing about this blog is I know where some of my readers are from, but nothing else about the demographics of my readers.  If I have any younger readers (18-30), here is a great website that may help you find your way in our $$$ based world.  It's called Wall Street Playboys.  Its from several folks on Wall Street that give free advice to the younger set.  Their advice is spot on and it may give you some insight on how to shape your financial future (so you can buy that really nice Pacific Seacraft down the line).

In one of the posts, they were talking about starting your own company.  I decided to chime in in hopes of giving the younger readers some inspiration in starting their own business.  Here is my comment:

Hello All,
I came upon your blog and am very impressed.  I am in my mid 50's and have a son who just started college.  I plan to pass the website to him as the advice is spot on .  To echo some of these insights (and to help the younger readers), I started in the hotel biz out of college (my degree was in Hotel Mgt from UNLV).  I was in sales and working for Hyatt (grinding as they say on this site).  The money sucked and the hours were long.  I was going nowhere, but was always having a great time in life (lived in Palo Alto many years and life was outstanding)  It seamed I could never have more than $3k in my savings account.  Then I met some folks who were event planners at a convention booked at the hotel.  It was a female crew and they were having a blast as they worked the daily events.  I quit the Hyatt the next week and joined them.  I had a few year run with them in the Silicon Valley in the late 80's.  After learning the biz, I asked myself, why am I working so hard, making under $30k and they reap all the rewards?   I quit at the end of the year and started my own event planning company in the valley.  Here we are 22 years later and my wife and I run the biz out of our home and we have an excellent life and a very comfortable lifestyle.  If you can start a successful home biz, you will cut down on much of the stress in life  (being at work 7am (drag), commuting (drag), meetings, meetings, meetings (drag)). My happiness comes from making other people happy and that is what my company brings to me.  I just watched a vid that said why waste your time doing something you hate and getting fired when you can take a chance on something you love and be successful. Granted, alot of small businesses fail, but you never know unless you try.   I started with nothing so I had nothing to lose!

The bottom line: Find something you love and makes lots of money doing it.  Best of luck!

Houston, We Have Lift Off

One more from the Volvo Ocean Race.




Getting ready to crash the Baja Haha Rally from San Diego to Cabo San Lucas.  170 boats and 600 like minded folks for a 10 day, 750 mile sail down the Baja peninsula.  I don't have a boat yet but then again, that has been my story for the last two times I did this fun event.  Confidence is high and good times are on there way.  The adventure begins on October 27!

Thursday Pics