Pics of the Week

Had a couple nice night sails over the weekend.  Wind was in the teens and we were cooking across the bay. 

Pipe Dream

So Cool

Had a couple sails on the "new" boat.  Everything is working fine and am so happy to be back on the water.  Can't wait to get out again later this week.

Flying with Foils

Pics of the Weekend

Back in the Saddle (The Addiction Is In!!)

Back on June 13th, we lost our furler to a failed casting at the top of the mast.   The boat had hit something submerged in the water and the impact took down our 10 year old furling unit.  We put a claim into our insurance company and they paid for our misfortune.  We received our repaired boat on Friday.  Seven long summer weeks later.  We also replaced the standing and running rigging as well as the goose neck.  Not to mention fixing the hull and getting some fresh paint on the bottom.  After a repower to electric last year, the boat is in her best shape of her life (she is 34 years young).  In the last 3 years, we have invested $25k into her upkeep, repairs and maintenance.

I headed up to the boat on Friday to look her over.  The rigger (Scott Easom) did a wonderful job and I am one happy sailor.  I hope to take her out on Monday and hit the amazing SF breeze that will most likely be the typical 20-25 knots.

Here is the forecast:
TODAY...SW WINDS 5 TO 15 KT...INCREASING TO 15 TO 25 KT IN THE AFTERNOON. PATCHY FOG IN THE MORNING.

TONIGHT...SW WINDS 15 TO 25 KT...DECREASING TO 5 TO 15 KT AFTER MIDNIGHT. PATCHY FOG AFTER MIDNIGHT.

MON...SW WINDS 5 TO 15 KT...INCREASING TO 15 TO 25 KT IN THE AFTERNOON. PATCHY FOG IN THE MORNING.

I can't wait to go sailing again!

One thing I have noticed about our winds this summer.  We normally have northwest winds all summer long.  Not this summer.  Notice in the forecast that the prediction is for South West winds each day.  The bay water temp is 10 degrees warmer at 73 last week.  For some reason, (maybe the warm water mass off the coast) the low has shifted and are winds have changed. 

I am not sure if this relates to the above topic, I read somewhere that our fog levels have decreased by 20%-30% over the last 20 years.  Anywho, our beloved boat is ready and waiting for her next adventure!!

Hot Tub Ownership on the Cheap

Have you ever thought about owning your own hot tub?  Spending $5k for the tub and another $3k getting the power and set up just right.  It never seemed worth it.  Plus the power bill would be taking a hit.  Then one day you find a better solution.  For me, I was at a street fair and a vendor had a hot tub in his booth.  I asked him about it and he said it was a Soft Tub.  The biggest feature was that it uses a regular household plug.  That's interesting.  Anything else?  Well how do you get a hot tub in your back yard?  In my case, we would need a crane to pick it up over the house and drop it down into the back yard.  No, not the Soft Tube.  The Soft Tub is round and designed to roll thru the front door and out the back door.  Brilliant!  How much is your display model?  $5K!?!  Oh my.  Back to my/your original dilemma.  So of course my next step was to look on Craigslist.  I quickly found a Soft Tub for sale and went over to take a look.  Everything looked good and I paid the $1000.  I had my van, so I rolled the tub to the van and by myself, picked up the tub and placed it on top of the van, by myself.  Yes, by myself.  I tied her down the best I could and took off down the freeway and over the bridge.  Now this is not just any bridge.  This bridge goes over the south bay with winds to 25 and 30 knots each afternoon.  I have a great rack on top of the van and I trust it completely.  The tie down, not so much.  We hit the bridge with this huge tub on the roof and it it blowing 24 on the bay.  I pray that the tub makes it across the bay and not in the bay.  We make it and I pull the tub off the roof.  I roll it up thru the front door and proudly call out, " Honey, I'm home!".  I roll past the family room and out to the back patio.  I pull out the hose and fill her up.  Then the heating unit is connected and we are ready to party.  I have now owned the tub for 2 years and I love it.  I was able to position the tub next to the window.  With the TV on and the speakers turned towards me, I can watch the game or just relax with the music.  It's a dream come true for me and if I can do it for $1k, you most likely can do it for less.

But that's not all. We recently converted to solar thru Solar City and are saving a bundle on powering the tub and our household needs.  If you have any thoughts of considering solar, now is the time.  For us, there was no charge for the panels and we are saving $100 per month on power.  Check it out.

Top 20 Sail Blogs

If you are a sailor who enjoys reading about other folks sailing, here is a list of the top 20 sailing blogs.  Several of these I have been following for years.  I hope you find what you are looking for
here.

Almost There

We are getting close to having our boat back in the slip.  Back in the beginning of June, the fitting at the top of the mast failed and our furler came down.  We had some work done on the hull and a bunch done on the mast.  Speaking to the rigger yesterday, he is confident she will be back in the slip by the weekend.  Good news.  Last summer, the boat was out due to replacing the power plant and going electric.  Can't wait to get back on the water!!  I may have time on Monday.

Here are some pics you may enjoy.

Have a great week!

Napa River Sojourn

Just back from a great sail up and down the Napa River.  We had some big winds to push our 41 foot cruiser up the river to arrive in downtown Napa.  We rode bikes to 4 local wineries.  Met up with some friends for dinner.  And had a great time.  The sail home was in huge winds from the wrong direction.  And we made it back to the slip with out any mishaps.  Good times as usual up in wine country.  Kona had a wonderful time meeting other boaters and dogs near the dock.  He may have had the most fun of the 4 of us. 

Carnage on the Glacier

Went up to see the boat the other day.  She has been in insurance limbo for the last 6 weeks.  Thankfully our claim was paid by BoatUS.  One of our partners hit something in the water back in mid June.  It caused the casting at the top of the mast to fail and the furler came down.  With our insurance claim, we are getting a new furler and the ding on the bow fixed.  Along with that we got the bottom painted and then with the mast off the boat, we elected to do a bunch of upgrades.  We will have a new goose neck, halyards and shrouds.  If all goes according to plan, she is going to be back in the slip this weekend.

This is the second summer in a row we have missed a chunk of summer sailing.  Last summer, she was offline due to a dead engine.  It took us good 10 weeks to decide on a plan, remove the old Yanmar and install a new electric engine.  With most of the mast work almost complete, we will have a brand new boat!  Well, kind of.  The $20k in improvements over the last year are huge.  We just gave this boat 20 more years (she is 34 years young at the moment) of amazing sailing on the bay.  It was a great feeling receiving a check from BoatUS for almost $10k!  I can't wait to throw off the lines and take her for a spin.  I am busy with events and a little vacation, so I expect my next sail on Addiction won't be until the first week of August.

On Sunday, we will be sailing up the Napa River for a few days on my buddy John's boat.  She is a 40' Islander from the mid 70's.  John picked her up a few years ago to get into the charter trade.  He would like to do some charters from the bay up to Napa and this is a test run.  We went up in September of 2012 on my boat and he was so impressed with the fun we had (as well as the fantastic sailing), he decided it might be a great trip to sell to clients.  We sail to downtown Napa and head off to wineries on our bikes for some tasting and fun.  We will be hooking up with friends along the way.  It's difficult to beat the Napa Valley if you love food, vino and natural beauty.  And being able to sail there is just icing on the cake!  Wish us a bon voyage.

Check back next week to read about our trip.

Surfer Attacked During Finals in J-Bay

Mick Fanning is lucky to still be getting tubed after a shark attack as he waited for a wave during the final heat at J-Bay in South Africa.  He was so stoked to still be alive, he was quoted as saying he may never compete again. 

Fanning has won the world championship several times and is one hell of a rider.  Check out his highlight reel below. 

Rowing to Hawaii

 From the blog of 4 women who are rowing to Australia from SF.  They are about to arrive for a stop in Hawaii. 

For the 60 good days there has to be at least a couple not so good. The last few hours have been among my most frustrating so far and I made a deal with myself to share the real journey, with its ups and its downs, so I will write about this dip instead.

We are now 287 nm from Honolulu and mentally and physically, I think we’re all very ready to make landfall.

The last 24 hours have been challenging. We’ve had big swell and high winds in the right direction but a counter current that has halted our progress dramatically and meant we have been travelling at a very dishearteningly low speed.

This close to Hawaii, with the end now in sight, everything seems a little more urgent.
We’re ready to arrive.

All the clothes we own are filthy and always damp, we’re tired and to be honest, a little sea weary. Everything smells of fish, feet and sweat! Our electrical devices are dying and we’ve run out of snack packs. We’re all feeling a little bruised and battered.
It’s time…

The sea state was uncomfortable to row in during the day and even more so at night. I lost count of the number of times I bashed my own knees, shins, thighs, groin and stomach with the oars as they got submerged by a wave and then released with force.

With no moon for most of the night shifts, we were engulfed in an impenetrable black darkness that disguised the arrival of waves. We rowed with an expectant alertness and quiet resignation of the incessant pitch and roll of the boat.
It’s exhausting and not very pleasant but we all took it in our stride.

Inside the airless cabin the situation was also trying. We lay in a pool of sweat and rocked back and forth knocking against one another, every time Doris moved.

This was also, without a doubt my worst 24 hour’s day’s sleep so far. with an average of about 3 hours.

On my awake after my second night shift I was preparing for the 2 hour row and putting sudocrem on my behind when a huge wave lurched me forward head first into the switch panel. As both my hands were being used at the time to apply said cream, I had nothing to break my fall except for my…head. It was quite a thump and I swear I actually saw tweetie birds/stars like the cartoons.

Must have been quite amusing to witness but let me tell you – it was really quite horrendous at the time!

We all know how quickly things change – so here’s hoping that by the time you are all reading this blog the current is finally with us.

Read more here.

Pics of the Week

                                                 An old ship found under the streets of SF.

The boat has been on the hard going thru an insurance claim.  We are nearing completion of the claim and the work is getting done.  We hope to be back in the water next week.  Can't wait.

Cruising the BVI's

Looks like they are having a blast!

Skateboarder Prank

This is epic!  I love the look on the other skaters faces.

Letter from Columbus

After Columbus arrived in the Indies (his first of four trips there) and started exploring the islands, he sent a letter back to Spain to tell his superiors about these new lands:
"This island and all the others are very fertile to a limitless degree, and this island is extremely so. In it there are many harbours on the coast of the sea, beyond comparison with others that I know in Christendom, and many rivers, good and large, which is marvellous. Its lands are high; there are in it many sierras and very lofty mountains, beyond comparison with that of Teneriffe. All are most beautiful, of a thousand shapes; all are accessible and are filled with trees of a thousand kinds and tall, so that they seem to touch the sky. I am told that they never lose their foliage, and this I can believe, for I saw them as green and lovely as they are in Spain in May, and some of them were flowering, some bearing fruit, and some on another stage, according to their nature. The nightingale was singing and other birds of a thousand kinds, in the month of November, there where I went. There are six or eight kinds of palm, which are a wonder to behold on account of their beautiful variety, but so are the other trees and fruits and plants. In it are marvellous pine groves; there are very wide and smiling plains, and there is honey; and there are birds of many kinds and fruits in great diversity. In the interior, there are mines of metals, and the population is without number. Española is a marvel".

You can read the entire letter here.

Time Warp

Adventure Is Calling from Shane Black on Vimeo.

Let's stop for a minute and think about what an amazing rock we dwell on.  This planet has been rotating around our spectacular sun for 4.5 billion years.  By way of the extremest of luck, our distance from this star (91 million miles) creates a perfect environment for the many plant, insect, reptile, fish, and animal species that inhabit it.  Add the fact that over 71% of our earth is covered with H20, and you have one amazing spinning ball.  And to think you can get in a sail boat and sail these waters and circle the globe, it just makes the knees shake.  And finally, that you can harness an awesome thing called wind to push you all the way around, it begins to boggle the mind.

The point of all this is that we live in an amazing place and time.  The time is now to make the most of our time here and live our dreams.  You can thank me later.  

Extreme is My Middle Name

This does not look like much fun to me!

My Green Flash

A few years ago in mid February, I was out with my boy Sierra (our first Golden Retriever and sailing buddy) for a day sail.  It was late afternoon on a cool, crisp day.  We were out near Alcatraz when I noticed that the conditions were ripe for a green flash!  I started tacking back and forth so that the sun would be setting right in the middle of the Golden Gate Bridge.  As it hit the horizon, a huge green flash struck and shot up into the sky!  I let out a loud yelp and it was my first flash on my boat.  What a treat.  As luck would have it, someone in Berkeley (about 3 miles away) happened to have a nice lens on a good camera and caught the flash as I was passing by!  I happened to see the photo online and as there were very few boats out on this Monday afternoon, there we were in the photo!  Our lucky day indeed!

Explanation of the phenomenon called the Green Flash:

As the sun slips below the horizon the top edge of it briefly 'flashes' green. You quickly look at your drink - you don't remember ordering absinthe - but rest assured, the chances are you have been lucky enough to see the elusive 'green flash'

What causes it?
As light passes from the vacuum of space into the atmosphere, which acts like a prism, it slows down by 0.03%. This causes the light to bend or refract towards the surface of the earth. The white from the sun is made up of many different colours of light, all of which have a different wavelength. The wavelength (or colour) of light affects how much it is refracted on entering the atmosphere, with red light refracted the most and blue least (as in rainbows).

Imagine the image of the sun as being made up of red, green and blue images. Light from the 'red image' will be refracted more than that from the green and blue. So, the 'red image' will appear lower than the green, which will similarly appear lower than the blue. At sunset, or sunrise, this effect is intensified as light travels through a slightly thicker atmosphere. As the sun disappears below the horizon, the 'red image' will disappear first and the blue last.
The atmosphere causes blue light to be scattered more than red or green - the reason why the sky appears blue - so light from the 'green image' - the 'green flash' - will normally be the last thing you see as the sun disappears below the horizon.

On very rare occasions, the atmosphere may be clear enough to allow some of the blue light to reach us and cause a 'blue flash' as the sun sets.

Why don't you see a green flash every time the sun sets?
The phenomenon lasts only a fraction of a second, so unless you know where to look and when, the chances of seeing one are very slim indeed. Viewing conditions need to be just right too.

Optimal viewing conditions
Watching the sun set over an ocean horizon on a clear evening will be a good start, as you will have an uninterrupted view through clear unpolluted air. Your line of sight should be almost parallel to the horizon and you need to really concentrate at the top edge of the sun as it is about 98% set. If you are lucky, you will see the top edge of the sun turn green for a brief moment, before disappearing below the horizon.

Former BBC Broadcast Meteorologist Byron Chalcraft said "I have looked for it during quite a few sunsets but have only seen it once! The sun was setting over the sea on a nice clear evening in Cornwall and immediately after the top of the sun's disc went below the horizon there was a brief, bright green flash." Colleague Peter Gibbs hasn't been so lucky "I've looked long and hard at many a sunset, but never caught a glimpse!".  If you blink your eye at the wrong time, you may miss it.  That's how fast it can happen.

Take Care!
Even with the sun low in the sky, concentrated observation with the naked eye can still cause damage to your eyesight, be careful not to look at the sun directly until it is almost over the horizon.  Good luck and keep looking for a clear night over the ocean to catch this amazing spectacle.  And if your friends don't believe you when you mention the green flash...keep up the faith as I have seen about a dozen in my lifetime.

Irony is Ironic

About a week ago I wrote about fixing our old boat.  Then a few days later, we had our furler come down due to a failed casting at the top of the mast.  One of my partners hit something and the furler broke off.  More to fix!  It may be a while till we are on the water.  I am off to the Brittney coast of France to explore their maritime heritage and explore the region.  It would be great if a sailing opportunity presents itself.  The Bay of Biscay is a sailors paradise!

Best of Burning Man

The Bioluminesent Slug - our camp's two story art car 2014 sound machine!

 

I attended last years edition of Burning Man in Black Rock Desert.  My wife and I joined 30 other burners in a camp called High Maintenance.  Each night, part of the group prepared a gourmet dinner with fine wines.  It was amazing.  The highlight was our art car.  Charlie manned the helm each day and night for our pilgrimage to the Playa.  We picked up random strangers and gave them a ride to where ever we were going.  We met all sorts of people that were ecstatic to be at this extravaganza.  We even picked up a wedding party and took them to a make shift chapel and they got married as we blasted the tunes.  If you are on the fence about going...I say go!  It will be the best thing you ever did!

Scott London has been documenting the festival for the last 10 years.  He has done an outstanding job of picking the right lighting, contrast and background.  Check out his photo library here.

Here are a few samples of his fine work.

An Inspiration

One more!

15 Years of Repairing a 34 Year Old Boat

We purchased Addiction in 2000.  At that time, she was 19 years young (1981, she was built in Long Beach, Ca) and had 3 previous owners.  She was in pretty good shape but there were issues on the horizon.  The folks we bought her from seemed to have let her sit for long periods.  Once we started taking her out for long day sails on the winds of the San Francisco Bay, things started to break and fail.  It seemed every time we went out, some thing happened that would need repair or replacement.  First it was the water pump to say "no mas".  Then the batteries, and eventually the rudder needed a major overhaul.  The big projects (meaning expensive) have been the "butt cut" on the mast (a corroding base needed 4' taken off to be replaced by a hard material), a new dodger, roller furling, and finally a new engine (electric now).  It's been a long process and things continue to break, just on a less frequent basis.  If you add it up, I guesstimate we have spent an average of $9000 per year over the last 15 years for the care and feeding of our 30 foot sailboat.  That's $135k!  And this is a very modest sailboat.  The good news is, we have 6 partners to share the expenses.   We have old sails and we do much of the repairs ourselves (including taking out the old engine and installing our electric power plant).  It's been an amazing journey and we have had the time of our lives with this wonderful vessel.  The bottom line is:  I can not imagine my life without this boat!  I look so forward to my days on the water and the good times and incredible sailing grounds of this unbelievable body of water we live on.  The combination of wind, mountains, bridges, fog, cityscape, and natural beauty are unmatced anywhere on our planet!

I plan to make a video of some of the major repairs and will post it here on Monday.

 

Addiction on the 2012 Delta Doo Dah Rally 

Sidenote:  This picture almost ended up on the cover of Lat38.  We were trumped by a little race pic taken on the bay called...America's Cup!

The Winsurfing Movie

Found this gem on youtube.  There is also a II movie out there.  Enjoy!



Warriors win game 4 to even the series.  Welcome back home boyz!

Better Than the Movie "Wind"?

Received a note from Rob:

Better than Wind
I recently watched a movie on Youtube called Turning Tide. It was a French film, beautifully captioned into English about the Vendee Globe Race.  It was easily the best ocean race cinematically filmed I have ever watched. It beat the heck out of “Wind” not to mention the Robert Redford disaster that was a joke hardly worth the price of admission.  Turning Tide is about 90 minutes long and it’s a feast for any offshore racer’s eyes.
- Rob Peters; Halifax, Nova Scotia

 Check it out and send a comment. 

The History of Recorded Music (according to Apple)

They say this new service will change the way we consume music.  Hype or jive?  We will find out on 6/30...

Do You Remember Your First Time??

Have You Ever Tried This?

Too much fun!

Monster Multi's

Lots excitement and chatter about our home team:  The Golden State Warriors!  The team has been riding a wave of success over the last 8 months.  We have been so mediocre for the last 40 years that this is a momentous occasion.  I watched most of the games this year on TV and this team is exciting to watch.  Because their bench is so deep, Lebron is going to have his hands full.  And check out the defense of the Dubs.  It's going to be a great series.  Warriors in 5!

I am off to San Diego this weekend for a work gig.  99% of our events are in the bay area.  Should be a great trip with a pool party, beach party, food truck bonanza and more.  About a 9 hour drive...but I love road trips.  Fair winds.

Ted's Great Race - 79' Fastnet Race

The 1979 Fastnet race was the twenty-eighth Fastnet race, a yachting race held generally every two years since 1925 on a 605-mile course from Cowes direct to the Fastnet Rock and then to Plymouth via south of the Scillies. In 1979, it was the climax of the five-race Admiral's Cup competition, as it had been since 1957.
A worse-than-expected storm on the third day of the race wreaked havoc on over 306 yachts taking part in the biennial race, resulting in 18 fatalities (15 yachtsmen and 3 rescuers). Emergency services, naval forces, and civilian vessels from around the west side of the English Channel were summoned to aid what became the largest ever rescue operation in peace-time. This involved some 4,000 people including the entire Irish Naval Service's fleet, lifeboats, commercial boats, and helicopters.

AIS on Your Phone

AIS (Automatic Identification System) has been a nice addition to the boating world.  It provides a chart with ship and boat locations as well as info about the vessels.  Many recreational boats have them as well as the big ships, which are required to have them.  You can download Shipfinder for both iPhones and Android.  It has saved me a couple times on the SF Bay.  When I see a ship coming thru the Gate, I fire up SF on my iPhone and it tells me which port the boat is heading to, speed, origin and what type of credit card the Captain uses (kidding about the last one).  Anyway, if the boat is heading my way, I can take evasive maneuvers way before it gets close.  With these monsters moving between 14-16 kts, it's nice not to have to tangle with them.  I also got into a foggy situation in the middle of the night and it was great to be able to "see" what was around me.  Combining that with my nav app, iNavx, we knew where we were in relation to Alcatraz and Angel Island.  Peace of mind is a wonderful thing.  If you sail a bunch or if you get out only a few times a year, this is a great app to have in your back pocket.  You must have cellular reception for this to work on your phone.  I plan to install a real AIS package on my next boat for our sail to New Zealand.  There are two types of systems.  One is just a transponder and the other is a receiver and transponder.  I hope to get the latter.