Pics of the Week

 Below is low low tide at Lands End at Cabo San Lucas.  Baja California Sur, MX

Bonehead Move of the Week

The eastern Pacific is teaming with wildlife at the moment.  Because of the warmer water (El Nino) tons of food is available to the lager mammals.  We are seeing humpbacks and blue whales in unprecedented numbers off the coast.  And folks are getting too close.  These folks were lucky and got back to shore without major injuries.

Had an amazing sail on Monday.  Sunday was my bday and my friends and I celebrated by having an annual beach party at Montara.  I was beat on Monday and decided to extend the celebration.  My favorite crew member, Kona and I hit the boat at about 11:30.  The wind was just starting to come up on another stunning day.  At the last channel marker, we raised both sails in a 10 knot breeze.  Off on a port tack, we split the pier and were off for a fantastic reach towards Angel.  12 knots of wind and Kona and I head to the bow as the coast is clear.  I love letting the boat steer herself and she is good at it.  We make a tack in the lee of Angel and then one more gets us to Craig's Cove on Angel.  Kona and I swim to the beach and play fetch for a while.  It's one of the warmest days this summer and romp nude in the sand.  What a day!  We head back and the wind is in the high teens so we go with jib only for a run around the island.  We head to the barn in 20 knots and then crawl into the v-berth for a nice nap.  Happy Birthday to me!

What To Do With My 100' Sled

Go racing of course!



Sydney-Hobart Race aboard Ragamuffin going 38 knots downhill!  Full screen only!

Headed out last Saturday night to some huge winds due to Tropical Depression Linda.  She was a hurricane down in Baja but as she headed north, she brought cloudy skies and 35 knot winds to the bay.  At 7pm, I headed out and it was pretty rough.  Stayed out in the swells and gusts for 1.5 hours and headed in with my tail between my legs.  The boat did fine.

On Sunday, we had a crew of 9 heading out.  Winds were brisk as we motored out the channel under electric motor.  We raised the jib for a sail to Clipper Cove for lunch.  Kona and I swim to the beach.  After lunch, we raised the main and headed towards Angel.  Winds are building and we sail smartly.  We hit Racoon and spirits are high.  We let several of the novices take the helm and comedy ensues.  This trip had lots of smiles and laughter.  We sail thru Racoon and circumnavigate Angel.  We head home on a blistering run to the barn and are home in no time.  What a great sail and loads of fun!

Talk Like a Pirate Day 9-19

Ahoy Me Hearties, it's Talk Like a Pirate Day on Saturday.  First a little history lesson:  Way back in 1995, John Baur and Mark Summers were playing raquetball.  As they were flailing towards a ball, one of them yelled "Aarrgh" and soon they were firing pirate phrases as fast as the ball, around the court. They found it fun to throw out pirate phrases once in a while and decided to do it once a year. They determined that September 19th would be the big day (based on Mark's ex-wife's birthday).  They kept it up for a few years with friends and were having some fun with it.  Some how, they got a hold of famous newspaper columnist,  Dave Barry.  He wrote a story about it and became their spokesperson for the holiday.  From there it has become an international holiday of sorts.



Handy phrases and vocab:

Ahoy: Hey!
Avast: Stop!
Aye: Yes
Black spot: to be 'placin' the black spot' be markin' someone for death.
Booty: treasure
Buccanneer: a pirate who be answerin' to no man or blasted government.
By the Powers!: an exclamation, uttered by Long John Silver in Treasure Island!
Cat o' nine tails: whip for floggin' mutineers
Corsair: a pirate who be makin' his berth in the Med-...Medi-...that sea 'tween Spain and Africa, aye!
Davy Jones' Locker: the bottom o' the sea, where the souls of dead men lie
Doubloons: pieces of gold...
Fiddlers Green: the private heaven where pirates be goin' when they die.
Furner: a ship which be yer own, not one ye steal an' plunder.
Gentlemen o' fortune: a slightly more positive term fer pirates!
Go on the account: to embark on a piratical cruise
Grog: A pirate's favorite drink.
Jack: a flag or a sailor
Jolly Roger: the skull and crossbones, the pirate flag!
Keelhaul: a truly vicious punishment where a scurvy dog be tied to a rope and dragged along the barnacle-encrusted bottom of a ship. They not be survivin' this.
Landlubber: "Land-lover," someone not used to life onboard a ship.
Lass: A woman.
Lily-livered: faint o' heart
Loaded to the Gunwales (pron. gunnels): drunk
Matey: A shipmate or a friend.
Me hearty: a friend or shipmate.
Me: My.
Pieces o' eight: pieces o' silver which can be cut into eights to be givin' small change.
Privateer: a pirate officially sanctioned by a national power
Scallywag: A bad person. A scoundrel.
Scurvy dog!: a fine insult!
Shiver me timbers!: an exclamation of surprise, to be shouted most loud.
Son of a Biscuit Eater: a derogatory term indicating a bastard son of a sailor
Sprogs: raw, untrained recruits
Squadron: a group of ten or less warships
Squiffy: a buffoon
Swaggy: a scurvy cur's ship what ye be intendin' to loot!
Swashbucklin': fightin' and carousin' on the high seas!
Sweet trade: the career of piracy
Thar: The opposite of "here."
Walk the plank: this one be bloody obvious.
Wench: a lady, although ye gents not be wantin' to use this around a lady who be stronger than ye.
Wi' a wannion: wi' a curse, or wi' a vengeance. Bol

Burning Man Meets Hunger Games

I had hoped to go to BM this year but could not make it due to a family commitment.  Last year was a complete blast with 30 friends and an art car named the Phosphorescent Slug.  Planning to head up next year.

Here are some great pics from this year's burn.  Click here. 

Off to a day sail with 9 today aboard the Addiction.  Stand by to tack!

Adventurer of the Year 2014

“People ask me how old I am, and I say, ‘I am not old! I am only 67 years young!'” laughs intrepid kayaker Aleksander Doba.

On April 19, 2014, Doba, who is now 68, paddled the final stroke of his 7,716-mile transatlantic journey, docking OLO, his 23-foot kayak, in a marina in New Smyrna Beach, Florida. The Polish native had departed from Lisbon, Portugal, on October 5, 2013, with the intention of paddling 5,400 miles across the Atlantic's widest point and arriving in Florida in mid-February. But storms and equipment failure threw Doba off course, tacking an additional 1,300 miles and two months onto a journey that already would have broken the record for the longest ever solo kayaking voyage. He is one of two people in the world to kayak across the Atlantic without a sail. No one had ever kayaked across open water for this many miles before his journey.

Doba traveled an average of 30 miles a day, often paddling at night, when the temperatures dropped. He slept no more than six hours a day in multiple installments, crammed into his cockpit on his side among five months' worth of food and equipment. Once he got far enough out from the shore, he spent most of the trip naked, deciding it was more comfortable.
Read more
here.

Life Changing

30 years ago (1985), I discovered what sailing was really about.  I had a wonderful girlfriend that worked for Apple.  We had moved in together in San Mateo on the lagoon at Leo J. Ryan Park.  Our apartment was a one bedroom on the lagoon.  A friend of mine gave me a windsurfer for the summer.   It was a Bic with a very basic rig.  No matter, I ripped it up day after day and had a blast.  A storm came through and I had my first night sail on the lagoon.  From there, I progressed through 12 more years of heavy duty windsurfing all over the bay and delta.  60-70 days a season.  25-35 knots all the time!  I loved it.  Windsurfing is alot like the freedom of winter skiing.  But there is a huge difference.  When I head to a ski resort like Beaver Creek in Colorado, the skiing is awesome, but I need to stay on the trails and inbounds.  When I windsurfed, there were no boundaries or trails and I could sail anywhere I wanted, whenever I wanted.  Total freedom.  It's the same with sailing a boat.  I was out the other night on Addiction and there was no one out but me.  The sun was setting and I had this amazing moment of clarity:  I was born to be on the water!  Since I was three, I have been in or on the water.  Swimming, diving, snorkeling, water skiing, SCUBA, kayaking, canoeing, house boating, barging, sculling, windsurfing, white water rafting, surfing, skim boarding, jet skiing, life guarding, boogie boarding, sailing, hot tubbing, Hobie catting, water polo, Marco Poloing, cruising, banana boating, making love and dogie paddling in and on this watery planet.  I was born to sail this amazing planet.  And I will.

Pics of the Week

We are up in Napa this week enjoying some fine wine and family.  Talking to my fam on the street in Calistoga and my bud Travis from the 2010 Haha walks by.  Great to see him.  Heading out for a sail on Sunday.

Why I Love Our Newport 30

We have owned our 34 year old boat for 15 years!  The average boat ownership lasts a little bit over 2 years.  We have repaired and replaced most of the major items on the boat.  One of the big reasons I love this boat so much is because of the guy who designed it, Gary Mull.  Whatever he did to the hull is magic.  Thursday's sail is a case in point.  We set sail in about 20 knots with a bit of jib flying.  My friend John was driving us towards Angel Island.  I took over and released the helm.  For the next 30 minutes or so, the boat sailed herself to our lunch spot off a beach in Tiburon.  Effortless, easy sailing with no one at the helm.  Do most boats do this?  Not like ours.  Once you have the correct amount of sail up, she takes over and does the rest.  Gary designed a slew of boats including Santanas, Newports and Rangers to name but a few.  He was one of the most successful designers of the 20th century.  He passed away many years ago but I wish he was still around and I could take him for a sail and show him the magic he has created on the water.

Crew Party

Headed over the the Haha crew party last night to try and hook up with a boat.  I met several skippers who said they would be in touch.  Hopefully I will get on one of their boats!  My niece in in town for a visit from NYC and today we will head out for a sail.  The forecast is for winds in the 20's and temps in the high 60's.  It's sunny now and looks to be a wonderful day on the bay!



Too much fun!

Hydroptere History Flick (one of the fastest boats on the planet)

We saw this amazing boat in SF in 2012.  They were waiting for a weather window to Hawaii in an attempt to break the LA to Honolulu record.  They got bored with the light winds of LA, so they took a trip up the coast to SF where the winds are plentiful.  During one of the Americas Cup World Series races, they flew by us at 35 knots.  This amazing sailing group owned the world speed record at 64+ knots a few years ago.  They finally got a start on the Transpac record in June of this year.  It was the first time a flying hydrofoil had crossed an ocean.  Unfortunately, the conditions were light and they had to dodge a huge patch of debris which caused them to lose much time going around it.  They plan to try again in the future, maybe next summer when the conditions are best.  Bon voyage!

Hold on to your hat!

Get out on the water if you can!

How to determine if you are on a collision course

When I first started sailing the bay, I was very panicked that I was going to hit every boat in my vicinity.  Then a friend told me about the Nichol's Effect.  This is a law that has saved me many times.  Let's say you are sailing on a port tack and donnot have the right of way over a boat heading across your bow 100 yards away.  Do you need to tack to avoid him?  Not if you use this handy technique.  If there is land behind the boat, use that as your gauge.  Look at the boat and the land behind it.  If the land is moving, you are not on a collision course.  Good news!  Now if the land is moving from bow to stern, the boat will pass in front of you.  Stern to bow and it goes behind you.  If there is no movement of the land as the boat moves, be prepared to take evasive action.  If you are on the ocean with no land in sight, use a stanchion or some other part of your boat, to determine his course (a bearing compass works well too).  When I sail the bay, I assume no one knows the rules of the road (which everyone should know) and I always give everyone else the right of way in questionable situations.  Get out on the water and try out this law and amaze your friends with your sailing acumen.

How Not to Gybe a Kite

Gybing the kite has got to be the most difficult maneuver in sail handling.  On the bay, I try my best to avoid it.  I set myself up for the run home and make sure I can make the channel without the gybe.

Make sure you watch the vid to the end.

Weekend Pics

Fantastic Sail Out the Gate

We headed out shortly after 11 for the best sail of the year!  Arnie, Mike, Ron, Sean, Steve and Stacey were aboard for the day sail.  We hit the last channel marker and there was no wind.  We motored for a mile or so and there is a wind line ahead.  The sails are raised and off we go in about 10 knots of wind.  It quickly builds and we reduce sail by furling the jib a bit.  That's better.  We have two options:  Sail to Angel Island for some picnicing or sail hard and head out the Gate towards the ocean.  We opt for the later and begin our journey towards destiny.  The wind continues to build as we head west.  We reef the jib once more and sail comfortably.  We hit the Gate and spirits are high.  Arnie tells us of his recent sail trip from Hawaii to SF.  Their boat hit something in the middle of the night and they had to abandon ship.  A nearby freighter picked them up and took them to Panama.  We tack a few more times and realize it's getting late.  We turn to head home and raise the spinnaker for a glorious run for the barn.  7.5 knots to 8.5 knots is the norm.  With new bottom paint, the Addiction is flying.  After sailing hard for 4 hours to get out, we make it home in a bit over an hour.  The spinnaker comes down as we near the channel and I am one grateful sailor.  Our boat has brought so much fun and happiness into our lives.  I could not be more thankful for such a splendid day on the water.  My crew mates share my feelings.  This is one sail that will be embedded into our memory banks for many years to come.

Twenty Eight Feet: life on a little wooden boat from kevinAfraser on Vimeo.

Point Panic

Hope you'all have a great weekend.  I am taking out a slew of folks for a day sail today.  If the winds are from the right direction, it's a good day to head out the Gate.  We shall see.  On another note.  The Baja Haha is coming up in 8 weeks.  This is the 150 boat rally from San Diego to Cabo.  750 miles down the Baja coast.  This will be my 5th trip down the coast on other peoples boats.  The crew party is coming up and good chance to meet potential skippers looking for crew.  I will keep you posted.

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!