Pic of the Day

The Orca and The Dog

Orca & Dog from Maria Chantelle Tucker on Vimeo.

I had a scary situation with my dog and a seal at Lover's Point in Pacific Grove. I was out kayaking with my dog and a seal came up right next to us. It was an open kayak so Sierra could have easily jumped overboard. I turned quickly and headed for the beach with the seal in pursuit. My command of "Stay!" to Sierra was working. The seal followed us up to the beach and then swam away. Not sure what would have happened had Sierra jumped in. Glad I didn't have to find out.

Dogs and seals are closely related on the evolutionary chart. Not only are they both members of the order Carnivora, but pinnipeds (seals, sea lions, walruses, etc.) are members of the suborder Caniformia, which literally means "dog-shaped carnivores". This also includes bears ... as well as a superfamily that includes otters, weasels, raccoons, skunks, and red pandas.

Everything You Wanted to About Google (But Were Afraid to Ask)

Google to start selling coffee so we can browse the web and click on ads for longer periods of time.

Cool Camera

I like the concept, but is it real?

Scenes From a Storm in Perth

Abby to Round the Horn on Tuesday

Its been a pretty nice, normal day out here. The wind has been a little lighter. I've had about 25 knots all day occasionally picking up to 30-35. I've been making around 8-9.5 knots with just my little stay sail up! I had been worried that pulling down my whole big main sail would decrease my speed quite a bit, but I was happy to find that it hardly slowed me down at all and is making it a lot easier for my auto pilot to stay on course. I have been gybing at least twice a day as Wild Eyes doesn't sail well DDW (dead down wind). It means that instead of making 200 miles of progress each day, I am sailing a little off course all the time and making more around 150 miles on course. A little frustrating but not much else to be done.

The swells are pretty big - about 20 feet. It makes it pretty uncomfortable crawling around down below in the aft end of the boat. I'm using my back up auto pilot right now and I want to get my main auto pilot fixed so that I can use it as a back up. The problem is that there is a pretty bad transmission fluid leak (the steering is hydraulic). I think the leak is in the ram but I can't find it without the auto pilot turned on.

I should have some pretty calm weather in a few days so I'll be able to turn off the autopilot, lash the tiller and hook up the first auto pilot and get a good look at things working down below.

I've had some problems with my water maker recently. I think it's just that there is air in the tubes and I am really hoping I'll be able to sort it out with the bleeding valves. If that doesn't get the air out, I could have to go through all the hoses back there which really wouldn't be a very fun job.

My cabin stays pretty warm, around 47 degrees during the day, and a little colder during the night. The water temperature is 44 so I don't think I'll be going swimming for a little while! For where I am it's incredibly warm. There have been people who have gone around Cape Horn and had 28 degree water.

I keep trying to get some new pictures for the blog, but everytime I go out and look around all there is is grey! Behind me are gray walls of water that look pretty scary - like they're right about to break on top of little Wild Eyes.

In front, well, lots of water and gray clouds.

Tomorrow should be the big day - rounding Cape Horn. The weather is forecasted to settle down so I hope that I will be able to get outside and enjoy the view!

Abby

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Old School

AMPHIBIOUS CARAVAN

Click the pic to view the vid.

California Coming Home

Before dawn Monday, 18 sailors aboard the race yacht California were riding 60 mph storm winds, smack mid-Pacific, 2,200 miles from San Francisco.

Spirits were high. They were sailing fast in second place among the race boats on the seventh of nine legs as part of Clipper 09-10 Round the World Yacht Race. The crew looked forward to greeting visitors here by April 1.

Then the wave hit. The kind of big sideways wave that rolls a boat until the top plunges into the ocean.

California's 90-foot mast snapped, the tiny storm foresail ripped away. Dark ocean poured in, flooding the electronics, and Clive Owen tumbled across the cabin, gashing his head and bleeding profusely as the boat popped upright again.

Everyday people sail this "challenge of a lifetime." Owen's a corporate exec from London. Elaine Kirton is a British army physiotherapist. Dennis Flynn is a golf course administrator from Westchester, N.Y. Six Californians are sailing legs, as are some 180 others of diverse ages, professions and nationalities aboard 10 identical region-sponsored boats on a 35,000-mile race around the world.

Why do it? Shana Bagley, a deputy attorney general in Oakland sailing three legs, describes the amazing accomplishment, wonderful port stops and profound feeling of family.

But the nearly 6,000-mile wintry Pacific crossing, begun March 2 from Qindao, has been a cruel successor to tough earlier legs.

Big Pacific conditions damaged Uniquely Singapore and Edinburgh Inspiring Capital. A wave broke the shin of Hull & Humber skipper Piers Dudin, who was airlifted out. An unmarked Java Sea reef destroyed the boat Cork, and Team Finland lost part of its mast near Taiwan.

California is under way again, after getting fuel from four other Clipper boats, and transferring Owen and Flynn to a nearby 180-foot tanker, Nord Nightingale.

Clipper race founder Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, the first to sail nonstop around the world single-handed, in 1968, commended the amateur crew. "The North Pacific is just as dangerous as the Southern Ocean," he said, and the crew will look forward to a hero's welcome.

Indeed, aboard California, Kirton writes that it will be a momentous moment for her to sail under the Golden Gate Bridge. Though she's from England, she said she feels a sense of homecoming.

They finish at the Farallon Islands. Flotillas may escort them in, spectators can cheer from the bridge or ashore. The first boat is scheduled to arrive around Thursday. Track positions at clipperroundtheworld.com.

They will berth at San Francisco Marina West Harbor; Golden Gate Yacht Club is their host. Dock access requires escort, but the race office can accept cards or care packages for visiting crew.

Open boat tours will be April 5 (10 a.m. to noon, 2 to 4 p.m.); youth tours April 10 (10 a.m. to 2 p.m.); and public presentations at San Francisco Yacht Club April 7 (7 p.m.), South Beach Yacht Club April 8 (6 p.m.), and OCSC in Berkeley April 12 (7 p.m.). VIP tours are available, and watch for the boats sailing the bay.

But first they must get here. A bigger storm is now hitting the fleet.

Via SFgate.com Paul Oliva

Plastiki Onboard Vid - Day 5

Google Play

Google has introduced a new way to browse the web and named it Google Play. Go here. It's a great way to find new and interesting info on the web. My favorite is still StumbleUpon. With this site, you tell it where your interests are and it takes you to sites along those interests. Either way, it opens up a world of possibilities and FUN! Be sure to give them both a go. You can thank me later!

Pics of the Week

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Living on the Water - A New Trend

Thinking about buying a house? Think again. What if I told you you could own a solar powered home on the water for a little over $100k? Not a huge house, but something functional and cozy and right next to your sailboat. Here are a couple of examples of very cool floating homes. Some are going solar as well. Would you consider moving on the water? I like the Urban House Boat as it would give you some flexibility to move your home around if you like. We have come along way since Tom Hanks made it fashionable to live on the water in "Sleepless in Seattle". Check this slick website here.

Havin' Some Fun on the River

Spring Break is here!

Bonehead Moves on the Water - New Sponser to Surfboating

Sailing for the Galapagos

Here is the latest log entry from Lee Winters as he heads deep into the Pacific with his dog Georgia.

There is a thing about the sea. Just the second you start to believe you have everything under control, she'll knock you down and ensure you know there are more lessons to come. Thankfully, I learn fast and don't usually require a lesson to be taught more than once.

In my eagerness to start the Pacific leg of this journey I failed to take enough time to understand the nature of the waters I'd be crossing. Jimmy Cornell's great book, World Cruising Routes indicated that making a Southerly route first down to as far at 3N before making the turn West would provide the best sailing. I thought I'd shortcut the prevailing thought and use the first 2.5 days of strong North winds to sail a direct course for the Galapagos then turn South once they died out. Bad idea.

The first part of the plan worked great. Jargo turned into a downwind sled and we flew along at 7 - 9 knots. What I failed to understand was that I'd come far enough West after two days to find myself smack in the middle of a North setting 1 - 1.5 knot current. With no wind and a North current I found myself several times pointing South, but making way North, literally sailing backwards!

To correct this I've used every gust of wind along with a little diesel to make may way SSE. Most of the progress came from three storms that gave good sailing winds in the 15 - 20 knot range, but only lasted for an hour or two. An hour ago the jib back winded, a sign I'd finally found a SE wind and could again turn the bow of Jargo towards the Galapagos. Winds are still below 5 knots so, painfully, I am burning more diesel motor-sailing until the breeze fills in.

Other than taking the long route, things are fine aboard. I've had one strike on the fishing line, but the fish was off before I could even begin to bring in the line. On a similar note, I am surprised at how devoid of life it seems here. Going on five days at sea now all I've seed are two pods of dolphins, one sea turtle, and maybe half a dozen sea birds. Oh, and literally maybe three flying fish. Somehow I think I had it in mind that this was area was teeming with sea life? Maybe it is the El Nino effect or maybe it really is a salty, wet, desert. I might feel a bit guilty about pulling one more living creature from these blue depths, but I sure could go for some sushi right about now.

Read more about Lee's adventure here.

Roz Goes Global

Roz was living the good life with a great hubby, a lovely home and career. Something was missing in her life, so she wrote two obits about her life. One was her real life obit and the other was her fantasy. It turned out she was longing for adventure. So she bought a racing row boat and entered an Atlantic rowing race. Even though she ended up in last place, she had found what she was looking for. Read her story here.

Grooveshark - Cool Online Music Service

Click the pic for a bigger view.
So everybody knows - I love music. I have it playing most of the time during my waking hours and some during sleep. Lately I have been listening to Donavan Frankenreiter, Adele, Ben Harper, and Will Bernard. I use Pandora on the iPhone as well as Slacker and LastFM. A cool new service I have been using for a while is Grooveshark. The great thing about Shark is that instead of playing lots of other artists, it plays the one you are searching for. It's the reason Apple did not approve their app. If you have a jailbroken phone you can find it in Cydia under BigBoss ($30/year). Make some playlists and you are good to go on the phone. If you want to listen on your computer make sure you plug into some decent speakers so you can crank it up. You also have the option to upload your music as well as a radio feature. Click here for the music.

Highlights from The Eddie a few months ago

Quiksilver in memory of Eddie Aikau 2009 Highlights
Uploaded by quiksilver. - More professional, college and classic sports videos.

Plastiki Sets Sail for Sydney

SAUSALITO, Calif.--At 9:30 a.m. PDT Saturday, precisely on time, the Plastiki, a "boat made of 12,000 plastic bottles" and the brainchild of banking heir David de Rothschild, set sail from a berth here in this town just north of the Golden Gate Bridge.
The Plastiki is not just the world's first boat made buoyant by discarded soda bottles. It's also a statement about the world's garbage problem, and the fact that most plastic bottles are thrown away rather than recycled.
The intent is to sail the boat 11,000 nautical miles from Sausalito to Sydney, Australia. It is carrying about 1,000 liters of water, meaning the crew will have to stop from time to time to resupply. But they have fishing rods onboard, so at least some of their food, in theory, will come from the sea.
Among the inspirations for the project, in addition to bring attention to the way humans are treating our environment, is the Kon-Tiki expedition, Thor Heyerdahl's 1947 trip across the Pacific in a boat that was a reproduction of an Inca raft.
In keeping with tradition, the Plastiki will pay even more homage to Heyerdahl. Among the six crew members is Olav Heyerdahl, Thor's grandson. Follow them to Sydney here.

Via CNET

Cruising the World on an Old Steel Boat

I have been following a fun blog of a sailor from Australia for about 10 years now. His name is Lauri and he is very much a character. Early on in his years of cruising, he would go on and on about the injustices of the world with his rants and raves. He has mellowed out a bit as he has met a fine woman on his travels and is now married. They continue to travel the world on their old steel sloop, Aliisa. Here is one of their updates from the Atlantic:

Our last port in the Canaries deserves a little space here. You see, after a week in San Sebastian (La Gomera) we decided on one more port, Valle Gran Rey. We had been hanging out with Sym and Amy from Sy Quartermoon and with Simon and Lindsey from Sy Doris. All three of us mozied on around the corner, 15 miles to the spectacular cliffs, dark volcanic sand and clear water. There was naked people on the beach and - as our german rasta-friend Hannnes informed us - a yoga/meditation centre plus a few remaining hippies still living under the cliffs. Finally it was socially acceptable for me to jump in naked!

Valle Gran Rey used to be a hippie-haven in the past. Now it seems popular with Germans. Perhaps the old flower-power oldies come here to see their beach-born children who are now approcaching middle-age and live here, managing their small businesses and shops. Tie-dyed clothes, hand-made jewlery, astrology services, organic cafes etc. were dotting the beautiful narrow streets of the sleepy village. In some way, perhaps it was still a hippie-haven. Canaries had not made much of an impression on me, with the nature being almost dead and beaches crowded with sunburnt tourists and highrising hotels. But if I was forced to live in the Canary Islands, It would have to be Valle Gran Rey.

The pressure was on to make a move. We were using up our veggies and water, not knowing what the facilities were like in Cape Verdes. (If I had done my homework, I would have known that Mindelo is a town of 70 000 people and everything is available there) We decided on a 6 December departure, but not before a short ritual for the Finnish independence day. I hoisted the full size flag and assumed my original citizenship for a while. (I am a born-again Australian...) Jean Sibelius provided the emotional straight-to-any-Finns-heart-music. The piece of course is called Finlandia and we blasted it out from the speakers outside, for the whole anchorage. It went straight to my heart and tears welled up. Read more here. You can navigate to their adventures by going to the top left and clicking the Aliisa.net Menu. I hope you will look around as I really enjoy the writers stye and his views of the world and the people they meet during their travels.