Pic of the Week

Sailing Maniacs!

Hold Fast from Moxie Marlinspike on Vimeo.

The story of a man with a dream. Long but well done! He buys a piece of rotting fiberglass, fixes it up and sails it to the Caribbean. Enjoy!

Dolphin Bubble Rings

Cool Time Lapse

Full Moon Sails

Had a couple great late afternoon sails over the weekend that segwayed into moon rise sails as I was coming in. Nice sunsets too. The bay area has been hit by a heat wave that has taken temps into triple digits. The good news is that the wind is still blowing on the bay and I was out there to enjoy it. My golden Kona came with and we had some great times. The heat will last one more day and then the fog makes it's way back into the bay and that means even more wind!

Here's a clip from last weekends race on the bay.

Vendee Globe Race

The next race is still 2 years away. This vid shows how extreme it is and the stress the sailors have to deal with. Check it out.

Never Fart in a Dry Suit

Pics of the Week

Jaws Chaos

Talk Like A Pirate Day

Join the fun!

On The Beach

Lucky!

Sex with a Whale

Received this note from a fellow Haha'er on his way to San Diego via San Francisco.

"Well after thirty years of sailing I had my first close encounter with a whale and lived to tell the story. We were sailing across Monterey Bay about 30 NM west of Moss Landing.

We started seeing Blue Whales, Ocras and dolphins. The Orcas apparently hunt the Blue Whale Calfs in this areas and there was a lot of activity and we steered to avoid the whales.

I was sitting in the cockpit daydreaming when I saw something on the port side of the boat. It took a second and then I realised that it was a whale. The creature had rolled on its back and I swear was humping my boat.

I yelled to my crewman to turn right and the whale touched or kinda slapped the port quarter. Then whale drifted by the boat and just off the transom lifted it's tail in the air and disappeared. The tail was as wide as my dinghy is long (10.5').

No damage or injuries, but I am wondering if my boat lost her virginity to a whale."

Tom Jeremiason
S/V Camelot
C470-145
Home Port: San Francisco, CA
Curretly located: Santa Barbara, CA
www.sailingcamelot.us

Aquarium Perfection

Kuroshio Sea - 2nd largest aquarium tank in the world - (song is Please don't go by Barcelona) from Jon Rawlinson on Vimeo.

Go full screen!

Pic of the Day

Have a great weekend and go sailing!

AIS App for the iPhone

Sailors are rejoicing at the number of apps available for mariners. From charts to currents and tides, GPS and now AIS. AIS stands for Automatic Identification System. All large ship are required to have a transponder and broadcast important info about their origin, destination, speed, etc. With Ship Finder, you can have all the vital info about a passing ship at your fingertips. When on the bay during the day, I can use it to determine which course the ship will head when coming thru the Gate. At night, it can keep me informed of ships headed my direction. A detailed map appears on screen with all the ships in the local area. When I touch the ship I want info on, a detailed report comes up instantly. It won't help you with small boats on the bay as most donot yet have this device or if they do, they are only receiving info and not transmitting. There is a free version available as well as a $5 version which I recommend if you plan to use it on the water. It is worth it and can be an amazing tool for the serious mariner.

Pics of the Day

Hotel room in the Maldives.

Way Cool = 20 Knots on a Wally

Overnight Sail

The Baja Ha Ha cruiser rally fleet is headed out of San Diego on October 25th. We are expecting 200 sailboats and 600 sailors for the 17th annual cruise down the 750 mile coast of Baja California. I will be heading to Mexico with the fleet on a boat named Rainbow, a 36' cat. We had a training sail this past weekend that took us 40 miles out onto the ocean for an overnight sail. It was wild and windy as we exited the bay with the wind in the low twenties for the majority of the trip. Four of us are onboard on 4 hour shifts, with two on watch at all times. The waves were 4-8 feet but not breaking. The day was gray and it was doubtful we would see the sun. We held a southwest course out the Gate that did not allow us to spot the Farallones. As the afternoon came to an end, the skies cleared and the sun and blue sky shone our way. I mentioned that I have seen three green flashes in my life (a huge shaft of green light shoots from the sunset, only visible over the ocean) and that we should begin a quest to catch one on the trip. We were having a wild ride with boat speed around 9 knots in large waves but the boat was handling it well with the course we were on. Only 2000 miles to Hawaii if we held course! No, no, let's stay focused. I went below to prepare some Pumpkin Bisque for the crew. All is fine until I start on the main course of Mango Salmon. We had heaved to, slowing the boat down, but not really changing the motion. I ran up on deck to feed the fish for the first time in my boating life. I headed back to the galley not feeling 100%. I was able to complete the meal and then went to the bunk for some rest. My next watch was from 2300-0300. The midnight watch. The boat had remained heaved to and we were in fine shape. Watch out for boats and slowly head towards San Francisco at 2-3 knots. At 30 miles off the coast, we could see a multitude of stars and the Milky Way streamed across the sky. Very impressive. The Skipper Cliff, came on deck at 2pm and we decided to douse the main as the wind was hitting 27 at times. We went down to jib alone and started our journey back to the city. As I went off watch, I could see lots of bioluminesence behind the boat. Almost looking like fireflies on the stern. I went off into a deep sleep as the boat headed west. Morning comes early and I am back on deck at 0700. The Gate is ahead and we head in on a nice flood. Breakfast prep is not a problem as the seas are calm. We finish up with a nice sail on the bay. Cliff has done a masterful job at setting up a strong and capable boat. It going to be a sweet sail to the Cape!

When in Drought

Before this weeks huricane, the north east had almost 30 days of light winds. The windsurfers were jones'in! If you love windsurfing, check out the Puffman.

Flat water is fast water.