Wednesday, April 8, 2015
Saturday, February 7, 2015
Shared post from "Tartan 37.com"
Here's a post from a T37 owner about his trip from California to Maine about hull #373. Makes me very happy to own Pilgrim...
http://www.Tartan37.com/t37forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=98
http://www.Tartan37.com/t37forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=98
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Tuesday, January 6, 2015
not in the news; Fukushima ongoing diaster
Three reactors are and have been in uncontrollable meltdown at Fukushima since the sunami of 2011. 300 metric tons of radioactive water wash into the ocean every day. The media is owned by the same conglomerates that own the energy companies. Were America to stand together and demand and end to nuclear power as it is the companies would lose trillions. Instead, we lose the Pacific. Really, you NEED to be informed and aware.
fukushima-diary.com is a great site to keep up. It's done by an individual and is a a magnification of the tiny blips of truth released by TEPCO. Check it out.
http://fukushima-diary.com/2014/08/5-billion-bq-strontium-90-flows-sea-every-single-day/
Sorry to get off sailing, but you NEED to know....
fukushima-diary.com is a great site to keep up. It's done by an individual and is a a magnification of the tiny blips of truth released by TEPCO. Check it out.
http://fukushima-diary.com/2014/08/5-billion-bq-strontium-90-flows-sea-every-single-day/
Sorry to get off sailing, but you NEED to know....
Saturday, December 20, 2014
The Cal Keel Stuck on the Bottom Caper
It was an overcast day in August 1988. My friend Tom and his girlfriend Debbie, my two daughters (age ages 4 and 8) and I went to the marina in Toledo Ohio for a day sailing on a Cal 22. The weather was questionable, so we took out time settling onto the boat as we hoped the sky would clear. After hours of hanging around, the boat owner (it was a charter sailboat that I earned time on by doing boatwork) told us to shove off and quit worrying. Emboldened, we did just that.
As we sailed out the wind was light out of the southwest. A couple hours out, now a few miles from shore on Lake Erie the wind died. We sat waiting to see if it would return and I felt a drop, then another. The wind shifted from the SW to NW. It picked up as the rain increased. Soon it was blowing and I put the girls below and battened down the hatches. Tom and I remained topside to weather the storm. Soon it was a full blown gale, the wind topped out at 65 mph at the nearby Coast Guard station.
The waves increased to 8 foot. This was in 8 foot of water depth. We dropped the jib and reduced the main while we surfed the storm waves. On top of a wave we surfed down, all the way down, until the boat struck the bottom in the valley of a wave. The keel stuck on the bottom, holding us there as huge waves tossed the boat like a cork tied to a string. Tom brilliantly (gotta give him credit here) yelled "hoist the jib". I scampered forward, hoisted the sail and it caught like a parachute and yanked us up and off the bottom, free. After a bit more hectic surfing and as quickly as the storm came in it passed.
Now in a calm post storm breeze we opened the companionway and poor Debbie was ashen. My girls were fired up, excited and wanting more! Tom and I had had enough excitement for one day thank you. As we sailed in, we passed the owner of the boat. He was a Toledo City policeman and he worked harbor patrol. He was on his way out in the police boat. When we were close he yelled laughing, see, I told you you'd be fine....
As we sailed out the wind was light out of the southwest. A couple hours out, now a few miles from shore on Lake Erie the wind died. We sat waiting to see if it would return and I felt a drop, then another. The wind shifted from the SW to NW. It picked up as the rain increased. Soon it was blowing and I put the girls below and battened down the hatches. Tom and I remained topside to weather the storm. Soon it was a full blown gale, the wind topped out at 65 mph at the nearby Coast Guard station.
The waves increased to 8 foot. This was in 8 foot of water depth. We dropped the jib and reduced the main while we surfed the storm waves. On top of a wave we surfed down, all the way down, until the boat struck the bottom in the valley of a wave. The keel stuck on the bottom, holding us there as huge waves tossed the boat like a cork tied to a string. Tom brilliantly (gotta give him credit here) yelled "hoist the jib". I scampered forward, hoisted the sail and it caught like a parachute and yanked us up and off the bottom, free. After a bit more hectic surfing and as quickly as the storm came in it passed.
Now in a calm post storm breeze we opened the companionway and poor Debbie was ashen. My girls were fired up, excited and wanting more! Tom and I had had enough excitement for one day thank you. As we sailed in, we passed the owner of the boat. He was a Toledo City policeman and he worked harbor patrol. He was on his way out in the police boat. When we were close he yelled laughing, see, I told you you'd be fine....
Stories...
It was a lovely summer morning. August 2011 at Cape May NJ. Cape May is an oasis for Sailboats. Boats that approach from the Chesapeake come through the C&D Canal which is 55 miles from the channel at Cape May. In between, for a sailboat there is no where to stop. It's all or nothing. This is the Delaware Bay. Strong current, big chop. I've made the trip several times, as fast as 8 hours and as slow as 11 hours. It's all about the tide.
The "rule of twelfths" is instrumental in using the tide to your advantage and to avoid the tide from impeding your passage. The total amount of water that moves in a tide cycle is broken into twelfths. The cycle is @ six hours long. In the first and last (6th) hour of the cycle, 1/12th of the total amount of water moves in each hour. In the 2nd and 5th hours, 2/12ths of the total move in each hour. In the 3rd and 4th hours, 3/12ths of the water moves. That totals 12/12ths (duh). Notice half the water moves in the middle two hours. In areas with strong tidal current this has the water in the first hour barely moving and speeding to as much as 4-5 knots during the peak two middle hours.
When leaving the C&D bound for Cape May (or vise versa) you need to play this to your advantage. The tide cycle is 6 hours. The trip is 55 miles. A sailboat usually figures about 5 mph. Thats 11 hours. If you leave an hour or an hour and a half before the tide you want (from Cape May leave on a low tide/ from C&D leave at high) you have the first hour plus going against a weak slack tide. That extends the time you have tidal advantage. You have that stolen hour, six hours of the cycle plus add the first hour of the next cycle. Eight hours. On a day with good wind you can make the trip in that time. I've averaged 11.5 mph (!) on the trip in a bit over eight hours on a day with good breeze.
On the morning following my best trip up the Delaware Bay to Cape May I awoke feeling satisfied. Gabe (need I say my Airedale who passed this May) and I had a long hard day on the sail the day before and I'd decided to take a rest day. We jumped off the boat for a morning walk. Our morning walks were a wonderful time. Gabe was a vibrant happy pup. Even at his age then of ten years old. He'd been an amazing companion, the most trouble free dog I've ever known. He was intuitive and sweet. So we bounced along, smelling the sea air and enjoying the sights. We walked the boatyard early that morning around 7 am. We came to the end of a huge marina building that sat end to end with another building. As we came to the opening between the two buildings another man walking a huge shepherd crossed into the opening opposite Gabe and I. Gabe was free and seeing them bounded off to say hi. When the man saw Gabe run toward them he screamed "get your dog, he'll kill him!!", as he struggled to restrain this huge beast. I yelled for Gabe to come and he turned and returned. We boogied off in the other direction to safety.
Later in the morning, 9:30 or so, we went up to the marina office. The office had several folks chatting around the desk. Gabe went from person to person introducing himself, everyone had a chance to pet him. Once his greetings were over and I attended to business he started browsing, wandering around the large showroom. At the desk with my back to Gabe I heard a growl. I knew it was the beast shepherd, and somehow just sprung toward Gabe. On my way rushing to Gabe I saw the Shepherd who was also running at Gabe. He was coming from a far corner room (someone had left the door open) about the same distance from Gabe as I. We were both at least thirty feet and closing on Gabe fast. Gabe was frozen as we converged. At the last second, I leapt, knee forward and landed on the back of the shepherd's neck just as he reached Gabe. The shepherd bit at Gabe who collapsed sideways down just as the shepherd chomped. At the same second my knee crushed the huge beast flat to the ground. The adrenaline was surging and I grabbed the shepherd under the jaw and was going to break its neck on my knee. I intended to kill it, I sure didn't want to have it turn on me. But I remember through the fog of battle thinking BLOOD. I looked to Gabe, as much to inspire my kill as anything. Shocked, there was no blood. Gabe had avoided the bite. Instinctively, (I swear this is all true) I yanked the shepherd off it's feet by the neck with me as I jumped up, choked it and screamed NOOO in it's face and threw it by the head away from us. It flew ten feet in the air twisting it's body like a cat falling from a tree. When the beast landed it didn't even look back as it scampered away like a kicked Cocker spaniel. It was over. I turned to the folks in the room. They were aghast. I shrugged and said laughing "I grew up in a kennel"...The owner of the dog (marina owner I think) came running up because I abused her dog....Laughing I told her how close I had been to owning her marina as I walked out. She didn't have much to say to that. Others there later told me more about the shepherd. They'd had police complaints many times about the dog. Don't believe me? Call Utsch's marina and ask about the Airedale, shepherd flying hippy caper....
The "rule of twelfths" is instrumental in using the tide to your advantage and to avoid the tide from impeding your passage. The total amount of water that moves in a tide cycle is broken into twelfths. The cycle is @ six hours long. In the first and last (6th) hour of the cycle, 1/12th of the total amount of water moves in each hour. In the 2nd and 5th hours, 2/12ths of the total move in each hour. In the 3rd and 4th hours, 3/12ths of the water moves. That totals 12/12ths (duh). Notice half the water moves in the middle two hours. In areas with strong tidal current this has the water in the first hour barely moving and speeding to as much as 4-5 knots during the peak two middle hours.
When leaving the C&D bound for Cape May (or vise versa) you need to play this to your advantage. The tide cycle is 6 hours. The trip is 55 miles. A sailboat usually figures about 5 mph. Thats 11 hours. If you leave an hour or an hour and a half before the tide you want (from Cape May leave on a low tide/ from C&D leave at high) you have the first hour plus going against a weak slack tide. That extends the time you have tidal advantage. You have that stolen hour, six hours of the cycle plus add the first hour of the next cycle. Eight hours. On a day with good wind you can make the trip in that time. I've averaged 11.5 mph (!) on the trip in a bit over eight hours on a day with good breeze.
On the morning following my best trip up the Delaware Bay to Cape May I awoke feeling satisfied. Gabe (need I say my Airedale who passed this May) and I had a long hard day on the sail the day before and I'd decided to take a rest day. We jumped off the boat for a morning walk. Our morning walks were a wonderful time. Gabe was a vibrant happy pup. Even at his age then of ten years old. He'd been an amazing companion, the most trouble free dog I've ever known. He was intuitive and sweet. So we bounced along, smelling the sea air and enjoying the sights. We walked the boatyard early that morning around 7 am. We came to the end of a huge marina building that sat end to end with another building. As we came to the opening between the two buildings another man walking a huge shepherd crossed into the opening opposite Gabe and I. Gabe was free and seeing them bounded off to say hi. When the man saw Gabe run toward them he screamed "get your dog, he'll kill him!!", as he struggled to restrain this huge beast. I yelled for Gabe to come and he turned and returned. We boogied off in the other direction to safety.
Later in the morning, 9:30 or so, we went up to the marina office. The office had several folks chatting around the desk. Gabe went from person to person introducing himself, everyone had a chance to pet him. Once his greetings were over and I attended to business he started browsing, wandering around the large showroom. At the desk with my back to Gabe I heard a growl. I knew it was the beast shepherd, and somehow just sprung toward Gabe. On my way rushing to Gabe I saw the Shepherd who was also running at Gabe. He was coming from a far corner room (someone had left the door open) about the same distance from Gabe as I. We were both at least thirty feet and closing on Gabe fast. Gabe was frozen as we converged. At the last second, I leapt, knee forward and landed on the back of the shepherd's neck just as he reached Gabe. The shepherd bit at Gabe who collapsed sideways down just as the shepherd chomped. At the same second my knee crushed the huge beast flat to the ground. The adrenaline was surging and I grabbed the shepherd under the jaw and was going to break its neck on my knee. I intended to kill it, I sure didn't want to have it turn on me. But I remember through the fog of battle thinking BLOOD. I looked to Gabe, as much to inspire my kill as anything. Shocked, there was no blood. Gabe had avoided the bite. Instinctively, (I swear this is all true) I yanked the shepherd off it's feet by the neck with me as I jumped up, choked it and screamed NOOO in it's face and threw it by the head away from us. It flew ten feet in the air twisting it's body like a cat falling from a tree. When the beast landed it didn't even look back as it scampered away like a kicked Cocker spaniel. It was over. I turned to the folks in the room. They were aghast. I shrugged and said laughing "I grew up in a kennel"...The owner of the dog (marina owner I think) came running up because I abused her dog....Laughing I told her how close I had been to owning her marina as I walked out. She didn't have much to say to that. Others there later told me more about the shepherd. They'd had police complaints many times about the dog. Don't believe me? Call Utsch's marina and ask about the Airedale, shepherd flying hippy caper....
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