Tony Boatie Sr.

A while ago I signed up for regular emails from "The Log" which bills itself as, "SoCal's #1 Boating and Fishing Newspaper." No arguments there. On a business trip to Anaheim for an industry conference I took a side trip to Newport Beach one afternoon into the evening and after a swim and fish tacos chased by some Red Nectar lagers I strolled around Newport Harbor and admired the boat...particualrly the sailing ones docked at the Balboa Yacht Club. It was there that I procured a copy of "The Log" which made it home with me and resulted in the aformentioned email newsletter subscription.

All of this is a long winded way to point you towards this article in The Log about liveaboard Tony Cellenti, who's been sleeping on the bottom bunk of his 30-foot boat in Sunset Aquatic Marina for more than 30 years. Tony's story reminded me about the importance the broader liveaboard community to boating. They are in some ways our "canaries in the coal mine" the changes that now impact all boaters...the rising cost of fuel, crowded waterways, pollution, overpriced marinas...hit these folks first and often hardest yet they persist. Tony Boatie Sr. may not be a sailor, but he's all right with me.

S/Y Circe

November 27, 2006
Avatar Lex Lian piloting his new Defender II Sloop "Circe" on the waters of the Nantucket Sim in Second Life.

Comment Envy

I'm lucky to get comments at all on Zephyr and believe me, I'm thankful for each and every one. But I have to admit to comment envy after reading the below from Scuttlebutt...which is hands down my favorite online sailing publication. I was going to write an update on the Velux 5 today but after scanning Richard Clark's rant, I thought the better of it ;-)

From Richard Clark, New Zealand: I love sailing, I love those who do as
opposed to those that prop the bars at yacht clubs, and I love people like
Donna Lange who have insane dreams and go sail classic designs around the
world. But I ask myself, why am I becoming turned off by boring, screaming
yachts barely surviving around the planet in so many races, like the present
Velux 5 Oceans, that I continue to hope will inspire me to follow their
progress… but don't! Where are the Maxis, where is the Whitbread, yachts
that held together with sailors who did it for the sheer joy. Doesn't anyone
else lust after a race around for Maxis, no one design rules, just good
looking boats I can drool over and crews that I can relate to. Young, old,
male, female, black, white. Who cares, just damn fine sailors with damn fine
skippers on damn fine boats. I am honestly starting to yawn at the
newsletter. I truly don't give a damn anymore if sailing grows or dies,
regattas with coaches in pursuit boats – really! The Olympic classes are
becoming dull. I can't wait for the Americas Cup with egos and big bucks and
big boats. Good old fashioned Pirates with a capital "P". Enough of all this
dreadfully dull trivia. Even RKJ doesn't do it for me any more. One bloody
good race for a simple trophy and no money, around the world, unlimited.
Bugger me, now that is sailing.

Lessons Learned

My father writes from St. Maarten where they are recovering from a difficult passage down from the east coast of the U.S. - due to the rough conditions they shipped a lot of water across the decks and below I've pasted the segment of the email where he reflects on some "lessons learned" from that experience.
----------------------------------------------
Next time, it will be better even given the same severe conditions. You do learn.

For example, I taped our chain hawspipes with "gorilla" tape. It wasn't enough. I could go forward in the end and discovered that the forepeak locker was 4/5 full of water!! Probably 300-400 pounds worth! Just from those small openings. I need to fix our windless wiring as a result. Also, in the beginning when I used the manual pump in the locker to get rid of it, the water overflowed the sink in our berth and ultimately wetted all of our clothes! They all have gone to the laundry. We used the emergency bilge pump to clear the locker. The one Edson makes where you stand on the board and supposedly pump out a gallon in a stroke.

The waves sweeping the deck overwhelmed our dorade boxes. Even though we had put in the plates instead of the dorades themselves, the water entered the scuppers in the sides of the boxes, found its way over the ventilation chimney and dripped water into the boat---the whole trip! Those chimneys will be capped with rubber sheeting and hose clamps or shock cord the next time...

Audi Etchells Worlds - November 8-12, 2006
Fremantle, Australia (Photo credit Andrea Francolini)

SL Exchange

I thought that the below exchange - generated by the photo I put up on Monday - was worth posting for wider visibility...mostly because I have deep respect for Tillerman's opinion and recognize the larger point he's making with his comment. But the community building aspect of "Second Life" type technology can't be overlooked....particularly when sailing bloggers are leading proponents of using the Internet to foster conectons with the broader sailing community...

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Tillerman said...

Geee - two of the top saiing bloggers have disappeared down a virtual rabbit hole into a Second Life. Maybe there is more to this than I thought? Perhaps I should give it a try?

Can I run a marathon in Second Life? Are there yacht races? Are there granddaughters?

6:07 PM

Tillerman said...

Are there spell checkers?

6:08 PM

Zephyr (Sail) said...

There's no doubt that "real life" is always going to be, well, more real than piloting an Avatar around a digital world...at least for now ;-) What I think is interesting is the way that the game brings people together to interact with a level of "richness" that is generally missing from emails, IM's and yes even blogs.

At the moment the experience is somewhat limited due to computing power but in my opinion we are seeing the leading edge of a technology that will change the face of everything - the analogy I like to use is think of the gap between the old reel to reel tape player I remember my Dad having in the mid 1970's and the ipod today. We could have never envisioned something like the ipod when we thought the reel to reel was the bees knees but the core concept of portable audio was there and in 20 years or so it was extrapolated out to the ipod...which one could argue is in and of itself just the leading edge of something we can't yet envision. The point being that the excitment around "Second Life" has to do - for me - with what I can imagine being able to to as the technology gets more powerful. As well it's a cool way to interact more broadly with a community of (in my case) sailors. Though believe me when I say that there is no "community" that goes unexplored in SL. Use your imagination on that.

From a recent NYT article..."Virtual world proponents -- including a roster of Linden Labs investors that includes Jeffrey P. Bezos, the founder of Amazon.com; Mitchell D. Kapor, the software pioneer; and Pierre Omidyar, the eBay co-founder -- say that the entire Internet is moving toward being a three-dimensional experience that will become more realistic as computing technology advances." If this is true and I believe it is then watch this space! Your Granddaughter surely will be....

9:47 AM

Heraldic Eagle

I've always been a big fan of Garry Hoyt's Alerion platform designed by Carl Schumacher - not because I've owned one but rather because I've seen a few under sail and admired them for their simple yet elegant design. The Alerion Express 28 was one of the first - if not the first - of a trend towards bigger daysailors that began in the 1990's. The current issue of SAIL Magazine reviews the new Alerion Express 38 and, while the author generally gives the vessel high marks, I have to wonder....when is a boat too big to be called a "daysailor?" While the new 38 reportedly sails beautifully the accomodations are, as they should be, somewhat sparse. Yet we're talking about a craft that measures nearly 40 feet LOA! I suppose it's all in what the market will bear. By the way, "Alerion" literally means Heraldic Eagle and was the name of the 26' sloop Nat Herreshoff designed for his personal use.

Don't Ask ;-)

Second Life & Sailing

This may be pushing the bounds of virtual fun & games but yes, there I am - or rather there's the Avatar "Lex Lian" sitting on the transom of a Tako II in a virtual marina sipping a cup of coffee and getting ready for a romping sail. Cost to purchase the racing dinghy...only $250 Linden (less than $2.00 U.S.) Second Life has been getting a lot of buzz lately and, true to form, there's a lot of monkey business going on but imagine this...somewhere down the line when online 3D worlds get more immersive a virtual community of like-minded sailors might particpate in regattas, offshore delivery simulations, lectures and classes, etc. Maybe 15 years from now we'll sit in our home "entertainment room" surrounded by high def displays and networked into the America's Cup simulation in Second Life...or whatever it spawns.

Relatively Unscathed

I've been speaking to my folks who are docked at the Simpson Bay Marina in St. Maarten and they're still recovering from a very rough nine day passage south. Apparently the dorade boxes leaked in the rough seas and made everything swampy below...as well the anchor locker shipped sea water and had to be pumped out en route. Folks were seasick and bruised but I'd say they came out relatively unscathed given the recent reports on rescues of sailors being made in the North Atlantic.

32nd Winter Championship/November 1-5, 2006
Lombardy, Italy (Photo credit Carlo Borlenghi)

Porn for Sailors

Geez what an idiot am I. Duh the Star of India is not made of bark...she's a barque! Thanks to Mike for graciously pointing out my error. Barque: any vessel with a particular type of rig that comprises three (or more) masts, fore-and-aft sails on the aftermost mast and square sails on all other masts." see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barque.

On another note, check out this link (be sure you are on a broadband line) to Vitters Shipyard. Seriously it's like porn for sailors...complete with sound effects. So click the splash page to enter the site and hit the "recent yachts" tab for a little dreamer material. Just don't let the wife catch you ;-)

Star of India

Great article on the Star of India in today's SF Chronicle. She's made of 143-year-old bark...how's that for old school?

EXCERPT: "That the Star of India exists at all, much less sails, is a small miracle. It was wrecked at least once, went through a mutiny, its first captain died at sea, it was nearly lost in a hurricane, and it was sold at age 70 for $9,000 to ship fans in San Diego, where it languished for years, neglected and forlorn."

Landfall

After a nine day North Atlantic offshore voyage characterized by gale force winds, steep seas and lack of sleep my parents and their crew have apparently arrived in St. Maarten. We recieved a voice message today via satellite phone that sounded positively giddy with the anticipation of...pick any of the following: 1) bathing 2) eating on a surface that doesn't heel 3) sipping a stiff drink or three 4) going to bed without having to strap yourself into a wet, sweaty bunk 5) waking up without having to wish you were anywhere but strapped into a wet, sweaty bunk & having to leave said bunk for a six hour spell on the wheel in pitch blackness under 45 knot breezes 6) not being assaulted down below by the odors of yours and others bodily functions and secretions 7) did I mention bathing 8) no longer staring blearily at a day old weather fax by the dim nav light at 0300 9) eating a meal that you don't have to revisit over the side (while praying that your lifeline holds) 10) not having to wonder if that black shape on the horizon is a half submerged container that, upon collision, will cause you to sink like a stone.

Antigua Sailing Week 2004
(Photo Credit: Rick Tomlinson)

Thanks Sarge

I've been so focused on my parents offshore saga that I've plumb neglected the larger sailing arena...not sure how "large" this is but here's a link to a "cautionary tale" in the Delmarva Daily news - David Maliniak, of Gilbert, PA cheerfully motored his 36' Hunter Twin Mast up the Indian River Inlet thinking he had a 100-foot clearance in a channel 30-feet wide — it’s actually 30 feet of clearance in a 100-foot channel. As the brief says, by the time he realized his mistake, it was too late. All who have taken their sailboats under bridges with dubious clearance will recognize this as not the feeling you're generally looking for. So the mast struck the Indian River Inlet Bridge. Sgt. Gregory Rhodes of the Fish & Wildlife noted, "Check your navigation charts before entering an inlet that you are unfamiliar with...all the information you need to make a safe entry is on that chart.” Which translates as, "David Maliniak, of Gilbert, PA you publicly humiliated yourself much to the amusment of local fishermen and other assorted on-lookers who are, if they're sailors, are secretly glad it was you and not them."

Latest from S/V Red Admiral

Recieved the following from my parents via SSB email at 1800 tonight. Thanks to everyone for their well wishes. Seems that they're hanging in there.
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Winds remain very high. Have had some computer connection problems but it seems to be Ok for the moment. We are OK but long for calmer air. The boat is fetid inside. No air. Moisture everywhere. Things wet and scattered. Our morale is strong but our enthusiasm is unable to be right now. I've never seen winds so strong and persisting. Your Mother and the other crew have been great and we will get there.
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Sailing in Gales

This message came in today around 1730 from my father via the SSB email system.
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...We are sailing in gales. 35--45knts. since leaving the stream. Double reefed main and a scrap of jib. Straight reach. 15ft. seas. Speed 7.5 to 9 knts. Everyone oK. If you are not on watch you are in bed. Must go. Mike...
----------------
NOAA is forcasting a full gale - seas 15 - 26 feet - for their location. It's going to be a long night for them and their two crew...I really hope they hang together. I've been there and as long as the vessel is well found it's an endurance test more than anything.

SECURITE
NORTH ATLANTIC NORTH OF 31N TO 67N AND WEST OF 35W.
SYNOPSIS VALID 1800 UTC NOV 04.
24 HOUR FORECAST VALID 1800 UTC NOV 05.
48 HOUR FORECAST VALID 1800 UTC NOV 06.

...STORM WARNING...
.LOW 63N 35W 972 MB MOVING NE 35 KT. FRONT EXTENDS FROM 55N 35W
TO 40N 52W. WINDS 40 TO 55 KT SEAS 15 TO 26 FT WITHIN 120 NM
W...180 NM N AND 480 NM S QUADRANTS. WINDS 25 TO 40 KT SEAS 12
TO 20 FT WITHIN 180 NM W SEMICIRCLE AND 660 NM S QUADRANT...AND
WITHIN 180 NM E OF FRONT N OF 48N. WINDS TO 25 KT SEAS 9 TO 16
FT WITHIN 360 NM E OF FRONT AND WITHIN 600 NM W AND 780 NM SW
QUADRANTS.
.24 HOUR FORECAST LOW E OF AREA WITH NEW LOW 65N 35W 982 MB.
FORECAST WINDS 35 TO 50 KT SEAS 18 TO 24 FT WITHIN 180 NM SW
QUADRANT. FORECAST WINDS 25 TO 35 KT SEAS 12 TO 20 FT OVER
FORECAST WATERS WITHIN 480 NM S QUADRANT.
.48 HOUR FORECAST LOW E OF AREA 66N 31W 990 MB. FORECAST WINDS
25 TO 35 KT SEAS 12 TO 17 FT FROM 57N TO 60N E OF 43W.

The Superyacht Cup - October 12-14, 2006
Palma de Mallorca, Spain (Photo credit: Kos)

God Bless Herb Hilgenberg

With my parents on their sloop making way off the coast of North Carolina bound for St. Martin...

300 PM EST THU NOV 2 2006 - W CENTRAL N ATLC CONTINENTAL SHELF AND SLOPE WATERS
BEYOND 20 NM TO 250 NM OFFSHORE...GALE WARNING...

...it's a good time to revist Herb Hilgenberg. Famously known as Southbound Herb, this man is a veritable savior in the way of reliable weather forcasts delivered via SSB to offshore sailors in the North Atlantic waters. Great background can be found in this U.S. Coast Guard story, including Herb's motivation for providing an invaluable and often life-saving service utterly free-of-charge.

Herb resides in Ontario and his primary area of coverage is the North Atlantic between the Eastern Seaboard and Europe, including the Caribbean Sea, the Bahamas Islands and the Gulf of Mexico.

From Herb's website...
Most of the vessels who use Herb's service range in size from 35 to 45 feet. They are sailed by families, serious cruisers and even some adventurers, of all nationalities. They want to enjoy for extended periods tropical climates, participate in blue water Yacht races or just see the world from their maritime mobile base. Over the years, as the service became more established and recognized, the range of vessels using the service broadened. End users now included larger ocean sailing/racing yachts, fishing vessels, research vessels, luxury motor yachts, merchant vessels including tugs, container ships, carships, oil tankers, mobile oil rigs, salvage vessels, and the occasional commercial aircraft, Cruise ship, Coast Guard Cutter and Navy Warship.The service has also been a recognized source for obtaining fleet and individual weather reports for organized yacht racing events and cruises, such as the Newport-Bermuda Yacht Races, the Marion-Bermuda Yacht Races, the ARC, the Caribbean 1500, the Annapolis -Bermuda Race, the Daytona -Bermuda Races, the Marblehead- Halifax Race and other Atlantic and World Ocean cup/racing events, including the MiniTransat, the Whitbread, BOC, Alone Around The World Race, and the Tall Ship's 2000 event.

Rolex Middle Sea

Thanks Turinas for the link to Bunts Blog...replete with blow-by-blow commentary on the recent Rolex Middle Sea Race in Malta. Also check out this account from sailing journalist Andy Rice who writes, "Just got back from Malta...what a fantastic place. Not much wind for the race - at least not until the big boats had finished, and then it started blowing a beautiful Force 4. Still, entries were at a record 68 and people seem to want to come back for more."

Sounds like the place to be. Gorgeous photos from Carlo here.