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Thread: New Boat 4 Sled

  1. #4301
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    Whether passagemaking nearshore of off soundings, Whitall Stokes (RAGNAR on this Forum) has written an informative and comprehensive account of his attempted non-stop voyage around the World on the 50' SPARROW that I recommend highly, not only because of its sensitivity but because SPARROW was a well prepared boat, fast, seaworthy, and the right size for a singlehander for such an attempt.

    However, even with Whitall's experience and professional assisted prep, things came up short. Who would have anticipated running low on downwind sails? Having the coachroof crack, mainsail cars come adrift, steering seize , and a heavy duty foot block pull out of the deck?

    All this and more can be found at https://svsparrow.com/ under the entry "Epilogue"

    Well written, good sir.
    Last edited by sleddog; 04-30-2021 at 03:00 PM.

  2. #4302
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    That Whitall, he's so cool. I remember when I walked the dock before the 2012 SHTP. Every other boat was swarming with people. He sat alone, slouched in his cockpit waiting for the fuss to die down and the race to start. He reminded me of a high strung horse waiting for the gate to open.

    Here's that wonderful race start, just to remind us of the rush of excitement: http://vimeo.com/45337257

  3. #4303
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    5/03/21

    Good news: The Santa Cruz Harbor dredge is being decommisioned for the season as the federally mandated depths in the breakwater channel have been achieved in time for the Moore-24 National Championships next weekend.

    A dredge would not have helped the YRA DH Sunday "Islands" race yesterday. Somebody forgot to check the tide table and the Fast Boat classes couldn't approach the start line during the minus tide if they drew more than 6.5 feet. A 45 minute postponement was ordered while the water depth increased and options were discussed. Which it didn't. So the slower boats were started in reverse order (there were no provisions to move the start line in the SI's).

    Despite the SI's, eventualy a substitute line with more depth was set for the Fast Boats. But by then, more than a few had lost interest and returned to port. Too bad because it was a beautiful day of sailing.

    The weather leg from "G" mark start went upwind with good ebb 7 miles into 15-20 knots to Crissy (#16).

    Thence downwind to Red Rock, the logical, shorter course being direct through Raccoon Straits. But Kim and I, looking ahead from the Wylie-39 CHECKERED PAST, saw drifting ahead and elected for the" end around" of leaving Angel Island/Pt. Blunt to port to stay in the filling southwest sea breeze.. This proved an erroneous choice as the warm NW wind filled off the Tiburon hills, and the Raccoon fleet on port tack stretched us by several minutes.

    The final leg from RR to RYC was a fetch, fairing to a reach, then run. Kudos to Amber and Bob on the Cal-39 SEA STAR for getting their spinny set and charging the last mile at full pelt to win our class by 8 seconds.

    Congrats also to Bill and Jim dominating the competitive Alerion 28 class. Also nice to see long time SSS stalwarts Jim and Cindy doing well on their Merit 25 CHESAPEAKE. And there, eye popping beautiful, was the only split rig in the fleet, the deep blue Hughes 48 yawl IOLANI with Sylvia and Barry, kicking butt , taking names, and posting one of the best elapsed and corrected times in fleet of original starters. Well done all.

    https://www.jibeset.net/show.php?RR=...OC=r2&TYP=html

    Notes to self:1) YRA mark #16, Crissy, aka Blackaller, is hard to spot for > 50 yards, well in shore and low in the water, disguised with bird poop as a white cap.
    2) The Cal 39 Mark 2/3, with the same 114 NCPHRF as a Cal-40, is a competitive boat on SF Bay, as fast or faster than a well sailed Cal-40. Who would have thunk Bill Lapworth would design an IOR Rule influenced hull? I remain hesitant about wheel steering offshore. But for congested SF Bay, the increased visibility to leeward with a wheel is an asset.
    Last edited by sleddog; 05-03-2021 at 09:00 PM.

  4. #4304
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    A fascinating CCA Zoom seminar last evening attended by Safety at Sea luminaries and readers of this Forum covered the subject of containers falling off ships, why, and what happens to them. The presenters were highly respected sailors and members of the shipping industry,

    The primary reason containers fall off ships is the huge increase in the size and capacity of container ships since the first ship, the converted WWII tanker IDEAL-X, carried containers in 1956. Today, the standard 40 foot container can be stacked up to 9 tiers or 200 feet above deck and 90% of the world's non-bulk cargo is moved by container ship totaling more than 226 million containers in active use/year.

    This stacking can apparently cause "parametric rolling" a catastrophic disharmony from waves abeam creating up to 35 degrees roll each way way. These parametric rolls create tremendous centrifugal force on the upper tiers of containers as they arc through the sky.

    Parametric rolling is reportedly almost exclusive to these giant ships and not fully understood. One probable influence is the great windage of the stacked containers forming a virtual wall a quarter mile long. A second influence is the ship's own wake in a cross swell as the giant ship with draft of 50 feet rolls in the troughs.

    Whatever the cause, we were assured the vast majority of containers that fall off ships are steel, not air tight
    and end up sinking, even if empty. A smaller number of containers may stay afloat either because they are refrigerated and airtight, or because their contents are light weight electronics packed in styrofoam or bubble wrap packaging.

    When the experts were queried about what is being done about the problem of containers falling overboard, "it is being studied." was the answer, as losing up to 10,000 containers/year is costly. When asked if there is any plan to track or make sure the a container sinks, the answer was "not at this time." "With so many containers in use, it would be nearly impossible to retrofit something like a GPS tracker or hydrostatic device."

    The general consensus is that there is much more probability and danger from hitting a whale than a container. Either way, it is a good idea to have an abandon ship plan.

    Maybe Jim Q. can tell us if this informative seminar was recorded to share.

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    Last edited by sleddog; 05-07-2021 at 10:27 PM.

  5. #4305
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    The fleet is in: 23 Moore 24's are in town sailing their National Championship off Santa Cruz. 2 races starting today at 1 PM, 3 tomorrow Saturday, and 2 on Sunday. Good to see long time friend Mark English here with MAS! as well as Morgan and Christa Larson and family down from Hood River. Morgan grew up down the street from CBC. Results can be found here: https://www.regattanetwork.com/event...wsroom+results

    The fleet is in: 2 dozen commercial salmon boats from up and down the Coast have found refuge in Santa Cruz Harbor while waiting out gale warnings over their fishing grounds. Said one skipper, "you can't fish in 7-9 foot wind waves and 30-40 knots of wind.

    The fleet in in: anchovies by the gross are gathering just off the Harbor entrance and birds are delighting. Humpbacks can't be far behind.

  6. #4306
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    Default Lost Shipping Containers

    The Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) at Moss Landing has been involved with studies of lost shipping containers. Pre-COVID they held a most fascinating annual open house. During one of those visits we learned that an MBARI research vessel, while in transit, had quite by accident noted a sonar reading of something unusual at a depth of ~4000 feet. Further investigation by remote operated vehicle (ROV) revealed it to be a shipping container with clearly readable markings. They were able to identify the ship that it had come from and the contents: car tires. Luckily, the tires are relatively inert; it could have been worse.

    Since the discovery, the container has been the source of study. Apparently, due to the water temperature and that there is little oxygen at that depth, the steel container has remained intact and has provided an artificial habitat for a variety of marine life.

    https://www.mbari.org/first-ever-stu...ing-container/

    First-ever study describes deep-sea animal communities on and around a sunken shipping container, May 7, 2014

    Excerpted from this report: “This collaborative research project has already helped government agencies in formulating standards for how containers are weighed, stacked, and lashed down. It has also spurred interest from both governmental agencies and the shipping industry in finding a way to track the number of containers lost at sea each year. As DeVogelaere noted, “The fact that our research was mentioned by the U.S. Coast Guard in the background material for a proposed lashing rule shows that this work has clear societal value.”
    Last edited by Dazzler; 05-07-2021 at 09:21 PM.
    Tom P.

  7. #4307
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    After two days of racing and 5 races, the Moore 24 fleet has had exciting and competitive racing. The all pro, Olympic caliber, PEGASUS RACING has dominated with 4 firsts in 5 races. After those guys, the husbands/wives/family and friends teams had serious back and forths. As there is a class weight limit of 825 pounds, about half the fleet was sailing with 4 crew total, and half with 5.

    Standing 2nd is Joel and crew on FIREFLY from RYC, and tied for 3rd is Morgan Larson on BRUZER and Steve Bourdrow on MOOREGASM. Yesterday's first race was a 3.5 mile weather leg to Natural Bridges in usual westerly, 18-22, with relatively smooth water along the West Cliff shoreline and its protective kelp beds.

    Morgan and crew rounded Natural Bridges a close second behind PEGASUS, bore off DDW and set their spinnaker simultaneously. Before fully squared away, BRUZER laid down to weather, mast horizontal and spinnaker pole pointing down. Three things then happened simultaneously: Christa Larson, Morgan's wife, and foredeck boss managed to hang on with her fingernails while the carbon fiber spinnaker pole splintered. Aft, 505 World's Champ Mike Holt, used to this sort of thing, stepped off BRUZER and onto the her keel. BRUZER promptly righted and took off again, sans spinnaker pole. For the rest of the downwind leg, Morgan masterfully drove the entire 3 mile downwind leg on a plane with no pole, while 2 crew went below, disassembled the broken pole, removed one of the aluminum bunk tubes, and assembled a new pole.

    All in a day in the Moore 24's, where two boats, WET SPOT and VALKYRIE are racing with original owners, the only boats in the fleet with that cachet.

    Today's 3 races were held in different conditions from yesterday. The common afternoon Easterly was blowing near shore, and yesterday's westerly had petered out. 3 windward/leewards were run in conditions not seen elsewhere on the Coast. With 8-10 knots of wind and a leftover westerly swell, the fleet was able to surf upwind and pound going downwind. This suited some and flummoxed others. Enjoying the conditions and doing particularly well using the boat's original sails was RYC's Nick Voss and his young crew on ENAMORED, ex-CADENZA.

    Tomorrow's two races are for all the marbles. It's good to see new blood in the Moore-24's battling in the front row. To watch the final day's racing from a distance, starting at 1 pm, go to
    Santa Cruz Harbor web cam at https://www.santacruzharbor.org/cruz-harbor-web-cam/

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    Last edited by sleddog; 05-08-2021 at 09:44 PM.

  8. #4308
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dazzler View Post
    The Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) at Moss Landing has been involved with studies of lost shipping containers. Pre-COVID they held a most fascinating annual open house. During one of those visits we learned that an MBARI research vessel, while in transit, had quite by accident noted a sonar reading of something unusual at a depth of ~4000 feet. Further investigation by remote operated vehicle (ROV) revealed it to be a shipping container with clearly readable markings. They were able to identify the ship that it had come from and the contents: car tires. Luckily, the tires are relatively inert; it could have been worse.

    Since the discovery, the container has been the source of study. Apparently, due to the water temperature and that there is little oxygen at that depth, the steel container has remained intact and has provided an artificial habitat for a variety of marine life.

    https://www.mbari.org/first-ever-stu...ing-container/

    First-ever study describes deep-sea animal communities on and around a sunken shipping container, May 7, 2014

    Excerpted from this report: “This collaborative research project has already helped government agencies in formulating standards for how containers are weighed, stacked, and lashed down. It has also spurred interest from both governmental agencies and the shipping industry in finding a way to track the number of containers lost at sea each year. As DeVogelaere noted, “The fact that our research was mentioned by the U.S. Coast Guard in the background material for a proposed lashing rule shows that this work has clear societal value.”
    Thanks, DAZZLER, this is fascinating. The amount of marine life at 4,000 feet is astounding.

  9. #4309
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    3 mill "views" is a nice, round, number, though Beetle would say less, and probably be right.

    Like its owner, the 11 year old Toshiba laptop with Windows7 OS is slowing, and sometimes has to be shutdown and restarted to get anywhere at all. Fortunately I don't have an editor with a deadline and penchant for changing prose just because he can.

    The marine layer is hovering at the beach, and the deck of the CBC is chilly enough for fleece at high noon. We're out of here tomorrow for warmer, inland, waters.

    Meanwhile, Mini-MAGIC has passed her flotation and LCG tests in fresh water, and will soon be rigged. I'm glad to see the orange pingpong ball on the tip of the bowsprit!

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    Last edited by sleddog; 05-11-2021 at 05:50 PM.

  10. #4310
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    Quote Originally Posted by sleddog View Post

    Meanwhile, Mini-MAGIC has passed her flotation and LCG tests in fresh water, and will soon be rigged. I'm glad to see the orange pingpong ball on the tip of the bowsprit!

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    Hey hey! Mini-Magic is looking fantastic!
    1968 Selmer Series 9 B-flat and A clarinets
    1962 Buesher "Aristocrat" tenor saxophone
    Piper One Design 24, Hull #35; "Alpha"

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