Times have changed. There are at least 39 high school sailing teams competing in Southern Calif. Including........ta dah https://www.facebook.com/Mater-Dei-H...8268012914371/
Looky what Kimball found
Don't be late!
(If anyone is attending tomorrow's launch of the tallship MATTHEW TURNER in Sausalito and wishes to share pics and/or a first hand account, I know we'd be interested!)
Last edited by sleddog; 03-31-2017 at 10:40 PM.
Ok Sled, it's been bothering me all day. I should know what boat that is but, I don't.
I know you are really good at ID'ng boats. Sail number 2069, probably a yawl, maybe a UK boat with that sail number. Is this a quiz? And for extra points, who did the art work?
I tried to enter that first Farallones race, but they wanted you to have a VHF radio as part of the minimum equipment requirements. I thought that was nuts. I'd always thought the idea was you are on your own out there.
Best News of the Day:
At 1724 hrs, after a grudging departure from the massive submersible trailer, and to the welcoming cheers and horns of thousands of well wishers, MATTHEW TURNER has been safely launched. Congrats to all.
Here's a 3 minute look of the joy of the 1,000 volunteers, and the size of the crowd. What a day for the sailing community. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6Ch6TxnOa8
Last edited by sleddog; 04-02-2017 at 08:50 AM.
As dawn lit the sky in the East, about 50 fishing craft raced out of Santa Cruz Harbor on the first day of recreational salmon season. With speeds upwards of 30 knots, many of these expensive looking fiberglass outboards were in a
distinct hurry to get to where the fish weren't.
With 5 years of drought, the rivers, streams, and creeks have run dry, and few salmon have spawned. Still, Opening Day is a fishing tradition....
No one noticed as they sped past the ghost of another fishing tradition, the Monterey Clipper VITA MARIE, about to be trucked to the landfill.
Early in the last century, when commercial fishing was big business, feluccas were the fish boats of choice. Their design was based on the traditional Italian feluccas with lateen sail rigs and brought to the New World by Italian immigrants. At one time there were likely 500 sailing feluccas fishing between Monterey and SF Bay.
When the gas engine like the Hicks Marine Engine appeared after WWI, many of the sailing feluccas either were converted, or disappeared. When the sailing rig was abandoned, the felucca becamea known as the "Monterey Clipper" like VITA MARIE.
Today, with their wood construction and modest speed, the Monterey Clipper is an endangered species, even at Fishermans' Wharf in San Francisco where few remain active in the fishing business. A pity, because the Clipper's double ended hull shape is pretty beyond words to look at.
And who could resist the sound of their engines saying "Potato, Potato, Potato."
Fair well, VITA MARIE.
Last edited by sleddog; 04-02-2017 at 07:16 PM.
A group of six guys from work went out of Santa Cruz on the Megabite Sunday and had good luck, three big salmon, I reeled in the biggest a real beauty of about 18 lbs. Beautiful day and good eating!
It was a beautiful day yesterday at Santa Cruz as we launched Howard and Yvonne's 20' Frogcat MOKUAKALANA for a Sunday sail to clear the sailing cobwebs out of our minds and MOKU's rigging.
With MOKU afloat, the mainsail cover came off, only to discover in the intervening weeks of winter, an active mud dauber wasp nest was attached to the headboard of the main. Howard, demonstrating the creativeness for which he is well known, immediately hoisted the main, and the mud daubers found their cellular apartment complex 20 feet aloft.
We motored out the Harbor to the whirring hum of the electric outboard. Inbound was the salmon fleet. A minus low tide, and occasional sets of white water breaking across the west side of the now dredged entrance channel deterred no one, not even a bevy of rental kayaks.
Outside, the ocean was calm with about 4-5 knots of wind from the southwest. We sailed up towards Steamer Lane, where we could see 8-12 foot breaking swells outside, and 3-5 feet inside off "Indicators." With Spring Break happening, there looked to be about 100 surfers enjoying the clean lines as we reached in towards Cowells Beach.
It was noon "solar time," and the afternoon seabreeze begin to build right on schedule. We reached out to Mile Buoy at 6 knots in 10 knots of wind, jibed around the buoy and a couple of bobbing loons, and reached back to the Harbor as white caps built seaward. A perfect afternoon of relaxed sailing before the fog arrived about 4 pm.
Not sure how much the mud daubers enjoyed the ride aloft...but their well constructed nest was still attached when MOKU's main came down.
Thanks, Howard and Yvonne!
Last edited by sleddog; 04-03-2017 at 07:48 AM.
Safety Moment for the Day
It's never too early to learn to duck for the boom!
And it goes without saying, on boats of size or in breeze of significance, to keep hair and fingers away from the traveler track and main sheet blocks. And on a jibe, accidental or intentional, to keep clear of the bight of the mainsheet and mainsheet tail......