Is that by chance the Freya 39 Arctic Wulf? At anchor at Pillar Point I met up with a fellow that stopped by on his standup paddle board to ask after Beetle's H-frame that supports the wind generator, he mentioned he had purchased Arctic Wulf and there aren't that many Freya 39s in Pillar Point. Arctic Wulf had done a series of singlehanded trips up to the Bering Sea and I had met the then-owner Jerry several times over the years in Pillar Point when he was between trips north. I wonder if it's the same boat.
- rob/beetle
Pretty much on schedule for the E. Pacific, the first tropical storm of the season, Two-E, has formed 500 miles south of Puerto Vallarta, MX, and is moving WNW. https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/?epac
Meanwhile, a small, unorganized, armada of boats being rowed, pedaled, paddled, and wingfoiled are getting ready to set off from ports Monterey north to San Francisco Bay in quest of being the first to do something to get in the record books all the while supporting "clean oceans" and "carbon net zero" on their passages towards the Hawaiian Islands. As often typical, few in this fleet have had any sort of shakedown or trial....Here's one I have been asked to assist, no thank you: https://www.standupjournal.com/2021/...-wing-project/
Most of these small craft will be blown south, even southeast, before they can begin to make progress westward well into Mexican waters. It's only a matter of time, given their slow speeds, until one or more are caught out by a hurricane curving northwest towards 20 degrees north latitude.
Last edited by sleddog; 05-30-2021 at 05:57 PM.
With just 18 days left to the start of SHTP 2021, the rubber is meeting the road for a substantial number of potential SHTP 2021 entrants. This is not unusual, but may indicate an unrealistic approach starting well back in time. Is the boat prepared? Is the skipper's head and heart in the project? Are there legal, financial, or medical challenges that appear insurmountable? Has the boat done the 400 mile Qualifier?
One or more of the above have DSQ'd more than half a dozen, leaving a svelte fleet of 11 likely starters. Good news is the final account of entries shows a seriousness of intent and good pre-prep. Gone are the excuses "rudder's delaminated," "not enough time to complete the Qualifier," "I need to order a new suit of sails," and "I couldn't get a third reef in my main in time."
Who will be First-To-Finish? I see five potential winners in this category, with the on-paper favorites being the scratch rated J-109 MOUNTAIN and the Hobie-33 ALOHA. The Overall Winner could come from a different list that definitely includes HULA and SHARK ON BLUEGRASS. And whoever gets there first amongst the 114 raters GREEN BUFFALO, NOZOMI, and SIREN, could well take the whole hulihuli chicken. A very competitive fleet. Good Luck to All. See you at the Skipper's Meeting.
Last edited by sleddog; 06-09-2021 at 09:34 PM.
Salmon season finds many going to a fish or super market for fresh caught salmon. Unfortunately, if less expensive "Atlantic" salmon is bought, there's a problem. Atlantic salmon is farmed salmon, raised in massive floating fish farms in British Columbia. Wild Pacific salmon populations have been in sharp decline since the early 1990s when fish farms began on a large scale. Now more than half of all wild salmon populations in southern B.C. are endangered or threatened.
Scientists have been trying to pinpoint the causes of these declines and have been investigating whether the growing number of salmon farms off the B.C. coast may play a role. The concern is that pathogens may be spilling over from farmed salmon to wild salmon and contributing to their widespread declines
In a new study published in Science Advances, it was found that a salmon virus that is common on fish farms was introduced to southern B.C. roughly 30 years ago and is continually transmitted between farmed and wild salmon. Viruses leave a genetic fingerprint and genome sequencing can be used to monitor the evolution of a virus —as seen during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. And it is certain that fish farms are being stocked with fish infected with the virus and that salmon farms are the source of infection for the rapidly disappearing wild fish.
The research provides evidence that supports growing calls to minimize interactions between salmon farming and wild fish. Even a small increase in the survival of juvenile salmon that migrate from rivers out to the open ocean can result in millions more adult salmon returning to their spawning grounds, a vital resource to both the ecology and people within coastal British Columbia.
So consider minimizing buying farmed salmon. Their flesh may taste wonderful. But in addition to farmed salmon decimating stocks of wild salmon, the pink color of farmed salmon is artificially created from petro chemicals added to their feed and not from the krill and shrimp in the open ocean eaten by wild salmon.
Thanks Skip.
This film is well worth watching. The hatcheries are also misguided.
"Artifishal"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdNJ0JAwT7I
Thank you for mentioning this important film. I encourage all to give it a watch. Just the sight of the thousands of sick Atlantic salmon in fish farm pens is reason to say "enough." Would anyone intentionally dine on diseased meat from cows or chickens with obvious gaping wounds? Yet that is exactly what is happening when farmed "Atlantic" salmon is bought and served. Their sickness just happens out of sight, under water.
Last edited by sleddog; 06-05-2021 at 07:30 PM.
Good news for the 2021 Class of Buglighters: I have confirmed with Rocky and Priscilla that their traditional half way barge, BUBBLES, will be on station from 0800, June 24th, until 2200, June 29th (PDST) to service the SHTP fleet. Free tie up in BUBBLE'S protected slippage will be allowed for 3 hours and deducted from the yacht's finish time.
Featured this year are Transpac mochas, free range 1/2 pound BBQ burgers, and Mahi Florentine Benedict with Gayle's scones and marmalade jam. As well, there will be sunset Dark and Stormys with umbrellas, Jackie's pineapple bundt cake, and Marianne's Macapuno icecream.
Also, hot showers and an ice machine, the much acclaimed waterslide and electric jet skis from previous races will again be featured, as well as Ballenger Spars repair shop and Synderella's spinnaker repair loft. All this included in your race entry
Standing by to take your lines...... The 2021 SHTP Adopt-A-Weirdo Committee.
Last edited by sleddog; 06-09-2021 at 09:32 PM.