I knew I should have worn my SSS Singlehanded TransPac Bronze Belt Buckle.
Yesterday, preparing to fly home from Boston, I entered the Logan Airport Security Line. Soon I was in the full body scan booth, hands raised overhead for 6 seconds.
Apparently the TSA inspector wasn't happy with what he saw. He asked if I wanted a private room for a full body frisk, including private parts. I declined, and he felt around my pants pockets and asked if I had anything in them. I pulled out a pair of foam ear plugs. He felt again. This time he found an Ibuprofen pill I intended to take before boarding. He kept patting my belt area.
I was pulled aside for a chemical and explosives search, using an electronic device that resembled a showerhead. Apparently I passed. The inspector offered his explanation. My belt was a length of 5/16" rope tied at my waist with a square knot. To the inspector, the tails of the square knot resembled an explosive fuse, ready to be lit.
I reclaimed my backpack, only to discover my empty water bottle had been confiscated.
Departing Boston, the City was reveling in the mayor's announcement that the 75 foot high mountain of snow from this past winter's epic snowfall had finally melted.
From the air, 33,000 feet below, California looked parched and shriveled with hardly any snow on the Sierra peaks.
Last night, at home in Capitola, the sky was lit with lightning, and the distant rumble of thunder coming from the remnants of Hurricane Dolores, now entering Southern California waters and bringing rain and flood warnings to the Big Sur Coast.
Current racing from the California Coast to Hawaii is a mixed bag. Congrats to the all women, British rowing team on DORIS who set out from the Golden Gate 90 days ago in search of a rowing record to Hawaii, and encountered numerous detours that would have likely derailed a less determined team. DORIS will be finishing the first leg of their row to Australia this evening as they tie up at the Hawaii Yacht Club.
Nearby, the 105 foot maxi-trimaran LENDING CLUB will have just completed their sub 4 day crossing from San Pedro to Honolulu, a new sailing record. Average speed is an astonishing 23 knots over the 2125 mile course.
Except for the most northerly boats above the Great Circle course, the Monday starters in the TransPac race are about to be consumed from behind by light airs. Light winds have already bedeviled the Thursday starters of 50 footers. Yesterday's start, including three 100 footers, and a bunch of TransPac 52's and Santa Cruz 70's, are scattered all over Southern California coastal waters in search of a way to slingshot past now dissipated Tropical Storm Dolores.
News worthy reports from the fleet are scattered. Apparently a J-133 has turned back with loose keel bolts, and the Hobie 33 has lost her rudder and been DITW for 36 hours. One hopes she can get some emergency steering rigged up.
My personal favorite, the 108 year old schooner MARTHA, has not been able to reach potential speeds, 9-10 knots, of which she is capable. Her crew encountered major leaks through the deck and debilitating seasickness over the first 48 hours which likely sapped their strength and resolve to push their old warhorse, risking further breakage.
Good sailing to All. And good going to the seagull on Berkeley Marina's O-dock who built a nest and hatched its chick on the bow of an abandoned sloop. The chick is now nearly ready to fledge. That's determination in the face of adversity, just like the crew of DORIS.
In a rare display, Monterey Bay has changed color from its usual blue/grey to a vibrant tropical turquoise/aquamarine. Marine biologists report the color change is due to a bloom of phytoplankton called coccolithophores. Despite their long name, these tiny single-celled microorganisms develop limestone scales that reflect sunlight, turning the water pastel.
Though the reported need to wear sunglasses when viewing the coccolithophores may be exaggerated, there is no doubt this is a striking development, one that is not only rare, but unexplained. Scientists report the White Cliffs of Dover were created from the sediment of coccolithophore scales. This ocean color change has temporarily usurped local headlines away from news that several dozen juvenile great white sharks have been seen congregating off the Cement Ship in Rio Del Mar.
A few miles up the Coast, off Steamer Lane in Santa Cruz, locals turned out Sunday to watch pro surfers ride replica redwood surfboards of the same type ridden by three Hawaiian princes when they introduced surfing to the modern world 130 years ago, on July 19, 1885, off Santa Cruz's San Lorenzo River mouth.
In the ongoing publicity warfare with Santa Cruz as to which is the real "Surf City," 400 miles to the south in Huntington Beach, 66 surfers piled onto a 42 foot, 1,300 pound specially built surfboard to ride a wave for 12 seconds and become the new Guinness World Record for most surfers riding a wave on a single board.
Personally, I call the HB record "bogus." No one on the giant board paddled, and the crew was towed into the wave with jet skis. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqrwEH27grQ
It takes about 3 knots of wind at sea level to break surface tension and create wrinkles on the ocean's surface.
On the ocean, in less than 3 knots of wind, progress under sail is difficult. Residual ocean swells rock the boat, creating a pendulum effect between the keel and rig, rolling the boat and causing sails to "slat." Slatting sails cannot assume their proper aerodynamic shape, and provide little forward progress. The noise and chafe can become intolerable as expensive sails wear themselves out against the rig. Spinnakers can wrap, and overlapping jibs can get holes poked by the spreaders.
One technique I have seen work in calm conditions is to hoist a #3 blade, or smaller, non overlapping, jib in the foretriangle, and sheet the sail on centerline to the base of the mast. By keeping the foot tight and leech open, the jib's slatting can provide push, as well as reduce rolling.
Similarly, the main boom, held amidships with nylon mooring lines for shock absorption, can add speed when the knotmeter is reading triple zeros. Just hold the boom up a bit with a topping lift or spare halyard to open the leech, like on the jib.
This technique is not guaranteed, and takes some practice. But I have seen boats rocking themselves dead "downwind" at 1-2 knots while we "reached" back and forth, making near zero VMG on a glassy sea.
In these conditions, single-ply toilet paper telltales are more sensitive than anything electronic.
Here in Capitola, on the northern shore of Monterey Bay, we are currently blessed with visitors from deep in the Southern Hemisphere. Surf is head high in sets, the result of a southwest swell from two gales spinning 7,000 miles away, in the Southern Ocean, off the southeast coast of New Zealand.
Our south swell is the same one that two days ago led to High Surf Warnings and close out sets of 10-15 feet at Ala Wai Harbor in Honolulu, keeping half a dozen Transpac Race finishers from entering Ala Wai until daylight.
It's that time of year. Riding the swell off New Brighton Beach in the evening flockup are thousands of sooty shearwaters. They are packed so tightly, the inner birds in the circle can't take off until the outer rows become airborne.
These sooty shearwaters, like the ocean swell, also come from the Southern Ocean, flying extreme distances from New Zealand and Tasmania to overwinter (our summer) off the California Coast.
My direct observation over 40 years, as well as scientific census taking over the last 20 years, is the previously huge number (millions) of sooty shearwaters making the migration is much reduced. Burrow nests on 36 islands off the South Island of New Zealand are hunted for shearwater chicks and the young birds plucked, gutted, salted, and shipped overseas, as well as sold at corner shops as "mutton birds."
Mutton bird oil is used to rubdown the coats of greyhounds, racehorses, even athletes. "Good for reproductive organs and teeth," says the sales come on.
Wanna buy a dozen, 25, 50 or more salted mutton birds online, "a delicacy rich in Omega 3 fatty acids," delivered to your doorstep? http://www.muttonbird.net.au/index.htm
Sustainable harvest? Not to my way of thinking, especially when marketed overseas. Bummer.
In the early morning hours of August 18, 1961, thousands of sooty shearwaters became disoriented in the fog, and flew into the lights of Capitola, crashing into homes, cars, lightpoles, and shoreside structures. Dead and stunned birds littered the streets in the foggy early dawn. Startled by the rain of birds and the overpowering stench of disgorged fish, local residents rushed out on their lawns with flashlights, then rushed back inside as more shearwaters flew towards their lights.
The "invasion" caught the attention of local resident Alfred Hitchcock, and he used the shearwaters of Capitola as the basis of one of the all time classic horror movies, the 1963 film "The Birds."
Since Day 1 of the first "TransPac" Race, June 11, 1906, from San Pedro to Honolulu, there has been controversy at the Finish.
Dampening the Spirit of Aloha is not intentional. Apparently this year is no different.
The TransPac Race Committee tersely reports at least nine competitors have failed one or more of the required e-mail position reports and protests have been filed. The group includes First-to-Finish, the Barn Door Winner, at least three Class winners, and other podium finishers.
It will be interesting to see if the RC follows through, and what penalty, if any, is prescribed.
Two other boats, including our local SWEET OKOLE, are being protested for failing post race inspection protocol.
A reminder that a close reading of the Notice of Race and Sailing Instructions is mandatory. Even the all pro crews, with highly paid navigators, may not have followed the fine print.
Skip:
Re the toilet paper telltales in one of your previous: I have long liked to use the 3/16" cassette tapes attached to an old loran antenna on Harrier's stern. And I still use them for music aboard, too! Tried to wire up an automobile CD player, but was not immediately successful...so decided to stay with the tapes. Convert CDs to tapes on a home electronic device...also out of print. Oh well.....
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