New Boat 4 Sled

[DaveH]

Dave, you should go rescue this one from an inglorious fate. The only problem is it's in Denmark:
Attachment 1287

I think the champagne will be gone by the time I get there... On the other hand, it appears to be fully rigged and ready to go...

[sleddog]

The Dreissigacker brothers, Peter, and his Olympic rower brother Dick, are legendary for inventive improvements in the world of competitive rowing. Both Stanford grads, in 1975 the Dreissigackers were the first to develop carbon fiber oars, lighter, stronger, and more flexible than their wooden counterparts.

Then in early 1981 the Dreissigackers decided to create a winter training device for rowers. Peter nailed his old bicycle to the floor of a barn and pulled on the free end of the chain, and the indoor rower was born, leading to the creation of their successful company Concept2.


Over the last eight years I've come to know and appreciate Concept2 Indoor Rowers well. Our local harbor is not well suited for on-the-water rowing, and I needed to train for the 2008 Singlehanded Transpac. The Concept2 proved the ideal means, giving a well balanced upper and lower body, and cardio workout with zero impact, while toughening the hands. And with the sophisticated computer monitor, it proved easy to log daily workouts, and satisfy competitive urges by competing online with other Concept2 rowers world wide. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8USP6GJAvMk

I was glad I discovered the Concept2. The strength I developed proved critical to climbing the just-within-reach lower rung of the pilot's ladder when I left WILDFLOWER and boarded the the MSC TORONTO on the return passage from Hanalei.


Since that time, I've continued rowing on the Concept2, most recently in training for a proposed Race2Alaska, where rowing my WILDFLOWER cat could play a significant role in the light airs of the Inside Passage. To date, my Concept2 computer logbook shows 7,232,875 meters, or nearly 4,000 nautical miles, rowed since 2008. Calluses? We got calluses.

[Philpott]

[QUOTE=sleddog;13451

Since that time, I've continued rowing on the Concept2, most recently in training for a proposed Race2Alaska, where rowing my WILDFLOWER cat could play a significant role in the light airs of the Inside Passage. To date, my Concept2 computer logbook shows 7,232,875 meters, or nearly 4,000 nautical miles, rowed since 2008. Calluses? We got calluses.[/QUOTE]

Gosh, that's a poignant photo!

So your head is still in that race?! Well good on you!!! Where is the Fund Wildflower site?

[sleddog]

Not sure what the Dreissigacker brothers would think of my 2 bit indoor rower here in Yelapa... 30 pesos of bungee and PVC pipe.


Thanks, DURA MATER, for the kind words. I remain a student of the R2AK, and continue training and research. But sanity and financial realities have prevailed, and WILDFLOWER will not be on the R2AK start line at Port Townsend next June 23rd.

http://r2ak.com/

[sleddog]

Not everyday is one fortunate enough to race doublehanded to Hawaii on a boat as fast and well appointed as the 60' Tom Wylie Design ROXANNE. Dr. Tom Petty, with Jim Betts, built this pretty boat of aluminum at Lake Tahoe for family cruising the Pacific. 20 years later ROXANNE is still at sea, although the kids are now grown and in college.


ROXANNE had many cool features for ocean cruising: a sliding coach roof that can be extended over the cockpit for protection, a garage in the stern and dedicated workshop/cabin below, a large head with washing machine and heated towel racks.

Tom and I spent the early half of 1998 shaking ROXANNE down, doing as many local races as possible in anticipation of that year's Pacific Cup. Our schedule included the Three Bridge Fiasco, which seemed a good idea at the time for short handed sail handling drill.

The sunny afternoon's southwesterly was just filling as we approached Red Rock under spinnaker, coming from Treasure Island on our counter-clockwise circuit. Our rounding of Red Rock was to port. The drill was to unfurl the jib, snuffer the spinnaker, and make the drop down the forehatch while the autopilot briefly steered with an apparent wind angle of 150 degrees.

All good, except for a picket line of small boats under spinnaker coming the other way around Red Rock. There were a dozen or so Moore 24's spinnaker pole to mainsail leech, with other 20 footers bringing up the filling breeze and blanketing the boats ahead as everyone hit the lee behind Red Rock simultaneously.

There didn't appear much we could do without entering the fray. An end run outside the armada, or turning 180 with a spinnaker half way lowered seemed only faint options.

Fortunately, ROXANNE carried an industrial strength air horn.

With my freehand lowering the spinnaker halyard to Tom, I went to the bow with the air horn. One long blast ("entering a blind turn or obstructed area") appeared to get the fleet's attention.
Then 5 short blasts ("standing into danger, I do not understand your intentions...")

Magically, a hole in the wall of sails opened to allow ROXANNE through.

A nice thing about the 3BF is most understand the course and conditions lead to potentially crowded situations. Neighborly interactions are a tradition of the 3BF.

[H Spruit]

[QUOTE=Philpott;13453]"Gosh, that's a poignant photo!"

I was about to write an essay explaining how the pic of Skip climbing up the side of the freighter made me feel until I looked up the definition of POIGNANT!
that says it all.

[sleddog]

3 Cheers for Laura, Emma, Natalia, Isabel, Lizanne, and Meg, the All Women Coxless Crew on the 29 foot DORIS for having completed their row from San Francisco to Cairns, Australia.

This determined crew persevered through numerous challenges to help publicize support for their chosen charities.


Their 7339 nautical mile journey was completed in 257 days with three layovers (Santa Barbara, Honolulu, and Western Samoa) for an average underway speed of 1.2 knots. This was 102 days longer than originally planned, a result of gales, adversarial winds, currents, heat, and barnacles growing on the bottom of DORIS.

DORIS will be shipped back to England to inspire future generations. A tour, book, and movie is planned. Though one could argue that their achievement was hardly "unsupported" as claimed, DORIS's shoreside crew kept interest high and the ladies aimed in the right direction.

An additional notable achievement was the crew's daily blog that was published online, no mean fact given the cramped quarters, motion of the boat, overall dampness, and electronic requirements.
http://coxlesscrew.com/

Yay, DORIS!

[sleddog]

I didn't even have to lift my head from the pillow early this morning to see a 40 foot cutter drifting onto the rocks in the frontyard. Was I dreaming? There was a panga circling the unlit boat. No other noise but the hum of a furling mast as the TRUANT approached, her name visible in the full moon light.

In my half awake state, I fantasized either El Chapo had escaped again and was making a night time landing on our beach in Yelapa. Or the local cartel was off loading square groupers onto Isabels Beach next door.

WTF?

TRUANT continued her wayward drift, narrowing missing the rocky ledge. Over the next 40 minutes TRUANT drifted seaward, then circled in some unseen current, headed back into Yelapa Bay, and disappeared around the corner, still blacked out. Strange.

Dawn's early light revealed more mysteries. The Island Packet 38 HONU was drifting out of the Bay, and the CAT2FOLD catamaran was not where she was moored when the sun went down.

All three boats had taken local commercial moorings the afternoon before, believing in the moorings' integrity, and paying for the privilege. I'm not sure they would do that again.

If visiting Yelapa by boat for an overnight, I'd anchor bow and stern with plenty of scope. The depths are substantial, even near shore. And the local moorings aren't trustworthy.

[sleddog]

Yelapa, a small Mexican village on the southern shore of Banderas Bay is blessed with several cascadias (waterfalls). One cascadia, just uphill of the center of town, is about 100 feet high and empties into a pool with a small restaurant/bar nearby. Another cascadia is about two miles up the river valley, where we hiked yesterday in the shade of the jungle canopy and to the accompaniment of squawking and colorful macaws.



Early this morning a rare tropical deluge lasted about 15 minutes. Winter is dry season in this part of Mexico, and thus far the effects of El Nino are minimal in this area.



Awake and listening to the rain brings "aha" moments at 4 a.m.

For better or worse, 29 races to Hawaii over five decades sometimes dominates my dreamscape.

The Tropic of Cancer circles the Earth at latitude 23.5 degrees North latitude, where the sun passes directly overhead at noon on June 21, marking the beginning of summer.

2016 SHTP racers, starting 9 days later, will have the sun nearly overhead at LAN (Local Apparent Noon) for the latter half of the passage to Kauai. Those supplementing their electrical requirements with solar panels may experience lower than hoped for charging rates.

The first half of the SHTP, out to 135 degrees W., is often cool, overcast and misty. The second half of the passage, in the tradewinds, from 135 W to Kauai, finds the sun hidden behind the sails as it sets in the southwest. Solar panels don't do well in shade, yet shade covers much of the deck during the afternoon. Portable and adjustable solar panels with quick clamps may be of more value than fixed panels. I would often take WILDFLOWER's solar panels off the stern during the afternoon, and mount them forward on the bow pulpit....

This year's SHTP will be sailed during little or no moon. The new moon is July 4, and the full moon on July 19, well after racers are safely at anchor at Hanalei. Even with no moon, nights are rarely pitch black. The ambient light from stars is amazingly illuminative. It usually about takes 15 minutes of darkness to achieve full night vision. When going below to temporarily turn on a cabin light, good practice is to keep one eye closed so as not to totally destroy night vision in both eyes. That said, some 3 a.m. squalls and their accompanying cloud can make things dark as a dungeon and damp as the dew https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIxKqQJpgqc....In this case, if hand steering, nothing beats white nylon telltales lit by a forward shining flashlite to reduce chances of an accidental jibe.

Anticipation of night time boat handling drills will increase both safety and speed. Good lighting forward on the front sails and downward onto the foredeck can well increase sail trim and management. Often, the steaming light on the front of the mast can be modified to softly light the sails without causing night blindness. The steaming light bulb can either be replaced with a low wattage bulb. Alternatively, the bulb can be painted over with red nail polish, or the lens can be covered with tape. All this takes some experimentation.

A well lit mast head Windex is critical for good night time sail trimming. Thought should be given well ahead of time on how to best achieve this. I found by drilling a 1.5 inch hole in the top of my Aqua Signal tri-color light, and covering it with clear Plexi-glas, that sufficient light shone upwards to illuminate the Windex. Other options are available, including taping a flashlite to the backstay that shines upwards.

And sure as heck, the compass lite will fail at some point, and having a spare ready to plug in is wise.

My 2 cents. Ya get what ya pays for.

[H Spruit]

"This determined crew persevered through numerous challenges to help publicize support for their chosen charities."

These ladies have accomplished a major adventure, YES!
But, from my perspective failed their PR!
What charities, did they publicize?