Page 237 of 628 FirstFirst ... 137187227233234235236237238239240241247287337 ... LastLast
Results 2,361 to 2,370 of 6278

Thread: New Boat 4 Sled

  1. #2361
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Capitola,CA
    Posts
    3,338

    Default

    Offseason cruising in the San Juans means empty coves, wildlife, and why good friends Gary and Ev have converted from sail to a 34 foot, diesel stove heated, tug, SLOPOKE. A letter yesterday from Gary highlights a recent winter cruise:

    BIG High Pressure & inversion meant cold temps here but light winds. Always worry about the dreaded "Fraser Valley" outflow. Kind of like "Arctic" version of the Santa Ana winds. Out 6 days last week on Slo Poke, which was only possible because of the diesel stove making the boat interior toasty/warm. Basically, fired up the stove on departure & turned off on return. It ran perfectly! Hiked up to Reed & Duck lakes on Cypress Island & found them frozen over. Going ashore in the morning, the beach landing sites had driftwood & chunks of bull kelp coated with ice. The bird population was amazing. Ducks everywhere, golden eye, bufflehead, merganzers mallards.......you name it & they were present. In Eagle Harbor there was a sea gull who thought it was a duck. It hung out with a large flock of buffle head ducks & they seem to accept it's presence like one of their own.

    Some mornings the anchorage was enveloped in dense fog and kinda magical. Since we were the only boat, I didn't think it necessary to sound a bell fwd. & a gong aft. Didn't have to worry about the stove running out of fuel as it is fed by the port aft diesel tank (60 gals.).


    Name:  Slopoke.JPG
Views: 1010
Size:  500.7 KB

    . The house was very cold on our return. A roaring fire in the wood stove soon solved that. We had our dinner on the couch right in front of the wood stove while rest of the house heated up. On return to marina, we walked home to get car & retrieve gear from boat. This time, it was after sunset (somewhat dark) & driving down Commercial Ave. just abeam the Donut House the car in front of me hit the brakes to avoid 3 deer trying to cross the busy street. I came to a stop & they trotted by the side of my car like a bunch of jay walking what-evers......

    Name:  Slopoke2.JPG
Views: 1111
Size:  739.8 KB

    Gary
    Last edited by sleddog; 12-11-2017 at 08:55 AM.

  2. #2362
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Capitola,CA
    Posts
    3,338

    Default

    While Star sailors were racing in Nassau, and Francois Gabert is racing the clock in the N. Atlantic, yesterday I was racing common murres off Santa Cruz.

    As I left Santa Cruz breakwater, the only other boat in sight on the glassy sea was MOKU with Howard and Yvonne.
    I pedaled over to say hi, then headed for Mile Buoy small in the distance to the southwest.

    I fell into a comfortable rhythm of pedaling of about 45-50 revolutions/minute. It was warm and sunny, and I was soon shirtless and trying to stay hydrated on a December afternoon. Nearby were many common murres, also known as guillemots, some headed in my direction paddling at the same speed.

    I glanced at my GPS speed puck and found I was making about 1.8 knots over the bottom. The sails were not doing much with the lack of wind and the telltales hung limp.

    It took 55 minutes to pedal the 1.34 miles to Mile Buoy, a good test of the pedal drive system and my stamina. Rounding Mile Buoy, a dozen sealions barked their approval. Returning to the Harbor again took 55 minutes, which computed to about 1.5 knots of average boatspeed for the round trip.

    Name:  Mile Buoy.jpg
Views: 1105
Size:  412.0 KB

    All that, and the common murres, weighing 2 pounds each, were keeping up with my 22 footer. Good stuff.

    Name:  murre.jpg
Views: 1045
Size:  5.6 KB
    Last edited by sleddog; 12-11-2017 at 10:16 AM.

  3. #2363
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Posts
    3,485

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by sleddog View Post
    While Star sailors were racing in Nassau, and Francois Gabert is racing the clock in the N. Atlantic, yesterday I was racing common murres off Santa Cruz.
    Murre speed. Nice little story.

  4. #2364
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Capitola,CA
    Posts
    3,338

    Default

    Congrats and respect to Francois Gabart on completing his solo Around the World Voyage on MACIF in a record time that few thought was possible - 42 days, 16 hours, 40 min., 35 seconds. Wow. That beats the old record of Thomas Colville by more than 6 days, 10 hours.

  5. #2365
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Capitola,CA
    Posts
    3,338

    Default

    All manner of exotic wildlife can and does emerge from the jungle at Yelapa, a small village on the Bay of Banderas, 15 miles SW of Puerto Vallarta.

    Name:  stickbug1.jpg
Views: 889
Size:  308.0 KB

    Annie went out to hang clothing on the clothes line. And found it already occupied. A 12" stickbug was slowly making its way south.... the front end of the insect is not the end with the triangular bulb.

    Name:  stickbug2.jpg
Views: 959
Size:  424.1 KB

    Has anyone else seen a stickbug? I had a praying mantis live on WILDFLOWER for a week in Hawaii. Named her "Alice" and she seemed quite content. Finally before departure I boxed her up for delivery into the mangroves near Kaneohe Yacht Club.

    Then here was the spider that sailed with me on WILDFLOWER from New Zealand to Hawaii ...each night spinning a new web between the solar panel and wind vane bracket. Even in nature, Hope Springs Eternal.

  6. #2366
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Capitola,CA
    Posts
    3,338

    Default

    The family of one of our SSS solo sailors has recently evacuated their Santa Barbara home. But are "guardedly optimistic that our home will survive" the devastating Thomas fire, third largest in state history. "We have the ‘essentials’ offloaded and safe just in case…."

    A new and effective tool in the fire fight near Ventura/Santa Barbara has been the "Super Scooper" aircraft, built in Canada. It is a highwing, turbo-prop, amphibious plane that can land on the ocean or nearby lakes, scoop up 1,620 gallons of water without stopping, and then resume flying into the fire drop area. In addition, they can add retardant to the scooped water to assist the fire fight, but aren't doing so in this case. The amount of water the Super Scoopers can carry is much greater than helicopters, and they are much faster in turn around time than helos or larger, ground based, aircraft.

    Name:  bombardier415superscooper.jpg
Views: 890
Size:  383.9 KB

    What is the sailing connection? The Super Scooper aircraft are using industrial-sized Elvstrom self bailers to scoop water, similar to many of the new generation of water ballasted race boats.

    In the Thomas Fire, there are two Super Scoopers operating in tandem. They are using nearby Lake Cachuma for water pickups, and it only takes 15 minutes to drop water near Santa Barbara, make a lake landing, and return to the drop area. The firefighters are greatly impressed watching these aircraft work, and the planes have evidently helped save many homes.

    Here's a short video of the Super Scooper, technically named the Bombardier 415.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cS4U2ctIdzE
    Last edited by sleddog; 12-19-2017 at 07:56 AM.

  7. #2367
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Posts
    3,485

    Default

    Wow!!! that is SO cool! And ingenious. Sending best wishes out to "The family of one of our SSS solo sailors". That is scary stuff.
    Last edited by Philpott; 12-19-2017 at 11:13 AM.

  8. #2368
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    SF Bay Area
    Posts
    380

    Default

    More info on the Bombardier 415:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5LKF8G5huw

    Very interesting aircraft designed, built and maximized for a very specific purpose. My father was a flying boat pilot and sometimes spoke about the unique challenges. His license reads, "Single and multi-engine, land and sea." You may note that they don't actually "land" the Super Scooper (i.e. let the hull rest on the water) while doing the water pick-up. Part of the reason is that flying boats (like planing sailboats) "stick" to the water. The hull is stepped to help break that suction on take-off.

    It's also interesting to note how the foils and aerodynamic controls are maximized for the purpose (quick take-offs and maximum slow speed performance). Most aircraft are designed to maximize speed. Not this one. It's really not much different than thinking about how to maximize sail shape for different wind and sea conditions.

    This is not just the type, but one of the specific flying boats that my father flew:
    https://www.neam.org/ac-sikorsky-vs44.php

    Tom

  9. #2369
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Capitola,CA
    Posts
    3,338

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Dazzler View Post
    This is not just the type, but one of the specific flying boats that my father flew:
    https://www.neam.org/ac-sikorsky-vs44.php

    Tom
    Wow, Tom, thanks for the fascinating links ....Your father must have had quite the stories about piloting flying boats. The closest I ever came was flying to Catalina on a two engine flying boat, where each passenger was weighed, and seated accordingly.

    Unless I'm mistaken, here is the story of the restoration of the EXCAMBIAN vs44 Sikorsky flying boat your father flew.

    http://www.sikorskyarchives.com/S-44%20restore.php

  10. #2370
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    San Francisco Bay Area
    Posts
    2,095

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by sleddog View Post
    Offseason cruising in the San Juans means empty coves, wildlife, and why good friends Gary and Ev have converted from sail to a 34 foot, diesel stove heated, tug, SLOPOKE. A letter yesterday from Gary highlights a recent winter cruise:

    BIG High Pressure & inversion meant cold temps here but light winds. Always worry about the dreaded "Fraser Valley" outflow. Kind of like "Arctic" version of the Santa Ana winds. Out 6 days last week on Slo Poke, which was only possible because of the diesel stove making the boat interior toasty/warm. Basically, fired up the stove on departure & turned off on return. It ran perfectly! Hiked up to Reed & Duck lakes on Cypress Island & found them frozen over. Going ashore in the morning, the beach landing sites had driftwood & chunks of bull kelp coated with ice. The bird population was amazing. Ducks everywhere, golden eye, bufflehead, merganzers mallards.......you name it & they were present. In Eagle Harbor there was a sea gull who thought it was a duck. It hung out with a large flock of buffle head ducks & they seem to accept it's presence like one of their own.

    Some mornings the anchorage was enveloped in dense fog and kinda magical. Since we were the only boat, I didn't think it necessary to sound a bell fwd. & a gong aft. Didn't have to worry about the stove running out of fuel as it is fed by the port aft diesel tank (60 gals.).


    Name:  Slopoke.JPG
Views: 1010
Size:  500.7 KB
    Now, THAT is a powerboat.
    1968 Selmer Series 9 B-flat and A clarinets
    1962 Buesher "Aristocrat" tenor saxophone
    Piper One Design 24, Hull #35; "Alpha"

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •