I'll let the mole thing go. It gave me a different mental image, plus I'm still processing Pat's description of the Moore 24's cabin.
Regarding the WM plugs, I had one of those and it was indeed a piece of junk. Now I have a USB port, which charges all the iDevices and even my old flip phone (yes!) quite well. The problem was what to do with the big hole in the bulkhead from the cigarette lighter thing (above) - Rule 4 is a big deal on my boat. I cast about for various solutions short of a proper boatyard-type fix with filler and gelcoat. The outcome was a shiny new, dark blue refuse disposal sticker that neatly covered the hole, as well as a bunch of old screw holes from past wiring relocations. It looks good and I'm legal-er than I was before.
I HATE brussel sprouts. They're worse than as-per-grass. Nasty stuff.
Some years ago, 15 to be exact, I was in Annapolis visiting the famed Boat Show. I took the day off and went to Washington D.C. to visit the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. I couldn't believe my eyes. Yes, it was wonderful looking close up at the wing warping of Wright Bros. plane, Lindbergh's THE SPIRIT of ST.LOUIS, and the Lunar Rover, which was really nothing more than lawn chairs on a battery operated Go-Kart, painted brown. http://www.californiaindianeducation...unar_Rover.jpg
The museum was packed. But over in a far corner, behind the Amelia Earhardt section, was something most wonderful. Nobody was looking at this model of LE MINERVE, a large hot air balloon sailing ship, designed in 1803 by Belgian Etienne Gaspar Robertson. I had it to myself.
Robertson, a physicist, was also into phantasmagoria, weather research,and hot air balloons. He introduced the first psychedelic light shows to France, and appeared to bring people back from the dead.
In 1796, three years after the declaration of war between France and Great Britain, Robertson met with the French government and proposed burning the invading ships of the British Royal Navy by focusing enormous mirrors to direct intense amounts of sunlight onto the approaching Brits.
That afternoon at the Air and Space Museum I spent an hour sketching Robertson's LE MINERVE into my Log. What's it rate? Your guess is as good as mine. This would be the perfect Race Committee platform and fleet guest quarters for the Singlehanded Transpac, anchored and floating just above Tree Time.
South Shore Lake Tahoe Windjammers Yacht is the host of the annual Fannette Island Race, held the last Sunday in Sept.. I've been crewing this fun event for over 15 years.
Driving to Tahoe up Highway 88 from Stockton is pretty, especially past Silver Lake, over Carson Pass, and down through Hope Valley, where the aspens are changing to yellow and gold. I forgot this weekend is also "Street Vibrations" in Reno, where 40,000 motorcycle riders gather, in search of hog heaven.
We were ready to go on V & D's Moore 24 AIRBORNE. But the RC wisely postponed the Fannette Island Race one week. It was already blowing 20 at 9 a.m. and the forecast was for SW winds increasing to 20-30, with gusts to 45.
To clear the spider webs, we went sailing anyway, with a #5 jib and reefed main. The water was smooth up under the west Tahoe shoreline. Lenticular clouds were evident in the north, east, and southern quadrants. A couple of 35 knot puffs off the slopes of Mt. Tallac sent us skittering. But nothing not manageable.
After an hour of fun, we attempted to sail back into the Tahoe Keys Channel. 25 knots of wind was blowing directly out of the channel, which is 100 yards long and two lengths wide.
No joy. We didn't want to short tack every 5 seconds, and end up aground outside some homeowner's front window. We bailed on the idea and sailed back out onto the Lake.
Denis went below on AIRBORNE, grabbed the 27 pound, 2 hp Honda outboard, and had it on the stern mount and started in less than two minutes. We dropped sails, and motored merrily up the channel and into our slip.
Good friend and shipmate Chuck Hawley is retiring after 30 years with West Marine. Many of you know Chuck as West Marine's Product Advisor, Safety Specialist, and master of ceremonies at countless Safety At Sea seminars. Chuck is well known for having his audience in stitches with his concise, witty, and honest reports.
You may not have known that Chuck is past Commodore of SSS, and two time SHTP vet on a Moore 24. In 1983, on a delivery back from Transpac, Chuck motor-sailed the 68' ULDB sled CHARLEY safely back to port after the keel fell off 400 miles north of Hono. I always liked Chuck's "what's wrong with this picture?" description of how, with CHARLEY's 80 foot mast flat in the water, he looked over the side and could only see keel bolts where the keel should have been.
I'm sure many of us have Chuck Hawley stories. One of my favorites is a mid-'90's Fourth of July at Santa Cruz. Fireworks at the beach were still legal then, and Chuck used that evening to product test his collection of many and varied flares.
We had taken WILDFLOWER out Santa Cruz Harbor to enjoy the fireworks and were drifting about a 100 yards off the beach. All of a sudden, a parachute flare goes by horizontally, at eye level, not a boat length away. "What the Hell?" I thought, "What crazy is doing this stupid thing?" We got the heck out of there.
Not knowing Chuck was involved, I mentioned this madness at his next Safety at Sea Seminar. Chuck's face turned ashen, then bright red. For the first time, he was nearly at a loss for words.
Chuck recalled to the audience what happened that 4th of July evening. While standing on the Twin Lakes Beach, Chuck had given a practice SOLAS parachute flare to his non-sailing brother-in-law to fire in a comparison test. Chuck had given clear instructions how to fire the flare. But had forgotten to mention the flare needed to be aimed vertically.
While Chuck fired his flare vertically, at the same time, his novice brother-in-law closed his eyes, held tight, and aimed horizontally, just missing WILDFLOWER drifting in the dark. Holy Shit, Sherlock. To this day, Chuck apologizes for what nearly happened that evening.
When we were in Santa Cruz recently, I was able to get a close look at Chuck's Alerion Express 38 yawl, SURPRISE. Only eight were built before the lovely Carl Schumacher design was radically changed into a high-end daysailer and in my opinion, ruined.
It's an interesting boat that's on my list of boats I'd be willing to own someday. Then there's the fact that Chuck's boat is Flag Blue.
It had a fair bit of growth on its hull but I suspect Chuck will soon have time to keep that from happening...
In the North Pacific there's some spectacular finishes to ocean races. The wind blows, the scenery is gorgeous, expectations high. And there is the plain fact that these finishes are often extraordinarily challenging, with last minute jibes, reefs, and gusty squalls to be navigated.
Race Rocks near the finish of the Swiftsure Race in the Straits of Juan de Fuca is one such place. It can blow 40 there in the afternoon. Navigating through the Rocks under spinnaker is not for the faint of heart.
The South Tower of the Golden Gate is another spectacular finish. Jibing a spinnaker there is seldom less than thrilling. I've recounted the story of the 73 foot BLACKFIN dismasting right under the GG Bridge while practicing for the Big Boat Series.
Hanalei Bay at the end of Singlehanded Transpac, and Kaneohe Bay at the end of the Pacific Cup share equally exciting finishes. Just ahead is a spectacularly beautiful bay, guarded by coral reefs with a backdrop of impossibly beautiful mountains. And you better be ready to put the brakes on.
Most have heard of the Molokai Channel, properly named the Kaiwi Channel. The Molokai Channel must be crossed to get to the finish of the Transpac, the Race from Los Angeles to Honolulu.
Since 1906 this finish has been the granddaddy of them all. Memorable. Often with the hairs on the back of your neck at full extension, whether through wind, or fear. Or both.
Molokai Channel extends about 30 miles from Ilio Pt., Molokai's NW tip, to Diamond Head, Oahu, the Transpac finish. Wind and seas are compressed, often adding 10 knots to the windspeed, and 10 feet to the wave height.
There have been some spectacular finishes over the years. Who can forget the photos of the big ketch MIR being dismasted just short of the finish, and sailing stern first across the finish line. Or MEDICINE MAN missing her jibe, and going up on the Diamond Head Reef, just short of the finish, a total loss.
In 1995, Hal Ward's turbo sled CHEVAL was leading the fleet as she entered the Molokai Channel. On CHEVAL's last jibe, off Ilio Pt., the backstay let go and her mast went overboard. The crew, stunned by the turn of events, rallied, cut the mast away, and rigged a jury rig using the spinnaker poles. CHEVAL, under reduced sail, averaged 9 knots for the last 30 miles to win the Barn Door Trophy over Larry Ellison's maxi SAYONARA.
In 1965 we came down the Molokai Channel in the 72' ketch TICONDEROGA. It was blowing the usual 30-35 knots, squally, and we were surfing our 100,000 lb. woodie at speeds over 20 knots.
"Big TI," designed as a family cruising boat by L Francis Herreshoff, was never meant for this. But who cares? We were coming down the Molokai Channel.
What was hair raising was we had to dip pole jibe the spinnaker with a 34 foot, jury rigged, spinnaker pole. Pitch dark. The running lights of STORMVOGEL, surfing 1/4 mile astern, searing into the backs of our heads.
Whoever pulled off their jibe, TI or STORMVOGEL, would be First-To-Finish, win the Barn Door trophy, and most importantly, set a new Transpac elapsed time record.
Our spinny pole, on a reel halyard winch, dropped into the water and smashed back into the weather shrouds. Somehow, it didn't break, and the boys got it out. Our main came across with a thunder clap. The pole was connected. The spinny never collapsed. TI surfed into history.
What incredible videos...makes me "flustrated" that I was born too soon to do this incredible adventure... Go Wahines....An ex-southern belle from Richmond Virginia never realized what was out there until she moved to the coast (Chesapeake Bay and Outer Banks etc, and discovered SAILBOATS....and the men that sailed them....Women back then were always first mates, but that has changed, magnificently so. Thanks, Captain Skip for taking us on your adventures this summer and sharing your knowledge, vision, and wisdom.
The humpback whales which have graced the waters of Monterey Bay for two months have mostly moved on. I still see a couple on my morning walks. But nothing like the geyser field of a few weeks ago. http://baynature.org/2013/10/04/anch...-monterey-bay/
Sleddog Sis has reported the sighting of the first humpback returning to Maui waters. Beginning in November, Hawaiian waters become a favorite winter destination of North Pacific humpbacks. It's fun to think maybe some of our local humpback visitors are doing Transpacs to Hawaii.
Although humpbacks, birds, and sea lions have certainly reduced the explosion of anchovies in Monterey Bay, another cause is likely killing anchovies. This is an algae bloom of microscopic phytoplankton known colloquially as the "Red Tide." The brownish red water discoloration is plainly visible from Capitola Wharf, beach, and cliffs.
Yesterday, hundreds of women were competing in the Mermaid Triathlon, starting and finishing off Capitola Main Beach. A universal comment from emerging swimmers was how yucky it was having to swim through masses of dead fish, most likely anchovies.
Red Tide blooms can be toxic to animals and birds. In addition, they locally deplete oxygen in the water, necessary for fish survival. Almost all Red Tides occur near shore. Many have been chemically linked to fertilizer runoff from inland streams and rivers.
A sailing friend, also a pilot, flies locally over Monterey Bay. He's observed that the Red Tide now occurring seems to begin from the old Cement Ship at Sea Cliff Beach. Are iron particles from disintegrating cement initiating our local Red Tide? Possibly.
Lenny H., aboard his Wilderness 33 SCARLETT BEGONIAS, took this dramatic photo of a humpback lunge feeding just off the Santa Cruz Harbor entrance. If you look closely, you can see anchovies dripping from its baleens.
What went before WILDFLOWER, the cat: MOKUAKALANA, "MOKU" for short, is Howard Spruit's cool cruising cat built singlehandedly in Cambria over a three year period.
A memorable ride aboard MOKU in 2010 sold me on the idea of small cruising cats as a viable means to get back afloat.
MOKU is a couple of feet shorter than WILDFLOWER, and purpose built for day sailing.
Howard and Yvonne sail MOKU most Sundays from Santa Cruz to Capitola. Note the electric outboard, jib boom, aft position of the main mast, centerline rudder, and other cool stuff.
The first woman to singlehand to Hawaii was Peggy Slater, in 1968, aboard her Kettenberg-43 VALENTINE. Whether she completed the passage is open for discussion.
To all who knew her, Peggy was larger than life. Standing six feet, with flaming red hair, Peggy came from a sailing family. She always had a red poinsettia tucked behind one ear, wore an Aloha shirt, and sailed with her Golden Retriever.
To the press, Peggy was known as the “Amelia Earhardt of Sailing.” In Hollywood's heyday, she was also boat broker to the movie stars. In one year, she taught Humphey Bogart to sail, then sold him the schooner SANTANA, owned by Dick Powell.
Peggy owned a succession of three Kettenberg sloops, red hulled, named VALENTINE. They sported a large red heart on their spinnakers. Peggy's boats were always launched at mid-night on Valentines Day and had a chromed cherub for a stem head.
Peggy Slater was much sought after for her sailing skills, and natural leadership abilities. She figured prominently in two overboard incidents, both which had uncertain endings for many hours.
In the 1951 Transpac, the Los Angeles to Honolulu Race, the 73 foot cutter L'APACHE was running hard, 880 miles NE of Honolulu when crew member Ted Sierks went forward to reeve a new preventer on the mainboom. While leaning outboard, the lifeline broke, and Sierks went overboard.
Peggy Slater, sailing master onboard L'APACHE, took charge. They got the spinnaker down, the boat turned around, and back to Sierks' estimated position in 26 minutes. But he was not sighted, likely because a line had fouled L'APACHE's prop and they undershot the return distance.
A search was initiated not only by the racing fleet, but by aircraft and naval vessels. L'APACHE searched for 28 hours before running out of fuel.
No one knew, but Sierks was very much alive, and holding onto a lifering. That night he saw flares dropped by an Army B-17, which buoyed his hopes.
The next day, after 29 hours in the water, Sierks was miraculously sighted by two crew aboard the Destroyer Escort MUNROE, which was making its last sweep before giving up the search.
This was not to be Peggy Slater's only crew overboard drama. The next was her own.
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