New Boat 4 Sled

[Philpott]

Great photo!

Is that the infamous spinnaker snuffer? Rumor has it that K has a slick North version now that works mo betta, and an A2 to go with it.

Parts is parts.

We worked diligently to get that thing figured out. Spent more than an hour with the crew at the bow and the skipper at the stern untangling it, untying all the lines inside and out, and looking at it in bewilderment: huh? By the time we were done (interrupted by dolphins and pretty birds) the wind had picked up to about 12 knots and we could see the Santa Cruz pier. Finally the crew asked, "Well, what do you think? Are we going to try to fly it?" To which the Skipper responded: "Hell, no." And so we had a leisurely sail into Santa Cruz, seeing the roller coaster from the water, my first time aboard a sailboat, which thrilled me to no end.

[BobJ]

Per your last two posts I think you got her "Hell, nos" mixed up. I think she wanted to carry the kite right into Santa Cruz harbor. Sled would have been out there with his camera. It would have been epic.

[sleddog]

Per your last two posts I think you got her "Hell, nos" mixed up. I think she wanted to carry the kite right into Santa Cruz harbor. It would have been epic.

Sometimes possibilities are just too good to pass up. In the Spring of '93 we were out practicing off Santa Cruz for the TransPac onboard the SC-70 MIRAGE. It had been an afternoon of spinnaker drills. As we approached the Harbor Entrance a few minutes before sunset, I asked Jim R., MIRAGE's owner, if he'd like to carry the spinnaker into the Harbor. The wind was steady from the SW, and the channel was clear.

Jim, one of the really good guys in sailing, always enjoyed a joke, as long as it didn't hurt anyone. Jim, at the helm of MIRAGE, replied, "Sure. Why not?"

I prepped the crew for what the plan was. What Jim didn't know wouldn't hurt him.

MIRAGE creamed through the Entrance at sunset, Jim all smiles, the spinnaker trimmed to perfection, pulling like a train of horses.

What happened next I'm sure Jim Ryley remembers quite well. His well oiled crew of 8 disappeared. As one, we all slipped below, and giggled as we peered out the cabin windows.

MIRAGE galloped by the Crows Nest. Below, through the cabin windows, we could see the Crows Nest patron's noses pressed to the restaurant windows, cameras flashing. At the helm, suddenly solo sailor Jim was all smiles and waved back. But what the admirers couldn't hear was Jim's slightly alarmed voice:

"Guys?" "Guys!"

MIRAGE shot by the Harbor Patrol boat, going the other direction, the Harbormaster wide eyed in disbelief. As the Harbor Bridge loomed ahead, the spinnaker neatly disappeared. (we'd run the afterguy, lazy guy, and halyard tail below through the hatches.) Jim spun MIRAGE into her slip. All in a day.

You had to have been there.

[BobJ]

"Guys?" "Guys!"

Sleddog introduces another skipper to the joys (and terrors) of singlehanding.

[sleddog]

Philpot wrote:[Good thing the boom is above my head. I felt it brush the top of my hat. Good thing the fuel handle didn’t clock me. Dura Mater, poor thing, and I were laid on our side for way too long. And then, as the sail sank into the water my boat and I lay ahull for long minutes, while I caught my breath and considered the situation: Nothing was broken. I wasn’t dead. The mast hadn’t fallen. In my world that means that it wasn’t a disaster.]

I think most of us have experienced similar departures from level flight. Even sprit boats like RAGTIME, RACER X, WARPATH, and JETSTREAM have spent time on their sides.

June, 1993, was the 375 mile Aldo Alessio Race from San Francisco to Long Beach. There were 11 70' ULDB sleds on the St.FYC start line. Gale Warnings were flying for the California Coast. But big sleds eat that stuff up, as downwind speeds in excess of 20 knots reduce the apparent wind speed (AWS) to manageable numbers.

On the SC-70 MIRAGE we were trucking, leaving our sisters behind in the building breeze. By mid-afternoon we were abeam Santa Cruz, enjoying the 25 knot tailwind. By late afternoon, as we passed Monterey, the breeze (TWS) had built to the low 30's, and things were beginning to get exciting. We jibed onto port to get the righthand shift off Point Sur.

Santa Cruz 70's are usually a good boat to be aboard in hard running: high freeboard forward, a relatively short rig, a big wheel to drive with. Off we went towards Sur at warp speed, regularly punching the bow into the short, steep waves that had quickly built.

As the sun set on the wild scene, a 38 knot puff coincided with a particularly steep wave ahead. MIRAGE's bow punched into solid water higher than the bow pulpit. Water 2' high on deck ran aft and filled the cockpit. The weight of the water, and the quick deceleration, caused the apparent wind speed to instantly double.

The rudder lost its ability to control our downwind rocketship. One second we were vertical, going 26 knots. The next we were horizontal, going nowhere but sideways at about 5 knots, the rudder well out of water.

The crew were holding on for Dear Life, as the leeward lifelines were 11 feet to leeward, mostly underwater. The spinnaker was flapping, pinning us down. Someone let the after guy run, the usual move on a smaller boat for the beginning of a spinnaker douse. In our case it was the wrong move, as just the strain on the halyard and sheet still had MIRAGE pinned on her beam ends. (It would have been better to blow the halyard. I doubt the spinnaker would have touched the water.)

Things were tense. The crew was not used to being pinned on our side for what seemed like several minutes. The sun had set.

Then from somewhere aft in the cockpit came one of the all time, out-of-control-spinnaker remarks I think I've heard. It was the owner's daughter's first ocean race. Lizzie was 12 and had her good luck Teddy Bear onboard. Lizzie's plaintive question to her father was heard by all.

"Daddy, am I going to die? I haven't been to high school yet."

The tension broke. We got the chute under control and doused with minimal damage. We jibed bald headed, set the small spinny, already in stops, and averaged 18 knots for the next 10 hours, down to Conception.

[sleddog]

The sound was deafening. Car alarms, babies in strollers, dogs on leash all "went off." I looked up from my gardening duties and couldn't believe my eyes.
A silver, Delta wing, military jet, was banking overhead, not 1,000 feet above Capitola, afterburners roaring a 50' orange flame.

What was going on? Oh, just a dog fight overhead. The F-15 Eagle, capable of Mach 2.5+, likely carrying Sparrow or Sidewinder warheads, was coming from out of the sun, behind and under a bi-plane heading NE.

I'm betting the bi-plane pilot didn't know he was about to be "herded" in the opposite direction. In short order, the F-15 got the bi-plane turned around, then the F-15 did two low level laps over Capitola/Santa Cruz. It all took about five minutes. Did I mention I couldn't believe my eyes? What kinda stunt was this?

Turns out it wasn't a stunt at all. The bi-plane, having taken off from nearby Watsonville Airport, was violating the 30 mile radius, no fly, security zone around President Obama's helicopter, then lifting off from Palo Alto after the President's speech on cybersecurity at Stanford.

If anyone wonders, I just measured on a paper chart the distance from Capitola to Palo Alto. Yup. 30 nautical miles. The bi-plane was flirting with danger and should have known better.

I instantly felt safer, knowing the bi-plane got intercepted and forced to land.
And the F-15 pilot, on his ultimate singlehander, probably got some bonus beach views on a warm, sunny, afternoon.

http://www.ksbw.com/news/central-cal...alley/31261720

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsXiB1FHNR8

[H Spruit]

I lived in Kaneohe Hawaii for a while, A place that has 2 things, one is my favorite Yacht Club and the other was a Marine base next door to the YC.
There was a story that was told at the YC about the little old lady that complained about the noise that the Marine jets made regularly, at one point she made contact with the Commanding officer,complaining about the noise. He asked if she was positive that the planes were ours and she replied that she was because she could see the insignia on the wings.
The officer replied "You should thank GOD"

[Gamayun]

Great photo!

Is that the infamous spinnaker snuffer? Rumor has it that K has a slick North version now that works mo betta, and an A2 to go with it.

Parts is parts.

Practice day is March 1 (weather dependent). Ya'll come out and watch Beccie and me wrassle the slick new beast into submission. It should be entertaining. There will be plenty of beer and Sailor Jerry's rum if we make it back to the dock :-)

[sleddog]

Though they were then being used to power satellites, back in 1978 commercially available solar panels for small boats were just coming on the scene. In the first SHTP, my 27' sloop WILDFLOWER had minimal electrics. No engine, one cabin light, running lights, and a Tiller Master. No electronic navigation systems, radar, radios, etc. WILDFLOWER was a good platform for solar panels, which we carried hinged P&S on the stern pulpit, adjustable in angle fore and aft as the sun passed overhead.

Solar panel technology has come a long way. I'm sure we'll soon see sails made of cloth that can be plugged in to power electrical needs.

Meanwhile, massive solar farms, especially in the Central Valley and S.California desert are being built. But not without large engineering challenges. How does all this new solar power get onto PG&E's grid? It is not just plug and play.

California's drought is having an unexpected consequence for solar farms. Wind, combined with drying farmlands, is creating dust storms. With thousands of acres of potentially dusty solar panels, loss of efficiency is real and financially crippling.

You can't just run out with some paper towels and Windex to clean things.

There is all sorts of young technology being developed to clean solar panels of dust. Robotic vacuum cleaners are only one idea. We are lucky as sailors having to deal just with salt spray.

[hodgmo]

solar sails may not be so far off... but solar dodgers and foulies may come first

http://www.cnet.com/news/tommy-hilfi...ge-your-phone/

http://cleantechnica.com/2014/11/25/...king-lots-etc/

http://californiapc.com/Portable-Sol...FQgtaQodYj8AWQ