Swashbuckling Frogs

I know its a bit late but I just found this and Kermit in pirate garb is too good not to pass along.

Red Solo Cup!

PUMA Dismasted - Plans Going Forward

Google's Pirate Turkey Doodle

Today's Google Doodle  is pretty sweet! Match up the hat, the legs and the feathers and see what you get!

X Marks the Spot

200th Post - Future Contemplations

How does one celebrate 200 posts? Well, I don't know how others do it, but I'm not really going to do much. It doesn't feel much different than my 199th post or even my 37th post. (Please don't go searching for my 37th post to find out which one that is; I just picked a random number).

I remember that it was about this time that I expected to be living on a boat and getting ready to set sail around the world but that, sadly, has not occurred yet. While that is a bit of a downer, on the upside, I am already signed onto a crew for the Annapolis to Bermuda race for this summer. That has me pretty excited! I haven't done any offshore racing and this is probably a more sensible way to be introduced to it than just setting off around the world.

Although, looking at some of my more popular posts, I realize that 5 out of my top 6 were about some terrible but hilarious movies. I've been thinking that maybe I should start a blog on all the terrible movies I've seen....Start a companion blog to my film director friend Dan Gvozen's movie blog, Grind My Reels. He reviews decent movies and gives a pretty in-depth analysis. Mine would be surface-level commentary on loveable but crappy B films. Hmm... It's certainly something to think about.

While I contemplate that, please enjoy a great song with B movie attention-grabbing visuals:

Beautiful J111

Ouch

America's Cup Uncovered - Episode 10

Look What I Caught!

Its nice to know that even professional sailors get to have fun from time to time to time....you know, aside from racing a boat for a living...



Just as Salty caught something unexpected, so have I recently! A new advertiser! As you might have noticed, there have been some changes around the site. Some change of background scenery, a little change in coloration, and a new ad in the right sidebar. The new ad is for a site called BlackFriday.info and their site, as you might guess, generally catered to Black Friday deals. However, they upgraded recently and now offer year-round deals. They've been mentioned by US News & World Reports, the Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times. Feel free to check their website at BlackFriday.info or on Twitter @blackfridayinfo.

Also, if you haven't checked out Emirates Team New Zealand's blog, definitely check it out. It's pretty sweet!

As Rare as Russian Unicorns

I've been feeling a bit overloaded this past month.  6 weeks of working full time and taking night law school classes has been tiring. Luckily, the ladyfriend has been very supportive and even kicked my butt a few times when I needed it. I have the ability to fall asleep in .27931 seconds and she makes sure I don't when I have work to do which has been quite helpful lately. I'd write more about how lucky I am and how awesome she is, but I don't want to embarrass her too much :-)

Generally being tired, studying law, and trying to keep up with current events has led to some very strange dreams when I do get the opportunity to sleep. Just this past evening in fact, I was hanging out with Richard Branson on a 27' sailboat and we were off to race it when we crashed into an island that had Warren Buffett on it. The night before, I did some time-traveling with Dr. Who in the TARDIS.

In light of these strange dreams, I thought I would treat you all to a song this friday that is 3 parts awesome and 1 part weird. It's a bad lip reading video of Michael Bublé's Haven't Met You Yet. Please enjoy:

America's Cup Uncovered - Episode 9

America's Cup Uncovered - Episode 8

Plymouth - Full Replays (Race Day 6 & 7)

Plymouth - ACWS News (Race Day 6 & 7)

Why I'm Going to Visit Tillerman

He doesn't know it yet, but if I can, I'm going to be in Tillerman's neck of the woods next summer.

Plymouth - ACWS Semi Finals & Results Bracket

Plymouth - AC Full Replays (Race Days 3, 4 & 5)

Plymouth AC Race Day 3, 4 & 5 - News

International Talk Like A Pirate Day is Coming!

So because my first legal memo is due on International Talk Like A Pirate Day (September 19), I think I may have to break my general rule of no going out during the work-week (except Thursdays) and head to the nearest barrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Plymouth - AC 34 World Series Current Standings

Whoooooo!!!! Go New Zealand!

Plymouth - Racing News & Full Replay (Day 2)

There were some intense winds in Plymouth today!

Definitely check out at least the news video! At least three boats capsize with GreenCOMM doing a double-capsize!

Plymouth - Racing News & Fully Replay (Day 1)

The America's Cup World Series kicked off their second leg in Plymouth yesterday with some kick-ass sailing! Check it out below:

America's Cup Uncovered - Episode 7

Song for My Audience of One

I was going to put up the video for Los Angeles by The Rosewood Thieves but I found this one and it caught my attention.

So I'm going to put that one up here as the song of the day instead.

Enjoy it.

Or don't.

I don't really care.

Since I put it up for an audience of one.

Americas Cup Uncovered - Episode 5 & 6

Sailing Cocktail of the Week!

Take 1 mooring buoy, add 3/4 of boat (no sails), splash with heavy amounts of rain and shake with hurricane intensity and you get the following cocktail!

Courtesy of North American Sailor

Red Socks (not Sox) and the AC World Series

I must admit, I've been feeling a bit conflicted lately. I really enjoy having the America's Cup in the US but at the same time, I do hold a special place in my heart for the Kiwis and Team New Zealand. I was in New Zealand when Team New Zealand won the cup (skippered by Russell Coutts and led by Sir Peter Blake) and that was when I really started following the America's Cup.

So even though I love having the Cup in American hands, I must admit, I'm rooting for Emirates Team New Zealand this go-around.



RIP Sir Peter Blake.

Forecast: Sexy with a Chance of Puns

I'm not going to put up the  "Come On Eileen" video mainly because I think the "Come On Irene" joke isn't all that funny. Nor will I mention that Gene Kelly above could be "Singin' in Irene...Just singin' in Irene"......I'm feeling classier than that, so.... please enjoy the Rolling Stones' "Rain Fall Down".
 

Dammit Irene!

Dear Skipper,

First, thank you for your support of CRAB through your entry in the Boatyard Bar & Grill Regatta to Benefit CRAB/Battle of the Chesapeake. 

We are sorry to tell you that after careful consideration and waiting as long as possible to make this determination, we have decided that attempting to conduct the on-water portion of this event would be unwise in light of the impending arrival of our unwanted guest, Irene. While we probably would have been able to start a very nice race, the current forecasts indicate that we would have been unlikely to be able to finish it safely. With several marinas in Annapolis already calling for the evacuation of their wet slips, we believe that you should be able to take the time you would have spent racing with us to secure your home, boat, and other property.

By the end of the day, we expect everyone to be ready for a great party. We've moved the festivities indoors at Eastport Yacht Club, where we'll still have the same great band, food, and drink, but a little less watered-down and windblown. 

Thanks again for your entry and support of CRAB. We're disappointed, too, but we hope to see you at the party.

-- EYC RC/Registration

Discouraged Yet Hopeful

I know Irene is going to be really intense and totally flood the crap out of my area but I still really want to go racing this weekend. It's Battle of the Chesapeake and I could really use more sea time before law school starts burying me in work. They haven't called the race yet so there is still hope......

America's Cup Uncovered - Episode 4

Non Sequitur Captures Cowes Week

MD Governor's Cup 2011

The Governor's Cup was the 5th to the 6th of August. Hard to believe it's been two weeks already.

This was my first overnight race and we couldn't have had better wind! It was blowing 15-20 knots almost the entire time, including the few hours of sleep I tried to get between 2:30 and 5am. The wind only dropped as we were approaching St. Mary's of course, right in front of the finish line.

The whole time we were just pounding through the waves. If you get sea-sick, this definitely wasn't the trip for you. We had some seasoned sailors onboard, but even this chop was enough to a make a few of them green in the face. Personally, I had a blast! It was exciting, although a bit cold since, as foredeck guy and railmeat position #1, I kept getting the most of every wave that splashed over the bow.

Sailing at night was cool new experience. We had to make sure we weren't going to hit any of the other hundred and fifty odd sail boats that were racing with us as well as any of the big shipping vessels making their way up to Baltimore. There were a couple boats that seemingly came out of nowhere (low powered running lights) and at about 2am, we had caught up the bulk of the boats that started at 3pm (we started at 6pm since we were in a faster class). It was pretty hectic. We dodged about 30 boats within an hour. It probably wouldn't have been so many but we were just getting to the smaller part of the Chesapeake.

The race to the finish was pretty lackluster since our wind started dying and boats were already coming back at us from finished but we pushed through and finished pretty decently. 14th out of 16th in our division but 46th out of 155 boats in the fleet with corrected time.

Thanks to Photoboat.com for most of these pictures!

 Race Committee had some pretty sweet boats

 Foredeck View

 If you'll notice, the RC boat here is a pirate ship

 Wave for the camera!

 Apparently someone forgot to clean the bottom...

Stock Market Songs

So like the stock market, I've been all over the place this week. Baltimore, DC and Annapolis. Very busy at work, to looking for stuff to do. Finished law school orientation on this week with a pretty decent Baltimore BBQ as well. Now I'm looking forward to the first official day of classes which start on Monday.

Anyway, here are a mix of songs that won't necessarily give you the roller-coaster ride that watching CNBC will, but it's where I've been musically this week.



A bit of studying and a bit of partying will top off this week pretty nicely I think. Hope you all have a good weekend!

America's Cup Uncovered - Episode 3

I'll admit that I have yet to watch this one since law school orientation has been this week and I've been pretty strapped for time. I'm sure it's awesome though!

If not, let me know in the comments.

Also, do you (the reader) prefer the whole AC World Series replays or just the short news snippets? The AC Committee are putting up a ton of videos and interviews on Youtube and I don't want to just repost everything they throw up there but if you guys have any particular preference, let me know.




Update 8/20/11: Now that I have finally watched this episode, I can confirm that it is indeed awesome. Shows you some of the prep work for Cascais which is neat, admittedly not as neat if I hadn't been keeping up with the race, but neat none-the-less.

AC World Series - Cascais (Race Day 6 & 7)

Race updates for the AC World Series Day 6 & 7 in Cascais. Then onto Plymouth!

AC World Series in Newport, RI (Race Day Updates 4 & 5)

Below are the news updates from Cascais for Race Day 4 & 5. Big update: the last leg of the AC World Series will be in Newport, RI in July 2012!

WHFS & Blink-182

The late 90's are back! My favorite radio station from high school is back on the air (after an abrupt cancellation) and I'm going to the Blink-182 show tonight with my littler sister. Should be blast!

AC World Series - Cascais Update, Race Day 3

8

"It is decidedly so"

8 posts in one day. I am a blogging machine!

Mark Twain Inspired

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." 

- Mark Twain

The guy in the below video (courtesy of gCaptain), certainly didn't want to be disappointed by the things that he didn't do. He went for it and although it certainly wasn't the best idea as gCaptain points out, you do have to give him credit for trying. Pretty ballsy for, what looks like a 40' boat, to take on a supertanker...

(Photo courtesy of Conjuminando)

AC World Series - Cascais, Day 2

Below is the news for Saturday, the 2nd Race day at Cascais. The match racing officially starts on Wednesday. Apparently these were the preliminaries.

Winston Mcfarlane fell off of Emirates Team New Zealand's boat during one of the races when his winch handle broke. That is some intense grinding.

Emirates Team NZ ending up winning the preliminaries and the speed test so it was a pretty bangup weekend for them. Below are the results of the preliminaries and the speed test.

America's Cup World Series - Cascais (Full Replays)

Below are the full replays for Day 1 of the AC World Series at Cascais. The first one is with the sports commentary and the 2nd one is just video from onboard a mix of the different boats.

It's not quite the high intensity that they advertise but not everyday can have them going 30+ knots right?

America's Cup World Series - Cascais, Speed Trial & Day 1

Here is the quick news report about the AC World Series in Cascais for the speed trial and Day 1.

America's Cup Uncovered - Episode 2

Another awesome episode about the America's Cup!

This one covers the French, Chinese, and Korean entries for the Cup.

Note: Watch this stuff full screen. It's worth it.

"Bombast" Cable

El Guincho - Pop Negro

I'm not normally one for Latin music but Pop Negro by El Guincho has been pretty addictive lately.

I'm not sure why. Maybe it's the beat, maybe the musical hooks, or maybe just because it was the background music for some good poker games at a friend's place. Either way, I find myself moving towards music that was not created purely to be blasted to, at, and from the club/bar/dance floor.

Maybe it's the radio and their love of overplaying the same set list of songs but I think it has more to do with getting older.





Pictures from this past Wednesday Night race and the Governor's Cup 2011 to follow (eventually).

The Great Bay Race

Had the Great Bay Race this past Saturday. It was hot as the blazes out but I managed. Rub in a little sunscreen, drink some water, and pray for wind.

We didn't have the greatest start but managed to keep up pretty well. Started with 7 boats but at least 2 dropped out. Possibly 3. The first boat to finish (Jubilee), I'm pretty sure, didn't round the first mark. Avalon, the first boat to round the first mark, called them on it. We finished third but will probably do worse with corrected time. We'll see though. I blame the 40 mins we were all just drifting because the wind died.

Anyhow, below are some of the pics from the race and the ride back to HHN:

 Spence, my co-foredeck guy

 Nice to be in the front of the pack every once in awhile..

 Coyote. See you again at Annapolis Race Week.

End of another good day. Let's wrap this up at Calypso Bay...