Song for Wednesday - Into the Mystic by Van Morrison

I know we generally do songs on Fridays but I don't care. Wednesday night is race night and I want a nice sailing jam. Here it is; please enjoy:

Sailing On Lake Pontchartrain

Lake Pontchartrain Vine

Yep, I'm Still Here

That's right. I'm still here. Still sailing. Just relocated down south.

Been sailing with a bunch of cool folks down in New Orleans for Wednesday Nights as well as some weekend races on a 40.7 Beneteau. I've been experimenting with not only taking pictures but also some short videos (via the Vine app if you're familiar). Hopefully you'll enjoy.

I'm on twitter way more than I post here so feel free to hit me up there. There aren't nearly enough sailors on there yet as my2fish and Tillerman can attest.

Let's Get Out of Here

So one of the other great things about sailing last Wednesday (aside from just being out on the water!) was I was able to talk to Andrew, our bowman. Andrew is 28(?), finishing up a teaching stint at the Naval Academy (he’s a graduate) and is getting ready to go cruising with his wife.

We got to talking and it was pretty interesting how similar our future plans were. He was at the end of a 5 year plan with his wife and they are planning on setting off on a 28 ft Cape Dory come spring.

SIDENOTE: The Cape Dory is one of the boats that I have been looking at and Andrew said he’d basically redesigned the interior. Stock, the boat comes with the galley and engine all crammed and crowded around the gangway. Andrew has redesigned it so you aren’t stepping onto the food being prepared as you come into the cabin; which I thought was a smart decision. I am still considering the Cape Dory but that was definitely one of my concerns – the layout.

Anyhow…We talked a bit about boats (as you can tell) and plans. Mine  (and Girlfriend’s) current plan is to buy a boat, move onto it, SAVE, refit and outfit and then set off in about 2 ½ years.

Recently though I read the Four Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss. I picked it up on a whim right before my flight to New Orleans this past weekend and read the whole thing before I got back. It certainly changed my perspective on what is possible and its definitely worth buying if you’re not completely satisfied with your job and the lifestyle it affords you. For a guy who can’t wait to get out on the water and go travel the world, this book was basically a manual of how to do it. It shows you how to get out of the 9-5 drudgery and travel the world, even if you don’t quit your job. Really interesting stuff. I give a very high personal recommendation. FYI, I bought the expanded version and it seems to have more tools and examples than the original.

This has gotten me thinking about maybe going sooner and different possible ways to finance such a trip. We’ll have to see though.

BTW, tonight will be my 200^th day on the water that can go towards my Captain’s license!

BTW 2: I’m starting my own website, www.peterfblack.com, but it doesn’t have anything up there yet so its not worth visiting now but I’m going to change that soon. 

Back on the Water; Back on Blog!

So I've been absent for a few weeks. I don't really have a reason except that there wasn't much to write about and I've been lazy.

However, last night I FINALLY got to out for a Wednesday night sail. It had been far too long.

To kick things off, we (the Captain and crew of Tango Too) weren't sure that there was even going to be a race. Lack of wind, not enough boats...etc. However enough boats eventually showed up that we were able to race. The wind was so slight tho, I was sure they would call it off before we started. Maybe I just went out expecting the race, for some reason, not to happen. Almost two months without racing will do that to you. [sigh].

Anyway, RC (race committee) made it a short, 4 mark course. We didn't start great which was a killer in this nothing air and we proceeded to drift for the next 45 mins.

We fiddled with the spinnaker; nothing.
We put down the spinnaker and took out the headsail; nothing.
Our knot meter kept a steady 0.00 - I know, awesome right?

Granted, the tide was coming in and we were making some headway; I could see it using the shore as a reference point; just not enough.

So we did what all racers (or at least the ones I sail with) do when the wind is dead and you're just drifting; we broke out the beer.

Suddenly, we get a little puff.
We drink some more.

More air...
We finish our beers.

We're moving at just shy of 3 knots past all the boats that left us behind at the start!

RC had decided to call the race at the first mark so we ended up finishing somewhere in the middle (we needed more beers on hand next time since the wind caught up to everyone else once we hit the middle) which was good for us. Still have to see how we do considering PHRF times tho...

It felt so good to finally be out on the water again; it still shocks me how much I miss it when I haven't been out in a while. Last night also makes my 199th day out on the water according to my logbook of seatime I've been keeping for my Captain's licence. I'm going to have to celebrate my 200th day with a sail and party soon.

Annapolis Race Week is coming up as well. Labor Day weekend can't come soon enough. We did OK last year but I'm hoping we can edge up a bit even though it feels like we haven't been out nearly as much (its probably about the same though minus a race to Oxford).

In other news, I'm flying back down to New Orleans and I'm looking forward to not to being in a sketchy hotel this time. Instead of ordering pizza delivery and hoping I don't get stabbed, this time I thought I might go out and try some local favorites.  I'm thinking House of Blues and visiting Cafe Du Monde.

Any suggestions?

NOLA - Round 2

Back in New Orleans for July 4th!

Author's note: That is a picture of the Superdome in New Orleans.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.3.9

Someday....

Kevin Costner and the BP Oil Spill?

Yes; thats right. Kevin Costner may have the answer to the oil spill in the Gulf. His company has just signed a contract with BP for 32 of their devices which separate oil from water and leave the water 99.9% pure. The biggest of these is the V20 which separates up too 200 gallons per minute (GPM). The company responsible for these devices is called Ocean Therapy Solutions.

The V20

Costner has been working on this technology for 15 years, and invested $20 million of his personal funds to support the project. He says he was inspired to work on this project after the Exxon Valdez spill in 1989 and the making of Waterworld, which despite being a box office bomb, I rather enjoyed.

He has even testified before Congress.






For more info:
Energy Boom Policy
BBC
Ocean Therapy Solutions
Examiner.com

Pollution

Oil Slick in the Gulf of Mexico vs. Windfarm at Cape Cod

Just saw a post about the positive v. negative effects of the oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico and the windfarm up by Cape Cod. Since I've written about both of these, I thought I would pass along the info I found at Sea Fever Blog. This blog apparently found it here, at Fast Company. Please enjoy. Its a nice, informative picture.

Floated Out of New Orleans

So I finally made it out of New Orleans!

There was so much rain down there this weekend that I feel fairly justified putting this in my sailing blog.

I was there to observe the loading of a huge container ship. The morning was pretty nice. Overcast with a nice breeze. Come afternoon though, it would be unfair to call it anything other than a torrential downpour.  Thunder. Lightening. The whole bit. Suffice to say, we didn't do a whole lot more loading. Besides, the crane has caught fire right before lunch so we were waiting for that too.

We finally start back up again at 4. 5 o'clock - more rain. 6 o'clock - no rain. 6:45pm - torrential downpour for an hour followed by light rain. I'm outside this whole time. Luckily, I'd brought my rain jacket. I needed it.

It stopped long enough for me to visit Bourbon Street that evening and try a local stout and have a gator-meat po'boy. Tastes kinda like a synthesis of fish, pork and chicken. Deep-fried. Ummmm.... :-)

Sunday, I woke up to thunder and lightening and a whole lot of rain. Again, a very heavy downpour. Anyhow, I trundle on down to the front desk to check out of the hotel early. The desk clerk looks at me like I'm crazy (one eyebrow raised almost to the forehead and the other trying to push her eye to down next to her nose) and ask "You drivin'?" with a Louisiana accent.

Me - "Yep"
DC - "Have you SEEN the storm outside?"
Me - "Yes..."
DC - "And you're drivin'?" [ her face softens, but only slightly]
Me - "Uh huh [with a smile on my face]"
DC - "Okay..." [ with a look down and to the left, raised eyebrows that suggest "your funeral"]

I have them pull my car around and there are a bunch of people just waiting around in the garage, trying to get into a shuttle. I get in and start to leave and realize that as soon as I pull out, I'm not on the road; I'm driving through a lake.

I had to circle the hotel to get going the right way and you couldn't see that there was a sidewalk at all. I thought my rented Nissan Altima was going to stall out from all the water I presumed was making its way into the engine.

I somehow make it to Canal (how apropos; I'm aware) Street and everyone is in one lane, the closest to the center because the road is highest in the middle and the water was shin deep on the sidewalk and thus  even deeper in the road. At one point I was stopped at a red light a huge black trash bin floated right on by me. It was comical in a nerve-racking kind of way.

I pulled onto the trolley tracks at one point, thinking they would keep me on higher ground but there were trollies coming as well as a cop car, so that was a short-lived dream. Managed to make it the on ramp to the interstate (I-10) and the Acura Integra, two cars in front of me appears to die and just stops. I felt bad as I drove by.

Finally made it back to the airport where I proceeded to wait from 10am to 8pm for a flight back to Baltimore.

There was a storm in Baltimore when I left, a storm in New Orleans that followed me around and its been raining off and on for three days here in Annapolis.

Some sunshine would be nice...hopefully some racing tonight.

Off to New Orleans

I've really been too tired and busy to post much this week.

Did have a lovely Mother's Day down on Surprise with the family; just playing Cranium and reading/napping. The wind has been incredible lately, a fairly consistent 15-25 knots with gusts up to 32, but since my mom doesn't like it when "the boat tips on its side like that!" (read: heels), we didn't go out. Quite the bummer since we would have rocketed around something fierce on Sunday.

No race this week since the captain is off to Montana for a fishing trip and I'm headed down to New Orleans on a business trip for a few days. Should be good, especially if I get to hang out in the French Quarter for a bit.

We'll see how it goes.