Archive for October, 2008 Page 2 of 3
Link. Thanks to DaveK at S/A for the find.
Yesterday we had a practice sail on Temerity, and few the spinnaker for the first time! Yeah, I know, “pics or it didn’t happen”, but I was way too busy to snap any, so the GPS track will have to do. A great day out with Charlie and Rick, who I hope will be able to join us next week for the Great Pumpkin.
Get yours here, http://www.democraticstuff.com/Sail-Boats-for-Obama-Photo-Button-p/bt24255.htm, they’re just a buck.
Thanks to Lonnie at Talking Sh*t About a Pretty Sunset for the find.
Somewhat infamous.
There are a lot of sources of tide information on the Web. One of the most popular and useful is the WWW Tide and Current Predictor at http://tbone.biol.sc.edu/tide/ . Like the name says, it has current information, unlike most other sources. However, the location of the sites can be hard to visualize at times. To help with this problem, I have created a little Google Earth mashup. Download either of the files below and open in Google Earth, and you will find placemarks with links to the tbone server to see the predicted current at that site for the next couple of days in the Google Earth browser pane. Presently these are only for the West Coast sites (California and Washington), but it would be easy to do the East and Gulf Coasts.
(Note: Right-click and Save As… Some browsers may try to change the file extensions of .kml and .kmz to .xml and .zip. What a pain.)
Download Links:
- westcoastcurrents.kml
- westcoastcurrents.kmz (compressed version of same file)
Finally, a reason to go to Vegas!
The mermaid show “Azure” is performed every hour from 5pm to 11pm Mondays through Fridays, 3pm to 11pm on Saturday and 1pm to 8pm on Sunday.
Mermaid Restaurant and Lounge at Silverton
3333 Blue Diamond Rd
Las Vegas, NV 89139
Phone: (702) 263-7777
Just because.
Story from CNN. Sensationalist, but interesting.
LONDON, England (CNN) — It doesn’t have the brutality of rugby or the physical intimidation of a boxing match, yet sailing is still one of the most dangerous sports in the world.
This danger is never more evident than in the epic Volvo Ocean Race.
The round-the-world event which begins this month in Alicantes, Spain, always throws up its fair share of drama as the crews face all types of conditions right through to the race finish around July 2009.
To give an idea of the extreme dangers this year’s crews will face over the coming nine months, here is a look at some of the worst tragedies to strike yacht racing.
There’s no question about it: this is no sport for the faint-hearted.
September 2008 Régates Royales-Trophée Panerai
Death toll: One
Wilfrid Tolhurst was killed during the famous Régates Royales-Trophée Panerai yacht race off Cannes that sees the major classic yachts in the Mediterranean gather.
Skippering the eight-meter yacht, Safir, in the coastal race, Tolhurst was struck by the boat’s falling mast that broke off under the impact of a collision with another boat, Rowdy. Although rescue crews reacted quickly to bring the skipper ashore, nothing could be done to save his life.
A police inquiry is currently in progress to determine the cause of the incident.
September 18 - October 12 extends to October 19
Opening Night: Saturday, September 20
The runaway cult hit makes its San Francisco debut, starring the incomparable Matthew Martin and his camp cohort Mike Finn. See what happens when a drag headmistress and her cross-dressed minions put on a musical of Moby Dick to save their beleaguered girls’ school.
A toe-tapping laugh riot! LGBT fun for the whole family! (Well, sorta. Maybe not the super youngens.)
Call 861-5079 for tickets.
Damn, looks like I’m not going to make it!
Great ad from Aussie wine maker.
Big fire on Angel Island – it must have started just hours after we were sailing in the area aboard Temerity in perfect weather, having fun watching the Fleet Week airshow. Thanks to S/A for the heads-up.
Reader Chris Partridge sends us today’s sadly neglected beauty:
Hi David,
I’ve just been to Madeira on what we journalists technically call a ‘freebie’ and spotted this very magnificient but sadly abused mermaid at the harbour at Funchal. I’ve posted her on my blog rowingforpleasure.blogspot.com, but feel free to use her on neversealand (one of my favourite blogs!)
All best,
Chris
Thanks!
Former Bay Area rigger and long distance ocean racer Bruce Schwab in the Vendee Globe, 2004-2005. Bruce, sailing his Wylie-designed Ocean Planet, is the only American to ever complete this event. This clip is from a DVD produced about that race, available on his site.
Bruce is currently running passage charters to and in the Caribbean aboard OP, it looks like a great experience.
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