Rose Bowl Photos

Photos from ASU Sailing at the Rose Bowl Regatta hosted by USC in Long Beach, CA.

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Fresh/Soph 2011 at UC San Diego, sailed on Mission Bay

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Getting back to this blog thing

Blue Van Dyke print

Like so many of these posts, I'm writing to explain why I'm not writing much. After San Francisco, I spent a week in Long Beach with the ASU Sailing Team doing an intensive summer training camp (rhymes with pics to come). I've also been working on the ASU Sailing website, asusailing.org. After getting back from that I've been plunged into some rather intense summer courses, including an art history and alternative photographic processes. Also, I spent a week at and in the Grand Canyon for a couple of friends' wedding on the North Rim. The Gila Monster blew a rear shaft seal outside of Flagstaff, so I got an extra night there on the way up.

ASF/Laser Fleet Demo Day

The other day, the local Laser fleet and the Arizona Sailing Foundation teamed up to demonstrate the Laser sailboat. Winds were higher than forecast at 18-24 mph, with gusts in the upper 20s. Only two boats wound up going out, but a kite boarder was also on hand to add some excitement for the shoreside spectators.







P.S. I'm now using Adobe Lightroom, and it seems to be a pretty cool tool for doing most of what I do with my photography. It is kinda pricey, but so far it's working well for helping me manage a smooth workflow. I still don't know how well it'll work when it comes to managing multiple hard drives of data (that time is coming all too soon), but it's pretty good at the scale I'm at.

Sailing, sort of.

Today I tried to take out the only boat available to me right now: the MacGregor 26, Syzygy. It's an old, "fine sailing machine," if you don't actually want to sail.

My dad hasn't exactly spent a lot of time with that boat lately, and the time he has spent on it hasn't exactly been the most beneficial to its long term health. The wiring has never been good, but after my dad stepped through our solar panel that kept the batteries charged, the batteries died. He doesn't want to replace them, but he wants me to get the system working again. Also, we've had problems with the stereo. A few years ago the stereo burned out, starting a small fire on board. Since then, we've had the wiring replaced a few times, but that hasn't helped too much: the stereo still has issues when the engine is running.

That brings us to the next fine piece of equipment on the fine sailing machine: the engine. It's an older Tohatsu 9.9, but effectively it's more of a 0.0. It sometimes runs, but only if it's taking you toward disaster. Otherwise, it counts as deadweight. We've replaced every single part on the engine at some time or another, but that just made our wallets thiner.

Now that we've covered the secondary source of propulsion, lets move onto the primary propulsion: the sails. These sails are great if you happen to be a bat: they make nice nesting places, and they already have enough of that guano smeared in to smell like home. They even make a decent place for a bat to die without having to worry about remains being eaten by insects. Unfortunately, those attributes aren't the best for using the sails as sails. These soft, floppy, blown out, torn up bits of canvas mark best of twenty years of aging in the sun. Of course, along with the old sails go old lines. Old stretchy halyards the droop in the slightest zephyr are accompanied by shaggy sheets and other powder filled cordage.

So we set sail at the dock (the motor just wasn't in the mood) and take off. We start tacking out the Narrows, but the shifty winds and 120 degree tacking angle make that difficult. Halfway out, the wind kicked up, and made life rather more interesting (rhymes with, "Why isn't that BLEEEEPing thing working now!?") as the roller furling on the genoa broke and the winches jammed. At this point we fall off, jibe (mainsheet fiddle bearings on the cockpit floor) and start heading back. Once running, the furler started working again, so we furl the genoa in, since we don't need extra power now. The motor really doesn't want to start now, but with the wind in the west we've got a dead downwind shot at out slip. We cop a spin, drop the main and sail in under bare poles. By the time we were done, I could see a person at our slip, so I assumed that the dockmaster was going to help us land. Just then the furler let out six or seven feet of sail, and in the confusion I lost sight of the dock.  As we got the jib back in the wind shifted to the southeast, blowing us straight back, away from our slip. We could've thrown the line to the dock, but there was no one there now. Now we force the jib back out, and we try to sail up wind back to the dock where the dockmasters let us go. Without a mainsail, the boat will not tack, and there it takes a long time and space for it to jibe. It turns out that it takes too long for it to jibe. We wound up on the north shore of the cove, and we were held there while the weather built into a thunderstorm right on top of us. There wasn't much to be done, except to try to use the VHF radio and talk to the folks at the marina. The radio died right when they tried to come back, so we wound up without communication beyond air horns.

Eventually the wind died down a bit, and some samaritans came and towed us off the shore. our stern was further out, so we tied on there. Unfortunately, we found out that the centerboard line that was repaired over the spring, hasn't been repaired. I moved the tow line to the bow, and we eventually swung around and out. Getting to the slip at that point was relatively simple.

I have found that while I have some aptitude for boat repair, I just don't want to deal with the glorified bleach bottle that is the MacGregor. I also have little tolerance for things that have been repaired that don't work, and for things that really shouldn't be breaking that break. On top of all that, I was told that all systems were go, and that there would not be any issues. That is the single thing that annoys me the most.




 


Syzygy is for sale.

Dock Duty

Just got back to reality* from a day (and night and day) of work docksitting at the NMSC marina. John was with me, but there was only one sleeping bag on Syzygy last night, so I wound up using a spinnaker. It wasn't too bad, but it's not going to be first choice in the future, at least until things warm up a bit. So, a number of boats came into the marina for the season, and we also leased a couple empty slips on short term rentals. We had a couple ladies in a pontoon boat come around noon, but they were rather inept at boat-handling. After bouncing around a bit, they managed to get to an end-tie with damage done to only one other boat. Ah well, too bad there aren't more boating safety classes around the area. These two really need it badly.

We cooked beer can chicken for dinner. Thank you Coors for letting us cheat in our roasting skills. Without your brew, our bird would have been burnt and desiccated, fit only for carp feed.



*I think I just left reality at the lake. It seems much simpler when all you have to worry about are inept pontoon boaters running around your marina.

Bye bye 'Burque (for the weekend)

We just drove to the cabin by the lake now, and unfortunately I've got really strong 3G here, so I'm online. Unfortunately, I say, because there's a whole lake here, with moonlight and boats and potential for sailing and all that, but I'm facebooking my time away. Mebbe we'll get that in tomorrow night.

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Just traded some moonlight sailing stories, so that may be tomorrow evening's activity.

P.S. I haven't forgotten about geting last weekend's photos up (actually, I may have forgotten, but you, dear readers, don't need to know that).

Weekend Update (Minus Seth Meyers)

Last weekend saw the end of a road journey, a trip to Heron, some boat fixing, an attempt at sailing, a rescue of the rescue boat, and a seized AC compressor.

Friday
I returned from Tempe Friday afternoon/evening/night/Saturday morning. I left Tempe, got an hour out of town, when my radiator clogged and ceased to function in the 98º heat. It cost less to install a brand new Performance Radiator than to do a flush, so the Gila Monster now has a brand new radiator, installed by a mechanic in the village of Rye, Arizona. The delay cost me some time; I drove through the night, taking a nap on the shoulder of Highway 60 somewhere near Datil.

Saturday

I arrived in Albuquerque around seven, where I unpacked from my move. I threw together a lake bundle, then took off to get John, Wolf and a Frontier green chile cheeseburger for breakfast and a trip to Heron. We took the back way (photos to be coming soonish), and did some touristy things in the area. After visiting the New Mexico Sailing Club marina, the bearings in the compressor seized up, keeping the vehicle from running. When my folks got into the area, we transfered stuff from the Jeep to my Dad's truck and went to the cabin for dinner. John choose seasonings and Wolf helped cook an awesome meal of Pan-Seared Petite Sirloin, Tarragon-Dill Mashed Potatoes, Bacon Gravy and a salad with a Balsamic Vinaigrette.

Sunday
After sleeping in, we cooked a breakfast of Pain Perdu (rhymes with French Toast) accompanied by Biscuits and Bacon Gravy. Then, we launched Syzygy (rhymes with alignment of three or more heavenly bodies). After fighting the wind for ten or fifteen minutes, we got to the marina. There was a lot of wind, so we played poker on the boat (remind me to get the chips (and cards) back up to the lake this weekend). My Dad called an auto repair/towing/salvage company, and I went with the Gila Monster into Chama while Wolf and John stayed at the marina. It turns out they had much more excitement than I did. The dockmaster had noticed a little water in the NM State Parks' Ranger boat, but it was dismissed as just rain water. A while later, there were five more inches over the floor in the cockpit of the boat. It was sinking. John and Wolf got to it with a pump and buckets, while Dockmaster Steve got to work trying to find the leak and stop it. It turns out that the State Parks person responsible for the boat forgot to put the drain plug in. The boating enforcement officer might want to review the safe boating class. After a while, it was found that a wine bottle cork was just right to make a good plug. So much for the no-glass policy; it looks like the Marinas's got an unofficial agreement again. The boat was rescued, just in time for the ranger to get it out  of the lake.

Later
We drove back to ABQ Sunday evening, excepting Pat, who stayed behind for the week to do his dockmaster duty.  As of now the Jeep's at the mechanic, but the repair should be straightforward and done soon (rhymes with my hopes and expectations). Tomorrow (rhymes with Thursday) evening we'll be heading back up, so this is a shout out to anyone who wants to come on up. Pack a few nights of clothes (we can do laundry) and send me a ring, text, email, im, etc. There will be sailing, food, a cabin with a fireplace, fun times, friendly people, hiking, being lazy, beer, food, and most of all fun.

Edit: Added photos.

E to S

E to S, originally uploaded by Gerald5970.

Here I go, finally showing the panorama work. This is the first section, from Turtleback mountain, past Elephant Butte, and passing McRae Canyon. This was what New Year's Day brought to the sailors of New Mexico. Flat, mirror calm waters let me take a panorama instead of trimming the jib on my mom's Etchells.

NE to E

NE to E, originally uploaded by Gerald5970.

Curving now from the southeast up to the northeast, we see Kettletop, the mountains and the end of Long Point.

WNW to NE

WNW to NE, originally uploaded by Gerald5970.

The southern shore of Long Point, as seen from the water.

Last month's sailing in San Diego

Last month's photos are sitting comfortably on my hard drive, and I think it's been time to put them online. Our hosts were UC San Diego and the Mission Bay Yacht Club, and both were very hospitable, as usual. The weather was generally unseasonable, overcast, cool and rather foggy. Fortunately, the fog wore off to a thin veil and at time was completely gone. Since we are coming from Arizona, it was a bit different for us. There was very light wind, which we found was to our advantage.

Now for the photos:

This bell came from the U.S.S. Mission Bay, and now it hangs in front of the Mission Bay Yacht Club, in Mission Bay.

So we set sail, in the very light shifty wind-like fog. Oh yeah, most of the distance shots came through Andy's 80-400 mm VR lens. So objects are not anywhere near as close as they appear. Anyway, clicking on the larger photos up there will take you to the Flickr page for each one. From there, go explore. Also, look in the top of the sidebar for the photo slideshow, which always gets the freshest pics.

Heeling Over

heeling Over, originally uploaded by Gerald5970.

Ok, so here's a photo. I said I'd update, didn't I? Have no fear, more are coming, and there are already a few on my Flickr photostream.

Flying

Flying, originally uploaded by Gerald5970.

Conundrum Explained

Last night was the Arizona Yacht Club's racing rules seminar, featuring Dick Rose, rules guru, editor and author. My summary is below:

I brought up Tillerman's conundrum (on an upwind laser meeting a downwind, by-the-lee boat on the same tack) after the main talk and I received the answer that the only rule that applies is rule 14, avoiding contact. The boats are overlapped, since neither is clear ahead or clear astern of the other. The next step would be to figure out which boat is leeward, or in the lee of the other. The definition of leeward when sailing by the lee is the side the boom is on. Because the boats are meeting, neither the upwind nor the downwind boat is in the other's lee. This situation makes all but rule 14 non-applicable. If a protest were to come up for contact between boats in this sketch, the odds would be for the committee to toss both boats for failure to obey rule 14.

It was quite an interesting discussion, and I find the result to be something akin to what Tillerman found on his blog. This scenario has been bugging me for a while, so I just had to hear what the authority would say about it.

Our Boatel

Our Boatel, originally uploaded by Gerald5970.

Interesting concept: Rent out space in a boat that's in a marina. It's not a hotel, it's a boatel! Well, that's what a few of us did for the long beach regatta. We used this boat, owned by the United States Sailing Center (yes, the people who organize the US olympic sailing trials), as our hotel while in Long Beach. It worked out pretty well, plus it put us right in the heart of the action when the event got underway.

Wet

Wet, originally uploaded by Gerald5970.

Spray

Spread eagle--almost

Spread eagle--almost, originally uploaded by Gerald5970.

ASU Sailing Team

ASU Sailing Team, originally uploaded by Gerald5970.

Well, I'm back from Santa Barbara. Of course, as far as any occasional reader knew I never left because I haven't posted in a while. Sorry about the slow upload schedule. The good news is that I've put the trip photos online. Flickr will get a sample of the better shots, and I've got everything online at picasa. In the back row, left to right, are: Zack, Ywann, Anna, Michael, and Nathaniel. In the front are: Gerald (me), Brigita, Brian, Andrè, and "Motorcycle" Michael.

Sailing in Santa Barbara South 3 & 4

Night Drive

Cruising to Santa Barbara
Well, this friday has been a long day.
I of course went to all my classes (yes, both of them), and then came the drive. Studio took forever to come, and when it did, it took forever to pass. I dipped out a few minutes early, and with Kruser’s blessing, I took off for the coast. Eventually, that is. Several carloads of people were to come out from ASU. My ride wasn’t scheduled to leave until six. I just had to bike over to my dorm from studio to get my bag, then walk to the M.U. to meet Andy, Ioana and Red. We piled into the four-runner, and we took off for the airport, to get a more economical car at an airport rental agency that did not try harder. They wouldn’t let us leave a vehicle there, so we had to take the rental and convoy back into Tempe to deposit the four-runner in a secure, undisclosed location. Well, just one problem: the undisclosed location was being set up for a party.
So, we eventually got to Santa Barbara, and now it’s time for some (2 hlurs) sleep before weget up in the new time zone to get to try for some sailing.