Messing About In Sailboats

Cape Horn On A Cat

These two intrepid guys sailed around the islands at the bottom of the world on a 6metre catamaran. They spent 60 hours in ...well, the type of conditions you get around Cape Horn. Chapeaux as they say in France!

 

Costa Concordia - One week later

Photos by Carlo Borlenghi taken from Giglio Island, one week after the accident.

From Zero to a Hundred | Cruising World

via www.cruisingworld.com

A candid account of a Canadian couple transformed from landlubbers to Blue-water sailing liveaboards in a few years.

Cool App For San Francisco Sailors

A pair of San Francisco State University researchers has developed a free app called “Bay Currents,” available now through the Apple app store.

According to to their publicist, "Bay Currents uses real-time information from land-based sensors along the coast and San Francisco Bay to give sailors a look at present current conditions, the previous 24 hours of currents and a projection for the next two hours. Users can locate their position on the water using GPS technology or place pins at points in the Bay to get an understanding of currents at that location."

I downloaded and it looks cool but as I don't sail out West I have no idea if it provides useful and accurate info.

You can learn more here.

Songs For Friday: Some Kind of Wonderful - Grand Funk Railroad

 

Great band. Great song. Not sure that they are getting good style advice. Oh the mullets!

Sailing Photo Of The Day - Blue Boat

H2uh0 - Bonehead Moves on the Water: Top Sailing Quotes

H2uh0 - Bonehead Moves on the Water: Top Sailing Quotes

A great list of Top Sailing Quotes. Well-worth checking out. Click the link above. My favorite is:

"The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails." William A. Ward

On Board Bella Luna During the NARC 2011

They had some very fresh conditions. Looks like the headsail blew out and they are flying a trysail. You can read more about the rally here. It shows the weather charts for the early part of November. I am guessing they got the tail end of Snowpocalypse.

Below is an account from one of the boats.

 

A personal account from Andy Lippman on Catch 22, a Swan 48.

“Sailing the North Atlantic is always a trial but never as much as in November when the weather is brutally fast and unforgiving.  Unlike a pure race, where you head south when the race committee so dictates, a rally such as the NARC waits for the best weather window possible.  THe goal is a safe and instructive passage for both the experienced and the novice learners.  But the weather doesn't necessarily cooperate.  This time it was a learning experience for all.

We started in fine weather out of Newport, planned the passage across the Gulf Stream, and then headed into expected southerlies from 38 north into Bermuda.  BUt it was not to be.  A surprise low spawned from South Carolina headed straight south of Bermuda and carried a front that gave a gale-force Nor-easter more reminiscent of New England than mid-ocean.  Worse yet, it stalled just south of the island and presented three days of 20 foot seas and 40kt winds.  Even the harbor was no respite.

Five boats made it in ahead of the storm, including Catch 22, Calla, Apsara, Avocation and Namaste.  More slogged in through the tough stuff over the weekend, but as of sunday night, seven boats are still out at sea heaving to, by passing Bermuda, or pressing on.

There is no better medicine for a hard time at sea than a link with friends, nearby boats, and shore support.  That's where there is real safety in numbers.  A weather routers is great, but friends on scene and in the same situation is a different matter entirely.  On the Narc, we checked in twice a day and left plenty of time for boat-to-boat contacts.   The simple knowledge that one of the group is always standing by and ready to help with words and deeds can make the difference between despair and perseverance.  And it doesn't end when boats reach shore.."

 

Fogbound! Crossing the Channel | None | Distant Shores

via www.distantshores.ca

Great post om the benefits of AIS. It's on my shopping list! You can read the article by clicking the small link above.

Audioboo / Coastguard tells captain to return to ship

Audioboo / Coastguard tells captain to return to ship

I heard this on Mark Hendy (http://markhendy.com/)'s blog.

Mark sums it up. It's jaw-dropping. There has been debate about the cruise company hanging the guy out to dry. If this radio transmission is correct, the skipper deserves the worst.

Sailing Photo Of The Day - Old Gaffers Race

Villanova University Wins First-Ever Intercollegiate Offshore Regatta Video Contest

 

LARCHMONT, N.Y. (January 13, 2012) – Sailors captured the breeze from a creative angle during a video challenge at the Larchmont Yacht Club and Storm Trysail Foundation 2011 Intercollegiate Offshore Regatta (IOR), which took place over Columbus Day Weekend. During the two-day event, 30 HD Flip video cameras, donated to the Foundation by Storm Trysail Club members Rick Lyall and Barry Gold, were made available so that each sailing team had the opportunity to document as much action as possible onboard their boats and dockside before and after racing as well as during social events. This week, Villanova University, with sophomore Scott Barnhill (Baltimore, Md.) serving as video editor, was declared the winner of the video challenge (click to view video) and will receive a $1,500 donation made out to its sailing team.

“We’re in a big fundraising stage for our team, so this a fantastic boost for us,” said Barnhill, adding that it was Villanova’s first time attending the event and that it certainly lived up to its reputation as the world’s largest, if not most exciting, college regatta. Over 400 collegiate sailors from across the country raced on the placid waters of Long Island Sound off Larchmont, N.Y. They sailed on 47 offshore boats, which were lent for the weekend by private owners. The boats ranged in size from 35 to 44 feet.

“The cameras really brought everyone together; you saw a lot of people come forward to share their creative ideas with each other,” said Barnhill. “Looking back, the level of footage that we got to work with was fantastic because we had cameras in so many different places. It is impossible to be at every spot and to capture all the shots, but because we had all those cameras we were able to document the whole event.”

Once the regatta had concluded, the footage, which totaled over 50 hours, was uploaded to a server, and each team was challenged to turn the collective work into a short video that would best capture the atmosphere of the event. “The video that Villanova submitted not only met the criteria of the contest, but it was a superior effort that will serve to show what this regatta is all about and help the Storm Trysail Foundation and Larchmont Yacht Club build interest in the event,” said IOR Regatta Chairman Adam Loory.

“We will definitely run the contest again in the future,” Loory added. “Having cameras on all the boats and in the hands of so many different shooters let us cover the regatta so much better than just one or two professional photographers, and we have a lot of good footage that was left on the cutting room floor, so to speak, that we will be able to use in other projects.”

I "Heart" Crash Test Boat

If you read Yachting Monthly, the venerable UK yachting mag, you'll know all about Crash Test Boat. Here's a brief intro to CTB. You can read more here. It's so worth it!  It's like Top Gear for Sailors Gone Wild.

 

Distant Shores

I have become addicted to Wealth TV. To be accurate, one show on Wealth TV called Distant Shores.  Most shows on this obscure cable channel make my stomach turn but this one is frankly out of character with the rest of the shows on Wealth TV that seem dedicated to  ...er life in the 1%.

Distant Shores is a 30 minute show made by a Canadian couple, Paul and Sheryl Shard on their beautiful Southerly 45, called Distant Shores. From what I can gather, they are full-time cruisers. They are anything but 1%'ers. Paul is a film-maker and they are subsidizing their life through their show which has been picked up in the US, Canada and the UK (I believe). I am in awe of people who have figured this out. The more I watch shows like this and read about the antics of Captain Fatty Goodlander, I wonder when I will wise up and sell off everything and head off with Mrs T on Cadence for life afloat.

If you can find the show, it's worth watching. It's not slick and at times a little hokey but always enjoyable. Here's an except.

 

Normal Service Has Been Resumed

"So where the bloody hell have you been, Turinas and why have you been neglecting poor Messing About?"

First of all, to anyone who cares and may have have wondered why I stopped posting  (a club big enough to meet in a phone box), I apologize. It wasn't a premeditated decision to stop blogging. Nothing terrible happened. I just got preoccupied and and forgot to blog.

Last April, I teamed up with great friend, sailing buddy and now business partner, Phil Asche to develop a business I have admired for many years called Relationship Audits. I have entertained entrepreneurial aspirations forever and although I started a couple of firms about 10 years ago it was a little half-hearted first-time round. These last six months have been all-consuming and while things are starting to pick up again last year was a tough year to become a small businessman.

There was no conscious decision to stop blogging, my attention was so focused on the business I just fell out of the habit. Before I knew it, months had gone by with only a couple of posts. I was wondering if I should put a fork in the blog altogether. Over the last month I received few emails and comments wondering what was going on, curious if the blog or its blogger were broken. It got me thinking that after five years of dedication to this Messing About thing I should keep going.

So bugger it all, I'm back.

PS: Special thanks to The Peconic Puffin and Eric Banner for the nudge to get back in the game.

 

HMS Victory And Portsmouth's Historic Dockyard

Just returned from a week long business and family trip to London. I took the day off on Tuesday and went down to Portsmouth to visit HMS Victory and the Historic Dockyard. This place is truly a must-see for anyone who is naval history buff. I spent three hours and had to fly round most of the place. I didn't see everything.

The guided tour of HMS Victory gave great insight into life aboard with some good stories about Traffalgar. The Traffalgar experience was a bit lame and frankly gave me the one other visitor the giggles.

The Mary Rose exhibit is well-done and HMS Warrior, a massive steel steam and sailing battleship was HUGE. I only had 30 minutes and I had to almost jog round it.

Here are a few pics

 

Barcolana

Photo: Carlo Borlenghi-Luca Butto

Details - Les Voiles De St Tropez

Photo: ROLEX/Carlo Borlenghi

Salty Sea Dog - Les Voiles De St Tropez

Photo: ROLEX/Carlo Borlenghi

The Brambles Cricket Match

 

Bramble Bank aka "The Brambles" is a very shallow patch in the central Solent. At Spring Tides the sand can be uncovered which creates an opportunity for a wonderful annaul event. Every year two local clubs challenge each other a cricket match. Read more here.

They only have 30 minutes to play. In my view quite a good thing for cricket which pust me to sleep. The enetrpising folks from Henricks Gin had time to set up a bar to serve G&T's

This my friends is why I am a proud to call myself an Englishman.