Messing About In Sailboats

My Favorite Post of the Year From Bruce's Smith's Voyage

Tillerman asked for favorite posts of the year. My favorite post can be found here. Back in March, there was the tragic news that a boat carrying Haitian migrants caught fire off the coast of DR. Most of the passengers perished. Here is an excerpt: A boat carrying Haitian migrants caught fire off the coast of the Dominican Republic, leaving at least eight passengers dead and 44 missing, a U.S. Coast Guard spokesman said Thursday. The boat was traveling from the northern Haitian town of Cap-Haitien to the Turks and Caicos islands when it caught fire about 25 miles north of the Dominican Republic, U.S. Coast Guard spokesman Petty Officer Barry Bena said Thursday. Two migrants were pulled alive from the water Wednesday and brought to a hospital in Montecristi on the Dominican Republic's north coast. The two adults, a man and a woman, were being treated for burns and... Read more →

Song for Friday - I'm Your Captain - Grand Funk Railroad live at Shea

I'm getting closer to my home... Everybody, listen to me, And return me, my ship. Im your captain, Im your captain, Although Im feeling mighty sick. Ive been lost now, days uncounted, And its months since Ive seen home. Can you hear me, can you hear me, Or am I all alone. If you return me, to my home port, I will kiss you mother earth. Take me back now, take me back now, To the port of my birth. Am I in my cabin dreaming, or are you really scheming, To take my ship away from me? Youd better think about it, I just cant live without it. So, please dont take my ship from me. Yeah, yeah, yeah ... I can feel the hand, of a stranger, And its tightening, around my throat. Heaven help me, heaven help me, Take this stranger from my boat. Im your captain,... Read more →

Sailing Photo of The Day - Light Air Sailing on Lake Constance

Segelregatta auf dem Bodensee - Yachting regatta on Lake of Constance - Régate de voiliers au lac de Constance - Regata a vela en el Lago de Constanza, originally uploaded by jetzgetzab scifG. Read more →

Facebook Application for Sailors

A while back, I created a map on Platial called Great Places to Sail. It's a Google-like map where people can put their favorite places to sail, add pictures, links, comments, etc. A number of bloggers like Edward from EVK 4 and Chris from Bluewater added their favorite places. There are now over 140 places on the map. Last weekend, in a sad obsessive moment, I turned it into a Facebook application. If you are on Facebook, I would love your feedback. If you like it, please add it to your profile. You can check it out here. By the way, I am not alone in being a total geek saddo. LiveSailDie, created a Facebook app too. Read more →

Top Sailing Blogs According to Technorati

Tillerman asked for suggestions for the Top Sailing Blogs. As he points out, there a lot of them now. As I waited for the turkey to cook on Thursday, I did a bit of analysis using Technorati. Technorati ranks blogs based on authority as determined by the number of blogs linking to them. It's an odd measure but it suggests popularity. It is far from perfect. I looked at blogs tagged Sailing and/or Sail. I double-checked against both my and Tillerman's blogroll. (Some blogs, like mine, had multiple listings, so I took the highest ranking). Here is what I came up with. Given that Technorati tracks and ranks 112.8 million blogs, getting anywhere on this list is impressive. I caveat the hell out of this and if I missed you, I apologize. Let me know and I will add you to the ranking. Note: You have to register your blog... Read more →