Messing About In Sailboats

Simple But Brilliant!

Don't know how well this would work downwind but it's so smart. Ignore the silly accent! Thanks to Mike Lusty for passing along Read more →

90% of Success is Just Showing Up

OK, I have bastardized Woody Allen's quote that "90% of life is just showing up" but it felt apt regarding racing. I am a bit of a tart when it comes to racing and I have trouble settling down. Last year I raced on four boats: a J24, a friend's cruiser, a J30 and my own vessel, Cadence. I enjoyed the experience on the J30, Belle Faster best of all. It's great crew, I like the skipper and it's a competitive fleet with some exciting racing. Now, is that time of year when skippers tear their hair out trying to figure out who their crew will be for the season. Belle Faster's skipper, Michael has a pool of 8-10 guys and is trying to figure out who the six will be who will form the core of this year's crew. In his words the three things he is looking for... Read more →

Some good words to reflect on...

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did. Throw off the bow lines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Imagine. Discover who you really are and what is most important in your life.” Mark Twain Now if it only it was Spring. Read more →

Getting to Know Her

Today, I cracked open Poetry's manual. It is the original Sabre manual that came with the boat in 1988. The manual is a simple, cheap, 3-ring binder holding photocopied print-outs that detail every aspect of the boat. There are line-art illustrations that diagram the systems. There are notes in biro from brokers or past owners. The paper is yellow with age. As compared with the glossy, 3-year old, highly-produced, easy-to-use, Raymarine manuals full of photos, this old technical, manual is like an ancient manuscript. Hard to penetrate. Overwhelming in detail. Laying out prescriptively what I must and must not do. I don't know where to start. This manual was accompanied by another 3-ring binder full of thin brochures that accompanied the various pieces of equipment that were installed over the years. This includes a brochure for a macerator. Poetry has a macerator? News to me. Probably explains the problems we... Read more →

Coincidence or something else?

Over the last few weeks, my blog has been getting a lot of spam comments, usually 3-4 a day. They are invariably selling viagra or cialis. It's very annoying and I am at a loss to know how to block them. I am curious if anyone else is having this problem. On a side note, Bob, a crew mate on Wharf Rate, posed what it said about this blog? Hhhm. Comments anyone? Read more →