Isabelle Joschke. . .

. . . Won the first leg of the Mini Transat.

French female sailor Isabelle Joschke is one of the top ranked competitors at this year’s Transat 6,50 Charente Maritime Bahia (Mini Tranast) and has every chance of knocking Isabelle Autissier (the French sailor who finished third in 1997) off the perch as top female Mini sailor. Joschke, who’s been racing Open 6,50s for four seasons, competed in the 2005 event aboard the boat formerly sailed by British sailor Sam Davies, and finished a creditable 15th overall. Now, two years on, she’s back, with one aim – to win. And with a new boat and some extremely good recent results including a win in the in the Mini Pavois and the Select, plus a second in the Trophy Marie-Agnes Peron and a third in the grueling 550-mile Transgascogne, Joscheke is definitely one to put your money on. Speaking to Joscheke on the dockside in La Rochelle, it became clear just now focused this young French sailor is. Four years ago she’d never done any racing. She spent her time as a delivery skipper. But now has, “a passion for these boats. I love racing them and I love being out in the open sea,” said Joscheke. The new boat, a Finot design with rotating and canting mast, canting keel, daggerboards and water-ballast is one of three brand new boats in the fleet and was completed in January. A fairly tight schedule but Joscheke managed to complete her qualification in her first two races and is now ready for the big one, commenting: “I am very happy with my current form year and I am as prepared as I’ll ever be. I now have all the tools to be able to do my best so I am really looking forward to getting out on the racecourse. Although the first bit, where they [the organisers] send us round a short, round the cans, course before we set off down the coast, will not be so enjoyable, there a lot of work to do on these boats so the sooner we set off on the long leg south, the better.” Sue Pelling/Yachting World, 14 September 2007

from  http://www.yachting-world.com/auto/newsdesk/20070814104547ywnews.html
and
http://www.ybw.com/auto/newsdesk/20070819093624ywnews.html

The Cost of Living When One is Intolerably Stupid

So I chatted with one of my lovely friends from the Bay Area of California today.  His spouse now works at Google, and he is still baffled at my political beliefs.

He’s proud to say that he has a new job, and a new house.  His newest house is 1800 square feet and cost him $1.5 million.  He has had to strip the asbestos tiles, gut the walls, rewire the house, and completely remodel it.

My new house is 3500 square feet, and we’re only paying $281,000 for it.  The previous owner (a contractor who actually built the house and lived in it) has already remodeled everything, and is even paying for the lawn to be mowed, and the floors and carpets to be cleaned before we move in.  A true Southern gentleman.

I laugh because people say, “Well, who would want to live in Texas?”  My colleagues who finished medical school and now practice in California are finding out exactly why, in terms of malpractice insurance and reimbursement rates.

I’ve got a new house, and a new job with a guaranteed salary, and to top it off, I’m taking a two-week vacation to go sailing with family in Southern California and Minnesota.  This means I’ve accomplished almost all of my New Year’s Resolutions for 2007.

I asked my proud friend if he’d like to join me on my sailing trip in California, and he goes, “Well, I only have one day of vacation saved up at my new job.”  And I understand.  It must be hard paying off a $1.5 million dollar house so that one can live in California but not even be able to spend time to go sailing there.

And who does he blame for this?  Bush.  Of course.

Thank God I married Matt.  If it weren’t for having him to talk to at the end of the day, I’d think that the human race is not salvageable.

Max Fun?  Not.

‘Just another reminder that some sailboats are better than others.  On February 2, 2007, one member of the crew died aboard this boat when its keel broke off.

According to the boat autopsy, “. . . Unbeknown to the designer, the builder sub-contracted construction of the hollow keel to a steel fabricator who had no marine experience.  The fabricator changed the design of the keel to ease manufacture and to reduce costs but without adequately assessing the stresses to which the keel would be subjected in service. . . .”

There were a number of things that went wrong with that sailing trip — another reminder to have all safety gear present and functioning in the case of such as thing as your keel falling off in strong winds.

The report also says that the Max Fun 35 has been redesigned, to correct the structural flaws.  So, now, I’ll bet they’re just as reliable as Firestone tires, after the blow-out fiascos.

Navigation

Having my maps arrive early was wonderful.  But understanding them is another thing entirely.  I asked Matt, “What do you think this star-like thing means?”  He had no clue.

Lucky for me, someone has given me a point of reference (all puns intended).

The American Practical Navigator
by Nathaniel Bowditch

Deep Cycle Batteries

I really need to know more about batteries and engines.  And this is a good opportunity.

Starting, Marine, and Deep-Cycle Batteries Starting (sometimes called SLI, for starting, lighting, ignition) batteries are commonly used to start and run engines. Engine starters need a very large starting current for a very short time. Starting batteries have a large number of thin plates for maximum surface area. The plates are composed of a Lead “sponge”, similar in appearance to a very fine foam sponge. This gives a very large surface area, but if deep cycled, this sponge will quickly be consumed and fall to the bottom of the cells. Automotive batteries will generally fail after 30-150 deep cycles if deep cycled, while they may last for thousands of cycles in normal starting use (2-5% discharge). Deep cycle batteries are designed to be discharged down as much as 80% time after time, and have much thicker plates. The major difference between a true deep cycle battery and others is that the plates are SOLID Lead plates – not sponge. Unfortunately, it is often impossible to tell what you are really buying in some of the discount stores or places that specialize in automotive batteries. The popular golf cart battery is generally a “semi” deep cycle – better than any starting battery, better than most marine, but not as good as a true deep cycle solid Lead plate, such the L-16 or industrial type. However, because the golf cart (T-105, US-2200, GC-4 etc) batteries are so common, they are usually quite economical for small to medium systems. Marine batteries are usually actually a “hybrid”, and fall between the starting and deep-cycle batteries,though a few (Rolls-Surrette and Concorde, for example) are true deep cycle. In the hybrid, the plates may be composed of Lead sponge, but it is coarser and heavier than that used in starting batteries. It is often hard to tell what you are getting in a “marine” battery, but most are a hybrid. “Hybrid” types should not be discharged more than 50%. Starting batteries are usually rated at “CCA”, or cold cranking amps, or “MCA”, Marine cranking amps – the same as “CA”. Any battery with the capacity shown in CA or MCA may not be a true deep-cycle battery. It is sometimes hard to tell, as the term deep cycle is sometimes overused. CA and MCA ratings are at 32 degrees F, while CCA is at zero degree F. Unfortunately, the only positive way to tell with some batteries is to buy one and cut it open – not much of an option. Excerpt from http://www.windsun.com/Batteries/Battery_FAQ.htm

Tides Online –
NOAA

Finding tidal information has been kind of
difficult.  It’s a whole ‘nother language.

Snapshot from http://tidesonline.nos.noaa.gov/geographic.html

For
example, I love this definition of
MLLW:

MLLW — Mean Lower Low Water There are two low tides in each tidal cycle (so usually two low tides in each day). These two low tides are not quite the same height because one tide is generated by the gravitational interaction with the sun (which is small), and the other is generated by the gravitational interaction with the moon (which is not so small). Since the two low tides (or water levels) are different levels of low, one is naturally the higher low water (higher low tide) and the other is the lower low water (lower low tide). So Mean Lower Low Water is the average of the lower low water height of each tidal day (ie average of the lowest low tide from each day). The averages are taken over a period called the National Tidal Datum Epoch (a 19-year epoch). from http://sfports.wr.usgs.gov/SFPORTS/glossary.html

I
tried reading this paragraph out loud to Matt, and it’s a tongue
twister in the middle, there.

Anyway, tidal
information can be found at Tides
Online, run by NOAA, or at the main site which is Tides and
Currents.

http://tidesonline.nos.noaa.gov/

http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/

Maps

Yesterday, UPS *finally* delivered the nautical charts for the part of Region 1 that we will be sailing.  And I believe Miss Teen South Carolina would agree that this is a good thing.

Miss Teen South Carolina 2007 speaks out about maps

A Workship!  Er. . . Workshop!

We recently put a bid on a house here in Texas.  It’s a bit more square footage than I would have liked, which just means more to vacuum.  And the yard is over an acre, which means “riding lawn mower.”  It has too many skylights, which means “hail damage.”  We’ll have to maintain the well which waters the yard, and that will cost a whole $20 a month.  And yeah, interest rates aren’t so hot, at 6.37%.

But I don’t care.  It’s all worth it.  Because of this:

Space.  A whole fricking covered area of space.

This old RV parking lot is so big, I could fit my old house under it, and still have room to spare.  Lots of good ventilation, and dry, dry weather.  What more could a gal ask for?  Now it’s time to find a good table saw. . . .

If it isn’t absolutely plain, I love Texas!