Month: August 2011

  • Abandoning the Space Station

    I saw the news that there is a possibility that the International Space Station will be left unmanned, as the rockets that the Russians use to make their launches currently have a problem that needs fixing.  I shared the news with my husband, who said, “I saw that yesterday.”  Okay.

    We talked about it for a while, because I know he used to follow the building of the ISS back before we were married.  He is of the opinion, and I am too, that humans really don’t have a need to go into space yet.  “If they find a way to mine [the moon], then they will find a way to go back there,” he says.  It’s true.  The only reason Spain and England sent so many men to the New World, paying them well to go, is to find better trade routes.  And then when they didn’t find the trade routes, they found new resources.  So, they benefited from the expeditions.

    The same goes for space travel.  If someone finds a way to make more money from going, than they spend on going, then space travel will grow.

    Until then, weary pilgrims, who want a different way of life, will wait until the Columbuses and Polos come back from their excursions to tell them that they way is safe enough.  And I can totally see hoards of people leaving.

    Humans don’t like to be penned in.  I think most of us have an innate desire to go somewhere, see things, and learn new things.  That curiosity is eventually what will lead us to go beyond our planet.

    1620-pilgrims-Charles-Lucey
    by Charles Lucey, a British painter
    (picture from http://www.hawaiilibertychronicles.com/?p=1506)

    References:
    1. More about Charles Lucey the painter here: http://nationalheritagemuseum.typepad.com/library_and_archives/charles-lucy/

  • Windsurfing Links

    Ahhhh. . . .

     

  • Calming Seas

    I posted this a long time ago. It’s still a lovely poem.



    Calming Seas

    When Christ was in need of solitude
    When He needed peace of mind,
    He went out to the water,
    Where comfort He could find.

    When He saw the ship in trouble
    He was standing on the land
    Jesus walked on the waters
    To give His loving hand!

    When He fell asleep exhausted
    And a rain filled their boat with
    harm, Jesus reached out His
    mighty hand, and calmed the
    raging storm.

    When showing faith in our Father
    John baptized Him at the river
    So that all that saw and followed him
    From sin could be delivered.

    He told Simon and Andrew
    To go unto all the land
    Cast out your nets upon the sea
    Be fishermen of men.

    He will be my anchor
    My ship won’t drift away
    He will calm my stormy seas
    Cause gentle winds to stay!

    He will not leave me
    To perish in the sea
    For I know throughout my
    storms, My Savior stands
    with me!

    No wonder I seek out the ocean
    I turn to the calming sea
    Whenever I need healing
    Whenever my spirit needs
    to be free!

    ~Lynn King~

  • New Eyes

    “The greenhorn is the ultimate victor in everything; it is he that gets the most out of life.”

    – G.K. Chesterton

    Someone posted this quote on another website that I frequent, and it definitely applies to sailing as well as my other hobbies.  I realized that most of the time I learn a lot very early on, when starting something.  There’s always a steep learning curve, after which, things are mostly refined rather than learned.

    I wish I could say I went sailing this weekend.  I got called in to work just before I was about to leave for the lake.  I had to admit a patient, and s/he really did need to be in the hospital.  I’m happy to say s/he is better.  However, that put me behind.  And then, when I got back home, things deteriorated.  All the wonderful planning I did in the weeks prior, plus the prep work I did the night before — all for nada.

    This kind of upset happens quite frequently.  As a result, I have not really been sailing in any of my boats since before I was pregnant.

    Ah well.

    I look forward to sometime sailing with the kiddo.  So far, he has helped me clean the boat.  I love setting him in the cockpit while I do repairs and maintenance.  He likes being in there, and when it comes time to go back inside, he screams bloody murder now.  He’d rather stay outside and play.  I’m glad!  He loves to wander around the yard, and I try to teach him the names of plants and bugs.  I don’t want him to be ignorant of the difference between grass and flowers — as his daddy is.  I’m hoping that this knowledge will help him, when I set him to work with the weedwhacker!!!

    Anyway, we have a pool in our local community college.  I am hoping that we’ll have a little free time this weekend, to bring him to the pool and I can start doing some swimming lessons with him.  He’s too young to enroll in the community classes, which require that one be 5 years old or older.  I personally think that’s too late!  I learned to swim when I was about 7.  I wish I’d learned earlier.  It is a useful thing to know.  Even if it only means knowing how to stay afloat without panicking, that’s all I’m hoping for at the moment.  ‘Still, I’d never leave him unattended until I know he can stand up in the pool himself.  (It’s 5′ deep at its shallowest as it’s an Olympic size pool, mostly for training purposes, not recreational.)

    I am a member of another website for mothers.  Some of the women there have taught their children to not panic, when in the water, and wearing a PFD.  I think that is a very important skill.  When my cousins were little, I suggested once to my aunt that she enroll her children in swimming lessons.  She actually got upset, and she told me she nearly drowned when she was little.  So she didn’t want her daughters anywhere near water.  I understand her fear of something dangerous happening to her daughters, but sometimes ignorance is not bliss.  Ignorance can kill.  Although one should never let a child swim alone, (even if one knows how to swim, one can get a cramp and drown even being an Olympic swimmer) knowledge of swimming is not a bad thing.

    I think the American Academy of Pediatrics is silly for their previous recommendations that one not teach children to swim.  They have since changed that, thank goodness.  I really do not like sending my dues to an organization that promotes things I disagree with (which is a reason I’m a member of the AAP, but not the AMA).  Their new recommendations are more reasonable, which are

    1)  Teach your kids to swim.

    2)  Don’t rely on their knowledge of swimming.  Maintain supervision when in the water.

    Anyway, I don’t see why my aunt wanted to deny my cousins the opportunity to learn an important skill.  It was her fear that was keeping her back.  Fear is a big obstacle for so many people.  It keeps them from learning new things, trying new things, and even from helping others.  Sometimes, fear is necessary to keep us out of trouble.  We learn from past experiences, and the fear of something that has been tried and hasn’t worked will keep us from repeating those actions.  But, fear of the unknown is often simply an obstacle to progress.

    I hope that I can teach my child to know the difference.

    Here’s another cool quote.  I dunno where I found it.

    “A person needs new experiences… they jar something deep inside, allowing him to grow.
    Without change, something sleeps inside us… and seldom awakens… The sleeper must awaken.”

    – Frank Herbert

     

  • Countdown

     

    1.  Assemble the tiller

    2.  Get new non-crispy lines for the halyard and sheets.

    3.  Oil the trailer tire bearings.

    4.  Attach the new trailer plates.

    5.  Cut lines to fit, and cauterize the ends.

    6.  Find the boat plugs.

    7.  Make sure the new trailer lock fits.

    8.  Find the sail, lifejackets, bailer, and oar.

    9.  Make sure to bring the rudder and centerboard!

    10.  Make new battens.

    11.  Pack a lunch.

  • To Do Lists

    Ever since I was little, my mother has encouraged “To Do Lists.”  When I was 6, she posted a list of chores to be completed each day, next to my dresser.  It was fun to be able to cross each item off the list, and then be able to do other things, knowing those jobs were done.  I hope to do that with the tyke, once he’s able to READ!

    Meanwhile, I’ve got some things that I can cross off my sailing “to do list.”

    1.  Assemble the tiller

    2.  Get new non-crispy lines for the halyard and sheets.

    3.  Oil the trailer tire bearings.

    4.  Attach the new trailer plates.

    And yet, as with all “to do lists,” there are always things to be added.

    5.  Now that I’ve got new lines, I need to cut them to fit, and cauterize the ends.

    6.  Find the boat plugs.

    7.  Make sure the new trailer lock fits.

    8.  Find the sail, lifejackets, bailer, and oar.

    9.  Make sure to bring the rudder and centerboard!

    It’s especially important to make checklists when I go sailing, because the nearest lake is about an hour away.  One doesn’t want to forget a crucial item, and then have to drive back home to get it.  Last time I tried to go sailing with someone, he brought his Laser.  We spent the better part of 30 minutes getting the stupid thing off his SUV, and then he realized he forgot his centerboard at home.  I can’t fault him for it, because I didn’t realize I had lost my rudder until I had trailered my boat 60 miles, only to find that it wasn’t in the boathouse.  So together, we were like a blind and a lame man attempting to go for a scenic walk.

    I do have a new rule for myself, though.  I am not sailing with anyone who cannot get his own boat off his car.

     

  • Sailing Solo

    So, my sailboat is just about ready for its first shakedown sail of the year.  I am a member of a local sailing forum, and someone asked if anyone needed crew this weekend.  People are always happy to let me crew, and I figure, I should pay the favor back.  So, I told this guy, “You can join me.”

    That was the other day.  Well, yesterday, I told my husband about it, and he goes, “Do you know this person?”

    Well, no.

    “Then, how do you know he’s not a freak show?”

    “Because he posted that he sailed 420′s and he wants to get back into racing.”

    “Anyone who posts that they’re into sailing on a forum is a freak show.”

    “Does that mean *I’m* a freak show?”

    “You’re the exception.”

    Thanks, Matt.

    Anyway, so he finally loosened up about it.  I told him, we’re taking separate cars.  And he’d better be nice to me, because *I* am the one supplying the boat.  Still, it’s a recurring problem for me.  Sailing with guys.  ‘Truth is, there just aren’t a lot of women sailors in my area.  I’ve tried looking, believe me!  Currently, there are women who sail, in this particular local sailing club, but they *always* sail with their husbands.  I also don’t think they fancy getting wet, and I really prefer sailing dinghies, rather than cabin boats, so they really wouldn’t like sailing with me anyway.

    It’s a tough call.

    But, the other problem is. . . I really like sailing solo.

    I like the freedom.  No one to criticize my sailing.  No one to blame if something goes wrong.  And frankly, my boat sails better with one person than with two.  That’s just the way it is.  I’ve pondered getting a bigger boat, for when the tyke can sail.  However I’m hoping that, if he even likes sailing at all, he’ll want to sail his own boat, and we can race instead.  Big dreams for a little person.

    So, this weekend, I’m prepared to sail with someone.  Maybe I’ll actually have some fun!

     

  • Banshee Gooseneck

    One of the notorious problems with Banshees is that the gooseneck will inevitably break.  I’ve seen different kinds of fixes, but recently I saw a novel one that I thought I’d record here, for anyone searching the Internet for gooseneck repair options.

    As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I was shopping for spare parts for my Banshee, and I met a man who was selling one of his.  He had the gooseneck problem, also, and this is how he fixed it:

    0702111406
    The new gooseneck has a pin that inserts into the boom end.

    0702111407
    This is the new end of the boom, with plastic socket for the pin.

    It works, because really, the sail being a unarig, there’s not a whole lot of outhaul pressure on the foot of the sail. So, the socket is really just to keep the boom aligned with the mast.

    It’s a clever solution, and if my gooseneck should break again, I’ll probably implement this fix instead.

    I thought it was kind of funny that the guy who was selling this sailboat ended up joining the sailing club and sailing it last weekend, instead of selling it. When I went to look at his boat, I asked him why he was selling it, and he said, “I’m too old to be sailing.” I told him, “I don’t think so.” If you can walk and move your hand enough to open a door, you can still sail.

  • Boat Collisions

    I seem to be posting a lot of morbid topics lately.  My apologies!  But, I just had to post a link about this Cowes’ race collision, which probably everyone in the sailing world has seen by now, thanks to YouTube.


    Sailboat dismasted by tanker Hanne Knutsen

    But of course, I have to tie this topic in to one of my favorite subjects — Junk Rigs!

    Thanks to this new sailing website, called YachtPals, I found a beautiful ship called the Princess Tai Ping — a gorgeous replica of a traditional Chinese Junk-rigged sailboat.  Unfortunately, the Princess Tai Ping met a sad fate, when it collided with a Norwegian freighter, just before completing its return journey back to Taiwan.  Sucks!  But, unlike in the early days of junk sailing, one has to watch out for ferries and tankers these days.



    I have sneaking suspicion that they were so close to home that they let their guard down.  Exhausted after transversing the Pacific twice, perhaps whoever was on watch that night fell asleep.

    Ah well.  It still doesn’t put me off junk sailing.

     

  • Boat Maintenance and Rudder Replacement

    So, I had to finish cleaning the boat myself today, because husband and tyke fell asleep about 7 PM.  It was nice though because he cleared out a space in the garage for it, so the pecan tree isn’t dripping gum on it anymore.  I honestly don’t know how I ended up with such an understanding husband.  We have a two-car garage, but he understands I need space for my boat in the garage.

    Anyway, I also had to clean the rudder.  This was a lot harder than I thought it would be.  It came from the mechanics’ garage, and while I was picking it up Thursday, one of the mechanics apologized for getting it dirty.  I thought, “Eh!  No problem.  It’ll clean off nicely.”

    0804111012
    Moving the boat out of the mechanics’ garage

    But I got home, and set to work on it with some dishwashing liquid, and those marks just didn’t come out.  So I broke out the secret weapon.

    PIC_9843
    Bar Keeper’s Friend

    PIC_9841
    A shot of the side that I didn’t do today

    PIC_9840
    Status post cleaning

    I’m thinking those were not just good ole Texas dirt stains. No, that was oil. Luckily, Bar Keeper’s Friend works on it.