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  • Moon Bows

    The picture above is from Victoria McCormick's Photography website.


    Moon Bow -- A Night Rainbow

    An arc or circle that exhibits in concentric bands the colors of the
    spectrum and that form the opposite the moon by refraction and
    reflection of the moon's rays in raindrops, spray or mist.

    The night rainbow is a thing of legends. But they do exist on those
    nights that conditions are just right. For those lucky few that see
    them, a treat for the eyes.

    (Excerpt from http://victoriamccormick.com/index.php?action=category&id=5&subid=510)

  • Tripsailor.com & TheBoaters.com

    It's amazing how many web logging sites for boaters and sailors are cropping up.  Here's a few of the newest ones:


    TripSailor.com


    TheBoaters.com

  • "Música Celestial"

    It's not so much the camera work in this video, so much as the sound. . . . and the woodwork is awesome too.

  • Ouch


    A wall of steel

    Update: This is a satellite picture of Kowloon harbor, from Google maps. Why anyone would fly a spinnaker in such a busy channel, I have no idea.


    Satellite composite of Kowloon

  • The Man Who Sailed Around His Soul

    I never used to like this song, but I've since changed my mind, and not just because of this nifty scrolling lyrics thingy (which is just as easy to write the HTML text for as a marquee, except for the scrolling buttons which would require a little more effort).


    The Man Who Sailed Around His Soul Lyrics

  • The Sunken Venture

    He will never know it, but I am Shorty Pen's biggest fan.  I absolutely adore him, because of his story of how he and a friend raised a sunken sailboat.


    The Sunken Venture 21
    (http://www.shortypen.com/essays/sunken/history.htm)

  • Celestial Navigation

    You know you have too much time on your hands when you start thinking of learning to use a sextant.


    $43.99 USD
    DAVIS INSTRUMENTS -- Mark III Sextant
    While this sextant has been used to navigate both the
    Atlantic and Pacific oceans, its primary application is as a great tool for
    students to use before buying a more expensive sextant. It has a 7" arc
    and four sun shades. Plastic construction is corrosion-proof and instantly
    adjustable. Case not included.

     

      * Frame Material:
    Plastic construction

        * Sighting System:
    Half-silvered mirror

        * Scope
    Magnification: None

        * Filter Shields:
    Four sun shields

        * Arc Range: 2' of
    arc

        * Drum Calibration:
    120° to -5° of arc

        * Lighting: None

        * Weight: 6oz.

        * Case: Not
    included

        * Included
    Accessories: Instruction booklet

        * Warranty: One
    Year

    from http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product/10001/-1/10001/1611

    $144.99 USD
    DAVIS INSTRUMENTS -- Mark 15
    Sextant

    The same precision and quality as the Mark 25,(#137216) but
    with a conventional half-silvered horizon mirror sighting system instead of the
    beam converger, and no LED illuminator. Same rugged plastic construction; same
    instrument specifications.

     

      * Frame Material:
    Rugged plastic construction

        * Sighting System:
    Half-silvered horizontal mirror

        * Scope
    Magnification: 3 x 27mm

        * Filter Shields:
    Seven large sunshades

        * Arc Range: .2'
    of arc

        * Drum
    Calibration: 120° to -5° of arc

        * Lighting: None

        * Weight: 14.5oz

        * Case: Padded
    shock-resisting case

        * Included
    Accessories: Well-written introduction and case

        * Warranty: One
    Year

    from http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product/10001/-1/10001/1615

    $229.99 USD
    DAVIS INSTRUMENTS -- Mark 25
    Sextant
    Accurate, lightweight and affordable

    An
    affordable sextant just half the weight of comparable instruments with metal
    frames, therefore easier to hold steady for accurate reading. Features a full
    field dielectric beam converger, combining horizon and celestial images in a
    single field for easy, reliable sights even in low light conditions. LED
    illumination floods the arc and drum with soft light for night use.

        * Frame Material: Reinforced plastic

        * Sighting System:
    Full-field beam converger

        * Scope
    Magnification: 3 X 27mm

        * Filter Shields:
    Seven large sunshades

        * Arc Range: 2/10
    minute of arc

        * Drum Calibration:
    120° to -5° of arc

        * Lighting: LED
    Illumination

        * Weight: 16.5oz
    Case

        * Warranty:
    One Year

    from http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product/10001/-1/10001/6690

    $1,099.00 USD
    WEEMS and PLATH -- Tamaya
    Jupiter Sextant

    This full-sized sextant is an
    excellent value with many of the features found only on more expensive
    sextants. Includes large mirrors, a 57 x 42mm index and a 57mm diameter
    horizon. The inclined handle provides a natural and comfortable grip. Full
    illumination on the arc and drum. Optional scopes available in 4 x 40mm and 7 x
    35mm (sold separately).

     

      * Frame Material:
    Die cast aluminum, bronze arc

        * Sighting System:
    Split horizon mirror

        * Scope
    Magnification: Optional 4x40mm or 7x35 telescopes

        * Filter Shields:
    4 for index mirror, 3 for horizon mirror, one special shade glass and
           one
    Polaroid glass for eyepiece of telescope

        * Drum
    Calibration: -5° to 125°

        * Lighting:
    Included for both arc and drum

        * Weight: 3lbs.
    12oz.

        * Case Material: Molded plastic

        * Included
    Accessories: Two AA batteries

        * Warranty: Two
    Years

    from http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product/10001/-1/10001/126967

  • SkySails Assist Freighters



    SkySails

    People are always looking for ways to utilize the wind.  Here's another idea that someone has already put into practice, as opposed to Richard Dryden's idea which appears to still be in the planning stage.


    Football field-sized kite powers latest heavy freight ship
    Submitted by Layer8

    on Sun, 11/25/2007 - 11:19pm.

     

    A kite the size of a football field will provide most of the
    power for a German heavy freight ship set to launch in December.

     

    The Beluga shipping company that owns the 460-foot Beluga
    said it expects the kites to decrease fuel consumption by up to 50% in optimal
    cases as well as a cutback of the emission of greenhouse gases on sea by 10 to
    20%. Interestingly, the ship will be hauling windmills from Esbjerg, Denmark to
    Houston, Texas.

     

    The company that makes the kite for the German
    transport, SkySails, has made kites for large yachts but is targeting
    commercial ships with new, larger kites. And it has the ambitious goal of
    equipping 1,500 ships with kites by 2015.

    (Excerpt from article at http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/22225.)

    References:
    1. http://www.skysails.info/index.php?L=1
    2. http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/22225

  • Building A Boat

    My boat plans arrived yesterday!

    Now let's see how many years it takes to finish *this* project.

    On an unrelated note, I met someone the other day whom I haven't seen for a while.  He was out of commission for about 2 months because he nearly cut off one of his fingers, using a chain saw.  I asked him how he did it, and he said, "I was cocky when I should have known better."

    I asked him if the chain saw kicked back, and he said yes.  It was the end of the day, and it was getting dark.  He thought he'd be able to finish "one more log."  So he was holding the chain saw with one hand, trying to trim off branches on one log, while he held another one up with his other hand.  Bad idea.  Always hold chain saws (and circular saws) with two hands.  As soon as he touched the branches, the saw kicked up and hit his other hand, which was holding up another branch.  Went through bone, and almost severed an artery on the other side.

    He was lucky it didn't kick up into his face.

    Anyway, I just thought I'd post a warning to anyone who might be cutting firewood this winter.

    HOLD IT WITH TWO HANDS.

    And stop and get some cocoa when it's getting dark.

  • I posted this back in July 12, 2006, but it's still true, anyway.

    Because It
    Never Ends

     

    Every year,
    students breathe a sigh of relief when they finish taking the SAT
    (mostly on the Coasts) or the ACT (mostly in the Midwest and the
    South).  I get people asking me, "Do you think my score will
    help me get into so-and-so
    college?"

    And every year, I think, "Do they really
    want to go to so-and-so
    college?"

    Very few college majors are useful in real
    life (i.e. outside academia).  When I went home from
    University for the summer, my Uncle Danny asked me, "So!  What
    do you learn in chemistry?  Do you know how to make
    glass?"

    Despite 4 years of college level chemistry
    and biochemistry, and learning to make salts, plastic polymers, and
    plasmids encoding recombinant proteins, not once did anyone teach me
    something as useful as making glass.  So
    how did I learn to make glass?  I read a
    book     that I found in a library -- without paying $6000/12
    months for tuition.

    I think I've said this before, but I'll say it again. 
    College is a very expensive place to want to "search for oneself"
    unless one plans on hemorrhaging money, and then paying out the wazoo
    for the standardized tests (GME, MCAT, LSAT, USMLE Step 1, USMLE Step
    2, USMLE Step 3, Bar Exams, Board Exams) that "prove" that you learned
    something.

    And then, once you enter a career based on
    something for which you went to school, they continue to make you pay
    for exams to "recertify" that you know what you know.  Not to
    mention the "Continuing Education" credits (read:  "Continuing
    Extortion" credits) for which you also must pay.  Where does
    this money go?

    Probably to pay for software for the
    computerized tests -- on a PC with an operating system, developed by
    someone who didn't finish
    college    .

Devich

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