New Boat 4 Sled

[mike cunningham]

Flotsam, Jetsam, Lagan, Derilict..... what??

So I was going to mention that on my way home Sunday night I was comfortable negotiating the delta after dark because it appeared that most of the debris had been flushed out of the rivers. Very few boards, logs, branches, etc left up there. I was going to be all nautical and call the debris "floatsam" but then I thought I better check exactly what flotsam means so I could come across as if I were in possession of the facts.

As usual, it's not that simple. I'll just stick with debris. I started to call it junk but that is a type of ship and would be disrespectful

In maritime law, flotsam, jetsam, lagan, and derelict are specific kinds of shipwreck. The words have specific nautical meanings, with legal consequences in the law of admiralty and marine salvage:

Flotsam is floating wreckage of a ship or its cargo.

Jetsam is part of a ship, its equipment, or its cargo that is purposely cast overboard or jettisoned to lighten the load in time of distress and is washed ashore.

Lagan (also called ligan) is goods or wreckage that is lying on the bottom of the ocean, sometimes marked by a buoy, which can be reclaimed.

Derelict is cargo that is also on the bottom of the ocean, but which no one has any hope of reclaiming (in other maritime contexts, derelict may also refer to a drifting abandoned ship).

 

[sleddog]

I learned at a youthful age that, except for watching phosphorescence at night in the toilet bowl, traditional heads (marine toilets) aboard small boats are foul things: Smelly, prone to leaks and disrepair, and noisy. And that was before anyone thought the need for holding tanks, no difference be 'twixt Tweedle-dum and Tweedle-dee.



Aboard WILDFLOWER we have multiple heads, their use depending on location and personal preference. There's the stern steps. The bucket with the toilet seat. The “Aquarium” hatch below decks in the bridge deck. His and her hospital urinals. And, more recently, the C-Head.



I first encountered the C-Head aboard Richard Wood's 28 foot power catamaran SKOOTA (photo below). “C” stands for “composting.” Although the C-Head looks like a regular toilet, there's no plumbing or thru-hulls, and no mechanical devices except for a “churning” handle. The C-head, at 24 pounds, weighs about the same as porta-potty, and best of all, no smell or leaks.



The C-head is also Coast Guard legit as a Type III MSD portable toilet and does not require USCG certification.

After attending a composting head seminar, and before installation in the boat, WILDFLOWER's C-Head was tested for three months indoors, living in a closet. Then in a small camp trailer, and in a tent. Several skeptical and discerning noses gave the C-head the sniff test. Thumbs up.

The operation of the C-Head is about as basic as it can get. The pee and the poop are separated by a “diverter,” for it is the mixing of the two that creates smell.



The #2 goes into a bucket of compostable media, usually saw dust, coconut coir, even cat litter or hamster bedding from the pet store. To empty the compost, you dig a hole, preferably in a garden or in the forest. Or if away from shore, empty it overboard. Wherever is environmentally appropriate.

http://www.c-head.com/ and/or feel free to call me at 8threeone-4seven5zerotwo78

 

[Gamayun]

Gee Sled, you're going all environmental on us! Nice to see your positive report of the C-Head A lot of people poo-poo these composting toilets...

 

[Philpott]

Gee Sled, you're going all environmental on us! Nice to see your positive report of the C-Head A lot of people poo-poo these composting toilets...

Good one, Carliane. I have to ask. Skip, you write: "The pee and the poop are separated by a diverter." What exactly does this mean? Is there a handheld device or a more elaborate mechanism? DM is always looking to simplify.

 

[sleddog]

Good one, Carliane. I have to ask. Skip, you write: "The pee and the poop are separated by a diverter." What exactly does this mean? Is there a handheld device or a more elaborate mechanism?

The urine "diverter" is a propriety fiberglass funnel that you can see in the last photo above. Men have to sit to pee when using the C-Head, not a bad thing. The diverter is built in, is hands free, and directs the pee into a 1 gallon milk jug below.

The "diverter" is the heart of the C-head. The #2 goes into a 5 gallon bucket filled with a gallon of dry compost medium.

 

[BobJ]

TMI - delicate sensibilities and all that

 

[sleddog]

mike cunningham asks Flotsam, Jetsam, Lagan, Derelict..... what??


Life on the Waterfront

A friend, Jim, who has lived aboard his 1960's era, 24 foot fiberglass sloop, recently moved ashore. His boat had been unmasted for years, and I'm sure the Harbor was applying pressure to move the boat the mandated 10 times/year or face eviction.

I'm not privy to the details. But Jim gave his boat to the Port District, who took ownership, relieving Jim from paying further slip rental, which for a liveaboard can be significant. The Port District apparently has a grant from the State for assistance with removal of "Marine Debris," and receives $2,500 for disposal. The small sloop will soon be hauled from the water and trucked to a landfill, where it will be smashed to smithereens by a large yellow mechanical monster and buried under 50 feet of earth.

Except for the little boat, a Bill Lapworth designed Gladiator, I guess this is a happy ending, as new berthage will be created for someone on Santa Cruz Harbor's legendary waiting list.....

Not so happy is what is happening at Willapa Bay, Washington, where an historical but abandoned Antarctic research ship, HERO, has recently sunk in the vicinity of the state's most prolific oyster waters. The HERO is leaking oil, and a sheen has been reported on the pristine waters. Coast Guard Columbia River has opened the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund in the amount of $25,000 to minimize pollution potential and booms are being deployed. With an old wood hull, 125 feet long, there is doubt that raising and removing the "marine debris," aka "derelict" is financially achievable. http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt...gotten-shipwreck-imperils-washingtons-oysters

Soon it may be time for the QUEEN MARY. The iconic 81 year old ocean liner moored in Long Beach as a tourist attraction and hotel has a "now or never" challenge. The Los Angeles Times reported last week that a new survey predicts the QUEEN's rusting hull "will collapse within 10 years unless major action is taken soon." Cost estimates are $300 million.



If you've never visited this history making ship, best to see her while you can.
http://www.seattletimes.com/life/tr...ueen-mary-and-revel-in-history-while-you-can/

Finally, today the Panama Canal webcam caught the Matson containership LURLINE in transit. LURLINE, once under command of good friend Capt. Bob, was Matson's flagship. But LURLINE is now a dead ship being towed from Seattle to Brownsville, Texas, to be dismantled.

Ship breaking is big business in the port of Brownsville, which lies on the north bank of the Rio Grande River across from Matamoros, Mexico. On a smaller scale, Brownsville is semi-famous for its efforts to become a cleaner, greener city and was one of the first cities in the U.S. to require stores to charge a fee for single-use plastic shopping bags. I guess citizens didn't want to give up their bags because $3.8 million was collected in the first 5 years and used for city beautification and maintenance projects.

A new LURLINE is being built, with launch scheduled for the end of 2019. She will be the 6th vessel of Matson's fleet to carry the name. The new LURLINE will be 869' LOA x 115' beam, and cost $256 million.

 

[AlanH]

There's a Highland Games held every February in the immediate vicinity of the Queen Mary. I've been twice, but never walked around the ship. If I go again in the next year or two, I should probably do that.

 

[Philpott]

Soon it may be time for the QUEEN MARY. The iconic 81 year old ocean liner moored in Long Beach as a tourist attraction and hotel has a "now or never" challenge. The Los Angeles Times reported last week that a new survey predicts the QUEEN's rusting hull "will collapse within 10 years unless major action is taken soon." Cost estimates are $300 million. If you've never visited this history making ship, best to see her while you can.]

The Queen Mary is inextricably linked in my mind with my Mater Dei senior prom. Back then Mater Dei billed itself as "the largest co-ed Catholic high school west of the Mississippi". That was when kids who attended were first generation Irish, Italian and Polish. Grzinskis, Solianis and Feeneys. Dinner before prom on the Queen Mary is where I first witnessed the lighting of a baked Alaska, which seemed the epitome of elegance at the time. Maybe we'll have a baked Alaska at this year's cruise-out to the southern hemisphere of the Bay?

 

[sleddog]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiywGC-lNWQ
I'll supply the Grand Marnier and lighter.

Mater Dei Monarchs (Monarch lion, not the butterfly) of Santa Ana has always been and continues to be a high school sports powerhouse, especially in football, where the Scarlet and Gray have the best players, quarterback, and coaches. And huge crowds, especially when Mater Dei plays rival Servite in the "holy war," the number one football rivalry in California.



We knew that, right?

 

[Philpott]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiywGC-lNWQ
I'll supply the Grand Marnier and lighter.

Mater Dei Monarchs (Monarch Lion) of Santa Ana has always been and continues to be a high school sports powerhouse, especially in football, where the Scarlet and Gray have the best players, quarterback, and coaches. And huge crowds, especially when Mater Dei plays rival Servite in the "holy war," the number one football rivalry in California.

View attachment 2274

We knew that, right?

View attachment 2275

But, alas, no sailing team

 

[sleddog]

But, alas, no sailing team

Times have changed. There are at least 39 high school sailing teams competing in Southern Calif. Including........ta dah https://www.facebook.com/Mater-Dei-High-School-Sailing-Team-438268012914371/

 

[sleddog]

Looky what Kimball found

Don't be late!

(If anyone is attending tomorrow's launch of the tallship MATTHEW TURNER in Sausalito and wishes to share pics and/or a first hand account, I know we'd be interested!)

 

[todd22123]

Soon it may be time for the QUEEN MARY. The iconic 81 year old ocean liner moored in Long Beach as a tourist attraction and hotel has a "now or never" challenge. The Los Angeles Times reported last week that a new survey predicts the QUEEN's rusting hull "will collapse within 10 years unless major action is taken soon." Cost estimates are $300 million. If you've never visited this history making ship, best to see her while you can.]

The Queen Mary is inextricably linked in my mind with my Mater Dei senior prom. Back then Mater Dei billed itself as "the largest co-ed Catholic high school west of the Mississippi". That was when kids who attended were first generation Irish, Italian and Polish. Grzinskis, Solianis and Feeneys. Dinner before prom on the Queen Mary is where I first witnessed the lighting of a baked Alaska, which seemed the epitome of elegance at the time. Maybe we'll have a baked Alaska at this year's cruise-out to the southern hemisphere of the Bay?

Also the site of Richard Henry Dana Jr High School (San Pedro) Prom. Author attended, behaved ok.

 

[Dazzler]

Looky what Kimball found

Ok Sled, it's been bothering me all day. I should know what boat that is but, I don't.
I know you are really good at ID'ng boats. Sail number 2069, probably a yawl, maybe a UK boat with that sail number. Is this a quiz? And for extra points, who did the art work?

I tried to enter that first Farallones race, but they wanted you to have a VHF radio as part of the minimum equipment requirements. I thought that was nuts. I'd always thought the idea was you are on your own out there.

 

[sleddog]

Best News of the Day:

At 1724 hrs, after a grudging departure from the massive submersible trailer, and to the welcoming cheers and horns of thousands of well wishers, MATTHEW TURNER has been safely launched. Congrats to all.
Here's a 3 minute look of the joy of the 1,000 volunteers, and the size of the crowd. What a day for the sailing community. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6Ch6TxnOa8

 

[sleddog]

As dawn lit the sky in the East, about 50 fishing craft raced out of Santa Cruz Harbor on the first day of recreational salmon season. With speeds upwards of 30 knots, many of these expensive looking fiberglass outboards were in a
distinct hurry to get to where the fish weren't.

With 5 years of drought, the rivers, streams, and creeks have run dry, and few salmon have spawned. Still, Opening Day is a fishing tradition....

No one noticed as they sped past the ghost of another fishing tradition, the Monterey Clipper VITA MARIE, about to be trucked to the landfill.


Early in the last century, when commercial fishing was big business, feluccas were the fish boats of choice. Their design was based on the traditional Italian feluccas with lateen sail rigs and brought to the New World by Italian immigrants. At one time there were likely 500 sailing feluccas fishing between Monterey and SF Bay.





When the gas engine like the Hicks Marine Engine appeared after WWI, many of the sailing feluccas either were converted, or disappeared. When the sailing rig was abandoned, the felucca becamea known as the "Monterey Clipper" like VITA MARIE.



Today, with their wood construction and modest speed, the Monterey Clipper is an endangered species, even at Fishermans' Wharf in San Francisco where few remain active in the fishing business. A pity, because the Clipper's double ended hull shape is pretty beyond words to look at.

And who could resist the sound of their engines saying "Potato, Potato, Potato."

Fair well, VITA MARIE.

 

[pogen]

A group of six guys from work went out of Santa Cruz on the Megabite Sunday and had good luck, three big salmon, I reeled in the biggest a real beauty of about 18 lbs. Beautiful day and good eating!

 

[sleddog]

A group of six guys from work went out of Santa Cruz on the Megabite Sunday and had good luck, three big salmon, I reeled in the biggest a real beauty of about 18 lbs. Beautiful day and good eating!

It was a beautiful day yesterday at Santa Cruz as we launched Howard and Yvonne's 20' Frogcat MOKUAKALANA for a Sunday sail to clear the sailing cobwebs out of our minds and MOKU's rigging.



With MOKU afloat, the mainsail cover came off, only to discover in the intervening weeks of winter, an active mud dauber wasp nest was attached to the headboard of the main. Howard, demonstrating the creativeness for which he is well known, immediately hoisted the main, and the mud daubers found their cellular apartment complex 20 feet aloft.

We motored out the Harbor to the whirring hum of the electric outboard. Inbound was the salmon fleet. A minus low tide, and occasional sets of white water breaking across the west side of the now dredged entrance channel deterred no one, not even a bevy of rental kayaks.

Outside, the ocean was calm with about 4-5 knots of wind from the southwest. We sailed up towards Steamer Lane, where we could see 8-12 foot breaking swells outside, and 3-5 feet inside off "Indicators." With Spring Break happening, there looked to be about 100 surfers enjoying the clean lines as we reached in towards Cowells Beach.

It was noon "solar time," and the afternoon seabreeze begin to build right on schedule. We reached out to Mile Buoy at 6 knots in 10 knots of wind, jibed around the buoy and a couple of bobbing loons, and reached back to the Harbor as white caps built seaward. A perfect afternoon of relaxed sailing before the fog arrived about 4 pm.

Not sure how much the mud daubers enjoyed the ride aloft...but their well constructed nest was still attached when MOKU's main came down.

Thanks, Howard and Yvonne!

 

[sleddog]

Safety Moment for the Day

It's never too early to learn to duck for the boom!



And it goes without saying, on boats of size or in breeze of significance, to keep hair and fingers away from the traveler track and main sheet blocks. And on a jibe, accidental or intentional, to keep clear of the bight of the mainsheet and mainsheet tail......