New Boat 4 Sled

[sleddog]

Where does this buffalo roam? If you answer "on the SHTP finish line at Hanalei Bay," you would be correct. Recent rains, 4"/hour, a record 28" in 24 hours have flooded parts of Kauai, including the Hanalei Valley. This buff was one of three escapees who swam out of his compound.

The historic rainfall was caused by an upper level low pressure just west of Kauai. So far, no lives lost. But many rescues, with homes damaged and several residences swept away. Landslides and sink holes have closed the North Shore Kuhio highway. The Hanalei River has gone rogue, and the beach and Black Pot Park have been severely eroded at the River Mouth/Pier.

http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/37959055/dozens-of-homes-damaged-on-kauai-floodwaters-close-roads

 

[Harrier]

Skip
Your musings, remembrances and general interesting discussions are very much enjoyed. During my last ten (?) years worth of visiting Hanalei, I noticed that the old "buffalo farm" with the entrance adjacent to the Hanalei one-way bridge had closed. Don't know the story behind that, but have wondered. I have talked to many who seemed to think I was kidding when I mentioned it. So, at least, your pictures are proof that the critters were, at least, one there.
Fair Winds, Amigo Ken Roper (visiting my boat in San Pedro)

 

[Philpott]

How many people enjoy your thread, Skip? Well, today at noon = Views: 1,000,916

 

[sleddog]

Skip
Your musings, remembrances and general interesting discussions are very much enjoyed. During my last ten (?) years worth of visiting Hanalei, I noticed that the old "buffalo farm" with the entrance adjacent to the Hanalei one-way bridge had closed. Don't know the story behind that, but have wondered. I have talked to many who seemed to think I was kidding when I mentioned it. So, at least, your pictures are proof that the critters were, at least, one there.
Fair Winds, Amigo Ken Roper (visiting my boat in San Pedro)

Hi Ken,

There remains a 70 buffalo herd in pasture by the Hanalei River. Good news is the TV news showed Paniolos roping Buffalo on Hanalei beach. They have returned all but 3 to pasture. So the buffalo of Hanalei are not a figment of imagination.

The $14 million dollar homes down by the Hanalei Pier are history, and will likely not be rebuilt, now the Hanalei River stream bed has found alternative routes to the Bay.

~skip

 

[sleddog]

The record rain of 28" in 24 hours at Hanalei would have been greater. But the Weather Service rain gauge floated away and disappeared.

Yesterday, pro-surfer Laird Hamilton, a Hanalei resident, used his jet ski to pilot a Navy landing barge with bulldozer onto the beach at Wainiha, around the corner from Hanalei. From Hanalei to Haena, at road's end, the bridges are not strong enough for heavy equipment to cross to begin repairs. Everything will have to come by barge.

 

[sleddog]

Poor thing. An exhausted buffalo was found yesterday swimming in the ocean off Hanalei, headed for Tahiti. Fortunately he was lassoed and redirected by a jet ski, taken to shore for some "Tree Time" at the beach park, then put in a trailer for the short ride home.

I doubt SHTP sailors will encounter buffalo on their approach, or under the Tree...but you never know. If anything's gonna happen, it's gonna happen out there.

 

[sleddog]

Happy Earth Day!

A local definitive hazard to navigation for migrating whales, other than ships and orcas, are crab pots (lobster pots off Baja.) Unfortunately, crabbers use cheaper, poly line that floats. As well, there is usually 50-100 feet of slack in the line. We snagged one in broad daylight a few weeks ago on WILDFLOWER's rudder.

This morning, at dawn's early light, ENVOLEE, with Natalie and Synthia aboard, snagged a crabpot a few miles north of Santa Cruz while motoring on a delivery from Monterey to SF. I'd seen them earlier on AIS making 5.7 knots up the track, when a few minutes later they were DITW.

A call to Vessel Assist provided a tow for ENVOLEE to Santa Cruz Harbor, where they are now looking for a diver to clear their fouled prop. As Nat said, "too bad, we didn't even get to keep the crabs." Their lost crab pot will now join an increasing number "ghost fishing" on the ocean floor.

Unfortunately, whales can't call a diver for tail entanglement, and it becomes a life or death struggle. On the East Coast, Right whales are nearing extinction, partly because of entanglement and partly because of collisions with ships.

There are solutions to this floating line hazard, one being ropeless fishing. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/ropeless-fishing-snow-crab-whale-death-1.4590246

Unfortunately at the moment, at least off the West Coast, no one is taking pro-active leadership and enforcement. The crab pot we snagged a few weeks ago, 2 miles off Santa Cruz in 80 feet, was one of a dozen anchored in a line east to west, each with two white buoys and many feet of unneeded scope, essentially creating an oceanic fence a half mile wide.

https://www.earthtouchnews.com/wtf/wtf/ever-seen-a-whale-without-a-tail-we-hadnt-either/

 

[sleddog]

Synthia and Natalie hanging out onboard Nat's Figaro 2 ENVOLEE this afternoon at Santa Cruz. The fouled crab pot line had been removed from the prop by a commercial diver, and they were waiting for the afternoon's fresh seabreeze of 20 knots to die out this evening for an early morning departure north.

In the background is Chuck Hawley's beautiful deep blue Alerion 38 yawl SURPRISE. As many know, Chuck was West Marine's technical and safety expert. And is now US Sailing's Safety at Sea Committee Chairman, as well as presenter at many Safety at Sea Seminars.

Chuck travels with a 2 gallons of regular gas in a plastic jerry jug in the back seat of his car. For a G&T, corn salsa and chips, and fresh salmon hors d'oeuvres on the deck of the CBC, why does Chuck carry this extra gas?



1) Ever helpful, Chuck likes to be prepared in case he meets someone out of gas and can offer help.
2) Unlike the vast majority of sailors, Chuck likes the smell of gas from days as a kid running outboards.
3) Chuck's BMW has a two gallon gas tank.
4) Chuck likes to keep his ethanol gas mixture below 10%.
5) Chuck uses the gas to help start practice fires at his Safey at Sea Seminars, in order to demonstrate efficacy of different types of fire extinguishers.
6) Chuck has exhausted his yearly quota of AAA Service Calls and free gas to members stuck on the roadside.
7) #1,4, and 5.
8) The ENVOLEE price of gas has Chuck saving pennies.
9) The photo is not Chuck Hawley, but someone who calls himself "Boat Doctor."

 

[Howard Spruit]

I say it is none of the above!
Chick is driving a german car that does not have a proper size battery so the electric drive needs help from the gas engine, but there are germans in the car game that don't like Chuck and did not give him a large enuf petrol tank to supplement the undersize battery :>)

 

[sleddog]

I say it is none of the above!
Chick is driving a german car that does not have a proper size battery so the electric drive needs help from the gas engine, but there are germans in the car game that don't like Chuck and did not give him a large enuf petrol tank to supplement the undersize battery :>)

I'm sorry, but your answer is not correct and beyond the scope of comprehension of this family friendly forum. Try again if you like.

 

[BobJ]

I'll go with #7.

And I still want to buy his "southern" boat. Don't tell Rags.

 

[sleddog]

I'll go with #7.
And I still want to buy his "southern" boat. Don't tell Rags.

Hi Bob,
Good to hear you've survived Tuesday! #7 is a good guess. But I'm sorry is not the right answer.

 

[Dazzler]

Hello Sled,
The answer is quite simple #3. The BMW i3 range extender has only a 9 liter (2.4 gal) gas tank. Chuck is carrying a bit of extra fuel to increase his range. At least he’s not carrying it in the “frunk.”

Tom

 

[sleddog]

Hello Sled,
The answer is quite simple #3. The BMW i3 range extender has only a 9 liter (2.4 gal) gas tank. Chuck is carrying a bit of extra fuel to increase his range. At least he’s not carrying it in the “frunk.”
Tom

DAZZLER got it right. Congrats, Tom!

Chuck Hawley drives a BMW i3REx electric car. Since BMW needs the i3 REx to qualify as an Electric Vehicle and one of the qualifications is that the car have a smaller gasoline range than its electric range, and also to meet EPA requirements, the fuel tank capacity is 1.9 gallons.

That's the short version. Chuck's BMW is actually a fascinating study in electric cars of the future and their constraints. The reason Chuck is pouring 2 galllons of gas into his electric BMW gas tank at Marin YC in San Rafael is so he can drive round trip from/to Santa Cruz over the Highway 17 summit (190 RT miles) without worrying about stopping for gas.

Here's the poop: https://insideevs.com/bmw-i3-rex-bevx-restrictions-plea-carb-unleash-rex/

 

[sleddog]

I'm guessing Rob on TIGER BEETLE is thinking of the clear tropical waters he experienced in French Polynesia as he looks over BEETLE's side in his current moorage at Ala Wai Harbor, Honolulu. This appalling photo was taken two days ago.

Trash flowing down the Ala Wai canal has been a problem for many years. Bacteria contamination has caused illness and death for those who come in contact with the waters of this cesspool. Incredibly, this pollution is just feet from the front entrance of one of Hawaii's most exclusive hotels, as well as restaurants overhanging the waterfront.

Unbelievable there is neither an active solution in the works, nor the money to create one. Airlines and hotels used to contribute to clean up. But apparently no longer.

 

[sleddog]

I've seen strange ships at sea. But on a recent trip to S.Cal I stopped at San Pedro to take a look at something straight from sci-fi. How are photos from outside the guard shack:





The ship, named MR STEVEN, appeared to be about 200 feet long with four giant claw legs sticking overhead. It was rafted to a decked barge the size of a football field painted with a giant bullseye and named JUST FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS.

These futuristic ships are used to capture parts of SpaceX rockets as they descend from the sky on parachutes. JUST FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS has successfully landed several rocket boosters that were then reused.

MR STEVEN will attempt to capture descending nose cone fairings into its giant net, akin to catching CALIFORNIA CONDER as it descends from an aerial drop from Heaven into a giant horizontal net.

 

[sleddog]

As many have experienced, planning, prepping and executing an off-the-grid camp trip has remarkable similarities to sail racing and cruising a small boat. In our case a 15 foot, 2,000 pound trailer, "RUBY, " is currently receiving full attention as we prep for a drive to Utah to pay pilgrimage to Grand Escalante and Bears Ears National Monuments as they are emasculated for profit by the current administration.

Tools, repairs, food, maps, home front business, family and contacts, finances, weather, possible overnight anchorages, power generation, stowage. The yellow legal tab list is 2 pages. At some point just ahead the "to do" list needs to be set aside, the dock lines untied, and "the rig" backed out the driveway.

Also similar is the proverbial desire to keep things aerodynamic, light weight,and simple (KISS). Mountain passes are like windward legs. If RUBY and tow vehicle (2000 Ford Expedition) had a PHRF rating, it would be about 200. Following winds and downhills are always appreciated

Mark Twain once wrote "travel and discovering new cultures and customs is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness.” This may sound dated. But really is not.

"It is a better world with some buffalo left in it, a richer world with some gorgeous canyons unmarred by signboards, hot-dog stands, super highways, or high-tension lines, undrowned by power or irrigation reservoirs. If we preserved as parks only those places that have no economic possibilities, we would have no parks. And in the decades to come, it will not be only the buffalo and the trumpeter swan who need sanctuaries. Our own species is going to need them too. It has never been man’s gift to make wildernesses. But he can make deserts, and has."
~ Wallace Stegner, 1955

 

[sleddog]

Greetings from Bryce National Park in SW Utah, a 16 hour drive from Capitola, and most wonderful place. Thousands of "hoo doos," tall, fantastically shaped spindly pinnacles of colored rock, oranges and red. Bryce also is known for its night sky, the darkest, most starry in the U.S, as well as it clear air views of mountain ranges 150 miles distant.





Also at the highest point in Bryce, at 9,100', is an ancient Bristlecone Pine forest, the oldest tree species in the world, with some specimens over 2,000 years old.

 

[Sleddog_sis]

Hey big 'bro, I am loving your posts. As always!
Where else can I see "hoo doos" and ocean swimming buffalos, and you sailing Koko (our dog) at Newport?
Thanks, and have a great trip!

L'il Sis
PS, I got first windsurf of the Berkeley season in on Thursday -- all great.

 

[chautauqua]

Living vicariously thru your blog...
Skip, It's the end of an era for this family, Mom passed on the 27th about when you were looking at all those beautiful stars. I did get down there in time. Haven't made the arrangements yet but thank you for the link to LIVELY. We will scatter ashes from her.

Mom ( Gingerlee Field ) will be remembered by many for her generous hospitality and immaculate upkeep of Dad's two schooners in Newport (LIVEY and HAWK). She died with the same gentle grace that filled all her days. it was nice to see that the sky was so beautiful where you were at that time.