New Boat 4 Sled

[Daydreamer]

The Southampton platform looks a bit elaborate.
Maybe it wouldn't be so scary if it looked like that. ;0

 

[Philpott]

Greg, you are REALLY going to be missed on the water, and Nightmare's new skipper will have to step up his game to keep her moving as well as you did. I sure hope you come 'round to meetings and with whatever new ride you acquire. Don't make us have to come up and drag you out of that honky tonk bar where you play music. Wait! Tell us where and when and we might do it, even if we have to use our land yachts to get there. Did Chad buy Nightmare?

 

[sleddog]

The Southampton platform looks a bit elaborate.
Maybe it wouldn't be so scary if it looked like that. ;0

The 1905 Southampton Lighthouse is elaborate.







Five bedrooms, three baths, living room/ dining room and kitchen.

If you ever have a chance to visit, it's a trip. And the view from the light takes in part of the Delta and San Joaquin. Just don't bring your phone or skateboard.

 

[BobJ]

It seems like the 'floating island' is Yerba Buena. I doubt that it has moved.

Ants

The topic has been discussed before in this very thread, but it was easier to find the original article:

"In the early 1700s, when the Spanish first began exploring what is now Northern California, they came upon San Francisco Bay and were stunned by its beauty and obvious advantage as a safe harbor, as tourists are still stunned today. That it would make a fabulous harbor for a settlement was clear even at first glance. A small Spanish settlement was begun, and western civilization had come to San Francisco Bay. Father Junipero Serra and others began preaching their wares and the settlement prospered. The Spanish were concerned about protecting their settlements and trading posts, and began looking around for a suitable place to install a small garrison. A large promontory in the area that is now Baker Beach was selected as the best place to build a fort to protect the entrance to the Bay. For a number of years, a garrison which varied from a little over 50 to well over 600 men manned the fort on that promontory, guarding the Bay against unwanted incursions.

It was in the great storm of 1772 that the Spanish discovered that the promontory on which they had built their fort was not attached to the mainland, but actually seemed to be what is called now in geological circles a floating island. In fact, they had built their fort on what apparently was a large pumice plug, blown loose at some time from a volcano in some gigantic eruption. There are theories that the volcano in question is Mount Rainier, which was certainly far more active in prehistoric times than it is today. Pumice, as everyone knows, is a fairly light, very porous rock having a density of just about 58 pounds per cubic foot, or a little more than 10 percent lighter than seawater. In other words, this stone can actually float, as is usually demonstrated in high school physics class. In fact, as it turns out, what we call Alcatraz Island is not an island at all, but a very large hunk of some prehistoric eruption which is composed mainly of pumice at its core but, of course, with crusts of heavier igneous rocks in its shell. It isn’t as buoyant as a ping-pong ball, but it is buoyant enough, as the Spaniards discovered in the 1772 storm, when the waves washed what we now call Alcatraz Island off the beach and moved it farther east, even closer to the Bay entrance. Luckily, for some reason, it seems fairly stable in its present “upright” position, and the Spanish fort was not damaged, although the garrison was pretty shaken psychologically to find themselves winding up six miles further east at the end of the storm.

In those days, of course, science was a good deal less highly developed than it is now, and the Spanish saw this as an omen warning them that the way they were treating the native inhabitants of the area was not in keeping with the Christian beliefs they espoused and many students of the social sciences and the history of that time are convinced that this gave rise to the incredible efforts to treat the natives more kindly by establishing missions and churches up and down the coast for their education and betterment. In any case, the Spanish fort and garrison stayed in that location for a long while, as can be seen in the very well known mural at Mission Isabella which shows the fort in that location and, of course, shows no island where we now have Alcatraz. When I first visited Mission Isabella and looked at the mural, for a long while I couldn’t figure out what looked so odd about it. Of course, the City of San Francisco with the built up skyline, Coit Tower, the Pyramid, and the Golden Gate Bridge are not there, and it is interesting to see a view of the area when there was nothing but hills, grass, etc. However, it finally dawned on me that Alcatraz Island was missing, and this was another clue that had not been connected previously to explain the mystery.

It was in the mid-1800s when California became a state that the U.S. federal government decided to move the fort and garrison from China Beach further into the Bay to what is now called Fort Point. Very few people realize that Fort Point derived its name from the original fort built on the pumice plug rather than the fort that was built on solid land later on. The fort was rebuilt and expanded, I think, in about 1865 or so, at which time the old fort was completely torn down to make way for the new one. The U.S. Army took advantage of an extremely high tide and decided to move the fort even further into the Bay and anchored it offshore. It served as a perfect blocking fort for the San Francisco Bay entrance, but as there became less and less need for a fort, it was moved to its present location, using the original Spanish anchor chains and anchors to secure it. The original Spanish chain was a fantastic piece of iron work, apparently forged by one of those magnificent steam forges in use during that time. The links are severely worn away where they would join with one another. The links were raised by a fisherman in 1923 when he fouled it with his gear. The link will soon be on display next to the section of cable from the Golden Gate Bridge in the San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge museum.

Anchoring: The original Spanish anchoring array was a group of three anchors at approximately equal angles from the island, which served until the famous attempted escape from Alcatraz prison portrayed in the movie with Clint Eastwood. It is interesting to note that, at that time, even though Alcatraz was no longer used by the Federal Bureau of Corrections, they still had a secrecy blanket on the fact that the basic constituent of the island was pumice. The reason for this, of course, is that they thought they might very well need the prison later on and didn’t want this fact to be known. Frank Morris, the con who escaped from the island apparently had done his homework, and in the movie where you see him digging through supposedly rotting concrete, in fact he actually dug through pumice, which is quite soft. The Hollywood filmmakers had to rewrite those details to keep the secret. Obviously, no one that I know of has actually ever seen “rotten” concrete. It is one of the glories of Hollywood that they were able to make so many people go along with the gag that he used a soup spoon from the mess hall to supposedly dig through “rotten” concrete. In fact, he was digging through pumice, as many of us have done in high school or college classes. Apparently what had tipped Morris on to the idea was that he had noticed from his cell window that, on a strong ebb tide in the spring when there was a lot of water flowing down from the rivers to augment the ebb tide, the island seemed much closer to San Francisco than usual. He made a very crude surveyor’s instrument which he could use from his cell window, and determined that during certain combinations of ebb tide and river flow, the island actually moved nearly 160 yards closer to the San Francisco shore. Apparently he thought this was just the margin he needed to assure his ability to swim to shore. (Most sailors here in the Bay have had similar experiences with the island moving somewhat in tidal currents. Who hasn’t had the experience of feeling certain that they could sail to weather of the island without a tack, only to find at the last minute that the island had moved just enough to force a tack offshore?) This attempted escape gave the prison authorities serious worries and led them to request that the Army Corps of Engineers do a more careful survey of the area around Alcatraz in which they found that one of the old Spanish anchors had dragged considerably. The drift, together with the wearing between the links, had added this approximately 200-yard slack in the anchoring system. It is not known for certain, but there was some suspicion that the anchor chain might very well have been snagged by a Japanese midget submarine, however, that is a totally unsubstantiated rumor.

As is usual with anything federal, the original budget for replacing the anchoring array with more modern equipment began at an estimated cost of $32 million, and wound up costing you and me, the taxpayers, nearly $182 million, including the casting of four stainless steel anchors, each weighing about 26 tons, and connected to the island with stainless steel cables and a rather sophisticated water cylinder damping system. The new anchor array was installed under the guise of yet another Army Corps of Engineers survey of the area. The anchors and cables were laid during the early morning hours, when the fewest people might be around. One side benefit from this last operation was that the cable layer was easily converted to its present use, and we have all seen it at one time or another wandering around the Bay collecting flotsam, jetsam, and debris in the forward scoop area in which used to be mounted the stainless cable laying guides.

The future of Alcatraz is somewhat uncertain. Although not made broadly public, there was apparently some talk a few years back about moving Alcatraz once again, either somewhere into the South Bay or perhaps up in the shoals near San Rafael, or even as far up as Carquinez to serve as a place on which the federal or state government, it was never clear which, would build low-cost housing. Unfortunately, as it turned out, owing to the silting upon the Bay from soils carried down from the rivers, Alcatraz seems to be firmly aground at present and the next tide high enough to float it once again will come in the year 2014 By that time, it is hoped that we will have found some other way to deal with the problems of the homeless and the need for low-cost housing, but it certainly would be grand to see the Bay once again open as it was when the Spanish explorers first came here."

Gary Mull, 1990 © Copyright 1995, BAY & DELTA YACHTSMAN
.

 

[AntsUiga]

The topic has been discussed before in this very thread, but it was easier to find the original article:

"In the early 1700s, when the Spanish first began exploring what is now Northern California, they came upon San Francisco Bay and were stunned by its beauty and obvious advantage as a safe harbor, as tourists are still stunned today. That it would make a fabulous harbor for a settlement was clear even at first glance. A small Spanish settlement was begun, and western civilization had come to San Francisco Bay. Father Junipero Serra and others began preaching their wares and the settlement prospered. The Spanish were concerned about protecting their settlements and trading posts, and began looking around for a suitable place to install a small garrison. A large promontory in the area that is now Baker Beach was selected as the best place to build a fort to protect the entrance to the Bay. For a number of years, a garrison which varied from a little over 50 to well over 600 men manned the fort on that promontory, guarding the Bay against unwanted incursions.

It was in the great storm of 1772 that the Spanish discovered that the promontory on which they had built their fort was not attached to the mainland, but actually seemed to be what is called now in geological circles a floating island. In fact, they had built their fort on what apparently was a large pumice plug, blown loose at some time from a volcano in some gigantic eruption. There are theories that the volcano in question is Mount Rainier, which was certainly far more active in prehistoric times than it is today. Pumice, as everyone knows, is a fairly light, very porous rock having a density of just about 58 pounds per cubic foot, or a little more than 10 percent lighter than seawater. In other words, this stone can actually float, as is usually demonstrated in high school physics class. In fact, as it turns out, what we call Alcatraz Island is not an island at all, but a very large hunk of some prehistoric eruption which is composed mainly of pumice at its core but, of course, with crusts of heavier igneous rocks in its shell. It isn’t as buoyant as a ping-pong ball, but it is buoyant enough, as the Spaniards discovered in the 1772 storm, when the waves washed what we now call Alcatraz Island off the beach and moved it farther east, even closer to the Bay entrance. Luckily, for some reason, it seems fairly stable in its present “upright” position, and the Spanish fort was not damaged, although the garrison was pretty shaken psychologically to find themselves winding up six miles further east at the end of the storm.

In those days, of course, science was a good deal less highly developed than it is now, and the Spanish saw this as an omen warning them that the way they were treating the native inhabitants of the area was not in keeping with the Christian beliefs they espoused and many students of the social sciences and the history of that time are convinced that this gave rise to the incredible efforts to treat the natives more kindly by establishing missions and churches up and down the coast for their education and betterment. In any case, the Spanish fort and garrison stayed in that location for a long while, as can be seen in the very well known mural at Mission Isabella which shows the fort in that location and, of course, shows no island where we now have Alcatraz. When I first visited Mission Isabella and looked at the mural, for a long while I couldn’t figure out what looked so odd about it. Of course, the City of San Francisco with the built up skyline, Coit Tower, the Pyramid, and the Golden Gate Bridge are not there, and it is interesting to see a view of the area when there was nothing but hills, grass, etc. However, it finally dawned on me that Alcatraz Island was missing, and this was another clue that had not been connected previously to explain the mystery.

It was in the mid-1800s when California became a state that the U.S. federal government decided to move the fort and garrison from China Beach further into the Bay to what is now called Fort Point. Very few people realize that Fort Point derived its name from the original fort built on the pumice plug rather than the fort that was built on solid land later on. The fort was rebuilt and expanded, I think, in about 1865 or so, at which time the old fort was completely torn down to make way for the new one. The U.S. Army took advantage of an extremely high tide and decided to move the fort even further into the Bay and anchored it offshore. It served as a perfect blocking fort for the San Francisco Bay entrance, but as there became less and less need for a fort, it was moved to its present location, using the original Spanish anchor chains and anchors to secure it. The original Spanish chain was a fantastic piece of iron work, apparently forged by one of those magnificent steam forges in use during that time. The links are severely worn away where they would join with one another. The links were raised by a fisherman in 1923 when he fouled it with his gear. The link will soon be on display next to the section of cable from the Golden Gate Bridge in the San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge museum.

Anchoring: The original Spanish anchoring array was a group of three anchors at approximately equal angles from the island, which served until the famous attempted escape from Alcatraz prison portrayed in the movie with Clint Eastwood. It is interesting to note that, at that time, even though Alcatraz was no longer used by the Federal Bureau of Corrections, they still had a secrecy blanket on the fact that the basic constituent of the island was pumice. The reason for this, of course, is that they thought they might very well need the prison later on and didn’t want this fact to be known. Frank Morris, the con who escaped from the island apparently had done his homework, and in the movie where you see him digging through supposedly rotting concrete, in fact he actually dug through pumice, which is quite soft. The Hollywood filmmakers had to rewrite those details to keep the secret. Obviously, no one that I know of has actually ever seen “rotten” concrete. It is one of the glories of Hollywood that they were able to make so many people go along with the gag that he used a soup spoon from the mess hall to supposedly dig through “rotten” concrete. In fact, he was digging through pumice, as many of us have done in high school or college classes. Apparently what had tipped Morris on to the idea was that he had noticed from his cell window that, on a strong ebb tide in the spring when there was a lot of water flowing down from the rivers to augment the ebb tide, the island seemed much closer to San Francisco than usual. He made a very crude surveyor’s instrument which he could use from his cell window, and determined that during certain combinations of ebb tide and river flow, the island actually moved nearly 160 yards closer to the San Francisco shore. Apparently he thought this was just the margin he needed to assure his ability to swim to shore. (Most sailors here in the Bay have had similar experiences with the island moving somewhat in tidal currents. Who hasn’t had the experience of feeling certain that they could sail to weather of the island without a tack, only to find at the last minute that the island had moved just enough to force a tack offshore?) This attempted escape gave the prison authorities serious worries and led them to request that the Army Corps of Engineers do a more careful survey of the area around Alcatraz in which they found that one of the old Spanish anchors had dragged considerably. The drift, together with the wearing between the links, had added this approximately 200-yard slack in the anchoring system. It is not known for certain, but there was some suspicion that the anchor chain might very well have been snagged by a Japanese midget submarine, however, that is a totally unsubstantiated rumor.

As is usual with anything federal, the original budget for replacing the anchoring array with more modern equipment began at an estimated cost of $32 million, and wound up costing you and me, the taxpayers, nearly $182 million, including the casting of four stainless steel anchors, each weighing about 26 tons, and connected to the island with stainless steel cables and a rather sophisticated water cylinder damping system. The new anchor array was installed under the guise of yet another Army Corps of Engineers survey of the area. The anchors and cables were laid during the early morning hours, when the fewest people might be around. One side benefit from this last operation was that the cable layer was easily converted to its present use, and we have all seen it at one time or another wandering around the Bay collecting flotsam, jetsam, and debris in the forward scoop area in which used to be mounted the stainless cable laying guides.

The future of Alcatraz is somewhat uncertain. Although not made broadly public, there was apparently some talk a few years back about moving Alcatraz once again, either somewhere into the South Bay or perhaps up in the shoals near San Rafael, or even as far up as Carquinez to serve as a place on which the federal or state government, it was never clear which, would build low-cost housing. Unfortunately, as it turned out, owing to the silting upon the Bay from soils carried down from the rivers, Alcatraz seems to be firmly aground at present and the next tide high enough to float it once again will come in the year 2014 By that time, it is hoped that we will have found some other way to deal with the problems of the homeless and the need for low-cost housing, but it certainly would be grand to see the Bay once again open as it was when the Spanish explorers first came here."

Gary Mull, 1990 © Copyright 1995, BAY & DELTA YACHTSMAN
.

Thanks, BobJ. I was adrift myself in 1990 when my anchor was temporarily relocated to Orange County. There is no telling if I read the original expose in 1995. However, as I read the sled dog blog, there were innumerable delightful topics, not that I was very good at remembering all of them.

Did the original question get answered?

If Manhattan is still available, I have the $24 in beads and trinkets in hand!

 

[Gamayun]

The 1905 Southampton Lighthouse is elaborate.

View attachment 4694

Five bedrooms, three baths, living room/ dining room and kitchen.

If you ever have a chance to visit, it's a trip. And the view from the light takes in part of the Delta and San Joaquin. Just don't bring your phone or skateboard.

Oh My Gosh. That is beautifully restored though it must have been one helluva road trip to move that thing! Where is it now?

 

[sleddog]

Oh My Gosh. That is beautifully restored though it must have been one helluva road trip to move that thing! Where is it now?

Southampton Shoal Lighthouse currently lies on the old paddlewheeler route from SF to Fresno when Tulare Lake was the biggest body of water west of the Mississippi.

It is at 38-02-14 N x 121-29-41 W.

You'll need to talk with GREEN BUFFALO who has an interest in the property and building.

 

[sleddog]

In bicycle racing we used to "sit on" the rider in the lead, with our front tire inches away from their back tire. This was good for about a 20% wind resistance reduction. In a pack or peloton, the lead rider sets the pace as long as they can, then moves to the left and drops back to the rear. Each rider taking their turn setting the pace. No matter the size of the peloton, whether it is 2 riders or three dozen, everyone goes faster, longer.

By now, some have heard of the newly claimed bicycle speed record of 174 mph. I ain't buying it . Getting towed behind a Porsche and releasing just before the measurement trap isn't a human pedaling 174 mph. Now the goal is 200 and higher....Maybe hookup to a dragster? https://www.cnn.com/videos/world/20...ell-cycling-slipstream-record-ge-lon-orig.cnn

If you want to see real human powered bicycle pedaling for speed, it will be happening in a few weeks in the Nevada desert at Battle Mountain. The record is now just short of 90 mph and likely to be broken. The RC, posters on this Forum, tell us "the course is a straight, nearly-level stretch of Nevada Highway 305, which heads south from the town of Battle Mountain, in north-central Nevada. The riders are starting from a standing start, with no more than 15 m of balancing assist from their crew. The riders then have 5 miles to get up to speed before they pass through a 200 m timing trap. Once through that, they have a mile to start slowing the bike down before being caught by a ground crew at the end."

Doggies.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BC5KIFHd5Ao&feature=youtu.be

 

[sleddog]

It's a fact: the only thing with more tenacious sticking power than burnt oatmeal, 5200, or cormorant poop is barnacle glue.

So much so that the lowly barnacle, related to the lobster, is slowing down the Navy significantly. For the want of a nail, and all that, the Navy is spending significant research and dollars to prevent barnacles from sticking to their surface ships. Notably, a Nimitz class carrier with 3 months of barnacle growth is slowed up to 10% at max thrust. Not even 35 knots of hull speed will dislodge the critters.

There's big money to be made. By their account, it costs the Navy over a billion$/year to keep a majority of their fleet barnacle free.

The latest protection invention, one of many being tested, is a secret formula bottom coating said to ward off barnacle larva from sticking in the first place. More Pie-In-The-Sky? I'm sure the 4 knot grey whale or humpback would love to know about this. No more intentional grounding on inclined beaches or pebbly bottoms to rub off barnacles. Time for an extra week in Baja for sex.

And why don't sharks or dolphins get barnacles?

Meanwhile the Jim Antrim designed, CBC sponsored, drive-thru whale scrubber continues servicing 4-5 whales/day between Ano Nuevo and Pt. Pinos....We don't need no stinkin' paint.

 

[Philpott]

Meanwhile the Jim Antrim designed, CBC sponsored, drive-thru whale scrubber continues servicing 4-5 whales/day between Ano Nuevo and Pt. Pinos....We don't need no stinkin' paint.

How did you learn to photo shop? You can't even text.

 

[Howard Spruit]

How did you learn to photo shop? You can't even text.

My guess is;
The buttons are farther apart on the desktop than they are on the iphone!

 

[sleddog]

Very happy for Tracy Edwards and crew for long overdue recognition being generated by MAIDEN and their story, truly an ocean breaking event.

WILDFLOWER's first race on SF Bay, April of 1977, was with an all women crew. I only mention this because the next day we were unexpectedly featured in the San Francisco Examiner's "Society" Section, WTF. The article began "on the distaff side." I'd never heard of "distaff" and thought the reporter believed we had some sort of infectious disease.

Flash ahead to Battle Mountain, Feb.3, 2010. Here's Barbara Buatois setting the still standing Women's Bicycle Speed Record of 75.46 mph. Not only did Barbara set the speed record, but also pedaled 52.2 miles in one hour.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5-7fBZfIIQ

That's some remarkable pedaling. I wonder what her heart rate was. And how she steered. Good thing there was no cross wind or might get blown off the road!

 

[AlanH]

Very happy for Tracy Edwards and crew for long overdue recognition being generated by MAIDEN and their story, truly an ocean breaking event.

WILDFLOWER's first race on SF Bay, April of 1977, was with an all women crew. I only mention this because the next day we were unexpectedly featured in the San Francisco Examiner's "Society" Section, WTF. The article began "on the distaff side." I'd never heard of "distaff" and thought the reporter believed we had some sort of infectious disease.

Flash ahead to Battle Mountain, Feb.3, 2010. Here's Barbara Buatois setting the still standing Women's Bicycle Speed Record of 75.46 mph. Not only did Barbara set the speed record, but also pedaled 52.2 miles in one hour.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5-7fBZfIIQ

That's some remarkable pedaling. I wonder what her heart rate was. And how she steered. Good thing there was no cross wind or might get blown off the road!

I think she can steer with "handlebars" down by her hips.

That's absolutely incredible....

 

[sleddog]

A postcard from Annie shows what on first glance looks like the San Joaquin Delta, inland from San Francisco Bay. But then you see the castle ( Ypres Tower) built in 1249 to protect this famous port, Rye, in southwest England, from invasion by the French.

Rye lies 53 miles south of London. The Strait of Dover, at the east end of the English Channel, is 2 miles distant down the River Rother, which has changed course several times and was much shoaled by silting and farming over the centuries.

Rye has always been a haven for smugglers. Nearby is the infamous Mermaid Inn, built in 1156 with secret underground passages for quick escapes.

Annie wrote she could see boats sailing near shore from her window.



Then the tide went out, and the ocean disappeared. Annie and her cousin put on their Wellies and went for a walk on the mud flats.



Since 1803, lifeboats have been stationed at Rye. How they got them afloat at low tide I do not know. But with the World's busiest shipping lanes just offshore, they most certainly did.



Mind The Gap.

(all photos courtesy Lily and Emmy Photography.)

 

[sleddog]

Since 1803, lifeboats have been stationed at Rye. How they got them afloat at low tide I do not know. But with the World's busiest shipping lanes just offshore, they most certainly did.
View attachment 4711

I did not know when I wrote the above, the answer was right in front of me. On the lower right corner of the lifeboat house is a plaque in tribute to the Rye lifeboat crew, all 17 who were lost in a severe storm in 1928 aboard the Rye lifeboat MARY STANFORD. The crew constituted nearly all the able bodied men of Rye,

The old lifeboat house has remained unused since that fateful day, November 15th, 1928 when the MARY STANFORD lifeboat was launched to answer the distress call of a ship collision. The wind was reportedly blowing in excess of 70 knots as the crew manhandled their 4 ton boat over the shingle and sand.

It took three tries to get the MARY STANFORD launched and underway, and as they pushed off into the storm and rowed seaward, word was received that the crew of the distressed ship had all been saved. The lifeboat crew could not see the signals from the shore, and the MARY STANFORD continued on (no radios in those days.) The storm capsized the boat and all 17 crew perished.

https://ms-my.facebook.com/rnli/vid...56261582798999&comment_tracking={"tn":"R#99"}

Irony of ironies, in 1968, aboard the Dutch One Tonner DE SCHELDE in a cross Channel race, we lost our mast in the vicinity of Rye. The submerged rigging disabled the propeller and we were adrift in the shipping lanes. The Rye lifeboat responded and towed us to safety.

 

[sleddog]

Thanks for sharp eyes of Capt. Bob and Mike M. of Sunset Beach, Hawaii, spotting this unidentified black sloop (ketch?) attempting to sail in anchored kelp just east of Pleasure Point, one mile west of Capitola Wharf.

Randall is sailing amongst ice floes. Anchored kelp is softer, but a sign the depth is likely 40 feet or less with a rocky bottom which the kelp "holdfast" is rooted to.

In the Pacific NW, sailing into kelp is especially hazardous as kelp likely marks a submerged rock or reef. Ask Dan and Linda. Their PEGASUS XIV encountered kelp just off Cape St. Mary on the east side of Lopez Island. Unfortunately the kelp marked Kellet Reef and Peggy Sue's fin keel was pushed up (as designed) as it met rock below.

Kelp will also obstruct the cooling water intake, as well as slow or stop a small boat's engine. In the photo attached, the water depth inside the kelp line is 20 feet or less. There's a reason this is one of the best surf spots in Monterey Bay. The black sloop wouldn't be the first to land on the beach in front of Jack O'Neill's house.

 

[sleddog]

Deepest condolences to the people of the Bahamas and residents of the Abacos and Grand Bahama Island who have lost so much in Category 5 hurricane Dorian.

Numbness in our neighborhoods with the loss of the 75' diveboat CONCEPTION and 34 souls trapped below in a quick spreading, 3 a.m.,fire off Santa Cruz Island. The dive leader, co-owner of a local diving adventure company with her husband, had chartered CONCEPTION and died. Two Santa Cruz high school students were also aboard, as was a well known water district employee. There are likely others from our area. A full casualty list is not yet available.....condolences to all who are feeling this greatest of loss.

Facts are just emerging, many contradictory as interpreted by the media, as to the cause of the fire and the loss of lives. CONCEPTION was an older boat, 1981, that was plywood with fiberglass sheathing. The fire was likely not caused by an "explosion," but was explosive in nature: it erupted and spread quickly. In the heat of the fire, compressed air in the scuba tanks may have caused explosion sounds.

The galley and stove were electric, not propane. A generator provides electrical power and was likely running at the time. Was there a charging station on the galley deck to recharge cameras, phones, and computers? I'm not familiar. An electrical fire is a possibility.

There were stairs out of the cramped sleeping quarters, but they led upward into the galley area where the fire likely began. A secondary escape hatch was required by CG regs and also led to the galley area. But, in photos, IMO, the secondary hatch, small and without steps, does not look a practical exit for an event of this magnitude occurring rapidly in darkness.

5 surviving crew (out of 6 crew total) began interviews yesterday with the NTSB and Coast Guard. The remains of CONCEPTION lie overturned on the bottom in 60 feet at Platts (aka Dick's) anchorage, 1 mile east of Fry's Harbor and 9 miles east of the West End of Santa Cruz Island.

There is speculation about raising and towing..



RIP

 

[sleddog]

As Hurricane Dorian approaches the Outer Banks of the Carolinas, here's what 50 knots of wind looks like at 100 feet on Frying Pan Shoals, off Cape Fear, southeast of Wilmington, NC. at 1:15 PM PDT. Frying Pan is a decommissioned platform with a helo accessible Bed and Breakfast (!) with pool table and wifi..

https://explore.org/livecams/frying-pan/frying-pan-cam

Dorian is supposed to go to 95 knots before moving quickly out to sea. I wouldn't be surprised if the hurricane center goes right over Frying Pan and the sky temporarily goes cloudless and the wind goes soft.

Doggies, bolt your socks on and harness up the fluffies. Not sure you want to be landing a helo at the moment either.

Update at 4:30 pm: >62 knots being recorded now at Frying Pan. What will go first, the flag, the power, or the daylight? The center of Hurricane Dorian will pass just inshore of Frying Pan and make landfall over Cape Lookout as a strong Category 2, 83-95 knots.

The wind is still from the SE, indicating the center has not yet passed, and the web cam is in the dangerous semi-circle, where the forward motion of Dorian of 9 knots is added to the wind speed.

The Old Glory flag named "Steve' is specially made extra strong and the surviving pieces will be auctioned off to benefit Hurricane Dorian victims, as have previous named flags at Frying Pan.

The 100 or more wild mustangs on the Outer Banks are going to be huddled up, butts to the wind, under sturdy oak trees as they've been doing for 500 years.....

 

[sleddog]

Congratulations Jeanne and NEREIDA on your circumnavigation!

 

[AntsUiga]

Heading for this post should be Cheap and Nasty.

There are no keelboats, but others are shown.

When access to this area (other than pack train) was provided by the construction roads for the Big Creek Project, the Chief Engineer called the construction roads 'cheap and nasty'. I can tell from experience this past week, things have not changed at all.

The hydroelectric lakes have ferry service that connects with upstream end of lake and PCT and JMT trails. As I was eating my lunch inside to avoid the Yellowjackets, I was chatting and looking around. It turns out the boat inside was an earlier version of the ferry. But, the hull was made of shaped corrugated metal roofing and wooden gunwales held the shape, as well as seats that provided flotation. See for yourself!



The side view show the flattened corrugated.



The history was there to find!

At an upstream point of one of the diversion tunnels, I launched the Wee Lassie and searched for trout. As an FYI, one of the underground tunnels in the hydro project is 13 miles long.



Fun times!

Ants