New Boat 4 Sled

[sleddog]

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3 recent evenings above Capitola Village, experimenting with a Google Pixel 4a phone (Unenhanced)

 

[AlanH]

If you wondered the origin of large swells along the Pacific Coast the last few days, look no further than a Pacific storm of record proportions that swept the Aleutian Islands chain on New Year’s Eve with hurricane-force winds and 50-60 foot high waves.

According to NOAA scientists with the National Weather Service, it was the most intense storm ever recorded in the North Pacific, excluding typhoons, which are more tropical, need warmer waters, and are generally smaller in diameter.

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At the center of this "cyclonic bomb"” was a barometric pressure of 921 millibars, equivalent to the eye of a Category 4 hurricane and lowest recorded pressure over the Aleutians in 70 years.

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The stuff nightmares are made of, and we're just going to see more and more of it.

 

[AlanH]

OH sleddog! I found the service invoice for that troublesome piece of kit you had installed, and sent in for service...

 

[AlanH]

And since this is the thread for all things unique and unusual, I'll present this..

the Flettner Rotor-Sailor - which I'd never even heard of until about an hour ago, on a totally unrelated site.



https://www.theengineer.co.uk/rotor-sail-puts-new-spin-on-flettner-rotor/#ixzz3buOEfbax&i

 

[Philpott]

Very nice photographs, Skip. Looking through my "Instant Weather Forecasting" by Alan Watts, I find two photos that seem similar (though without the beautiful colors) to your photos but aren't:

sky associated with change =



and



= sky associated with no immediate change. Even when I take the book with me sailing I can't figure it out sometimes.

 

[sleddog]

And since this is the thread for all things unique and unusual, I'll present this.
the Flettner Rotor-Sailor - which I'd never even heard of until about an hour ago, on a totally unrelated site.
https://www.theengineer.co.uk/rotor-sail-puts-new-spin-on-flettner-rotor/#ixzz3buOEfbax&i
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Thanks, Alan. It's been proven possible to "sail" directly into the wind using a propeller or rotor. Could be wrong, but I doubt such methods could exceed the windspeed. A real conundrum was: can you sail directly downwind (DDW)faster than the wind?

Many experts, including a Nobel Laureate, adamantly maintained it was impossible to exceed the windspeed DDW. For a rollicking fun story, I recommend Kimball Livingston's account of Rick Cavallaro and his "Thin Air Design" team's attempt with the Rube Goldberg BLACKBIRD, which can be found here: https://www.blueplanettimes.com/downwind-noir/

3X the windspeed DDW? "It might work in practice, but it won't work in theory".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CcgmpBGSCI

If you look carefully, you can see the helmsman, Rick Cavallaro, hanging in a net behind the bow wheel.

 

[sleddog]

As I hauled yesterday from my morning paddle, Santa Cruz Yacht Club Juniors, 8-10 years, clad in wetsuits and PFD's, were launching their Optimist dinghies. I had no idea the coaches were preparing to tow them outside the Harbor, whose entrance was closing out on many swells, 10-15 feet.

Apparently, it did not go well, and all 6 Optimists capsized in the entrance. I do not know details as yet, but no lives were lost.

Off Capitola Boat Club, at the minus .7' low tide, the large swell was beginning to crest a full half mile offshore. The Cement Ship a mile down the coast looked like Victory at Sea.



I can only imagine the Potato Patch yesterday afternoon outside the Golden Gate. Nearby Maverick's surf site was reportedly showing 50 footers. Doggies!

 

[sleddog]

View attachment 6167

As I hauled yesterday from my morning paddle, Santa Cruz Yacht Club Juniors, 8-10 years, clad in wetsuits and PFD's, were launching their Optimist dinghies. I had no idea the coaches were preparing to tow them outside the Harbor, whose entrance was closing out on many swells, 10-15 feet.

Apparently, it did not go well, and all 6 Optimists capsized in the entrance. I do not know details as yet, but no lives were lost.

Off Capitola Boat Club, at the minus .7' low tide, the large swell was beginning to crest a full half mile offshore. The Cement Ship a mile down the coast looked like Victory at Sea.

View attachment 6168

I can only imagine the Potato Patch yesterday afternoon outside the Golden Gate. Nearby Maverick's surf site was reportedly showing 50 footers. Doggies!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Video shows what happened to 5 Optimists and 1 El Toro under tow heading back into Santa Cruz Harbor against a 2 knot ebb current. With 6 dinghies on a string against the tide, things went sideways not unexpectedly.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/2235306122/permalink/10157602242206123/

Another string of 5 Optimists and 1 El Toro waited outside, and were brought into the Harbor individually aboard a Harbor Patrol Boat.

Surfers who had been kicked out of the entrance the day before by the Harbor Patrol, yesterday saved the day, arriving on scene within seconds and using their boards to carry the swimming kids. No children were injured, and to my view, all were wearing wetsuits and PFD's.





Before their exiting the Harbor I watched as kids practiced jumping into the 52 degree water from the launch ramp, removing and then donning their PFD's, before climbing out on their own. As well as 3 coaches, parents were in attendance and the kids were excited and laughing.

Nevertheless, it was poor judgement taking the class out in the ocean given both the forecast, the minus low tide and ebb current, the state of the swell, and age and experience of the junior sailors.

Further up the Coast some were not so fortunate.

 

[breezetrees]

I went out with my wife and oldest son yesterday in our Boston Whaler Montauk. We originally planned to go from RYC to Pt. Bonita or thereabouts to see if there were any whales around and take advantage of the nice weather to get out of the house. We rode the ebb out the gate and turned back to the bay pretty quickly! The waves weren't breaking in that part of the channel but were big and steep, we stayed dry going slow with the bow up and could have kept going if we had a reason, it just didn't seem like a great idea. South of the south tower had a giant peeling break all the way across. We ended up finding porpoises off GGYC and did a bay tour instead. I hope no Opti kids were permanently traumatized!

 

[sleddog]

Vice-Commodore Synthia and staff member Rreveur visited the CBC clubhouse today. Lower right on deck table is a new set of acacia wood spurtles.

 

[sleddog]

Visits today by CBC PRO Jan B., and CBC Port Capt/Treasurer Howard S.



For those who don't know Jan, her Southern charm belies a tough as nails approach to problem solving. As Captain Jan, she has done more windward/leewards off the San Francisco City Front than anyone except Hank Easom. How is that, you might wonder? The answer is, among her many jobs, she was employed as skipper of a amphibious DUCK giving tourists a ride on the Bay.



Another first, though not found in any record books, is in 2014 Jan drove 2,750 miles across the country without ever backing up once, something her Casita trailer in tow refused to do.

Special gal.

 

[Eyrie]

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Vice-Commodore Synthia and staff member Rreveur visited the CBC clubhouse today. Lower right on deck table is a new set of acacia wood spurtles.

This is the first photo of myself where I recognize my father's facial features in me! Up until now I never thought I looked like him, so had often considered that I was the postman's product.

 

[sleddog]

As seen this morning on Twin Lakes State Beach, "Honey, I've walked my 10,000 steps today."



photograph above by CDC painter Rainer S. As mentioned previously, it was Rainer who hung from a ladder and repainted the original red stripe on Santa Cruz west breakwater lighthouse green.



Watching the dredge crew this morning, the DAUNTLESS work boat attempted to lift one of the dredge bow anchors to reposition. After 20 minutes, there had been no success even with Dauntless's industrial A frame hoist, as the 2,000 pound Danforth type anchor was buried under 6-8 feet of sand.

It was riveting to watch the 46' DAUNTLESS's square bow dip underwater as the twin props spun the air while tugging vertically on the anchor cable.

 

[sleddog]

Another photogenic sunset this evening, 1/21/21. I appreciate these celestial celebrations more than the man-made fireworks that set the dogs barking and shivering in fear, as well as sparking forest fires.

Tuesday, we had mucho viento from offshore, the NE. Tuesday morning coffee club at the breakwater was hurriedly disbanded due to the effects of being sand blasted. Even the pigeons were hiding out, apparently not risking flight and being blown offshore by gusts we estimated at 35-40 knots.

Today, 48 hours after the wind event, there remain 10,000 homes without power locally. Worse, the wind fanned smoldering embers from the tragic forest fires of August (5 months ago!) and we had at least a dozen new fires in the area with several hundred evacuations and Cal Strike teams from as far away as San Luis Obispo. The level of response required to fight the reignited fires was unanticipated. “I can honestly say that we weren’t prepared for this to happen in January, when normally it’s raining,” said the head of Cal Fire.

You may have heard of the mythical CBC, the Capitola Boat Club and Maritime Museum, located nearby and infamous for its eccentric trivia and ice cream awards. What you may not know is that, like its big brother, the SSS in the case of the upcoming 3BF, the CBC also has flexibility during these strange and stressful times to change its modus operandi.

Today was such a day. The CBC transitioned to its alter ego, the Capitola Bird Club as rumor of an exceeding rare bird, a White Wagtail, had been sighted at the Boardwalk beach. Normally, the White Wagtail is found in Northern Russia and the Western Aleutian Islands. So our local visitor was seriously off course.

The White Wagtail is about the size of a mockingbird and continually wags its long tail up and down. As I made my way down to the empty Boardwalk beach on a treasure hunt for this rare bird, what should fly low overhead? Yup, the wandering Wagtail. It landed nearby, about 50 feet away, and seemed to be feasting on kelp flies as it was darting quickly back and forth near a shallow lagoon. I watched the Wagtail's antics for about 20 minutes before heading back to CBC. Cool bird.

 

[sleddog]

The prize is Marianne's Ginger Ice Cream over a Gayle's Scone.
The answer is 40 feet, plus or minus one foot.
The first question of 2021 is: What three vertical measurements all meet the criteria of the answer.
Bonus for anyone who can name four.
Guess as many times as you wish.

1) DURA MATER's (Cal-2-27) airdraft less masthead instrumentation.
2) The vertical clearance of the Noyo Bridge on Highway 1 just south of Fort Bragg, CA, at high tide which leads into a cool little inner harbor on the Noyo River.
3) The vertical clearance of the bridge from La Conner on the Washington State mainland to the nearest San Juan Island at high tide.
4) The advertised height of the TITANIC's lowest port holes.
5) The vertical clearance of the Highway 101 bridge from Sausalito over the headwaters of Richardson Bay (Pickleweed Inlet) to Tiburon in Marin County, CA.
6) The airdraft of an Olson-30, less masthead instrumentation, at high tide.
7) The amount of 3:1 scope from the waterline on your anchor rode to lie at anchor at low tide in Brickyard Cove channel, 300 feet east of Richmond Yacht Club's bar..

 

[Cover Craft]

1, Cal 2-27 aircraft (guessing from published I dimension)
5, Richardson Bay bridge clearance per chart 18649, 39’
6, Olson 30 aircraft (guessing from published I dimension)
7, 13’ depth seems possible there, I know it was less before it was dredged.

Tom K

 

[sleddog]

1, Cal 2-27 aircraft (guessing from published I dimension)
5, Richardson Bay bridge clearance per chart 18649, 39’
6, Olson 30 aircraft (guessing from published I dimension)
7, 13’ depth seems possible there, I know it was less before it was dredged.

Tom K

Well done, Tom!
I did not know the area in front of RYC had been dredged.
Another 40 foot height was the advertised distance above the water of the lowest portholes on the TITANIC. A lot of good that did! Hope to see you aboard CBC back deck one of these days. Happy New Year.
~sleddog

 

[AlanH]

A sailing buddy whom many of us know, was at some risk of losing his house...

AGAIN...as the former house burned to the ground about 12 years ago... from one of the re-ignited fires. I hope it dumps rain, this afternoon. Evacuation orders have been lifted now, but still...

Those are knockout sunset photos.

 

[Cover Craft]

I look forward to visiting CBC. But it will have to wait until I can sit in the car longer, my hip replacement isn’t there yet.

 

[sleddog]

The Atmospheric River firehosed CBC early this morning, then moseyed south and is now stationary over Monterey and Big Sur. Here's this morning's 9 a.m. sat photo:



Local winds in Monterey Bay here were not as strong as anticipated...20 knots seemed to be average. Thankfully there were no debris flows, flash floods, or significant power outages in the county. 6,000 had been evacuated.

The only casualty I observed, not unexpected, was the Santa Cruz Harbor Entrance is now closed, as opposed to the narrow (30 feet wide) channel that existed close aboard the East Breakwater as late as yesterday morning.



So why was there a long line at the Toyota dealership yesterday? Seems the low early morning temps (the bird bath froze) had set off many low tire pressure warning lights, not usually seen in these parts. Many drivers, not knowing what the yellow light on the dashboard was, hi-tailed it for the dealership to set things right. Surprised they were to learn car tire pressure drops 1 PSI for every 10 degrees drop in ambient temp, sometimes triggering the warning.