What I Saw

[solosailor]

When I started offshore racing in the mid-90s I was told about the huge numbers that used to compete..... like 50-80 MORA (Miget Offshore Racing Association) boats alone in the 80s. The first big exodus came when masthead VHF antennas were mandated, especially in smaller boats like the Moore 24/Express 27 that race both inshore/offshore and didn't want to switch back and forth. Then the 406 EPIRB which I've had 3x units since 2000 (adjusted cost MORE than an AIS system today just for the first one), then the DSC, then mandatory training, then AIS receive, now AIS transmit. With each of these we saw a steady decrease in participation. However during this time there was also a huge decrease in inshore participation as well so it wasn't just the increased safety mandates and costs alone that are responsible. Costs across the board are way up beyond inflation and now a 30' boats slip, insurance and tax is easily over $500 without any outlay for maintenance, sails, gear, etc. So if you add a couple thousand every couple years for a bottom job and couple more for only one new sail every few years than you are easily at $750/month..... so most are spending >$1k monthly, easily to compete in a smaller boat.

 

[Jonathan Gutoff]

I also noted the downturn of the small boats in ocean racing when the first set of requirments were inacted after Low Speed Chase.The main driver is US Sailing for the latest AIS requirement and I don't know how a blanket rule for the whole USA works. Are they required on the Great Lakes, Long Island Sound Etc? Could there be at least a SSS HMB race with less requirments to help people get started? The SSS board has the unenviable task of trying to keep everyone happy while being pressured by outside forces.
We won't be racing on our boat for a while while I work on it but found a cheap AIS.
https://onwamarine.com/ks-200a/
$350 not including antennas and splitter. Might be OK for local races. Someone should try it and let us know.

 

[Philpott]

Yesterday I drove over to Berkeley Marine Center because I was promised that my new-to-me volvo 2010 would be delivered. So I drove over, laden with baked goods: a tin of oatmeal raisin cookies for Cree, zip locks full of cookies for the fellas who work in the yard, and a pound cake for Carl, who has been rebuilding said volvo.

Unfortunately the engine had not arrived, so I will go again on Monday and maybe again on Tuesday, etc etc until it arrives, when I will photograph it from all angles and in every possible light. And yes, I left the baked goods behind, so don’t come ‘round looking for them. They are a down-payment. Engines are expensive and require many many cookies.

I was a little disappointed, but ah well, I can still go out on the water because (wait for it!) I have a SAILboat. So off I went, and when I arrived I stepped down into DM’s cabin and realized that I had left half finished the epoxying of the cap to my rubrail. Last time I hit a dock it broke in half and flew off, so I asked Gordie how to fix it. Gordie is great. He didn’t say, “This is how you should do it”, he said, “well, if it were me? I would use epoxy and cloth.” So that’s what I did.

Of course, the first time I did it, everything fell apart and I epoxied myself to the table. But I learned from that. That quote at the end of Bryan Reed’ posts here reads “Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from making bad decisions.” Couldn’t agree more.

Anyhoo, following Gordie’s advice, I have spent several days glueing and re-glueing this very small item back together. Next time I go to Blue Pelican I will probably find two brand new-to-me parts from 1979, but for now I have a bit that should work. We’ll see. Soon I will screw it back onto DM’s port bow and it will be a thing of shabby beauty. I will post a photo.

But I digress.

After the most recent glueing of the inconsequential part I took a nap, read a book and then I was scrubbing DM’s bottom when Tom Patterson walked over and invited me over to chat about the world. So I did. Tom has a 32’ Nordic Tug now, and it is very beautiful and comfortable. It shall heretofore be referred to as the Patterson Salon. If any important decisions are to be considered, they should be discussed there because 1. It has a covered patio; 2. The cushions in the cabin are very comfy, 3. There is a galley with a fridge and stove and oven, and 4. Why not? And if Tom isn’t home, step across E Dock to the Café Dura Mater. Why not?

Thank you, Tom. That was a very nice time. Let’s do it again in the Delta.

BTW Tom told me about this fella, so I looked up his blog. There's a lot to like.

TheSeaGypsyPhilosopher.blogspot.com

Last edited by Philpott; Today at 11:46 AM.

 

[AntsUiga]

The baked goods seem to help things progress at BMC with regard to new power for DM. Have you considered the same approach for the SSS decision makers?

Thanks to the reference to the Sea Gypsy blog. Ray was just starting sailing with the SSS back in the days I was actively involved (that was before 1990).

I read some of the blog posts, however I found them peculiar. The blog gives a lot of attention to media comments that are not an accurate view of the diversity of life and society. Of course, it would be easy for someone away from nearly all society to surmise the world is doomed. I find a lot more grounds for optimism. Oh well, each to their own view.

Edited addition - Pardon me, peculiar is too mild. My impression is that the Sea Gypsy became too enamored with the wacko commentary of the Western World. It seems a shame to me that this mindset would influence in a bad way his enjoyment of some fine sailing areas. Ray, I wish you the best.


To help others understand my perspective, I find Bodfish to be a more desirable place to live compared to Sausalito, but I have no objections to visiting Sausalito.

Cheers,
Ants

 

[Now&Zen]

Well it might not have been the safety requirements that deterred people from ocean racing, but rather the fact that several people died in a local ocean race that many folks sort of took for
granted as “safe”.
That being said as a former SSS board member I always found it perturbing that folks who had no problem spending thousands on new racing sails, complained whenever they had to buy a new piece of safety gear.
I consider my AIS as my most useful and regularly used piece of safety gear, any time visibility is diminished in the ocean or in the Bay.

 

[Philpott]

Still no engine here, but a friend from Corinthian Yacht Club, Shelly Willard, sent me this for perusal by sailors:

View attachment Cape Horn 2x.pdf

 

[BobJ]

Still no engine here...

I think a bunch of us should stage a sit-in at BMC. It's the Berkeley thing to do.
.

 

[Philpott]

I think a bunch of us should stage a sit-in at BMC. It's the Berkeley thing to do.
.

You and Ants: One suggests the carrot, the other a stick. I think they'd just laugh at me, shrug: "It's a boat yard"

Here's that part for Dura Mater. One day - and that day may never come - I will sand it and screw it back onto her beat up port bow.







My goodness, it is hard to keep up with the Alerion 28s. Once the brightwork family is done with one end of E Dock they start in at the other end.
I even saw them over your way on D Dock, Bob.

 

[DaveH]

Fixed it for ya

 

[Philpott]

Thanks, Mr Hedgehog. That oughta do it.

 

[BobJ]

Ah, the magical white cup hook - the stuff of legends.

Yes, Jean Armel Mampouya and family keep Surprise!'s brightwork shipshape. They have a good business maintaining the Alerions at RYC and a select few other boats. Jean also does the wood restoration and finishing for Rutherford's Boat Works. He's very good at it.

 

[Philpott]

While Greg is sailing around the Farallones and preparing to do the Long Pac for fun, I'm here fixing one small thing.





It has taken me weeks to glue it back together. Finally I drove to the Ace Hardware on Grand Avenue to get two 3" #10 bolts and locking nuts. $5.25 with tax. Whoa. Is this Chinese or American stainless? I know, I know. Cry me a river, Jackie.

Crawl into the vberth, dive into the chain locker with my headlamp, attach the vice grip, climb up out of the cabin and onto the dock. Screw in one bolt. Not real tight, now. Repeat.Crawl into the vberth, dive into the chain locker with my headlamp, attach the vice grip, climb up out of the cabin and onto the dock. Screw in one bolt tighter. Repeat. Where is everybody when you need 'em to hold a screwdriver for you?



Whew! That was hard. Too late to sail now. But oh, look! There's still chocolate here. Not a bad day at all and a (very small) job done with an oversized sense of accomplishment.

 

[BobJ]

When you pop over to BMC to drop in the engine you can have Julio color-match that for you.

 

[Philpott]

When you pop over to BMC to drop in the engine you can have Julio color-match that for you.

That's a great idea, Bob! How would you describe that to Julio? Urban guerilla w a little South Bronx in the boot stripe?

 

[BobJ]

That's an accurate description, but Julio will take a look and know what color(s) to use. He's a magician.

Not to meddle, but I always line up the slots in the screw heads:

 

[Philpott]

Just got back from Port Townsend. Drove up in my zoom zoom car to see off all those lunatics who sail in the R2AK. I have lots of stories. Of interest to us singlehanders? Well, on the drive up Interstate 5 I passed Crazy Rhythm, being towed by someone who looked not unlike John Simpson (SHTP 2018). Just south of Eugene I blew by him going 73.86298 knots.

The morning after arriving in Port Townsend I walked down to the docks from the Swan Hotel in order to find him. I found the boat, newly splashed, with two fellas bent over parts of the boat, diligently working away. The mast had just been raised, but the shrouds were still squiggly and the fellas looked a little wild-eyed.

"Hey! You're not John! And neither are you! What are you doing with John's boat?" I asked.

They squinted up at me.

One guy said, "You can call me John." The other guy said, "You can call me John, too." So I christened Tim Duncan and Richard Treadwell John One and John Two. They just bought Original John's Santa Cruz 27 a month ago and towed it up to give it a trial run up to Victoria, the R2AK version of the Long Pac. 40 miles across the Strait of Juan de Fuca to British Columbia. Gotta have a passport for that.

After Victoria Richard is going to cruise around the San Juan Islands, and a Santa Cruz 27 seems to be a perfect boat for that purpose. I am envious.

John One and John Two are Inverness sailors, so they know what to do with puffs. They arrived in Victoria safely, and if you are interested in reading more about the race, click here:

https://r2ak.com/2024-teams-stage-one-participants/

Until I put together more stories from my trip up north, here are some bits from closer to home:

https://yachtsmanmagazine.com/what-i-saw-by-jackie-philpott-29/

 

[AntsUiga]

Cookies amd perseverance and patience works.
Green is such a sexy color.

Cheers,
Ants

 

[Philpott]

hahaha. Thanks, Ants. This is gonna cost a whole lotta cookies.

 

[Philpott]

Just got back from the annual Owl Harbor Swap Meet with lots of stories and some photos. I have a new, swanky XPS 13 Dell laptop and I'm not quite sure how the photos will work, so here goes:



Well, good. That seems to work for me. Didn't have to go through all the previous permuations. Must be because my laptop is smarter than me.

Ripley and Tillie jumped into this inflatable, called out "Daddy! Daddy! Can we have this boat?"
Daddy said "yes". The seller and dad knew the drill. The seller said, "I'll throw in the engine, you just have to replace the fuel cable." Daddy said, "Well, thank you. You don't have to do that. I'll buy it from you." The seller said, "Oh, no, take it." Don't you love swap meets like that?

I bought this yesterday at the Swap Meet in Isleton for $1.



I certainly love swap meets like that

And then there are the bathrooms at Owl Harbor. Oh my! So nice.



Let's see. What else? Well, the alfalfa has been baled. Here's what I saw from the levee road. Notice the tanker making its way upriver over on the San Joaquin.



Was it hot? Well, sure. It was 88 glorious degrees at noon. Winds were 10-17 knots. There were whitecaps on the Sacramento at 7:50 am. If you like sailing, the San Joaquin does not disappoint.



And yes, the tunnels are still being fought. So, Kids? Prepare your netting and stock up on water. Call up Devery if you want a slip at Owl Harbor, otherwise prepare to anchor wherever you choose. There are no AIS transponder requirements in the Delta.

 

[Philpott]

Just got back from an errand in Alameda. Wore my running shoes because I really should exercise. Ran from Grand Marina along the estuary, but it was really hot, so I stopped in at Oakland Yacht Club because I knew it would be air conditioned. And it was! Then I remembered Brad Belleville meets up with other members of the San Jose Yacht Club for lunch at Wednesday, so I went upstairs, found him sitting with a buncha sailors, asked him to buy me lunch.

"Sure," said Brad.

So I sat with Brad and his friends and had the nicest chats. What did we talk about? Boats. Duh. I love this yacht club reciprocity business.
Thanks, Brad!

Back at Grand Marina, there is a Navik for sale just inside the door @ Blue Pelican. I already have mine, but in case you were looking for one? It awaits your credit card: $750



Oh, and here's a photo of the start of the R2AK. So pretty. Posts are better with pretty pictures.