And what are the boasted glories of the illimitable ocean?

And what are the boasted glories of the illimitable ocean? A tedious waste, a desert of water, as the Arabian calls it. No doubt there are some delightful scenes. A moonlight night, with the clear heavens and the dark glittering sea, and the white sails filled by the soft air of a gently-blowing trade-wind, a dead calm, with the heaving surface polished like a mirror, and all still except the occasional flapping of the canvas. It is well once to behold a squall with its rising arch and coming fury, or the heavy gale of wind and mountainous waves. I confess, however, my imagination had painted something more grand, more terrific, in the full-grown storm. It is an incomparably finer spectacle when beheld on shore, where the waving trees, the wild flight of the birds, the dark shadows and bright lights, the rushing of the torrents, all proclaim the strife of the unloosed elements. At sea the albatross and little petrel fly as if the storm were their proper sphere, the water rises and sinks as if fulfilling its usual task, the ship alone and its inhabitants seem the objects of wrath. On a forlorn and weather-beaten coast the scene is indeed different, but the feelings partake more of horror than of wild delight.

- Charles Darwin

US Sail Keelboat Instructor class

Sweet!

For the past year I've had my eye on this Keelboat Instructor class offered by US Sail. The class is a brief three day, on the water practical exam. Last year the course was offered at Oyster Bay's Waterfront Center on the last weekend of Spring Break, but was the Saturday, Sunday, Monday (the first day back to school after the break.). There was no way I was going to be able to ask for Monday off after a week of vacation, so I wasn't able to take the class. I even appealed, months beforehand, for them to move the class up a day to make it teacher/student friendly.

When this year's calendar first came out US Sail kept to the same calendar, offering the course on the last weekend of Spring Break and overlapping the public school calendar. So I sent an email to the Waterfront Center and US Sail and the next time I looked at the course offerings list the schedule was teacher/student friendly.

I signed up last night!

I want to take the class for a couple of reasons. The idea of being a "certified" instructor appeals to me. And I have my eye on a summer sailing instructor job (a job that doesn't require certification, as far as I know. But, certainly, getting certified wouldn't hurt anything). And I want to be considered for positions that become available in US Sail's job bank, like summer camp instructor positions, or weekend courses offered by yacht clubs and places like the Waterfront Center.

And to never again have to teach a traditional (read punitive) public school summer school class is worth every penny I am paying for the course.

boatyard postponement

The plan for this weekend was to get some of my guys together and bring the boat down to the boatyard in Amityville (amity, as you know, means friendship), just to our west. But that's busted now, thanks to the weather. Grrr.

And the weather report for tomorrow has SE wind at 20kts and 90% chance of rain. And then there's this:

Issued by The National Weather Service - New York City, NY: 4:09 pm EDT, Fri., Oct. 24, 2008

GALE WATCH NOW IN EFFECT FROM SATURDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH SATURDAY EVENING...

THE GALE WATCH IS NOW IN EFFECT FROM SATURDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH SATURDAY EVENING.

WINDS WILL INCREASE TO 20 TO 30 KT WITH GUSTS 35 TO 40 KT SATURDAY AFTERNOON. SEAS WILL BUILD TO 9 TO 12 FT ON THE OCEAN... 4 TO 6 FEET ON THE SOUND... AND 2 TO 4 FEET ON THE BAYS.

Yikes. That's not cool.

And Sunday has a west wind, at a mere 13. Unfortunately, the boatyard is directly to the west, making a trip down there a spray-filled aggravation. Shackleton, I'm not.

So we wait.

28. Brisk and breezy

Mike and I went for a sail last weekend and it was noteworthy for one fact alone: the speedometer and, AND, the depth gauge were working perfectly. Simultaneously. This has not happened in my era of ownership. And when a gauge works, there is absolutely no reason for it - I thought cleaning the bottom and the spinny-wheel would help the speedo work, but no. And then I thought it was the battery I had switched on - that it would work with #2 but not #1, but that theory fell apart, too. Either way I was happy to have both meters working on the next-to-last sail of the season. Nice. That's just so I can be tortured all winter and spring: do I fix them? Are they really broken? Shouldn't I be spending time on other issues?




While we were out we saw Uncle Larry on the beautiful Miss Gracie. We, too, sailed with just our jib. If we had a jigger we'd've put that up, too. It was breezy and cool out. Brisk is probably overstating it, though as the sun headed out for the night it definitely got chilly and quick. We were out from about 1 to about 4. You can see on the Weather Underground link that we were sailing in about 15 kts (18 mph) of wind, though it seemed like it was windier. That's breezy to me, though it seems like that's a mediocre day for, say, Lady Bug, who lives in SF and is used to a much different kind of sailing day.

Here's Mike Himself at the helm. Salty.








And my new favorite trick.

Redwing, comin' at ya!

27. Molly Malone's

What a great, great day! Dan and Sara joined Alli and I for yet another amazing October sail. We motored for the first part as we were trying to get around a race, and then because we wanted to get through the bridge. The wind was pretty much straight from the east and I was licking my chops at the prospect of sailing all the way home under spinnaker.

Once we got away from the bridge we took a left turn around 6 and headed, under sail, for Molly Malone's, a restaurant in Bay Shore that has slips and docking available. We took a slip on a finger dock that allowed us to get off the boat without climbing over the bow pulpit - always a nice change of pace. We also got some help from two guys who were eating lunch on the outdoor deck. So nice! I wanted to buy them a drink, but they politely declined. One guy said, "You'd do it for me," which was true. And the other, when he left, came by our table to thank me for the offer, to say that the 'Wing was beautiful, and that he has a power boat and when he sees a sailboat he slows down. Very rare and very cool. I owe him two beers!

We explored the Watchogue creek a bit, saw some ferries, but turned around when it got narrow.

And then a beautiful sail home as the sun went down. Just at the last we saw Wild Blue leaving the club. So pretty!

And THEN we saw a commotion at the gas dock so we circled back to find that someone caught a 436 pound shark! Holy shite! What the hell does one do with a 400 pound shark? That's a lot of food for someone. I wonder if sushi/seafood restaurants get the word and try to get in on the action.

26: Crashin' the Yacht Club

There is something so great about October sailing: the clear air; sunny skies; the cool, crisp breeze.

We're in the middle of a sweet high pressure system that is leaving us with just the most perfect weather for sailing. It's been a weird Autumn - one weekend we're freezing and the next we're in shorts and t-shirts. As long as it's not blowing a gale, I'm content, but it sure is nice to have sunny days with light winds.



Alli and I spent the day on the boat - we sailed down to Bay Shore and took the long way back, just wandering around the bay.






On our way home, as we passed the BYC, Jack, Dan, Larry, Joe, and Dave waved us in. So we took a quick loop and tied up at the club. They were in the midst of a potluck/bbq and family sleepover, and so we joined up for a bit of family fun. Dan had some extra burgers and dogs, so we ate some with them. It was one of those great impromptu things that always turn out so great. It was so fun! And it was a perfectly mellow BYC event. Every time I have been over there it has been so laid back, stress-free fun. No dress code, no quotas, no friction or uptight atmosphere. We ate our burgers with the McM's without plates, napkins, or side dishes. And then, everyone sat down for a potluck Thanksgiving dinner (followed by a medley of desserts). That's my kind of club.

25. Out and back again

Alli and I celebrated Yom Kippur by having a little sail. We drove down to the town dock to see what the bay looked like and the flat water and medium-sized breeze made us eager to get out there. This flag is the first indicator of how much wind there is on the bay. Look at it go!

We had a great sail with too much jib (no roller furling because of the race). We took a lap around the bay and then headed back in.



Also, we are not Jewish. But thanks to the open-minded government we work in, we had the day off.

And how many times do you see a fire truck from a sailboat?

24. Louis Orr Race 2008 (race abandoned)

Despite a promise of miserable weather, over 30 boats showed up for the 2008 edition of the Louis Orr race. And while some of the boats (three spinnaker boats) made it around the farthest mark, most of us spent the race wallowing in flat water, looking for some breeze. We got about a 3/4 of the way to the last mark and got a call on the radio that committee had decided to abandon the race.

We started the race with a very light breeze that completely disappeared just after we broke out into some clear air. We drifted along toward the first mark, and just before we turned we got about 20 minutes of a steady SE breeze.


And then a whole sailful of nothing.

A few of the boats in the non-spinn fleet, and a few in spinn fleet that were behind us, began dropping out. But none of the three boats in front of use were quitting so neither were we.

I had great crew for the race: Allison's brother, and my future brother-in-law, Steven came out; returning to the Redwing for a one-time engagement Louis Orr race were Jack & Kathleen. It was practically the same crew that raced Redwing when Jack owned it. For many of the racers it was like a flashback to 2001. All of us were focused on getting the boat moving in the very light winds: we positioned ourselves on the rail, on the leeward side, and tried to keep our movements to a minimum.

Kathleen suggested we turn on the radio to see if committee was polling the racers about dropping out. As soon as we clicked the radio on we caught the committee's announcement that the race was being abandoned and the party was starting!

We motored back to the club and met Allison and Sara for some drinks.

Sailboats for Obama!

I was making it a point to not talk about politics here, thinking the world is too much with me, and that I go sailing to get away from all of the crap we have invented and then along comes something like this. I saw it here first, and ordered five of them within the minute. Hopefully I'll get them before the election.

If only Redwing could vote. If only Redwing could run for office! The boat meets the age requirement, but, unfortunately, not the citizenship requirement.

2008 end game: short/long term plans

We have a big weekend coming up on the Redwing with the Louis Orr Memorial race on Sunday. This race had around 30 boats last year and the BYC is pushing for 40 this year. What a sight that will be. I'm sure the dinghy sailors among us are used to see a whole gaggle of boats on the line, but the most I have ever seen on one line isn't even 20 boats. I'm looking forward to it! The forecast is for light and variable winds, perfect Redwing conditions.

In my ongoing effort to have a reliable engine I replaced a few more parts. Every time I go through this I think, "surely I will not have to replace yet more parts...what else is there?" And the Atomic Four gladly offers up something new every few weeks. You may recall that the water jacket side plate sprang a rather inconvenient leak. The hole was in the perfect position so as to require not just a new water jacket side plate, but because the hole allowed sea water to spray directly onto the alternator, a "brand new rebuilt" alternator. I say brand new rebuilt not in honor of Governor Palin's Newspeak, but because the price of the rebuild suggests brand new parts!

Tomorrow I'm headed down to the boat to remove the roller furling headsail (so we can use the racing sails), clean the bottom one last time (so using the racing sails isn't completely pointless), and put the engine back together. A lot to do before Sunday!

And finally, I've put down a deposit for a boatyard spot for the winter at Yacht Services. I kept the boat in for the winter last year and had engine trouble almost right away, missing out on a lot of the winter and the spring. I was sorely tempted to leave the boat in one more time and then do a short haul in the spring for some bottom cleaning and waxing. Prudence won out and I decided to haul for the winter. We're actually having an Autumn this year, thankfully, and I'm inclined to think we'll have a real Winter, too, so leaving the boat in this year may prove to be a bad idea - no sailing if the creek is iced up.

Visits to the blog

I see a lot of people visiting the blog from google and yahoo searches for "C&C Redwings" yet I see very few commenters, and very few people stopping for a look around. How could a person deliberately search for this boat (not my boat, but this kind of boat), and then not pause for a bit of reading?