Sailing: Philosophy for Everyone: Catching the Drift of Why We Sail

The sailors among us might be interested in Sailing: Philosophy for Everyone: Catching the Drift of Why We Sail, Edited by Patrick Goold; Forward by John Rousmaniere, ISBN 978-0-470-67185-6, and my review of it on Summit to Shore.

Plane Zones

Plane zone, Saturday:


Plane zone, Sunday:

Noon to two,
woo hoo hoo!

Holly the Sailing Co-Chair's post-sail comment - "Anyone who didn't plane today is doing something wrong".

What a splendid Sebago weekend it was!

What Happened At The Regatta (In Case You Missed It)

This post inspired by a charming little cartoon we used to have pinned up on the SailComm section of the Sebago Canoe Club bulletin board. I'll have to look to see if it's still up when I go to water in the morning, because I can't remember the cartoonist's name, but as I was reminded of it last night as I sorted through all the pictures I'd taken of little boats going this way and that, with puffy clouds in the sky behind it.

The pictures, of course, are a few of mine from Saturday's Laser District 8 regatta, hosted by the Sailing Committee of the Sebago Canoe Club. What a lovely day of racing we had, and great food afterwards, too!

Many more pictures here.

Cross-posted at Frogma

Spring is coming, and here's Sebago's Annual Spring Laser District 8 Regatta NOR to prove it!

From Sebaga Laser Regatta 5 22 2010

Hear Ye Hear Ye!

The Sailing Committee of the Sebago Canoe Club, Canarsie, Brooklyn, has a confirmed date of Saturday the 7th of May, 2011, for our annual Laser District 8 Regatta.

Spread the word, all ye snowbound sailors. Let's dream of Spring!

Links Are For Clicking:

Notice of Race

Sailing Instructions

Ahhhh, white sails, green green grass, green green trees. Remember?

From Sebaga Laser Regatta 5 22 2010

cross-posted at the Frogma

A Particularly Rewarding SailComm Work Day

Hey guys...


Wat'cha watchin'?


Ooooohhhh!


It was a particularly rewarding workday for the Sebago Sailing Committee today - it's not just every day that a boat is resurrected!

This 420 has been on the grounds for several years after being donated by a club member a few years back. Unfortunately, for various reasons (primarily lack of knowledge about how to use the boat combined with plenty of boats that people DID know how to use), she's languished on her trailer gathering grime ever since them. A couple of us who have sail-curious family or significant others have looked at her with a lot of interest but none of us really had the time, energy, or skill to spearhead the process of getting her back into working order.

Well, among the numerous sailors who've joined the club this year are a couple of gentleman who have actually sailed these - and so today, they brought her back to life!

It turned out not to be all that difficult, either - listening to the guys talk, there are some structural repairs that need to be done before the boat can be put to regular use - but all the pieces were there & by the early afternoon, they'd gotten her fully rigged & deemed her ready for a trial spin on the Paerdegat - and there she is!

Oh - and speaking of nice old boats ending up in good hands?

A while back, Andy had found & posted a neat old brochure from the Sebago Boat Company. That post ended up drawing comments from a couple of people who were working on restorations. I always enjoy seeing old boats being cared for & loved & I asked Mike, who was working on renovating a "Fisherman's Friend" model that he'd had for 30 years, to let me know when he had pictures. Well, if you are on Facebook - click here to check out his album. Sweet!

It was a glorious,

From

glorious,


glorious,


GLORIOUS day we had for the first race of the Fall series.

Fall Dinghy Racing Series at Sebago

Jim announces the course for the 3rd race of this spring's Laser Regatta - From Sebaga Laser Regatta 5 22 2010

I'm happy to share the news recently emailed by Jim & Holly, Co-chairs of the Sailing Committee of the Sebago Canoe Club - we'll be having a Fall Racing Series this year! Come join us for some fun days on Jamaica Bay. Notice of Race, Sailing Instructions and a full schedule can all be found on the Sailing Committee page at SebagoCanoeClub.org

Hope to see you there!

cross-posted at Frogma

Sunday SailCom Cruise

It felt a bit Septemberish, gray skies & cool weather, but the wind was great (more in the low teens than the 5-10 kts the forecast had called for) and Holly & Jim set a good course with the windward leg being the sail to our favorite lunch beach on Ruffle bar, where all the work getting there made my empanada lunch taste extra extra good, and then the trip home again being a big looping S around Ruffle Bar & Canarsie Pol. The trip home was awesome, all reaching & running, and with the wind & the waves, we flew! I felt like I was getting more speed out of Swampfox & maintaining it for longer periods of time than I've managed before in a Sunfish - usually I have a few fantastic moments then do something to foul up whatever I was doing right, but today there were long stretches where things were going great.

I did learn one really good lesson today - I have a light wetsuit top that just needs to always be part of my sailing kit. The weather wasn't quite as warm or sunny as the last forecast I'd seen had been talking about & I was lucky Holly had a spare top because the day (and especially the windward leg) would've been a chilly one if she hadn't had that for me.

I didn't take a lot of pictures because conditions were just enough that the sailing really required two hands & full attention, but here were the few I did.





I can't show you pictures of one of the "end" results but I can tell you that I will be needing a cushion for the next few days! :D

Sebago's 2nd Annual Laser District 8 Regatta - Photos Up

From Sebaga Laser Regatta 5 22 2010

I had a great day being on the race committee for Sebago's 2nd annual District 8 Laser Regatta yesterday. I took tons of pictures, of course! Good weather, a nice breeze that picked up over the course of the afternoon, and wow, 10 boats & only 3 were from Sebago (and 2 were from the Saratoga Yacht Club, that's a long trip)! Good racing, good company a nice day on the water & a delicious post-race spread of roast chicken, chili, a few other sides & brownies & ice cream for dessert.

Couldn't ask for a much nicer way to spend a Saturday!

And no, no bouncy castles - which reminds me, here's the story behind that particular bit of silliness, found via a link posted by my favorite Laserblogger, Tillerman.

cross-posted at Frogma.

We Promise: No Bouncy Castle Obstructions At Sebago's Laser Regatta

I feel QUITE COMFORTABLE in promise that there will be NO such silliness at Sebago's 2nd Annual Laser Regatta on Saturday. Hope to see folks there!

Note to last year's winner: Blake, I hope you're coming back, I think we'll have planes this year!

(my pix from last year - no planes...)

Brand New Sunfish Racing Sail!

Hey Sunfish Sailors! Wanna kick your sailing up a notch?

BAM!

One of the old Sunfish sails just went to the big sail locker in the sky - and look what our sailing committee co-chairs got as a replacement. That is an official racing sail for a Sunfish. Adjusts to make the most of the wind!

Talk to Holly if you want to learn to use it!

Click here to see a photo of sails like this in use.

Sunday SailComm Cruise

More pictures in Picasa gallery here: Sebago SailComm Sunday Cruise

Phew! I was really starting to wonder if I was going to get to sail at ALL this summer.

Thanks Jim & Holly for a great day, and for arranging it so that those thunderstorms didn't roll through until we were off the water & finished with that wonderful potluck picnic (and thanks, Mark, for organizing the picnic, that was a brilliant idea)!

2009 Open House

I was able to be at the Open House only from noon till 2:00 PM but while I was there I took a lot of photographs which I have posted to Picasa. The weather was nearly perfect even if it did look like there was snow on the ground. We seemed to have had a lot of visitors and a good number of them joining. While Sebago offers some great sailing and kayaking, Sebago is more than water sports. Sebago is people, from those who have been members for decades or more to those who have just joined, from experienced paddlers with American Canoe Club certification to teach and coach to beginners just learning how to paddle.

This was only my second Open House so I do not have a lot to compare it to, but this year we seemed to have more of a variety of visitors: young, middle age and older from various racial-ethnic backgrounds and from three or more of the five boroughs. For awhile on Saturday, Sebago looked like a miniature New York City. There were so many kayaks, canoes and sailboats coming and going from the new dock that at times it resembled the Staten Island Ferry Terminal (photo at right). There were so many people moving about on the new dock that it felt like the BQE, Jackie Robinson, or Van Wyck during rush hour.

If our Open House is any indication of the future, it looks like we are off to a great 2009 summer season of paddling, rowing and sailing.

Winner's Report for Sebago's First Laser District 8 Regatta!

Blake Marriner has put up a VERY nice Winner's Report about our regatta over on the Laser District 8 site.

Thanks, Blake! It was fun!

I'll add that I've posted pictures too, but right now it's just a completely unedited mess in my Flickr photostream, not quite ready for general viewing. I took out the ones where the camera didn't focus & most of the "incinerating tent caterpillars while we wait for our guests to arrive" series, but that was about the extent of the first cut. I'll be picking my favorites for one of my photo reports with captions over the next couple of days, and I'll post a link here when I'm done. However, If you were there or are otherwise specifically interested in seeing a hundred-plus uncaptioned random pictures of the regatta, clicking on the picture of Blake will take you to Flickr.

Pea-Soup Sailors At Sebago's First Laser District 8 Regatta!

So I was saying the other day, over on my personal blog, about how I always carrying a compass because of Jamaica Bay's ability to occasionally cough up a proper pea-souper.

Saturday's was pretty good!

The weather may've scared off a few potential participants (or more like "given them the excuse they were looking for not to drive into the wilds of Canarsie" ;D, c'mon, we all know that Laser racers don't scare that easily), and I think a lot of us were starting to get that slightly queasy what-if-we-had-a-party-and-nobody-came sort of feeling, but then, phew, the doorbell started to ring, so to speak. By nine-thirty or so, we had enough to make a proper race of it, and then, with a couple more late arrivals, we had enough for a very nice day of racing at the first-ever Laser District 8 regatta hosted by the Sebago Canoe Club. A good start for an event we hope will get bigger & better!

Here was one of the early first-place finishes by the gentleman who eventually took home the first-place plaque. Sorry about the big wobble at the end, I was the recorder & I forgot to stop the camera as I went for my pencil!


Lots more pictures to come!

cross-posted at Frogma
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Laser Regatta in Jamaica Bay, Sunday, May 16th

The Sailing Committee of the Sebago Canoe Club will be hosting a Laser Regatta for Laser District 8 on May 16, 2009. Full details on the Sailing Committee page of the Sebago website.

Hope to see some new faces (and sails) visiting the bay!

Learn to Sail with our friends at the Miramar Yacht Club!

Well, well, well! Spring MUST be coming - 'cause it's almost time for the 2008 session of -

LEARN TO SAIL with the MIRAMAR YACHT CLUB in Sheepshead Bay!

A Sailing Course that is perfect for anyone interested in sailing - and an opportunity to go sailing.

Classroom Sessions: Friday nights
March 28, April 4, April 11 - 2008
7:30 - 9:30 pm

Course fee - $50 Adults, $75 Families

Course materials,

refreshments (mmmmm, cake!)














& FREE SAIL included!


A 20% discount will be given to anyone who previously took Miramar's sailing class

For more information, head on over to the Miramar web site, or give them a call at (718) 769 - 3548, or email sail@miramaryc.com

I went last year along with a couple other club members - we all had a great time, learned a lot, and, uh, did I mention that the cake was always yummy?

The boats were nice, too!

Miramar Yacht Club
3050 Emmons Avenue
Brooklyn, New York 11235

Five Hombres from Russia on 25 ft inflatable catamaran

Five Russians crossed from the Saudi Arabia to Thailand traveling with the oldest known trade wind. They designed a catamaran with 25 feet inflatables. Did you know catamaran is a word from Tamil language of the south India. Some day, I like to do this but hug the coast more. But too much politics I am afraid. See the video of raising the mast.

Here is a translated page from Russian. So read with caution but it is an amazing feat. If you are interested in learning more about catamaran designs, visit this link.

Now isn't this the first thing you picture when somebody says "Brooklyn"?


It's the weekend of the annual Sebago Sailing Committee sailing clinic & I'm really enjoying it!

Interesting conditions for teaching a bunch of utter newbies though. Shifty winds - this was taken 30 seconds later. Please note that the 2 sails are pointing in completely different directions!

No Lasers today, needless to say. None of us students were anywhere close to having a shot at handling one of those racing boats with the wind shifts & gusts today! Four Sunfish and a Phantom.

I thought I was just getting a sailing class today, but the Sebago Sailing Committee is a multifaceted bunch...we also got hiking lessons:


and swimming lessons:


But there was plenty of sailing, too. Fun stuff!





Cool milestone du jour...first time EVER sailing a boat without a more experienced sailor on board that boat. Very odd, I'm quite comfortable when I know that somebody else is going to be able to take charge if things go awry...well, there weren't too many ways things could have gone too far awry but still, it was quite bizarre being the only person in the boat! It wasn't too far, and it sure as heck wasn't perfect (there was time in irons and oh possibly a bit of a bump with another boat while rounding a buoy) but I'm looking forward to more practice time tomorrow.

And in closing - did you ever know lettuce could be so pretty? It was a good week for the garden, lots of rain and lots of sun. The lettuce is going crazy! I'll have to have another homegrown salad with dinner tomorrow.


(cross-posted at Frogma blog)

Micro Yacht

Micro yacht! Anyone? Micro yacht is like Mini. It is tiny but packed with power. Hmm, here are links introducing micro yachts named like Swamp Thing and Micro Cruiser. Micro yacht enthusiasts have been sailing up and down the eastern seaboard.

There is a Russian man who is circumnavigating. But he is stuck somewhere with an expired passport.

Check it out. Anyone wants to build it?

Micro making

Micro yacht links

Microcruising.com

Other famous small boats

Trip reports of cruising to Bahamas