the horse's mouth:

« April 2006 | Main | June 2006 »

May 31, 2006

Alley Oop.

Houston we seem to have a problem.
Team Tommy does a pitch pole. See the pics of the carnage in Horsesmouth...I mean Portsmouth here.

Links: Volvo Extrene 40 | Scuttlebutt Europe

Tags: Volvo Extreme 40, Catamaran, Catamarans, Catamaran Sailing, Sailing, Oops

Posted at 10:23 AM in Catamaran Sailing, Oops | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

High Tide

Damn! I forgot to check the tide tables.

Tags: surf, tide, beach, oops, humor

Powered by Qumana

Posted at 12:20 AM in Beach, Humor, Oops | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

May 30, 2006

Yellow Submarine?

Is this what they meant when they came up with the idea for Dunkin Donuts?

Tags: humor, humour, oops

Powered by Qumana

Posted at 01:46 PM in Humor, Oops | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

May 28, 2006

Windy!

Holy cow, it's been blowin' hard. There were gusts of 45 mph yesterday.
The ole Typhoon doesn't like to be bounced around.

Tags: Sailing, San Francisco, San Francisco Bay, Wind

Powered by Qumana

Posted at 01:36 PM in Sailing | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

May 27, 2006

Memorial Day

Patrol Squadron 22 - VP 22 - QA 6
Memorial Day is not an abstraction for me. It is a real day to pay homage to those who have died in service to our nation.

Aircraft BUNO: 154596 (QA 6) departed NAS Cubi Point, Philippines at 0709 local time for an eleven (11) hour surveillance flight. Aircraft integrity and negative torque system checks were completed and aircraft continued to climb on course. At 0714, altitude approximately 6,000 feet. A loud bang was heard accompanied by severe vibration throughout the airframe. The off duty Flight Engineer informed the Flight Station that the NR4 prop had departed the engine. Fire warning sounded on NR4 engine. NR4 engine was secured TAW Natops and the HRD discharged. Visual indications were that the fire was not out and the alternate HRD was selected and discharged. At that time, the NR3 engine was observed at 110 percent rpm, turbine inlet temperature of 1202 degrees centigrade, and the associated power lever was traveling violently fore and aft through the alpha range. Fire warning sounded on NR3 engine and the engine was secured with the E-Handle. The airframe vibration diminished, NR3 engine was observed to be torching and windmilling at low rpm. However, the fire warning went out. The aircraft then rolled to the right approximately 60 degrees right wing down and 10 degrees to 15 degrees nose down. Power was reduced on engines 1 and 2 to regain control of the aircraft. The pilot leveled at 2500 ft, declared an emergency, and was given vectors to NAS Cubi Point, Philippines dumping of fuel was initiated and aircraft was descended to 100ft in preparation for immediate ditching. Approximately 15 to 30 seconds after the landing gear was lowered, the aircraft began to roll to the right, full left aieleron and rudder were applied with no apparent results. Aircraft BUNO 154596 impacted the water 15 degrees right wing down, 3 to 5 degres nose low 1400 yards from runway 07 at 0724 local 27JUN79. 5 aircrewmen were killed...."

Time may pass but I will never forget you guys. May God watch over you forever.
Remember our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and their sacrafice when you eat that hamburger this weekend.

Tags: Memorial Day, VP-22, U.S. Navy, Naval Aviation

Powered by Qumana

Posted at 12:09 AM in Aviation, Commentary, Navy | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

May 26, 2006

Insane Wind! East Beach Blow Fest.

Insane Wind

It was howling today. The wind decided to play tricks with me, she picked up some sand and blasted my face with it. Ouch!

FotoHorse

Tags: east beach, crissy field, windsurfing, kitesurfing, kiteboarding, extreme

Powered by Qumana

Posted at 12:52 AM in Extreme, Kite Surfing, Windsurfing | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

May 25, 2006

More Moth Madness. Fantastic Photos.

Motha Mia

Moth Dinghy

Foiling on the new Moth at Balmoral in Sydney during a SMH photoshoot with photographer Jon Reid.

Grazie molto a .sNIPEOUT. Photos from Foilr.

Tags: sailing, dinghy sailing, moth dinghy, moth

Powered by Qumana

Posted at 03:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

May 24, 2006

It's Just One Of Those Days.

I'm out of it today. The little grey cells just can't get up the will to start firing.

Posted at 06:04 PM in Brain Dead | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

May 23, 2006

Houseboats

Houseboat

This floating estate was spotted on Long Island Sound last summer.

Spiral Island

Richie Sowa's Spiral Island.
Richie Sowa is a British carpenter who dreamed of living on his own private island. So he spent 4 years building one out of 250,000 plastic bottles. Spiral Island, which measures 66ft by 54ft, weighs 60 tons and has three sandy beaches. The mangrove-covered paradise is anchored off the coast of Mexico near Cancun.

Forbes Island

Forbes Kiddoo's Island aka Forbes' Island.
Forbes Kiddoo built this originally as his floating home. He had it anchored in Richardson Bay. However the residents of the newly built Strawberry Point homes objected to it since it marred their veiw of San Francisco. If you have been in the Bay Area long enough you will remember that Richardson Bay was once filled with 2 large barges and several derilict boats that the "Sea" people lived on. These were all demolished by the Army Corps of Engineers due to the complaints from the "Strawberry" folks.

Forbes moved his island up to the delta and then to San Francisco where he turned it into a restaurant.

It's not a bad place for food, plus you can watch fish swim by the underwater portholes. The restaurant is located at Pier 39 in San Francisco. If your lucky Forbes will greet you at the dock and take you out to the island on his launch.

Inspired by Live Sail Die and Strange Watercraft.

Tags: Forbes Island, Houseboat, Houseboats, Unusual homes, Richie Sowa, Spiral Island

Powered by Qumana

Posted at 10:29 AM in Odd | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

May 22, 2006

Floatation Device.

Flotation device.
This comes in handy when you're blown off the fantail of an aircraft carrier.

Tags: humor, safety at sea

Powered by Qumana

Posted at 08:00 AM in Humor | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

May 20, 2006

Score! Project L'orange Canard Update

Banshee boom, mast, and foils.

I went to get the boom, mast and sail I saw on Craigslist in San Leandro today. Sigh, Brian sold the sail to someone else who snuck in ahead of me after I posted my find on the Yahoo Banshee forum (I most have been hit in the head too many times by the boom. I should have waited after I bought the items to post.) However I did score on foils that he had hidden in the dark, dank reaches of his garage.

I'm almost there. Now I need a sail and a doughnut.

Tags: banshee dinghy, sailing

Powered by Qumana

Posted at 01:38 PM in Boat Repair, Dinghy Sailing | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

May 19, 2006

Have A Better Weekend Than These Guys.

I hate when this happens.
I'm picking up a sail, boom and mast for my Banshee on Saturday. Slowly but surely I'm getting there.

Photo via the Dinghy Forum at Sailing Anarchy.

Tags: hobie, sailing, catamarans, oops

Powered by Qumana

Posted at 10:36 AM in Beach Cats, Humor, Oops, Sailing | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Sailing An Outrigger

This is a modern version of the traditional Philippine banca sailing off the island resort of Boracay.

Photo: Fred Roswold.

Tags: philippines, banca boat, sailing outrigger

Powered by Qumana

Posted at 09:44 AM in Sailing | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

May 17, 2006

Down She Goes. The USS Oriskany Says Aloha As She Sinks Under The Sea.

The Mighty "O" is no mo....as a ship that is, she is now the world's largest artificial reef. Navy divers detonated explosives aboard the ship this morning, sending the retired aircraft carrier to Davey Jone's locker. She is now 24 miles off Pensacola Beach and 212 feet underwater. The local honchos hope that she will boost the economy by becoming a prime destination for sport divers and fishermen.