the horse's mouth

I Told You I Needed A Vacation.

Cerrado por un viaje. (No es de placer, voy con mi mujer...I'm kidding.) Abrire el martes, Mayo 18. Disculpen las molestias.

Fish On Fridays.

I've got nothing witty to say...I need a vacation.
Fumes dog, fumes. That's what I'm running on.

I Need A Vacation. [ ¡ Necesito unas vacaciones! ]

I'm running on fumes.

Tall Ships A Sailin.

The Schooner Virginia sailing with the Pride of Baltimore II from Charleston to Richmond, May 2007.
Picture by Nate Rogers/Jim Whipple.

The Tillerman Time Space Continuum. What Will Sailing Be Like In The Future (2025)?

When will the Tillerman realize that it's not a good thing to play with time and space?



When you travel in backwards or forward in time, things can go wrong. Especially if you like to have a drink or two.



By playing with the time and space thingy, sailing could cease to exist by 2025. You never who will show up asking to borrow some sugar. So I say, "be here, be now."

2025. Sailing Vessels Underway And Vessels Under Oars (Rule 25)

(a) Sailing vessels underway

A sailing vessel underway shall exhibit:

(i) sidelights; and

(ii) a sternlight.

(b) Sailing vessels of less than 20 meters in length

In a sailing vessel of less than 20 meters in length the lights prescribed in paragraph (a) of this Rule may be combined in one lantern carried at or near the top of the mast where it can best be seen.

(c) Additional lights

A sailing vessel underway may, in addition to the lights prescribed in paragraph (a) of this Rule, exhibit at or near the top of the mast, where they can best be seen, two all-round lights in a vertical line, the upper being red and the lower green, but these lights shall not be exhibited in conjunction with the combined lantern permitted by paragraph (b) of this Rule.

(d) Sailing vessels of less than 7 meters in length; vessels under oars

(i) A sailing vessel of less than 7 meters in length shall, if practicable, exhibit the lights prescribed in paragraph (a) or (b) of this Rule, but if she does not, she shall have ready at hand an electric torch or lighted lantern showing a white light which shall be exhibited in sufficient time to prevent collision.

(ii) A vessel under oars may exhibit the lights prescribed in this Rule for sailing vessels, but if she does not, she shall have ready at hand an electric torch or lighted lantern showing a white light which shall be exhibited in sufficient time to prevent collision.

(e) Vessels proceeding under sail

A vessel proceeding under sail when also being propelled by machinery shall exhibit forward where it can best be seen a conical shape, apex downward. A vessel of less than 12 meters in length is not required to exhibit this shape, but may do so.

US Code > Title 33 NAVIGATION AND NAVIGABLE WATERS > CHAPTER 34 > SUBCHAPTER I > Part C > § 2025
Thank you Cornell Law! God bless Lawyers!!!!!

The Universe Is A Strange And Mysterious Place.

Source: Hubblesite.org. Click the photo to enlarge it.

To celebrate its 20th anniversary in orbit, NASA released a photo from the Hubble Space Telescope that captured a small breathtaking portion of one of the largest visible star-birth regions in the galaxy, the Carina Nebula. The image above shows the top of a three-light-year-tall pillar of gas and dust that is being eaten away by the brilliant light from nearby bright stars. The pillar is also being pushed apart from within, as infant stars buried inside it fire off jets of gas that can be seen streaming from towering peaks like arrows sailing through the air. Read more at Discovery.com.

Fish On Fridays.

Hey Joe, where's the wahine?

La Grande Onda!

As we say in English. "Mommy!"

Feliç Sant Jordi!

Sant Jordi, màrtir d'una llegenda (note: use Google to translate this page from Catalan into English)

Sant Jordi, cavaller i màrtir, és l'heroi d'una gran gesta cavalleresca, que la veu popular universal situa a les terres allunyades i llegendàries de la Capadòcia, però que la tradició catalana creu esdevinguda als voltants de la vila de Montblanc.

Diuen que assolava els voltants de Montblanc un monstre ferotge i terrible, que posseïa les facultats de caminar, volar i nedar, i tenia l'alè pudent, fins el punt que des de molt lluny, amb les seves alenades envierinava l'aire, i produïa la mort de tots els qui el respiraven. Era l'estrall dels remats i de les gents i per tota aquella contrada regnava el terror més profund.

Les gents van pensar donar-li cada dia una persona que li serviria de presa, i així no faria estrall a tort i a dret. Van assejar el sistema i va donar bon resultat; el cas difícil fou trobar qui es sentís prou avorrit per deixar-se menjar voluntàriament pel monstre ferotge. Tot el veinat va concloure fer cada dia un sorteig entre tots els veïns de la vila, i aquell que destinés la sort seria lliurat a la fera. I així es va fer durant molt de temps, i el monstre se'n deiuria sentor satisfet, car va deixar de fer els estralls i malvestats que havia fer abans.

Heus ací que un dia la sort va voler que fos la filla del rei la destinada a ser presa del monstre. La princesa era jove, gentil i gallarda com cap altra, i feia molt dol haver-la de donar a la bèstia. Ciutadans hi hagué que es van oferir a substituir-la, però el rei fou sever i inexorable, i amb el cor ple de dol va dir que tant era la seva filla com la de qualsevol dels seus súbdits. Així, el rei va avenir-se a que la princesa fos sacrificada.
La donzella va sortir de la ciutat tota sola i espantada, i va començar a caminar cap al cau del monstre. Mentre, tot el veinat, desconsolat i alicaigut, mirava des de la muralla com la princesa anava al sacrifici.

Quan portava una estona caminant se li va presentar un jove cavaller, cavalcat en un cavall blanc, i amb una armadura tota daurada i lluent. La donzella, esborronada, li digué que fugís de pressa, puix que per allí rondava una fera que així que el veiés en faria xixina. El cavaller li digué que no temés, que no li havia de passar res, ni a ell ni a ella, per tal com ell havia vingut expressament per combatre el monstre, per matar-lo i alliberar del sacrifici a la princesa, com també a la ciutat de Montblanc del flagell que li representava el veïnatge d'aquell monstre.

Entre aquestes, la fera va presentar-se, amb gran horror de la donzella i amb gran goig del cavaller, que la va escometre i d'una llançada la va malferir. El cavaller, que era Sant Jordi, lligà la bèstia pel coll i la donà a la donzella perquè ella mateixa la portés a la ciutat. El monstre va seguir tot manso i estemordit a la princesa. Tot el poble de Montblanc, que havia presenciat la baralla des de les muralles ja esperava amb el braços oberts la donzella i el cavaller, i enmig de la plaça va esbravar el seu odi contra la fera, de la qual aviat no restà bocí.

El rei volia casar la seva filla amb el forcívol cavaller, però Sant Jordi va replicar que no la mereixia; va dir que havia tingut una revelació divina sobre la necessitat urgent d'anar a combatre el drac ferotge i alliberar la donzella, i amb ella la ciutat de Montblanc. I així ho havia fet amb la protecció divina i per manament diví. Per tant, ell no havia fet res per ell mateix i no mereixia cap premi.

Aleshores, Sant Jordi desaparegué misteriosament, talment com havia aparegut.

Text extret del Costumari Català de Joan Amades.

Windsurfing Pic Of The Day.

Bow Wow!

Don't Fool With Mother Nature.

Nature never deceives us, it is always we who deceive ourselves. - J.J. Rousseau
Lightning streaks across the sky as lava flows from a volcano in Eyjafjallajokul April 17, 2010. (REUTERS/Lucas Jackson)

More at Boston.com. Via Ole.

Wednesday Wipeout.

To be seaworthy, a vessel must be able to defend herself against the incursion and peril of the sea. - C. A. Marchaj

Some Days Are Lazy, Some Days Are Not. [Sailing Video]

Who would have thunk that you could get extreme in an Opti.

Fish On Fridays. Lampuka.

The national fish of Malta.

Happy Tax Day!

I've got no more to give....or should I say, there is no more for you to take.

The Tax Man Cometh!

Let me tell you
How it will be.
There's one for you,
Nineteen for me,

'Cause I'm the taxman.
Yeah, I'm the taxman.

Should five percent
Appear too small,
Be thankful I don't
Take it all.

'Cause I'm the taxman.
Yeah, I'm the taxman.

If you drive a car,
I'll tax the street.
If you drive to city,
I'll tax your seat.
If you get too cold,
I'll tax the heat.
If you take a walk,
I'll tax your feet.

Taxman!

'Cause I'm the taxman.
Yeah, I'm the taxman.

Don't ask me what I want it for,
(Uh-uh, Mr. Wilson.)

If you don't want to pay some more.
(Uh-uh, Mr. Heath.)

'Cause I'm the taxman.
Yeah, I'm the taxman.

And my advice to
Those who die.
(Taxman!)
Declare the pennies
On your eyes.
(Taxman!)

'Cause I'm the taxman.
Yeah, I'm the taxman,
And you're working for no one but me.
(Taxman!)

Written by George Harrison and released as the opening track on The Beatles' 1966 album Revolver.

Lazy Days.

Sometimes, all you need is an Opti.

Old School Surfing Video From Malibu In The 1940's.

It's interesting to watch the surfers share the waves.
Via The Surfer's Path.

Between The Rocks.