the horse's mouth

Have A Great Weekend!

Try and make it out onto or into the water this weekend or just hang out at the beach. Get outdoors, you could stumble across some .........

Fish On Fridays. "A Wahine And Her Friend, Mr. Big Teeth, Go For A Swim."

Leslie Rochat, Shark Warrior!

She like to surf too.

Fuimos A La Playa Y Jugó En La Bahía.

Fun was had by all.

Joe talks to a Kiteboarder.
Joe to Kiteboarder: How long have you been kiteboarding?
Kiteboarder to Joe: I've been kiteboarding for 5 years. Before that, I windsurfed for 20 years.
Joe to Kiteboarder: Do you still windsurf?
Kiteboarder to Joe: No! My buddies and I sold all our gear. Kiteboarding is a lot more fun and less work.
Moral of the story: It's all about fun!

See you on the water!

Baydog, Bring Me A Bone! (Surfing Video)

Good boy!
Now let's go surfing.

The Dog Days Of Summer.

Will be here a little earlier this year. It's expected to range from 90° to 110°F this weekend. I for one won't be sitting on the beach.

The Dabchick: Is This The Best Sail Trainer For Groms?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm wearing my sailing instructor's hat. The Dabchick is a sailboat (...board...scow) used in South Africa to train youths after outgrowing Optis (Oppis). I think it would make a great trainer and a wonderful way for the groms to learn some boat building skills. How cool is it to sail a boat that you've built.

From Go Sail: "The Dabchick dinghy designed by Jack Koper of Cape Town, was launched in 1956 as a double handed junior class. The idea was a simple flat decked, no cockpit, scow with a planing hull that could be home built from a few sheets of ply.

The Dabchick dinghy has found great popularity with some 4 000 boats having been built since then. Fairly quickly adept juniors found they could handle the two sail configuration single handed, and that has been its niche for most of the class existence. The sail plan is of a genoa, sheeted on a tracked fairlead, and mainsail. A dagger-board sits in an extended case allowing for it to be raked back in a breeze and on a reach.

The broad scow hull gives the boat enormous stability for the ab initio sailor whilst also being exceptionally quick onto the plane. In comparison to similar junior classes of the Mirror and Topper it well out performs both boats on all points of sailing. Like all scows is prefers a slight heel when working to weather. Not drawing much water it is snappy through the tack, and quick off the mark once the genoa is trimmed in. On the reach they are exciting but kind, due to that beam again. It is not unusual to see youngsters going out in conditions over twenty knots to enjoy some screaming reaches. Down wind placing the hull on a slight heel, as on a beat, reduces wetted surface and the Dabchick dinghy scuttles effortlessly along like the wildfowl it is named after.

The restricted class allows for different masts and fitting of control systems that feed onto either side of the deck, which is a great entry point for future performance dinghy sailors. The class has also recently allowed the introduction of Mylar sails as well as the adoption of a loose footed mainsail."

Hat tip to Tweezerman for the idea.

Happy Monday!

Did you have a great weekend?
Back to work!

Have A Great Weekend!

Try and make it out onto or into the water this weekend. I'm pau, see you next week!

Fish On Fridays. "Voici La Vahiné."

I know, you guys want to see a wahine, not videos about rigging or sailing. So for your pleasure, a wahine.

Sailing The Laser Pico With Shirley Robertson. "Video."

We also use the Laser Pico in our sailing program. Joe, we have a couple of Lasers too. God, I could end becoming a Laser sailor. Oh the horror!

Capri 14.2 Rigging Guide. "Video."

Since I've been talked back into teaching at SEA and we use the Capri 14.2, I thought someone out there must have made a video on rigging the 14.2, and sure enough I found one.

The Egg And I.

What is this strange looking thing?

Would you like your egg hard or soft boiled?

She floats!

I hope that Wooden Whale doesn't try to mate with her!

Ah, she heard me.

Will cocktails be served?

Permission to come aboard the Egg, Sir!

Reclaimed red cedar strip planking was used on the exterior shell.

Sleeping on a hammock like a real sailor!

Now that's something you don't see everyday: A giant floating egg! Yes, Virginia. The British are a little different from you and me. Not only are they super competive, they're very eccentric. Thank God! We need a little more levity in this seemingly sour world.

"Created by Stephen Turner, the Exbury Egg will be  a temporary, energy efficient self-sustaining work space for artist Stephen Turner in the estuary of the River Beaulieu. It is a place to stay and a laboratory for studying the life of a tidal creek, a collecting and collating centre with integral storage & display areas. It will take on the patina of 730 daily tides below the water line, and 365 days of weathering by wind, rain and bleaching by the sun above."

Via Designboom.

Marine Life Monday. "Orcas Just Want To Have Fun" [Video]

Richard and Laura Howard had a nice encounter with Orcas playing in the wake of their boat while off the coast of Baja.

Marine Life Monday. "A Wooden Whale?" Or "What David Put Together With Two Old Boats"

Wooden Whaler by David Kemp.
A fisherman friend helped me join these two derelict cove-boats together to make the WOODEN WHALER. Clinker boats and cove fishing are from a way of live that’s fast disappearing in Cornwall.

Looking at David's art concurs up memories of the wooden sculputers that populated the Emeryville mud flats of my childhood. It's great to see whimsy alive and well in the world, and an artist who shares his work with the public.

Via Recyclart.

Monday Morning Mermaid.

Hubba hubba!
Have a great week!

Mermaid: Kate Bock

Have A Great Weekend!

It's pau hana time. Try and make it out onto or into the water this weekend!

What Are Photographers?

They are strange sea creatures who surfers encounter every once in a while out on the water. Recently, they have been spotted together in large schools swimming in the waves. Some photographers have even been seen desperately chasing after sailboats. God only knows why.

Fish On Fridays. "Mr Big Teeth Joins The Lineup."

Tastes like chicken!
It's a good thing our human friend was looking in the other direction and his foot didn't act as a lure for Mr. Big Teeth. "Mommy!"

Photo: Nick Chill.

What Did Laird Invent?

Who said you can't have fun with a canoe?

Teahupo'o (Surfing Video)

What happnes when everyone shows up? Chaos? Carnage? A pissed of Raimana van Bastolaer? (I think Puffy might be able to relate Raimana's close encounter with a kite.)