the horse's mouth

Mele Kalikimaka!

May you have a wondeful and merry Christmas with your family and friends!

Santa's Helpers At The Beach.

Lucky Santa!

Throwback Thursday.

They don't build them like that anymore.
W. Roue designed sloop.

Santa Of The Day.

Santa goes sailing, incognito.
Stolen from Baydog.

Wave Of The Day. Holy Moley, Bat Mite; That's A Big Wave!

More like a mountain!
Nazare, Portugal.

Monday Morning Mermaid.

Quack, Happy Monday! 

Santa Of The Day.

Mrs. Claus teaches Santa how to surf.

Coming To A Blog Near You: Frozen.

Starring Thad as Olaf.

Goodbye AT&T, Hello Monkeybrains!

Local ISP MonkeyBrains has launched a project to bring high-speed gigabit wireless Internet connections to homes in my little Burg-By-The-Bay. According to them, the 350 Mbps connections will be the first gigabit Internet available to residential customers in the city. "Our Gigabit to the Home project is underway. We are using IndieGogo to crowdsource this a bulk purchase of links. This will allow us to build a beefier backbone, provide homes with 300MBps speeds, maintain net-neutrality in San Francisco, and help bridge the digital divide -- All in one!" Karate chop! Take that AT&T and Comcast.

Light Air Days?

Hokey smokes, Bullwinkle. That's a big sail!
Via the H/V Vega.

Have A Great Weekend!

Try and make it out onto or into the water this weekend!

Wahine: Gretta Kruesi

No More Freaking Excuses!

USS Port Royal aground on a reef. No excuses. Poor watchstanding, navigation and piloting. Result: Loss of command. 

On 2 June 2009, the Navy disciplined four Port Royal officers for the grounding. In a hearing presided over by Vice Admiral Samuel J. Locklear, commander of the United States Third Fleet, John Carroll was given non-judicial punishment for "dereliction of duty and improper hazarding of a vessel." Port Royal Executive Officer Commander Steve Okun was also given non-judicial punishment for dereliction of duty at the same hearing. In a separate hearing, Rear Admiral Dixon Smith, commander of Navy Region Hawaii and Naval Surface Group Middle Pacific, imposed non-judicial punishment on two other, unnamed Port Royal officers and an enlisted seaman for dereliction of duty and improper hazarding of a vessel.

USS Guardian aground a reef. No excuses. Poor watchstanding, navigation and piloting. Result: Loss of command.

The U.S. Federal Government has apologized for the incident and have relieved from duty four officers, Lt. Cmdr. Mark A. Rice, his executive officer and navigator Lt. Daniel Tyler, the ship's assistant navigator and the officer of the deck at the time of the mishap. "The initial investigation findings clearly indicate that (the four) at the time of the grounding did not adhere to standard US Navy navigation procedures," the Manila Bulletin quoted the U.S. Navy as saying. The U.S. Government has acknowledged that the grounding was entirely preventable and caused by human error and a failure of leadership to provide adequate oversight and direction in planning and executing the Navigation Plan

"If the quickest route takes you through reefs or shallow water, you follow it, There’s no such thing as being more careful, You’re out there to win a race.” - Ken Read

“We are offshore in the middle of nowhere, and on the chart, if you don’t go on the maximum zoom you can’t see anything.” - Charles Caudrelier

I've been reading people making excuses for this mishap left and right. Just stop it!

Baydog Accuses Larry Of Being A Traitor! Let's Examine The Facts.

Flag of Sir Ben.
Saviour of America! (I thought we fought a war with these blokes?)

Flag of Russell Coutts and some of "Team USA."
New Zealand - Commonwealth member.

Flag of Jimmy Spithill and most of "Team USA."
Australia - Commonwealth member. Hm, I beginning to sense a pattern.

Flag of the Lord of Lanai, aka Larry Ellison
Hawaii - "Discovered" by Captain Cook who ended up getting conked on the head after attempting to kidnap his host, King Kalaniʻōpuʻu. Never bite the hand that feeds you!

Flag of the home of the next America's Cup.
Bermuda - British Overseas Territory. Larry's next purchase....oh wait, they'll let him have it for free. Cheerio!

Verdict: Benedict Arnold! He too pretended to be a patriot.

I serve at the pleasure of Her Majesty The Queen.
If we don't have Americans on Team USA, then we don't have to defend the America's Cup in America.

The Great No Place To Sail In America Tour Continues. Requested By Bonnie, Today's Stop Is The Big Apple.

 

 

It's ludicrous to suggest New York as a sailing venue. It make absolutely no sense to hold an event in a place that is the media and finacial center of the United States, has hotels, restaurants, shopping, tourists, and a natural ampitheater that can accomidate a few million of your closest friends. What a dumb idea!

Besides, Larry doesn't want his galley slaves to be distracted.

Baydog Barks, "What About Barnegat Bay?"

Tsk, tsk, tsk....Baydog, Baydog, Baydog...it's in New Jersey!
Larry doesn't do the Jersey shore, wrong kind of rum drinks.

Wrecks On Wednesday.

Team Vestas Wind weren't the first cowpokes at the rodeo to run aground on Cargados Carajos Shoals.

Photo from the crew of the Haere Maru via Wingssail.

My Gosh, There's No Place To Sail In The USA.

Long Beach, no way!

San Francisco, are you kidding me? (Those guys supported the Kiwis.)

Miami, shiami!

Newport, really? Why on earth we hold an event there? I think someone calling himself the Tillerman lives there, god no!

How about Buzzards Bay? That's a no go!

Hawai'i? The Shogun owns one of her islands. Sorry, they serve Mai Tais, the wrong rum drink.

Key West! Who in their right mind would hold a sailing race off of a tiny island?

San Diego. Egads, the home of Dennis Connor! You need to see a shrink.

"So, A Dark And Stormy It Is." It's Official, AC35 To Be Held On Larry's New Island Of Bermuda.

Ingredients
2 ounces dark rum (Gosling's Black Seal)
3 ounces ginger beer (Barritt's)

Glass Type: Collins glass

Instructions
Combine the rum, and ginger beer (not ginger ale!!!!) in a tall glass full of ice cubes. Stir. Lime is optional, just don't tell a Bermudian, he'll gag.

“We are offshore in the middle of nowhere, and on the chart, if you don’t go on the maximum zoom you can’t see anything.”

"It is far better to have absolutely no idea of where one is - and to know it - than to believe confidently that one is where one is not." - Jean-Dominique Cassini

Zoom.

Zoom, zoom.

Zoom, zoom, zoom!

I guess paper charts aren't so old fashioned after all.

Of course, this ribbing is all in good fun. I'm glad that everyone from Team Vestas Wind were rescued and unharmed. To quote Fredrik Lönegren, "Shit happens!"

Mishap Monday.

Barkeep, I like it straight up, not on the rocks!

Photo of Team Vestas Wind after grounding on a charted atoll in the Indian Ocean. Yes boys and girls, even the experienced guys screw up sometimes. To quote Fredrik Lönegren, "Shit happens!"

Mind you, I think the navigator is looking for new opportunities. Maybe he should leave his stint with Team Vestas off his CV. I'm just saying.