I Miss Hawai'i!

I bet you were expecting a couple of frolicking wahines prancing around a beach. Don't worry, that will come later.

Photos by Mark Denzer taken at the KYC Single Handed Race. I ran them through Photoshop, and then cropped and applied a color pencil filter to them in Picasa.

Wednesday Wipeout. "Double Trouble."

T-bone stake, right through the heart.

All that open water, and out of nowhere this thing jumped in front of us and dismasted our boat!

Old School ... Seiling

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGaohXZKqgQ]

Det er hva jeg kaller moro!
Thanks to the History Channel for peaking my interest in Vikings.

Deck Shoes,

Not on my boat!
I guess if you're a rich Russian oligarch you won't care if your girlfriend prances around your nice teak deck in her high heels.

Goldfinger!

If you're a Russian mogul trying to impress the wahines, then I have a boat for you; the Wally Tiketitoo.

Goldfinger, he's the man The man with the midas touch
A spider's touch
Such a cold finger

Beckons you to enter his web of sin
But don't go in

Golden words he will pour in your ear
But his lies can't disguise what you fear
For a golden girl knows when he's kissed her
It's the kiss of death from Mister Goldfinger
Pretty girl, beware of his heart of gold
This heart is cold

Golden words he will pour in your ear
But his lies can't disguise what you fear
For a golden girl knows when he's kissed her
It's the kiss of death from Mister Goldfinger
Pretty girl, beware of his heart of gold
This heart is cold

He loves only gold
Only gold
He loves gold
He loves only gold
Only gold
He loves gold

Strange times, strange world.

No Es Bueno.

If you're going to steal a sailboat, at least know how to sail it. Imagine sitting down to a nice cup of coffee, you turn on the TV to watch the morning news and flashing before your eyes is your yacht bouncing off the shore down the coast. That's what happened to the owner who promptly called the police when she realized that her boat was the one on the screen.

Via Pressure Drop and Latitude 38.

Monday Morning Mishap.

This is not the way you want to start off a new week. 
Source: Nautiaula

Tillerman Tuesday.

The only sailboat to greet Maserati as she entered the Bay after her record breaking trip from New York to San Francisco was a Laser! Okay, I'm lying, it was one of four. San Francisco, sailing capitol of the world? I think not.

Oh look, there's a seal. Pardon my pajamas, Miss. That's not a seal, that's a Laser.

Maybe it's the bourbon speaking (thank you Mr. Makers!), but I don't understand how it's possible for people who live on a penisula not to have a connection to the water. They can't all be from Topeka!

Maserati Monday.

Hello Maserati. Benvenuti A San Francisco! Okay, so they came in on Saturday. I was stunned that the Bay was empty of boats to greet Capt. Giovanni Soldini and his crew aboard Maserati. I heard someone cry out from the beach, "Look, do you see the seals?" She was completely oblivious to this great event. But then again, the sailing community hadn't come out to witness sailing history.

Giovanni Soldini e Maserati battono il record della Rotta dell'Oro - New York-San Francisco via Capo Horn in 47 giorni, 0 ore, 42 minuti e 29 secondi - Maserati ha tagliato il traguardo alle h 18 31' 59'' GMT — at San Francisco Bay.

Tillerman Tuesday.

Shades of Capt. Joe Schmidt and Dan Brazeltont!
I wonder why sailors don't like the surf? Could it be that dark feeling of dread that in the next 30 seconds you will be inverted in your smashed Laser with water shooting out of your nostrils?

Photo source: ISAF

Wednesday Wipeout.

It always pays to have a camera with you.
Brilliant sailing moments like the one above are preserved for eternity. Well done, chaps!

Via Tonio Burning.

The One Gun You Should Have.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c11WTsTjx8s]

If you're a sailor
Okay, maybe not if you're out in a dinghy. But since I'm a worry wart, I always have some sort of a signalling device with me.

Toro! Toro! Ole!

John Amen sailing his El Toro out of Richmond YC on San Francisco Bay.
This photo reminded me that I have to get hopping on my projects for 2013: El Toro, Ulua. hatchet oars and a Stand Up Paddleboard. I'm motivated, now that I'm Force 5less.

Down She Goes To Davy Jones' Locker. [Video]

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgWcYtT-ACc]

The Ciao, a Sweden Yacht 45, met with a sad end by fiding her way to the bottom of the sea. Thankfully, the crew was rescued. Bad things do happen at sea, so be prepared. Participate at the next safety at sea seminar when it comes to your town.

Wednesday Wipeout.

Oops!

Via Scuttlebutt:
Day 1 at Etchells Australian Nationals: Raymond Smith’s St John’s Dance was well placed midway through the final downwind leg when the boat lost control on a wave, broached wildly and snapped the spinnaker pole. Now totally out of control, the spinnaker pulled the yacht down sideways, it filled with water and slowly, painfully slowly, sank to the bottom, leaving just the top half of the mast visible. All three crew emerged unscathed, but the yacht will spend the night on the bottom of Cockburn Sound, forcing a day’s rest on the crew, and effectively snuffing out any chance they had at the national title.

Santa The Sailor.

A compilation of Santa sailing.

What Happens When You Are Over-Canvassed?

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXM_93TIMZE]

You are widely admired by millions ...okay, hundreds...of viewers on YouTube for your sailing skills.

Santa Of The Day.

Santa's a hardcore sailor, you won't see him waiting for the ice to thaw.
Valery Shevchenko, 40, dressed as Santa Claus, ice sails on the frozen Bolshoye lake near the village of Parnaya, about 211 miles southwest of Russia’s Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk. (Ilya Naymushin/Reuters)

Santa Of The Day.

Not bad Santa, I like the simple rig.

Watcha' Lookin At, Willis?

Eye see you!