Whichever Way the Wind Blows

“I can't change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.”

Apparent Wind vs. True Wind Direction

During a sailing race last week we made a couple of bad tacks to the first mark that put us back a bit in the pack. After thinking for a bit, the problem was too much steering correction to "apparent" wind changes nstead of sail tension correction. On the 40 ft Choey Lee, we couldn't adjust the sails as constantly as on a 4 meter daysailor, but we were being really lazy sailors and paid for it.

What is true-wind and apparent-wind?


The true-wind is the apparent wind which you feel when you are not moving, for example at anchor.  The apparent-wind is the wind direction and speed which you feel while the boat is moving. As you speed up the wind on your face seems to come more forward on the the boat and this is really true during gusts as the picture below shows. The best overview I have found is a http://www.answers.com/topic/apparent-wind

We were racing in light wind conditions with frequent gusts. During the gusts instead of pulling in the sails we would "fall off" (steer away from the wind). This would put us farther and farther off our desired point of sail (direction we wanted to go). We were basically making 180 degree tacks, resulting in us just going back and forth making minimal forward progress.

Proof once again that being lazy as usual only serves to create more work.

Foggy Weather Sailing Strategy

What if we did go sailing in July Gloom?  The Captain has memorized the path out of the bay so it is possible that we might try to take the boat out.  But, what if we get out there and can't see anything?

Normally, visibility is reported by the weather service and/or NOAA at various weather stations.  They would report at the airport tower visibility is currently 1 mile.  But, what does that have to do with anything?  So, you're out there and you can't see two boat lengths ahead of you, or in all directions for that matter? How do you get home?

Do you blow your fog horn?  In the harbor, there is enough water lapping on hulls and slapping halyards so you're not really going to run into a boat.  It doesn't help you from running aground.  If it was really foggy, you'd call the Harbor Master and they would bring you in.  The Harbor Master is part of the local Harbor Patrol, part of the local police.  The Coast Guard is part of Homeland Security (not a branch of the Navy).  If there was rough conditions or you were farther out in the ocean, then the Coast Guard would come to the rescue with their military stealth GPS that's accurate to within a couple inches.

Now, where does GPS fit in?  Well, we only have iphones with nautical GPS application.  We do not have any chart plotter on the boat.  What is the range of the iphone GPS app?  Hmmm?  Satellite range will cover us all the way out to Catalina! 

Our Old School Foggy Weather Tactical Approach:
1.  Go really slow.  Consider dropping Anchor.
2.  The Captain will steer. 
3.  The First Mate will look out from the bow.

Modern Fog Navigation Strategy:
1.  Use GPS.  Prevents getting lost.
2.  Use Depth Sounder.  Alarms when you get shallow.  Prevents running aground.
3.  Use Marine AIS (automatic identification system).  Tells you where other boats are around you.  Tells other boats that you are there.  Prevents getting run over.

The Million Dollar Question: When do you use a fog horn? 
Fog horns were invented so stationary objects, like lighthouses, could sound their presence.  The low tone travels farther in the fog than a high tone.  Nowadays, these horns are automated.  There is a fog horn on the buoy at the harbor entrance that is turned on for foggy days.  I think I would sound our horn until the can ran out of air!  An air horn is required safety equipment on an ocean going vessel and the Coast Guard probably has some guidelines for using it.  Any suggestions?

The Marina Sounds Like a Casino!

We were in Santa Barbara a couple weeks ago.  Love it.  Love it.  The wind was blowing and slapping the halyards against the masts.  It was a very jingly, jangly sound.  The ocean race was in full swing and every so often a horn would go off.  The steel drum band was playing on the deck of the Yacht Club!  Sea birds were squaking.  Waves were crashing.  Flags were wipping.  Kinda reminded me of the gaming floor in a Vegas Casino. 

Listen: The Marina "slapping halyards" sounds vs. Casino Gambling Sounds.
Readers, I hope these sound bite links work, because they are pretty cool!

TGIF Sunset Cruise

TGIF!  We went on an open ocean sail after work today!  Captain's take: wind was 1-3 mph, 2-4 ft swell, 7 second intervals.  Basically, bobbing in the duldrums...

So, we headed back into the bay for some pictures in the "magic hour"!

Wondered about this boat from Las Vegas....???  Port of Call?  The Venetian?  Treasure Island?

Stopped in for Fish and Chips at the Local Hut!

I ordered a "Sex on the Beach".  Just so you know, this is out of my usual form--too much Red #5.  But, we are thinking that we have to come up with a drink called "Sex on the Boat".  The Captain says that it must stave off scurvy in order to be authentic. "Sex on the Beach" is Vodka based, but I wanted to come up with a Rum alternative.  But, isn't that a "Shipwreck"?  We don't want that!  Any suggestions?

TGIF Sunset BBQ

Thanks to the good Captain, we had planned to take the boat on the Bay for BBQ Filet Mignon, photography, and local Sauvignon Blanc!  I was so grateful to have this evening cruise on the schedule, because it has been a super long busy crazy week!  And, I've been reading The Motion of the Ocean!  This is Janna Cawrse Esarey's book fully entitled: The Motion of the Ocean: 1 Small Boat, 2 Average Lovers, and a Woman's Search for the Meaning of Wife.

So, I had planned to present the B-HAG concept to my Captain: Big Hairy Audacious Goal.  This is Janna and Graeme's grand concept, a'la stimulus package!  Basically, come up with a goal that is bigger than life, create a stategy for accomplishing it, and then throw caution to the wind and take a deep, cleansing breath, and go for it!!!!!!

If you have a big Goal . . . . would you dare even say it out loud? Would you share it with anyone? Would you keep it silent, secret and let it build momentum inside like a 2 Liter bottle of Pop shaken up? What do you think?

TGIF!  We had a wonderful sunset BBQ cruise!

The Beautiful Spinnaker Sail!

Ode to the Spinnaker Sail that I do not have enough money to buy . . .

I wish you were Matthew Modine and I was Baby
And I owned a sewing machine in the floor….
Oh, how I would make a spinnaker.
Oh, how colorful she would be.

If anyone can get this slanted reference to a Disney movie called Wind, staring Matthew Modine and the girl called Baby in Dirty Dancing....it was basically a 13 year old girl's trashy romance about saucing sailors and a killer magnifico spinnaker.
 
At any rate, I love the Spinnaker Sail!  It is always bright and cheery and wonderful.  It fills with wind and balloons out in front of the boat.  Can I just say it again: I love spinnaker sails!!! 
 
We saw several spinnakers this weekend.  I realized today that we will probably never have one on Training Wheels.  Flying a spinnaker is for the Big League-er.  We are just not on the level.  It is best flung with the help of a crew; extra hands are needed to fly it and reel it in.

Again, I apologize for not keeping the horizon horizontal.  I need a tripod or level attached to my camera!  I took these with the 55-200 mm lens on RAW setting.

The picture quality broke down even on the RAW setting when I zoomed in to get a close up of the blue spinnaker.  I am still not sure how to best capture these distant events!

How to Photograph Water

Instead of learning why Haiti's earthquake is worse than Chile's, we drove up the coast yesterday, during the tsunami warning, to take pictures.  Basically, I am a total hack with a great camera and an amazing landscape. I feel like I’ve cheated somehow. I don’t even know what an f-stop is, but I will now proceed to give you advice on how to photograph water.

The first rule of thumb is to take lots of pictures. In this digital age, who cares? What does it cost to take 400 pictures? Essentially nothing! So, I took about 400 pictures and then deleted all the ones I didn’t like . . . which was, oh, about 300 of them!  I used my 55-200mm lens the entire day.  And, I probably should buy a tripod . . . you will soon see why!

The second lesson I learned is to keep the horizon horizontal. It seems basic, I know. Bear with me.

Clearly I have demonstrated that a crooked water-sky line ruins the picture! 

These turned out a little better . .

The third lesson I learned is that it is really hard to photograph a rainbow.  I was using auto-focus and the camera didn't know what to focus on.  Even on manual focus, I didn't know what to focus on!  Trying to decide which particle of water was the focal point was . . . a little schizophrenic!

Anyhow, it ended up being a wonderful afternoon excursion.  We doubled back on this beautiful scenery today for Truman's long run.  He did 18 miles!  I did 6.