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Too fat to float

OK. The Surgeon General says we’re too fat. It’s his business to keep track of our health. But now the Coast Guard?

Eat Drink & Sail!

I wish I had someone else’s picture for this, but all the ones I found were too insulting or showed fatalities. So I used my own, and by God, I’m going on a diet.

Here’s the deal — the Coast Guard has changed the calculation for carrying capacity raising the assumed weight of passengers to 185 pounds. According to Soundings, since 1960 the assumed weight had been 160 pounds.

The call for change stemmed from two boating tragedies. In March 2004, a pontoon water taxi called Lady D overturned in Baltimore Harbor with 25 aboard. Five people died; four were severely injured.

In October 2005, a monachal called Ethan Allen sunk in 70 feet of water on Lake George in New York while carrying 49 passengers. Twenty elderly people died.

This doesn’t affect cruise ships or recreational boats, but does impact so called T boats. One Miami cruise operator points to his craft, which before the modification was allowed to carry 49 passengers and is now limited to 35.

Though we haven’t heard of a Fat Patrol, it’s not a stretch to imagine that Harbor Patrols will start looking a bit more closely at boats that are riding low in the water.

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Landing Cove at the far east end of Anacapa Island is the only place that you can gain access to the east island. Most days, it’s pretty difficult to get there in a kayak or dinghy because there is usually a pronounced swell, which makes getting into and out of — but particularly into — a small boat very tricky.

You’ll likely find yourself dropping the hook in 50′ of water. And even at that depth, your boat is going to be very close to the bluffs. I think it prudent to keep qualified boat driver aboard at all times when anchored here.

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The public was sorely limited in its access to Santa Rosa Island .... until this January

Cattle, vaqueros, horses, tack,  a sprawling ranch house, the foreman’s place — we’ll all be able to get a close look at the  artifacts of the ranching, and — later — hunting operation on Santa Rosa Island very soon.

Though we, the taxpayers, bought the property 25 years ago for $30 million, our access has been limited due to continued ranching and hunting operations that were part of the transition deal. On January 1, 2012 we’ll finally get a look.

It’s been pretty quiet out there for some time. The families that have owned and managed the ranch had scaled down operations over the years and have been saying their final good-byes to their more than century old homestead since the 80′s.

The Ventura County Star has an article on those families, their heritage, their final good-byes as well as a very sketchy account of how the National Park Service will manage the land at Santa Rosa.

We are looking forward to exploring the island beyond the thin stretch of beach, the mile or two of roadway we were allowed to traverse and the Torrey Pines that we’ve been confined to. Even with it open entirely, I doubt we’ll get to a large percentage of the island as it is huge.

A note to sailors: I feel unsafe leaving the boat unattended at anchor. We’ve left our boat a couple of times and had to hightail it back each time when the wind kicked up, clocked around and put us on a dangerous lee shore. Add to that the difficulty we (OK, I) had getting my kayak off the beach in the building surf and you can see why I’m nervous about getting out of sight of the boat.

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Typical weekend day in Channel Islands Harbor

About 98% of all the boats around here stay tied up about 98% of the time –

I’ve said that often. But I’ve been corrected. Many locals who should know — harbor patrol, marina managers and the like — think I’m an optimist. They say it’s more like 99% and 99%.

So why would someone invest hundreds of thousands of dollars in a boat, then spend something north of $500 a month on a slip, several thousand dollars a year on taxes and insurance and let the boat sit? Unless you’re a member of the Bottom Cleaners Benevolent Society, it just doesn’t make much sense.

I’m sure there are lots of answers. One, I’m sure is the dream that didn’t work out as planned.

“Marge, I declare if we buy this boat, we’ll spend every weekend on her. EVERY WEEKEND!”

And for the first three months Marge, the kids and the Old Man sail every weekend. And then soccer happens and they lose a Saturday. Then ballet. Maybe someone has to study and there is an interlude in the boating.

That’s one theory. My new theory is that somewhere early on in the boating adventure the Old Man screws up a departure or a landing. He is chagrined, maybe develops anxiety feeling he’s going to ding his boat. Or be laughed at (some more). That’s a strong deterrent to going to the boat.

I think there is an antidote. It’s in three parts.

ONE:

The first is the realization that not every docking will be perfect. From time to time, I find myself at some crazy angle on approach and have to try it again. In fact, a couple of months ago it took me three attempts to master a strong crosswind before I could nestle Wiley — a boat I’ve sailed for 20 years — into her berth. And yes, I’ve bumped the dock harder than planned more than once.

I once encountered a highly experienced captain-instructor who said that every landing he made was perfect. Don’t believe that. And if you happen to hire him, make sure you’ve got him in a Drug and Alcohol Prevention program and have him sign up for Liars Anonymous. At a minimum, find out what he means by perfect. Maybe it’s simply no gaping holes below the waterline.

TWO: FENDERS FENDERS FENDERS & DOCKWHEELS

These items aren’t cheap — especially those dockwheels, but they’re indispensable if you have a slip that lies crosswind. Unless you’re in the 98% in question, you’re going to contact the corner of the dock some day. One firm contact will cost as much or — likely — more than a set of dockwheels.

THREE: LESSONS AND PRACTICE

Get some lessons on your boat. Learn how to use spring lines to get out of your slip in a strong crosswind. Learn how to use variable power on twin screws and how best to use a bow thruster, learn how prop walk can screw up a landing or make it slick as a training video. Figure out your bailout tactics for blown approaches. Even if you don’t hire a coach, you need to practice on your own. Like parallel parking — you’ve got to practice more than once in a while to be any good at it.

Then join the 2% who love to sail.

(If you want coaching, I’m happy to help: 805.750.7828. I’m not inexpensive, but then neither is your boating investment.)

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Lunge feeding — it ain’t dainty. Obviously, there is a risk here, especially because there isn’t much indication that the whales are on the way.

Even if you don’t get swallowed, the fine just for bothering our big friends is quite large. And by bother, the authorities mean just being inside 100 yards. And by large fine they mean up to several thousand dollars.

Of course these whales are right off the Santa Cruz Amusement Park Pier … all kinds of cute remarks in there, but I’m not going that way.

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Every boating publication in the northern hemisphere has published — or will publish — at least one article on winterizing your boat this fall. No need for me to bother, especially not here in southern California where the ten degree change in mean temperature is not an actionable event.

Even though the weather doesn’t change that much here, the racing season does end and many weekend sailors will take the next several months to attend to other things recreational.

June gloom, which splotched here and there into July, August, Sept etc. had me acting like a winter sailor all year. But, rather than drain my anti-freeze, or wrap my boat, I settled in with several classic boat books. I selected these books because they’re classics that I needed to attend to  and the Kindle versions were FREE.

I just turned off/put down Joshua Slocum’s Sailing around the World Alone.

He made the trip just before the calendar flipped into the 20th century, so alone meant no-body went with him. But he was also alone in that he had no SSB, no VHF, no GPS, no chart plotter, no SAT phone … no refrigeration … pretty much no nothing. In fact, on the last leg of his journey his goat (too long a story to relate here) ate his charts.

He frequently encountered hostile tribes, then garden-variety thieves and, having sailed from Massachusetts to Gibraltar, rerouted himself to avoid pirates east Suez, making his trip Around the World plus an Atlantic crossing.

Weather? Even though his descriptions are graphic, my mental pictures are probably far too tame to be accurate. And he was taking his time and picking his seasons and so reduced the frequency of getting pounded.

I learned a great deal from this book, learned stuff about boat handling, weather prediction, navigation and the role of experience (Slocum had been at sea most of his life) and of blind-ass luck. I also learned that I don’t have (nor ever had) the patience to circumnavigate. I also confirmed that it is insane to send one’s children on such a quest … unless you can get rich even if they don’t return.

Go to my book page for a link to the Kindle version.

PS — I just bought the newest Kindle. It cost less than my old one (about $80), is faster, lighter and more compact.

My other two Kindle recommendations are Richard Henry Dana’s Two Years Before the Mast, a true story that takes place before the Civil War and largely takes place in our sailing area. Think California without any cities: San Francisco is hardly a village and Los Angeles is nothing but the Mission. But you’ll recognize the lay of the land and the weather and it will make you very grateful that your boat can sail within sixty-degrees of the wind.

Finally, Mark Twain’s Life on the Mississippi. Obviously not an open-ocean story, more about coming of age (and later impending old-age) on boats.

See the top line (below the Kindles themselves) of the book page for all of these Free Kindle books.

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Above: Walton takes a break after polishing off half a dozen projects aboard Sancerre.

Rob Walton, ever-so-recently retired from environmental engineering and recycling firm, has been named Chief Maintenance Officer of Sail Channel Islands, LLC.

In his first half-day on the job, he completed an electric head install, rebuilt the pump on a manual head, fixed a sagging hatch and cabin sole as well as beefing up some of the “cheap-frenchy” pieces that “allegedly supported” the commode and then fixed an ailing shower.
Top: he takes a break at our alternate office sometimes called “The Lookout.”

Rob heads a new division of Sail Channel Islands that offers maintenance training, concierge services, sailing yacht buyer’s consultation as well as maintenance services for boats — power & sail — in Oxnard and Ventura.

For a more complete bio, see ROB.

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As most of my sailing pals know, I’m not all that interested in racing, but this video leads with a spectacular clip of Oracle’s America’s Cup boat capsizing during practice.

The film also captures a rescue at sea in 45 foot (15m) swells and bangs home the point that getting back to the victim is the easy part — the tough segments are keeping track of the victim and then getting them aboard.

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Rick reports that this sort of incident is NOT uncommon in the BVI.

This film has been getting a lot of play on Facebook. There are a lot of comments, suggestions, descriptions and admonitions, but I am at a loss. A few viewers suggested inebriation, but drinking and sailing is customary in the BVI. In any event, I don’t think a couple of Red Stripes or even several Rum Concoctions would be sufficient to explain this film.

“Ode to the Credit Card Captains” from Rick Moore on Vimeo.

Rick’s Commentary - Unfortunately, mishaps like this are not a very rare occurrence in the BVI’s… this was just an extreme case and we happened to have the camera running from the onset. Still amazes me how many of these bareboat captains are completely unqualified to operate these vessels, yet the bareboat companies keep renting them out without proper screening… and this one damaged 6 boats in 45 minutes, 4 of them private vessels like ours. Guess as long as you have a credit card… Can find out more about our charter business at www.WindInMySails.com and if you like the video, feel free to SHARE or RE-POST it anywhere!

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This is a new film from the National Park Service portraying the lush/stark/beauty of our islands and extolling the virtues of conservation.

The voice over is Kevin Costner, a local boy. How local? Costner attended elementary school at McKevette School in Santa Paula, California, Cabrillo Jr. High School and Buena High in Ventura, though he graduated from Villa Park High School in Villa Park.

But Kevin isn’t the star of this show; this is all about landscape and cinematography. I’ve watched the film a couple of times. It’s actually best set to mute. Kevin is superb, but the script is … well, not to my taste.

So, pour a glass of wine, click on the image of Arch Rock over to the right and begin thinking about buying a new camera.

It’s about a half hour long and should inspire you to visit the islands some time between now and the winter gales.

See you on the water.

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