Its not a drag: the foiling craze is officially upon us

It started innocently enough, 20-30 years ago, it was proven that boats could move faster and with less power with foils.  This was first and still is applied to many ferry crossing boats (I think of the ones in the greek islands).


But as far as foiling with wind power, this is relatively recent.

The Moths, starting about 10 years ago, I want to say 2015, have done more for foiling that any other boat. And made wind geek like drool of envy.

Then, America's Cup of 2013 made it legit and mainstream, and I admit much more interesting than keelboat racing.

Finally, now it appears that there is a boat for the rest of us, the Waszp! Definitely on my toy list!

Do read here for actual good and fail history of foiling with wind.

Fair winds!

She's got the legs and knows how to use them!

No kidding!

Leggy Lady!

I dont know how I came across this, the wonders of the interwebs...well it turns out a Kiwi company make boats with legs. We heard of amphibian, but they usually look like cars. This is a boat that grows and retracts legs as needed to launch or when done.

I have no affiliation with this company, just impressed, also check out the youtube videos, fun to watch too!

Neato!

Homemade houseboat crossed the Atlantic

An interesting story really. A houseboat crossed from Newfoundland Canada to Ireland.

Rough looking, but strong enough

There are a lot more details here and here.

The question is whether the builder Rick Small was in it. No one's sure. But his creation was strong enough to make it across, pretty amazing, really.

I suspect we'll find out soon.

Before the flood - quick review

Leonardo DiCaprio took three years to complete this documentary called Before the flood about the alrady ongoing climate change crisis.


It is actually quite positive as it shows the various problems and also, as opposed to doom and gloom also shows positive. Best example is when he visits Elon Musk's Giga factory and is told that 100 of these would provide all the power needed for the planet. And it's and his reaction is "That's it". It is doable!

You can watch it for free on YouTube and other services.

Thanks Leonardo!

Tiny boat crosses gulf stream to Bahamas

I have this secret dream about voyaging the ocean on a tiny boat, frankly not sure I would have the balls to actually do it. But it can and is getting done. So, I always enjoy reading about small boat travels.

Dave's Paradox 14

One blog I follow and really enjoy is called Graduating to a smaller boat, the author Dave last year has sailed around the Hawaii islands, sounds easy, but it is not.

This past Saturday, he posted about his crossing of the Gulf stream from Key Largo to Bimini on his Paradox 14 (4.2m designed by Matt Layden) that he himself built. I love the Paradox 14 for a single handler (I even have the plans), but if I ever see one close by, I'm buying it!

Anyways, believe it or not, he is not the first one on such a small boat. Many have done the crossing to the Bahamas, most notably Dave Bolduc on his 3.6 meter ENIGMA (also designed by Matt Layden).

Congrats guys, well done!

Another video blog to follow: RAN sailing

There are so many great sailing/cruising blogs.

Once a while, I will add one to the list here that I really enjoy.



This one, RAN Sailing towards distant shores is very well done. The corresponding blog is here. 

Very simple and well done. The video footage is clean, and enhanced by many drone fly-bies. Their stories are clear. I'm not sure why, I do prefer the videos of between 5-10 mins long, tho I do follow others that are much longer.

The different and very interesting part here, is that they are cold weather sailors. I'm always impressed by people who sail in cold and even snowy weather. I am not a big fan of anything below 5C, such a wimp.

The name Ran is for the goddess of the deep ocean of the nordic mythology.

Enjoy!

Tracking and Webcams on hurricane Matthew

As much as I love the Bahamas, boy I am glad to not be there right now as hurricane Matthew bears down towards it, could be hitting Nassau directly.

Hurricane Isabel from space

I hope everyone gets out and is prepare very well ahead of this.

For people that are far and are curious, okay, call us hurricane voyeurs! There are many webcams, lets see how long they stay up

• Nassau Bahamas (wind already very evident still 200 miles away!)

Also, there's a great hurricane tracker here, in real time

Stay safe!

Documentary: Chasing Bubbles

Recently I came across this great documentary: Chasing Bubbles.

Alex Rust

It is

A documentary about the journey and spirit of Alex Rust, a farm boy turned day trader from Indiana who, at 25, abandoned his yuppie life in Chicago, bought a modest sailboat, and set out to sail around the world, learning as he journeyed.

says IMDB.

Pretty amazing that the movie is available for free. Would have paid to see it.

The movie can be watched on YouTube and Vimeo.

Btw, as a side note, the Vimeo app for Amazon Fire Stick is really primitive, no search capability?!

Anyways, I might even watch it a second time, it is very inspiring, and poses some very good questions.

Enjoy!

Dry while on the water

Warning: another rant ahead! :-)

Result of mixing alcool and boating

So, everyone knows it, drinking and boating do not mix. While I am very social and love sundowners as much as anyone else, I am always appalled at  the normality of seeing drinking and boating.

My rule is: if I am boating, I do not drink alcool, period. Exception are when anchored or docked for the night. If I know I will be boating, no drinks. I even buy de-alcoholized beers for that effect, as I really enjoy the taste of beer.

Its not even what I see in person. I do watch a lot of YouTube videos, and frequently I will see people on passages drinking wine and such. This is a no-no in my book. I praise my favourites world sailors Paul & Sheryl Shard of Distant Shores as NOT doing that.

Just yesterday, in the news, a bozo stranded his Mega-Yacht stranded on Beach at Palm Beach Inlet in Florida!

If you still want to drink, there is even a Boat Sober app which provides a Blood Alcohol Estimator that allows the user to estimate their BAC based on their gender, body weight and how many drinks they have consumed in a specific period of time. This tool is only that….a tool. Be aware though, that you can be arrested for a BAC less than the legal limit if you show signs of impairment. And it really is not about getting arrested, drinking while on the water increases the chances of an accident or drowning. And nobody wants increase those odds.

Cheers! (when anchored or docked for the day)

Mind your wake

Warning: Pet peeve rant ahead!

Now, that's a wake!

One of the things that frustrate me, is the wake that boaters generate. I should really take a picture of the "No Wake" sign on waterways that's being tossed around by someone's wake.

Where we are in the canals, for some reason, the boats most oblivious to causing wakes are....surprise...sailors! Yes, that is a surprise, as I was (still am) a sailor. So that really pains me.

I learned early in my sailing days about the damages a wake can create. Way back when I learnt sailing, I used to often take a Laser  and explore little bays, go where other boats could not go. I just enjoyed being in nature, I would see big and small fishes in the small bays, and then as I was in a tiny bay, I would feel and see the effects of a boat buzzing by. I literally saw and felt the effect on the environment....motor boating is not natural and disturbs ecology.

And in the modern society, well, wakes also damage the shore walls. Requiring maintenance and update.

I am now, a power boating, tho I still sail occasionally, but I am probably anal about looking behind me to make sure there is no wake to disturb nature and boats docked.

Take to extremes, it can caused a lot damage, such as what happened last week Italy (on Aug 28, 2016).

So, yes, please mind your wake.

Sad story about fire onboard

I came across this story on Facebook. Definitely not all cruising stories are perfect.

A fire on-board is one of the most dangerous things that can happen. I do love Diesel engines on sailboats, not to self...avoid turbos.

Anyways, a lot of good lessons there....Read about it here.

Jim Morris "Godfather" of Trop Rock passes away

I love Trop rock music, been listening to various artists for a long time by buying theirs CDs (Mark Mulligan, Eric Stone, Michael McCloud, Buffett of course, etc).

But only last year did I start listening to trop rock radio, mostly internet Beach Front Radio. Love that station.


So, for me, I only discovered Jim Morris around that time, and bought a few CDs six months ago. If you do not know his music, I recommend the album "Seafood Platter" as it is a best of.

Anyways, I was sad to first hear through Facebook that he had suffered a brain aneurysm, and the he subsequently passed away. More details here.

Cheers to you Jim, didnt meet you, but your music is with me forever! Thanks!

WindGlider instructions

If like me you got a used WindGlider that did not come with instructions, do not despair, the setup instructions are on YouTube in 2 parts (phew). Part 1 above and Part 2 below. I would still like to find a PDF of the instructions however. If I do find them I will post it here.

Cheers!

Praise for Windglider

Not me!

Last fall, I came across a WindGlider for sale on Kijiji (more popular in Canada than Craigslist). I tried it once very quickly this winter while in Florida, maybe 1 hour, but did not have time.

Finally yesterday, I spent a whole afternoon "gliding", a bit frustrating at first, but it didnt take too long to finally be able to glide effortlessly...proof that you can teach an old dog new tricks (I'm 51), though I have sailed my whole life, this is a bit different, learning to tilt the mast to turn and control directions, it takes a bit, but is slowly becoming more natural.

So turning the board is still a challenge. I first tried tacking...ouch.  Now instead, I am gybing, still not perfectly, but better.

This thing is a hoot, great fun...not too fast, easy to control and very stable.

Cheers!

Yacht Teleport

I like to follow world cruisers and explorers.

One of my favorite, if you have not come across is the one of Chris and Jess from Yacht Teleport.

They have a great YouTube channel, where  you will be probably be sucked in watching all the episodes. And do start at the first one.

These guys have accomplished a lot, starting by restoring the boat in Halifax, Nova Scotia Canada. It is a beautiful wooden boat. And you thought you needed a steel boat for the arctic eh?

Then, yes as hinted above they crossed the arctic from east to west over the course of a couple of years.

The story is fascinating, you will learn about perseverance, junk rig sailing (which I am a big fan of, for its simplicity) and, yes Love.

The only downside, is that they only publish sporadically.

Cheers!

"Uncharted Waters" a sailing documentary

I just came across this, a very nice sailing documentary about the journey to the Olympics for sailors.

Very well done, and about 1 hour. You can also watch it here on Vimeo,

For people, like me, that like to watch offline or on the boat. You could download it using a service such as ClipConverter. This will go right on my local cloud (a Seagate MyBookLive)!

Enjoy!

What is this blog about?

Well, I used to have a blog called CruisingDream, where we were planning to sell everything and sail away!

But responsibility and real life took priorities, instead, this blog will be about anything water related, as we love to boat and generally do anything with water.

The subjects will be varied, but all water related, book, boats, boat repairs etc....and it could be that one day, once retired, we do take off, that is still a possibility!

So. stay tuned, the adventures should be good!

Living by the water

Where do I start with a first post?

Ok, we live by water, and we love it. We have a boat (more on that later) docked right behind us and use it frequently.



This is roughly where we live, Lake Simcoe Canada.