Words, Just Words

"To be truly challenging, a voyage, like a life, must rest on a firm foundation of financial unrest. Otherwise you are doomed to a routine traverse, the kind known to yachtsmen, who play with their boats at sea-"cruising" it is called. Voyaging belongs to seaman, and to the wanderers of the world who cannot, or will not, fit in. If you are contemplating a voyage and you have the means, abandon the venture until your fortune changes. Only then will you know what the sea is all about.

Little has been said or written about the ways a man may blast himself free. Why? I don't know, unless the answer lies in our diseased values. A man seldom hesitates to describe his work; he gladly divulges the privacies of alleged sexual conquests. But ask him how much he has in the bank and he recoils into a shocked and stubborn silence.

"I've always wanted to sail to the South Seas, but I can't afford it." What these men can't afford is not to go. They are enmeshed in the cancerous discipline of "security." And in the worship of security we fling our lives beneath the wheels of routine -and before we know it our lives are gone.

What does a man need-really need? A few pounds of food each day, heat and shelter, six feet to lie down in and some form of working activity that will yield a sense of accomplishment. That's all -in the material sense. And we know it. But we are brainwashed by our economic system until we end up in a tomb beneath a pyramid of time payments, mortgages, preposterous gadgetry, playthings that divert our attention from the sheer idiocy of the charade.

The years thunder by. The dreams of youth grow dim where they lie caked in dust on the shelves of patience. Before we know it, the tomb is sealed.

Where then; lies the answer? In choice. Which shall it be; bankruptcy of purse or bankruptcy of life?"

-- Captain Sterling Hayden, _Schooner Wanderer_, 1959

1st day out on Tempest

1st day with Tempest
Current mood: Tired

Today was the first day that we took out Tempest.

As we drove down the Long Beach the outlook was bleak as grey skys didn't seem to let up and a couple of drops hit our windshield.  I'd complain but seeing as California has basically been a cinderbox this week any rain is good rain even if it interferes with our sailing.

This being only the second time out to the small harber on the leeward side of terminal island in San Pedro I got lost twice trying to get there but finally made it and Kari saw for the first time what Cheap Seat Marinas look like.  At $8.00 a foot including electricity you can hardly complain about anything, she didn't audibly, but you could tell this was below her comfort level.  After seeing that the bathrooms and showers were more spotless than any at the more expensive harbors her mood picked up about the little harbor and she thought that tempest looked even better than in her pictures.

After a quick runthrough I looked around and realizing that there wasn't an ounce of wind decided we'd motor out past the breakwater and give Jacob a chance to fish.  This also offered a good time for him to practice using the Tiller as it's easier when you're not dealing with the sails.

Once past the breakwater we drifted down towards the Long Beach Harbor entrance while Jacob fished.  He pulled 3 total Mackarel out of the water using nothing but cheap lures that came with his kiddy rod kit, ocean fishing is so easy.  We kept two so he could get a chance to eat what he caught.

As we rounded the harbor entrance I shagged on the Jib, unfortunately, quite cumberlously as I wasn't used to all the rigging and the wind really started to pick up.  Suddenly we were Close Reaching at 5.5 knots without even trying.  Kari is uncomfortable with any heal over 15 or 20 degrees so I kept the main luffing just a bit to make it a easy ride. 

Sea Launch, a multi national consortium set to launch satellites into orbit for a reasonable cost was in port and there was a treat as they had a rocket on the 25 story launch.  If you haven't seen it before in pictures, it looks like a huge oil rig platform with four legs and a large flat deck with a building on one side.  The difference is this thing is self propelled and travels some 1500 miles from long beach to the equater to launch it's rocket.  And yes that's still a lot less than using NASA.

A storm system moved in on us and we must have been getting a very consistent 20+ kts and I talked Kari through Reefing the sail on Tempest.  Bob has done such a great job on the engineering and maintenance of this boat that she was able to reef it very easily with little instruction.  This helped with the healing and we still made 6+ kts back up to the San Pedro lighthouse.

Tacking one last time Tempest turned into our harbor the wind absolutely stopped. I mean Stopped.  I have never seen water that glassy and after drifting for a few minutes we started the motor and went back in.  A great day to break in the boat with just about everything thrown at us even a bit of rain.  Can't wait to go again.  I'll leave you with this phot of Jacob looking out at the Horizon, you can almost see him planning his destiny.

Tempest, my new boat

Here's a couple of pictures of the Sailboat I now partially own, sort of.  It's long complicated but it's a great deal, anyone want to go sailing?

She is a 1968 Glassline boat that was originally designed by Bell Lapworth.  Most of these hulls were build by Shock up until 1968 then Glassline bought the mold and made them for a few more years.  She has a very low deckline and Pretty Lines although this particular shape does shorten the water line to only about 18'.

The rudder never leaves the water even on a 45' heel a benefit of it being fixed to the keel and she has a very low COG.

LOA 25.9'

Beam 7'2"

Draft 4'

Mast Height 37'

I'm looking forward to running her around and especially getting out this summer as she will be a very wet boat and should make her very fun.

The B&W is a picture of her hauled out in the 70's and shows the hull lines nicely.  The other picture is a shot of her in her slip a few weeks ago.

I want to Prosper, small ad

I have told some of you that I've been researching a new way to invest some of my money.  I heard about this company www.Prosper.com through a podcast given to the future entrepeneaurs groups at Stanford University.  Simply put prosper allows you to make unsecured loans to peope throughout the country.  They teach you good principles of selecting someone to lend to as well as offer the other hassles of lending such as reporting to the credit bureaus, verifying income and credit, and if needed collection.

 

They have a strong matrix and history of credit ratings that pay and don't pay.  I've been watching this thing for over a year and it seems to be very successful whether you need to borrow money short term or would like to earn money short term.  Do the research and reading yourself, don't jump on board but either way if you're interested please register using the enclosed link as I will get a credit to my account if you do become a lender.

 

http://www.prosper.com/join/cemseller

 

So far I have only lent out $700.00.  It took me over a month to lend it out because their verification procedures are so strick a large number of loans gets rejected even after they are funded when the borrower cannot prove what they stated.  I have received my first payment and all my loans are still current.

 

I earned 1.18 on that first payment pretty sweet considering I lent out $50.00 to someone on a 3 year payment term and that's after fees.  I'll share more as it comes up.

"You Can’t Even Sail"

As wildfires destroy the southland, and scientist spout off about global warming I wonder how many of them even Sail. Sailing shows us that we are not dependent totally on the furrors of gasoline engines, electricity and the like. We have, had, and always will have the ability to move through this world with ingeniuty.
To think that 1000's of years ago someone figured out how to not only float on water, but developed the sail plan, keel, and crew management that allowed them to conquer the world. Can you even discuss the world without knowing how to sail. Don't give me your plight of reversing the worlds dependency on foreign oil, the need to turn all our cars green, or throw away your plastic water bottles. Start sailing and it will all become clear, that the best way to live is through the peace and tranquility of movement without noise, without fumes, without heat, and without pollution.
"You can't even Sail!"