AC 45's - `Stadium Sailing' in San Francisco Bay

"Stadium sailing" is what Paul Cayard - who sailed for the St. Francis Yacht Club in San Francisco - calls it.
After millions spent battling to bring the America's Cup back to America Larry Ellison and San Francisco will save the event.  Racing these super fast machines in the San Francisco Bay, in front of crowds on the embarcadero and on the Golden Gate Bridge.  count me and every other sailor in on this one.

Pierre Cayard - reunited with a boat of his youth

Pierre Cayard and ElToro

Paul Cayard, the world champion sailor, tracked down the El Toro sailing dinghy his father had built sailed to win 50 years ago.  HERE is the link.  I love this story because I have spent most of my life trying to preserve and recapture the boating experiences of my youth: my Snipe class sailboat (15'6"), our 16' Thompson lapstrake outboard runabout,  our 23 foot lapstrake Zobel skiff, the 18' Cape Code center board sloop that was the first boat my father bought, and the rowboat we used to get out to it at Sea Cliff Creek, Hempstead Harbor, NY.  And there was the afternoon sail I never forgot on Lou Perretti's Friendship sloop.  

Gladiator

I've done pretty well in my quest.  At the moment I have 1A - a cedar 11' Monhegan skiff, North River 2 - a 17' mahogany keelboat (Buzards Bay 14), and Grace - an 18' Lyman inboard runabout.  And of course we have a house in Friendship, Maine, across the river from the Zuber family which owns the  century old Friendship sloop Gladiator.  Pictured below in Friendship harbor, Bob Zuber tells the story of his family's boat HERE
h/t Eileen Tulipan for the Pierre Cayard story

Evening boats - a new watercolor from Pescadotes

A new watercolor from J. Warren t/a Pescadotes

A Year After Deepwater Horizon Spill, a Perfect Day for Redfish - NYTimes.com

Chris Santella reports from the Gulf:  “I think that the reason fishing has been great is related to the spill. First, many of the species that make up the marine ecosystem here have had an entire spawning period to reproduce and grow without being harvested, thanks to commercial fishing moratoriums. That puts more bait in the water, which supports more and bigger fish.

“I also believe that redfish habitat in other parts of the Gulf of Mexico has been damaged, and that some of the displaced fish have come here. I have not personally seen any oil residue around these marshes, but I can’t say it’s not there. We just don’t know for sure. One thing that’s certain; the long-term effects of the spill have not played out.”Torts Today: Year After Deepwater Horizon Spill, a Perfect Day for Redfish - NYTimes.com

The Mighty Mekong

Lee Gilchrist reports from Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam about the mighty Mekong River.

Long Island City to Hell Gate - industrial infrastructure of New York

Sandy Malter, an architect, once told me he sees New York City as a single machine.

Cities are energy-efficient (compare the subway to the NJ Turnpike) but it is easy to forget how much steel, how much power it takes to run New York.  The few minutes on the Amtrak train bound for Boston from Long Island City to Hell Gate is a dramatic reminder. (click any photo to enlarge)

Sunnyside

satellite dishes

Astoria, BQE, Con Ed power plant, 59 St. bridge, east midtown

Hell Gate RR bridge from the train

In Nepal’s Everest Region, Taking the Less-Traveled Three Passes Loop - NYTimes.com

Avoiding the crowds.  No Starbucks, no tea houses.

In Nepal’s Everest Region, Taking the Less-Traveled Three Passes Loop - NYTimes.com

Kayaking with porpoises and seals in New York Harbor

Vladmimir Brezina's slide show of kayaking in New York harbor with porpoises and seals.  the times they are a changin!!

Wreck of Le Papillon - Fire Island - March 31, 2011

This great looking boat - Le Papillon - is probably done for - stranded on the shore of Fire Island ten days ago.  Pix at Saltaire 38, a great blog about Fire Island.

Stanley Bogdan - legendary reel maker dies

Bogdan reel

Stanley Bogdan

Stanley Bogdan, designer and builder of much-coveted fly fishing reels has died at 92.  He made them with  his son Stephen at S.E. Bogdan Custom Built.  Stanley was a master fisherman - especially of Atlantic salmon.  The magic of the reel is its highly sensitive double-disc brake - which enables the fisherman to adjust - wearing out the fish without breaking the line.


The Times obituary is HERE Marc Aroner, maker of Spinoza fine bamboo rods remembers Bogdan HERE, with a fish tale or two.

End of an Era - Tulipan & Conk, P.C. 1986 - 2011

for rent - available immediately