Thursday, August 8, 2013

Raised bed August 2013

click to enlarge

Kola Peninsula - trout fishing

Fly fishing for trout on Russia's Kola Peninsula, on the White Sea.  You can google it.

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Jiuzhaigou Valley, Sichuan


Yosemite? No - the Jiuzhai Valley
Sichuan, China

Camping out on Governor's Island - if you arrive by human-powered boat


Special Night for Camping Not Far From City’s Lights - NYTimes.com:
by Winnie Hu

For one night every July, Governors Island, a 172-acre oasis that was once a military base and is usually open to sightseers only during the day, makes an exception to its no-camping rule for outdoor types who haul their tents and supplies over by canoe, kayak and rowboat (the only other camping on the island is by re-enactors during a Civil War history weekend). About 100 people slept over this year, undeterred by a heat wave and the threat of thunderstorms. Many were repeaters who waited all year to have the island to themselves in a city of eight million.

'via Blog this'

Hydrofoil sailing - AC 72s - video

This video explains the essence of "foiling", hydro-foiling that is in the AC 72s - the Americas Cup boats.  I have long explained sailboats as an airplane with one wing in the air and one in the water.  But until now the job of the wing in the water has been to prevent sliding to leeward.  Now it is to lift the boat and stop slipping to leeward.  To prevent a nose dive (a head on crash at highway speeds) you must change the fore-aft tilt angle of the dagger boards (the hydro-foils).  The crew needs those helmets and high tech suits with built-in pfd's. - GWC

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Quit y'er complainin'. The AC 72's are fast

Let's get over the whining about the America Cup.  Yes it's a club for the super-rich.  Hasn't it always been?  These boats are fast.  It is not like watching grass grow.  More like Nascar.  Here's Artemis - in blue - in the first race of the Challenger series and their first race in their new boat. Taking the start and windward leg - peaking at 39 kts.  This is a tribute to their team mate Andrew Simpson - the Olympic Gold medalist who died when their AC 72 footer pitch-poled.

blue sky

Sunday, August 4, 2013

Thrown by Life’s Curveballs, a Star Missed the Signals - NYTimes.com: by George Vecsey

A blunt assessment of the life and fate of Alex Rodriguez by George Vecsey. - GWC
Thrown by Life’s Curveballs, a Star Missed the Signals - NYTimes.com:
by George Vecsey
The singular event in the life of Alex Rodriguez is not his imminent suspension, or the career home run record that now will never happen.

The event that makes him so remote, so rudderless, took place when he was 9, when his father disappeared. This is not pop psychology to explain a man who blundered into the airplane propeller of adult reality. This is his own theory....

Saturday, August 3, 2013

Rockport harbor



Thursday, August 1, 2013

Approaching Georges Harbor VIDEO

Approaching Georges Harbor, Muscongus Bay, Maine
videographer: Milton Mejia
A perfect day in my favorite spot.
A view underway entering from the west.
The cross on the south east point of Allen Island marks the 1905 tercentennial
of Weymouth's landing on the Archangel - the founding of Maine