This afternoon we went to the new Brophy Brothers restaurant that opened in Ventura Harbor and I took a panoramic photo and turned it into my new desktop. Feel free to use it as yours if you like it.
Click on the image to download full size wallpaper. It is designed for 1920×1200 monitors.
The Post and Courier from Charleston, SC reported today that a Laser sailor was run down by a tour boat in the area. Tillerman at the Proper Course Blog also talked about this today.
Although I don’t do a whole lot of dinghy sailing but the times I have done it, it has happened to me more than once. No being completely run down by a power boat but have come across power boaters who have no regard for right-of-ways when it comes to small sailboats.
I was sailing a Capri 13 out of Santa Barbara harbor one day and was basically on collision course with a powerboat coming out of the harbor.This guy could clearly see me but he had no intention of altering his course. I had to gybe in the last minute just so he wouldn’t run me over.
It was not an honest mistake and he wasn’t even the least bit sorry about what he did. I know that because as he past me going at about 20 knots while churning up a 3 foot wake, he looked at me and threw up his arms like it was my fault for getting in his way.
Last Saturday We went to the boat show in Channel Islands Harbor. It is the first boat show I have ever been to and it was pretty cool. Of course there are the usual pushy booth attendants and people trying to sell timeshare who in my opinion shouldn’t have been allowed a booth there but I’m not running the show. There were a lot of cool things to see like Duffy Electric Boats and C-Dory boats who both had a few boats on display. Another company called Quickline who sells a handful of marine parts was demonstrating a type of anchor called the Ultra Anchor. They had a couple of troughs simulating different types of bottoms and really cool miniature anchors of all types. I thought the mini anchors were so cool that I couldn’t stop playing with them.
They also had a cool miniature bow of a sailboat that we couldn’t help but to pose our 6 month old baby with
Here is a clip of the anchor demonstration done by the person at the booth
Hennessey’s Tavern were representing with beers and burgers and we happily obliged
In the water there were probably 50 or so boats on display ranging anywhere from power yachts to 50 foot sailing catamarans. Hunter, Catalina, Beneteau and Com-Pac sailboats were also representing and It was fun going onboard and checking out some of these big boats.
Here is a little video of my checking out a new Catalina 470
Anyone who uses an outboard motor in the ocean knows the hassle of keeping the salt water flushed from the system after each use. Also keeping the top-heavy machine upright during storage is also a must to prevent flooding. One of the easiest ways to do that is to get a outboard stand. You can store your motor on it without much hassle as well as flushing it out with a bucket of water underneath after each use.
As all marine products typically are, outboard stands are way over priced for what you get. It is literally a few pieces of bent metal and a piece of plywood while West Marine would not hesitate to charge you $120 for one.
That is why I decided to make my own little contraption. It’s no work of art but it’s serving me well so far. A couple pieces of wood and some galvanized hardware that costs me just around $12 and a Saturday morning later, I have my own little collapsable outboard mount.
It uses exactly 2 pieces of wood: a 8 foot 2×4 and another 8 foot 2×6. It is made to hinge so you can fold it flat when you are not using it or for each transport. Straps at the bottom keeps it from doing the splits when the motor is mounted and I am even gonna mount some wheels on them so it can also be used as a dolly. All that for under 20 bucks. Take that West Marine!
