Sailing Blog

"I had resolved on a voyage around the world, and as the wind on the morning of April 24, 1895, was fair, at noon I weighed anchor, set sail and filled away from Boston, where the Spray had been moored snugly all winter. The 12 o'clock whistles were blowing just as the sloop shot ahead under full sail."

Sounds easy enough. And a few days and a 110 years ago, 54-year-old Joshua Slocum "tied the knot" on his voyage, becoming the first sailor to circumnavigate alone. His solo voyage aboard Spray lasted a little over three years, ending on June 27, 1898. During the trip, he was chased by pirates, celebrated by island kings and almost drowned a couple of times in storms. Slocum sailed 46,000 miles, sometimes staying for weeks or months at his stops along the way. The longest Slocum spent at sea without a stop was 72 days in the Pacific.

His account of the voyage, Sailing Alone Around the World, is a classic in sailing literature. Got a few minutes to read something great? Download Sailing Alone here.

And speaking of sailing around the world alone -- and maybe needing something to read right now -- be sure to check out Zac Sunderland, the 16-year-old who set out to become the youngest sailor to solo-circumnavigate the globe several weeks ago. Here is Zac's Blog, and here's a recent article about his current light air difficulties from the L.A. Times.

What do you get when you cross a paper chart with the web's ultimate mapper, Google Maps? Something very "new web" (web 2.0), or in plain English, really cool. Make that really cool 2.0.

A French internet company, Magic Instinct Software, has created a website with more than 1,000 NOAA raster charts of the U.S. coastline (yes, Hawaii and Alaska too) which overlay Google satellite images. The result is something that looks and acts like Google maps, but includes details from the NOAA charts. Familiar controls allow viewers to pan left and right, zoom in and out. Unfamiliar, but easy-to-use sliders, even control the the chart-to-satellite ratio to fine-tune the image.

Check it out at http://demo.geogarage.com/noaa.

Image: Hey, Neil. Isn't that you in front of Luau Larry's? Courtesy of GeoGarage.com.

As if the Newport to Bermuda race isn't cool enough, this year's race features an online tracking feature.

Follow the boats in near-real time (the race committee has imposed a four hour time delay for tactical purposes) as they make their way from Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island to St. David's Head, Bermuda. The online view does more than show positions, too. Pick your favorite boats and view only them. Zoom in or out. Turn on overlays for wind speed and direction as well as water temperature.

For all you armchair navigators, this is it. Plot the Gulf Stream, find favorable eddies, make the call for "rhumbline" (a straight shot) to Bermuda or playing the stream. Forget fantasy football, this is fantasy sailing. It's like being the navigator on one of the boats (go ahead, pick a fast one) except for the cold beer and hot showers. Click here for the online viewer.

And while we're on the subject of cool sailboat races, four very cool boats of past and present glory set sail Sunday in the Transpacific Yacht Club's 13th running of the 3,571-nautical mile race to Tahiti. Doug Baker's Andrews 80, Magnitude 80; Bob Lane's Andrews 63, Medicine Man; Chris Welsh's Spencer 65, Ragtime, and Jim Morgan's Santa Cruz 50, Fortaleza, will start the race at 1 p.m. off Point Fermin in San Pedro, just outside the Los Angeles Harbor. The finish line is offshore from the Pointe Venus lighthouse near Papeete.

Magnitude 80 is expected to break the record of 14 days 21 hours 15 minutes 26 seconds set by the late Fred Kirschner's Santa Cruz 70, Kathmandu, in the most recent race in 1994. Magnitude 80 is pegged to finish in 10 days 7 hours, Medicine Man in 11:21, Ragtime in 13:20---all under the record---and Fortaleza in 15:06, only nine hours over the record.

Sailing Instructions and more Tahiti Race information is available from transpacificyc.org

Photo: Erik J Burckart / Flickr

Chinese officials have unveiled an official cheer for spectators at this summer's Olympic Games. The four-part cheer will be promoted on television, in schools and through a print advertising campaign. And as if it could not get more Orwellian, an official announcement of the official cheer states that "the cheer is a joint product of the Party Office of Spiritual Civilization Development and Guidance (GODPP), (and) the Ministry of Education..." among others.

"It involves clapping twice, giving the thumbs-up, clapping twice more and then punching the air with both arms. The cheer is accompanied by chants of "Olympics", "Let's go" and "China"... The Ministry of Education is also arranging special training sessions in schools for the 800,000 students who are expected to attend the Games," says this article.

Perhaps more disturbing, this article suggests that recent moves by Chinese officials may signal that open and unbiased media coverage of this summer's Olympic games will be a promise unfulfilled.

"Back in 2001, when China beat out four other cities to host the Games, the Chinese specifically promised that 'there will be no restrictions on journalists in reporting on the Olympic Games,'" the article says. "...Chinese media is arguably more restricted now than it was when China was awarded the Games and it is not realistic to expect that to change before August 8, when the Games start. China is still the world's largest jailer of journalists -- 26 behind bars as of today. But even more significant is the increasingly sophisticated censorship and content control system that has evolved."

Like official announcements of official cheers. Click here for a link to a video of the cheer.

Image: Courtesy of "State Media"

An English assurance manager with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in Newcastle, England is leaving for his new job in Sydney, Australia. By sailboat. He estimates that the trip will take 16 months.

Johnny Harrison is leaving his position with the British branch of PwC to begin a new job in their Australian office, according to this news report. In order to report to his first day of work, he will depart from England for Ireland aboard his sailboat, then move on to northern Spain. He hopes to reach the Canary Islands by late October before crossing the Atlantic in November. After passing through the Caribbean and Venezuela, the final part of his commute will be by way of Fiji and New Caledonia before reaching Australia in October next year.

(Bet that suit and tie -- and shoes --will feel good for that first meeting in the Sydney office). Don't call Mr.Harrison a slacker, though. There is sound science behind his chosen method for the trip.

"I look forward to bringing new skills back to the Newcastle team from my experiences, both on the high seas and from my time in Sydney," he said.

Bringing those skills back by boat or plane? Either way, the man has vision and drive. (And maybe some really hot information about PwC). Still, let's hope the team in Newcastle has enough old assurance skills stockpiled to see them through for awhile.

John F. Kennedy's Presidential yacht is coming home to the Nation's Capital this weekend. For $14, you can head over to the Yacht Show at National Harbor June 5-8 south of D.C. on the Potomac River and check out her shapely lines. (And for about $1.9 million more, you can take her home with you).

As one of the first official acts, incoming president Kennedy selected Manitou, a 62-foot yawl designed in 1936 by Olin Stevens, to replace the 92-foot powerboat that was then the Presidential yacht. She was brought to the Chesapeake Bay and equipped with communication equipment so the President would never be out of touch with his office (or the Kremlin) while on board. Kennedy sailed Manitou often on the Bay and in New England. A few moments, like the photo above captured aboard Manitou, remain indelibly entwined with the JFK mystique. Kennedy was so fond of the boat that he deemed her the "floating Whitehouse."

In 1999, Manitou was purchased by the granddaughter of the original owner, James Lowe. Since then, the boat has undergone a major refit. The current owner has seen some changes, too -- citing the birth of triplets in 2001, she has put Manitou up for sale. More information about the boat show is here.

Photo: JFK aboard Manitou by by Robert Knudsen, White House Photographer, courtesy of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston.

In an unprecedented security move, officials for this summer's Olympic games in China have announced that tickets for the opening and closing ceremonies will be embedded with a microchip containing the bearer's photograph, passport details, addresses, e-mail and telephone numbers.

China has also recently toughened visa restrictions and has increased checks at hotels and entertainment areas. Officials say these measures are designed to keep track of foreigners as the games approach. The International Olympic Committee has said it is comfortable with China's security measures, including the electronic chips in tickets. Critics cite concerns about privacy and identity theft as well as possible delays at the turnstiles as spectators enter.

In addition to concerns about possible terrorist acts, Chinese officials fear protesters might unfurl Tibet flags, anti-China banners or other offensive messages. Read more about the measures here.

Photo: SqueakyMarmot/Flikr.

It's not sailing. But it's still pretty great.

On this day (May 23) in 1911, the New York Public Library was dedicated. The ceremony was presided over by President William Howard Taft. The next morning, the library officially opened its doors and between 30,000 and 50,000 people visited the building that day. One of the first books requested was N. I. Grot's "Ethical Ideas of Our Time," a study of Friedrich Nietzsche and Leo Tolstoy. The reader filed his call slip at 9:08 a.m. and received his book six minutes later.

Today, the New York Public Library is the only library which features world-acclaimed research centers and a large network of neighborhood branch libraries, all of which may be used by the for free by the public. It is is visited and used annually by more than 15 million people. There are 1.86 million cardholders and its collections expand at the rate of 10,000 items per week.

Photo: The Reading room, by Jessica Spengler, courtesy of Flickr (with this license).

Forget the fire extinguisher. VHF radio? Excess weight. GPS, charts, anchor -- hock them for this essential piece of nautical gear: A fully gimbaled champagne holder.

Designed by a "famous Dutch interior yacht designer," the Bottler holds a bottle of champagne upright no matter the angle or motion of the boat. Inspiration for the must-have device is said to come from the the Italian physician, philosopher and mathematician, who in 1537 developed the 'cardanic suspension' device in order to hold the compass stably against ships' movements.

There are five versions of the Bottler, from the "Original" (price 5,000 euros) to the "J-Class Limited Edition," (10,000 euros). Get one soon here.

There are not many sailors who have not cursed "stinkpot" wakes. But is there such a thing as wake karma, the culmination of an overload of powerboat bad manners which gets given back in one spectacular show?

Let's take the case of the powerboat that "was sent off course by waves from another vessel," according to yesterday's U.K. Telegraph. That apparently caused the skipper to abandon ship and jump into the water. After which the boat hit rocks, flew into the air and landed in the bunker of an exclusive Scottish golf course.

Forgive me, father (no, not the Big Father, but my dad, an avid golfer), but that is GREAT. First, no one was hurt. And it's not that I want to see a nice boat hurt or a Scottish skipper with a really tough lie. But for every daysailor dampened, for every racer slowed -- a slight sigh of "ummm, hmmm. See. That's what you get..."

Read about it -- and check out the pictures (no, not you, dad -- it'll make you weep) -- here. Oh. Did I mention that the boat was called "Final Fling?" Ummm, hmmm...