Sunday, July 27, 2008
The boy is swimming!
My boy went with his grandparents for two weeks for a very productive visit. He learned to swim. I'm totally stoked!
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Dakine PosiLock Strap (smash or trash?)
Yesterday I got an early start at work so I felt justified in taking off a little early with James to go to the Gloucester Seafood spot and get a little sailing in. The hot day and the promise of late afternoon thunder boomers were generating a nice 19kt SE wind, according to iWindsurf reports. Looking out at the York confirmed this hence the white caps.
By the time we got to the spot though, the breeze had dropped off to about 10 and the heat was oppressive. We rigged anyhow because it still seemed promising. James had his Kona longboard with a 7.5m sail and I had my UltraCat with my 6.9. This was also my maiden voyage for my new DaKine Tabu harness. I hooked in and the strap became loose. I tried to unhook, but due to the looseness, I was unsuccessful and hence I fell into my sail cussing and spitting. James and I goofed with the strap without success. Sadly, I returned to my car and fetched Ol Yeller for the rest of the session.
Last night I checked the web and found this very helpful video that demonstrates just how simple it is. I followed the protocol and now it seems solid. Guess I need to get back out there to make sure!
After the harness fiasco we had a rockin sesh! The wind picked back up to 20 and we zipped out and back with the unofficial quest of reaching the lighthouse on the other side of the river near Goodwin Island. After some tacks and much progress though, the sky became purple and there was the distant sound of thunder. We beat it down wind to get back to the beach. This was where I had some difficulty. I really need to learn to jibe. The few times that I tried it yesterday, I spilled. So I reverted to tacking, which is silly because I basically did 270 degree turns, but at least I could do that without falling. Argh, I still have much to learn from the master, I mean Dr. James before he departs for Fla in a couple of weeks!
By the time we got to the spot though, the breeze had dropped off to about 10 and the heat was oppressive. We rigged anyhow because it still seemed promising. James had his Kona longboard with a 7.5m sail and I had my UltraCat with my 6.9. This was also my maiden voyage for my new DaKine Tabu harness. I hooked in and the strap became loose. I tried to unhook, but due to the looseness, I was unsuccessful and hence I fell into my sail cussing and spitting. James and I goofed with the strap without success. Sadly, I returned to my car and fetched Ol Yeller for the rest of the session.
Last night I checked the web and found this very helpful video that demonstrates just how simple it is. I followed the protocol and now it seems solid. Guess I need to get back out there to make sure!
After the harness fiasco we had a rockin sesh! The wind picked back up to 20 and we zipped out and back with the unofficial quest of reaching the lighthouse on the other side of the river near Goodwin Island. After some tacks and much progress though, the sky became purple and there was the distant sound of thunder. We beat it down wind to get back to the beach. This was where I had some difficulty. I really need to learn to jibe. The few times that I tried it yesterday, I spilled. So I reverted to tacking, which is silly because I basically did 270 degree turns, but at least I could do that without falling. Argh, I still have much to learn from the master, I mean Dr. James before he departs for Fla in a couple of weeks!
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Banks Time
We just returned from the annual beach vacation with the in laws. It was fun. There was no drama, everyone just relaxed and I got in some much needed windsurfing in Duck, NC. I also, finally, got a bran spanking new harness (KaKine Tabu) so now I can donate the circa 1980something, pink and yellow, Windcatcher harness to the VIMS Sail and Paddle Club.
Over the course of the week I sailed three times. The first was Sunday the 6th. I went to Currituck Sound and launched from the deck of North Beach Outfitters (NBO). According the the WET site, this is the only launch in Duck. It was a little tight getting my longboard around the hairpin turns of the wooden stairs and wheelchair ramps to get to the gate that the very nice young lady from NBO gladly unlocked for me. It was a little weird because the launch consisted of a set of stairs that descended from the shopping deck directly into the water. The last step was treacherously slippery with algae. Once in the warm Currituck water there were patches of emergent vegetation where I wedged my board, while I fetched my sail. Then I had a fun session on the sound in the 15 to 20mph SSW wind.
The NBO is a kayak supply and rental store. We also brought a kayak and so we didn't spend a dime there. My boy didn't have his personal flotation device (PFD), but the nice lady (didn't get her name) at NBO gladly lent us one. I offered to rent it but she was totally cool and maintained that I should just borrow it. I'd really like to go back to her store sometime and spend some $$ merely because she was so helpful.
The other two days that I windsurfed were in the ocean. The first was Monday, July 7th. The wind was side shore (SSW at 10 - 20mph) at the Bayberry Street access. The water was chilly and blue. This was my first time windsurfing in the ocean and I was a little nervous but I got out and had a splended time without incident. I sailed from 11 to 1 and then 2 to 4. The swell was beginning to build from Bertha and I thoroughly enjoyed the ascents and descents. I quickly found myself far from shore in inky blue water with dolphins and several cannonball jellyfish (Stomolophus meleagris). When I came in I caught some nice wave rides and got back out every time without incident.
The only downside to my session at the beach was the sand. I got sand in between my mast extension and my mast and they are still currently stuck together. I tried to use the boom for leverage to twist them apart with fruitless results. When I get the time, I'd like to try the same technique, but this time with a strap wrench on the mast extension. I'll post the results of these efforts later.
On the 10th the swell really started picking up to overhead. The wind became light at 5-10mph from the SW, which in Duck is directly offshore. So, against my better judgment, I rigged up and went for a sail. I waited for the sets to subside into what I thought was a lull. I jumped in and then came another BIG F-ing set. I greeted the first breaker in the water, on the wrong side (inshore) of my rig. My UltraCat hit me like a Lincoln Navigator. I quickly caught my breath and re-positioned myself to the offshore side of the rig for the rest of the waves. My wife and father-in-law tried to help, but I told them to get clear, so they wouldn't also get plowed over, and they did. I held the rear footstrap and waited out the set. Then I got on for a lazy sail over huge swells. After about an hour of that I called it quits and went in.
I regretted not having my old surf board, but there were plenty of boogie boards available so I went for some boogie time for the rest of the week. The wind remained light and there was frequent rain.
Now I just gotta get back out so I can get my new harness wet! I got it at the Hatteras Island Sail Shop in Waves. The father and son windsurfer/kite boarders were super helpful and their shop had a TON of gear. The place is on the sound and they have rentals, lessons, and all kinds of cool stuff. My only recommendation is to call first, especially if you have to drive from afar. Their hours are a little wacky, but I think it's worth it since the next shop in Avon is another 50 miles south, which is quite significant with todays gas prices.
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Where I've been...
Life has been busy lately, and here’s why. I’ve just returned from the Eastern Shore, Virginia, where I was fortunate to be involved in an intense grassbed community sampling effort. We sampled members of the faunal (animal) community in the underwater Zostera marina (eelgrass) beds. We willingly worked long hours, with enthusiasm. We were up until 10:30 to 11pm in the lab some nights after long days in the field. In 7 days of sampling, I “worked” 87.25 hours. Now I’m spending a couple extra hours blogging about it.
There we saw beautiful sun sets and sun rises and some beautiful country. The Eastern Shore is special. The Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel (CBBT) toll of $12 each way for passenger cars ($20 for my 4 axels) keeps it special.
Traffic on the Southside (Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Portsmouth etc.) and the Peninsula (Hampton, Newport News, etc.) is heavy with elements of pure insanity. Once past the CBBT toll booth, traffic instantly becomes slow. They just don’t drive fast over there. Really, it’s quite refreshing. You might get the occasional kid in a hurry to get back to New York, but he’s got plenty of room and the State boys won’t let him be in that much of a hurry anyhow.
The economic disparity is stark. There are assemblages of McMansions, old large restored plantation houses, and other restored architecture, golf course retirement communities and then there are rows of simple dwellings each with their own outhouse. I’ve also heard that some still don’t have electricity.
Farming, agriculture, and aquaculture dominate the stratified economy. There are huge chicken factories and tomato factories and other crop factories. The operations are immense.
There’s also a large segment of the population that are watermen. All the ones that I met were friendly with a unique dialect that is well documented in William Warner’s, Beautiful Swimmers. I really did hear one old dude tell me that he’s had trouble with his “ersters” (oysters).
On the water the wind was always blowing. I have always thought of the summer as a calm time, which it is on the western side of the Bay. But on the Eastern Shore that southwest wind blows incessantly. It’s rarely calm, and the sand bars are no frickin joke. They are long and far (over a mile in places) from the beach. You have to go around them, even in a small boat like our 21 foot Privateer. Many times they are shaped like long parallel spits pointing south along the shore. At low tide many of them form beaches. At high tide the chop breaks perilously on them.
We accessed all ten sites from two boat launches, Cape Charles Harbor and Morley’s Wharf. From Cape Charles we traveled to Bay Creek Golf Course Beach, Cherrystone, The Gulf, Old Town Neck, Hungars Creek, and Church Neck. From Morley’s Wharf (on Occahannock Creek) we accessed Downings Beach, Sandy Point, Hyslop Marsh and Silver Beach.
THE SCIENCE WORK
The objective was to sample marine communities in seagrass beds with varying adjacent shorelines, like bulkheads and tombolos to marshes, woods, and lagoons.
Rachael and I took 400 samples from the 10 sites. 350 of those were taken in snorkel gear. Matt was the ever important “Yak Boy”. He kept our stuff straight in a Sport Yak so we could concentrate on sampling. Here are the things that we measured. For most of the animals, except the grazers, we measured, counted and released them, so we minimized mortality.
Here’s the rundown: Number of samples/site
Sediment chl-a 5
Epiphytic leaf Chl-a 5
Grazer mass/grass mass 5
Grass biomass 5
Predator sweeps & grass coverage 5
Faster, bigger predator scrapes 4
Physical data (DO, temp, salinity) 5
Sediment grain size and organic matter 5
Riparian assessment 1
40x10 sites = 400 samples
Some of the most important critters in the community are the grazers. These are composed of amphipods and isopods. They are important and of particular interest to us because they are good stewards of grass itself. One of the drawbacks for submerged aquatic vegetation, like eelgrass, are the presence of epiphytes (plants growing on plants). Epiphytic algae grows on the surfaces of the leaves and this blocks out the light and weighs the plants down, essentially smothering them and preventing them from producing their food via photosynthesis.
Here's an example of some smothering macroalgae in the grassbed. This was at Hungar's Creek. Too much of a good thing...Algae also respires and at night when resperiation is greater than photosynthesis, dissoved oxygen can drop to zero, which cause nasty fish kills.
Enter the grazers. They actually benefit the grass by eating the epiphytes. The other way the grazers are important to the community is as food for subsequent trophic levels. Fish of all kinds, shrimps, crabs and others regularly dine on them. This way the energy from the sun travels from the algae to the grazers to the predators, to still higher predators, and so on. It is why all energy on the earth is solar energy, with the exception of nuclear energy, which resulted from supernovae, but I digress.
SOME QUALITATIVE OBSERVATIONS
The variability between the sites appeared to be very high. Some fishes appeared at every site, like the pipefish (Syngnathus sp), but it seemed that each site had its own distinctive residents. Some sites had several black sea bass, others had a huge numbers of grunts or pinfish, and still others contained summer flounder.
Pipefish are probably so successfull because they look just like the grass, as in this video. Also, pipefish are closely related to seahorses, and like seahorses, the males are the ones to get pregnant. The female transfers her egg to the male for fertilization. We saw a lot of large pregnant males. Fish are so kinky...
Palomoneates (grass shrimp) are the roaches of the grassbeds. They are so abundant it’s stupid. They also have real sharp rostrums (see the next section).
Numbers of crabs, and most other animals, were higher at the higher energy sites, where macro algae isn’t as dominant. The macroalgae smothers. One note about crabs, Jeff Shield’s group was also at the ESL. They were taking crabs and looking at the prevalence of a dinoflagellate (dino) that gets into the blood of the crabs and kills them. One of the techs described it as being like crab Ebola. They don’t live more than 3 months once they get it.
As with macro algae, dinos are bad in polluted, over-nutrified waters.
The most striking overall observation was that where macro algae dominated grassbeds in the protected sites, the grass seem smotheredand and there were fewer animals (with the exception of Gammarus amphipods and grass shrimp). Sites with higher wave energy had less of this.
Overall though, I really enjoy the field work. It's cool to observe the amazing life forms in our midst. Complex functioning marine food webs exist right in our back yard. I hope they can hang on despite the onslaught of nutrient pollution, global warming, and other maladies.
I’ll post the reference for the quantitative published results when they appear in a peer reviewed journal.
DANGERS
Finally, I should mention that, although I love to be up to my gills in the Bay, there are some, mostly minor, annoyances, and possible dangers to look out for.
Here’s the short list.
Storms – They can sneak up in the haze and ruin your day. When the sky turns purple, it’s too late. Regular weather checking it imperative.
Midge like “no see-ums” in shady areas. They’ll send you on an air-condition mission.
Green head flies near the marsh which hit you at high speed with their mouth parts open (they tear chunks from you)
Biting worms like Glycera. Their mouth parts puke out from their un-discernable head and four very prominent hooks sink into your flesh. I had one dangling from my pinky, two weeks ago. I still have a mark.
Blue crabs – out of the hundreds that I’ve handled only a handful got a piece of me. I don’t wear gloves because I need dexterity for measuring critters. If a blue crab does ever get me good, I might lose some dexterity regardless.
Grass shrimp rostrums – are the needle sharp pointy things that poke out of their “foreheads”. Handle them long enough and you WILL get “rostrusized”, which can include a painful dose of bacteria.
Sunburn – an obvious threat to melanin challenged people like me.
Stinging nettles – I fared pretty well. I only got tagged on my limbs a few times. Rachael got one in the neck. It was 24 hours before that whelp went away.
Earaches - ahhh, the lovely green water…
Cold – You wouldn’t think you’d be cold in June, but if you plan to spend as many hours in the water as we did, you’d better have some neoprene handy. With the recent upper nineties and a few triple digit temps, I complacently left mine in Gloucester. Thanks to the PG Ross of the ESL I didn’t get hypothermia.
Hot – well, it is June.
Overall though, the trip was awesome, and I’ll jump at the next chance to DO IT AGAIN!!! If you are inspired let me know. We do accept volunteers. However, keep in mind we aren't always on the water. In fact most of our time is spent in the lab sorting through all that we collected or on a computer, analyzing. Taking samples is actually the least time consuming task in the whole business.
Tight lines and full sails,
JP
There we saw beautiful sun sets and sun rises and some beautiful country. The Eastern Shore is special. The Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel (CBBT) toll of $12 each way for passenger cars ($20 for my 4 axels) keeps it special.
Traffic on the Southside (Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Portsmouth etc.) and the Peninsula (Hampton, Newport News, etc.) is heavy with elements of pure insanity. Once past the CBBT toll booth, traffic instantly becomes slow. They just don’t drive fast over there. Really, it’s quite refreshing. You might get the occasional kid in a hurry to get back to New York, but he’s got plenty of room and the State boys won’t let him be in that much of a hurry anyhow.
The economic disparity is stark. There are assemblages of McMansions, old large restored plantation houses, and other restored architecture, golf course retirement communities and then there are rows of simple dwellings each with their own outhouse. I’ve also heard that some still don’t have electricity.
Farming, agriculture, and aquaculture dominate the stratified economy. There are huge chicken factories and tomato factories and other crop factories. The operations are immense.
There’s also a large segment of the population that are watermen. All the ones that I met were friendly with a unique dialect that is well documented in William Warner’s, Beautiful Swimmers. I really did hear one old dude tell me that he’s had trouble with his “ersters” (oysters).
On the water the wind was always blowing. I have always thought of the summer as a calm time, which it is on the western side of the Bay. But on the Eastern Shore that southwest wind blows incessantly. It’s rarely calm, and the sand bars are no frickin joke. They are long and far (over a mile in places) from the beach. You have to go around them, even in a small boat like our 21 foot Privateer. Many times they are shaped like long parallel spits pointing south along the shore. At low tide many of them form beaches. At high tide the chop breaks perilously on them.
We accessed all ten sites from two boat launches, Cape Charles Harbor and Morley’s Wharf. From Cape Charles we traveled to Bay Creek Golf Course Beach, Cherrystone, The Gulf, Old Town Neck, Hungars Creek, and Church Neck. From Morley’s Wharf (on Occahannock Creek) we accessed Downings Beach, Sandy Point, Hyslop Marsh and Silver Beach.
THE SCIENCE WORK
The objective was to sample marine communities in seagrass beds with varying adjacent shorelines, like bulkheads and tombolos to marshes, woods, and lagoons.
Rachael and I took 400 samples from the 10 sites. 350 of those were taken in snorkel gear. Matt was the ever important “Yak Boy”. He kept our stuff straight in a Sport Yak so we could concentrate on sampling. Here are the things that we measured. For most of the animals, except the grazers, we measured, counted and released them, so we minimized mortality.
Here’s the rundown: Number of samples/site
Sediment chl-a 5
Epiphytic leaf Chl-a 5
Grazer mass/grass mass 5
Grass biomass 5
Predator sweeps & grass coverage 5
Faster, bigger predator scrapes 4
Physical data (DO, temp, salinity) 5
Sediment grain size and organic matter 5
Riparian assessment 1
40x10 sites = 400 samples
Some of the most important critters in the community are the grazers. These are composed of amphipods and isopods. They are important and of particular interest to us because they are good stewards of grass itself. One of the drawbacks for submerged aquatic vegetation, like eelgrass, are the presence of epiphytes (plants growing on plants). Epiphytic algae grows on the surfaces of the leaves and this blocks out the light and weighs the plants down, essentially smothering them and preventing them from producing their food via photosynthesis.
Here's an example of some smothering macroalgae in the grassbed. This was at Hungar's Creek. Too much of a good thing...Algae also respires and at night when resperiation is greater than photosynthesis, dissoved oxygen can drop to zero, which cause nasty fish kills.
Enter the grazers. They actually benefit the grass by eating the epiphytes. The other way the grazers are important to the community is as food for subsequent trophic levels. Fish of all kinds, shrimps, crabs and others regularly dine on them. This way the energy from the sun travels from the algae to the grazers to the predators, to still higher predators, and so on. It is why all energy on the earth is solar energy, with the exception of nuclear energy, which resulted from supernovae, but I digress.
SOME QUALITATIVE OBSERVATIONS
The variability between the sites appeared to be very high. Some fishes appeared at every site, like the pipefish (Syngnathus sp), but it seemed that each site had its own distinctive residents. Some sites had several black sea bass, others had a huge numbers of grunts or pinfish, and still others contained summer flounder.
Pipefish are probably so successfull because they look just like the grass, as in this video. Also, pipefish are closely related to seahorses, and like seahorses, the males are the ones to get pregnant. The female transfers her egg to the male for fertilization. We saw a lot of large pregnant males. Fish are so kinky...
Palomoneates (grass shrimp) are the roaches of the grassbeds. They are so abundant it’s stupid. They also have real sharp rostrums (see the next section).
Numbers of crabs, and most other animals, were higher at the higher energy sites, where macro algae isn’t as dominant. The macroalgae smothers. One note about crabs, Jeff Shield’s group was also at the ESL. They were taking crabs and looking at the prevalence of a dinoflagellate (dino) that gets into the blood of the crabs and kills them. One of the techs described it as being like crab Ebola. They don’t live more than 3 months once they get it.
As with macro algae, dinos are bad in polluted, over-nutrified waters.
The most striking overall observation was that where macro algae dominated grassbeds in the protected sites, the grass seem smotheredand and there were fewer animals (with the exception of Gammarus amphipods and grass shrimp). Sites with higher wave energy had less of this.
Overall though, I really enjoy the field work. It's cool to observe the amazing life forms in our midst. Complex functioning marine food webs exist right in our back yard. I hope they can hang on despite the onslaught of nutrient pollution, global warming, and other maladies.
I’ll post the reference for the quantitative published results when they appear in a peer reviewed journal.
DANGERS
Finally, I should mention that, although I love to be up to my gills in the Bay, there are some, mostly minor, annoyances, and possible dangers to look out for.
Here’s the short list.
Storms – They can sneak up in the haze and ruin your day. When the sky turns purple, it’s too late. Regular weather checking it imperative.
Midge like “no see-ums” in shady areas. They’ll send you on an air-condition mission.
Green head flies near the marsh which hit you at high speed with their mouth parts open (they tear chunks from you)
Biting worms like Glycera. Their mouth parts puke out from their un-discernable head and four very prominent hooks sink into your flesh. I had one dangling from my pinky, two weeks ago. I still have a mark.
Blue crabs – out of the hundreds that I’ve handled only a handful got a piece of me. I don’t wear gloves because I need dexterity for measuring critters. If a blue crab does ever get me good, I might lose some dexterity regardless.
Grass shrimp rostrums – are the needle sharp pointy things that poke out of their “foreheads”. Handle them long enough and you WILL get “rostrusized”, which can include a painful dose of bacteria.
Sunburn – an obvious threat to melanin challenged people like me.
Stinging nettles – I fared pretty well. I only got tagged on my limbs a few times. Rachael got one in the neck. It was 24 hours before that whelp went away.
Earaches - ahhh, the lovely green water…
Cold – You wouldn’t think you’d be cold in June, but if you plan to spend as many hours in the water as we did, you’d better have some neoprene handy. With the recent upper nineties and a few triple digit temps, I complacently left mine in Gloucester. Thanks to the PG Ross of the ESL I didn’t get hypothermia.
Hot – well, it is June.
Overall though, the trip was awesome, and I’ll jump at the next chance to DO IT AGAIN!!! If you are inspired let me know. We do accept volunteers. However, keep in mind we aren't always on the water. In fact most of our time is spent in the lab sorting through all that we collected or on a computer, analyzing. Taking samples is actually the least time consuming task in the whole business.
Tight lines and full sails,
JP
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Finally, A Sesh!
Finally, after way too long, I got some windsurfing action last Sunday. The wind was fun at 10-22kts from the SW. I picked up stranded James and a bunch of gear at 10 and we went to York River Seafood.
When we got there it was at the low end of the 10-22 range. I rigged my 6.6 on the Ultra Cat. I got some really fast runs as the breeze freshened. I did manage to get my rear foot in the forward strap. James was impressed with that run, but when I told him where my feet where, he made a funny face and said something snarky. I kept at it for a while longer.
The wind was increasing and James switched to a smaller sail. I switched to a 5.2m sail and a Mistral Prodigy beginner’s board (250L), at James’ urging. I’m glad I did; it was very fun and easy to sail. I immediately got my feet in the straps and had some nuking runs. It was so easy to handle compared to my longboard. I may have to re-think my whole “longboards rule” philosophy.
The only painful thing that happened was when I had a lull and fell back with my foot, too far into the footstrap. I was under the sail, in the water, with my foot still painfully in the strap. I yanked hard and got out, to my relief.
I met Chris (Outdoorsman). It’s cool to meet someone from the blogosphere in person. Not only does it make blogging more fun, but now I know another local windsurfer to meet up with for future seshes. He advised me to be careful not to stick my feet too far into the foot straps and at the end of the day, he offered to let me ride his short board.
I wanted to but after over 5 hours of sailing, it was time to go. I had a party to attend, a storm was brewing and my arms felt like linguine. It was a great day, and as an added bonus, I didn’t rip any sails or break any boards!
Sam and James who was testing out the Prodigy rig
Sam with a little Hang Time
When we got there it was at the low end of the 10-22 range. I rigged my 6.6 on the Ultra Cat. I got some really fast runs as the breeze freshened. I did manage to get my rear foot in the forward strap. James was impressed with that run, but when I told him where my feet where, he made a funny face and said something snarky. I kept at it for a while longer.
The wind was increasing and James switched to a smaller sail. I switched to a 5.2m sail and a Mistral Prodigy beginner’s board (250L), at James’ urging. I’m glad I did; it was very fun and easy to sail. I immediately got my feet in the straps and had some nuking runs. It was so easy to handle compared to my longboard. I may have to re-think my whole “longboards rule” philosophy.
The only painful thing that happened was when I had a lull and fell back with my foot, too far into the footstrap. I was under the sail, in the water, with my foot still painfully in the strap. I yanked hard and got out, to my relief.
I met Chris (Outdoorsman). It’s cool to meet someone from the blogosphere in person. Not only does it make blogging more fun, but now I know another local windsurfer to meet up with for future seshes. He advised me to be careful not to stick my feet too far into the foot straps and at the end of the day, he offered to let me ride his short board.
I wanted to but after over 5 hours of sailing, it was time to go. I had a party to attend, a storm was brewing and my arms felt like linguine. It was a great day, and as an added bonus, I didn’t rip any sails or break any boards!
Sam and James who was testing out the Prodigy rig
Sam with a little Hang Time
Friday, May 9, 2008
Spring is in the Air!
How do I know spring is in the air? I know it because my sinuses tickle. I know it from sounds of the peepers and the hooters in the night. I know it from the flowers. I know it when I see our super ladies break out their bikes. I know it when the spring series sailing starts up. But, what will make my spring so sweet will be when I get back on my Ultra Cat. I’m Jonesing for a sesh!!!
Iris in the front yard
Maxine and Gina - our departmental secretary and budget manager
The York River Wednesday night race
Iris in the front yard
Maxine and Gina - our departmental secretary and budget manager
The York River Wednesday night race
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
My first Windfest and Longboard
Windfest 08 was cool, despite the grumbling about the lack of wind. I especially enjoyed meeting the smart, friendly folks of the windsurfing community. It’s an interesting crowd from a variety of backgrounds; I met internet gurus, NASA guys, a navy pilot, an atomic clock guy, a criminal justice specialist, entrepreneurs, college kids, and so on.
But, what really impressed me about Windfest were all of the resources for beginners. There were free lessons in the water and on a gimbled board thingy. Vendors also had new boards for demo. I think the windsurfing community will grow because of this active recruiting.
The real watershed moment for me though, was when Marcy, who I’d just met didn’t think twice at letting me borrow her F-2 longboard rigged with her 9 m sail. I sailed that baby in the light 10kt breeze until I could barely make out the campground. It was total bliss.
Then, on the way home we (James, Sam, John and others) kept running into each other in a torturous shopping spree up the coast. I say torturous because of the tight purse strings in my family’s budget. However, this trek was not without fruit. I met this guy, another John, who had an extra Fanatic Ultra Cat for sale with dimensions similar to Marcy’s board. I told him that I was definitely interested, and when I got home I squeezed out the funds to make it happen. I met him at Buckroe Tuesday and did the deal. Now I’m the proud owner of a most awesome board that I hope to get wet today. Yes!
12'5" long, 250L, with a sliding mast track, this baby says, "Made in West Germany" - Does this mean that this thing was made before the fall of the Berlin Wall?
For more detailed accounts of Windfest, check out these posts by Catapulting Aaron and James.
My only regret, aside from my skirmish with the free beer, was that I didn’t have my family. There were lots of windsurfer dads, which, at my current age and status, I think is ultra-cool. I plan to bring them next year.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Kite surfing cargo ship?
Happy Earth Day!
Instead of listing all that we can do to save the planet, I give you this outlandish Earth Day story.
WTF will those crazy Germans think of next?! Is this real? I snoped it and didn't get a hit. Even if it's not real, I'm going to give kudos for creative thinking.
Instead of listing all that we can do to save the planet, I give you this outlandish Earth Day story.
WTF will those crazy Germans think of next?! Is this real? I snoped it and didn't get a hit. Even if it's not real, I'm going to give kudos for creative thinking.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Cool mutualism story in the NY Times
It's refreshing to see a story about the mutualism between a burrowing shrimp and a shrimp goby on the front page of the NY Times. Judson also mentions a smattering of other mutualism examples including our relationship with bacteria in our GI tract. Cool!
Friday, April 4, 2008
Sprawl hurting Bay...Duhhh!!!
The Daily Press featured a front page article about the Bay’s report card and it looks like our land use policies should be grounded. While James is right that overpopulation is a problem, it’s also true that sprawl is outpacing population growth, which is thrusting us ever more forcefully towards K.
In the DP article Bill Dennison (Maryland’s Center for Environmental Science) stated that “in the 1990s paved surfaces expanded by 42% in the watershed while population grew only 8%”.
And from the Bay Program news release:
“…if current development trends continue, an additional 250,000 acres of watershed land will become impervious between 2000 and 2010 and 9.5 million more acres of forests will be threatened by development by 2030.”
What’s depressing is that I feel we’re hampered by the sprawl industrial complex, analogous to the military industrial complex. Sprawl is a major economic force. People need jobs and building everything up provides jobs.
It doesn’t seem like we’re close to change, barring some catastrophic event, which may or may not already be underway (global warming). Regardless, we pay a huge cost. The ick that we produce sluices uninhibited over impervious surfaces into our waters, which kills our fisheries, degrades our water, reduces our quality of life, and makes us sick.
This is a huge problem that we’re all part of and it will take everyone’s efforts to change. Unfortunately, I fear that we’ll reap misery before we unite on this.
Here's a related story about watermen who are considering suing over the bay's pollution.
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Our Lovely Country Home...can be yours!!!
We love our home, but we'd like to live closer to the school where my wife teaches so that we can go to more of the school games. It’s difficult to teach, and be active in extracurricular activities when you don't live in the same county.
So here’s my unabashed advertisement for our lovely country home:
Situated at the end of a cul-de-sac in central Gloucester County, our 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 1400sq foot rancher, with its bright open floor plan includes a great room, huge master suite, new appliances, fenced in back yard, generator hook up, and much more. All of our appliances are electric and thanks to the shade in the summer and the high efficiency woodstove in the winter, the electric bill rarely exceeds $150, but is usually more like $100 per month. With mature hardwoods surrounding and encompassing our 1/2 acre, it’s quiet. At night we hear tree frogs, not traffic. The property is 60 ft. above sea-level, so there's no flood danger. Our neighbors are awesome and so is the county with great schools, parks, trails, several boat launches, and it’s just over the bridge from York County and the rest of Tidewater, Virginia. The whole package is negotiable at $205k. If interested, call our agent, Wendy Jackson at 757-870-5892 or 804-693-7444.
View from the circle:
Living part of great room:
Dining part of great room:
Kitchen:
Master bedroom:
Baby's room with Rainbow Fish theme:
Not shown: The third office bedroom, the huge master bath with skylight, the detached workshop, and the attached shed.
So here’s my unabashed advertisement for our lovely country home:
Situated at the end of a cul-de-sac in central Gloucester County, our 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 1400sq foot rancher, with its bright open floor plan includes a great room, huge master suite, new appliances, fenced in back yard, generator hook up, and much more. All of our appliances are electric and thanks to the shade in the summer and the high efficiency woodstove in the winter, the electric bill rarely exceeds $150, but is usually more like $100 per month. With mature hardwoods surrounding and encompassing our 1/2 acre, it’s quiet. At night we hear tree frogs, not traffic. The property is 60 ft. above sea-level, so there's no flood danger. Our neighbors are awesome and so is the county with great schools, parks, trails, several boat launches, and it’s just over the bridge from York County and the rest of Tidewater, Virginia. The whole package is negotiable at $205k. If interested, call our agent, Wendy Jackson at 757-870-5892 or 804-693-7444.
View from the circle:
Living part of great room:
Dining part of great room:
Kitchen:
Master bedroom:
Baby's room with Rainbow Fish theme:
Not shown: The third office bedroom, the huge master bath with skylight, the detached workshop, and the attached shed.
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Extreme Speed
Yesterday was a day of dynamic weather. There were squalls, lulls, and extreme winds. Because of this, Gloucester Seafood of Guinea was again converged upon by the wind riders. James documented this, well, in this post. He also provided photographic proof that I can windsurf, fast even, when I’m not breaking boards, or gorilla taping sails. Thanks James.
And now for some tokens of my appreciation:
James shredding.
Farrah shredding.
After all the rain and wind, we had clear skies and wind.
And now for some tokens of my appreciation:
James shredding.
Farrah shredding.
After all the rain and wind, we had clear skies and wind.
Friday, March 7, 2008
The EPA is broken
Stephen Johnson (Bush’s EPA administrator) refuses to sign the waiver to allow California and a dozen other states to have higher emissions standards. California never had a problem getting these waivers signed until Johnson came onto the scene.
I thought the Republicans were for smaller government, where states have more power to regulate, not less. By stealing California’s ability to lead in fuel economy, Johnson is polluting on a grand scale, stifling innovation, and as one of the war hawks, he’s hindering the war effort. This is the first war in our history where we’re encouraged to consume with impunity.
We all owe our great grandkids an apology for the outrageous bill that we’re leaving for them.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Back in Action!
I smashed the nose of my board on the second outing, so I glassed it up. It’s not pretty, but it’s water tight.
First I hung it upside down for a week, but it was still damp, so when it got real cold I fired up the woodstove, brought it in and dried it good, for 48 hours.
Then, one 50oF morning, I took it back to the shed and sanded it (80 grit) until all the pink was gone. After sanding, I wiped it thoroughly with acetone for good bonding with the epoxy. This is a very important step.
I cut up several pieces of fiberglass tape, brushed on some epoxy with “fast” hardener. Laid the glass pieces and brushed more epoxy on top of them. I used the fast because that’s what I had at the time and it was 50oF, so it was actually pretty slow.
I thought I could just rely on the wet epoxy and glass to keep the gaping hole in the nose closed, but I was wrong. I figured this out after wetting everything and laying the first glass. So, I pre-drilled right through the repair area and then drove a drywall screw through the board. Then I continued glassing around the screw. It worked like a charm.
The first layer, with the screw still in.
After the first layer of glass hardened, I removed the screw and sanded the heck out of it, which opened some of the original damage. So, I wiped it down and laid more glass. After the second layer of glass I hand-sanded the burs and voila! I went windsurfing.
If I get around to it, I can clean the area with soap and water, sand some more and then wipe with acetone and apply Colloidial Silica to the West System epoxy and fill any low spots. Then, I can sand and repeat until I achieve a desired shape. After that she can get paint.
I could give the board a whole new look, or I could go windsurfing, like we did today and it was great! Besides if I invest a ton of effort to make it look beautiful and then re-bash the nose with another catapult, I’d cry like a baby.
James taking her for a spin.
Macky Launching.
First I hung it upside down for a week, but it was still damp, so when it got real cold I fired up the woodstove, brought it in and dried it good, for 48 hours.
Then, one 50oF morning, I took it back to the shed and sanded it (80 grit) until all the pink was gone. After sanding, I wiped it thoroughly with acetone for good bonding with the epoxy. This is a very important step.
I cut up several pieces of fiberglass tape, brushed on some epoxy with “fast” hardener. Laid the glass pieces and brushed more epoxy on top of them. I used the fast because that’s what I had at the time and it was 50oF, so it was actually pretty slow.
I thought I could just rely on the wet epoxy and glass to keep the gaping hole in the nose closed, but I was wrong. I figured this out after wetting everything and laying the first glass. So, I pre-drilled right through the repair area and then drove a drywall screw through the board. Then I continued glassing around the screw. It worked like a charm.
The first layer, with the screw still in.
After the first layer of glass hardened, I removed the screw and sanded the heck out of it, which opened some of the original damage. So, I wiped it down and laid more glass. After the second layer of glass I hand-sanded the burs and voila! I went windsurfing.
If I get around to it, I can clean the area with soap and water, sand some more and then wipe with acetone and apply Colloidial Silica to the West System epoxy and fill any low spots. Then, I can sand and repeat until I achieve a desired shape. After that she can get paint.
I could give the board a whole new look, or I could go windsurfing, like we did today and it was great! Besides if I invest a ton of effort to make it look beautiful and then re-bash the nose with another catapult, I’d cry like a baby.
James taking her for a spin.
Macky Launching.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
How NOT to Windsurf
For Presidents' Day, I was blessed with warm temperatures, high southwest winds, and great company (James Douglass and Farrah Hall) for a windsurfing session in Guinea. Unfortunately, I blew it, so to speak.
Farrah and James
I had some wicked fast and furious runs, but most of the time I flailed about with my "new" rig and its old school sail that, according to James, has too much power, too high up. Furthermore, I was not prepared for the 20+kt wind that came up. If I had my 4.5m sail, I would've rigged it, but I only had the 6.4m. Consequently, I was catapulted hard and my boom demolished the nose of my board. I also had just broken my uphaul. Then I was about to be swept in between a pair of very long, private piers (see the right side of satellite image). I had to swim the rig around the end of the eastern pier or be raked through the pilings. After that, I was done.
I let the waves take me to shallow water where I commenced the "walk of shame". I stashed my broken rig in the grass next to Cross Road (far right in satellite image). Though it was barely a mile, it was a very long mile, down Jenkins Neck Rd. and then through back yards and tidal creeks with thick deep muck, back to Gloucester Seafood (Cooks Landing Rd.), seen on the left side of the satellite image. It was an even longer drive back to pick up the gear, since you have to drive around your (you know what) just to get where the crow flies in places like Guinea, where tidal waters rule.
View Larger Map
Basically, I had my ass handed to me on a foam core plastic platter, in front of Farrah and James. Nevertheless, they were both super kind to my Spasmoidialness. James blamed my old sail. He told me that I should have a more manageable sail to dial in my new board. He then hooked me up with a sweet deal on one of his older, but much more advanced Ezzy sails, a carbon fiber mast, and some other stuff that he's "outgrown". Thanks James! I very much look forward to getting back into the water.
Repair Job
My only speed bump now is my board. It's currently hanging, nose down, in my shed to let any water drain for the next several days. Meanwhile, a Google search revealed a few possibilities.
1. Marinetex
2. Solar Patch
3. Dingo or Ding Stick
4. Plumber's epoxy (supposedly the same thing as Dingo)
Farrah's solution - Saw off the nose for a whole new look.
Initial Questions:
1. I'm inclined to think that Farrah is right. If I did saw off the nose, what would be the best way to seal/finish it?
2. If I try to restore the nose to its original shape as possible, what would be the best method?
My Busted Nose
my 6.4m sail at Cross Road
And, finally: What was good about President's Day?
1. The wind (speed and direction)
2. The company - especially watching them scream up and down the shore!
3. I was windsurfing
4. I did a "water start" three times (alright, so it was only hip deep...still!)
5. The wicked fast rides (actually, they were great!)
6. The salty air
Farrah and James
I had some wicked fast and furious runs, but most of the time I flailed about with my "new" rig and its old school sail that, according to James, has too much power, too high up. Furthermore, I was not prepared for the 20+kt wind that came up. If I had my 4.5m sail, I would've rigged it, but I only had the 6.4m. Consequently, I was catapulted hard and my boom demolished the nose of my board. I also had just broken my uphaul. Then I was about to be swept in between a pair of very long, private piers (see the right side of satellite image). I had to swim the rig around the end of the eastern pier or be raked through the pilings. After that, I was done.
I let the waves take me to shallow water where I commenced the "walk of shame". I stashed my broken rig in the grass next to Cross Road (far right in satellite image). Though it was barely a mile, it was a very long mile, down Jenkins Neck Rd. and then through back yards and tidal creeks with thick deep muck, back to Gloucester Seafood (Cooks Landing Rd.), seen on the left side of the satellite image. It was an even longer drive back to pick up the gear, since you have to drive around your (you know what) just to get where the crow flies in places like Guinea, where tidal waters rule.
View Larger Map
Basically, I had my ass handed to me on a foam core plastic platter, in front of Farrah and James. Nevertheless, they were both super kind to my Spasmoidialness. James blamed my old sail. He told me that I should have a more manageable sail to dial in my new board. He then hooked me up with a sweet deal on one of his older, but much more advanced Ezzy sails, a carbon fiber mast, and some other stuff that he's "outgrown". Thanks James! I very much look forward to getting back into the water.
Repair Job
My only speed bump now is my board. It's currently hanging, nose down, in my shed to let any water drain for the next several days. Meanwhile, a Google search revealed a few possibilities.
1. Marinetex
2. Solar Patch
3. Dingo or Ding Stick
4. Plumber's epoxy (supposedly the same thing as Dingo)
Farrah's solution - Saw off the nose for a whole new look.
Initial Questions:
1. I'm inclined to think that Farrah is right. If I did saw off the nose, what would be the best way to seal/finish it?
2. If I try to restore the nose to its original shape as possible, what would be the best method?
My Busted Nose
my 6.4m sail at Cross Road
And, finally: What was good about President's Day?
1. The wind (speed and direction)
2. The company - especially watching them scream up and down the shore!
3. I was windsurfing
4. I did a "water start" three times (alright, so it was only hip deep...still!)
5. The wicked fast rides (actually, they were great!)
6. The salty air
Thursday, February 14, 2008
My "New" French Stick
A picture of my "new" rig, this morning, the day after her maiden voyage. Great weather.My windsurfing instructor, James, had finally had enough. He said I was getting just good enough that I was doing too much damage to his gear. So, James did me the favor of connecting me to some folks that had some extra gear. I scored a Bic (yes, it’s the same French company that makes the lighters) Samba “allround funboard” from somewhere between 1990 and 1995. At 170L she actually sinks a little under my 200 lbs when the wind is weak, and she’s much squirrelier than the 220 Kona that I’m used to.
James said that my “allround funboard” may have discouraged a lot of people from windsurfing since the sport was going more to the short boards and the funboard label was a little misleading since it is actually a little more of a technical board. James also said that he thinks I might be able to actually jump it. Sweet!
Anyhow, yesterday was the maiden voyage. The water and the air temperature were both about 45oF with a NW wind at 15 kts and driving rain; not exactly ideal conditions but I really was itching to try out my new rig.
It's awesome! I had some fast, fun rides. I can't wait to get on it in some better weather with stronger winds!
James was a real sport because he went with me to the Carmine Island spot, on the York River. We took turns, and he helped me tweak the boom and mast for my 6.4-m sail. The mast and boom needed to adjust out. The small 460 mast necessitated extending the mast base out to over 40 cm.
The board and the sail are pink and my harness is pink and yellow. Did I mention that I’m windsurfing in conservative, rural Gloucester County, VA? An old white dude watched us for about an hour from the landing in his pick-up truck. I don’t even want to know what he was thinking, plotting, or doing with the engine running while James and I were taking turns dialing in the “new” rig. Ewww!
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