the rains of Castamere – by The National

a new song released by The National for the upcoming 2nd season soundtrack for the HBO show “Game of Thrones“, based on the Song of Ice and Fire series of books by George RR Martin.  I’ve read books 1 through 4, but not book 5, and I haven’t watched any of the TV series yet.  but I am a sucker for music by The National.  enjoy.

for a little history of the song, see this wiki page.

And who are you, the proud lord said,
that I must bow so low?
Only a cat of a different coat,
that’s all the truth I know.
In a coat of gold or a coat of red,
a lion still has claws,
And mine are long and sharp, my lord,
as long and sharp as yours.
And so he spoke, and so he spoke,
that lord of Castamere,
But now the rains weep o’er his hall,
with no one there to hear.
Yes now the rains weep o’er his hall,
and not a soul to hear.

HT: @The405

sunfish inspection port & hull drying fan

this weekend, I decided to put an inspection port into my new(er) Sunfish. I’ve done this before – cutting holes in my older Sunfish.  this time, I wanted to avoid adding a port on the deck, so instead opted to put the inspection port in the wall of the cockpit.  this would also give me access to the back of the hiking strap attachment, so I could change that out as the current one in the boat was a bit worn out and nasty looking.

I first roughly traced the port onto the wall – this was more difficult than I had imagined because it was tough to get a Sharpie marker behind the lip of the inspection port at the right angle.  I ended up just tracing the inside of the port, and then roughly drawing an outer ring by hand.

some people use a jig-saw to cut in their inspection ports, but I feel that the jig-saw is just about the most worthless power tool known to man, and prefer to use my Roto-Zip, a rotary cutting tool.  I probably should have bought a better cutting bit, but I was able to cut it out no problem.

before I installed the port, I unscrewed the forward attachment for the hiking strap.  I didn’t want the backing nut or whatever the attachment could be to drop off into the hull and be lost.  in my case, though, the backing plate must have been threaded, because I couldn’t find any loose attachment, and it was a machine screw – so I probably could have probably changed it out without the port. oh well.

I installed a new hiking strap from Intensity Sails – at only $13 it is a great deal, and I’ve been very happy with it on my older Sunfish. (and if you look at the link above – the picture on their website is my older boat! – you would think I could get them for free!)  here’s the hiking strap installed in my newer Sunfish:

after that, I installed the inspection port.  you can buy various sizes of ports or deck plates at just about any sailing or boating website – I usually use the 5″ ports.  for installation, I usually run a small bead of 3M 4200 sealant behind the lip of the inspection port.  for fasteners, I used stainless steel oval head #8 x 3/4″ long screws with a nylon locking nut inside.

my newest creation is a drying fan that can be used to help dry out an older Sunfish that might have minor leaks and you come home from sailing with a little bit of water in the hull. for parts, you’ll need a small fan – you can usually find a decent one in an old computer tower, a power converter to get electricity to the fan (you might be able to use batteries, but I’m pretty sure the constant fan running would drain them way too fast), a small piece of screen, and an extra inspection port cover.

first, I cut out a hole in the extra inspection port cover for the fan.  the dimples in the cover for the handle are kind of in the way, so the cut-out isn’t exactly matched to the fan diameter, but it’s not a bad 1st attempt for a home-made job.  a co-worker gave me an old computer fan to use, and we also found an old cell phone charger converter that was close enough in voltage and amperage to the fan.  I mounted the fan to the port cover, and then used Super-Glue to fasten a small piece of window screen to the back of the cover to keep bugs and critters from getting through the opening.

if you’re not able to find an old computer fan and power converter, you can buy the fans pre-wired for a normal plug for about $15 to $20.  you can also buy one of these hull drying fans pre-made from Intensity Sails, but it’s pretty pricey at $80.

sunfish sailing after a storm [video]

here’s a cool video of Bill Springer, a senior editor at Sail Magazine, sailing on a Sunfish the day right after tropical storm Hanna (not sure if it was the tropical storm in 2002 or the hurricane in 2008).

it was pretty cool to see him hiking out with the video camera in one hand, while keeping the mainsheet trimmed and a hold of the rudder/tiller with his other hand.

sense the wind – a blind sailing documentary

this is a neat trailer for a documentary being produced by Christine Knowlton about blind sailors.

Blind sailors race across open water, learning not to fear what they cannot see – on boats or on land. They compete despite risk, trusting an image of the racecourse in the mind’s eye. Yet life is as unpredictable as the wind. One gains something far different than a trophy, and must learn to live and sail with a new sensibility.

you can learn more about the project at it’s website: sense the wind or at the Facebook page.

HT: @savingsailing

small sailboat garage storage

while flipping through old photos yesterday (when I found the photo of my 1st sail in a Sunfish), I also found this picture of how I used to store my old Super Porpoise when we used to live down in southeastern Indiana.  the Super Porpoise was shortly produced as a slightly larger version of the Sunfish, but with a lot of similar features, and the same lateen sail (although a tad larger sail area).

our garage at that house had a large amount of extra space above the garage doors.  I installed (4) heavy-duty eyebolts in the garage ceiling, making sure they were securely screwed into the wood trusses on the other side of the drywall.  I then just used a couple pieces of rope, maybe 1/2″ diameter standard rope you could find at a hardware store, so nothing fancy.  I think there were a few S-hooks to make it easy to connect the rope to the eyebolts.

as you can see, it actually was hanging below the garage door (in its open position), but was still high enough that our smaller sedan could be parked easily right below the boat.  I also tossed some more stuff on the boat as you can see the mast, as well as an old plastic kiddie pool for my son to play in during the hot summer days.

this would be a lighter-duty version of winter storage than what I’m currently using at my dad’s barn, with 2×4 hangers and a 2×4 cross beam holding up my 2 Sunfish.

my 1st ever sail on a Sunfish

I was digging through a box of photos today, and stumbled upon this picture:

it was my 1st ever time sailing on a Sunfish, back in the summer of 1998.  all three of us all squeezed onto that one Sunfish!  I’m taking this picture, Jim is standing to the right, and Sean is sitting on the Sunfish.  Sean’s family had a cottage up near the summer camp – Camp Arcadia -  that the three of us were working at over the summer, and his family owned the Sunfish and kept it down near the beach.  Sean offered to take us all for a sail out on Lake Michigan during an afternoon off from work.  this is standing on the beach north of Arcadia, Michigan – looking north towards Frankfort.

the future of Sunfish sailing?

could the research and technology utilized by the giant multi-hull sailboat’s of the America’s Cup be dribbling down into the world of the weekend dinghy sailor?  the last America’s Cup was won by an impressive performance by the BMW Oracle Racing team and their giant 223-ft tall wing sail on the USA-17.

but now, for the very first time – this wing-sail technology has been adapted for a simple dinghy sailboat like a Sunfish.  X-Wing Sails now has plans and specifications available for sail to create your very own wing sail for a Sunfish.

The key to getting a wing sail system that not only affordable but easy to handle, rig and sail, is to keep the weight low.  The first wing that I built was about 50#, and had only 32ft\2 area.  The latest version is about18# with a sail area of 60ft\2.  Using the standard Sunfish mast will reduce that weight by another 10%.  Note that most sailors know that weight in the rigging is bad for sailing.  The latest design has similar weight distribution to the standard sail system for the Sunfish.

at this point, it isn’t going to win any beauty contests, but I suppose things like that can be fine-tuned with future model revisions.  my only other thought – if you want a bit more speed, and something a little sportier than a Sunfish – don’t most people just make the transition to sailing a Laser?

HT: Wavedancer at the Sunfish Forum.

Michigan: a great place to sail

one awesome feature of the state of Michigan (distances according to Wikipedia) is that:

no point in Michigan is more than six miles (10 km) from an inland lake or more than 85 miles (137 km) from one of the Great Lakes.

with all that water around, there are plenty of opportunities to sail: there are yacht clubs galore established on many of the inland lakes, or spread out along the Great Lakes coastlines, as well as sailing clubs and teams at area high schools and colleges, and there is also the occasional sailing school where you could take sailing lessons if you choose.

several of Michigan’s colleges and universities have collegiate sailing teams that sail as members of the Midwest Collegiate Sailing Association, or the college might have just a sailing club, that often uses the facilities of a local yacht club nearby (Sail Michigan has a good list of both).  in the lower part of Michigan, there is both Michigan State University in East Lansing (collegiate team and sailing club) and the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor (collegiate team and sailing club), as well as several other smaller colleges with teams and/or clubs.  a few of Michigan’s high schools offer sailing as well, but it is not a huge list (again, Sail Michigan has a good list on their website).

most of the sailing schools in Michigan are situated near one of the Great Lakes, but in the Metro Detroit area, you can find the American Sailing Institute, which sails on Kent Lake in Kensington Metropark, as well as Stoney Creek Metropark and Lake St Clair.

you can also find community sailing in Michigan, as the Traverse Area Community Sailing has been operating up in the northwest corner of Michigan’s lower peninsula for almost 20 years now.  I had a chance to visit their facility about a year and a half ago, and was really impressed!  I really wish that the Metro Detroit area had a similar community sailing system set up, as I think it’d be a great way to introduce more people to sailing.

Traverse City isn’t exactly in my neighborhood, though, and I’ve never taken any classes at the sailing schools or clubs around, so I have taught myself to sail by reading some books, and learning by trial and error out on the water.

so over the past few years, I have tried to take advantage of Michigan’s plethora of water, and sail on a variety of the nearby inland lakes (if I can find a public access point), as well as sailing on the Great Lakes when I get a chance.

I’ve sailed several times on Lake Michigan.  two summers ago, I added Lake Huron on a trip up to Tawas Bay – the “Cape Cod of the Midwest”.  and this last summer, I added another one of the Great Lakes to my list, as I sailed a couple times on Lake Erie.

this leaves me with only Lake Superior and Lake Ontario to round out all 5 Great Lakes, although the last 2 will probably be the hardest to cross of my list, as both will entail serious drive times just to get there.

not every sailing trip has been great though – I got stuck in weeds and then had to sail with dead carp floating around me at Kent Lake – with video evidence!

but the nice thing is that there will always be another lake not too far away that I can try the next time if I get too frustrated with the sailing on that lake.

probably one of my best sailing memories is spending a few days sailing on a couple lakes in Michigan’s northwest lower peninsula with my wife.  we sailed twice on the East Bay near Traverse City, and then had an awesome sailing day on Crystal Lake – an absolutely amazing lake to sail on (and perhaps my favorite thus far of any lake I’ve sailed in Michigan).

but, I think a big key to some of my fondest sailing memories is sharing the trip with someone – often times one (or more) of my 3 young boys, or the 3-day trip with my wife (that’s about the only time I’ve been able to get her to sail with me on the Sunfish!), a friend from college, my siblings, even my father one time on Lake Michigan!  here’s a video from a great day of sailing on Lake Michigan – it was a fairly calm day with light winds, and I was able to slowly sail back and forth along the coastline of Lake Michigan, giving short rides on the Sunfish to my kids, a few of their cousins, and even a few adults who wanted to give it a try!

________________________________________

so does Michigan offer this more specifically than any other state or exotic sailing island in a much more tropical climate? no, not really.  but, for me, the best sailing place is one that I can get to easily, and enjoy the time out in the wind, on the water, and hopefully sharing that memory with someone as well.  and Michigan has a lot of options for getting out on the water – sailing, swimming, kayaking or whatever water sport you choose, no matter where you are living right now.

so even though my boat of choice the Sunfish can get a little cramped with me and 2 kids riding along, or maybe ride a bit low in the water if I’m sailing with another adult, the fellowship of sailing with a friend, or the sheer joy I see on my kid’s face (or that of any other child I’ve had a chance to give a ride on the Sunfish) has been amazing.  my 3 1/2 year old son has already asked me a few times this spring to take him sailing again.  maybe this year or in the near future, I’ll work in racing other Sunfish – the Greater Detroit Sunfish Club is a local club option that seems like a great place to start.

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this post is for the sailing blogfather Tillerman (at his blog Proper Course) who had requested that fellow bloggers write about the “Top Sailing Destination on the Planet.”  as much as I would like to, I just don’t sail nearly as much some of the other bloggers, and not nearly as much or in as varied exotic places as Tillerman has been lucky to sail.  that being said, the post above is my case: Michigan is a great place to sail.

may 2012 sunfish midwest schedule

there are (2) upcoming Sunfish races in the Midwest Region during the month of May.  the full Midwest region schedule can be found as part of the entire Sunfish 2012 regatta schedule here (.pdf file).

Saturday, May 19th, Northern Warmups (Open)

the 1st Sunfish race of the year for the Midwest region will be held at Wolf Lake Yacht Club (map to lake here). I don’t see a NOR posted on their website yet, you can also follow the yacht club on Facebook for more updates.

Photo by Jeff Fenton

Sunday, May 20th, Just for Fun #1 (Open)

this is the 1st in the series of “Just for Fun” races held at Hueston Sailing Association (map to lake here).

(picture from Hueston Sailing Association)

waterlust: kiting the Alaia [video]

here’s another video put out by the Waterlust Project (I’ve blogged about the project before) this time showing off the making of an Alaia board and then kite surfing with the Alaia board. click through the video to watch it on Youtube.

go to the Waterlust Project for a .pdf with instructions on how to build your own Alaia board.