My friends and i just went through the harrowing experience of fighting a brutal fire in a trailer park after an elderly fellow tried to light a propane appliance the wrong way. The explosion blew him across the room and it was only by the quick thinking of others that both he and his wife were pulled out of the place before it went completely up in flames. Pics and full story on my blog at www.loosemoorings.org The story was on both the evening news and in the local paper.
A…
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Added by Nathaniel Poole on May 26, 2009 at 1:30am —
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OK, here we had been trying to get out of the slip since 8am this morning. Started on a Beneteau 393 due to a bad starter solenoid relay on our cat. It rained very very heavy with frequent lightning this morning here in Ft Lauderdale from 0830 to about 1145. The weather started clearing up and we thought our cat would be ready, but it did not get released from the mechanic until 1600 today..too late to provisionj and leave out for south Miami. So, night two in the marina...We are to to leave…
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Added by Daniel on May 24, 2009 at 8:30pm —
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Getting myself geared up to do some serious blogging.
Hurricane season will be here shortly. A "light" season predicted. Only time will tell. O Town tends to get the hurricanes later in the season but there are always exceptions.
You know you can count on your VERY FAVORITE hurricane blogger to be on the spot, if possible. I am hoping the forecasters are correct but there's a reason they call it FORECASTING!
Several things to relate: Trading up to a larger boat…
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Added by Charlotte Radford on May 19, 2009 at 8:18pm —
7 Comments
We never intended to race. But as we set off on the first leg of the ARC Europe rally, we could not resist the challenge of a good start. Over two dozen boats eager to cross a short line between a committee boat and an orange buoy at the sound of a horn was sure to be exciting!
So we came out of the marina early and picked the best angle; one that would give us right of way and put us at the right place at the right time. Sure enough,…
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Added by CAN DRAC on May 19, 2009 at 9:30pm —
2 Comments
Jeepers!! I have an opportunity to buy something close to my 'dream' cruising boat - at least in the sense of having all the equipment, all the capabilities, and all in reasonable shape. The boat has been around the world. It's also big - bigger than anything I had planned on for some time if ever - officially 44 feet but that includes a 4 foot bowsprit and about two feet of reverse transom (like most modern sailboats.
Because of the unique situation, I think I could be moved onto my…
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Added by Gary B on May 17, 2009 at 9:06pm —
27 Comments
Hearing what I want to hear, believing what I want to hear, that's me.
Giving encouragment, that's you!
Together we will surpass expectations....
In the meantime, I have another question:
How do you access internet? I have a lap top that I think I can get an adapter to plug into my battery control panel, but what kind of widget is required to get internet; is it called wi-fi??????????
With only a few weeks to go, another unbelievable part of me…
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Added by Marlene A. Sassaman on May 8, 2009 at 11:14pm —
2 Comments
Ship Island, MS April 21-26, 2009
Day 1.
We are determined to make it to Ship Island, MS on this trip. The barrier islands off the coast of Mississippi beckon us. And who are we to ignore a challenge!
Our marina is approximately one hour upriver on the Tchefuncte River. Preparation for the trip takes, as usual, until mid- to late afternoon. Mike had installed some efficiencies -- a gauge to monitor levels of the waste tank; another battery and a gauge to monitor…
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Added by Gina Nadas on May 7, 2009 at 9:17pm —
6 Comments
This weekend was filled with helping a non-profit charity that I have been helping every week for over a year....The Ronald McDonald House Charities...If you do not know, they provide housing and a life for families that are dealing with kids under the age of 18 that have life threatning conditions. Most kids here are being treated at Duke University Medical Center (here in Durham, NC). It is very rewarding helping them and even when I live on a sailboat, I will try and organize boaters and…
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Added by Daniel on May 4, 2009 at 2:00am —
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With less than 30 days until departure, I am finally getting nervous. Daily thoughts pop into my head like,
"What if you hit something and the mast falls down cracking the deck?"
"What if I have a bad dream that a giant shark slid into the cockpit and snaps my arm off while I sleep on deck?"
"What if, what if, what if?"
"What ever made me think I could do this, as I reset the anchor for the 6th time during an afternoon thunderstorm?"
"Do I really think I can do…
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Added by Marlene A. Sassaman on May 4, 2009 at 7:49pm —
9 Comments
OK, here goes. I am taking lessons in May to begin my sailing life....Taking ASA courses in Ft. Lauderdale at BWSS. I eventually take all courses offered and hopefully find someone who has a cat that will let me join them for a month or so and help me learn what I want and then it's off to buy one I hope. My picture is me and my Dad, my best friend. He is taking the first classes with me and if he likes it and does not get too seasick, maybe he will take all of them with me....He is pretty…
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Added by Daniel on May 1, 2009 at 10:56pm —
5 Comments
Yes, last week we had two of those days that Seattlites brag about. The kind of day that brings out crowds of bicyclists, joggers, shoppers crowding Market Street and boaters swarming the docks. As soon as the temperature edges above fifty degrees they are out in shorts and tee shirts with dreamy smiles on their faces. It was a startlingly beautiful day...by Seattle standards; the kind of day that would have my Hawaiian friends huddled around electric heaters and wrapped in blankets. But here…
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Added by Orvil Newton on April 29, 2009 at 12:11pm —
11 Comments
Finally, I'm finished redoing the electricity of the boat!!!. I just stripped the old mess, designed a new floating ground system and did all the wiring. Everything seems to be working fine, and not a single fuse/breaker went off. I'm actually impressed with myself. It did take me about a year to do the learning, the design and the work itself (working only one day a week).
One of my three Trojan J185H seem to have shorted one cell. Well, we'll have to live with only two (about 500…
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Added by Marco Garcia on April 29, 2009 at 2:33am —
3 Comments
Ok, so a great deal of time has gone by since my last post. We have been on the move most of that time. We spent 20 days in George Town, Exumas where we finally got our dingy repaired using a bottle of sealant. That worked much better than the patches that were applied in Nassau. They started to come off and I used goop to stick them back on but they really didn't get the job done as there were many tiny holes due to chafing. The sealant works like the stuff in fixaflat and under the right…
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Added by Jim Jackson on April 28, 2009 at 2:37pm —
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It wasn’t too long ago that manatees were raised for food; hence Cowpens Anchorage near Islamorada, Florida. As slow and as stupid as they are; they are hard to catch. Manatees only eat sea grass and it’s hard to put sea grass on a hook. Running over them with a boat is not practical either. Contrary to what the Save the Manatee Foundation claims; very few are killed by boats. In Broward County only one per year has been killed by a boat over the past 30 years. That’s usually in Port Everglades…
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Added by Bob E Sherman on April 28, 2009 at 7:00pm —
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Don't you just hate having to give up something you love for something else you want? It's that same old Tony Robbins theory on instant versus delayed gratification. I don't mind delaying happiness as long as I don't have to give up something I like. Take the annual Melbourne Yacht Club's spring regatta. Held over two week-ends; one for small boats and one for big boats, I have attended this event probably 20 times. Because I want to turn my dream job of being a sailing journalist into a…
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Added by Marlene A. Sassaman on April 25, 2009 at 3:36pm —
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Unlike a traditional hen party where ladies gather round to share their beauty secrets, host a baby shower or buy Tupperware, seven sailing lassies representing the MYC and the ECSA Women’s Racing Series cozied up at Sassaman’s place to embark on a virtual adventure to the ends of the earth. This wasn’t a competitive event, just a few hours of inspiring conversation spurred by the magnanimity of Gary Jobson’s polar expeditions.
The clarity of Jobson’s DVD was no less spectacular than…
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Added by Marlene A. Sassaman on April 19, 2009 at 1:36pm —
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Here's a few words I thought I would throw out in hopes of getting ideas on how to use them in future writings. Send me your thoughts; you know like the days of old when you were in school and your teacher had you write your vocabulary words in a complete sentence. Use your imagination, be creative, funny. serious or delirious. Just relate them to sailing. Thanks, Marlene
Here are this week's words:
aperitifs
magnanimity
veroten
Added by Marlene A. Sassaman on April 18, 2009 at 3:01am —
5 Comments
After small boat sailing and racing - Solings, Sunfish, Windsurfers & Hobie 16s, and wanting to be able to go cruising, I jumped into skippering a Hunter 33, with a tall rig for the sluggish summer winds of New York and Connecticut's Long Island Sound. This was with friends and BAWYK (Before and with young kids). Since the kids flew the nest, I'm starting my 4th season with Imogene Z, a classic bay sailer; 17' Oday 1982.
Imogene Z has new everything except the basics - hull, mast…
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Added by Suky on April 13, 2009 at 7:38pm —
4 Comments
Early on in my school counseling career my supervisor, Libby Schmidt, warned me to ask busy people to help out when needed. She went on to explain that busy people have a knack for getting things done. I guess that is a complement, because just about the time my blackberry shows every moment of every day for the next six weeks is full, I couldn't seem to refuse a request for help.
One of my crew, Susan, wanted to buy a used 'total gym' fitness contraption. Because I have been using…
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Added by Marlene A. Sassaman on April 12, 2009 at 8:15am —
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I have been posting a blog at http://americanvega.org/captainslog.html since before we left Hawaii, beginning in April of 2007 with my retirement and our preparations but I will post new entries here as well. The latest news is that after destroying my old laptop I now have a new and much more powerful computer that has made video editing easier and I have been working through the 200 odd hours of recordings we made in the preparation phase and during our trip so far. I added one this morning…
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Added by Orvil Newton on April 11, 2009 at 5:00pm —
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