It's been a long (long!) time since I updated this site. Mostly because I was without a camera most of the year (both of our Fuji point-and-shoots bit the dust again after repairs). However, I must have done something right because Santa brought me a new Canon 40D DSLR, which I am still learning to use. While I'm doing that, here's a slide show of my favorite photographs I posted to my Flickr account. I found the very simple code for this slideshow at Paul Stamatiou's web blog. Many thanks to Paul for making it easy.
Mac Fletcher, FWYC Frosty Nipple #4
Cinco Bayou, Florida, USA
Feburary 18, 2007
2007.02.22
I took this picture of the young man above last Sunday from the mark-set boat with Sam Grant's Canon EOS Rebel digital camera during the fourth of the Fort Walton Yacht Club's Frosty Nipple small-boat series. As you can see from Mac's dress, it was frosty for a change. Only seven sailors braved the cold water and colder air to compete for fame and glory. I don't know Mac, I hear he's from the Pensacola area and attends the U.S. Naval Academy. He's also good Laser sailor, claiming two firsts and two thirds and finishing second overall, behind his fellow Pensacolian and U.S. Olympic Sailing Team hopeful Nicole Beuchler. More photos of the races here.
Lightning Rod Waiting For Some Wind
Choctawhatchee Bay, Florida, USA
Feburary 4, 2007
2007.02.09
Last Sunday was the fourth race in the Fort Walton Yacht Club's North Ferry Road Sailboat Drivers Association winter series. As you can see from the picture above, it wasn't blowing as hard as it was the previous Sunday. This photo was taken as we drifted on the start line under a postponement flag. After an hour of no wind, the race committee mercifully abandoned the race and we all retired to the bar.
Thanks to Sam Grant for letting me use his Canon Rebel EOS digital camera to take photos of this driftfest. More can be seen here.
Pellirojas Beating to Windward
Choctawhatchee Bay, Florida, USA
January 28, 2007
2007.01.29
Yesterday was the third race in the Fort Walton Yacht Club's North Ferry Road Sailboat Drivers' Association winter race series. I took this picture of Jerry and Faye Black's Frers 33 Pellirojas from Breakaway as we beat our way north across the west side of Choctawhatchee Bay. As you can see, we had plenty of wind. Sam and Jennifer thought the blade (a small jib sail) was on board, but it wasn't, so we raced with a big 155 genoa with puffs in excess of 20 knots coming out of the northwest. Jennifer did a good job keeping Breakaway under control and we managed a third place without flying a spinnaker on the downwind legs. It was a cold day by Florida standards, but we all survived to race another day.
New Years Day
Choctawhatchee Bay, Florida, USA
January 1, 2007
2007.01.05
Here's a shot I took from Smack Point on New Years Day of a Catalina 25 coming home after spending a glorious afternoon on Choctawhatchee Bay. I took this after returning from a very pleasant sail of my own, the guest of Dave Sampson and Theresa Yeager, aboard Dave's Beneteau Oceanis 352.
Hope your New Years Day was as nice as mine.
Flying Scot Smothering a Laser
Choctawhatchee Bay, Florida, USA
November 5, 2006
Photo by Bill Tennis
2006.12.15
The above photo was taken during a Fort Walton Yacht Club Portsmouth race last month. Jeff Brown and I are in the Flying Scot, and that's David Sly gasping for air on his Laser. Jeff and I took first place overall, but it wasn't hard when we could suck the wind out of the smaller boats' sails on the downwind runs to the finish line.
Jim and Gina
Aboard Polly
Choctawhatchee Bay, Florida, USA
November 23, 2006
2006.12.09
Downloading pictures from today's sailing and found this shot I took on Thanksgiving Day last month. We sailed to Black Point, dropped the anchor, and ate cold chicken with a bottle of chilled Chardonay. Here's to those sailors who discovered this promised land, and to our ancestors who had the guts and foresight to make the trip themselves.
Jennifer Grant
Aboard Blue Heron
Choctawhatchee Bay, Florida, USA
September 23, 2006
2006.12.07
I was browsing through my photo library, looking for photos of Sam and Jennifer Grant to print for their Christmas presents, and found the above photo. I took this aboard their friend Russ Kincaid's Corsair Formula 27 trimaran Blue Heron last September after a quick cruise on the Gulf of Mexico. Sam and Jennifer are co-owners of Breakaway, the Olson 34 I have been crewing on for the past year and half (Jennifer's parents, Charles and Jan Hine own the the port side of the boat - or is it the starboard half? I can't remember). Sam and Jennifer have been very kind to Gina and I, sponsoring us into the Fort Walton Yacht Club a year ago, and have become good friends. This photo sums up what our time with the FWYC has been like: lots of sailing, lots of sun, and lots of beer. Cheers to you Jennifer and Sam and thanks for inviting us along that day. . .
Lightning Rod
North Ferry Road Sailboat Drivers' Association Race #1
Choctawhatchee Bay, Florida, USA
December 3, 2006
2006.12.04
Yesterday was the first race of our winter series. The boat in the picture above, Lightning Rod, is an S2 owned by David Eames. David had a crew full of rock stars yesterday and took line honors as well as first place overall. Breakaway, the boat this picture was taken from, finished third overall on corrected time. Lots of sun, but it was cool enough that we all wore long pants and something warm up top.
Polly on Choctawhatchee Bay
Florida, USA
November 11, 2006
2006.11.22
Not much content posted this past summer, but I did manage to get my Sovereign 24 Polly back in the water several months ago, plus we finally got our digital cameras repaired. Last Veterans Day I managed to take the boat and the camera out on the same day. Gina was back home in Nevada for the week, so I took advantage of a day without racing to sail Polly up to Boggy Bayou on the north side of Choctawhatchee Bay. After dropping the hook in Boggy Bayou for lunch I headed south back into the bay ahead of an approaching cold front. This image was taken about fifteen minutes before the cold front swept through, clocking the wind to the north, with 20+ knot winds building five foot waves at the south end of the bay. I made it home two hours after sunset with a reefed main and a new respect for cold fronts and foul weather gear.
Labor Day weekend was the 86th annual Sir Thomas Lipton Challenge Cup regatta, hosted by Bay-Waveland Yacht Club in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.
The regatta is part of the Gulf Yachting Association's Capedevielle one-design series, raced in 19-foot Flying Scots.
This was my fourth Capedevielle event this year, and although I didn't sail, I tried to make myself useful by taking photographs with my old film camera and making sure we didn't take home as much beer as we brought.
The charming young lady in the above photo is Alex Cook, age 8, daughter of Darren Cooke. Darren sailed the FWYC boat to respectable 7th and 8th place finishes (20 clubs competed) in two of the regatta's four races. Alex spent Monday afternoon on the FWYC support boat (provided by our excellent Vice Commodore Dave Vaughn) while her dad raced. Alex let us know who was boss right away. Here's a picture of her in a better mood:
Race for the Roses
Pensacola Bay, Florida, USA
July 29, 2006
Photo by Sam Grant
2006.08.04
Last Sunday was the annual Race for the Roses womens-only regatta, sponsored by Pensacola Beach Yacht Club. Fort Walton Yacht Club entered two boats, Cantankerous (second from left in the above photo) a Pearson-Flyer owned by Sandy Zevin, and Rudder Madness, a Merit 25 owned by Phylis Seaton and her son and daughter-in-law, David and Sherry Seaton. Gina crewed on Cantankerous which sailed in the spinnaker B-fleet. The ladies did a fine job, taking second in class and crossing the finishing line ahead of all A- and B-fleet boats in the second of the three-race series. Two shackles for their mainsheet blocks failed when a thunderstorm whipped the winds up to 30 knots. They trimmed the main by hand, as well as having to hold their spinnaker pole up the mast when the car wouldn't lock. We (the husbands and assorted other menfolk spectating from motorboats full of ice, beer, and sandwiches) were all very proud of them.
Lei Low Accelerating Upwind
Corsair Nationals
Choctawhatchee Bay, Florida, USA
April 22, 2006
2006.06.05
I've been meaning to post this photograph for over a month now. I shot this with my Canon EOS film camera using some generic film I bought in a rush that morning. I took this photograph from Breakaway after the last race. The Corsairs are fast, fast boats, and Lei Low came at us from a quarter-mile astern and passed us in under two minutes.
Upwind in a Flying Scot
FWYC-BBSC Small Boat Challenge
Choctawhatchee Bay, Florida, USA
May 28, 2006
2006.06.01
A long time since I've updated this site. Still haven't gotten my digital cameras repaired/replaced. Too busy having fun on the water, as the picture above shows. Debra Deets and I took a Flying Scot out for the first in a series of four meets between Fort Walton Yacht Club and the Bluewater Bay Sailing Club. We didn't finish last, but came close several times. And I can confirm it - you stay much cooler sailing than you do golfing.
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