2005.10.28
Hey - check out the Google cache of pics published on this site.
Cool, huh?
Chicago, Illinois, USA. Photo by Sara Cantor
Found at Gapers Block
2005.10.27
I was browsing the inbox on my del.icio.us page and found the delightful Gapers Block website listed under a webdesign tag. Check out the Rearview section - there are some very talented photographers displaying their work there.
Also, I posted a link to my bio which is a work in progress. Right now I'm using the same style sheet used for my resume, but I'll change that soon because it's ugly as hell.
Sunday Morning Sun on Choctawhatchee Bay, Florida, USA. Photo by J.A. Coulter
October 23, 2005
2005.10.24
Been busy with the new boat as well as crewing on the Breakaway and dinghy racing with FWYC. Moved the Mental Floss (got to change her name soon!) from Shalimar Yacht Basin to the Bear Creek Marina at Eglin Air Force Base last Wednesday but not before someone leaving Shalimar pushed a swell large enough to stretch M.F.'s springline THREE FEET and throw her nose under the dock. She now has a crack running across her bowsprit in front of the forestay mount. Charles had a look at it and doesn't think it will cause any problems with the rig or for that matter the anchor pulley, but dammit that's not a good way to start. Some people living on a catamaran on the other side of the dock reported the incident to the marina office, but nobody got the name of the boat that pushed the giant wake. I'm starting to develop a dislike for power boats. . .
Didn't get a chance to take the M.F. out Saturday or Sunday. Had chores Saturday morning, then spent three hours rigging permanent dock lines. I can almost do an eye splice on half-inch three-strand nylon line in the dark now. Raced on the Breakaway Saturday night; good wind and since Sam and Jennifer were in Pensacola racing Hobie Waves I got to man the foredeck. Learned how to set a pole on the head sail the hard way and my eyes got a good work out scanning the horizon for our marks. The race committee felt the wind was strong enough to set the course at 13.3 miles so we made a couple of trips north-south across Choctawhatchee Bay before finishing fifth out of five boats. Still, it beat the heck out of watching re-runs on the T.V.
Sunday I crewed a Flying Scot with Jennifer and David, the owner of Lightning Rod, for the fourth race in the FWYC-Bluewater Bay Yacht Club Challenge Cup. We were up against mostly Lasers and Sunfishes and a couple of Hobie Waves. We did manage to beat the one other Flying Scot in 3 out of 4 races, and one of those wins was after fouling a Laser and having to do our penalty spins. Although we didn't place in any of the races we did manage to pull a fourth overall in the last race and I'd like to think we contributed to the overall points. FWYC won the Cup. I hope to race in all four races next year.
So I'm hoping to take the M.F. out for a short while tomorrow after work. The days are getting short and next weekend we lose an hour of evening light with the end of daylight savings time. I need to work on my entrance manuever to the slip at Bear Creek Marina. Thankfully there were no witnesses to my arrival last Wednesday - I ended up against the pilings (and a couple of boats although no damage was done to them or the M.F.) across from the slip and it was hard work getting her straightened out by myself. I'll get it down though - I have to.
Mental Floss Before Leaving Hurlburt Field, Florida, USA.
October 15, 2005
2005.10.15
There she is - my new sailboat, a 1986 Sovereign 24. I saw her with a For Sale sign taped to her mainsail cover last Sunday while enjoying a post-Hobie beer at the Hurlburt Field marina. I called her owner, Joe Polhamaus, on Monday and had a look at her dockside that afternoon. She's a little tubby, with 8 feet of beam and a shoal draft keel that draws 27", but the cabin is roomy with lots of headroom. I can almost stand up straight below, but more importantly, I can sit up straight when seated on her berths. Joe took excellent care of her. I'm looking forward to many adventures aboard her.
We took her out for a sea trial Thursday night. Charles and Jan Hine were kind enough to come along and Charles gave her a look-over with an experienced and unenamored eye. He pronounced her a good boat and Joe and I closed the deal last night. I moved the Mental Floss from Hurlburt Field to a transient slip at the Shalimar Yacht Basin today. It was my first time single-handing anything larger than a Hobie Wave and I learned a lot. I'm also happy to report I didn't ram her into the dock or anyone else's boat when I brought her into Shalimar. After I get her registered I'll move her to the Bear Creek Marina at Eglin AFB, hopefully Tuesday afternoon. Shalimar is nice, but it's $40/day to keep her tied to the dock so she has to move soon before I run out of money I could be spending on new jib sheets, or cam blocks, or winch covers, or. . .
Here's a couple more pics of what owning a sailboat does for the soul. The first I took while sailing up Choctawhatchee Bay and the second is at the dock with Gina after my safe arrival at Shalimar. The cigar was a very fine Romeo y Julietta Cuban Gina bought for me in London last August. I told her I was waiting for a special occasion to fire it up and I figured completing my maiden voyage was as good a reason as any.
J.A. Coulter's Maiden Voyage Aboard His New Sovereign 24
Choctawhatchee Bay, Florida, USA.
October 15, 2005
Jim and Gina Aboard the Mental Floss
Shalimar Yacht Basin, Florida, USA.
October 15, 2005
Moon Rise Over Choctawhatchee Bay, Florida, USA.
October 12, 2005
2005.10.12
I don't mean to rub it in for you folks getting ready for winter in the northernly latitudes, but here it is October and we were all wearing shorts and t-shirts tonight.
Sometimes I miss snow, but not on a night like tonight.
