If you sign up for Netflix, they have a number of sailing DVDs. There is a 5 disc set of the Annapolis Book of Seamanship. One disc is on heavy weather.
There is another disc called "Sailing in Heavy Weather" that was pretty good.
I've watched all of the boating videos on Netflix. Most of them are really bad, truly awful. But, it's something to do over the Winter
Thanks Man. I appreciate the encouragement. Great idea re the videos. I'll need a fix... or twelve over the winter on the hard.
Don't get me wrong, I'm pleased that LD is more competent than I. Just want to do her proud - sinking her would not do so! It might be something about my psyche and limits in general - I felt compelled to run several Half Iron Man races in college - mostly out of curiosity. Was just curious about what my limits were (I discovered them.) I seem to need to know ranges to get a good feel for things. Monday of this week being one of them... 8-10s will be a limit at/above which I'll defer to the little lake for a while!
On a related note, reading Treacherous Waters - Tom Lochhaas, ed. http://mhprofessional.com/product.ph...at=&promocode= Before I buy the farm, I may need to sail the Screaming 50's - with a learned companion...
Last edited by Lucky Dawg; 10-31-2007 at 06:53 PM.
Tried again today to sail LD south to Grand Haven for storage. Terrific sail, but big waves from WSW made for an exhilarating sail into and away from them, but notsomuch headed south with biggun's from abeam. Bagged the 12 miles southward for another day. I must say, she's a great little surfer! 37* sailing is better than no sailing.
Upon my return to Torresen's, by chance, I'm lined up with a couple kissin' cousins, I think. The first is an O'Day Tempest - hump on the lazarette being the give-away. I think the second is a Rhodes, but I'm not sure of the make, and LD is next. A couple nice old gals in a row. Not sure how their genes intermingle, but they certainly seem related.
Lucky Dawg is one of 4 boats left in the water. If she can't make it south this weekend, after what will be the 5th attempt, I'm taking the hint and keeping her where she is.
Delivered LD to Grand Haven finally yesterday. Sailed out in a cool ice fog. Picture below from shore - you can just make out the Muskegon Lighthouse in the lower left corner. Light wind on my nose for most of the trip made for a slow go of it, but it was a beautiful day.
Passed my father-in-law in his little Hatteras dingy making the reverse transit to his winter storage - that's usually part of son-in-law duty, but I was otherwise occupied. Res Ispa ain't got nothin' on the Dawg... except another 38 tons of displacement. Luckily he didn't nail the twin 650 diesels till well astern.
Superstition has always played a large role in sailors’ lives, and no doubt always will. There is still so much about the sea, its moods, and its inhabitants that is unexplained or incomprehensible that even today it would seem foolish, if not irresponsible, to ignore the superstitious practices of our forebears. That’s why it’s considered unlucky to paint a boat blue or green, the colors of the sea. In ancient times, boats were believed to have their own souls (inherited, incidentally, from human sacrifices) and could not presume to identify themselves with the sea or any of the gods who managed its affairs. Punishment would surely follow any boat discovered to have been masquerading under false colors. Modern skeptics will no doubt scoff at such patent nonsense, but there will always be many sailors who will abide by old superstitions—if only to quell those primordial feelings of un-ease. And why not? Sailors need all the luck they can get at sea, and heeding the time-honored warnings of yore seems a reasonably convenient way to earn it— and score points for the black box.See also Black Box Theory; Figureheads; Sailing on Friday; Unlucky Names.
On a similar note, hopefully "Lucky" Dawg isn't causing ire in the depths:
"Beware of naming your boat after fearsome creatures
Just as there are unlucky colors, there are also unlucky names for boats. A vessel with a name that is too presumptuous has long been believed to attract bad luck. Presumptuous names are those that challenge the sea or the wind, especially those that boast about beating the elements and surviving their meanest blows. To call a boat Sea Conqueror or Hurricane Tamer is to tempt the fates. The gods of the wind and sea are all-powerful, and they like boat names to be suitably humble. You may recall from Greek mythology that the most important of the Titans, the vengeful Kronos, cut off his father’s genitals with a sickle and threw them into the sea. You can probably imagine how Neptune, god the sea, felt about that. Yet, in 1912, the British White Star steamship company was foolish enough to name its new Atlantic liner Titanic. Not only that, but it claimed she was unsinkable, and it launched her without a proper naming ceremony, thus depriving the gods of their share of the usual libation. Little wonder she was doomed. In the 2001 edition of The Mariner’s Book of Days, author Peter Spectre says the all-time favorite names for ships are Mary and Elizabeth. He warns that to avoid bad luck, you shouldn’t name a vessel after any of the following:
storms: Hurricane, Gale, Cyclone
fearsome creatures of the deep: Kraken, Octopus, Serpent
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