Commander #65 "Lucky Dawg"

[ebb]

Really nice!!!
Series shots always tell a story..
so I got sail around you too and check out her angles wide and tall....
try and figure out what make of boat she is from her numbers. McAlbirg?

Great side-on shots seem to stretch LD into a longer day sailor. Couple shots she's at least thirty feet...

Commanders have elegant lines and proportions.
Wholly apart from an Ariel.
You just have to focus on those amazing macho mahogany coamings. And that long comfortable cockpit run aft of the cabin. With that lucky dawg sitting at the tiller. Equal to any six figure martini scow. A beautiful sailboat.

[Lucky Dawg]

Thanks Man. She's brought us a lot of joy this season.

The sails don't give a clue re her origins, do they? When I get new sails, they'll look like below - not that anyone knows that Commander logo... I toyed with the idea of the Pearson logo, but I think she deserves to be set apart. Carl gets compliments on her every time I take her out. Usually preceeded by "What IS that boat?? She's beautiful!"

We're a smart bunch with lovely boats.

[joe]

We're a smart bunch with lovely boats.

Smart bunch indeed; I should think that Brilliant would be more like it

[mbowman]

Hey Kyle, thanks for the pix on your beauty. What part of Georgia are you from? We have a 1966 Ariel on a small lake just outside of Birmingham Alabama. When we moved from the coast of Ala, the boat had to come with us. We miss the big water of Mobile Bay, but at least we have her close. She was missused for many years so we are trying to get her back in shape.
Thanks again for you pix.
mike

[Lucky Dawg]

Hey Mike. How about some more pictures of Red Pepper? You started from a challenging spot and we'd love to see what you've done. Any water left in your lake? Tough drought.
I was born and raised in Atlanta. Graduated from UGA in '87 (hence Lucky Dawg.) After a couple of sojourns around the country, I came back home and met my wife Amy while we were both hospice social workers - you don't think of hospice as being a romantic hotbed, but love is funny that way. We now live in her hometown here on Lake Michigan. Moved here after our 3 year old was born. Good place to raise her (and our little boy who is on the way circa 3/10/08!) Troubling that they'll grow up saying "y'all" and "fixin' to" etc with a Michigan accent. Grand Haven is a nice small town though painfully conservative. I do miss the South and certainly miss the whole spectrum of big city life. I don't miss smog or traffic or being land locked though! 7 minutes to my office and 15 to sail.
Update that gallery - maybe Bill can change the name to "Red Pepper!"

[Lucky Dawg]

Crashing along at 6+ knots in 3-5 footers and 12-15 knots of wind on the Big Lake today. Pretty wet and wild ride. I'm thankful for a nice Gill storm jacket or I would have been drenched. The waves were fun till I hit the 85' depth zone a mile or so offshore - twice out and back, both times I got to about that depth and the waves coming abeam seemed to get much bigger! Weather on the VHF said 3-5, but they always look a lot bigger. Camera doesn't quite capture... Lucky Dawg seemed to enjoy every minute of it.

Once back on Muskegon Lake headed home, I had some time to have fun with multi-tasking.

I think next weekend is the end of the line for the season. I'm with Stephan - 6 months on the hard is brutal.

[mbowman]

looks like a great trip. Kyle check out some of my pics on "Red Pepper" its just a few but you'll get an idea of hows she's doing. My son and I did a "photo shoot" for his school magazine, so i just made figure 8's around the dock. had very light wind that day.
mike

[ebb]

Let's get those kite-cams up there you brilliant guys!

[Tim Mertinooke]

Ebb, that sounds like a perfect project for you to wrap your brain around. I would love to see an "ariel" shot of Little Gull.

[ebb]

I'll leave that kite cam stuff up to you guys.

BUT
If I ever have the time - HAH - I'd put it into developing a kellet cam.
The idea is to send a camera or corder down the anchor line to see how well the anchor is set. Good idea?

First models would be relatively simple and probably be limited in depth. Upgrades might include infrared or remote wider angled views of the bottom and stuff like that.

Every cruiser will want one of those.
Think it's a marketable idea. Have to cut costs so it would be affordable. Probably available already.

[Jack]

ebb... two words, otter box. These waterproof boxes would do the trick with just about any conventional camcorder. Just send it down, and then pull it up and check the footage.

Just a thought.

[ebb]

Jack,
The estate here acquired a battery-powered game camera. It's a Pelican case that has been altered to hold a digital camera, an infra red light, and a motion detector. Like rafting boxes and survival, law enforcement cases it's made from bulletproof polypropylene. Very nicely molded, thoughtfully designed. It's weatherproof I'd guess, as the box contains sensitive electronics, but it's not really designed for in water use.

There are some camera cases that will go to some depths - don't know which ones they are - most of these Fuerte and Hardigg cases are only good for three feet immersion. I mean as I understand it.

For a camera you could lower I might start first models with PVC pipe that could be screwed together just to see what came up. Lens, gaskets, machining... Don't know how you'd control the camera on an anchor rode and/or chain. You'd need self contained light for sure, you'd need weight to get it down, you'd need a non-focus digital camera that had excellent detail. The game camera has a 100ft useful range with a 40degree angle of field. How you make something that you want to take apart simply waterproof at 50 feet say is the challenge.

Another approach would be to use the anchor's retrieval line/buoy to lower the camera rather than the rode. A straight down looksee might be easier to acheive than a side view..

Anyway there is a lot of expertise available for inspiration. It would be nice just to see if something would work, then perfect it, then see whose patent you're infringing.

If it was just a cool jig that could assembled by anyone, that would be even better.
[One tube is your light
Another tube holds the camera
This tube has lead in it.
Bundle them up with some hose clamps
and toss it in the drink.}

[Jack]

Great ideas.

Another idea I had (although it is a little more out there) would be to design a ROV on the cheap. Hook up some kind of camera to a remote control submarine model and send that down to inspect.

I think this would fail the cost effectiveness test for individual owners, but might be something worth offering as a service to boat owners. Who knows, maybe I can rig something and use it to save up for a Commander?

[commanderpete]

I'm afraid the technology is already there

http://www.sportsmansguide.com/searc...h&k=underwater

How 'bout those pics of the Dawg?

The Arielites are going to need to step up

[Lucky Dawg]

Thanks Pete. Lucky Dawg makes an elegant screen saver for my desktop.

Started to post this in Che's thread, but I didn't want to highjack...

Comparatively (re his sailing description http://pearsonariel.org/discussion/s...1&postcount=90), I tried to sail Lucky Dawg to her winter storage in Grand Haven 12 miles south on Lake Michigan yesterday - and 8-10 footers (marine forecast was for 4-7) with 22 knots of wind chased me back. I only got 50 yards past the pier head - gunning the engine at full speed into the westerly winds to get into the lake. Drove out and checked conditions for today - presently nice but a gale warning has been posted since earlier when I went to check - the waves are supposed to build big. (See http://www.surfgrandhaven.com for 4 rotating live views) I stopped in at the Muskegon Coast Guard Station to see if they had better prospective wave height information - seeking a window for the trip down the shore this afternoon. In speaking to the post commander, I said I had tried to sail out yesterday and he said "WAS THAT YOU!?! Man, I want to shake your hand." I think it was a friendly way of calling me an idiot. LD never dipped her bow or stern under any waves and I felt secure with her under me, but the seas were abeam and pretty steep. (Must admit I felt a little scared *after* the fact...) I surfed at 10.2 knots on a broad reach coming back into the channel! Re sailing today, the commander said "I'm not going to tell you what to do, but we sent our 49 footer up the river this morning..." Will try again on Monday.

Yesterday, I took Stephan's comment re C-257's bridge deck into account and bungied two hatch boards in place to ward off any cockpit-invading waves flooding my cabin.

I want to take a heavy weather sailing class somewhere... LD is much more competent in these conditions than I am.

Che, you are a stud.