Three Rules of Sailing

1. Keep people IN the boat
2. Keep water OUT of the boat
3. Don't run into anything

One By One

Sydney Hobart race:  one by one they come in.   Here are the updated positions.

Sydney to Hobart Race

Every year on Boxing Day, a fleet of sailboats leaves Sydney Harbour to race to the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania in Hobart.  The race is famous in part for the tragedy of its 1998 race where only 44 boats made it out of the fleet of 115 boats.  Six people were lost when the fleet encountered a Force 12 storm.

Here is the fleet distribution as of this morning.  The red line is the rhumb line from the entry to Sydney Harbour to the approach to Hobart.

Just Another Winter Day

Live Small

Graham Hill describes a smaller footprint and illustrates an apartment of 400 SF.  Sailors know this well and a sailboat is the same idea applied.

Mobile Office

The navigation station on our boat makes a great little office.  if you consider we have mobile internet, I can be completely in the loop at the office "working at home".  The exception is that "home" is a movable platform that can be in a number of places

Volvo Ocean Race Continues

Windy Christmas Day

From Environment Canada
Today Tonight and MondayGale warning in effect.Wind southwest 35 to 45 knots diminishing to 15 to 25 early this evening then backing to southeast 15 to 20 early Monday morning. Wind increasing to southeast 25 to 35 Monday afternoon.
The boat is being buffeted a bit in the 30+ knot winds

MERRY CHRISTMAS

A Christmas Festival

This Leroy Anderson piece is a staple at Christmas Concerts all over the world.  I played it with the Calgary Concert Band and the Edmonton Cosmopolitan Monday Band many times.  Can't have Christmas without it.

Volvo Ocean Race - In The Stealth Zone

S/V Island Spirit

Hayden Cochran and his wife - also IP owners - on board their boat "Island Spirit" are now in southern Florida on their way to the Bahamas.  Wish we were there:

Volvo Ocean Race - Piracy

The race is approaching the "Stealth Zone"

For Unto Us A Child Is Born

When I was a graduate student, there was a poster up that on the 16th of December (I won't say which year) there would be a "reading of Handel's Messiah - bring your scores".  I had a score and turned up under the great dome on Massachusetts Avenue where the MIT Chamber Orchestra, the MIT Chorus and 4 student soloists sang part one of the Messiah.  The railings for 3 stories were ringed with people holding their scores and joining in at the choruses.  I will never forget that day and for me this particular chorus is quintessentially Christmas: 

Still Racing

A Comment on City Design

So last Friday I read  that Stephen Holl has been awarded the AIA (American Institute of Architects) Gold Medal.  The article refers to a quote by one of the selection committee who notes:

Holl’s building hovers above garden and park spaces on eight legs, creating a shaded microclimate and quality public outdoor space that’s sorely lacking in developing-world cities. Making the building coexist and interact with the green space below necessitated that this developing nation take a fundamental symbol of its burgeoning prosperity—a new shimmering high rise tower—and tip it on its side. Such depth of inquiry and lack of presupposition in Holl’s work make this kind of audacious gambit almost common in his buildings.

Here is a picture of that quality outdoor public space:

Note the throngs of people admiring, appreciating and enjoying  the quality outdoor public space

Now we examine what one might presume is a contrasting and thus a a poor example of a quality outdoor public space – no one knows the "starchitect involved":

Notice the un-used spaces, lack of extensive vista and the obvious poor quality outdoor public space –pathetic

What a joke the profession has become, so self-focued and without knowledge that it is no longer noticed or questioned in the architalk.  It is no longer about life, but about the object and the admiration of others in the club.

About Holistic Thinking...

Benjamin Zander talks about music and passion - but it is the thinking behind understanding things outside of little bits of time or siloed boxes that is the important lesson here

VOR - Leg 2 - Almost 10 Hours Old

Volve Ocean Race Leg 1

How do you Describe "Beautiful"

I am having a number of arguments with colleagues as to what constitutes "beauty".  My heretical view as an architect is that much of what I see in modern architecture is devoid of humility, a human touch and it ultimately does not move us at a fundamental level the way some things - like a handsome landscape

(Photo:Hayden Cochrane aboard Island Spirit)

or view of dawn at sea - is capable of touching our spirit.  But it is clearly possible to do so with things created by us - in this example, a beautiful short tune composed by a gifted musician played beautifully.

Fuel Fill-Up

We filled the diesel tank on board Terratima when we left Nanaimo back on the Labour Day weekend.  That weekend we motored most of the way back once the wind backed sufficiently to make sailing a proposition of going in the wrong direction.


So yesterday, we filled the tanks after using fuel for heating.  The total: 616 litres.  Do the math - THAT'S 162.72 US GALLONS AND THAT HURTS:  $$$

Volvo Ocean and Crazy Delivery Issues

Piano Lesson from my Daughter

Away for a Week - Update Time

Volve Ocean Race

Volvo Ocean Race 2011-2012 | PUMA, Telefonica lead charge as fleet approaches Doldrums

Volvo Ocean Race 2011-2012 | PUMA, Telefonica lead charge as fleet approaches Doldrums

San Nicholas, Aruba

The beach where I spent the first 2 years of my life.

Island of the Skipper's Birth

Shall we add this place to our list of possible destinations?

Knots

The Bowline

Volvo Ocean Race

The view from aloft the mast

November 11

Hymn To The Fallen - John Williams

Alas!!

It's raining like hell.  I'm working from the boat

Weather & Visibility

Issued 08:00 AM PST 11 November 2011

Today Tonight and SaturdayRain changing to a few showers this evening then to rain Saturday morning.

Winds

Issued 08:00 AM PST 11 November 2011

Today Tonight and SaturdayGale warning in effect.Wind southeast 15 to 20 knots increasing to northwest 40 early this afternoon then diminishing to 15 to 20 before Saturday morning. Wind diminishing to southeast 10 to 15 Saturday morning.

Past Gibraltar

These things are FAST

The South Pacific

HMS Surprise

Here is a short clip if the Star of India and HMS Surprise sailing

In The Rigging

Can you imagine being up here in bad weather?

...And They're Off!!

The Volvo Ocean Race is on with Abu Dhabi breaking a mast on day 1.

What's In a Name?

At the beginning of this blog, we explained the name of the boat.  It is named after a lodge in Alberta that is a favourite place.

Terratima Lodge

"Terratima Lodge is a year-round vacation retreat located on the edge of the foothills of the Canadian Rocky Mountains. Guests enjoy cross-country skiing in winter and cross-country biking, hiking, white-water-rafting, canoeing and relaxing in the summer months. Terratima is famous for its pristine forest location, excellent food and accommodations and divine, relaxing atmosphere."  

...to quote the web site

The door to the bathhouse

An exterior deck

Main lodge fire place

It's a wonderful place - as is her maritime namesake.

Weather Update

Damned, I wish I had a great few days to sail.  The winds would be perfect

Strait of Georgia - south of Nanaimo

Winds

Issued 04:00 PM PDT 22 October 2011

Tonight and SundayWind southeasterly 10 to 15 knots increasing to southwesterly 15 to 20 early this evening then diminishing to 10 to 15 late this evening. Wind becoming variable 5 to 15 early Sunday morning.

Weather & Visibility

Issued 04:00 PM PDT 22 October 2011

Tonight and SundayChance of showers this evening. A few showers beginning Sunday afternoon.

Revised Plans

SOOOO.... here I am in the Air Canada lounge at Edmonton International Airport waiting for a plane home.  I have a campus master plan to do and the time line is short.  In addition, my wife and sailing companion is ill with the flu, so we are staying in our slip this long weekend.  First time we haven't gone sailing on thanksgiving since we bacame liveaboards.

Celestial Navigation 2

Ahh..the romance

How does this GPS work??

The reason for it all

Celestial Navigation

Here it is the beginning of October already.  We are planning to go across to Clam Bay for our Canadian Thanksgiving Weekend (which is next weekend).  This is a great little bay enclosed by Thetis and Kuper Island

So, while we think about our short weekend at Clam Bay, I am looking into Celestial Navigation.  Even though we have all the bells and whistles on Terratima, trusting the GPS and not having the fundamentals under my fingers - particularly offshore seems silly.  Ergo, I have taken to various sites to learn the techniques, logic and math.  

A good sextant is really expensive, so for now, I'll cheap out and read.  here is a great site:

http://www.celestial-navigation-course.com/

Maybe it's the MIT Geek in me, but I love this stuff.

Vancouver Area Weather

Here's the scoop:  Wind warning in effect -

Environment Canada's Map

So here's the marine forecast.  The cool part about this is that these are the wind speeds (true) that our boat just thrives on.

Marine Forecast

Winds

Issued 10:30 AM PDT 17 September 2011

Today Tonight and SundayStrong wind warning in effect.Wind southeast 10 to 15 knots increasing to 15 to 20 late this afternoon except 25 over northern sections overnight and Sunday morning. Wind becoming southeast 10 to 15 Sunday morning then veering to southwesterly 10 to 15 Sunday afternoon. Wind diminishing to light Sunday evening.

Extended Forecast

Issued 04:00 AM PDT 17 September 2011

MondayWind variable 5 to 15 knots.

TuesdayWind southeast 10 to 15 knots.

WednesdayWind southeast 15 to 20 knots.

Weather & Visibility

Issued 10:30 AM PDT 17 September 2011

Today Tonight and SundayRain beginning early this evening and ending Sunday morning.

List of Official Text Forecasts

Nanaimo and Newcastle Island

The long weekend of Labour Day was perfect.  From a weather point of view - cloudless skies and warm sunshine.  From a sailing point of view: wind.  From the camaraderie of members of the Gulf Yacht Club who all met at Newcastle Island just across from the City of Nanaimo.




NANAIMO HARBOUR

At the docks in Nanaimo Harbour

A really large sailboat moored - 

very pretty boat

The pilothouse of the sailboat - lots of room

Another view of the sailboat - we were impressed

The view from the docks across to downtown Nanaimo

NEWCASTLE ISLAND

Picnic area with totem

The beach

Nanaimo in the background

The clear day and the beauty of coastal BC

More of the beach

Nanaimo/Horseshoe Bay Ferry

WOW

Beautiful area

The only entrant in the fishing derby.

The catch

At the public docks at Newcastle Island.  We 

were anchored out earlier.

SAILING HOME

Winds varying from 10 to 12 knots - boat

speed topping out at 7.5 knots - CLOSE HAULED

Close hauled and moving at 7.5 knots