Wilmot on a roll

One of the stars of the Morning Light film is Jeremy Wilmot, who benefited from a year of training as skipper of the TP52 of the same name in the 2007 TransPac Race.

Jeremy now will be benefiting from the new sailing facilities at his school, which has now opened College Sailing's newest home--The River Center at St. Mary's College of MD.

Smart blonde joke

Warning: this post has NOTHING to do with sailing:

A blonde walks into a bank in New York City and asks for the loan officer. She says she's going to Europe on business for two weeks and needs to borrow $5,000. The bank officer says the bank will need some kind of security for the loan, so the blonde hands over the keys to a new Rolls Royce. The car is parked on the street in front of the bank, she has the title and everything checks out. The bank agrees to accept the car as collateral for the loan. The bank's president and its officers all enjoy a good laugh at the blonde for using a $250,000 Rolls as collateral against a $5,000 loan. An employee of the bank then proceeds to drive the Rolls into the bank's underground garage and parks it there.

Two weeks later, the blonde returns, repays the $5,000 and the interest, which comes to $15.41. The loan officer says, "Miss, we are very happy to have had your business, and this transaction has worked out very nicely, but we are a little puzzled. While you were away, we checked you out and found that you are a multimillionaire. What puzzles us is, why would you bother to borrow $5,000?" The blonde replies....."Where else in New York City can I park my car for two weeks for only $15.41 and expect it to be there when I return?"

Finally, a smart blonde joke.

Pirate pay rates

There is holiday pay, and now there is pirate pay:

Seafarers sailing near Somalia to get double pay
David Osler - Tuesday 7 October 2008

MANY seafarers are to get double pay while sailing close to Somalia, in recognition of the danger of pirate attack, after a breakthrough deal between leading shipowners and maritime trade unions signed in Singapore today.

Under the terms of the understanding agreed by a subcommittee of the International Bargaining Forum, the bipartite body which sets pay and conditions for many seafarers, most of the Gulf of Aden had been declared a ‘high risk area’ with immediate effect. -- Read on

ALSO, a very thorough audio discussion on the topic of piracy is on "On Point," with Tom Ashbrook.

Georgetown lock down

This news bulletin caught our attention:



Georgetown Sailing Will Not Participate in Weekend Regattas; Will Serve as Host for Tom Curtis #2

Washington, D.C.( Oct. 6, 2008)- Georgetown University Director of Athletics Bernard Muir announced today that due to the outbreak of norovirus on campus, the sailing team will not compete in the Danmark Trophy Regatta, hosted by the Coast Guard Academy this weekend. Georgetown will also not compete in its own Tom Curtis #2 Regatta but the University will still serve as a host out of the Washington Sailing Marina.

"After discussion between medical personnel at both universities and with the Coast Guard Academy's athletic administration, the decision has been made not to participate in the regatta."

School fundraiser

Does this sound like your school fundraisers:

Even with a late start this year, Carrie and Brad Hill, organizers of the fourth annual Fort Myers Beach Cardboard Boat Races, brought the tough competition into the Gulf, with several teams battling for a potpourri of prizes and awards.

“We had eight boats show up, but as far as people showing up and participating, it went really well,” Brad said. “We raised about $1,250 for the Beach Elementary School. I think that’s even more than what we raised last year.”

Brad also said the added event of the year had a great response as well, allowing spectators to race in the 100-percent indestructible Mound House Mummy, one of Brad’s and Carrie’s creations from the past.

“The boat survived, and we made about $150 for the school just on that alone,” he said, with each race costing $10 to sail the unsinkable tomb.

The sands of the beach were scattered with cheering spectators, all eager to see who would float – and who would sink. -- Read on

Cell phone blocking

TAKE CARE OF YOUR CELL PHONE NUMBER!! Beginning last Wednesday, October 1, 2008, Cell Phone Numbers went public. That is to say that all cell phone numbers were released to telemarketing companies. You will start to receive sales calls and YOU WILL BE CHARGED FOR THESE CALLS.

To prevent this, call the following number from your cell phone: 888-382-1222 - the National DO NOT CALL Registry. This will block your number for five (5) years. You must call from the cell phone number you want to have blocked. Or, go to www.donotcall.gov (Thanks to Kathleen Clancy Cooper for submitting this to the Southern Bay Racing News You Can Use #414)

Laser vs. Bladerider Moth

Rohan Veal carries a lot of clout in the International Moth Class. He established his authority by twice winning the Worlds, he used the muscle of the internet to raise our awareness of this foiling boat, helped to launch a company geared to mass producing what had essentially been a custom build class, and now he is leading the pitch to get the class into the 2012 Olympics.

Well, he is not exactly pitching the class, but rather the Bladerider Moth, a brand that he works for. I suspect he is getting grief from the class about being a company man, but the other problem is that the slot the Moth is seeking is now currently held by the … LASER.

The Moth is new and sexy, but is there a class that meets the Olympic ideal better than the Laser? International, available, affordable, athletic, unpretentious… it is the easiest “next step” for youth sailors, and with Olympic status, it has become a legitimate landing point for elite sailors to pursue excellence.

The events for the 2012 Games will be decided at the 2008 ISAF Annual Meeting in November. I love the International Moth class; I just wish it was not looking to be the men's singlehanded dinghy event in 2012.

Good guidance

Scuttlebutt - SailIng News - Issue 2695

A summary of the latest daily sailing news from Issue 2695 - October 3 2008

Scuttlebutt - Sailing News - Issue 2694

A summary of the latest daily sailing news from Issue 2694 - October 2 2008

Noah's Ark

Working replica of Noah's Ark in Schagen, Netherlands

Of course, it's only a replica of the biblical Ark , built by Dutch Creationist Johan Huibers as a testament to his faith in the literal truth of the Bible. The ark is 150 cubits long, 30 cubits high and 20 cubits wide. That's two-thirds the length of a football field and as high as a three-story house (but Noah's Ark as described in the Bible was five times larger than Johan's Ark)

Life-size models of giraffes, elephants, lions, crocodiles, zebras, bison and other animals greet visitors as they arrive in the main hold. There is enough space near the keel for a 50-seat film theater where kids can watch a video that tells the story of Noah and his ark. A contractor by trade, Huibers built the ark of cedar and pine -Biblical Scholars debate exactly what the wood used by Noah would have been. Huibers did the work mostly with his own hands, using modern tools and with occasional help from his son Roy.

Huibers said he hopes the project will renew interest in Christianity in the Netherlands , where church going has fallen dramatically in the past 50 years.

Somalia and Pirates

The good news about bad news is that it heightens our awareness. For me, among other things, it's improving my grasp on geography. Because of the pirate problems, I now know the exact location of Somalia and the Gulf of Eden. I realize what a problem it is for boats trying to transit between Cape Town, SA and Asia. Long trip and not a lot of options.

And for boats able to take the short cut between the Med and Asia through the Suez Canal and the Red Sea, well, DON'T DO IT!