Vashon Island Race

The Vashon Island Race is the first of four that constitute the Southern Sound Series. Thursday is a travel and boat prep day. Friday we deliver BackBeat to Tacoma, and we sail on Saturday. This race, hosted by the Tacoma Yacht Club, is a circumnavigation of Vashon and Maury Islands. The weather looks okay–it is December, after all–but I’m still watching the wind reports.  Should be fun.  There are some clubhouse events associated with the race, so even if the winds are foul there will be opportunities to hobnob with my fellow boat nuts.  I’ll try to get some pictures, or video, or both, to post.  More later . . .

Boat Porn

The Barcelona World Race begins December 31st.  Here’s some video:

Ready To Race!

After all the measuring and re-measuring, the SSSS rater assigned BackBeat a PHRF NW rating of 192. Thanks, Rafe, for all your help.

The Lightning

This is a boat I bought years ago when I was first figuring out how to navigate E-bay. It’s a nice example of an International Lightning Class racer.  I had bid a ridiculously low amount, not expecting to win, and then had to drive to Grants Pass, Oregon, to pick it up. I restored it to most of its former glory and enjoyed it on Lake Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, for several years.  I found this pic today and indulged a bit of sentiment.  She was an amazing boat, and I miss her.

Learning About Blogging with WordPress

Have been landlocked for a bit, which means that I’ve been thinking about what I need to do to get to the starting line in 2012, and that I’ve had time here and there to collect the ideas on this site. It feels just on the edge of overwhelming.  Also, the WordPress learning curve feels pretty steep to a guy who’s generally not web-savvy, but I’m beginning to catch on. I’ve been reluctant to publish this before now because it feels so much like a work-in-progress, but I guess that’s what a blog is.

I received valuable feedback from people who checked out my initial attempts here, and will incorporate much of it as I evolve and update the site, so expect things here to change as I figure out more about how this all works.

More later . . .

Hmmmm

I really want to get back to the boat. I’ve been busy in Spokane, but have managed to get together a list of projects for the next trip. So much to do, so little time . . .