Midwinters 2012, Wrap-up

All in all we had a really good time even with the lousy weather. The RC decided early on both Tuesday and Wednesday, that there would be no racing, so we were free to go play for the day. New Orleans is one of the better places to be if sailing is cancelled and other fun activities are needed.

Of course by the Friday afternoon BBQ and awards ceremony the weather had cleared and it was a little on the warm side. They gave away a million or so door prizes during the week so nearly everyone went home with some loot. Larry Taggert also presented the Allen Douglass Sportsmanship Award to Mark and Maria Benner. You may recall our story in the Day 2 post about the crash on the interstate on the way to NOLA. Well they persevered, sailed well, and won the sportsmanship trophy so things are looking up for them!

Would you like to see race results?

The photos below are from the trip home, from west to east.

Pulling out of SYC on a beautiful Saturday morning, it figures.

The boat houses look a little better with out the gloom.

Rolling along Canal Blvd. before reaching I-10

NOLA looking south from the Interstate

I-10 crossing the eastern end of Lake Ponchatrain

Just after emerging from the Mobile Bay tunnel you have the old warships

Back in Florida and crossing Pensacola Bay

The trip home was smooth and un-eventful and took 10 hours and 10 minutes. This is really not a bad trip at all for those of us in the Tampa Bay area, or nearby. We will plan to return the next time the midwinters is in New Orleans!

Midwinters 2012, Day 4, Friday

HOLY COW!! We finally got some racing in!
3 good races, one marginal race in a dieing breeze.
We were awakened at 4:00am by a horrendous thunder/lightning storm, and more than one of us thought, "Oh, no, here we go again." It cleared up, though, and the parking lot was full of folks either packing up, or getting ready to sail. Most of the boats went out, we thought we would need a tow, but as we cleared the harbor, we discovered we were actually sailing. The RC had a bit of a challenge with the wind, but set a course, and they started our regatta. All races W/L twice around. They lasted slightly less than an hour and the time limit allowed for 4 total. (Half of the regatta in one day!)
The sun came out, it warmed up, we recognized Louisiana again. More later.

Zak and Sarah Fanberg receiving their first place awards from Diane Kampf and Wallace  Paletou (PRO)

Some of the leaders heading down

Here we are after passing Zak and closing in on the finish line.

 The finish! We got third which was our best race.

Midwinters 2012, Day 3, Thursday

Our hosts, Ruby and Peter offered to make breakfast early today to accommodate the racing schedule that was set to start an hour early in effort to get a race off today.

Optimistically, we rose early, dressed for sailing (for the first time) and arrived at the club ready to race. Pessimistically, the view form the predictors of the weather had something else in mind.

We did a lot of sitting around. Southern YC has a lovely fitness center where we can work off some of our pent up racing energy.

Thanks to John Aras for lunch at the club. Dave and I would never have ordered turtle soup, but goodness, it was good!!!

1:00-ish..race committee held a vote to determine whether we should go out and try for a race this afternoon. Rain, no rain, rain, it went on...
We at least went out on the boats, but the wind died, and we returned in time to research the area for dinner spots.

SYC from the point

The boathouses in the harbor

The same boathouses from the street side
The group separated, some stayed at the club, a few to a Hornet's game, some downtown (or uptown), we went to the French Quarter, did the tourist gig, Pat O's for a Hurricane and grub. It started to rain as we left the Quarter, and we ducked into another bar (gosh darn it all), until the rain let up enough for us to "balcony surf" to the parking lot. Ahhh, returned to the comfort of the B&B/home. Blog entry, good night.

Hope to sail tomorrow (is there an echo in here?)or this will become known as the Midwinter Eating Championship.

Midwinters 2012, Day 2, Wednesday

10:00 am Cancelled-thunderstorms, high winds, tornado watch, flood watch. Pretty much covers it.

The lake level is rising toward the "dry sailing" area

The approach to the club is under about a foot of flood water

12:30 Met a bunch of folks at Joey K's a suggestion of Dan Baird's then a tour of his loft before a visit to the WWII Museum.

John Aras took the opportunity to win enough at Harrrah's (casino) to pay for the trip. He is as skilled at Blackjack as he is at sailing.

An incredibly positive plug for the WWII Museum. Don't think there is anything like it anywhere else in the US. Heard that it started as the D-Day Museum, and it was such a great thing that they expanded it to include the entire Pacific and European theaters. As we walked through, a Paratrooper veteran who was sent in prior to the amphibious landing at Omaha Beach introduced himself. We were all speechless. After fully understanding the circumstances, we were completely surprised that he was here, speaking with us.
The Higgins boat was designed by Mr. Andrew Higgins from NOLA. He demonstrated the durability and functionality of the craft here on Lake Pontchatrain. He actually had to present his case more than once to the Administration. Thank goodness they finally saw the benefit of amphibious landings. Dave's uncle and Melanie's grandfather (among many other brave ouls) drove these boats onto these amazing beaches. Anyone visiting this museum should make sure they see the movie associated with it as well.

We saw the movie and collected ourselves in the hour between this and dinner at Southern YC. They prepared crawfish, shrimp and oysters (cooked and raw) southern boil style with potatoes and corn. It was a bit chilly with the wind, but we managed to eat a bunch, then go for ice cream.

Story which we didn't tell earlier. Housemates Mark and Maria Benner had quite an exciting trip from PA to LA. In AL, an injured vehicle was pulled off on the side of the road. Mark saw a pick-up truck advancing on them from their L side, and he would have pulled further to the R, but there was a vehicle in the way. This pick up truck swerved to the L, hitting the Flying Scot in tow, and pushing it into the vehicle on the shoulder, the Scot came off the trailer. Damage all around. Scot sandwich. 81 year old driving the pick-up decided it would be best to run away. On foot. According to M & M this man is known to authorities, and we hope he is brought to justice.

Hope for racing Thursday.

Midwinters 2012, Day 1, Tuesday

Tuesday, March 20 First Day of Racing??????

So far, we're looking at the travel brochures and discussing where to go and what to do UN-related to sailing.
Small craft advisories have been set.
Flood warnings are in effect.
No high profile vehicles or motorcycles allowed on the Lake P. causeway.
All signs leading to no sailing today.

With about 45 min to go before the you-had-better-put-the-boat-in-or-you'll-be-late-to-the-start limit, we finally left the B&B to meet our fate.
Many folks milling about, checking their phones and looking at forecasts, discussing the wind, etc, then we were instructed to organize in one of the meeting rooms around 1000.
First warning signal was to be at 1100.
Since the scheduled post-race Top Gun school will likely not be occurring, the sailmakers and friends did more Tips & Techniques, Q & A (no, Ryan and Paul, NOT "T & A" - ugh, Bourbon Street) related to Scot sailing and what they do on their boats to go fast.

The race organizers are all about Lagniappe- getting more good stuff than you bargained for, (we didn't mean for them to offer so much wind, however) so, they graciously called racing 1/2 hour before they said they would, and raised the flags giving us more time to spend $$ in this unusual place.

Wake and Kim had time for a run (the wind added extra challenge) while Dave made some improvements on the boat. We fortuitously parked the boat near Harry's mobile fix-it shop and he completed some projects with ample supervision.

We met up with Larry and Carrie (local knowledge is key)and house mates and headed out to lunch. Mandina's (since 1932!!) supplied us with grilled and fried shrimp and oyster po boys and gumbo. Excellent. Can't wait to try more culinary specialties of NOLA.

The French Quarter called to us, and we drove to a public parking spot near the Riverwalk and walked, maps in hand, looking every bit the part of a touron, to Jackson Square (Cafe du Monde was packed!!) and surrounding area. The cloudiness made the atmosphere somewhat dreary, kinda funny to have bands playing and folks trying to lure you into beer drinking and other "evening" establishments at 3:00 in the afternoon.

Jackson Square

Mississippi River opposite Jackson Sq.

Canal Street leaving the French Quarter

It started to rain so we bailed, and the phone was running out of power, so we returned to the Rose and plugged in, just in time to make dinner plans with Dan Baird, adding our names to the already long list headed to Cochon's. Hope they're ready! Sounds excellent.

The radar continues to look rather ugly, with scattered rain, thunderstorms but maybe less wind for tomorrow. At least it's not cold (except in the AC!)still close to 80 degrees, with occasional sprinkles.

Midwinters 2012 Southern YC, New Orleans, LA

Sunday, March 18, 2012 Day 1, continued travel

6:00 pm departure from Dunedin, checked in with Facebook, Paul Abdullah posted that Southern YC might not be the safest place for the vehicles. His wallet was stolen, Nancy Claypool's (very expensive) purse was taken after her window was broken, and Bob Neff's vehicle was stolen! Yikes!
Dave asks, "Why are we going there?"

Publix Cubans and Feta pasta salad for dinner...enough for leftover snacking on the way.

Travel observation: They sell Livers and Gizzards in the Chiefland KFC. Thats wrong.

We stopped in Tallahassee (Quincy)showered, and in bed by 11:30, for an early start tomorrow.

Monday, March 19, 2012 Day 2 of travel

Woke up ad 6:00 am, remembered that we gain an hour going West, and slept till 7:00!!
On the road by 8:00.

11:00 am, (Eastern Time)crossed state line into AL, we switched time zones a while back, but to keep track of how long this adventure is, it's easier in one zone. 3 hours so far.
Lion's Game status report: John Corey is educating the FBI on some NYPD common sense and tactics, traveled back in time to the Libyan bombing in 1986.

Noon (Eastern Time) stopped for gas in AL. Note to self: good gas prices, remember this for ride home. Into MS an hour later, yukky potholes, sorry Piggy and trailer! 111 miles to go!!

2:00 pm (Eastern Time)arrival at SYC!! A nice New Orleans welcome, registration went without a hitch, but we noticed a foreboding breeziness present, as we set up the boat. Lots of talk about big breeze in the forecast. Pretty gusty out of the Southeast, a few brave souls tested the wind and the water. That didn't last long, they were back soon. Al Terhune and Andrew Egan led an informal talk about local conditions, expectations, general Scot sailing techniques, etc. while the first keg was tapped.

4:30 pm (into Central time, now) we followed the phone voice to the Rose Manor, what did we do without the electronics speaking to us?? Ruby greeted us and got us settled. The house is beautiful, with larger rooms than we expected, and so comfortable. We are so fortunate! All FS sailors in the 9 room home, the hosts, Peter and Ruby Verhoeven are very sweet and ready to answer any of our questions and eager to share their fine city with us.

6:00 pm Evening event at SYC, cocktail party and buffet for participants. Yummy jambalaya, local sandwiches, muffalettas (it's not a bad word, really!), and a bread pudding that was "the best I ever had" from one happy customer. A really wow Whiskey sauce, 'nuff said. They got em some good chow!

Nancy Claypool led the livliest raffle and give-away ever! She's a natural, good thing she's not shy. Fun AND educational, learned a bit about the local situation and King Larry (Taggert) was MC of the show, actually RC (Regatta Chair)--good times.

Update on the thievery-Bob Neff's truck was found!! Most of the personal items were intact. They apparently had a lot of important paperwork, and Mary's artwork.

Back at the Rose Manor, Harry holding court in the comfy living room, lots of couches, everyone with their respective electronic device (some with two). Up to bed, lots of pillows!

Ruby showed us her desktop, so we can work from this, so much better than the malfunctioning note pad keyboard that usually mires our blogging experience. Later.

Port Charlotte Regatta

Friday, March 16, 2012

Bummer, had to go to work most of the day before leaving Dunedin for Charlotte Harbor YC. Fortunately, we were able to escape Pinellas County (4:00 pm) unscathed by any traffic snafus.
Looking forward to this trip to start the new (older) Nelson DeMille book, The Lion's Game. Heard it was good.

5:00 pm Traffic scan on the phone shows red line coming up in Sarasota. Exit SR 64 was upon us, and we bailed from I-75, we'll try Rte 41 for a while. Able to get back on at University Parkway, unbeknownst to us, what lurked ahead. More traffic. Turned out to be a fender bender, and it took up 2 lanes of the hwy, it just mucked the whole thing up.

It was still light out at 7:00 pm when we arrived at the club, able to plug in, parked next to our favorite RV neighbors, and had beer with the group in the CHYC "Wheel Room" (aka, bar) and then leftovers in the Winnie with Jeff and Amy. Good night!

Saturday, March 17, Happy St Patrick's Day!

Beautiful day, light winds in am. Funny, we heard all predictions last night, everything from from super-windy to drifting conditions forecasted, and it turned out to be jus right.

The first 2 races were in light air and the breeze came in and built for the 3rd race. There was some controversy around the first race initiated by some miscommunication on the RC boat, ahhh, sailboat racing....
L-2, W-2, it's all the same, isn't it?

Really sweet facilities at the CHYC, and we cleaned up, got ready for dinner. Martin and the volunteers and employees did an excellent job taking care of us. Corned beef and cabbage, in true St. Patrick's style, The group got their green on for the evening's festivities, and tried not to look too conspicuous watching the regulars wander in for the YC party.
Early night, sleepy and full.

Sunday, March 18, 2012

More beautiful weather Sunday so we sailed two more races, the second one being a longish five legger in a nice breeze. Try as we might, the group could not reel in Team Linton, Congrats to them for the victory!! Chris Morgan finished second and we were third.

This regatta was the last in the series of six, completeing another great Florida District Championship. Congradulations to Paul Abdullah who took top honors by winning three regattas in a row!! Nice job. Second were Jeff and Amy Linton, Jim Egan and Chris Morgan rounded out the top four trophy spots. We had great attendance this year and look for more of the same next year.

We know March Madness for some people has something to do with basketball, but we are fashioning our own form of craziness this weekend. We sailed today, finished our State Series, visited with Mom and Dad who drove to the West Coast for the weekend, turned over the Governorship to Mark Taylor and hit the road! Must get to NOLA by Monday afternoon. We'll see how far we get tonight.

Sadly, we had to detour to Dunedin to switch out the Pig Rig for the Oddity (Honda van). No camping at Southern YC, but we're looking forward to staying with great folks at the Rose Manor. This added a bit of time to the already kinda long trip.

After awards and good-byes, we were on the road by 3:15, home and re-packed and off again by 6:00 pm. Eyelids started getting heavy and we stopped a little west of Tallahassee, small town called Quincy, but a really nice Best Western had a lovely bed.

Seat Flotation Installation

I recently sold a used Flying Scot and found that some of the underseat flotation was missing. This has been a topic of discussion in the past, so I thought about doing a little "how to" for this project.

The first thing I did was get the foam which I found from a local guy who sells packing materials. I would have bought it from Harry but the shipping to Florida would have been pricey, probably as much or more $ than the foam. The first step was to sand the areas on the hull and seat where the fiberglass strips would go, 40 grit on the orbital sander makes quick ( but itchy) work of it.

The next step is to cut some pieces of fiberglass cloth to the same width as the foam blocks, about 11 inches. Then lay them out flat and wet them out with epoxy and let cure.

The glass strips cut to size, the six on the right have cured and are rigid

The reason for this step is you will be working upside down. When the floatation is added at the factory the boat is upside down, so the glass just lays on the underside of the foam and seat, so gravity is helping. With the boat right side up, gravity is working against you, it will be much easier to have these pieces made up and rigid.

Now you fit the foam blocks and prop them in place, then add the 11 inch glass strips you already made up.

I used small tree branches to hold them up and paint stirrers to keep from poking holes in the foam. The branches were convenient to easily cut to size with pruners. Wedge the branches to the hull where the balsa core lip is and they will stay put. You can also see (in the pic above) the cured glass strips are in place and held with masking tape. Now you can get ready to glass them in.

Get some wax paper from your kitchen, ask the wife where it is, she has it. Cut the wax paper to a size just larger than the strips of cloth. One piece for every strip, as shown below. This is a huge help to keep things neat and the cursing to a minimum.

The glass strips cut to size and with wax paper between each one

Now you can wet a strip working right side up being somewhat careful not to be sloppy and go off the edges of the wax paper. I was using West System epoxy, and the can of hardener I had was old, which makes it turn brown. It still works fine but it is not clear like it is when new, no worries.

A piece wetted out and ready to apply, note the approximate overlap of wax paper

Pick up the wetted out cloth using the wax paper and put it in place bridging the cured strips and hull or seat whichever one you start with. You should be able to do this step w/o getting epoxy on your hands if you are somewhat careful. It is easy to press it in place a little by hand then use some masking tape to hold it in place.

A pic of one strip where it is held to the under side of the seat

Between the wax paper and several strips of tape there is no mess and it is easy to apply some pressure to get a good bond. I used a roller to work out any air pockets and apply uniform pressure but it could be done by hand as well.

Here is a completed section in the curing process

This was the stuff I used

The appropriate lubricant, should have been step 1, I guess

The next day I removed the sticks and masking tape and took this last picture. Since the hardener I used in the epoxy was dark brown it may be nice to paint over the areas on the hull to make it blend in a little bit. These areas are not easily seen though, so I will leave as is, plus it's custom!