Foster's Sailing Blog: Archive - 3rd Year Foster's Sailing Blog

11.22.13 Launching of the CUTTY SARK was one hundred and forty-four years ago today...

The Cutty Sark, a British clipper ship built on the Clyde in 1869 was one of the last tea clippers and one of the fastest too.

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10.02.2013 Took in the Port Townsend Wooden Boat Show recently. Really good time! Click the link below to check out a slide show of the event. Remember you can click on each image for a larger view as well...

Port Townsend Wooden Boat Show 2013

Boat builder and sailing buddy Larry Silva and sailor/skipper Connie Copeland joined Cathy and I for a fun filled time at the Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival 2013. Lar and Connie seen here checking out the vessels in the very active PT boat basin.

This little steamer (right) gave rides throughout the weekend. Twas a loud steam whistle when the pressure was released up the pipe.

Just off the waterfront of Port Townsend was a busy place for numerous sailing vessels of all sizes and shapes.

In fact not only were sailing vessels present but trawlers, dozens of kayaks, paddle boards, rowboats, skiffs, scows, dinghies, and ferries. And for the most part a good time was had by all...

Silva checking out the lines and craftsmanship of one of the featured vessel of the Center for Wooden Boat designs.

Over the years I'd heard that my old friend Bruce Tipton was a big part of the Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival but usually I'm off cruising in September and thus had never taken in the event.

I kept a weather eye pealed for Bruce, whom I hadn't seen in 38 years, but lo & behold when I heard his voice explaining the process of building spars I knew it was the man himself. It was a good reunion...

Good looking boats, good looking gals, good local brew in the hospitality tent, what's not to like? Here Connie and Catherine are poised on the bow of a historic tug vessel...

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09.30.2013 While I'm certain you've all had your own means of keeping up with the America's Cup I was on the road during the races themselves thus glad to find the series complete on YouTube. Here is a link to get you started if you hadn't already located these complete coverage videos.

America's Cup 2013 Race 1 & 2

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09.02.2013 Vancouver Island Man Departs For Solo Sail Around The World

Glenn Wakefield departs today for a solo sailing trip around the world. It's his second attempt.

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07.18.2013 It takes all kinds to make the world go around...

Dinghy adventurer bound for Ireland rescued after becoming sunburnt http://www.dorsetecho.co.uk/news/10556053.UPDATED_WITH_PICTURE__Man_plucked_from_sea_in_6ft_dinghy_tells_rescuers__I_m_sailing_to_Ireland_/?ref=rss

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06.29.2013 Just two weeks away from my sail club's 30th annual regatta. Here's the poster:

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06.27.2013 The American sailor whose 85-year-old vessel disappeared nearly a month ago while sailing from New Zealand to Australia with six aboard may have made a frantic ship-to-shore call to his mother on June 13

MYSTERY AT SEA: Strange Call Offers Hope to Missing Captain's Family

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06.18.2013 Maple Leaf Charters offer excursions into British Columbia, Canada's Fiordland Recreation Area, part of the Great Bear Rainforest. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/travel/news/article.cfm?c_id=7&objectid=10891088&ref=rss

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06.12.2013 Quite a success story when you consider that the humpback whales have been near extinction and now they are showing up in Puget Sound and Northwest straits in numbers not seen for decades.

Photos: Humpback whales flocking to Puget Sound, straits

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06.10.2013This one is pretty amazing...

Full story: New York Daily News

J.R. Gilkinson was sailing two miles off the coast of Newport Beach, California, when the pup hopped aboard.

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05.31.2013 Leibl, 24, of East Hampton, Mass., is one of five members of an all-female crew spending the summer working on the schooner Mary Day, one of Maine’s historic windjammers.

Schooner Mary Day sports all-female crew - Bangor Daily News

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05.30.2013 About www.vanisle360.com/wp/about-2/

"The Van Isle 360 is a biennial, 580 nautical mile point-to-point race circumnavigating wild and rugged Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada."

Abot. Route Map. The Van Isle 360 is a biennial, 580 nautical .

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05.28.2013 Summer SAILstice. Saturday, June 22nd 2013. Celebrate Sailing! Join the Summer Sailstice Celebration. A worldwide celebration of sailing on the weekend ...

Summer Sailstice | Celebrate Sailing

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04.17.2013 The last surviving British gold medalist from the 1948 London Olympic Games, Falmouth resident David Bond, has died. News for Falmouth Olympic legend David Bond dies

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04.16.2013 Charleston Fire Department officials confirmed on Monday afternoon that their fire boat crashed into a buoy during a rescue call on Saturday.

South Carolina fire department boat struck buoy during rescue, "Mayday" issued

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04.08.2013 A while back I had the opportunity to work with Hank Cramer, a jack-of-all-trades and master of the sea shanty. Didn't get any video or audio recording while with Hank but as posting this link to his shanty singing on the tall ship ADVENTUROUS and a couple of images with the gentleman himself. Enjoy...

http://youtu.be/4x8kERcizVQ

Hank Cramer is one of the best-loved folksingers in the

American West. He's known for his booming bass voice,

smooth picking on a vintage flat-top guitar, and a wry sense of humor.

My lady Catherine (AQUILA'S 1st Mate) and yours truly enjoying a

bit of time with the legendary Hank Cramer in the Republic

Brewery brew gardens.

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04.07.2013 A new way to maintain a ship’s log: Evernote

A cool post I picked up from Three Sheets NW regarding maintaining a proper ship’s log.

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04.03.2013 If you're like AQUILA'S crew, you have aspiration's or maybe even plans for sailing around Vancouver Island...

Country Music and Shotguns is how Tim Whelan starts his log of sailing around the Inland Passage's biggest island. Check it out at: http://www.tgw.net/sailing/avi/ch1.htm

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04.01.2013

Never start a trip on a Friday.

Some fishermen would not sail if they saw a rat some ashore off their vessel – assuming that the rat knew something they didn’t!

Never stir tea with a knife or fork.

Never cross knives on the galley table.

The teapot must not be emptied after the fishing had started. To empty it might make the ship turn over and sink, or result in a poor trip.

Never lay a broom on top of the nets.

Fish bones were not burnt.

Egg shells were broken into tiny pieces (to stop witches sailing in them).

Clergy (known to fishermen as “sky-pilots”) were generally not welcomed onto vessels, although there were some notable exceptions.

Never cut bread and then turn the loaf upside down.

They will on no account part with salt, especially at sea, as to part with salt is to part with luck.

The salt-pot must not be handed from one crewman to another – “pass salt, pass sorrow”.

Upturning a hatch cover or sleeping on the stomach were actions said to anticipate the boat turning over and sinking.

Losing a hat overboard signified a long trip.

Taking a watch to sea signified bad luck.

Eat fish from the head to the tail for good luck. If you start at the tail it will warn the shoals away from the shore and back into deep water.

Flat-footed folk are unlucky.

Set an odd number of nets, such as 101; the extra one is “for luck”.

Don’t count the number of fish you’ve caught. If you do you won’t catch any more that day. Count the fish when you are safely back in port.

Don’t use certain words at sea. Don’t mention pigs, fox, cat, hare, salmon or rabbits, the church, or anything to do with the land.

Don’t wash the herring scales from your boots or deck. It will wash away your luck.

Don’t go to sea at the start of the fishing season until you have shed a few drops of blood in a fight or accident.

Scottish fishermen should throw one of the crew members overboard and then haul him back in. The fish will follow suit.

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03.25.2013 Just home from some time in Seattle. Had the chance to scout the Ballard Locks on the Argosy tour vessel as well as watch some locking take place with other boats. Plan on making that run in the next year or so myself and wanted to check-out the process.

Also had the pleasure of an unexpected tour of the historic sailing vessel Schooner Zodiac, which is berthed in the southern reaches of Lake Union in Seattle. Will post both stories on this blog-site soon...

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03.09.2013 Another story from BoatUS Magazine: Late one night, off the south jetty at California's Oceanside Harbor, a 40-foot sailboat grounded hard in the darkness. This is the story of how some fast-thinking captains made a series of smart decisions that saved the boat from becoming a total loss.

http://www.boatus.com/magazine/2012/october/Real-Life-It-Was-A-Dark-And-Stormy-Night.asp

03.05.2013 Solo American female sailor Jeanne Socrates is now more than halfway done on her effort at a record circumnavigation. She has a mere 12,000 miles to go!

http://www.oceannavigator.com/Web-Exclusives-2013/Jeanne-Socrates-passes-halfway-mark/

03.04.2013 A study suggests that global warming is opening up a first-time chance to cruise through the Northwest Passage, which could translate into big savings in time and money for shippers.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/weather/2013/03/04/climate-change-arctic-shipping-lanes-global-warming/1962685/

03.03.2013 My old fireboss used to say, "if you're gonna' be stupid, you gotta' be tough."

Two men and a woman packed pizza and beer aboard a luxury sailboat in a Sausalito marina, stole it in the middle of the night and made it as far as Pacifica before the vessel ran aground 20 yards off a beach Monday, authorities said.
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Luxury-yacht-stolen-in-Sausalito-3-held-4326362.php#ixzz2Mdm6nL7b

02.26.2013 Hoax? Coast Guard responded to a distress call from a sailboat with four people on board off the California coast Sunday.

Search Called Off Amid Rumors Of Hoax

12.28.2012 "Wow!" Just discovered this blog site of the nautical artist /writer Courtney Kirchoff. Good stuff! Check it out at Courtney Kirchoff and enjoy!