Chichester

"Any damn fool can navigate the world sober. It takes a really good sailor to do it drunk." - Sir Francis Chichester when asked why he carried so much alcohol on his solo sail around the world.

Sunday, February 24, 2019

Surfs Up!!!!

Today's, Sunday, February 24,2019, NOAA weather on southern Lake Michigan. Monday looks positively tropical compared to tonight.

.TONIGHT...West storm force winds of 50 to 55 kt becoming
northwest gales to 40 kt. Areas of heavy freezing spray. Chance
of snow. Waves 18 to 23 ft occasionally to 30 ft subsiding to 12
to 16 ft occasionally to 21 ft.
.MONDAY...Northwest winds to 30 kt diminishing to 10 to 20 kt.
Heavy freezing spray in the morning, then freezing spray in the
afternoon. Slight chance of snow. Waves 8 to 12 ft occasionally
to 16 ft subsiding to 4 to 6 ft occasionally to 8 ft.

Wednesday, February 6, 2019

Another Icy Picture of Chicago

....and NOAA stills claims that there is no ice off of Chicago.

How to Prepare for the Sailing Season

This list of exercises offers some 'tips' on how to prepare yourself for the sailing season:
1. Buy a case of beer, sit with it in a very warm place for a few hours, then drink it.
2. Apply sunscreen to your face in streaks and sit in front of a sun lamp for 2 hours.
3. Sit on a bench with large metal fixtures cutting into your legs, stare straight up into the sun for two hours – for a more robust workout: invite 4 friends to come over and yell at you the whole time.
4. Go out and get very drunk, sleep 4 hours, then stand on a rocking chair for 6 hours.
5. Go to bank and withdraw $1,000 – then light it on fire.
6. Sit in front of a commercial fan and have someone throw large buckets of salt water on you.
7. Repeat number 6 in jeans and a sweatshirt and /or repeat number 6 with head turned sideways to ensure water lodging fully into ear drum.
8. Cut limb off nearby tree, tie ropes to it, stand on rocking chair with tree limb and ropes – hold them over your head for 3 hours… at 5 minute intervals drop on your head – more robust version: have friends yell at you in 6 minute intervals.
9. Set your wrist watch to 5-minute repeating counts … let it go off all day long.
10. Pour cold water in your lap and give yourself a wedgie, now alternate between sitting and running around bent over.
11. Tie ropes between 2 trees – push your body against them as hard as you can for 6 consecutive hours – don’t stop for pain or bruising.
12. Place sandpaper on your stairs, crawl up and down on your knees for several hours.
13. Make 12 sandwiches on white bread with bad meat and cram them into a bread bag – eat one a day for 12 consecutive days… make sure the last one is peanut butter and jelly if preparing for Race Week.
14. Tie ropes to rear bumper of friend’s car, hold on tightly, but allow rope to slip through fingers as car drives away – TIP: works best with nylon fiber ropes, lengths in excess of 50′.
15. Upon completion of previous 14 drills – sit down and drink 14 Mount Gay Rum drinks, any flavor.

Friday, February 1, 2019

REALLY...

I think that based on all of the pictures that I posted yesterday it may be time for NOAA to change the way that they determine ice coverage. Yesterday's pictures clearly show a LOT of ice from ports all over Lake Michigan, while NOAA claims that there is no ice in those same locations. Maybe next year for Christmas I'll give NOAA the links to the live web cams, some of which are NOAA cameras, that I use to study the ice coverage.

This sure backs up my belief that a window is more usefull than a computer when it comes to weather forecasting.