I'm going on an international diesel hybrid race (OK... tall ship race)
I'm leaving on a several week adventure to take part in a diesel hybrid competition... where we'll be disqualified if we use the diesel propulsion during the race event itself...
This is the schooner Mist of Avalon - 100 tons, 100 feet tall, 100 feet long. I've crewed on it a bunch of times (that's me sitting in the middle of the bow sprit):
Tall ships from 3 countries - Canada, the US, and Bermuda - will be racing around the Canadian island province of Prince Edward Island for a healthy purse:
On Monday morning, we're departing from the heart of the 1000 Islands - Ivy Lea, Ontario - down the Saint Lawrence River toward the race course about 780 nautical miles (1,450 km / 900 mi) away in PEI.
__________________
Save money & CO2 at home : http://ecorenovator.org/
Created and managed by the creators of http://ecomodder.com/
---
Earth absorbs 1.8 t CO2/head/yr
kg saved 2008/06-11 : 367.2 (ecodriving) + 118.6 (440 m not driven)
Ye be a scurvy dog
sailin... while the rest of us be slavin away!
hope you have fun
sailing is truly the ultimate FE transport - & soothing to the soul as well
hope to sail a bit my self this weekend - but not on a schooner... Arrrghh!
if ye be race-un...
Take what you can git, give nuthin back
__________________
Concrete
Start where you are - Use what you have - Do what you can.
sailing is truly the ultimate fuel efficient transport
It is when you're not on a deadline! Unfortunately we need to be in PEI on the 10th. The wind forecast looks weak for the early part of the week, and if it's right we'll be using the iron jib quite a bit.
Yes it's, but saying it loud can be considered as bad luck, so we say "Merde" (some just articulate it) which is "Sh1t".
Denis.
__________________
Save money & CO2 at home : http://ecorenovator.org/
Created and managed by the creators of http://ecomodder.com/
---
Earth absorbs 1.8 t CO2/head/yr
kg saved 2008/06-11 : 367.2 (ecodriving) + 118.6 (440 m not driven)
Cheney lake in Kansas on dingys mostly - tonight will be on a Catalina 21
fire works display on the water and hopefully some starlight sailing
it is a great sailing lake - Kansas has what it takes - Wind
but not quite the adventure you are on though
sorry about the poor wind outlook
but don't despair - the wind doesn't listen to the forecast
__________________
Concrete
Start where you are - Use what you have - Do what you can.
Last edited by Concrete; 08-31-2008 at 03:23 PM.
Reason: spelling :)
We're five on board for the first leg of the trip from Ivy Lea to Quebec City. (A little short-handed as six would make three pairs for 4 hour watches.) It's traditional for the crew to meet on the ship the night before to get settled in.
The weather forecast is for light westerly winds tomorrow, so we'll likely be motor-sailing with the foresails up when we can (blended hybrid mode ).
The trip starts bright and early tomorrow morning, and the skipper says we may try to go straight through to Trois-Rivieres, Quebec (200 nautical miles / 366 km) in one shot of around-the-clock sailing, rather than day-sailing our way down the St. Lawrence Seaway.
Talk to you again somewhere down the river...
Pics will be posted, if I can find somewhere to connect.
The beginning of our first day found us cloaked in heavy fog. We went to bed in the 1000 Islands and woke up in Newfoundland! But confident on our home turf, and with 5 sets of eyes, paper charts, radar, GPS, electronic plotter and a fog horn sounding every minute, we cast off at 8 AM as planned.
The fog burned off by a brilliant sun within a couple of hours, and hot, clear weather followed. Sadly, the wind was AWOL. We've been motoring, ocaasionally (hopefully) checking the telltale we raised to the top of the mainmast. Here's hoping this long diesel powered "pulse" will be followed at some point by a satisfying wind powered "glide".
EcoModder members may be interested to know that another member of the crew is none other than the son of Harry Stevenson, who built his aerodynamic Ford Model T in the 1930s:
The end of the day finds us just east of Cornwall, Ontario, approaching the Ontario/Quebec border. With no wind, and clear skies, we've decided to push on and make up as much time as we can, so we'll have some in the bank to spend if & when the winds show up, or tuck in to safe harbour should too much wind show up...
I know next to nothing about sailing, so please excuse my ignorance.
What are the horizontal rows of tufts attached to the sails? Are they in a perpetual state of tuft testing?
What are the horizontal rows of tufts attached to the sails? Are they in a perpetual state of tuft testing?
In the picture in the first post? I'm scaling up from sailboard/landsailer sails here, but I think those are battens: small strips of fiberglass or similar that help the trailing edge hold its shape, rather than flapping in the breeze. Tufts on the sails might also be used to tell how close to the wind it's pointing: if it's at too steep an angle, a sail will stall much like an airplane wing.
No, I don't think you can see them in the photo. You can see them in the video. If you pause at 1:35 they're right there. It doesn't look like they're moving with the breeze much.
