Posted by ingram on May 23, 2009 in
Sailing Adventures It’ a May 23rd, and a warm sunny day. The schooner Bill of Rights will sail today and I will be on deck. IslandPackers is handling the passenger list and that means it’s free! At this moment I am waiting at a local dockside establishment and drinking vitamin C, the kind from Mexico.
After boarding passengers were given the safety instructions and were told they could help sail the boat or just relax. Guess which option I chose?
The schooner is gaff rigged, meaning the fore and main masts have a spar on the top of the sail as well as one on the bottom (boom).
As we motored slowly out of the harbor, I took pictures of some of the rigging and equipment.
The mainsail, foresail, staysail, jibtop and yankee were set in that order, and it took quite a while to get everything up and flying. The sails are old and heavy, requiring at least three strong people to hoist.
We sailed on a port tack toward Ventura. Even though there was 10-12 knots of breeze, the ship seemed slow (probably due to improper trim). Then we tacked over to the other board, which took about 3 minutes. Now on a beam reach, the ship was definately not trimmed because the sails were still close hauled (trimmed in too far). When we reached Hueneme, the skipper called for another tack but didn’t have enough speed and went into irons (the boat can’t complete the tacking maneuver), so he called for the main to be backed (pushed toward the wind), then build speed and completed the tack.
The136 ft. Bill of Rights was built at the Harvey Gamage Yard in South Bristol, ME in 1971. She is a passenger vessel and currently looking for volunteers to help with maintenance and crewing.
Tags: sailing, tall ship
Posted by ingram on May 18, 2009 in
Surfing Adventures Leigh and I went to this surfboard tradeshow on May 17. Dave Royster put us on to it. There were hundred of new and collectible boards of all shapes and sizes. Longboards of traditional designs, made of balsa wood, were displayed with short wave rockets fashioned of epoxy. 
Wet suits, fins and other gear were also shown. 
There were seminars on design, shape and decoration. Attendees watched as Jerry Lopez shaped a board in a mock up shaping room.
Leigh wants a new Robert August. Who doesn’t?
Tags: surfboards, surfing
Posted by ingram on May 17, 2009 in
Racing Maine Squeeze is at the San Diego Yacht Club for the Yachting Cup Regatta May 2 and 3. Updates will be posted as events unfold.
UPDATE
After three races ok Saturday, the Squeeze is 7-7-6. Stategem broke a shroud in the last race and had to DNF. The conditions were almost perfect, with winds in the 8-15 knot range and little swell. A NW current did figure into the navigation as did the abundent kelp.
The crew sailed Maine Squeeze very well and made no big errors, but the competetion made better sail choices and had more experience with regatta racing.
On Sunday we had a little more wind, but the results were the same. Our crew didn’t attend the awards ceremony, and most of the crew wanted to get back home, so they left. Mike and I went to Miguel’s Mexican Restaurant for some yummy food, then turned in early because we wanted to leave early for the delivery back to Channel Islands. After getting underway at 4 a.m., we set a course for Catalina, which we reached at 4 p.m.. We got fuel and had a burger before continuing on to Two Harbors. We stayed there the next day due to gale force conditions and left at 3:30 a.m. for Channel Islands Harbor, reaching it after a bumpy ride across the channel in 9 1/2 hours.
Posted by ingram on May 17, 2009 in
Uncategorized After an uneventful trip down to Newport Beach, Taylor, Warns, Doug and I left Maine Squeeze on a mooring while we had great and inexpensive burgers at Newport Landing. The next day we transfered the Squeeze, 5150 and Moonshadow to the guest dock at BYC. Ernie came up from Oceanside for a visit; later Fusee showed up with Harry, Larry and Randy. Our crew joined them for dinner at BCYC, then drinks and jokes on Fusee.
Maine Squeeze sailed the 125 mile course in 19 hours and 27 minutes to be the first Schock 35 to finish and win a second place trophy in PHRF E class. Skipper Mike Taylor sparked the crew to top performance during his fastest “tequila derby” yet. Admiral Cherri experienced her first Ensenada Race, driving, trimming and feeding the crew. Bill Brayton also steered and trimmed Maine Squeeze to max performance while Tina Roberson kept the “strings” in perfect tune. Foredeck man Bruce McKenzie was in top form especially during sail hoists, douses and spinnaker tubes, and Curt Ingram played the sail controls like a fine guitar. 
The crew enjoys victory! 
Mike with the Schock 35 perpetual trophy
Posted by ingram on May 17, 2009 in
Teaching Laura Mihalka, a parent at Pierpont, organized the music van presentation and invited me to participate. Kids from grades 3-5 were given a chance to hold and even play the instruments of the orchestra, including violin, cello, bass, trumpet, clarinet, flute, percussion, trombone and French horn.
The instruments are provided by the New West Symphony of Thousand Oaks. They are packed into a van. Schools can reserve the van for presentations at their local sites.
We had plenty of help keeping the show going and demonstrating how to play the instruments. Besides Laura and me, there were six parents and a former student there to help out. The kids really enjoyed this experience!
Posted by ingram on May 17, 2009 in
Uncategorized 
The teachers at Citrus Glen honored me by giving me the Cub Club award. This school has so many fine teachers and I’m proud to be part of the program.
Thank You, Citrus Glen!
Posted by ingram on May 17, 2009 in
Racing This race, sponsored by the Ventura Sailing Club, is a little different. Each boat is required to throw a bottle of rum overboard, then retrieve it, before sailing the race course. I was invited to sail on Just Whistle, a Catalina 42 owned by Nick with crew members Marc Ean and Bruce McKenzie.
We sailed over to Smuggler’s on Saturday and dropped the hook. The other boats were already there and included:
Three Little Birds
Spit Dog
Maine Squeeze
Wainui
Miserlou
Moonshadow (dropped out because Doug split his leg open in a fall)
The race on Sunday took place in ideal conditions, with 10-15 knots of wind from the south and sunny skies. our boat marched along at 7+knots and we finished in about 2 1/2 hours. The course was from Smuggler’s to Channel Islands Harbor.
