http://www.sailmonster.com/blog/ Latest Blogs http://www.sailmonster.com/CapnBrown/blog/march-sunspree/
So we left there for the boat wondering how bad the weather was going to be. If it wasn't blowing like a hurricane we were going to go for a spin and return to the Sunspree (it is only 15 minutes by sail from my anchorage). The weather was great. I had a storm jib that I've never hoisted for Ridiculous. We brought it up and dropped the mooring headed South on a beam reach.

I've only been in a few races by cruisers for fun and only one with Ridiculous during the Morgan Invasion which is a small regatta of Morgan owners once a year for fun. I have no boom vang (see above), the outhaul inside the boom is frozen, and there is no downhaul. Rich rigged up a line from the boom to one of the jib cars as a vang and we set the sails using the skills he uses frequently in racing. With those tweaks and the great wind which in retrospect I'm guessing was around 18 when we started Ridiculous came to life. We flew down the channel dragging the dinghy behind.

Tip to inflatable dinghy dragging for those that are new to such a thing... bring the dink right up to the transom until just the back 1 foot of the bottom is hitting the water (with the outboard tilted to it's highest setting). That is with good weather where the boat isn't going to slam into the transom. I've been leaving a long leash to get it to sit flat thinking that lifting the nose would force the transom of the dinghy to dig into the water. I was wrong as this reduced the wetted surface of the dink creating less drag. I don't know that we felt much of the dinghy back there most of the trip.

At one point 3/4 of the way to the Bradenton River the wind died down to just under 10 knots. We tied off the helm and went forward to swap the heavy weather jib for my working jib fresh from a renewal by the sailmaker's shop. We brought it up and off we went like gang busters again. Within 15 to 20 minutes the wind stiffened and we were close hauled at the mouth of the river heeling nicely. By the way, the gimbaled oven kept the misc. coke cans etc upright while everything else scattered Nice to see how well they work.

Knowing we had company arriving back at the Sunspree we changed our single (up to this point) tack and headed back. We were still flying along. On Ridiculous I have a long swept transom similar to the transom on the older cup boats. When the boat is really going and heeling over at around 20 degrees the "wave" that forces her to stick to her hull speed stretches out the length of the boat. When we reached that point you could start to hear the water gurgling across the cockpit scupper. It's a great sound to hear.

Among the dolphins we had visit, one would come up alongside our port side and stream along with us for a couple seconds just under the surface. It's rare to have that clean of water for Tampa Bay but you could see his entire length clearly just under the surface and then he'd come up for a breath and dive deep. He did this a few times before moving on. The other was one that followed us for 5 minutes or so just off our starboard side toward the rear quarter and he would come up for a breath with such power and quickly disappear very regularly just cruising while we were really cooking.

This was the perfect weather for Ridiculous and we really enjoyed the sail. We were hailed on the radio by Bliss as they were arriving at the Sunspree and we told him what they advised about taking a slip and that we were on the way. We arrived at the Meisner Bridge which is the last smaller bridge of the Skyway Causeway and turned East which was downwind. The channel was dead down as we were able to go wing and wing down to the turn North up into Sunspree, another beam reach.

We had a couple of Rum and cokes that we nursed along having a great conversation on the trip back toward the Sunspree and were ready to dock and really get to kick back. We found Sailmonster, Sailmonstermomma, Bliss, Wildturkey, and Terry_Susan hanging out at the hot tub some already started with cocktails. And we heard the news that Sunraze lost her forestay on the way over! We were getting descriptions of heavy wind gusts up in Tampa Bay as they were making their way over. I'm sure she will post the story. And despite such a typical weekend killer she still made her way out.

Shortly after having a couple fresh drinks and hearing what happened the wife and kiddies arrived. We had something to eat and met everyone back at the docks. The kiddies watched movies back on Ridiculous as we visited with a great group of Monsters. Some of the later arrivals included Sunraze, Captain Jack (I'm not sure how he did his handle), lans0012 and Megan Cesaretti. Hope I didn't leave anyone out.

The next morning we heard there were some late evening shots and some Monsters rose rougher than others . Everyone put their boats together and made for home on another spectacular sailing day. Unfortunately we ended up cutting ours short as our puppy, now young dog, had a few accidents in our neighbor's house while they were watching him. We felt it prudent to take him back off their hands.

All in all a great little gathering with great friends. Ahh, that really hit the spot after all this crazy weather we've been having.

We are looking forward to some larger groups this summer and can't wait to be able to jump into our beautiful water as it warms up here.

Well, till next time...

Fair winds and rum drinks ~~~_/)~~~~~]]> http://www.sailmonster.com/CapnBrown/blog/march-sunspree/ Mon, 15 Mar 2010 02:39:09 +0000 CapnBrown http://www.sailmonster.com/bluemapia/blog/bluemapia-share-your-sailing-destinations-and-nautical-points-of-interest-o/
That is why my friend Max and I created bluemapia, an open content sail...]]>
That is why my friend Max and I created bluemapia, an open content sailing and cruising guide, where people from all over the world can write about the places they have visited by boat: bays they love, safe anchorages they know, best marina services they have found or charming villages where to stop for a night.

This sailing guide is created by you: adding placemarks, pictures, text, tracks and comments on the map.

Does this work? We think it does and together with you we can make it the best sailing and cruising guide of the planet written by people with our same passion: SAILING.

So please, register and help us to spread out the message to your boating and sailing friends.

We provide this service for free, so that information will freely grow up both in quantity and quality, openly available to all.

We simply provide the platform, and hope it inspires you and your friends to keep sailing and share your adventures with the world.

Help us growing the content!

Through Creative Commons licensing, everything you upload to Bluemapia is yours.

And if you are an iPhone addicted, don't miss to go to the AppStore and download Bluemapia for iPhone to send pictures and location information straight from the cockpit of your boat, or even view localised photos and information contributed by fellow users.


Have Fun!

Marcello]]> http://www.sailmonster.com/bluemapia/blog/bluemapia-share-your-sailing-destinations-and-nautical-points-of-interest-o/ Tue, 09 Mar 2010 15:45:39 +0000 Marcello Ferrero http://www.sailmonster.com/sisterofthesea/blog/the-tale-of-no-wind/
Had a great day of sailing with the family. As we are new to sailing we experienced the coolest thing every today. The forecast had showed winds at around 6-9knots, but when we got to the marina an older man had just pulled his sailboat out of the water and said that it had just died. He said not to worry that it would come back around 4:30pm from the NW. I was a little worried as it was only around 1200pm. We went ahead with our plans to sail with what looked like barely a breeze. It was a relaxing time out in the bay as we tooled around with our sail up and ready to catch the first hint of wind. What was so amazing was that there were so many other sailboats out there also waiting with their sails all the way up just drifting along. Then it happened at 3:28pm. The wind came from behind us from the NW. Why is it so exciting? Simply because this is our first time and I am sure we will never forget sitting on a sea of glass one minute and then rolling along at 5 knots! I am even more pleased that my family had nothing but nice things to say about their sailing experience today and to me that is what it is all about. Wonderful surpises and learning to appreciate what the world around us has to teach us if we only sit, wait, and listen (or in this case feel the wind blowing across our faces before it fills our sails!]]> http://www.sailmonster.com/sisterofthesea/blog/the-tale-of-no-wind/ Mon, 08 Mar 2010 05:34:07 +0000 SisterOfTheSea http://www.sailmonster.com/SoNJSailor/blog/what-the-croc/ Last year I recall a discussion going on, on both Sailmonster and PyratSail, about whether or not it is OK for a man to wear yellow Crocs (although I ...
Yesterday was February 28. After cleaning my house and running a few errands, I headed to our local watering hole, the Mystic Islands Casino ("Casino" in the sense of a gathering place, not a gambling establishment.) The restaurant and bar also contains a liquor & package goods store.

I took a seat at the end of the bar nearest the store, and along with a few acquaintances, watched Nascar and the Gold Medal hockey game between USA and Canada on a couple of the many flatscreen TV's there.

I'm not sure why but I happened to glance at the liquor store just in time to see a man walk in, dressed in some striking attire. All I could think of was that wonderful online abbreviation, "WTF!" After the guy made his purchase and headed for the door, I slipped out an alternate exit and watched him walk out to the parking lot. I raised my camera-phone, and snapped the following picture:



Here it is cropped and zoomed:



That's right folks, this individual is dressed in a down parka, black Bermuda Shorts, black socks, and PINK CROCS.

This is probably a Jersey exclusive, but then again he might have relatives in Florida...]]> http://www.sailmonster.com/SoNJSailor/blog/what-the-croc/ Mon, 01 Mar 2010 19:40:49 +0000 SoNJSailor http://www.sailmonster.com/Gypsy589/blog/help-it-s-stuck-in-my-head/
http...]]>
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFgnpEAh2lE&NR=1]]> http://www.sailmonster.com/Gypsy589/blog/help-it-s-stuck-in-my-head/ Sun, 28 Feb 2010 18:17:52 +0000 Gypsy589 http://www.sailmonster.com/Gypsy589/blog/ummm-something-different-part-2/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDErgD9YNyc http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDErgD9YNyc http://www.sailmonster.com/Gypsy589/blog/ummm-something-different-part-2/ Sun, 28 Feb 2010 18:13:13 +0000 Gypsy589 http://www.sailmonster.com/Gypsy589/blog/ummm-something-different/ http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/the-sailor-song/398f386725239e4389d2398f386725239e4389d2-1429719547934 http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/the-sailor-song/398f386725239e4389d2398f386725239e4389d2-1429719547934 http://www.sailmonster.com/Gypsy589/blog/ummm-something-different/ Fri, 26 Feb 2010 18:19:12 +0000 Gypsy589 http://www.sailmonster.com/captdebby/blog/pearson-shoal-draft-35/ http://www.sailmonster.com/captdebby/blog/pearson-shoal-draft-35/ Thu, 25 Feb 2010 11:05:42 +0000 captdebby http://www.sailmonster.com/sisterofthesea/blog/our-first-sailboat/ It has been a sincere pleasure talking to and doing business with the sailing community this past week. Our decision to purchase a sailboat that we wo... http://www.sailmonster.com/sisterofthesea/blog/our-first-sailboat/ Wed, 24 Feb 2010 02:46:56 +0000 SisterOfTheSea http://www.sailmonster.com/Jeff/blog/nestle-hotline-fun-stuff/
Jeff

Call the Nestle Hotline @ 1-800-295-005...]]>
Jeff

Call the Nestle Hotline @ 1-800-295-0051. When asked if you want English or Spanish, wait quietly for about 10 secs & you will smile. Keep going & press 4, then press 7. If you comment on this, don't give the secret away!! If the line is busy ...try again it is worth it! Too funny..]]> http://www.sailmonster.com/Jeff/blog/nestle-hotline-fun-stuff/ Sat, 20 Feb 2010 15:37:31 +0000 Jeff http://www.sailmonster.com/captdebby/blog/ranger-33/ Tell me! Tell me! http://www.sailmonster.com/captdebby/blog/ranger-33/ Fri, 19 Feb 2010 11:03:27 +0000 captdebby http://www.sailmonster.com/SAILMONSTER/blog/sm-pigroast/ Our second annual pigroast was a blast! We had a great turnout in the coldest winter in Florida in years. We would like to thank everyone that came ...
Our little site has been through ups and downs, beta software, server crashes and more... Thanks for for being Sailmonsters! We have a long way to go and it is wonderful to see new people get involved and realize that Sailmonster is more than a website but a true community for those who work, live, and sail as much as we can.

Thanks again!]]> http://www.sailmonster.com/SAILMONSTER/blog/sm-pigroast/ Wed, 17 Feb 2010 12:59:44 +0000 SAILMONSTER http://www.sailmonster.com/captdebby/blog/miami-boat-show-and-shake-a-leg/ wore my Knighton sails hat all day on Saturday and the Latitudes/ Attitudes concert kicked! Any one have used sails they want to donate to Haiti? I wi... wore my Knighton sails hat all day on Saturday and the Latitudes/ Attitudes concert kicked! Any one have used sails they want to donate to Haiti? I will be making another run in two weeks. They need them for shelters. I can pick them up at SSS or you can drop them off at the Campus Waterfront at New College! http://www.sailmonster.com/captdebby/blog/miami-boat-show-and-shake-a-leg/ Tue, 16 Feb 2010 11:23:00 +0000 captdebby http://www.sailmonster.com/captdebby/blog/saving-sailing/ A must read and we can all do it! A must read and we can all do it! http://www.sailmonster.com/captdebby/blog/saving-sailing/ Tue, 16 Feb 2010 03:10:26 +0000 captdebby http://www.sailmonster.com/richmuro/blog/go-away-cold-water/
Since it's been so cold, when will that water hit 80?]]>
Since it's been so cold, when will that water hit 80?]]> http://www.sailmonster.com/richmuro/blog/go-away-cold-water/ Wed, 10 Feb 2010 03:31:56 +0000 richmuro