Month: May 2009

NATURAL GRACE

Natural grace, is a term that I apply to those who always seem to effortlessly exhibit good behavior, good manners, and are able to easily empathize with others.

John Nicholas Brown is my benchmark, against whom all others are measured. Larry Huntington, has always shown me these attributes.
It is Leon Russell, however, who is a man who may not gotten past the fourth grade as an education. Grew up poor, sometimes spearing frogs for food. Despite this background, Leon, exhibited the most wonderful manners. He was nonetheless who he was, a little rough, but shining through were exemplary values.


When there was no limit on weight

I am not a big person. I have had to deal with my size all my life. I am not whining, I is a simple statement of fact.

In my early years of sailing there was no limit on the amount of weight one could carry. I carried as much as I could bear, more than most other people. I would wear knee pads the wrong way around. I exercised, I built a hiking bench. I would sit, hiking out stacking books or weights on my chest. It should come as no surprise that I had lower back problems.
I had made hiking jackets, by sewing groups of eight sweat shirts together. Then either bailing water onto myself or dunking myself in the water, to gain weight. Once I wore so many, when I turned my head I could not see over the collar of the weight jackets.

METER CLASSES IN NEWPORT

In September of this year the six metre class will have it’s world championship in Newport, RI. Following at the end of the month the twelve metre class will host a commemorative regatta, which will also be the North American championship.

Tim Street, the Six Meter Class president made a presentation along with Toby Rodes owner of a 1928 Fife and David Pedrick, naval architect. I can’t wait to see all those six meters in Newport.



How I Learned To Love Math

I don’t know about you, I struggled with math throughout school. I, like so many, could never see the necessity of knowing much math.

I loved sailing and wanted to know everything there was to know about boats. I worked building sails, building boats. I started lofting the designs; drawing them full size, This is the moment where any errors in the initial design appear. We would re-fair the lines. But for me, suddenly there was a reason for math. It all became so clear. I could define the “lines” of the boat with a formula. Math had a purpose, and therefore became a useful tool.

New York City




I ate breakfast every morning at the same corner restaurant. I always started early, I was living on 88th street. and going to school at NYU. I never took the same route twice, always carried my camera.

After a while the waiters and the owner asked if I was a photographer. The girl in the photo was also a customer, and the owner confided in me that he would leave his wife for her. Here she is posed with the “crew” of the restaurant. I gave everyone a series of photos.
Many years earlier, in college, I had the same problem; taking photographs and arriving on time for class.