ANNIVERSARY OF THE BLIZZARD OF ’78

I was working in Providence, RI. I had driven to work like any morning, snow was threatening, but had not yet started. No sooner than I walked into the office, my boss came in and said :”fill your gas tank and go home now.” The snow started quickly and was thick and heavy in no time at all. I had to stop several times, under overpasses to clear the windshield as the wipers could not keep up with the accumulation. I made it back to Newport and once the snow stopped I shoveled out but there was not much point as most of the roads remained unplowed for some time.

I will never know for certain, but I felt like I was one of the only cars to escape providence; particularly when you see the photos of the highway after the blizzard of ’78.

IT’S ONLY A GAME

It is hard to avoid, at least in America, today is Super Bowl Sunday. The New England Patriots vs. the New York Giants. I will watch the game with pleasure, but it is just a football game. It is a delightful distraction from the real events of the world. By Monday the game will be a memory and we are all back to everyday life.

TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO

SAILORS FOR THE SEA

iends at Sailors For The Sea continue their mission to ‘clean up sailing’, and their latest push is for racers to get rid of disposal water bottles for good. Southern California native and Melges 32 floater/crew glue Leslie Baehr sends in this report fromTeam INTAC at Key West. It’s great advice for the right cause – be sure to see how SFTS can help make your club or event greener at their site.

Few things trouble a boat’s Minister of the Interior as much as plastic water bottles. There is the inconvenient task of purchasing and transporting an entire isle of water bottle 24-pack cases. Then there is the daily burden of hauling just over 30 lbs of water out to your boat. There is also my personal favorite water bottle related activity: the between-race hunt for bottles carelessly thrown down below during races. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, there is the issue of what to do with the water bottles when you are finished.

Everyday our 8-person Melges 32 team races, I pack four bottles per person. That is 32 bottles a day. With at least 50 racing days scheduled in a year, that is 1,600 water bottles. While we make every effort to recycle those bottles, often facilities are not available or the bottles end up mixed in with the rest of the boat’s trash.

As an alternative to this mess, our team followed suit with the Melges 20 fleet, which took the initiative to green the fleet’s liquids. We purchased a different color 21 oz stainless steel water bottle for each team member, placing them in a bottle caddy (~ $10) to keep them all together and keep them from becoming missiles down below. In general, it was easier to move around the plastic caddy and required less space than the large bag of disposable water bottles that it replaced.

Our process is to fill the bottles on the dock in the morning from either a large container or a dock hose fitted with a filter. Once racing, it is very easy to pass the caddy full of bottles up on deck and let everyone get their personally colored bottle. Some of the big guys get two and if any need to be refilled, we pass up the spare gallon jug and top them off. Though prepping the bottles for the day was a concern at first, it ended up taking less time and effort to fill eight empty bottles than packing the 30 lbs of water we would usually bring from our hotel. We found that one set of filled water bottles and one extra gallon jug was sufficient for the day. It is important to make sure that the gallon jug has either a secure top or is placed in such a way as to avoid rolling around. We chose the latter option and did not have a problem.

An individual reusable stainless steel water bottle can run from $15-$25. They are both environmentally and practically superior to other options as they are durable, safe and recyclable. Aluminum bottles are also an option, but may be non-recyclable and less safe depending on their lining. Reusable plastic water bottles are the cheapest option (around $8-$10 per bottle), but tend not to hold up as well in the heat and are less widely recyclable once you are through with them. In the end, it was faster, easier and more environmentally conscientious to use the bottles.

PUNXSUTAWNEY PHIL SEES 6 MORE WEEKS OF WINTER

Groundhog Day 2012: Punxsutawney Phil sees shadow, 6 more weeks of winter

By Jason Samenow

Groundhog Punxsutawney Phil. (Groundhog.org)At 7:25 a.m. this morning, amidst mostly cloudy skies, and temperatures in the low 30s, Groundhog Phil saw his shadow in the little town of Punxsutawney, Pa.

According to folklore, Phil’s sighting of his own shadow means there will be 6 more weeks of winter. Had Phil not seen his shadow, it would have meant “there will be an early spring.”

If Phil’s forecast is right, it signals a dramatic reversal from the mild weather pattern affecting much of the country. Many parts of the central and eastern U.S. have seen temperatures 20 to 30 degrees above normal in recent days. On February 1, just 19% of the Lower 48 had snow cover compared to 52% at this time last year.

Historic odds heavily favor a forecast for winter to last deep into March. Since the Groundhog’s first prediction in 1887, Phil has seen his shadow 99 times and failed to spot it just 16 times. There are 9 missing years in the record, but Phil has issued an forecast without exception.

But just how accurate is the prognosticator of prognosticators?

It depends on the source.

SO YOU WANT TO BUILD A VOLVO 70

EXPLORE THE FRINGES

Osprey Hydrofoil from Adventure Online TV on Vimeo.

I remain ambivalent about the America’s Cup. Cracks are starting to show in the ambitious plans for the event. In terms of general interest in sailing; particularly professional sailing; the event should be held in Europe. Multihulls, again in Europe. I do like to see people exploring the edges of anything. Besides it is a pleasant video.