Thinking of Spring!

[Bolo]

On this cold first day of February my thoughts are about getting the boat back in the water. I was reminded of this by a video I made back in 2015 for my Facebook friends and I now share it with all of my Ericson friends here today:

 

[peaman]

I was expecting cannons.

 

[Navman]

The Optimist II gets splashed into the Chesapeake on March 5th providing no ice on the water. The longest 2.5 months ever!

 

[Bolo]

I was expecting cannons.

They weren’t in the budget.

 

[Bolo]

The Optimist II gets splashed into the Chesapeake on March 5th providing no ice on the water. The longest 2.5 months ever!

Lucky you! My splash date is around April 1st. Boat is on the hard for some hull maintenance and a good polishing. Time seems to slow to a crawl for me during February.

 

[Stuphoto]

It's -35 where I am working.
So it should feel like a hot summer day when I return home in 10 days.
Should work out perfectly since I am planning on the maiden voyage ( since I bought it ) before the months end.

 

[Bolo]

It's -35 where I am working.
So it should feel like a hot summer day when I return home in 10 days.
Should work out perfectly since I am planning on the maiden voyage ( since I bought it ) before the months end.

Looking at your handle "Stuphoto" are you a photographer? I'm a retired commercial/industrial photographer and have worked in conditions that were either too un-godly cold or hot in my career. Just curious.

 

[Stuphoto]

I shoot mostly Large Format Bob, my personal favorite being 5x7.
However my favorite personal camera is a beautiful Kodak 2d 8x10

I am also a retired ice road trucker, which still brings me north every winter.
This year I am a winter road marshall in one of the diamond mines.

 

[mjsouleman]

Bolo,

Your video brings back a lot of good memories of sailing the Chesapeake Bay. Thanks for the reminders.

I have no idea when my splash date is yet because I have to wait till Spring to get my winter projects started.

Mark "Souleman" Soule

 

[Bolo]

I shoot mostly Large Format Bob, my personal favorite being 5x7.
However my favorite personal camera is a beautiful Kodak 2d 8x10

I am also a retired ice road trucker, which still brings me north every winter.
This year I am a winter road marshall in one of the diamond mines.

I worked with an 8 x 10 view camera for years shooting small product and food for catalogs and magazines. Then 4 x 5 and then finally Hasselblad on the road traveling the country shooting for magazines and commercial clients. After that digital became available and everything changed. As far as ice and snow go….I have an allergy to both.

 

[Teranodon]

Why wait for Spring? I raced out of Annapolis for two years when I worked at the State Department. There was a "Jack Frost" series with special rules, like "one foot in the cockpit at all times". We would go around the buoys, tie up at the YC for hot rum drinks, then race again. Of course, this was a quarter-century ago.

 

[Frank Langer]

I was out sailing for 6 days last week in our BC Gulf Islands.
It was chilly, but I had my mustang suit and gloves to keep me warm. I like to keep the companionway open when at anchor, so it's no use trying to warm the cabin with a heater.
I had some great sailing, though a few days I had to wait at anchor for the fog to lift.
My wife declined my invitation, saying she'll wait for Spring.
I think it's good for my boat to run it regularly to keep everything working as it should. But I also take special care when it's colder out to move carefully, stay safe.
Frank

 

[Shannon & Doran Jones]

I was out sailing for 6 days last week in our BC Gulf Islands.
It was chilly, but I had my mustang suit and gloves to keep me warm. I like to keep the companionway open when at anchor, so it's no use trying to warm the cabin with a heater.
I had some great sailing, though a few days I had to wait at anchor for the fog to lift.
My wife declined my invitation, saying she'll wait for Spring.
I think it's good for my boat to run it regularly to keep everything working as it should. But I also take special care when it's colder out to move carefully, stay safe.
Frank

@Frank Langer we had a fantastic sail last week. Amazing weather. Perfect wind.

 

[Stuphoto]

I hope I can join you out there with my boat soon Frank,
I should be free to explore the area from mid April until mid June.

Oh Stuart from UK Sails got back to me yesterday, and I will be ordering a new set made up from him soon.

 

[Prairie Schooner]

I've got this bucket list wish of sailing in a snow storm. A friend told of doing just that in Frostbite sailing years ago. He said it was like being in a huge room full of telltales, that he'd been sailing for decades and the wind wasn't doing what he thought it was all those years.

 

[Frank Langer]

When I lived in Alberta, Canada, with a different boat, we had to haul it in fall and launch in spring, as early as possible. One year I launched it in mid April, but half the lake was still frozen. My teenage son and I sailed along the edge of the ice, hearing the ice cracking sound, with large snow flurries falling gently as we sailed. Of course we were the only boat on the lake. We both have memories of it being quite magical. Now I live on the BC coast where I can sail year round.
Frank

 

[Tin Kicker]

 

[Prairie Schooner]

It was a balmy 45º in Rhode Island today so we ripped some more deck hardware off. With all the work we have to do, boating season seems like forever away. But I also feel spring breathing down my neck. As I tell my students, "Just keep moving the rock forward."


It was a pretty sunset.

 

[Stuphoto]

Just an 11 second video, from my Maiden Voyage today.

It's actually my first time really sailing, and I had a quick lesson from a friend.

We did hit 5 knots, with just the main and jib.
I don't think it is too bad for a 25'

I believe they are still the original sails, and I will be ordering new ones soon.
I am having a few changes made while I am at it, taking advantage of my size and lowering the boom and increasing the size.

Heading off to work again tomorrow, and won't see my new toy until April.

 

[Chschaus]

I worked with an 8 x 10 view camera for years shooting small product and food for catalogs and magazines. Then 4 x 5 and then finally Hasselblad on the road traveling the country shooting for magazines and commercial clients. After that digital became available and everything changed. As far as ice and snow go….I have an allergy to both.

Digital really changed the commercial Photo industry, didn't it? Did studio product photography and processing for 30+ yrs my old Business partner longer than that. While we both adapted and transitioned to digital the entire industry just no longer was what we knew, as far as processing that is just gone. It was a blast while it lasted however.