Hi all ~
The pix for this Eletter are at:
http://www.ciekurzis.org/SunCoast Spring/SunCoast Spring
Check out the photo links posted in each folder at:
Capt.KL
SunCoast Spring
Spring is a time to
celebrate new things and change; so it is aboard WindigoIII.
First, I am now known to
some as Captain Grandpa!
Joshua
James Civitate was born on 20 January, (he waited until he was NOT a
stubborn Capricorn as his Mom and Grandpa!?) tipping the scales at over 10
pounds. Jessy, Greg and Josh are all enjoying family life,
and all three are learning new things daily – changing diapers is NOT the end
of the world [Greg], the “Baby Blues” are for real, but hormones are a
wonderful thing [Jess], and “If I keep eating at this rate, I’ll fit into that
really cute 3T outfit by the end of summer” [JJ].
Among Joshua’s furnishings
is the Moon Cradle I made
from scraps of left over decking,
while still land-bound in Door County finishing the refit on Windigo. Jessy had
noticed a pressed-board replica of Ernest
Hemingway’s cradle on display at a very exclusive shop in Las Vegas a few
years ago; She pointed it out to me commenting that she adored it. I took the
hint and built one using
teakwood and mahogany plywood, in
between boat projects. I am glad I constructed it a bit large – he will be able
to rock in it for at least a couple
of years. (Jessy has already mentioned how JJ’s sister(?) will enjoy it – I
suppose we’ve started a tradition with this heirloom; and my progeny will be
burdened forever with shipping the thing from family to family so the new
babies are able to sleep soundly with the Man-in-the-Moon.)
Spring
has also brought us another new ‘berth’, this one for Windigo. After 11 months
of living “on the hook” [at anchor] in several places around the Tampa Bay
area, we have taken semi-permanent residence in Clearwater Beach. With Karin
having an office job to attend to daily, a dock with a shower [and a pool, and
ice, and secure bike parking, and . . .] is definitely a luxury we can indulge
in. We are staying in the marina at the Chart
House Suites, which also happens to be the home of one of the sailing
schools where I work as an instructor.
The mailing address here is 850 Bayway Blvd.
Clearwater Beach, FL 33767.
With
the start of the tourist season here in western Florida, my teaching schedule
blossomed – I taught 24 days in March at both Flagship Sailing School in Clearwater
Beach and at Sailing Florida with
Sunsail in St. Petersburg. Since last August, I have held class for 69
students of various skill levels, from having NEVER
been aboard a sailboat, to navigation courses and ‘bareboat chartering’
instruction (how to live aboard independently for periods of time).
Occasionally I captain a daysail or a sunset cruise. On Valentine’s Day, I
played Captain Stuebing for the “Love Boat”, a ½-day surprise engagement cruise.
Windigo
was hauled out on the last day of
January to receive the bottom job I had won at
the boat show in November. We took the opportunity to once again raise the water line to accommodate the cruising
load we carry aboard. A new boot stripe and clean underwater appendages make Windigo look spiffy
as she zips through the water.
We
have had Windigo out a few times this year. Mark
Geniesee crewed with me to get the boat to the yard for the haulout. Next,
My cousin Tom Polzin returned from arctic weather in Wisconsin a second time
this year; he and Bernice spent a relaxing
day out on the Gulf. Karin’s son Adam
and I sailed during his Spring Break visit, and Mike Sweeney brought his
sister-in-law and her daughter over for a quiet day out on the Gulf.
Adam
once again had a most eventful day at sea aboard Windigo. The day included
running out of fresh water during the sail; we peaked at 8.6 knots in 2-meter
seas on the Gulf before I gave up my breakfast to Neptune; a firm grounding was
enjoyed as we attempted a ‘Man Overboard’ exercise for Adam’s hat outside the
channel of the ICW; a rescue by a passing powerboater that turned out to be
none other than the owner of the sailing school where I teach; and an
engine-stopping line fouling episode on the final approach to the marina.
We
mostly enjoyed all these mishaps though, [except for the breakfast thing] and
used our ingenuity to recover from each malady UNTIL we were tied securely in
our slip, and discovered the horror of horrors. A can of metal polish had
busted out of a cabinet above Karin’s ‘special place’ for her neatly ironed work
clothes for the next few days. It spilled its chemical contents across several
articles of clothing (which went straight to the dumpster). Risking capitol
punishment, we revealed the disaster to Karin when she came home from work, but
her response was simply, “Oh, too bad. Now I must get new clothes.” (Sorry, I
was a bit too busy during this excursion to snap photos.)
Adam’s
vacation included a round of golf [he trounced me!], trips to the beach [with
10,000 of his closest friends], lounging
aboard Windigo, and of course, a visit to the
ORIGINAL Hooters, where he celebrated his 21st
birthday with dancing and
libation. WooHoo!
Karin & I have been using the gift certificates
we won at the Holiday Boat Parades to whip up our own dancing
and libation. WooHoo!
Speaking
of whipping things up, I have discovered the marvels of “The
Pancake Factory”, a $12 appliance picked up at WalMart. Using our recently
acquired dock power, this thing is capable of cooking all manner of foodstuffs
in the matter of minutes. Now I know why my friend from Mobile, Joe Bru enjoys
‘griddling’ so much. I have become a griddling fool!
I have
just returned from the first vessel delivery of the season; soon I expect to be
flying off to the BVI to sail an ex-charter ship back to the US for a new
owner. A good possibility of additional adventures for the Windigo Travelogue
Catalogue!
This
month’s science subject explores “reality”:
“Real
time” has been used as a phrase to describe computer processing that occurs as
fast as events affecting the processing. In light of that use of the phrase, we
have come to accept that things we perceive around us are happening as we
become aware of them. Our perceptions of events we consider happening in “real
time” are accepted as reality. They are the present, things going on this
instant, right now. Or are they?
While
I have pondered the idea of “reality” for many decades; teaching navigation on
a daily basis has provided me with a tangible explanation of my basic thoughts
concerning human perception. Namely, the use of the GPS system has given me a
demonstrative example of how reality is perceived.
Many
of you are familiar with the Global Position Satellite (GPS) system that has
proliferated into our boats, cars, homes and camping packs. The GPS system uses
23 orbiting satellites, sending data to receivers which interpret the satellite
signals to provide the user with the location of the receiver. By loading the receiver
with mapping data, the unit is able to display amazing information. Besides speed
(current, average, maximum, etc.), distance (from a point, to a point, and
anything in-between), and altitude, it can be made to calculate fuel consumption,
ETA, sunrise/sunset, high and low tides, best fishing times, and much more. All
this is displayed on a screen, just the same as the one I marveled at, that James
Bond used when I was a kid.
Now,
the first rule of navigation is to never trust any single piece of information.
Any aid to navigation may be in error or interpreted wrongly. I teach not to
fixate on any one instrument, including the GPS. This is because for all its
wowey-zowey bells and whistles, the GPS unit simply does not tell you where you
are – only where you have been! The satellites that provide the data for the
GPS unit are hundreds of miles away in orbit. It takes time for the signals to
travel the distance from outer space to your GPS. Then, to calculate the speed
a unit is traveling, it must compare a previous position to the latest position
and do the math of distance / speed. Finally, to let the user know the
information, it must further process the data to come up with a “readout” in
digital numbers or the James Bond moving map. All of this takes time, and when
the final information is displayed, it is actually “old” information, soon to
be replaced with the next set of data calculations going on inside the unit.
Now
it is obvious that any electronic device has similar limitations: a time lag
between the input of the data and the reading and comprehending of the
information displayed. But what of information viewed directly? Things we see
with our eyes are certainly “real”, aren’t they? The answer is a solid NO! Even
discounting the processing time for our human brains [which is many, many times
faster than the best computers], there are still delays and errors involved in
directly viewed events.
Our
eyes “see” objects by interpreting the visible light reflected by those
objects. Although light travels extremely fast in the short distance
discernable by our eyes, it still takes some time to make the trip. It may seem
like nitpicking, but a valid example is evident when we view the night sky. The
closest star in our sky is four light-years away. This means we are seeing it
as it was four years ago! Most visible objects in the sky are thousands of
light-years distant! Can you imagine how many of these objects are not even in existence
anymore? Even sunlight takes eight minutes to reach the earth, so we are seeing
the sun eight minutes into our past.
When
I was in the Air Force, I worked on systems to alter the image of an airplane
as to confuse radar contacts and missile guidance systems. We had the capability
to make the plane appear to be somewhere other than its real location. We could
alter the path of electronically-guided and laser-guided weapons aimed at our
aircraft. The systems being developed then at Dalmo-Victor, Hughes, and
Martin-Marietta were the versions of what we know today as “stealth”
technology. Their goal was to make specific items not visible in certain
directions and times. As in “invisible”. This was almost 30 years ago – do you
think they have come up with something in that time? I am impressed each time I
see a B-2 bomber approaching at a slow speed, yet am unable to discern the
sound of its jet engines.
When
do you think the first warfare application of stealth technology was used? Archimedes
realized the brain’s processing time might be impaired by adding conflicting information,
so that it must sort it out to allow us to see an image. He assisted in the
organization of a defense of an ancient port by advising the soldiers to carry
brightly polished shields, and using them to reflect sunlight upon the
attacking vessels. [Some have conjectured that this was an attempt to start the
ships ablaze, but I give Archimedes more credit that that.]
Gives
some credence to the old saying, “Believe half of what you see and none of what
you hear.” I may mistrust the other half, also!
Our permanent and EXACT
address:
Capt. KL & Karin Hughes
S/V WindigoIII • PMB 365
88005 Overseas Hwy. #9
Islamorada, FL 36033-3087
A NEW temporary
address here in Clearwater Beach:
850 Bayway Blvd.
Clearwater Beach, FL 33767
Text-only Email addresses
aboard Windigo, checked often:
W3IGO@winlink.org
Email addresses checked when
at a land-based computer:
Boat@Consultant.com
Windigoiii@Netscape.net
And of course, the Windigo
Travelogue Catalogue:
http://www.ciekurzis.org