As the season
starts off, so does the extensive travel.
Between surveys, DNR inspections, and consulting work, the
air and road miles really start to rack up over the next
couple months. As with most of us in Northern
Michigan, we do not mind traveling now, but once summer
kicks in, it is hard to get us out of the great
place.
After spending
the past two weeks bouncing around Iowa, and Northern
Michigan, it is time to hit the road for a little Lake
Michigan circle tour the next few days.
March 5,
2010
Weather!
After two
months of, well... Not the nicest weather. But the
past week has been great, and the next few days look to
follow. I made it out to the boat yesterday and
starting getting ready to do some spring work. If I
can get a couple more weekends like this, maybe, just
maybe... be sailing before May. Of course I do not
want to say that too loud, I have seen it snow most of May.
February
24, 2010
These just sum
it up... Period
"My mom had
a map of the world on the hallway growing
up and a subscription to National Graphic. It's her fault I
can never get a "real" job!" - Megan McCormick
"The first step
is in your head. So don't think about it, buy a flight
ticket tomorrow and then worry about it on the plane. This
is the hardest step." - Ian Wright
February
23, 2010
I will keep
a list of ongoing projects, so people can see what I am
currently working on. Check it out on the
right side of the page. -------->
February
22, 2010
America's Cup Technology
We all knew
that the technology that developed from this year's
America's Cup was going to be... well, Mind Blowing.
This is just a few little samples from Sailing Anarchy.
blow your mind
AC Anarchy's Multihull Expert John
Casey was a busy beaver in Valencia,
talking speed tips with the insiders to
get the inside scoop on the secrets of
the AC beasts. Don't forget to hit
JC's website for more of his great
stuff, and pics courtesy of our much
prettier AC Anarchy correspondent
Meredith Block.
When Bertarelli slashed the rules
allowing for his engine, he surely
didn't realize how much the other side
would beat him with what he thought was
his advantage. BMW/Oracle's legal
phalanx may have been fighting to
reinstate ISAF rules, but simultaneously
they were working to exploit the use of
an engine, full friction reduction
systems, and laser technology. We all
saw how the BMW engine worked to keep
the wing functioning far better than
Alinghi's soft sails, with amazing
automation working in a very visible
way. But other technology to rip up the
racecourse was in development all along
- fast technology. It's stuff that could
blow your mind, or just mess with your
head. The end result would have been
the same.
First,
3M riblet film technology. It is
basically a plastic sheet with grooves
molded into it with an adhesive backing
to easily apply it to the hull. The
texture of the film is similar to a
shark’s skin. A similar version was
used by Stars & Stripes when Dennis
Connor won the 1987 America’s Cup, after
which the tech was banned. Other than
modification to the riblet shape and
density to reflect the difference in
speed and displacement between a 12
meter and USA-17, it's the same stuff,
manipulating the closest boundary layers
of water to the hull Originally
designed for airplanes, models of
ribletted boats showed an 8% skin
friction drag reduction. But it was
also coupled with a system that blew
Ernies mind right up and made him come
out of his skin.
The BMW/Oracle system used a polymer
discharged from the hull to further
reduce skin friction - the same system
that caused Alinghi lawyers to complain
about 'propulsion' and 'pollution.' And
when the International Jury and Spanish
government heard all the evidence from
the US team - evidence that the polymer
was an ingredient in common shampoo, and
safe enough to be injected into the
human body - it was approved for use.
When EB found out this was going on, he
ramped up the PR against the new
weapon. Remember the cartoon with the
oil slick and beach goers? Well,
neither ended up making an appearance in
Spain.
The Slick System
Remember the tarp over the rear beam?!
It covered a holding tank located on the
back center of the rear beam during
testing. In the holding tank was a
mixture of the polymer and alcohol, and
it was pumped out of two slits in each
float (when the jury learned that the
speed it was pumped was significantly
slower than boat speed, they ruled it
was not propulsion). The mixture formed
a thin layer between hull and water, and
once it exited from under the hull, it
mixed with the alcohol and dissipated
with no trace in the boat's wake.
Now here’s the mindblower: When the
system was on, it provided a VMG
increase upwind of almost three knots!
That is upwind velocity made good, not
just boatspeed. How about the Virtual
Eye tracker on that one!
The problem was that they didn't know
whether they could use it or not, so
their testing and installation was
delayed, and the yard work clean and Mer
saw on the Saturday before the first
race was troubleshooting one of the
pumps. And they made the decision right
then to get rid of the system and the
300 kg it took up. Can you imagine the
horizon job if it was working? Anyway -
the damage was already done to EB’s
head. I mean, the guy was flying into
the commercial port in his RIB to
investigate - he was cracking!
The
next push of technology BMW went after
was laser wind finder - Racer’s Edge
LIDAR laser Doppler technology. When I
spoke with the designers of the Racer’s
Edge last week, it appeared it was on
the boat and it was overlaid on Jimmy’s
HUD. Everyone was fooled by the PR
machine on this one. It was not on USA
17 during racing! Actually, it wasn’t on
the boat at all. The wind teams used it
to map out the wind around the course
and the older, larger version, The
Vindicator, was used on the performance
catamaran support boat. They collected
information in the yellow cases until
Ian “Fresh” Burns did his not so fresh
belly flops into the Med before each
race. According to the design team, the
Racer’s Edge was too heavy to carry
around while racing, and the crew hadn’t
used it enough to be effective with it -
it certainly explains how Kostecki
missed that huge righty in Race 2. So
you see, it is still boat racing after
all! So far, all the tech in the world
can’t replace a good tactician. They did
say it is impressive technology that
will be very effective in the future.
February
1, 2010
Seven
days to go, to the fastest Americas Cup boats ever...
December
27, 2009
Top 10 Shark
Attack Beaches in North American
10.
Zihuatanejo, Mexico
Over the course of a month last spring, the beaches near
Zihuatanejo, a city on the Pacific Coast north of Acapulco,
saw three shark attacks and two fatalities. A shark hunt
ensued, with local fisherman baiting lines and patrolling
waters where surfers regularly bob
9. Galveston, Texas
The International Shark Attack File cites one fatality and
12 attacks since 1911 at the beaches of Galveston, Texas,
which is a city on an island on the Gulf Coast. It is by no
means an attack hot spot, but swimmers are justified in
their concern as to what's roaming offshore
8. Solana Beach, Calif.
A freak great white attack in 2008 at Solana Beach in San
Diego County, California, killed a 66-year-old swimmer. He
was on a morning swim, training with a group when the
attacked occurred. Solana Beach, home to a population of
seals, is at the periphery of the corridor where great
sharks commonly roam.
7.Horry County, S.C.
South Carolina has seen more than 50 total shark attacks
over the past century, according to the International Shark
Attack File. Of those, 16 attacks are recorded off the
beaches of Horry County, where the town of Myrtle Beach is
famous as a tourist destination. The good news: The
International Shark Attack File cites no fatal shark attacks
in South Carolina since 1852
6.Beaches of Brevard
County, Fla.
In the past 100 years, there have been 90 reported shark
confrontations on beaches in this county on Florida's east
coast. Visitors head east from Orlando to the ocean to dip
toes in the tepid waters at Cocoa Beach, Jetty Park and
Klondike Beach, a 24-mile-long wilderness beach accessible
only by foot in Canaveral National Seashore preserve.
5. Stinson Beach,
Calif.
In the shadow of Marin County's Mt. Tamalpais, Stinson Beach
is a spot where great white sharks swim into the shallows.
Patrick Douglas said he has sighted them at Stinson—which is
a neighboring stretch of sand east from Bolinas Beach (No. 3
on the list)—in less than 20 feet of water. "They're coming
to feed on seals, though it's not uncommon for surfers to
see them," he said.
4.West End, Grand Bahamas
Island
Though it didn't happen at a beach, the death of an Austrian
lawyer who was diving with sharks in February 2008 off the
Bahamas has sharpened attention on these tropical waters,
which Patrick Douglas, owner of Shark Diver, an ocean
guiding outfit in San Francisco, said are "among the shark-iest
places on the planet." He has seen 14-foot-long tiger sharks
offshore from beaches were millions of tourists swim and sun
each year.
3.Long Beach Island, N.J.
Source material for "Jaws," a 1974 novel by Peter
Benchley—and later a movie by Steven Spielberg—came from
incidents at this New Jersey beach in 1916. In an
unprecedented 11 days, five major shark attacks took place
along the Jersey Shore, four of which were fatal. Reports
cited blood turning the water red and sharks following
victims toward the beach. Today, sharks are rare, but the
legend lives on in the surf and swells of these tepid
Atlantic waters.
2.North Shore, Oahu,
Hawaii
No. 2 on the International Shark Attack File for unprovoked
attacks is Oahu, where tiger sharks, Galapagos sharks and
sandbar sharks congregate in high numbers, especially near
beaches on the island's north shore. This doesn't stop
surfers, who flock to Velzyland Beach, the Leftovers Break
and dozens of additional wave-beaten beaches where sharks
search and swim.
1. New Smyrna Beach,
Fla.
Due to its thousands of annual beachgoers—as well as its
toothy inhabitants that hunt offshore—New Smyrna is the
shark attack capital of the world. That's according to the
International Shark Attack File, which cites 210 attacks in
the beach's home county of Volusia, Fla. But miles of white
sand and consistent surf breaks continue to draw vacationers
and locals alike into New Smyrna's waters
November
18, 2009
Lets face it,
there is plenty of good kiteboarding videos out there, but
this might take the cake...
October
12, 2009
We have a great series of
seminars this past couple weeks. Now it is time to
catch up where I left off around here. I got off
the plane Saturday to find myself in a snow storm. I
left when summer was still going strong, and when I returned
10-days later it felt like we missed our fall. I left
the boat rigged in hopes that there still would be a few
good sailing days left. After I looked at the weeks
forecast, I might rethink things.
October
5, 2009
The next round of the
Transport Canada and Nova Scotia
Boatbuilders seminars has started. we have been
very fortunate to have another great group of consultants,
inspectors and builder attend. The city of
Halifax is amazing and the food
incredible.
We took advantage of the
sun shinning Saturday and spent the day exploring the coast.
We ended up in Lunenburg, NS at
the maritime and fisheries museum. I learned
more in those few hours than I have in a long time.
After a walk through some of the old boatyard and grabbing a
crab sandwich we were back on the road. I am working
on adding some of the photos to the travel page. Rumor
has it that they make the best Sauerkraut outside of
Germany, and after a sample I have to agree.
October
1, 2009
Greetings from
St John's, Newfoundland
I have been in
St. John's for a couple days now giving ISO seminar to the
Canadian boat builders. New-fee Johns as
the locals say, is a wonderful town. I was expecting
an old fishing and shipping port, and instead I found a very
clean and historic city. The town boasts a couple
claim-to-fame stats, such as Eastern most point in North
America, most bars per square block in N.A., and oldest
remaining city in N.A. I people are some of the most
friendly people I have run across. The weather
has been very foggy but at times it clears and it is just
incredible. I promise I will be back soon.
September 20, 2009
Great chart
for those that need a little reminder from time-to-time
(I'll
add a little more under the Q & A section)
September 8, 2009
What a great
weekend. Summer was in full swing around here and it
is still going strong. I did get back to some work
today, but I think I will continue this out on the boat.
I know it is not as productive, but hey have you seen
Lake Michigan today? I just can not pass this
up.
On very
exciting note, I have been asked to give a few presentations
to the Canadian boat builders and transportation authority
on European requirements. I will be up on Halifax and
Newfoundland for 10 days for three different seminars.
It was a great honor to be given this chance, and I will be
working the next couple weeks putting together the
information and presentations. I will post
more information on the News page about the seminars later
this week.
September 1, 2009
Let Summer
Begin!
Wow, is it
really September 1st? Up here in Northern Michigan
many feel summer has not started, and we have good reason.
We set the lower average temperatures for the month of July,
and just when we thought August was going to bringer the
heat, it was the coldest on record as well.
Yesterday morning the temperatures reached 26-degrees away
from the water. 26-degrees in August? that's
late November weather.
Ok, I could
complain all the way into next summer and how we got robbed
by Mother Nature, but let's remember how nice the next
couple months can be. Last year we had one of the best
sailing days on November 2nd. The forecast for the
next week is completely sunny and 75-degrees.
Sounds great to me. So let's not give up, instead get
out and enjoy. The next month is one of my favorite
boating months and it is shaping up perfectly.
See you out on the water.
Current Projects
Pre-Purchase Survey, 38 Bayfield - Charlevoix, MI
Pre-Purchase Survey, Tiara 4100 - Harbor
Springs, MI
DNR Drydock Inspections Bewteen Marquette and
Grand Rapids, MI
NMMA-IMCI, ISO 12216 Presentation - Tampa, FL
Pre-Purchase Survey, Beneteau First 40.7 - Chicago, IL
NMMA Inspections - Boat builders in Michigan
and Iowa
USCG Compliance Consulting -
Aluminum research vessel, Great Lakes Water Studies, MI
