Tuesday, December 14, 2004
"I'm Outta Here...": Heh-heh. Heading to Brazil for the next couple of weeks, and back posting full time in the New Year. For now, I'll leave you with this great video, which shows what happens when you stick a hydrofoil underneath a tow board and start hitting the wake at speed (thanks to TWC reader Karl for tipping me to it). See you in 2005...
All Foiled Up: "I knew this was a crazy idea. Thank God I've got my hard hat on..."
(Photo and Vid: via FoilFreaks.com)
All Foiled Up: "I knew this was a crazy idea. Thank God I've got my hard hat on..."
(Photo and Vid: via FoilFreaks.com)
Posted by Tim Zimmermann @ 11:10 AM 
Monday, December 13, 2004
Ellen In Trouble...: It's always the little things. Over the weekend Ellen, sailing beautifully and up to a day ahead of Joyon as she was closing on the Roaring Forties, reported major generator troubles. The gist of it was that her primary, water-cooled generator was burning way too much oil. So she had to shut it down and move to her smaller, air-cooled gen-set, which heated the engine compartment to Hades-like temps and filled the main cabin with noxious fumes. None of this has anything to do with the actual sailing of the boat. But no generator equals no power, equals no watermaker, auotpilot, communications, etc., etc. Game over.
In typical bulldog fashion, Ellen got down to work, and by today had rigged up a better cooling and vent system for the backup generator, as well as possibly sorting out the problem with the primary generator. She and her shore team are not sure the problems are well and truly fixed, are evaluating the situation, and seem fully prepared to pull the plug, if necessary, before sending Ellen deep into the Southern Ocean. Ellen's reaction to her seeming Do-It-Yourself success was understandable: "Feel pretty trashed, and unsettled by all this. Its going to take a while for this pain to go away. I screamed out loud when I started the generator and it [the new ventilation system] worked... I have a load of diy to finish it properly, but the principle works..." It would be a real shame if this sort of technical problem ended it all. In the meantime, she has only slept 2 hours in the last 48, and her lead over Joyon is down to just over 5 hours.
Still, she's held her own over a part of the course that Joyon sailed extremely fast, and she's about to get into big westerly winds and hit the Southern Ocean proper. Click here for the latest 3D course animation. And keep your fingers crossed. This record bid is too close and too interesting to end now...
"Sigh. Back in my underwear again. Man, I hope my plumber's crack is off camera..."
In typical bulldog fashion, Ellen got down to work, and by today had rigged up a better cooling and vent system for the backup generator, as well as possibly sorting out the problem with the primary generator. She and her shore team are not sure the problems are well and truly fixed, are evaluating the situation, and seem fully prepared to pull the plug, if necessary, before sending Ellen deep into the Southern Ocean. Ellen's reaction to her seeming Do-It-Yourself success was understandable: "Feel pretty trashed, and unsettled by all this. Its going to take a while for this pain to go away. I screamed out loud when I started the generator and it [the new ventilation system] worked... I have a load of diy to finish it properly, but the principle works..." It would be a real shame if this sort of technical problem ended it all. In the meantime, she has only slept 2 hours in the last 48, and her lead over Joyon is down to just over 5 hours.
Still, she's held her own over a part of the course that Joyon sailed extremely fast, and she's about to get into big westerly winds and hit the Southern Ocean proper. Click here for the latest 3D course animation. And keep your fingers crossed. This record bid is too close and too interesting to end now...
"Sigh. Back in my underwear again. Man, I hope my plumber's crack is off camera..."
Posted by Tim Zimmermann @ 10:31 AM
Beach Brawls (cont.)...: They keep swinging, so we keep posting. Soooo..presenting this week's lame surfer fistfight (click here). Can't they all just get along?! No? Oh, okay...
"Damn, this surfing is really a tough sport..."
"Damn, this surfing is really a tough sport..."
Posted by Tim Zimmermann @ 10:11 AM
Wetass Fish Tales...: I don't like the idea of shark fishing much, because sharks are in trouble. Part of the problem is that they can appear so damned monstrous, and therefore easy to demonize. For example, just check out this 1035 pound mega-Mako shark, caught recently off Nova Scotia. Here's what happened, according to a pretty cool website called Lost:
This Mako was hooked in the mouth, only fought slightly for 15 minutes, came up along side of the boat to have a look, long enough for one of the crew to put a rope around its tail !!!
That's when the s**t hit the fan!!
The Shark took off towing the 42 foot fishing boat backwards through the water at about 7 Knots. Just like in JAWS. The boat was taking on water, the Shark would jump completely out of the water at times.
This went on for an hour before the Shark actually drowned.
Mako shark makes for great eating (it's like tuna). I'd say these guys are well stocked in fish steak for a couple of years...
"I can't believe I let these putzes nab me. Now, if only one of them would come stand by my head for a picture..."
(Photos by Carla Allen; e-mail her at yourgogirl@ns.sympatico.ca)
This Mako was hooked in the mouth, only fought slightly for 15 minutes, came up along side of the boat to have a look, long enough for one of the crew to put a rope around its tail !!!
That's when the s**t hit the fan!!
The Shark took off towing the 42 foot fishing boat backwards through the water at about 7 Knots. Just like in JAWS. The boat was taking on water, the Shark would jump completely out of the water at times.
This went on for an hour before the Shark actually drowned.
Mako shark makes for great eating (it's like tuna). I'd say these guys are well stocked in fish steak for a couple of years...
"I can't believe I let these putzes nab me. Now, if only one of them would come stand by my head for a picture..."
(Photos by Carla Allen; e-mail her at yourgogirl@ns.sympatico.ca)
Posted by Tim Zimmermann @ 9:51 AM
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