Trip 177-181 2011

 

I have been totally negligent of keeping my modestly devoted readership up to date. So, in this unusually long entry into this Web Log, I will do my best to satisfy your curiosity. Try to stay awake.

As many years as I have left, this past spring and summer will forever be known as "The Lost Summer". There are many reasons for this reaction, but suffice to say, what was planned, was lost in the translation. The fall and winter and spring have been, and will be, better.

This entry is not just of sailing and restoration of Empty Pockets, but contains detours into other subjects that after reading and careful consideration, will resolve any insomnia, no matter how severe.

 

At Home - Aug 7th

Our drunken adopted rat Herman, decided it was time to clear his vision a bit and have me mow down the jungle by the utility boxes out front.

Not rushing into any project, it took a couple days to fetch the intestinal fortitude to tackle not only the jungle growth, but whatever was in it as well. Vegetable or animal.

 

 

The Bushes - Aug 9th

Thru a series of pictures you will get the idea. I rented a gas powered hedge trimmer and that really took the effort out this task. As, the back yard also needed some TLC, I decided to purchase my own gas trimmer and it has seem alot of use. Handy, they are ...

 

I was assured by two folks who know these things, that, this undergrowth will grow back just fine. So far, most have sprouted leaves and fresh shoots and lord only knows how many times I will have to trim it now.

 

My neighbors who told me they would help.

They did, and here they are reflecting on a job well done.

 

The pile ... Ready to be hauled to the compost place. My neighbor Paul has a trailer and was so kind to help me in the task. We hauled two loads over there.

 

My neighbor's son who like me, knows the value of a quality tractor and trailer. Together, we get things done ...

 

An Old BSA - Sept 8th

After mowing down The Jungle, I had four trees to take down plus alot more brush in the back. I decided to once again, buy a wood chipper-shredder. I had a five horsepower unit a while back and re-sold it when I was finished. The model I picked up this time was 8hp and 12v electric starter.

That puppy took 2-3" branches and chewed them up like soft butter.

I was at Beisenger's Hardware to fetch a new blade and belts. Next to my car was this older model BSA from England. I waited a while to talk to the owner, but finally left for home.

From what I could tell, this would be from the era somewhere in the early fifties. Note the rear suspension.

This was a beautiful motorcycle.

 

 

Legacy Pix - Sept 10th

My parents left us five kids with a half dozen boxes of pictures, and negatives. I promised my mother I would ensure a proper distribution. Before this happened, and the body of work was split up, I decided to photograph the "important" ones and provide a CD to my siblings and anyone else who might be interested.

So the first part is a massive sorting job of the loose ones and those in the film processing envelopes from a pharmacy or variety store.

So, how to sort an image with four people on it? I decided with those that have more than one person, to place that image in the pile with the oldest person in it. Yes, in a four generation image, the baby is probably the most important person, but some repeatable system has to be used to prevent chaos.

 

Well, you get the idea. It can be chaotic. And was.

 

For the techies, I used a 6x7 enlarger I have and mounted the Canon 1Ds 11mp camera to it. This allowed up and down movement and a scale on the arm to minimize setup times for different sized images.

I have a Macro 105mm lens that ensures a flat field and on this setup can go from 8x10 to 1:1 - ie: the same size as the sensor - 24x36mm.

The strobes are positioned at the sides at about a forty five degree angle. This really helps eliminate any glare and provide even distribution of the light across the surface.

The depth of field was maximized with the lens set at F22. And of course, Manual Mode, not Program or Auto.

The most difficult part of this process is "Color Management". This camera has a setting where you can create a custom Color Profile within the camera based on the consistent lighting used (Strobes). Thereby ensuring the subtle hues and colors of the original are conveyed without interpretation to the image.

From there, I used Photoshop to individually crop, rotate, apply contrast, brightness and color adjustments and resize each image into two resolutions. The first being the same size in pixels as the original. The second 650 pixels wide/tall. Each image was not cropped except to remove the borders of the original.

When all is finished, I will prep a DVD of the HiRes and LoRes versions. Then, those who do not receive the original, can use a variety of means to print their own.

As of this writing, I have created 958 copies of photographs and have about 150 to go. I will be glad when all is finished and picked up once again.

 

Winter Prep - Oct 2nd

Time to take the sails down and offload whatever else needs to be brought back home.

While reflecting on this Lost Summer, this winter, the first project is a canvas cover for the entire boat. Then, I will create the basis for the wiring followed by the Galley. After that will be new covers for the cushions. I hope I can finish all that before May.

Then, Marcia and I can enjoy Empty Pockets alot more.

Some have asked why I never left the dock in an entire season? Good question.

First off, I do not like to sail alone. I have a geat respect for water and will leave this for the more adventurous and younger folks. Marcia was out of town all summer and when she returned home for a visit, there was very little time for sailing. Another reason was the August heat. We had about three weeks of 90+ degree weather and, very little wind.

Finally, it is simply no fun to use a vessel whose controls are simply inconvenient, or substitutes.

Add all this up, and it produced a Lost Summer.

Next year will be better ...

 

 

And finally, my Signature Image ...

 

Annapolis Boat Show - Oct 6th

On a visit out east to see my wife, we took in the Annapolis Boat show. We did this two years ago as well. Not as many pix, this time.

 

 

Haulout - Oct 11th

Once again, the Marina Crew will take care of getting Empty Pockets to the land. This, the 33rd time ...

 

 

Them pesty Zebra Mussels. They crammed themselves into the gears of the prop and it is amazing I even got from the dock to the marina. It barely opened.

 

 

Billfold At 5:30am - Oct 14th

If you manage people, or need a good excuse for being late, just tell your manager you dropped your billfold in your pool at 5:30am and it took a while to find it.

I did ...

I was up early and needed to get into the office. While getting into my car, I remembered I forgot to let Prince, The Wonder Dog into the back yard. As he likes to announce his presence and scare all who can hear, I decided to go with him and yell at him if ...

Now, while going out the door to the back yard, I grabbed my wallet and shoved into my front pocket. While waiting, I noticed something in the pool. I leaned over to pick it up and heard a click. Like a dry twig breaking underfoot.

Got back inside, to the garage, no wallet.

Looked all over. Nothing. Grabbed a flashlight and checked the pool cover. Nothing. Then it dawned on me that sucker went to the bottom. Grabbed some string and plopped the flashlight into The Deep. The water was cloudy, but, if the light was in three feet of water, the wallet being darker, would show. Nothing. Contemplating jumping in to find it, I decided to roll back the solar cover and use the bottom skimmer.

While rolling, almost finished, the wallet may have tumbled along the top as the cover was lifted onto the roller. So, thinking if I rolled the whole thing up, if the thing was on top of the cover, it would be dunked into the deep end of the pool. So I stopped and checked the cover with the flashlight. Nothing. While kneeling down to finish the job, I saw some leaves in the water.

There it was. Floating on the top. Evidently it had fallen on the cover and rolled over the top.

You see, at lunch that Friday, I was closing and taking delivery a new car. I had to have it, even if it meant jumping into forty five degree water.

The proof. At 5:30am ...

 

New Car - Oct 14th

Having two sick Expeditions, we decided it was time.

I picked up a new 2011 carry-over into the 2012 model year.

A Mini Cooper was spotted that had 90% of the options I wanted. After getting all things paperwork taken care of, I drove it to work, and to home.

Yep, it is small, but an amazing amount of room inside.

If we drive this car 1000 miles instead of an Expedition, we save $190 in $3.50 gas.

I did some analysis and using the five years of the loan as a baseline, driving two Expeditions the same number of miles per year as we have been, five years of driving will cost $59,670 in gas at $3.50 a gallon.

 

Since this purchase, we also bought a 2010 model for Marcia. Driving one of the Expeditions 15% of the annual average, we now save close to $36,000 in gas in five years. Enough to pay for one of them.

At least, on paper ... Tee Hee ...

 

Flight 93 - Oct 28th

When I flew out to Maryland to help Marcia drive home, we stopped at the Flight 93 National Monument.

The first image is where the plane went down. The guide told us the authorities excavated 40 feet down and found all the parts of the plane and of course the victims. Including the Bad Guys.

All the remains of the victims were identified and returned to their families.

It was interesting seeing the highway signs and then turning off the interstate to a small town and then getting a map from the Tool Booth gal, driving thru the beautiful rolling hills of Pennsylvania, how something so horrible could happen in such a quaint beautiful countryside.

 

The plane went down just in front of these woods.

 

This was humbling.

Hearing the story on tv and then, face to face with those on the flight. The horror they experienced when they knew their time on earth was but a few seconds at most. As they grasped onto anything they could as the plane pummeled towards Earth. The screams, sobs and the fear in their eyes as they knew. They knew ...

All because of the hatred some feel towards another. How sad.

I ask, of those who state Non Violence is the only solution, how does one change this amount of hate into something far better? What event has to happen for them to transform that anger into something better?

What would Ghandi or Jesus Christ have done? Or said? What words could they use to change people whose motivation seemingly comes entirely from hate?

Or, do we simply murder them until all those who hate are silenced?

 

 

 

Winter Prep - Nov 6th

Time to tuck it in for the winter.

This year I decided to purchase some cheap(er) line and take the halyards and sheets home to be washed. Once more. And so they would not take the beating the sun and cold gives them.

 

Start with a piece of gaffer's tape.

Carefully roll both ends onto the tape.

Then, roll it together. The whole thing must have a smooth transition in order to go thru the pulley systems.

Ahhh. A pleasant feeling indeed. Trashing the car and transforming it back into a Yacht Repairmen's vehicle. And, with my wife along the ride to and fro is alot more interesting.

 

More Winter Prep - Nov 7th

As always, a bit more to do. I came back the next night to make certain the antifreeze used this year will not pop a frost plug.

 

All done.

 

Ahhhh. The feeling one gets, tossing boat stuff in the back of a new vehicle. One has to stand back and immerse themselves in that warm glow of satisfaction knowing, one more car gas succumbed to the task.

 

As always.

I was expecting some axe murderer or slasher to launch out of the blackness.

 

Garage Prep - Nov 15th

Once again make room for the cars inside....

 

 

Gettysburg Battlefield

On one of my trips out east, we took in the Gettysburg Battlefield.

There are volunteers who serve as Tour Guides and this certainly is the best way to see and learn alot in an afternoon.

These woods, are where the whole thing started. The Union Troops were settled in at this site and then over the hill came a number of Confederates. Soon, the started to kill each others.

There are more images but I elected to show where it started.

We spent some time at Little Round Top. One can scarcely imagine the courage of the troops as they defended this knob of a hill, or assaulted it from below.

In the end, 51,000 men were killed, wounded, captured or missing.

In the town, there are homes which still display the pock marks from bullets. And, we saw the site, now proven thru old photos and angles and such, where Pr. Abraham Lincoln delivered his famous address. It is now wooded and a cemetery.

Only known image of the actual Gettysburg gathering. The previous speaker went on for about two hours and the photographer expected Lincoln would as well. Surprised at the brevity of what became to be known as the Gettysburg Address, he created this hurried image as Lincoln was setting down.

History, with its flowers and meadows, warts and wrinkles, sometimes looks alot different, than what we expect.

A bit of mud. Folks standing about as what became the finest speech America has ever witnessed. A priceless glass negative. Broken. Emulsion peeling away. Plain.

The remarkable part being, this glass plate was -there- when Lincoln gave his address, when he was setting down.

What a great man he was. And what a task he was saddled with - to unite a country torn apart by civil war. Lincoln came to understand there was something larger at work across the land. Something more than the Union and Confederacy combined. He thought of it as a healing. A healing only a larger Spirit could create.

Ken Burns produced a documentary on the Civil War. I have watched it so many times. To understand our country and why it is, one must understand what this war did to our nation. It united us.

 

Later ...