Sailing with George and Vicky: July 2018

Sunday, July 29, 2018

A Singlehanded Sail on a Calm Day

It doesn't get much better than this. A calm day... time by yourself... time to enjoy your boat...

Well, it could get better. We could actually have some wind. If you look closely above, you see the wind speed is 1.4 kts and speed over ground is 1 kt (most likely due to current... I'm not that efficient of a sailor). Read below for more details.

So after photographing the Jr. Sailing regatta on Friday, I spend Friday evening and all of Saturday morning working up those photos. My eyes were shot, so I spent the afternoon on Saturday on the couch watching Delos sailing videos on YouTube. You got to look those up... get past the first 15 or so to where they get serious about travel vlogging and it's an incredible trip around the world.

I'm lying there watching the videos and thinking it must be nice to be able to just go sailing whenever you want and the following thought suddenly hit me...

"George, you effing idiot, you OWN A BOAT! Get off the freaking couch, drive up the NJ TPK and GO SAILING!"

I kid you not, it was that sudden and a kind of epiphany. So this morning I got up and did just that.

It was a beautiful day... mid 70s... low humidity... light clouds. I motored out, and passed some friendly faces on the way. Of course the wind died as we passed the Keyport #3 buoy (that seems to be a "feature" of this summer).

But from time to time, we did get a little puff and the sails filled for a few minutes.

I was able to get a video of "Sailing" (on a calm day).

I spent some time trying to take a few "artistic" photos only to hear a splash and see a manta ray passing (I think that is what it was... wide sea creature with two parallel bumps on the back... just barely surfaced and was gone before I could swing the iPhone into position. I did, however, catch a dragonfly.

I also worked on my selfies! (John has been complaining that I don't do them correctly.)

On the way back I was able to get a vidoe of "Otto" steering...

Finally, I tied up to the moorning and was able to get a few shots of Seas The Day on the trip back to the KYC bar.

Finished the whole day with a nice dinner with John at Neil Michael's Steakhouse.

Saturday, July 28, 2018

Photographing the Jr. Sailing Regatta

I'm not sure this post qualifies for "Sailing with George and Vicky"... I wasn't sailing, Vicky is still in China and Seas The Day was only involved because I boarded it briefly to get my hat and change shoes so as not to scuff up the photography boat. But it was a KYC activity, so I'm posting it.

One of the things I like a lot about Keport Yacht Club is that it runs a non-profit junior sailing program. In this program, kids as young as 8 can learn to sail in "Optis" (I hope i have that spelled right) and older kids sail 2 to a team in 420s. Each of the clubs around the bay have a similar program and each hosts a "regatta" (e.g., series of races) at different times during the summer. Friday was our turn and since I have a soft spot in my heart for kid's programs, I volunteer a day off from work to photograph this event.

I never know quite what to expect for this... I'm always promised to have a "photography boat" but frequently it is one of the launches from another club and I'm at the mercy of others who may want to see a particular group of boats. (I should say that the regatta involves different "classes" for different skill levels, frequently scattered around the Keyport area.)

This year I struck gold... after finding out that my "photography boat" was also assigned to anchor near the younger Opti area as a "sub-committee" boat, I was invited on board the Instructors boat, skippered by none other than Jaye herself! Hank and Claudia came aboard as well when their "mark moving" skiff failed to start. One boat, three jobs!

It was a blast! I was definitely the old geezer of the bunch, but because I was with the instructors tasked with organizing the race, we could go basically wherever we wanted. That meant that Jaye could take me within 30ft (maybe closer) of the marks and literally follow the action from start to finish. The only trade off was that we focused more on the older kids, but that makes for more exciting photos!

Here are my "Top 40" showing the day. I hope it gives a flavor of all the fun - and work - from a myriad of people (Launch drivers, volunteers, parents, and the kids as well) that help put something like this together.