Archive for 'Sailing'
Elissa in drydock
When it comes to boats, the work and the expense never ends. Especially when the boat is more than a century old and needs a whopping bottom job.
Posted: July 19th, 2010 under Sailing, Scribbles, Texana.
Tags: bottom job, drydock, Elissa
Comments: none
Furling topsails and t’gallants
A busy afternoon aboard the Texas tall ship Elissa out of her home port of Galveston.
Posted: June 27th, 2010 under Sailing, Texana.
Tags: Elissa, Galveston, t'gallants, Texas tall ship, topsails
Comments: none
Abby’s Kindle broke, too
Nice to see the 16-year-old sailor attempting to solo circumnavigate the planet is alive and at least semi-well, considering the dismasting of her boat in the rough Southern Indian Ocean. Presume she will be rescued soon by the Aussies.
If she can blog, we can presume she won’t under too much stress waiting. But it would [...]
Posted: June 11th, 2010 under Blogosphere, Library, Sailing, South of the Border.
Tags: Abby Sunderland, Kindle, solo circumnavigate, Southern Indian Ocean
Comments: none
A full Lake Travis
It probably won’t last at this height of slightly more than 681 feet above mean sea level, not if La Nina kicks in and we get another dry, scorching summer. But it’s certainly an improvement over last summer’s view of this then-dry upper end of Cypress Creek Arm.
Posted: May 5th, 2010 under Sailing, Texana, Weather/Climate.
Tags: Cypress Creek Arm, drought, Lake Travis
Comments: none
Sweet Elissa
Anytime’s the right time for another good snap of the Tall Ship Elissa.
Posted: February 17th, 2010 under Sailing, Texana.
Tags: Elissa, Galveston, Galveston Historical Foundation, tall ships
Comments: none
Subchaser
As he did for the Abercrombie in Little Ship, Big War, Lt. Cmdr Edward Stafford tells the compelling day-to-day detail of life aboard an even smaller warship.
SC 692 was about as small as they came in World War II, other than PT boats. Like the PTs, the subchasers also were made of wood. Meaning, among [...]
Posted: February 16th, 2010 under Library, Sailing, Troops.
Tags: Edward Stafford, SC 692, Subchaser
Comments: 2
America’s Cup
Great fun watching the live stream (archived video, actually) of the 90-foot-long trimaran races off Valencia, Spain. Giant boats with crews scurrying about like ants, as they fly down the course on one leeward hull or the other, even in light air. The USA team, BMW Oracle Racing, won the first race against a Swiss [...]
Posted: February 12th, 2010 under Sailing, Science/Engineering.
Tags: America's Cup, BMW Oracle Racing, trimarans
Comments: 4
USS Abercrombie
Sunk on purpose by Navy Skyhawks in 1968, she lies somewhere on the bottom of the Pacific off Baja, CA. But while she lived, as related in Little Ship Big War, The Saga of DE343, she was a microcosm of World War II and its civilian and professional sailors.
Even down to her irascible captain who [...]
Posted: February 4th, 2010 under Library, Sailing.
Tags: Cmdr Edward P. Stafford, Destroyer Escort, USS Abercrombie, World War II
Comments: none
Little Ship Big War
Deck view of an LSMR, from this hobbyist’s page. New stuff to me, these special ships carrying rockets to support troop landings, encountered in Little Ship Big War, The Saga of DE343, by Edward Peary Stafford.
Good book it is, with much day-to-day detail of life aboard a destroyer escort in the last months of World [...]
Posted: February 3rd, 2010 under Library, Sailing.
Tags: DE343, Edward Peary Stafford, Little Ship Big War, LSMRs, World War II
Comments: 2
The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors
It’s been a while since I finished this good one, and I’m not sure why I didn’t write a review at the time. The mental pictures of little destroyer escorts plunging through big seas to take on Japanese cruisers in order to protect American escort carriers linger yet. It was in the last days of [...]
Posted: January 23rd, 2010 under Library, Sailing.
Tags: Big War, destroyer escorts, Little Ship, plastic models, The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors, The Saga of De343, wooden models
Comments: none





