Thursday, October 4, 2018

American Exceptionalism

Peter Schramm, liked to tell the story of his family's escape from Hungary in the aftermath of its failed revolution against Russian Communists: 

"But where are we going?" I asked. 

"We are going to America," my father said. 

"Why America?" I prodded. 

"Because, son. We were born Americans, but in the wrong place," he replied

Fair winds and following seas  😊

Saturday, September 29, 2018

Pride Behavior

The other night I finally got it. XO has been waking me up at all sorts of odd hour of the night. In the daytime he has become far more "clingy." He frequently follows me around to flop down and sleep a foot or two from me.

I finally decided:that his behavior must be ingrained. He sees his job as the night lookout. This came to me when I started exploring why he would wake me crying on the companionway steps. Staying up late to read one night I realized that each time there was an external event e.g. a fish jump, the nighttime security guard patrol/ He would go out, take point, and when satisfied that all was secure come back to lie by my side.

I tried to explore this behavior further but found little data on the behavior patterns of feral cats. It is all conjecture for now.

Fair winds and following seas :)

Friday, September 21, 2018

Prime Candidate for This Year's Darwin Award


Got to love It!

Subject: Prime Candidate for This Year's Darwin Award


A Red Sox fan on his way home from Yankee Stadium died Wednesday when he tried to climb on top of a Metro-North train and was electrocuted by overhead wires, creating a chaotic situation where riders were trapped for more than two hours, MTA officials and riders said.
The Metro-North train from Yankee Stadium to New Haven, Conn., left the ball field just before 11 p.m. on Wednesday. As the train was running from Larchmont to Mamaroneck about half an hour later, a pair of brothers tried to climb from inside a car onto the roof.
Train personnel got one brother down safely, but 24-year-old Michael Vigeant of Hudson, NH, touched a catenary wire and was electrocuted, said MTA officials.
The conductor called out over the loudspeaker for medical professionals to help the man as the power to the train went down, knocking out the air conditioning and flush toilets, riders said. Meanwhile, riders, many of whom had been drinking at the game, got more and more agitated. Some threatened to kick out the windows, and Yankee and Red Sox fans started beefing with each other.
MTA officials claimed that the train was only stopped for 30 to 40 minutes, but riders say it was more than two hours.
The train finally pulled into its final stop in New Haven at about 3:20 a.m. on Thursday.
The Yankees creamed the Red Sox 10-1 at the Wednesday night game.

Saturday, September 8, 2018

Remiss

It has been brought to my attention that I have been remiss in writing my blog. Rather than a long blog post I will endeavor to write a bit each day for the next couple of days.

So I quick update. I left Australia about 1 year ago. I spent 3 months transiting Indonesia, then Singapore, a few months in Malaysia, and now I am in Phuket, Thailand. Since it the NorthWest monsoon season I am on the east side of the island at Ao Po Grand Marina. Given the frequent thunderstorms with 35 knot winds and the terrible holding I have chosen to stay in a marina until the weather calms down. I will pick up tomorrow with some tales of Indonesia.

Fair winds and following seas. :)

Wednesday, July 18, 2018

Wind Storms

Reboot is at Ao Po Grand Marna on the east coast of Phuket Island. The weather pattern is a few days of sunshine followed by a few days of rain storms. I prefer to anchor out when possible. It is quite the relief to my bank account. However I can into Ao Po to get some shopping and other errands done.

I have discovered that along with the rain comes strong wind gusts - typically reaching 30 knots. This continue as the front moves thru. From no wind to 30 knots to no wind in a half hour. This process then repeats itself perhaps 10 times a day.

As a consequence I have decided to spend more time in the marina until the weather pattern changes to something more benign.

Fair winds and following seas :)

Monday, June 18, 2018

Crash!

It has been raining most of the last three days. Everything is slippery. It is well known among cruisers that falling down the companionway ladder is a frequent source of injury. That is why I never carry anything in my hands on the stairs. Today was my day to take the tumble. Fortunately I only bruised my side. Hurts anyway. 

Fair winds and following seas 😊

Roger J Jones s/v Reboot

Saturday, June 16, 2018

Facebook

I have closed my Facebook account. I am disgusted by the constant invasion of my privacy. I still get daily emails telling.me.of my "friends" who I have never heard of missing me. I hope the EU puts a death spike in this unprecedented surveillance. 

Roger J Jones s/v Reboot

When it rains it pours

An I don't mean Morton salt. In Thailand we get several days of sunshine followed by several days of thunderstorms and rain. We are currently in the rain cycle, and will be for several more days. The big drawback, since there are periods of just clouds so one can move around, is the necessity to go bail out the dinghy on a regular basis. I tried earlier only to be hit by the next shower.

Fair winds and following seas 😊

Roger J Jones s/v Reboot

Thursday, June 14, 2018

Thailand

Went to SuperCheap in Phuket Town. A Wal-Mart super store is small by comparison. No kidding. Two cartons of smokes and a case of beer, five cases of soda $132 US. Also found "hearty soups" for the first time since Oz. 

Drove up the east coast (Reboot is on the west) about as far North as the airport. Had Tom Kha Hai for lunch in a roadside resturant.

All that work and I needed a break. So I am now getting a nice Thai massage - the real kind, not "room service." What a nice way to spend a hour.

Fair winds and following seas 😀😀

Roger J Jones s/v Reboot

Wednesday, May 9, 2018

Kaboom

When I lived in Sioux City, Iowa a tornado passed 3 miles from my home. I was asked: "What is the closest you have ever been to a tornado?" "Three miles." (When attempting a passage from Norfolk to the USVI the answer became 1 mile from a water spout.)

New experience today. Lightning hit a building about 50 feet from where I was sitting. Wow! Given I was in a marina surrounded by masts it deciding to hit the building was a little strange until we noticed a big lightning arrester on top of the building.

Fair winds and following seas 😀

Roger J Jones s/v Reboot 

Friday, March 30, 2018

Facebook Data

Ever wonder what Facebook is saving? Browse the left column. 

Roger J Jones s/v Reboot

Wednesday, March 14, 2018

Friday, March 2, 2018

Clean laundry

There is nothing quite like clean laundry...

Fair winds and following seas  😀

Roger J Jones s/v Reboot

Tuesday, February 27, 2018

Speed

The only way to measure boat speed and distance.

Fair winds and following seas  😀

Sunday, February 11, 2018

Update

Can send.email but not receive. Sat phone terrible. Between IO and Pacific sats. Every once in a while enough connectivity to send.

Waiting for kinabaric winds to die. Moving to Bass Harbor. 06 18.75N 99 50.80E Customs and Port Captain near by. Small boat anchorage. Hopefully will get decent phone and internet. And safe anchorage. 

I am OK.

Fair winds and following seas  😊 

Friday, February 9, 2018

Very Quiet

Anchored in a bay on the south side of the Langkowi Islands. Stopped here on the way up rather than heading directly to Rebak Marina. Glad I did. Had a nice down day. Only two tour boats passed by. It's sunset and all the fishing boats are getting set up but once they are set it will be dead quiet the rest of the night. 

I will probably move tomorrow to get better internet. It's the weekend so no point paying a marina to sit around until Monday. 

Fair winds and following seas 😊


Roger J Jones s/v Reboot

Wednesday, February 7, 2018

In Bay of Bengal

How cool is that.

Fair winds and following seas 😊

Roger J Jones s/v Reboot

At anchor

SW corner Penang Island. Too many fishing boats and nets to travel at night. Hot, gentle rock, XO delighted not on leash. Doesn't quite know what to do. Onward to Rebook (Langkowi) in the AM. Beer tastes great.

Fair winds and following seas 😊

Roger J Jones s/v Reboot

Thursday, February 1, 2018

Chinese Blue Moon

Fair winds and following seas 😊

Roger J Jones s/v Reboot

Snark of the day

From the WSJ editorial page.

"Mr. Trump is a man, not a movement; he embodies executive strength, not a philosophy. When his time in office is up, he may leave behind millions of frustrated, voiceless people facing a status quo government and two limp, self-serving political parties eager to return to what they were, which wasn't much."

Fair winds and following seas 😊

Wednesday, January 31, 2018

Still good advice

The old adage that you have to treat people well on your way up because you'll see them again on the way down remains wisdom for all those seeking wealth and power. 

Fair winds and following seas  😊

Monday, January 29, 2018

Computer Back!

My gaming computer has been slowly dying from exposure to salt air. Several weeks ago I sent it in for repair. Its back with lots of new parts. Yea!

Fair winds and following seas  :)

Sunday, January 28, 2018

Winch Maintenance

Disassembled and cleaned the secondary winches today. It's always a messy job getting the old hardened grease off. The solvent smells up Reboot. Pretty easy job; the tricky part is not losing the little springs in the pawls. I still have the primaries left- Reboot started rocking with the tide change and then it rained. Tomorrow I will finish.

Fair winds and following seas  :)

Saturday, January 27, 2018

The Memo

An excellent piece on the House Intelligence Committee memo. Non-partisan. Explains the law. Interesting. 

Fair winds and following seas  :)

Why the immigration debate?

A fascinating point of view.


Fair winds and following seas  :)

Tuesday, January 23, 2018

Critical News!

New Main Sheet

How hard can it be to rig a new main sheet?

After a close examination of my quite old running rigging prudence dictated a replacement. I replaced all the halyards. Deciding this was a half measure I decided to replace the sheets too. They came today.

The main sheet has been sticky. I attributed this to the swelling from years of salt water exposure. Both the blocks and the clutches were maxed out with the current sheet size causing lots of drag. As with the halyards I decided to downsize and upgrade to high tech line - Samson MLX. With a Dyneema core this stuff is very strong for its size. It is also a bit rough on the hands.


I also realized that the fiddle blocks were 22 years old and decided to replace them. How hard could it be?

It is very hot in the afternoon. I waited until it cooled down. I waited too long. I found myself squinting to undo the ring retainers on the old blocks and squinting harder to mount the new ones. I also forgot that removing the boom preventers to get clear access to the boom attachments meant the boom could swing freely. Which, given the tide created waves it did. Boom went the boom!

Time to thread the sheet. It took four tries to get the right sequence of blocks. During which it started to rain. And then thunder and lightning. Not good to be holding on to a big lightning rod.

All's well that ends well. (Shakespeare.)

Fair winds and following seas  :)

Sunday, January 21, 2018

A small victory

My cockpit chart plotter stopped working leaving Singapore. When I came into Pangkor my cockpit depth gauge succumbed to lightening. I had depth at the chart table but not the cockpit. Not great. The chart plotter was acting like it was not getting power. But the gauge said it was. $900 repair +$400 shipping. Decided to take the wires apart. Sure thing, one was loose. Voila!
Fair winds and following seas  :)

Saturday, January 20, 2018

Quote of the day

From the New York Times 

 "The global financial destruction that will happen under President Trump has already begun." That was a headline in London's Independent newspaper on Nov. 9, 2016. Those whom the gods will mock, first they make pompous economic forecasters."

Fair winds and following seas :)

Friday, January 5, 2018

Malaysian Navy Racers

Next to Reboot are four racing sailboats. Built in Malaysia they are crewed by members of the Malaysian Navy. They were out for a photo shoot today and I snuck a picture. 

Fair winds and following seas  :)

Roger J Jones s/v Reboot

Thursday, January 4, 2018

Rain

Sitting in the cockpit in a light rain. I am protected by a temporary cover while my new storm hood is under construction. The sun is setting and there is a gentle breeze. That helps keep the mosquitoes away. XO was cuddling for a bit but is now sitting on the opposite side with his forepaws tucked under his body. A nice night. 

Fair winds and following seas  :)