The Sailboat Thread!

[CarlD]

"a remote controlled sailboat...."

That just doesn't quite cut it!

If you have a sextant as a backup, do you regularly practice with it to be sure you can do a sight-reduction? (correctly, that is!) If not, put the sextant up on eBay! I have a number of them. For a while you could buy aircraft periscope sextants (really octants) for as little as $50. The gummint paid about $2500/per for these in the '60s' and they were installed in B-52's. In Dale Brown's "Flight of The Old Dog" the hero, a bombadier, wants his sextant back...

The periscope sextants are incredibly beautiful pieces, with the 'scope section filled with nitrogen so it wouldn't condense on the inside when exposed to the brutally cold wind out the top of a B-52 at 40,000 feet!

Then there are the left-handed sextants--

But you can get a Davis plastic sextant for about $40 and can sail around the world with it--as long as you have an accurate watch and a current nautical almanac.

Or you can use ANY hand-held GPS. They all pump out Lat/Long and you can use that on a chart.

A really cool site to buy nav stuff is :
www.Celestaire.com Some stuff is horribly over-priced, but other stuff is really reasonable. I was poking around there when I saw the inflatable sailboat....Should arrive today!

[sailork]

I need to take one of the navigation classes the Coasties give down here. I suppose I've been a little too concerned about boat speed and not about safety...

[Phillbo]

I loved that book !! No, I have not practiced or even broken out the sextant in a couple years. Not much sailing lately. I did alot in the BVI for a while there. My father retired early and spent 12 years cruising on his 46' Choy Lee.

Lately I'm lucky to get a Charter with the Moorings out of La Paz MX. once a year.

I hope to change that soon and am shopping the docks of Guymas when possible. It's tough being a sailor in the desert



Besides, I've been spending too much time and money on my other hobbies

[CarlD]

"Emergency Navigation" is a great book--forgot the author's name.
There are lots of good beginning navigation books and some good videos.

William F. Buckley (yes, THAT Buckley) is an avid sailor and HIS video on celestial nav is very good--he goes for the Air Nav tables.

Then there's the Lighthouse one the begins....
"Murray"
"Murray, wake up!"
"Murray, wake up! I think we're lost....."

Plus there's that GREAT PBS video: Longitude, based on the wonderful book by Dava Sobel. It's almost like a Tom Clancy novel, it's so dramatic. I have pictures in my office at work of Harrison's first sea clock, the H1, that I took at The Old Observatory in Greenwich....before they yelled at me about using a flash... H1 to H4 are incredibly beautiful, and Harrison was such a genius--like the 2 bicycle makers who wanted to fly so they reinvented the science of aerodynamics--the Wrights. Or the guy who wanted to build an electric motor so he developed the laws of electro-magnetics!--Maxwell.

[GraceByDesign]

OK, I just have to ask the question...

If everyone is all involved talking about boats and speakers and other Big Guy Stuff, who is gonna help us with our pools???

(Not that I have one yet)

[Phillbo]

Just start a Sailboat thread and then ask a pool question.. we'll check in on ya

[CarlD]

Just start a Sailboat thread and then ask a pool question.. we'll check in on ya

And I'll move it!

The Aquaglide arrived tonight and my wife is "It's HUGE" cuz the box is about 5'long. It's actually quite small. Now I have to figure out where I can use it!

Notice that this is the OFF TOPIC area, so we can talk about almost anything as long as it's not controversial--then it goes in the China Shop.

Don't worry, I still check for new posts and if I need to comment!

[Poolboyz]

You may want to consider a remote controlled boat that has a skimmer net attached to it! Pool cleaning was never so fun....I got it at a store called "Leslie's Pool supplies in Phoenix.....good luck..

[sailork]

I was thinking, remote controlled sailboats..

http://seagifts.com/orbmwracomos.html

http://www.hobby-lobby.com/sailboats.htm


There are international RC sailboat races as well. You could turn your eyeball jets upwards and put a fan or two beside the pool for a "Perfect Storm."

[Phillbo]

I had an rc sail boat for about 1 month. I took it to Lake Powell and it was a blast to sail while relaxing with a cold one on the swim deck. a couple nights into the trip we rafted up in a canyon and I left it floating between the boats.. The next morning it was gone. the wind picked up and it just took off I guess. Not very bright on my part.

I'm stil not sure how it got past the spring lines that were hanging in the water