Virtual Ship's Log from Captain Hammer

'Cause I don't have enough to do already

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

More on the Drought

Yeah, I know- it's getting old. But as I have always been kind of a weather buff, and this is exceptional, I am staying tuned in. This weekend my son went to a Boy Scout camp that had local professors and scientists teaching merit badges with an environmental theme. In Soil and Water Conservation the instructor took an apple and cut it into fourths. He took one piece, "this is the amount of land in the world". He cut that section again into fourths. "One of these pieces represents how much of the land is not mountains nor is frozen". Cutting 1/4 again gets you to the approximate amount of land on Earth that is farmable. This example, plus the fact that 1 inch of topsoil takes 500-1000 years to create, makes this even more heart-breaking.

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Fall is Here


Buffalo wings and ranch dip, pumpkin pie and whipped cream... all the burnt orange and white good mojo cuisine we ate couldn't keep the Sooners from whoopin' us this year. But it didn't keep it from being an almost perfect weekend: a couple of extra days off, some cooler weather, and one of my bestest friends coming into town and helping me test the canoe rig. And to top it all off I had a day with the fam to do nothing but watch Myth Busters and take shower naps. That's right- we got over 2 inches of rain!
The wind on canoe day started off breezy, about 10-12 knots. That was enough to get us going about 4 knots dead downwind. I was happy with the paddle as a rudder, and with only one lee board (like a dagger board keel) we were able to maneuver past a broad reach (almost to beam reach. I didn't want to push it, as the wind started to gust up to 18). The main flaw was the mast step. It kept slipping to the side, angling the mast and tipping the end of the boom into the water. An easy redesign should take care of it and make the boat faster. Back to the drawing board.