…Whether you need to or not! We’re not sure you really need to know this in particular– but what the heck, it might just help you score points at the next cocktail reception. Especially if someone asks you what you’re drinking, and you say just your daily ration of rum… CLICK HERE! (PS: That’s Nelson’s flagship, the H.M.S. Victory…now standing by at Portsmouth Dockyard. She was– and for the most part, still is!– outfitted with 90 “Great Guns”…and the necessary cannon balls.) Continue reading →

Hey, remember these guys? If you missed their great presentation at our Rendezvous last spring, you can catch Myles and Lisa Magnuson of Onboard Fitness at the upcoming Seattle Boat Show. They are set to speak on Sunday January 25th at 3:15pm and Saturday January 31st at 12:15pm. Their seminar covers all bases from why it is important to keep in shape for boating to how to take your exercise regime with you on board your boat. They’ll have some of their workout equipment on hand to demonstrate (and sell), so plan to get out of your chair and try it out! You’ll get a lot of information about them and their programs (some great short videos!) by visiting their website at onboardfitness.com.

Okeanos Explorer, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ship commissioned in August, just returned to Seattle’s Pier 66 after its trial run off Washington’s coast. The crew didn’t expect to find underwater volcanoes out there, maps from previous missions showed only a bump on the seafloor about 200 miles west of Grays Harbor. But sure enough, the contours of a large volcano emerged as sonar mapped the ocean floor more than 10,000 feet below the surface. Hey, just one more thing to watch out for!

(click on image to view full size)

http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/okeanos/

Two things happened recently. One, crabbing being good this season, we caught and cooked a big male honker, a definite (by at least two inches) keeper, and tasty as heck! Two, a favorite author… David Foster Wallace…died at the too-young age of 46. Now you might reasonably ask… “is there a connection?” There is…if somewhat obtuse. Several years ago, Gourmet Magazine sent DFW, known for his idiosyncratic, exhaustively detailed and witty writing style, out on assignment to cover the Annual Maine Lobster Festival. He delivered way more than they bargained for, but much to their credit, after describing it as “…hilarious, thought-provoking, very uncomfortable…” they published it. Warning: It draws a sharp focus on “lobstercide”. But given our collective crabbing adventures, it raises issues that any (all?) of us must have confronted at one “hey-the-water’s-boiling” time or another. So download it (pdf file)– if you dare! Whatever else one might say, it’s a great read.

But this one was very hard to ignore! Built in Anacortes…preliminary water tests in our own San Juans, she was a remarkable sight. Gave even the orcas a run for the money. And whether she’ll ever be able to actually run for the money (or rather, the America’s Cup) herself remains to be seen. Apparently there is a little disagreement about how many hulls a boat should have in order to compete in that long-standing international contest. But what a piece of work! (Article and photos were pulled from Seattle Times.) Continue reading →

You voted…we counted…and we do have a fresh line-up of good people to guide us forward…and make sure there is another spectacular Rendezvous next year! Here they are… and as always, they could use a little help. Yours! Anybody who would like to be part of the event planning for next year’s gathering– you are more than welcome. You are, in fact, most eagerly desired. Best way to connect (unless you want to contact any of these people directly) is to just send us an e-mail. We’ll get back to you quickly, with great enthusiasm!

Oh, oh– check your lines. A worst-case scenario suggest sea levels in Puget Sound could rise more than 4 feet by 2100. This would require a confluence of runaway greenhouse gas emissions…accelerated melting of glaciers on Greenland and Antarctica…and an exaggerated climate response to rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

More probable is a sea-level rise of 14 inches in Puget Sound by the start of the next century…still enough to have profound impacts– so says a study by the world’s top climate scientists and policy experts. The group declared global warming “unequivocal” and declared there’s little doubt carbon dioxide and other emissions from cars and industries are largely to blame. “We tried to look at factors that are important locally,” said Philip Mote, research scientist at U of Washington’s Climate Impacts Group.”

Global sea levels are expected to rise between 7 inches and 2 feet by the end of the century, depending largely on the rate that greenhouse gases are pumped into the atmosphere. Sea levels could climb even more if the vast amounts of ice on Greenland and Antarctica melt more rapidly than expected. Another major contributor– water expanding as it warms. But even if all greenhouse-gas emissions were shut off tomorrow, the IPCC says that our oceans will continue warming and expanding for decades. (from article by Sandi Doughton /Seattle Times science reporter. More info: cses.washington.edu/cig).