SkipperRoy: February 2012

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Monday, February 27, 2012

Weekend at the track.

My weekend at the track was not enough. Saturday went rather well, but Sunday was a blowout. When I arrived Sunday the track was wet from early morning rain and it was cold, in the low 50's. (This track is much farther north than St Petersburg, just a few miles from the Georgia border.) I hung around hoping the track would dry. I'd been looking forward to riding the track in its usual direction again. Late last fall I spent a weekend there. I got to know the track that way and got down to respectable lap times. I wanted to ride it again. But I saw no value in going out on a wet track, tiptoeing around, risking the bike while going slowly. I waited around watching others who did go out, and I could see it was a slow track - wet and cold. After a couple of sessions it seemed like the track was finally drying. The pace was slightly faster. I began to think I might go out and try it. But then, as predicted, it started to rain again. I left and drove home early to salvage part of Sunday at home with Cathy.

Saturday was like a trackday at a new track. We were riding the track in the "backwards", or clockwise direction that day and I had to figure it out. But before I could do that I had to sort out some issues on the bike. I had new Pirelli tires on. I hadn't ridden Pirellis in a couple of years, so I had to play with tire pressures and check tire temperatures. I also had new front brake pads that needed bedding. Plus, I'd bled the old brake fluid and put in fresh, so I had to get confident that the brakes were okay. I spent the first two sessions focused entirely on sorting the bike. The next two sessions I was able to begin figuring out the track – the lines and corner speeds, braking and gearing. It wasn't until the fifth session that I felt like I was getting up to speed.

(In a typical track day there are three groups of riders: novice, expert and intermediate. Each group gets a15 to 20 minute session in each hour, so in a day there are seven sessions for each group.)

Pitted next to me was a young 30 something guy, also riding expert, on a Honda 600RR. We had been chatting occasionally through the day and he'd said he was struggling to figure out parts of the track. His bike had WERA Amateur race numbers on. He told me he still raced WERA and he'd raced here before, more than once, but always in the usual counter clockwise direction. He asked about the race numbers on my bike. I explained that I raced back in Oregon, Washington and California, but here in Florida was using the bike just for track days. In the afternoon he saw I had a lap timer on my bike and asked what times I was doing. I told him, and then he said in the next session he would follow me to try to help figure out what he was dong wrong. When our session was called I made sure he was running and ready before I rolled to the hot pit lane. When I got on the track I made a point of starting out moderately, getting heat in the tires and gradually building speed. After a couple laps this other guy I'd seen in earlier sessions came by me, as he had before. In those sessions I wasn't able to keep up with him. I figured him to be one of the local fast guys. After he passed me in this session he came up on another rider. Before he found a way around that guy, I was able to catch back up to him. I quickly got around the slower guy and locked on to the fast guy. These would be the most fun and fastest laps of my day. I was able to stay with him. (I love riding close to another fast rider. It's the closest I'll ever get to a Top Gun-like experience.) A couple of times I was in striking distance for a pass. But I was content to follow him and focus on riding smoothly.

When I rolled back to the pits my neighbor was already off his parked bike. He came over to see what my lap times had been. I showed him and explained about chasing after the local fast guy. He told me that I had simply disappeared on him.

The next session out I was riding mostly on my own, which isn't as fun, but I did notice how easy riding the bike had become. This is typical of riding a new track. I'll get out on the track and my first sensation will be to again realize how fast the bike is. How hard it can accelerate - lofting the front wheel with each shift if I'm not smooth. Learning again how hard and deep into a corner it can brake - lofting the rear wheel if I want when I'm vertical, but trailing off as I turn in. And as I figure out the track my corner speed increases and my knee puck goes down on the pavement easily. I'll pick it up just enough so keep from wearing it out too quickly. But in the first sessions I'm not consistent and not smooth. I get tired quickly. I'm fighting the bike. My body position isn't right. I'll finish a session not liking what I'm doing. I'll wonder, what am I doing out here? It would be so easy to crash. It takes a couple sessions before I begin to feel better. As the day goes on I figure out little things, sometimes on my own. Sometimes from observing what another rider does. As I get faster I'm also getting smoother. And eventually I get to a point where I realize, as I did late Saturday, that I'm not longer wrestling the bike. Now it's easy to ride. I can do lap after lap and the only struggle is to keep my mind focused. Control your speed. Hit those marks. Carve that line. Get on the throttle. That's when the payoff happens. I'm in the zone. The second payoff comes when, at the end of a session that I've ridden well, I take my helmet off and some rider who saw me out there realizes I'm like 25 years older than him. Call me Viper.

Don't get me wrong. There are always young faster riders than me around and there are faster bikes. (Mines getting old - '03 R6 Yamaha.) But at this stage of life, to be able to get out there at all is rather remarkable. To put in respectable lap times and earn acknowledgment from younger fast guys is very gratifying.

Friday, February 24, 2012

Skippering a sea trial on a Catalina 40. Into the boat yard slipway for a quick haulout to inspect the bottom, then out to Tanpa Bay for a short sail.

Skipperroy.blogspot.com

from RR

Simon and Kim,

Regarding my work: I agree. For me, what I do is a lot easier than what you do. It's a lot easier than what I used to do in Portland, and it's without doubt a hell of a lot easier and more fun than what I used to do in Toronto. I am fully cognizant of these facts. I acknowledge that every day. I know I am one of those fortunate people who get paid to do what they love to do. I sometimes tell people I'm out sailing with, if they ask about my life here in St Petersburg working for Sailing Florida - I feel like I won a lottery. To return to this work full time at this point in my life is a gift. I can't believe my good fortune.

Your description of an imagined family of charter guests from hell made me smile. Sure, I've had a few people who could be difficult, but very few. Through my many years in the Caribbean and now here in St Petersburg, I've done dozens upon dozens of term charters as well as day charters. I can honestly say that I've never had a charter from hell. I've had charters that were more challenging than others, but even in those there was some aspect of the trip that was pleasurable. Mostly my charters have been entirely a pleasure. Perhaps it's some trick of personality.

I have known many skippers who have tried their hand at running charters. It's not for everyone. Of course you need to be a competent skipper. Know not only how to run a ship, but also how to deal with mechanical and electrical issues. And weather. Know the cruising ground and where to take your guests so they have the trip they've imagined. I've known several skippers who could do all that, but what they couldn't do was handle the reality of being social and pleasant with people who were complete strangers prior to getting on the boat, but now are sharing tight living quarters with them for the term of the charter. They simply didn't have the temperament, the patience. My record of running successful charters proves that I do. Like I said - some trick of personality.

I'll take this a step further. I've run boats of all sorts long enough that, for me, what is interesting about running charters is the people. Certainly it is partially about the voyage, the destinations, running the ship, but the novelty is the people. I'm always curious to learn about my guests, their relationships, their professions. And of course they are always curious about my story. How do you get to be a charterboat captain? You must have some interesting stories to tell. My experience is that by the end of most charters I feel a level of genuine friendship toward my guests. I remember when I was running a lot of week long charters around the Virgin Islands, sometimes it was a little sad when my guests got off the boat and into a taxi for the airport. My new friends were going away. There was an emotional toll to be paid for having frequent revolving door friendships. I was single then and I was using my work to obtain social needs. Now with Cathy in my life, I don't have that vulnerability.

As for money, when I say the money is good, it's a relative thing. Nothing at all like yours, I'm sure. You don't do this kind of work to get rich in money. Back in my VI days the rate for charter skipper's work was $100 a day plus all expenses. Out in Oregon, my rate went up to $200/day for and eight hour day. $300 for overnight jobs. But skipper's work there was very spotty. Here in this part of Florida, the rates are less. $150 for day work. $200 for overnight. But, that works out okay because of volume. In season I sometimes struggle to get time off to spend a weekend with Cathy. And often there are handsome tips.

You ask about what boats I favor. Long ago I believed that my ideal boat was a blue water, full keel, take anything the ocean can throw at you boat. In today's market that would be an Island Packet, which are very good and popular with the long term cruising crowd that can afford them I'll never own one. Their design for blue water passages makes them unappealing to me. Too expensive, slow and difficult to handle in a close maneuvering situation. I prefer coastal cruisers. I no longer have dreams of crossing vast oceans. (Even if I did, that could be done in a modern coastal cruiser.) The cruising Cathy and I will do will be island hoping from Florida down to South America. There is a long list of coastal cruising models that are easily up to that task.

I've sailed several sizes of boats that I would consider to be at the performance end of the coastal cruising spectrum: Beneteau, Jeanneau. They are fun for their speed. They are in most aspects, good boats. Good hulls and rigs. Those two manufacturers, both French, provide nearly all of the boats for the leading bareboat chartering companies: The Moorings and Sunsail. They are good at that kind of service – week long charters. But I find they lack the storage capacity preferred for long term cruising. Two leading US manufacturers, Catalina and Hunter, are generally slightly less fast but I think most models have the storage capacity I'd prefer. The boat I use most frequently as a platform for teaching ASA Bareboat Chartering is a Hunter 44 DS, 2009 I think. It's quite good and capable of an impressive turn of speed. I also like one of our newer boats, the 2011 Catalina 445. That's the boat I sailed St Petersburg to Key West in 32 hours. Fast enough, but also very nice cabin, and good storage. But, we're not likely to ever own a boat like either of those. Our budget will not be that big, and we don't need a boat that big, or that new. I imagine us on a 32 to 40, probably 10 years or older that has been well cared for. I lean towards Catalina but would consider several other manufacturers. There are a lot of good used boats out there, particularly now. The Catalina 34 is a model I've looked at several times. It's just big enough to have a reasonably comfortable second stateroom for occasional guests. I've seen some on Yachtworld.com for under $50K

As for salt vs freshwater boats, recently I've seen two examples of boats that were recently moved to St Petersburg's salt water from large freshwater lakes: a Catalina 310 and a Catalina 350. Both are in remarkable shape. Like new really. Fresh water is less corrosive. I would certainly look for a bargain boat that is in freshwater and factor in the cost of trucking it to the nearest salt water where I could sail it here.

At the other end of the spectrum, if we won a large lottery and had a million dollars to drop on a boat, I'd go looking at Oysters. .

So Cummins is a problem? All I know is what I remember of the Cummins engines we had in some of the Grand Banks trawlers in the charter fleet in St Thomas. The engines were B210s, turbocharged inline sixes. I liked them because they were reliable, easy to service, and put out the same HP but were much more compact than the normally aspirated Cat 3208. I liked the 3208 in the TA version that put out much more power. That's what the Fleming 53 I captained for more than a year had: twins, with two Onan generators: an 8 and a 15KW. I drove that trawler from Ft Lauderdale through the Bahamas, Turks and Caicos, down through the Windward and Leeward islands all the way to Venezuela and then back. My best gig ever. I get nostalgic every time I see a Fleming. There was one near where we were docked at Longboat Key last week.

My ankle's performance in the half marathon wasn't a surprise, but certainly a big disappointment. This ankle issue came up fairly recently. It's been years really since I've had to struggle with an injury like this. When I realized it was a problem that wasn't going away I sought professional help, which is not something I typically do. The treatment eventually seemed to help. I'd been able to get in a couple problem free runs before the event, so I was hopeful for a successful half marathon despite loss of training time. Oh well. I take some solace from this fact. Out of the 84 men who ran in my age group, I finished 15^th. On the other hand, I can see from the results that had I finished in my goal time, which I believe I could have but for the ankle, I would have finished 5^th.

The weather forecast for Jennings, the track that I'm going to, has turned less favorable. 20% chance of rain tomorrow. 40% on Sunday. I've debated whether to go or not, but think I will. I may not get time away from work to do this again for a couple of months, so I'd better grab the chance. I just put new Pirellis on the bike and I'm curious to see how they perform. And tomorrow they'll run the track clockwise, which is backwards from its usual direction. It will be like riding a new track, which is always fun to figure out. Sunday will be run counter clockwise as usual.

This morning I'll go get my rental pickup truck for the trip and then load my bike and all the gear: tools, spares, wheel stands, tire warmers, pop-up canopy, riding gear. This afternoon I'm doing a little job for a boat broker - a sea trial on a boat he's trying to sell. A Hunter 46, I think. When used boats are sold, before the deal closes a surveyor (think house inspector) goes through the boat and provides the purchaser with a report on his findings. The surveyor will be at the boat at 8 this morning going through the boat's interior systems, engine and so on. I'm to arrive at noon and drive the boat to a nearby boat yard where the boat will be hauled out of the water. It's this close maneuvering where I earn my wages. Getting an unfamiliar boat safely out of its slip then backed into a narrow, concrete lined boatyard slipway. Even people who own boats are challenged by such maneuvering. With the boat out of the water the surveyor can examine the hull, keel, rudder, prop and shaft. That usually takes an hour or so. Meanwhile I'm hanging around, watching the surveyor and the excited, curious purchaser from a discreet distance. Being friendly but professional, careful not to say anything that might upset the deal. When the boat is back in the water we take it out to Tampa Bay. The surveyor will have me run the engine hard while he checks several aspects, such as the cooling system, power, motor mounts, and instrument calibrations. Then we set sail so the sails and rigging can be checked. It's then that I offer to let the purchaser take the wheel for the first time. Let the boat and broker seal the deal, subject to what the surveyor may have found. It's just a short sail and then back to the slip where we started. I'll get $80 for a few hours of easy work. It often happens that the purchaser is so impressed with my ability to handle the boat that he asks for my card. He wants to be able to contact me if he buys the boat. He'll want to arrange for some coaching on boat handling skills.

Regarding the photos on FB: Perhaps I'm missing something, but I don't see any of your HI trip except a couple of Kim with Gracie. I'd love to see more.

http://skipperroy.blogspot.com/

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Two of my sailing students checking the mast head fly for wind direction.

Skipperroy.blogspot.com

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Fwd: from Roy

Skipperroy.blogspot.com

-------- Original message --------
Subject: from Roy
From: Roy Rogers <roy.skipperroy.rogers@gmail.com>
To: Kimbra Selbie <selbiek@telus.net>
CC:

Simon and Kim,

Lovely photos of Kim and Gracie on Kim's FB page.

I wonder. All the snorkeling and swimming you did, what was the water temperature like? I ask because the few parts of the Pacific that I've stuck my toe in have been chilly. But that was in the Pacific NW and California. I can imagine HI has much warmer water temperatures.

February is turning out to likely be a record setting sea time month for me. At the rate I've been going I'll spend half the days on the calendar on the water It was typical last year in our busy season that I'd spend one day in three on the water. This is month is on track to be one day out of every two.

Example: Last week I did a four day charter with a family from the Chicago area onboard the Leopard 44 catamaran. That ended on Sunday. Monday I started a four day cycle of teaching ASA classes - two days on a Beneteau 37 and then two more on a Hunter 44.

That's not a complaint. I enjoy it. The money is good. It's just busy. And now Cathy is away all this week, up in DC until Friday evening. This weekend coming is my long planned weekend away up at the track at Jennings in the north of Florida. I'll pick Cathy up at the airport Friday evening. Very early Saturday morning I'll drive a rental pickup loaded with my race bike and gear up to Jennings. Ride Saturday. Stay in a nearby motel that evening. Ride again Sunday and drive back that evening. Already I have another charter booked for that week following – three days on a Catalina 350. No doubt more work will come my way, which is fine. If not, well I'm sure there are diesels on a couple boats that are about due for service routines.

The half marathon back on the 12th was a bit of a disaster for me. Not complete disaster, because I was able to finish in under two hours. But a partial disaster because my ankle began to be a problem at mile four. By half way I was unsure that I'd be able to complete the event. I slogged on, one mile at a time. Limping more and more. My pace falling. The last half of the 13.1 mile run was no fun at all. Usually I enjoy long runs, especially in big, high energy events such as this. But this one became a bald test of determination. Refuse to let the pain stop me. Every step in the last couple miles was merely that. Refuse to let the pain stop me. I was running like a wounded animal. I finished in 1:57.

My goal time before the ankle injury had been 1:45. I tracked my pace through the miles and saw that I was on target to hit my original goal – but when the ankle got bad it was no longer possible to maintain that pace. I finished relieved that I had come in under 2 hours. I walked with a bad limp for the next two days. It's much better now, but I'll give the ankle extra time to heal before trying another run – a short one.

I'd better get ready for my day.

http://skipperroy.blogspot.com/