Bumpy ride home from Race – Long Island Sound – Ker 50 from John Pasmore on Vimeo.

Not doing a huge long post, but sailed on a Ker 50 in breezy weather. Wow. Add being overwhelmingly busy with Voyage.tv and is a bit over-the-top at times.

Man, feel like a rookie (which I am) in this kind of boat in this kind of race, but remember feeling same way learning to dive and kayak. It’s up and over — there’s no way to get past inexperience other than by gaining experience (and perhaps keeping your head down in the process). But will do best given the overall state of affairs. Having couple thousand miles of blue-water experience means little — totally different. Happy to be on the water….even as the new guy…

Sailed with Oakcliff Sailing Center out of Oyster Bay, Long Island — very impressive crew.

A North U (university) sailing seminar looks something like this picture. Less than riveting. Looks aside the time spent was solid. It’s hard to learn sailing in a classroom or by reading a book.

But it’s is part of what you need if you want to push sailing skills forward. There are some basic parts of sailing that are best introduced in a class and then repeated again (and again) on the water. Instructor, Bill Gladstone was great and while sharing theory preached to simply “sail fast.” Sounds obvious, but that simple statement is what racing trim is all about.

Why do you want a “twist” in the mainsail? Because you go faster. And we could spend hours discussing the aerodynamics involved, but we stopped with fast. The best resources I found getting me started in sailing was taking an ASA course, “Introduction to Keelboat Sailing” while on vacation in Miami. If I were to do it over again I would opt for the same course given by US Sailing, but the learnings are the same.

And there are no shortage of boat owners (Captains) who need crew. It’s a challenge to round up three or four people every time you want to take your boat out, so it’s an opportunity to learn. There is a unique zen-like connection to the elements when sailing that I haven’t felt in any other sport (err…maybe kayaking, maybe even scuba diving, and xc skiing but different zen). Zen or adrenaline, looking forward to warm weather…being back on water if/when schedule works with the wind…humbling being around these coaches and teachers though, so much to learn, so much to know…

Just getting to Utah. And then to Sundance which is in Park City (airport is Salt Lake City). We tried to submit the short Asylum in 2007. That was the last time I was here. No film this time, though no shortage of ideas. Little time for film with Voyage.tv which has been a whirlwind of production both on the web and in terms of the programming we’ve shot over the past year.

I’m sure we’re coming up on 400 segments between the mini-doc’s we make in-destination and the hotel shoots. Learning has been kinda priceless. But following in footsteps on some of mentors, we press to create more, push to find new opportunity born out of what’s been established. Voyage still has lots of growing to do, and really looking forward to the new design we get up in February (see below), but for now happy to be in Utah. Again.

Another weekend and another warrior get-away: Lake Minnewaska (again). Didn’t have to go too far — Minnewaska is about two hours north of NYC, and at least there was snow.  Rock and Snow on Main Street in New Paltz provided the skis, boots and poles for I think $17, and you can pick up virtually anything you need there for this trip or any trip really.

The 17 degree weather added a little wrinkle, but as expected it was warm as long as we were moving. Or warm-like. But this was the first time this year we’d got out cross-country skiing so we really weren’t moving very fast.

And if we weren’t moving slow enough, I broke my pole sitting down for lunch — or slipping down for lunch. Wow, we were just maybe mile and 1/2 from trail head and was a little tricky getting back (for me) but manageable. Really we were headed from Minnewaska over to Lake Awosting via a loop (about 8 miles) — took Castle Point Carriageway there with the idea of coming back via the Upper Awosting Carriageway.

But one of the three of us bailed and headed back for the less steep trail off the parking area (without the cliffs). And there was a brief time while all three of us were separated, which is not a big issue on a sunny day on groomed trails, but generally want to avoid that. And the one of us ended up at the car without the key. Given the temperature in the teens, it basically meant that we would push forward just a bit and the bail ourselves sooner or later.

Well the broken pole nixed the later option and sometimes you gotta take what mother nature gives you; in this case a gentle push backwards. Which is what we did. This means another trip to the Lake to finish the started mini-trek.

On the gear front (other than the pole) all worked out pretty well. I went with Marmot insulated pants and shell/jacket. As a side note, I don’t think most Gore-Tex should be considered water “proof” maybe water “resistant” up to some point.

A little insulation here and there — polypro base later, wool undershirt from Patagonia, wool sweater from Woolrich, and the Marmot shell. Was fine. Hat + balaclava and couple pairs of gloves and was within the realm of warm-ish.

Looking forward to getting back.

when diverted…well they didn’t let us off the plane. And they never told us what the passengers “medical emergency” was exactly. I just all wish him the best and hope whatever it was, that it wasn’t communicable. We fly, we take risks, we trust people with our lives and well being not knowing who they really are nor how qualified they may or may not be…And while I’d love to simply drop in a perfect quote right “here” from the movie, “Things to do in Denver when You’re Dead”, I can’t find one…so, we took off, didn’t spend an hour. Got gas and took off…yep

Watching a movie like Rabbit Proof Fence (image above from the film) one could get the idea that the issues of indigenous peoples are more history than current news. But Australia manages to confound that idea (though they have plenty of company). A recent article article in today’s Guardian, Australia’s ’stolen’ children get apology but no cash should keep us informed that while these problems may have been solved in some senses the repercussions remain as does the legacy of injustice. There is an on-line apology for that injustice which has collected some 24,000 that looks woefully inadequate.