Category: Uncategorized

More Volvo trouble. This time it’s Paul Cayard’s Pirates Of The Caribbean (again…). Here’s Cayard’s report:

“Last evening at 1845GMT the crew of the Black Pearl noticed cracks in the area of its keel support structure. Water was coming into the boat from those cracks and still is. The rate of water flow is manageable at this time.

“Sail was immediately reduced. Photos and video of the cracks were recorded and sent to the designer of the boat.

“Several hours were spent discussing this issue with the designers of the boat. A certain level of comfort was achieved and we proceeded, with reduced sail, east at 12 knots through the night.

“This morning we have reviewed the drawings of how this area was designed. It is not clear to us if this is structural damage or superficial. The fact that water is coming into the boat is not reassuring. We have a made a new video and photos in the daylight, and sent them off to the designers.

“We have run tests with zero, 20 and 40 degrees of cant while inspecting the area. Forty degrees is definitely alarming. The cracks open and close as the loads change and the water flow is more and less accordingly. Twenty degrees seems tolerable.

“It is not clear to us, and probably will never be clear to us or anyone, how serious this damage is until we reach land. We simply can’t properly inspect the area out here.

“On the weather side, the best winds to help us make the progress toward Australia are during the next 30 hours. We currently have winds from the northwest. Eventually, we will fall of the back of this system and be hit with less favourable winds from southeast. There is danger in being out here for long time.

“Therefore, considering all of the above, I have decided to run the boat up to 80 percent of full speed at this time, with a maximum of 20 degrees of cant, to make as much progress as reasonably possible in these conditions.

“Naturally we are taking all precautions necessary for any eventuality.

“In general, all is well and stable onboard the Black Pearl.”

Well, the Farr design office certainly has some ‘splainin to do. Meanwhile, check out these great shots from the ABN Amro race leading, multimedia streaming teams…

“Whoa! Think I’ll stay right here in the companionway…”

“Running laps to stay in shape is just getting harder and harder…”

“This sure keeps my head warm, but I wonder why my hair is falling out…”

I recently got a call for more surfing action. So here we go, with a killer surfing compilation, set to a perfect soundtrack. So crank up your computer speakers and punch it…

“I am a passenger. And I ride, and I ride…”

Check out this video from Neil Pryde Maui. Flying your windsurfer above the chop looks cool. It probably feels cool. But is it fast? Watch the end of the video to find out…

“Yeah, but the view is great…”

Another day, another monohull 24-hour record. This time, instead of the geezers on ABN Amro One (546 miles), it was the kids on ABN Amro Two (558 miles). We knew these boats were fast (at least when they aren’t limping back into port for repairs). But to remind you that they are really fast, check out this video of ABN Amro 2 at cruising speed (20-plus knots). Ho-hum. Then you can go here to hear navigator Simon Fisher talk about it (amazing fact: in general, they pulled it off with just three people n deck at a time…). Will any of the other teams out there ever show us anything…?

“Damn, with this three-man rotation there’s no one to go below and make coffee…”

then here is a good potential career: Coast Guard Motor Lifeboat driver. All you have to do is check out the photos and video at the National Motor Lifeboat School, and you’ll know your calling. For a sample of the fun you will have, click here, then here, and then here (I can understand why the guy is puking, but why does he appear to be mostly naked?). The Coasties show remarkably decent musical taste, by the way (thanks to Wetass reader Gary Joyce for tipping me to this stuff)…



“I can’t believe I get paid to do this…”

Team ABN Amro continues to kick ass in the Volvo Ocean Race. And they have just produced a video of the story behind this story (click here). It’s a little late in the game for a promo video (guess the marketing department didn’t get the memo regarding the race schedule) but it’s got some pretty good info, some cool shots, you know, the usual timewasting sh*t we all love…

ABN Down Under: “Hey, I know we’re in the lead, but, umm, where is everyone…?”

Sure, it’s still early in the day, but if your computer is crashing, your boss is harrassing, and you need to go Wetassing, then click here to take a little ride in the last year’s Marblehead-Halifax race. It’s slightly primitive, but it’s got a nice, relaxing soundtrack. And TWC loves home-made video (which is only getting easier and easier to produce).

UPDATE: Just heard from the video’s producer, Richard Mitchele. Here’s what he had to say:

As a Wetass regular, it was kind of cool to see my video linked to
your site. I’m the guy at the end sitting in the cockpit smoking. The
video is kind of rough but keep in mind that most of the shots were
taken with cell phone cameras. The reference to the Koala at the end
is the guy in the very last shot (the blurry one in the bar). He met
a woman in Marblehead who took him to the Marriott in Boston for the
evening. We named him the Koala because he “eats, shoots and leaves”.

Keep ’em coming, Richard…

Marblehead-Halifax Mush: “What good is this damn video camera if all I can see is fog…?”

When I started Wetass Chronicles back in 2003 one of the first big stories was the death of Timothy Treadwell, a societal misfit who spent more than a dozen summers in Alaska’s Katmai wilderness, living with grizzly bears, only to be killed and eaten (along with his unfortunate girlfriend) by one of the grizzlies he loved so much (click here for original Wetass stories). This past weekend I watched Werner Herzog’s documentary about Treadwell, Grizzly Man (this link comes with a beautiful, haunting song that is worth the click alone), and it is one of the most mesmerizing and thought provoking documentaries I have seen…ever. It is meticulous, harrowing, moving and tragic. Treadwell didn’t just survive alongside the bears, he lived among them. The footage he shot of himself talking to the bears, standing his ground as they approached him, befriending a den of foxes, and falling in love with one of nature’s most dangerous creatures is simply mindblowing. And Herzog brilliantly captures Treadwell’s humanity, his empathy for the grizzlies and fierce, almost messianic, desire to protect them, his growing alienation from human society, and, ultimately, his journey over the edge to where tragedy was almost certain. You come away not envying Treadwell and his brutal death, but admiring his courage, his singlemindedness, and his sense that in a mostly wasted life he had found the ultimate mission, the ultimate reason for living…and dying. Watch the trailer here. And then go rent, or buy the DVD. You’ll thank me, I promise…

Timothy Treadwell: Rest In Peace…

Check ’em out here for some thrills and shivers. A number are Hurricane Katrina related, but you can also learn to fear Japanese killer hornets and watch a guy get his hand chomped by an anaconda. Fun, fun, fun…

“Heh-heh. These morons have their hands all over me. Talk about “finger food”…”

Meet Colin Yeates. He was a man with a big goal: to row around Antarctica. This is the Everest of ocean rowing. No one has ever done it, and the last man to try–one Jim Shekhdar–didn’t even get a third of the way around. So Yeates was embarking on a major quest when he set out from Port Stanley in the Falklands last week, and he expected to be at sea for almost a year, and row, row, row about 13,000 miles. He had the gear: his custom rowing ride cost $53,000. But unfortunately he didn’t invest anything in tidal analysis. So just 30 miles–30 miles!–after hitting the water, strong tides swept him onto the rocks. Colin is fine, or as fine as someone can be after this humiliating result, but his boat is in pieces. REad all about it here. Yeates said that his journey would begin and end in the Falklands. And he was exactly right, just not in the way he meant. All credit to him for trying, though, and I hope he tries again. This is just about the only ocean rowing adventure I am interested in anymore…

Yeates Yacht In Build: “Hmmm. Why do I keep getting this nagging feeling that I’m wasting my time…”