News:

In case of downtime/other tech emergencies, you can relatively quickly get in touch with Asmodean Prime by email.

Main Menu

what's the last thing you bought?

Started by billy rubin, November 01, 2019, 09:49:47 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

Tank

If religions were TV channels atheism is turning the TV off.
"Religion is a culture of faith; science is a culture of doubt." ― Richard P. Feynman
'It is said that your life flashes before your eyes just before you die. That is true, it's called Life.' - Terry Pratchett
Remember, your inability to grasp science is not a valid argument against it.

hermes2015

Let me illustrate what I meant about Taylor Lautner. I am so unbelievably shallow, and such a sucker for a pretty face, that my knees turn to water when I see this photo from a time when he was still cute.

"Eventually everything connects - people, ideas, objects. The quality of the connections is the key to quality per se."
― Charles Eames

xSilverPhinx

Quote from: hermes2015 on November 12, 2019, 04:42:16 PM
Let me illustrate what I meant about Taylor Lautner. I am so unbelievably shallow, and such a sucker for a pretty face, that my knees turn to water when I see this photo from a time when he was still cute.



I'm not even going to ask whether you're Team Jacob or Team Edward...

(Twilight reference....and no, I don't read the books or watch the movies!)
I am what survives if it's slain - Zack Hemsey


Icarus

Oh yeah Siz. There is definitely another sailor on this forum.  That would be me.  Even at my ancient age  I can still get my rocks off when sailing my little dinghy.

I have sailed competitively for many years (not anymore)  I have had a variety of hot rods and dog boats.  The list includes International 10 meter canoe, A- cat, Windmill, Thistle, Laser, Flying Dutchman, M20 scow, and some others that were less thrilling but less demanding. Have crewed on many a fast boat too.

I have always wondered whether the Aussie sailors, Kiwis too,  were crazy, what with the likes of the Aussie 18s and other suicidal machines.  We yanks do admire the Oz sailors for their skills, maniac dedication, and many developments............Brethwaite and all.  You have one of the most brilliant naval Architecture researchers right there at University of Adelaide.  His name is Leo Lazauskas.  I don't suppose that he is into such exotic go fast machines like the one you show in the pictures.

Title of this thread: What is the last thing you bought.........Hmmmmm, that beauty will have cost a prince's ransom at the very least. It is beautiful.  The height of the mast tells me that you had better be damned good at getting in and off the wire.

Here is a salute from afar.


hermes2015

Quote from: xSilverPhinx on November 12, 2019, 09:00:57 PM
Quote from: hermes2015 on November 12, 2019, 04:42:16 PM
Let me illustrate what I meant about Taylor Lautner. I am so unbelievably shallow, and such a sucker for a pretty face, that my knees turn to water when I see this photo from a time when he was still cute.



I'm not even going to ask whether you're Team Jacob or Team Edward...

(Twilight reference....and no, I don't read the books or watch the movies!)

No need to ask.

:grin:
"Eventually everything connects - people, ideas, objects. The quality of the connections is the key to quality per se."
― Charles Eames

Siz

Quote from: Icarus on November 13, 2019, 02:20:17 AM
Oh yeah Siz. There is definitely another sailor on this forum.  That would be me.  Even at my ancient age  I can still get my rocks off when sailing my little dinghy.

I have sailed competitively for many years (not anymore)  I have had a variety of hot rods and dog boats.  The list includes International 10 meter canoe, A- cat, Windmill, Thistle, Laser, Flying Dutchman, M20 scow, and some others that were less thrilling but less demanding. Have crewed on many a fast boat too.

I have always wondered whether the Aussie sailors, Kiwis too,  were crazy, what with the likes of the Aussie 18s and other suicidal machines.  We yanks do admire the Oz sailors for their skills, maniac dedication, and many developments............Brethwaite and all.  You have one of the most brilliant naval Architecture researchers right there at University of Adelaide.  His name is Leo Lazauskas.  I don't suppose that he is into such exotic go fast machines like the one you show in the pictures.

Title of this thread: What is the last thing you bought.........Hmmmmm, that beauty will have cost a prince's ransom at the very least. It is beautiful.  The height of the mast tells me that you had better be damned good at getting in and off the wire.

Here is a salute from afar.

Yeah, I was hoping you'd chime in, Iccy.

(Just a reminder, I'm in UK)

There's a nice array of vessels there.
Int'l Canoe - those things rock! I see them off the south coast (of England) whenever I'm down there sailing. They take quite a bit of handling, I'm told. They've got a history dating back to 19th Century and these days are full-on, carbon techno machines. They have a small self-tacking jib and a spinny within class rules.
A-Cats - nice!
Windmill - nah, you can keep that one.
Thistle - meh!
Laser - If my boat is out of action and I cant find a crew boat, this is what I'm in.
FD - Solid!
M20 - Meh!

The Blaze is a hiking boat, no trapeze. Concieved and built in the Topper stable (although now Hartleys (UK) hold the mould and license). 10.4sq.m sail, but there's also a 11.4m 'Halo' sail for it which I have, and a 9.4m 'Fire' sail which I don't have. I tried the Halo for several months and could never get the set-up right - I was faster with the 10.4m. My Halo is for sale, but it's telling that noone wants to buy it!
It's quite a small dinghy class, really, and not known much outside the UK.
For comparison, the handicaps are as follows:
Laser - 1099
Blaze - 1030
Int'l Canoe - 888 (very, very quick!)
Aero 9 (new Laser competitor) - 1014

Would love to hear about your fast boat experience... (Perhaps in another thread...?). My son is hoping to break in to Cat racing (Nacra 18) and ultimately fast ocean-going yachts. I'm too far gone for those kind of dreams...



When one sleeps on the floor one need not worry about falling out of bed - Anton LaVey

The universe is a cold, uncaring void. The key to happiness isn't a search for meaning, it's to just keep yourself busy with unimportant nonsense, and eventually you'll be dead!

Buddy

I bought a tiny desktop space heater to keep at work. Best 10 dollar purchase in a while
Strange but not a stranger<br /><br />I love my car more than I love most people.

billy rubin

heater?

see therez a shopping list item we have in common

the lat3st beater car we bought turns out not to have a functioning heater core. leaks coolant everywhere. it had been bypassed but we bought it when the weather was warm and i didnt check.

so it is now equipped with a little dash-mounted 12 volt window defogger and a 12 volt heated lap blanket.

cant use em both at once

i suspect i will be the one assigned to it


"I cannot understand the popularity of that kind of music, which is based on repetition. In a civilized society, things don't need to be said more than three times."

jumbojak

Kickboxing shin guards. Handmade in Thailand.

"Amazing what chimney sweeping can teach us, no? Keep your fire hot and
your flue clean."  - Ecurb Noselrub

"I'd be incensed by your impudence were I not so impressed by your memory." - Siz

Icarus

Siz, forgive me for placing you in the antipodes.  I still think that the Aussie sailors are maniacs. I admire many of them though. Not to question the skills of the Brit sailors of course.

I am pushing 90 so I do not sail hot rods anymore. I do still sail my little 16 foot home built sharpie. It is a capable little boat that will plane readily in a fair breeze. It is not even in the same world with the boat that you have shown.   I have built dozens of boats over the years. One of them was an Austrailis cat that was the designated boat of the IYRU A- class of the day.  That was a long time ago.

The M20 is not merely a "meh"  It can stay with and sometimes defeat an FD on a good day.  The Windmill was a "Meh" in terms of high performance. I sailed that one for a while because we had a large and very active fleet of them in my town. There used to be a lot of those in older times.  There were even fleets of them in Finland.  My teen aged daughter was my crew. She was a better tougher sailor than I was.

When daughter Terri went away to university I had no crew. OK dump the Windmill and get a single hander. It was a Laser.  I sailed competitively all over the southeast and I frequently ended up at or near the weather marks with a red haired teen age girl in her own laser. She and I were fierce opponents that always seemed to be on the same side of the course and close to one another. She had a potty mouth that she used frequently to question my ancestry.  When I had legal room at the mark she exercised her vocabulary quite eloquently.  Truth to tell, that kid was a better sailor than I could have hoped to be.  She went on to become an Olympic sailor which proved the point that she was a hell of a lot better than me.

Please pet that gorgeous boat that you have. It is a beauty.

My favorite all time boat was the IC. It was a Proctor of Brit design as you may know.  The class has changed into a much skinnier choice of boats and they are wickedly fast but a bear to keep upright, despite the hiking plank. Not many boats can plane to windward as the IC can and does at times.  I actually found that the hiking plank was faster in tack, and easier to use than the trapeze of the FD and cats. 


Siz

Quote from: Icarus on November 15, 2019, 04:06:29 AM
Siz, forgive me for placing you in the antipodes.  I still think that the Aussie sailors are maniacs. I admire many of them though. Not to question the skills of the Brit sailors of course.

I am pushing 90 so I do not sail hot rods anymore. I do still sail my little 16 foot home built sharpie. It is a capable little boat that will plane readily in a fair breeze. It is not even in the same world with the boat that you have shown.   I have built dozens of boats over the years. One of them was an Austrailis cat that was the designated boat of the IYRU A- class of the day.  That was a long time ago.

The M20 is not merely a "meh"  It can stay with and sometimes defeat an FD on a good day.  The Windmill was a "Meh" in terms of high performance. I sailed that one for a while because we had a large and very active fleet of them in my town. There used to be a lot of those in older times.  There were even fleets of them in Finland.  My teen aged daughter was my crew. She was a better tougher sailor than I was.

When daughter Terri went away to university I had no crew. OK dump the Windmill and get a single hander. It was a Laser.  I sailed competitively all over the southeast and I frequently ended up at or near the weather marks with a red haired teen age girl in her own laser. She and I were fierce opponents that always seemed to be on the same side of the course and close to one another. She had a potty mouth that she used frequently to question my ancestry.  When I had legal room at the mark she exercised her vocabulary quite eloquently.  Truth to tell, that kid was a better sailor than I could have hoped to be.  She went on to become an Olympic sailor which proved the point that she was a hell of a lot better than me.

Please pet that gorgeous boat that you have. It is a beauty.

My favorite all time boat was the IC. It was a Proctor of Brit design as you may know.  The class has changed into a much skinnier choice of boats and they are wickedly fast but a bear to keep upright, despite the hiking plank. Not many boats can plane to windward as the IC can and does at times.  I actually found that the hiking plank was faster in tack, and easier to use than the trapeze of the FD and cats.



Much respect , Iccy. 90 and still sailing! I ache after every sail and I'm half your age. I tend not to sail for fun though, just overly competitive and push myself to breaking.
I have huge admiration for those who have the skills and patience for boat building. I served my time looking after wooden boats and am now an avowed GRP fan. Never again fibreglassing rotten hulls.

I googled again the M20 scow and paid more attention. I guess I did it a disservice previously. That must plane at the drop of a hat - such a shallow draft. Elegant-looking too, if not a speed-machine. Respectable enough, though, looking at the handicap numbers.

My son and daughter refuse to sail with me - mostly because I'm crap. And only partly because I'm a shouty sailor.

I get spanked on handicap regularly by kids on Toppers or Lasers. Our club is a centre of excellence for youth sailing and we have 15 or so kids in the national squad, zone squads and/or regional training groups - an outstanding achievement for a relatively small club on a 122acre puddle.

I think some people just have an innate sense for wind and feel for the boat.  I mostly rely on formulaic settings and hope I get a lucky gust.

When one sleeps on the floor one need not worry about falling out of bed - Anton LaVey

The universe is a cold, uncaring void. The key to happiness isn't a search for meaning, it's to just keep yourself busy with unimportant nonsense, and eventually you'll be dead!

Icarus

Siz I highly recommend a book that was done by one of your Brit sailors.  The title is: Wind and sailing Boats. By Alan Waites.  Waites was an enthusiastic sailor of small boats but his profession was Meteorologist.  He used his knowledge of weather to enhance his sailing ability.

Waites explains such stuff as the Buys-Ballots phenomena, he shows us how cloud trains give us some clues about where the wind will be in the next few minutes.  In the northern hemisphere, wind shifts tend to come from the right in which you will be able to head up if on starboard tack or fall off if on port. . A lull backs the direction and you will fall off.   I suspect that you already know how to read the water where dark areas have the most wind. In a small body of water these are the differences in being first or buried in the fleet at the windward mark. 

I do not know whether the Waite book is still in print but it is worth searching for if you have any ambition to be a more clever sailor. or to teach you kids how to be faster sailors. I have used his information in more than a few regattas.  One of my all time thrills was at the World chanpionship Windmill regatta way back in time.  I used an analysis of the cloud structure, at one of the  the starts, to go off on a flyer. I picked up favorable winds that the fleet of 70 odd boats had not accounted for.  An Olympic gold medalist,( The Dragon class) was the man to beat.  He picked up the favorable course nearly as soon as I had done.  We had a thrilling tacking duel that is still the highlight of my sailing career. In the end, He won and I had to settle for a close second. That was not a bad result in a fleet of that size and against a world class sailor.  Thank you Mr. Alan Waite.

Absorbing that book will not make you a champion sailor but it will surely give you an edge.  Meanwhile sharpen your skills at the stating line. Practice, practice, practice.................Keep on sailing.

xSilverPhinx

I bought a...microwave! Hardly exciting but useful.
I am what survives if it's slain - Zack Hemsey


jumbojak

I got a new hammer. It's a 16oz curved claw, steel handled Estwing.

"Amazing what chimney sweeping can teach us, no? Keep your fire hot and
your flue clean."  - Ecurb Noselrub

"I'd be incensed by your impudence were I not so impressed by your memory." - Siz

Dark Lightning

Does it have that blue elastomeric covering on the handle? I have a 2 pound sledge made by Estwing that has that. Tough as...nails, but easy on the hands. I used it to drive a zillion 16d nails when I built an addition on my last house, because the 16 oz hammer I was using just wasn't getting the nails in fast enough. That was what really started me on the road to carpal tunnel syndrome. After experiencing the burning and numbness, I borrowed my BiL's pneumatic nailer to finish the framing. That was in '88- '89. I finally had surgery for the carpal tunnel problem in '17. I can be a dumbshit when it comes time for medical treatment. It comes from my upbringing, where I had to be way sick before my parents would consider taking me to a doctor.