Tuesday, June 13, 2017

Shhh!

In the immortal words of the great Elmer Fudd, "Be vewwwy quiet". I don't want to jinx this perfect state. Good wind, following seas, beautiful weather, and making good velocity (towards the Azores no less!)
Currently wing-on-wing with the full mains'l and gennaker and making 7-8 knots. One meter choppy seas but since they're coming from directly astern it couldn't be a much smoother ride.
This is the sailing I've been waiting for. It almost makes the last three days of no wind worth it (but not quite).

front

This cloud front overtook me from astern this morning. It looked ominous but it just dumped some rain and had maybe 15knots of wind with it. Wish I could have kept the wind. It's still very light winds out here. The forecast indicates 10knots building to 20 tomorrow. I'm (impatiently) waiting...

Monday, June 12, 2017

sunset

I'll spare you the sunset picture for tonight. You'll just have to trust me that (once again) the sun set right on the horizon at the scheduled time.

Quantum gravity book

I just finished "Reality Is Not What It Seems" by Carlo Rovelli. It's been quite a while since I have read any physics books. It used to be something I did on a regular basis but I always struggled finding books that didn't heavily lean on advanced math. I have no interest in dusting off my calculus books to try to decipher the complex equations used in this field. I think the most rudimentary equations surpass my abilities to comprehend the intent anyway. Rovelli does a nice job of being light on equations but still providing them via footnotes for those that are able to follow along. The first half of the book is a summary of the history of physics that I believe every student should read. The second half of the book is a laypersons guide to a variety of quantum topics. While I t's a layperson's guide, it has some really challenging concepts. An example of which is that there is a minimum size in the universe, a Planck length, which is about 10 ^-33 centimeters. Accordingly
, he makes the assertion that anywhere that infinity is used in physics equations is probably incorrect as there is no such thing as infinitely small or large.
This book is definitely worth a read for anyone with an interest in the mysteries of how our world is constructed.

wind

I finally have a little wind so was able to turn off the engine about an hour ago. The weather report shows it filling in nicely after midnight and then getting heavy later tomorrow. Ought to be moving fast for the next several days with up to 25knots of wind from mostly behind. Time to batten down the hatches!

A Fluke?

Is it a fluke that my favorite mug holds exactly a pint? I think not!

Dave's (I mean Carlos) not here

Proof that Carlos is not onboard.