Words to live by

"Vessels large may venture more, But little boats should keep near shore."

Wise words from Benjamin Franklin who was born on this day, January 17, 1706.

Old Salt

This little guy is poised to man the winches.

Monet boats

Claude Monet, pictured right, was born on November 14, 1840. His Water Lilies (scroll down) are ubiquitous, but CrackedPot's favorite Monet paintings are the ones with boats,especially sailboats.

Dreamboat vs. reality

Someday CrackedPot and Sugar³ would like to own one of these. Here's an older 1979 Cabo Rico for sale with some nice pictures.

And here's what we have now. A 1974 Grampian 26.

A classic beauty

The boat pictured right is a scale model of "Columbia" the 1901 winner of the America's Cup. She also captured the cup in 1899, becoming the first America's Cup winner to defend a title. Columbia was designed and built by Nathaniel Herreshoff, one of America's greatest yacht makers.

The classic lines of Columbia and her sisters are much prettier than these ugly things.

Old Ironsides

The oldest commissioned warship in the world, USS Constitution "Old Ironsides" turns 210 years old today. Construction on the frigate began in 1794 and she was launched on October 21, 1797. Currently she is undergoing a two year re-fit to spruce her up and bring her back to "fighting" condition.

The Captain's Clerk features some beautiful "Old Ironsides" artwork and nifty historical facts about the USS Constitution.

Why catamarans are fast

Catamarans sail much faster than monohull sailboats. Not mentioned among the points outlined in this Wikipedia entry about catamarans is the main reason cats sail faster:

Because They Are So Ugly, Land Repels Them.

232 years old today

The United States Navy was established by the Second Continental Congress on October 13, 1775. Happy Birthday!

CrackedPot attended a Navy Birthday Ball where all the Sailors looked very spiffy in their Dress Whites. That is until an unfortunate incident (really, honestly, it was an accident!) involving an exploding bottle of Sunkist Orange Soda. Then the hapless victims resembled these.

Pictured is the Navy's sailing vessel, USS Constitution, "Old Ironsides." She is the oldest commissioned warship in the world.

Columbus sailed the ocean blue...sideways

Columbus sailed ships like these. They were heavy, beamy, hard to maneuver and didn't move very fast, averaging around 4 knots (roughly 5 mph.) Due to their square sail rigs, they couldn't point to wind very well and they made a lot of leeway. The best these lumbering craft could manage in a stiff breeze was what we would now consider a beam reach, so basically Columbus crabbed his way sideways across the Atlantic.

B.O.A.T.

Break
Out
Another
Thousand


Boating is an expensive hobby, especially when a storm blows through and wrecks havoc. The carnage pictured was courtesy of Tropical Storm Ernesto from September 2006. Ten years earlier, the double whammy of Hurricanes Bertha and Fran destroyed the marina completely. The Sugar³ is in the rubber dinghy calling out helpful suggestions such as, "Hey man, your boat sank."