Dubside's Film "Modern Greenland Kayaking": A Look Inside the Cult of Greenland Style
July 16, 2008
Dubside's "Modern Greenland Kayaking" (2008), Trailer from Baby Seal Films on Vimeo.
Dubside's "Modern Greenland Kayaking" (2008), Trailer from Baby Seal Films on Vimeo.
It turned out to be a beautiful afternoon for sailing so I put my Joel White Pooduck Skiff Annabel Lee in the water. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pics of her under sail from land but I did make a little video. Check it out -- I'm really moving. I think I was making 4.6 knots! (The music is Heave Away Me Johnnys from an album called The Wind in the Rigging.)
Sailing Annabel Lee from Baby Seal Films on Vimeo.
I turned on my GPS a while after I had launched and drifted west of Dash Point. There was a nice breeze from the north so I had a good run south toward Browns Point (yellow path), then I turned around and headed back, beating to windward (blue path). As you can see, she doesn't sail too close to the wind, so going upwind can be a real slog.
At long last, after 17 months of boatbuilding I've finally completed my Joel White Pooduck Skiff! I launched her Saturday afternoon during a Small Craft Advisory and occasional showers, and christened her Annabel Lee.
Aboard the Hawaiian Chieftain: Tall Ships Tacoma 2008 from Baby Seal Films on Vimeo.
Well, it has been an exciting 4th of July weekend. The Tall Ships Festival came to town and everyone who has a boat of any kind has been out watching them on Commencement Bay. My friend Richard Lovering, who happens to live on a boat literally in the middle of the festival, says he’s finally had enough of listening to people singing sea shanties while dressed up like pirates with stuffed parrots on their shoulders and saying "Arrr" all the time. I guess the festival gets loud and stays loud long into the night. You know how the yachting crowd is -- they’ll use any excuse to get drunk and Tall Ships is just one big party.
Today I joined the South Sound Area Kayakers for a paddle from Owen Beach at Point Defiance to the festival on Thea Foss Waterway. Dozens of little boats had crowded the waterway and the air was toxic from all their gasoline and diesel fumes. Of course, when paddling right behind one of these boats you are at the perfect height to breathe in their exhaust.
Out on the Bay I got a few pics of the Hawaiian Chieftain giving the Amazing Grace a broadside. Damn those guns are loud! For more pics take a look at my photo album.
A while ago I posted on the Kayak Building Forum in a discussion about how car topping kayaks affects your MPG. I recently discovered for myself that it makes a significant difference whether I transported my kayak upside down (which probably decreases drag) than right side up. Since gas prices have gone up I started to pay attention to little details like that especially on longer trips. Then a few days ago I read this very interesting article in Mother Jones about hypermilers, these guys who have become experts at squeezing as many miles per gallon from their cars as possible by changing the way they drive. They have been in the news recently, which tended to sensationalize their more dangerous and illegal practices, like drafting behind semi trucks, not stopping at stoplights, not slowing down around curves, and turning the engine off to coast down hills. These guys can get 59 MPG using a regular Honda Accord (not a hybrid)!