The Rumor of his Parties and the Orgies on his Yacht!

And the rumor of his parties and the orgies on his yacht!

Oh, he surely must be happy with everything he's got.

Is anybody getting rich from blogging? Probably none of my friends. But I have noticed that some of the bloggers I follow have been doing various things to earn money from their blogs. Some are using Google AdSense. Some are earning money through referrals to amazon.com. Some have banner ads for "sponsors". Some carry simple one line text links as adverts.

I would be interested to know what other people's experience is with this. How is it working out for you? As a blogger are you earning enough to make it worth bothering with such options?

I would also be interested to know what readers think of this. Does it change your perception of a blog if you see it's carrying ads? Do they make you think the blogger is more serious? Or do you think ads cheapen the look of a blog?

I receive emails pretty regularly these days from people asking if I am prepared to carry various kinds of ad on my blog. I've no idea what the going rate for such ads is. I told one guy I wasn't really interested and he immediately doubled his offer! For example, what is the normal rate for a simple one line text link on a blog like mine?

I look forward to hearing from you in the comments. I'm grateful for your patronage and thank you very much.

April Come She Will

I didn't sign up for Laser frostbiting this winter. So, apart from my trip in December to the BVI, I've been a typical northern temperate zone sailor this winter, with no sailing between the New England Laser Masters in late September and...

And when?

When will I feel that it's warm enough to venture out on local waters for some solo sailing on my Laser again?

March is deceptive around here. There are some sunny days when you feel that spring has arrived. Then it changes back to some raw, rainy, windy weather for a few days, perhaps even some gloppy snow. Yesterday (what I hope will be) the last patch of snow melted from my yard. The bay looked enticing. But the water temperature is still in the 30s. Is winter really over?

April come she will
ripe and swelled with rain.

April! Yes, April come she will. Realistically, April is the earliest I usually feel like venturing out on my own on the local bays in my Laser. But even then I feel like a freak. Nobody else much around here is out boating in April as I wrote in So Where The Bloody Hell Are You? But April does bring some genuinely warm days such as the day last year I went Sailing Bristol Harbor.

May, she will stay,
Resting in my arms again.

May! Yes, May she will stay. May is when the local sailing season really wakes up. There's the Wickford Regatta that I enjoyed so much last year and where I overcame The Curse of the White Towel. Chances are there will be informal Tuesday night racing in Bristol starting some time in May too: Laser Sailing is Fun. And rumor has it that some canoe club in Brooklyn even has a Laser regatta in May.

Spring really is coming. I can smell it. Spring, when an old man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of... Laser sailing.

Bring it on.

Funky's Dilemma

Who will represent the United States in the Laser class at the Olympics in England next year?

Regular readers of this blog will recall that the 2007 Laser US Olympic Trials were held just down the road from me, at Third Beach Newport, and were eventually decided by a tie-breaker which gave the 2008 Olympics slot to Andrew Campbell over Brad Funk.

Geeze. You train hard for years, you're leading the regatta after ten races, and then you lose it on a tie-breaker! I don't know what I would do if that happened to me. Smash up my Laser with a sledgehammer? Fly off to St. Somewhere and drown my sorrows in rum? Take up butterfly collecting?

What a dilemma!

Editor's note. We apologize to readers for the title of this post. As far as is know to the editorial staff at Proper Course, nobody calls Mr. Funk by the nickname "Funky" or even characterizes him as "funky". However, Tillerman appears to be on a run of choosing titles for every post which are titles of Simon and Garfunkel songs, lines from Simon and Garfunkel songs, or bad puns on lines or titles from Simon and Garfunkel songs. It is not clear to us why Tillerman is doing this or whether he will ever cease this annoying practice, but we have been unable to persuade him to desist.


Anyway, Brad didn't give up Laser sailing or take up butterfly collecting (as far as I know.) He carried on racing his Laser at major regattas. He was 2nd in the Laser Radial Worlds in 2008, and 3rd in the Lasers at Miami OCR in 2009. He's also been doing some Moth sailing and was 3rd (and top USA sailor) at the 2010 Moth Worlds in Dubai.

Now US Sailing does its bit to support and train the US Olympic hopefuls by selecting the top contenders to be members of the US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics (USSTAG). In 2010 the USSTAG Laser Sailor Team Members (USSTAGLSTM) were Kyle Rogachenko and Rob Crane. And in 2011 the USSTAGLSTM are Rob Crane and Clay Johnson.

There's another twist on this story. The US Laser Olympic spot has always in the past been decided at a single Olympic Trials Regatta held somewhere in the US. Not any more. This time around, the US Sailing Olympic Sailing Committee (USSOSC) has decided that the selection will be based on the best performer at the Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta, in Weymouth/Portland, England, (SSFGRWPE) scheduled for June 5-11, 2011, and the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) Sailing World Championship, in Perth, Australia, (ISAFSWCPA) scheduled for December 3-18, 2011.

So any US Laser sailor hoping to qualify for the Olympics has to be racing regularly on the international circuit and familiarizing themselves with the locations and levels of competition at events like SSFGRWPE and ISAFSWCPA. As USSOSC Chairman (USSOSCC) Dean Brenner recently said, "The days of somebody training in a remote domestic location, winning the Trials and then medaling at the Olympic Games are long, long gone."

So who is going to win the single US Laser spot at the 2012 Olympics? The casual observer might assume that the 2012 Olympic place would probably go to one of these elite sailors anointed by US Sailing as USSTAGLSTM, Messrs. Crane, Johnson and Rogachenko.

It could be. At the recent 2011 Rolex Miami Olympic Classes Regatta (RMOCR) Clay Jonson was the top US sailor in 9th place with Rob Crane only 3 points behind him in 10th. Kyle Rogachenko was 16th.

But wait. After coming a disappointing 36th in Miami, Brad Funk went off to Mexico for nine days to train with some of the best Laser sailors in the world including Paul Goodison and Nick Thompson from England. Then he trained in Florida with Matias Del Solar from Chile for four days and showed up at the Midwinters East in Clearwater and won the regatta, handily defeating all the USSTAGLSTM hopefuls.

Woo hoo. Brad Funk is back. This is going to be interesting. I love a good comeback story.

I think I will go and watch Rocky II now.

Dappled and Drowsy and Ready to Sleep

One of my many talents is that I am able to take a nap at any time of day. It could be after lunch. It could be while watching a boring TV program. I just drop out for about 15-20 minutes and awake energized and refreshed.

For some reason, Tillerwoman has a problem with this habit. She seems to think it is a symptom of laziness, or perhaps even rudeness (to her.) I don't know why. I tell her it is a skill I have and it's not my fault that she doesn't have the aptitude to take power naps like me. Really, I don't know what her problem is. I don't take naps when we have company. At least, not very often.

Now comes news from the New York Times that napping is a technique used by elite athletes. Many basketball players in the N.B.A. take a pre-game nap. Grant Hill of the Phoenix Suns say, "It refreshes you. It gets you ready for competition." Exactly.

Baseball players do it too. Ricky Henderson was discovered taking a power snooze when he was supposed to be at a meeting. And Ken Griffey Jr. was even found asleep in the clubhouse during a game once. Bravo sir! Baseball games are soooooo long. I sometimes take a nap when I'm watching them too.

This is great news. At last, there is a way to improve sports performance by doing something I'm actually good at. Forget weight training. Forget cardio. My plan this year is to raise my Laser racing game to a whole new level by the strategic use of power naps.

I figure that at every regatta, after I have rigged my Laser, I should find a quiet corner in the yacht club and settle down for a snooze. I will rely on the harbor gun to tell me when it's time to wake up, all refreshed and full of energy, to go and launch my boat.

Then between every race, I will lie down on my Laser and take a short nap. I'm sure the other sailors will see that I am not in control of my boat and keep out of my way. The prep signal will wake me up and I will have an enormous advantage over all my fellow competitors who spent the time between races wearing themselves out sailing around and doing all those exhausting tasks like checking out the wind and the current and the start line etc. etc. etc.

Why didn't I think of this before? I don't think any of my sailing books cover this technique. Maybe after I have proved how effective it is I should write a book myself. Seven Simple Snoozing Strategies for Sailing Success.

I'm so excited I think I'll go and take a nap now.

Just Trying To Keep My Customers Satisfied

The votes are in. The readers have spoken.

And the winner is...

Hmmm. Well, it's a bit confusing.

I asked readers to select the entry they liked best in out recent Navigation group writing contest. I even tried to make it easier for you by choosing what I thought were the three best entries out of the twenty five submitted.

The final three were...

Buoy Crazy by Bonnie from Brooklyn.

The Graveyard of the Pacific by John from PDX.

A History of Navigation, In Verse by O Docker from O Dock.

The most common feedback was that all three entries were so good that we should call it a three-way tie. It was as if the voters in 2008 had said, "This is way too hard. Why don't we just let Barack Obama, John McCain and Ralph Nader share the presidency?" Kum Ba Yah!

Of those voters who did express a clear preference for one entry, then Bonnie's Buoy Crazy did receive the most votes.

So I hereby declare Bonnie the winner. However, just to show that I do actually care what my readers think, I have decided to award prizes of Tristan Gooley's book The Natural Navigator to all three finalists. So if John, O Docker and Bonnie want to email me your mailing addresses I will send out the prizes.

Thanks to everyone who participated. Great job!

Why Don't You Write Me?

At last, the Proper Course Group Writing Contest Judges Panel has selected the short list of finalists in our deadly serious and highly competitive Navigation contest, and it is time for you to vote to choose the overall winner of the grand prize, Tristan Gooley's book The Natural Navigator.


There were several excellent tales of navigational errors, lost navigators, near disasters... and the panel decided that of this group the best was

The Graveyard of the Pacific by John from PDX.



The judges were pleased to see that Mr O Docker submitted a couple of entries. Always original, always totally nuts, he did not disappoint. So also nominated for the short list is

A History of Navigation, In Verse by O Docker from O Dock.



Finally on the short list we have a blogger who has been blogging about watery bloggy stuff for even longer than me. Educational. Hilarious. Touching. Our final nominee is

Buoy Crazy by Bonnie from Brooklyn.



And now it's over to you. Please go and read all three posts in the links above and then tell me in the comments which of these worthy entries should win the grand prize. Why don't you write me? I'm hungry to hear you.Thank you again to all the writers that participated in the competition. I enjoyed all of your articles.

Last Night I Had The Strangest Dream

Last night I had the strangest dream...

I dreamed I was at some huge sailing club and there were crowds of men and women and we were all registering for a major Sunfish regatta, probably a Worlds or North Americans. This is strange to start with because I sold my Sunfish in 2006 and I haven't sailed a major Sunfish event since the Worlds in 2000.

For some reason the registration process involved going backwards and forwards between two places that were hundreds of yards apart. At one of these desks I couldn't make any progress because the bench I wanted to sit on was full of people and nobody would move to let me sit down. At the other place I put my registration form down on the desk and it fell in a puddle and it got wet so I couldn't write on it.

It was taking hours to register as I went back and forwards with my wet form. I was anxious because I hadn't checked out my boat yet and I was almost certain there was something on it that needed repairing but I didn't know what and it seemed I wouldn't have a chance to repair it before racing started.

At one of the registration tables I found a collage of photos of all the competitors but I hadn't brought a photo and I wasn't in the collage. The only person I recognized in the collage was a woman whom I have never met. Her sail number was LIU which makes no sense because it should have been numeric.

There was some mysterious grey-haired distinguished-looking man hovering in the background who seemed to be in charge but I never spoke to him or asked anyone for any help in speeding up the interminable registration process.

What does it all mean? Why am I dreaming about Sunfish? Who is the mysterious man? Why is that woman in my dream? What does LIU mean? What is that collage all about? Why wouldn't those people let me sit down? What is broken on my boat? What is the significance of the wet registration form?

Still Crazy After All These Years

Update 4 March 2011. Go to Why Don't You Write Me? to vote in the poll to decide the winner of this competition.


Thanks to everyone who participated in last month's group writing project Navigation. The response was astounding. I think we had 25 entries in all. And I was blown away by your creativity and inventiveness on what could have been a somewhat dry subject compared to some of our previous topics.


We had useful advice and scary tales of near disasters. We had navigation while cruising, racing, kayaking, swimming, driving, hiking... and then we had some entries that stretched the definition of navigation further than I had ever imagined. We had serious and silly, truth and fantasy, prose and poetry... the variety was amazing. After all the years we have been doing these group writing projects, I'm pleased to see that you, my readers, are all still as crazy as ever.


Here is the full list of entries....

John from PDX gave us a story of a navigational error that almost ended in disaster in The Graveyard of the Pacific and also asked How about this for navigation?

Jos also told us about one of his navigational screw-ups in A map, a compass and not much else.

Mojo was lost in the fog in Open Water.

Wavedancer managed to lose his way while racing his Laser in A failure to communicate.

And My2fish had difficulties in his parent's driveway in navigating past the goose.

Captain JP's Log posted five entries. Is this a record? There was a story about a Navigational mistake in an ocean race and and an unconventional take on navigation idea in Navigating the land of the dead. JP revisited his archive to remind us with Why lambs are navigational hazards and then ventured into surrealism in This is not a navigation post. And what would JP be without his alter ego Buff Staysail who gave us The Buff Guide to Navigation. Bravo Sir!

O Docker wrote A History of Navigation, In Verse and pointed us to some of his earlier posts on the topic while Navigating Treacherous Waters.

Bonnie is Paddling Blind and Buoy Crazy. What's new? She also reminded us of one of the gems from her archives  by revisiting "Paperless Charts".
 
Carol Anne decided on a unique direction on the navigation theme to tell us why fire engines are red and the difference between a begonia and a double begonia or, how to get from here to there ....

Baydog combined three completely different aspects of navigation in Driveways, menus and GPS and, in a cryptic mood, said Coxswain = Navigator. Hmmm!

Joel Taylor instructed us on How not to Navigate with GPS

Smilicus also had some excellent advice about not relying too much on gadgets in Aliens shot down our satellites.

Zen said I believe in Duct Tape. Huh?

Sam Chapin told us a true-life story of natural navigation in LASERS DON'T NAVIGATE.

And I was feeling lazy and could only rustle up Hello Lamp Post What Cha Knowing?

Thanks again to everyone who participated. Did I miss anybody?

And now I have to get back to the hard work of compiling a short list of posts eligible for the grand prize of Tristan Gooley's new book The Natural Navigator. It's a tough task with so many high quality entries to chose from.

Old Friends

Photo: Paula Mayer

The photo is from the Spring 1993 edition of The Laser Sailor (newsletter of the North American Laser Class) and was taken at the New Bedford YC Frostbite Regatta. Left to right: Ted Scott, John Mayer, Bob Saltmarsh, Peter Seidenberg, Mark Bear, John Bentley. 

The accompanying article is titled El Cheapo Dry Suit and is about how John Mayer (second from left) is wearing a $40 "dry suit" which is actually a US Air Force Anti Exposure Suit that he bought at a government surplus store. Rubberized nylon in camouflage colors. "Ugly, Ugly, Ugly, but warm and dry."

Aaah. Those were the days.

Old friends, winter companions, the old men 

Lost in their overcoats, waiting for the sun 

Overs

The game is over,
over,
over.

Yes, the February group writing project, Navigation, is now officially over. Since my last update yesterday we have had six more entries...


Zen said I believe in Duct Tape.

Captain JP said This is not a navigation post but we all know he's only kidding, (in a surrealist kind of way.)

Wavedancer reported A failure to communicate.

John from PDX asked How about this for navigation?

Bonnie is just Buoy Crazy.

And last to surface, just before midnight, was Mojo with Open Water.


Sincere thanks to everyone who participated, and especially to those of you who took the trouble to send in more than one entry. I appreciate all your efforts. It would be pretty pointless running these writing projects without your support.

I will post a full list of all the entries soon and then select a short list of the best entries so you can vote to decide who will win the grand prize of Tristan Gooley's excellent new book The Natural Navigator.