MW Mobile Blog

For friends, family and the random search engine visitor. This blog started as an experiment in mobile blogging from my Palm TREO 600, 700, Prē, HTC Evo, Samsung 5, Pixel 3, Pixel 6 Pro. Now it serves as a simple repository of favorite activities. Expect bad golf, good fishing, great sailing, eating, drinking, adventure travel, occasional politics and anything else I find interesting along the way including, but not limited to, any of the labels listed here...

Thursday, July 31, 2008

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Monday, July 28, 2008

First saltwater test - the new waterproof camera.

Pictures taken from the beach house "front yard".

I think this dog wanted to save us.

JC and Bud.

Jim is kite surfing.

JC offers Jim a Bud.

Camera seem to be working fine.

The beach house

Hawaii

Found Deb at the airport. Found Jim and Morpheus at the Kaneohe Yacht Club. Found a Mai Tai.

Approaching Oahu

Can't wait to get in that water ... or get a Mai Tai... or both.

At SfO Heading to Hawaii...

... and a date with Morpheus. This is the the traditional "headlines at the airport shot" as I head out.

Sunday, July 27, 2008

19th hole

Bob 85
MW 95
Dan 102
Roy 108

Screwed up the back, but a good day. Time to go home and pack.

Nice out on 18

One of my few highlights on the back.

I hit it to 3.5 feet, but missed the putt. Double.

My tee shot on 17

Yes - it was as bad as it looks. With this shot I was on my way to an 8 on the par 3.

I don't want to talk about it.

Traditional 17th portrait

Bob out of the trap on 16

Dan tees off 16

nice drive

Bob hacks it out of the rough on 15

Roy pars 13

At the turn

Nothing like a cold beer in the fog at 10 am Sunday morning.

bob 40
mw 44
dan 55
roy 56

Note Bob's birdie on 8. He hit a great tee shot.The ball hit the flag and dropped two feet from the pin. I tried to video the birdie putt but it didn't work. Anyway - great hole.

Roy hits a great provisional.

In front of the golf gods on 6

Roy has longest drive on 5

And duffs 2nd shot 60 yards short

Bob misses birdie putt on 4

But gets his third par in a row.

Dan slices into trees on # 3

But he visualized the trees knoncking the ball back on the fairway.

FW: Roy visualized his 2nd shot on two going into the woods

This visualization thing works

Live blogging Lincoln

Bob, Dan, Roy. fog and wind. A beautiful SF day.

Saturday, July 26, 2008

Ready.


I think we got what we need. Next time you see a picture of these guys, there will be a fish attached.

It occurs to me that the reader might be wondering why we consulted Chris as an authority in the previous post. It is simple. My only success with a fishing line off of Morpheus was on another Pacific crossing from Tahiti to Hawaii in 2003. Chris rigged a troll line with the rod secured in a holder affixed to the port beam and then went below for a nap. A fish struck and Chris instantly game bounding up from below. A well placed shoulder to his sternum knocked him back down the hatch. I took control of the line, resulting in my most significant open ocean catch:

Thanks Chris.

Back in Hi's Tackle Shop

So I am reading this blog entry from Morpheus competitor Recidivist on 7-24:
"Shortly after lunch we spotted a lone white bird circling our vessel. Sensing an opportunity we decided to put some lures in the water and troll for fish. Sean mentioned that in all his years of sailing he'd never caught a fish by trolling off a sailboat. But just 15 minutes later, Roscoe hauled in a 10lb Mahi Mahi that proved to be the highlight for what was already a spectacularly enjoyable day on the water. We filleted the fish on the transom and cut up a few delectable pieces of 'as-fresh-as-it-gets' sashimi, which we enjoyed with a bit of light soy sauce and wasabi on the back of the boat while passing around a few cups of red wine to go along. A few other pieces were steamed with lemon, lime, soy, and wasabi for an incredibly tasty snack. It was the first fresh food we'd had since we left San Francisco and skipper Ken exclaimed that it might've been the best mahi he had ever had. The entire crew was delighted at our good fortune."
I suddenly recall that I have been assigned the responsibility for bringing the rigs for the sail back per this email exchange between Me JG and son Chris G:

Jim wrote:

Chris,
Mike and I are excited about doing some fishing on the way home from Hawaii. We need you to give us some advice regarding what we should bring. Help us out please. What kind of lures? Wire leaders? Etc, etc.
- JG

From: MW
Sent: Wednesday, July 09, 2008 9:45 AM
To: Jim
Cc: 'Chris'
Subject: Re: Fishing

Also Chris, please send me a step by step guide to catching fish from Morpheus. You don't need to spend too much time on it. 10,000 to 15,000 words should cover it in sufficent detail. Thanks. And any recommended books. I am going to make a run to Hi's tackle shop later this week. - mw


Chris Said:

I’d suggest Rappala Slivers as one of the lures, also any type of squid bubbler should suit you well. Wire leaders would be preferred, you’re supposed to use single strand wire leaders apparently but I honestly don’t think it makes much difference.
Hmm step by step might be a bit difficult to pull off with ONLY 15000 words, but I’ll try

Step one: Tie a bungie cord to the backstay.
Step two: Tie Lure to end of fishing line.
Step three: If you look you should be able to find a small U shaped piece of metal that has a pin running across the open end of the U. Attatch this to the Bungie Cord.
Step Four: Ensure that the line runs through the center of said U shaped piece of metal.
Step Five: Release the lure into the water and let the line out until you are satisfied with the distance of the lure from the boat.
Step Six: Tie fishing line to a cleat.
Step Seven: Check to see if a fish is dragging behind the boat. It should be obvious.
Step Eight: Wait an hour.
Step Nine: Repeat steps Seven through Eight until you have a fish dragging behind the boat
Step Ten: Pull the fish inAnd Voila! Fresh sushi!
Good hunting Mike - Chris
Time to head to Hi's Tackle Box.

Real time TREO 700 photo of me trying to figure out what rigs I need for the Morpheus Delivery.

Last time I was here, it turned out pretty well.

Friday, July 25, 2008

Paddy in San Francisco?

Hmmm. I may have to invite him to join our foursome at Lincoln Park on Sunday:

Padraig Harrington was the last man to leave an Open party which finished at four o’clock on Monday morning.
By Lewine Mair
22 Jul 2008
Exclusive club: Padraig Harrington joined an elite group of players by winning back-to-back Opens - Padraig Harrington toasts his success at the Open
Exclusive club: Padraig Harrington joined an elite group of players by winning back-to-back Opens

The first refreshment to have been served from the Claret Jug was John Smith’s bitter but, not unlike Harrington’s golf, the best was saved until last, with the beer giving way to vintage claret.

Yet the double Open champion was up for breakfast at eight and, as he downed his porridge, he was busy poring over the Ryder Cup points table. Where, previously, he had not featured among those already in the side, he was now safely aboard. “The Ryder Cup becomes entertaining once you’re in it,” he said, mischievously...

For several years, Harrington has had an ongoing long-driving competition with a two-handicap friend in San Francisco in which his opponent is allowed to hit with two hands and he with one.

It was when he was in San Francisco last year and was in the company of that same friend and others, that the party hailed a taxi whose driver happened to be so much of golf nut that he was driving his cab in a golf glove and talking incessantly of the inner game.

Harrington had the Claret Jug with him at the time and it was sitting in a box in the back. The taxi driver looked long and hard at the metal case but did not like to ask about its contents any more than the Irishman liked to tell him. Only when Harrington got out at his hotel did the others put him in the picture.

Ever since, he has been kicking himself that he did not open the box. “It’s the saddest thing,” Harrington said. “Just think what it would have meant to the man. He would have been able to tell the story for the rest of his life.”

By Monday, Harrington was making arrangements for a return trip to San Francisco, with his main mission to hunt down that taxi driver.

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Tall Ships sail by the terrace.

As part of our new blog series - we watched a parade from the terrace today, a parade of tall ships, part of the Festival of Sail ...

The Coast Guard Eagle and Fireboat Phoenix.
Leading the parade by Hyde Pier and the Balclutha.


The Bounty and Alcatraz

The Nina

Not very "tall" but part of the parade - the Liberty ship Jeremiah O'Brien. It is possible that my Uncle Ben helped build this ship.

Morpheus past the half way point

Standings as of yesterday - Morpheus 2nd in the division behind Hula Girl

Division E start 17 Jul 2008 14:45:00 PDT


NameMiles
To Go
Day
Run
Arrive
Hawaii
Elapsed
Time
Behind
First
Div
Rank
Fleet
Rank
Hula Girl94221926 Jul 05:298d 17:44:39-13
Morpheus103019926 Jul 23:139d 11:28:556:48:4629
Recidivist113518528 Jul 24:4710d 13:02:1512:49:06315
Sabrina121216528 Jul 23:3411d 11:49:0217:11:53424
Roxanne102319026 Jul 21:449d 09:59:5319:42:14527
XL103219426 Jul 23:429d 11:57:0319:55:54628
Low Speed Chase117217528 Jul 11:1110d 23:26:0221:29:23730

Last night the Morpheus transponder started working again at least for one checkpoint - as of 2:24 AM this morning:

Now I'll be the first to admit that I know nothing about racing sailboats. But if the wind map overlay is correct, It does appear to me that Jim is on a track that should get more help than leader Hula Girl. Maybe Morpheus will make up some time. Since Hula Girl gives away corrected time to Morpheus, they do not need to beat Hula Girl to Hawaii, just get there within the handicap time.

Friday, July 18, 2008

Morpheus off and running to Hawaii


As a Charter member of the Morpheus Early Retirement Delivery Entourage (M.E.R.D.E), I will be following Morpheus progress in the Pacific Cup race from San Francisco to Hawaii with intense interest. Pictured above is Morpheus as she led her division under the bridge yesterday and head out to sea. A tip of the hat to Leslie Richter (another M.E.R.D.E. member in good standing) for the photo.

Current status as of this morning:


This screenshot is from the FIS Tracking site where you can follow Morpheus progress live (http://trackinfo.fistracking.com/pc2008/) . To operate:
  1. Click on Boat Selector Button in the left sidebar.
  2. Check off Division E.
  3. Click Boat Selector Button again.
  4. You can zoom in and out, and navigate around the map as you see fit.
Daily standings will also be posted every morning at about 11am PDT from the results of roll call and will include corrected (handicapped) times.

Captain Jim is also posting to his blog on the progress of the race from on board Morpheus via sailmail.

Our blogs are on a collision course, as I am planning to meet Morpheus in Hawaii ten days from now to accept my commission on the delivery crew to bring her back.

Good Luck Jim and crew. See you soon.