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...

Sunday, August 26, 2012

America's Cup World Series Regatta in San Francisco Bay

It gets a little crowded on the turn
 By all accounts the America's Cup World Series this week was a spectacular success and a great warm up to the America's Cup races we'll be watching in SF Bay next year. SF Chron:
"Standing along the waterfront on Sunday, Dan Rummel, 31, who sailed competitively in college, explained to his friends the tacking and jibing, covering and hull flying going on in the waters of the San Francisco Bay in the final day of the America’s Cup World Series. His friend Adam Flagg, 29, visiting from Austin, Tex., listened and watched. As the 11 teams on 45-foot-long catamarans sliced through the choppy waters close to shore, Flagg had a decidedly non-technical take on the fleet and match racing. “Awesome,” he gushed. “Just awesome.” He added, “I’ve heard of Larry Ellison’s mission to bring sailing to the masses, and I think it’s working.” The America’s Cup World Series wrapped up four days of racing Sunday, and drew thousands of spectators to the waterfront, from the start of Crissy Field out to the Golden Gate Bridge, and culminated with an awards ceremony that turned champagne-soaked sailors into rock stars, with people waiting in long lines for autographs."
This is the planned course for the race in 2013:


It looks liike a bit  more than half of the track will be visible from our vantage on Russian Hill.  For the prelims we have smaller boats on a shorter track this week and we only saw that last turn in front of Alcatraz:
Even though we had a better view on the NBC coverage on YouTube:



Sigrid still got some good shots from the terrace:  

Racing along Hyde Pier
Around the corner
And back to Crissy Field
It was fun to watch. We get to do it again in a month. Although I do wonder if anyone has figured out that the next AC regatta and the Fleet Week Airshow with the Blue Angels are happening at the same time over the same bit of water. They've got to know that... right?

Saturday, August 25, 2012

MW congratulated for win at OGC Seascape tournament


I am not one to toot my own horn, but due to commentariat demand, I decided to post this photo documenting the award ceremony after the Oracle Golf Club Tournament. Since there were only 12 entrants in this prestigious invitation-only event, it was scored on an individual rather than team basis.  Pictured here -  club founder Brian Spoutz congratulating me on my leading score for this award. This is a personal best score for me, or would have been if it was in fact a gross score, which it wasn't.  Nobody else was within four strokes. 

bringing it home on 18


It was not my best drive of the day.

Sent from my Sprint HTC smartphone.

Steve launches one on 17


He stripes it.

Sent from my Sprint HTC smartphone.

Rick and Roy making their way back to the 14th green


They get there eventually.

Sent from my Sprint HTC smartphone.

Roy working his way to the par three 13th...


Which he pars with a one putt.

Sent from my Sprint HTC smartphone.

Rick through the trees on 13


After a few practice swings, he hits a miracle shot through the trees.


Sent from my Sprint HTC smartphone.

Why?


Because it's there.

Sent from my Sprint HTC smartphone.

Roy gets lucky...


.. and wins a free sleeve of golf balls from his new girl friend.

Sent from my Sprint HTC smartphone.

At the turn


You can read them for yourself. I can't deal with the horror.

Sent from my Sprint HTC smartphone.

On the signature 10th hole



Sent from my Sprint HTC smartphone.

Steve tees off on 6...


... to 20 feet and a par

Sent from my Sprint HTC smartphone.

Rick on three

Off the tee...

... and out of the rough

Sent from my Sprint HTC smartphone.

Liveblogging Seascape


Only 12 members sign up  in the O G C tournament, so we will not be playing the usual team format.  Instead we are playing individual net stroke play. I am doomed

Playing with Roy, Rick, and Steve.

Sent from my Sprint HTC smartphone.

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Abalone Dining and Dive Day 3


We ate a lot of abalone over the weekend. Of course we had the traditional pan-fried preparation, accompanied by new potatoes, jasmine rice, and an oil and balsam green salad and some very good wine. It was all good.

We also had abalone ceviche' made with Lenny and Debby's fresh home grown tomatilla salsa.  It was really good. 

Leftover abalone steaks were consumed as BLATs - Bacon Lettuce Abalone and Tomato sandwiches on sour dough bread.  Really really good. Not pictured - fresh abalone sashimi only minutes out of the water. Which was pretty much perfect.

On Sunday, Doug and Rick wanted to go back for another round. Harlan and I decided we had all the abalone we needed, so just went along for moral support. And to take pictures.


It was a bit earlier, a bit cooler, a bit more surgey, and a bit less sun.



The boys got their limit and we called it a day.

Egress

Tagging

The object of our desire

And out.

About Those Tens


Is it too much of a cliche' to say size matters? I don't know, but after this weekend I am feeling rather inadequate.

The first 10 - May 9, 2008
Zach's 10 incher
The second 10 - August 11, 2012:
Rick's 10 incher
The third 10 - August 11, 2012:
Doug's 10 incher

Rick was particularly annoying. He spent the whole day walking around displaying his trophy ten.

C'mon Rick. Put it down.
Regardless, when you start comparing size it's important to be accurate. Rick had to know...


 ... who was bigger. Zach's 2008 take was in the garage. After a lot of careful measurements, we determined it's a tie. Really. Both measure out to an identical 10 3/16.

 I was the bearer of bad news and informed Zach via e-mail. His reply: "There is shrinkage over time!" Hmm. Doug said the same thing. Apparently abalone shrinkage occurs when they are removed from cold water.  Weird.  Unfortunately for this theory, the measurement of Zach's shell on Sunday was identical to the measurement made in 2008.

And what about Doug's ten? We did not get a clean measurement before he split. He insted on the beach that his was barely ten, so we'll take him at his word.  It was smaller and he was ashamed.  But what do I care? I have been diving and taking abalone from this cove more than any of these guys over the last nine years and I still do not have a ten. Yes, I am a bitter bitter man.

UPDATE: This in an e-mail from Doug:  "Bad boy measured at 10 1/2 inches!!  Just put a tape on him.  Best one I’ve had in years!"  Sorry Doug. No pics and no independent  third party verification.  We have no choice but to accept your prior contemporaneous assertion on the beach: "It's just a ten."

Saturday, August 11, 2012

Dive Day 2 - One for the record books

The dive crew
Rick and Doug join Harlan and I for a Saturday dive.  There is already a lot history with this crew in this cove. Harlan got his first ab in this this cove, as did I. The less said about that the better. Doug has been a regular in the cove. Rick introduced me to ab diving in this cove, but it has been a few years since Rick was here.  His last trip in 2009 was less than productive.  Today we made up for it.  Sun was out. Swells were down. Viz was good.

Harlan descends
It has been 9 years since we took our first abalone here. Since then we've made dozens of dives and taken a lot of of abs.  In all that time, only one documented trophy 10" ab has come out of the cove. Zach got it in in 2008. He even arranged to have it reported in the New York Times - somehow before it even happened.  But I digress.

Rick is ready. Doug is in the water waiting for him to quit screwing around.
Doug is the most experienced diver in the group and has been hunting abalone along this coast for 30 years. He explains:  "There are just some coves that are like this. Plenty of abs, plenty of 9's but tens just don't grow in this cove. I've looked everywhere. They are not here."

Rick finally heads in to The Cove Without Tens
Five minutes into today's dive, Rick started waving around his first take.

Rick's first ever 10 inch Ab
 A 10+ inch abalone. Minutes later, Doug is waving another 10+ inch ab.

Doug's 35th 10 inch ab
 One in nine years. Two in twenty minutes. Go figger.

After gearing up...
...Harlan and I head in to take whatever is left.
Harlan surfaces
One interesting thing this trip...
Ab in the wild
I saw three abs lifting partially off their rock like the guy above. I don't recall seeing this before. Not sure what this behavior is about, but it sure makes it easy to grab and pull.  I didn't use my ab iron once getting six abs in two days. 

Soft coral, abalone, and anemone
Harlan in action
We take a break to discuss the Paul Ryan VP selection
A great day. Limit out. With tens.
Tagged and ready to be hauled out
Of course, we've still got to haul those bad boys out. 
By planning ahead, mine did not weigh as much as the others.

The Abalone Expedition Team
Apres' Dive
I've got some video clips I'll be adding later.  Credit to Lenny and Harlan for some of these pics which I ripped without attribution.  You'll have to figure out which ones are which.  Lenny posted more pics here.