Green Energy

When it comes to green energy solar seems to be the panacea.  It is limitless and at current standards works but with the improvement of batteries and collector technology it seems the sky is the limit.  For solar to be successful though we have to have a paradigm shift.

Currently the solar technology push is following the old tried and true.  In a central location build a massive array of equipment and collect as much energy as possible and then distribute it for a profit.  There are so many things wrong with this they are too many to mention but I will cover a couple.  The biggest is that it requires upgrades to our aging electrical grids, the other is a insane amount of real-estate it take to make a centralized collection facility.

For solar to work is it has to be a distributed and specifically decentralized system where much smaller collection systems are used right at the location where the power is needed.  The advantages to this are huge.  The largest economic advantage is that is requires zero upgrades to the grid.  As a matter of fact it greatly reduces load on the grid making it much more dependable.

This system requires collectors on every house and building along with batteries and some rewiring.  When there is no sun light you will still want to be on the grid for backup.  In most municipalities the local utility is required to buy back your excess power so that is even an attractive notion as well.

Back to the grid for a moment though.  Think about a large neighborhood.  Let’s say for discussion purposes that exactly 25% of the houses face each of the four directions and they don’t want to look at the ugly collectors on the roofs so they have to be placed on the back of the house.  During part of the day you may not have a perfect angle but during the other part you will and during some seasons it will be better for one house than another but they are all right across the street from each other.

When your house is at the perfect angle you are creating more than you need and your neighbor is getting the excess others generate or at least a little sip from the grid if his is not at the right angle.  In this model power does not have to be transmitted across huge ugly lines from one end of the country to the other because most of the poser is generated locally.

This is the solar model of the future.

Norton Booker, Broken Triangle Regatta 2015

Check out this little video.  I just pieced a few clips together from the ride.  We were on a Melges 24 captained by Kenny and crewed by Amy, John, Spencer and myself.

We won first place overall by about a half mile and had a great time averaging 10 plus.  Top speed was 18 knots.

Video of the race

At the 9:30 spot in the video you will see us round Theodore Channel marker 10 and the race is on after that.  At 13:00 you will see us passing boats like they are sitting still.  At that time we're doing between 14 and 18 knots.

At the 13:40 area you see us nearly dump the whole rig.  The GoPro flips and at looks at the mast head for a minute and then all there was left to video record was us zipping away from the fleet.

I put the beginning, just leaving the dock at the end.  If you watch it all the way through you will get to see Kenny's catlike reflexes save the day or at least the paint job at about the 16 minute mark.

Leukemia Cup Regatta 2015

Middle Bay Light Race 2015

Quick little video of Middle Bay Light Race on board Starfire.  I just cut to the deploying the chute and then dousing it to round the lighthouse.

The Water is Your Mother

The Water is our mother.  Since we climbed from that primordial ooze a few million years ago we have been drawn back to her like a child.  She is always there.  She loves us, feeds us, treats us to unbelievable beauty.
Sometimes she takes us home.

She has no malice.  She gave us life and she can call us home any time she chooses.  Fair winds Mikey.  We will miss you.

Dogs are great role models

Dogs are great role models. They really just wanna hang out with you, almost any time. I can walk through the house and ask if anyone wants to go to the store and it's a fifty-fifty crap shoot if any humans will go with me and even then it's mostly so I will buy them something. Once the dog hears the word "go" she doesn't even care where, she is up and at the door. She would rather ride in the truck but she will walk with you too, either way. If I could take the boat to the store she would be in heaven. She doesn't care if I buy her anything or not. She just wants to be your constant companion.

Sometimes you tell people things and they kinda judge you on it and even hold it against you and even tell other people even though they swore they wouldn't. Dogs never tell your secrets. They never judge you either. They don't care what color you are, if you are tall, short, skinny or fat they just want to be with you.

Both of my dogs are black. I have never seen them get upset because the neighbors dog is white and he seems to dig them too. Completely non-judgmental. My neighbor on the other side has dogs of every shape and size and color. Some of them are rescues and so are my two dogs. I've never seen any of them make fun of each other and never seen the ones who are purebred look down on the rescue dogs. They just run up and down the fence and bark each other into exhaustion.

I think about their character, loyalty and energy and I am humbled. I pride myself on matters of integrity and loyalty but I believe I would be a miserable failure upside my dogs. They are not pure bred, the idea that I even know that shows that I have prejudices. They are not expensive or flashy and noticing that tells me I am materialistic and I scold them at times just because they love me so much that they want to lick my face. I need to relax a bit. 

I love my dogs and I respect them so much. I pray that one day I can be so loyal and honorable as either of them. We should all strive to emulate our finest friends. Not he butt sniffing in public part but the rest of it. Give your dog a hug and a good massage and tell him you love him because they are the best of us and while you may or may not be able to teach them a new trick, we can all learn a lot from an old dog.

Dauphin Island Race 2015 #HellOnTheBay

Dauphin Island Race 2015 | Garmin Adventures

Hell on the Bay

As for yesterday April 25th on Mobile Bay I just have to say one thing. Several hundred men and women went to the Bay to compete in a regatta that has a 57 year tradition where, up until yesterday, no one has ever been lost. There will always be a lot of second guesses about everything we and others do in life. What could we have done differently? I guess that is a healthy question but I do have one succinct answer. As for us and our crew I wouldn't change one damned thing. Everyone on our boat was unscathed and the boat is undamaged. We're hearing reports of wind readings sustained in the 70s and 90s. Could we have done something different or better? Hell if I know but at the end of the day we managed the best possible outcome and that is a boat full of family and friends who were all safe. Lives were lost yesterday in #HellOnTheBay but second guessing will not change a single thing.

The FDA Strikes Again

I would like to pay a hearty and well deserved thanks to the FDA. They have made the most effective and cheapest sinus medicine available so hard to get that they may as well have banned it. Pseudoephedrine is the most effective, cheapest and safest allergy treatment anywhere. (period) Because some crack head wants to make meth out of it is simply not my fault nor is it the fault of the millions of allergy sufferers out there today. In typical liberal progressive fashion they decide to attack the rights of the masses rather than to punish the actual persons who exhibit deviant behavior. Thanks again FDA! Thanks again for making the point that the government cannot be trusted to look out for the rights of the masses. Thanks again for proving exactly why we the people do not trust you the federal government.

The problem with liberal guilt

The problem with liberal guilt is that they don't want to own it. They feel bad so they give something away. It's kinda like this. A liberal and a conservative are walking down the street when they see a pitiful homeless guy approaching. The liberal opines about how bad he feels for the guy and the conservative says the homeless guy should, "get a job." Then the liberal has an idea. let's do something for him, you know give him a few bucks. The conservative exclaims that he will just drink it but pulls out a $20 anyway and hands it over. The liberal pulls out his wallet and explains he is low on cash and borrows a $20 to give to the homeless guy. The conservative just walks away with the full understanding that all he did was blow $40 and the liberal walks away feeling like he really did something good. Liberalism as a current ideology requires two things. One is avoiding responsibility and the other is guilt. This guilt is not for the believer but a sack of burdens he can heap on another person at any time to advance any agenda. You keep your baggage and I will keep my $40.