GuitarSurf

CIYC Midwinter Regatta

Ingram — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 21:36:04 +0000

I sailed on Randy Alcorn’s Outpatient today to a first place finish. Great weather, fun sailing.

Randy celebrates his win. Crew included Jerry and Doug from AYC.

Lots of racers from Santa Barbara to Long Beach enjoyed the awards party at CIYC.

Problem

Ingram — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 20:53:21 +0000

I lost access to my original files for this site so I’m using a temporary WordPress blog until I can fix it. It looks like I’ve lost almost a year’s work so I sure hope I can find out what’s wrong. Stand by.

San Diego Yachting Cup

Ingram — Tue, 12 May 2009 00:00:02 +0000

Maine Squeeze is at the San Diego Yacht Club for the Yachting Cup Regatta May 2 and 3. Updates will be posted as events unfold.

UPDATE

After three races ok Saturday, the Squeeze is 7-7-6. Stategem broke a shroud in the last race and had to DNF. The conditions were almost perfect, with winds in the 8-15 knot range and little swell. A NW current did figure into the navigation as did the abundent kelp.
The crew sailed Maine Squeeze very well and made no big errors, but the competetion made better sail choices and had more experience with regatta racing.

On Sunday we had a little more wind, but the results were the same. Our crew didn’t attend the awards ceremony, and most of the crew wanted to get back home, so they left. Mike and I went to Miguel’s Mexican Restaurant for some yummy food, then turned in early because we wanted to leave early for the delivery back to Channel Islands. After getting underway at 4 a.m., we set a course for Catalina, which we reached at 4 p.m.. We got fuel and had a burger before continuing on to Two Harbors. We stayed there the next day due to gale force conditions and left at 3:30 a.m. for Channel Islands Harbor, reaching it after a bumpy ride across the channel in 9 1/2 hours.

Ensenada!

Ingram — Mon, 11 May 2009 23:57:10 +0000

After an uneventful trip down to Newport Beach, Taylor, Warns, Doug and I left Maine Squeeze on a mooring while we had great and inexpensive burgers at Newport Landing. The next day we transfered the Squeeze, 5150 and Moonshadow to the guest dock at BYC. Ernie came up from Oceanside for a visit; later Fusee showed up with Harry, Larry and Randy. Our crew joined them for dinner at BCYC, then drinks and jokes on Fusee.

Maine Squeeze sailed the 125 mile course in 19 hours and 27 minutes to be the first Schock 35 to finish and win a second place trophy in PHRF E class. Skipper Mike Taylor sparked the crew to top performance during his fastest “tequila derby” yet. Admiral Cherri experienced her first Ensenada Race, driving, trimming and feeding the crew. Bill Brayton also steered and trimmed Maine Squeeze to max performance while Tina Roberson kept the “strings” in perfect tune. Foredeck man Bruce McKenzie was in top form especially during sail hoists, douses and spinnaker tubes, and Curt Ingram played the sail controls like a fine guitar. The crew enjoys victory! Mike with the Schock 35 perpetual trophy

Music Van Day at Pierpont

Ingram — Thu, 07 May 2009 23:12:50 +0000

Laura Mihalka, a parent at Pierpont, organized the music van presentation and invited me to participate. Kids from grades 3-5 were given a chance to hold and even play the instruments of the orchestra, including violin, cello, bass, trumpet, clarinet, flute, percussion, trombone and French horn.

The instruments are provided by the New West Symphony of Thousand Oaks. They are packed into a van. Schools can reserve the van for presentations at their local sites.

We had plenty of help keeping the show going and demonstrating how to play the instruments. Besides Laura and me, there were six parents and a former student there to help out. The kids really enjoyed this experience!

I Am Honored

Ingram — Thu, 07 May 2009 23:11:20 +0000

The teachers at Citrus Glen honored me by giving me the Cub Club award. This school has so many fine teachers and I’m proud to be part of the program.

Thank You, Citrus Glen!

Smuggler’s Rum Run

Ingram — Thu, 07 May 2009 23:08:44 +0000

This race, sponsored by the Ventura Sailing Club, is a little different. Each boat is required to throw a bottle of rum overboard, then retrieve it, before sailing the race course. I was invited to sail on Just Whistle, a Catalina 42 owned by Nick with crew members Marc Ean and Bruce McKenzie.
We sailed over to Smuggler’s on Saturday and dropped the hook. The other boats were already there and included:
Three Little Birds
Spit Dog
Maine Squeeze
Wainui
Miserlou
Moonshadow (dropped out because Doug split his leg open in a fall)

The race on Sunday took place in ideal conditions, with 10-15 knots of wind from the south and sunny skies. our boat marched along at 7+knots and we finished in about 2 1/2 hours. The course was from Smuggler’s to Channel Islands Harbor.

Tokerau

Ingram — Thu, 07 May 2009 23:06:43 +0000

A couple days ago I received this picture of Tokerau, a Block Island Cutter owned (at the time) by good friend Ken Cartee. Click on the picture to enlarge it. I had some serious fun on this boat. I remember sailing her up to Long Beach for the Ancient Mariners’ Race. After leaving Newport Harbor, we set the jib and headed for Long Beach in a moderate breeze. It’s about a 15 mile run and we made it with a few tacks. As we approached the anchorage area by the Queen Mary, Ken told the crew to drop the jib and back the main to stop Tokerau and pay out her anchor and chain.
With the ground tackle secure, we began the party. On board were Ken and Terri, Rose, Curt, and Kevin. The anchorage was filled with wood boats of the classic era. Most of them were in top shape and looking good. There were small boats, like the Folkboat, and large ones like the Californian and Kelpie. The crews included serious racers and sailors who were more interested in the fun part.
The next day was the race. It was a long time ago, so I don’t remember much about it, but I do recall the fun we had and the comradery of the crew(s). This was special. There were many other fun experiences on Tokerau.
Thanks, Ken for sharing your Tokerau with me and others and being a friend.

The Creamy Pint Cruises to Smuggler’s

Ingram — Thu, 07 May 2009 23:03:24 +0000

Saturday Morning I found myself watching Bruce (The Creamy Pint’s owner) disassemble the carburetor on his mighty 4 hp outboard engine. It wasn’t working but after he put all the parts back together and pulled the chord, the beast started right up. There was a bit of wind, so between the sails and the outboard, we made Smuggler’s Cove on Santa Cruz Island without any more problems.

As soon as we got the anchor set Mike and Cherri Taylor took us over to Our Porpoise in their dinghy, where we partied with Bill and Tina, Doug and Kalin.

After a hearty dinner of pork loin, we dinghied over to Wainui for another round.
The anchorage was very rolly but I managed to sleep, which is unusual for me. The motion and the noise of things moving around normally keep me awake.
After using a new French press to make coffee the next morning, Taylor took us over to Maine Squeeze for breakfast. There was already some breeze blowing so Bruce wanted to get underway sooner than later.
The trip back to Channel Islands was slow because there was not much wind and the outboard was not working properly. Bruce took apart and cleaned the carburetor again, changed the spark plug and fuel to keep the engine running. After 6 hours we reached into the harbor and motored back into the slip. Mike was there to help us in his dinghy again.

Creamy Pint is a vintage 1969 Erickson 26. Even though she suffered from engine problems, she got the job done.

Spring Series #3

Ingram — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 20:59:01 +0000

Another beautiful but windless day, and the final race of the PBYC series. With over twenty boats in 5 classes, the race course was short with winds in the 6-8 knot range. The lighter boats finished ahead of Maine Squeeze. Returning to Channel Islands Harbor, we ran out fuel at the breakwater and sailed MS into her slip.
We were greeted by the H dock locals who were preparing a tri tip steak along with this cake: