65- by 32-foot catamaran 3200sqft of living space

[George Dewey]

And so far, all the dire predictions have died and are awaiting burial.

Well, yes and no. I have not made a big list of each and every dire prediction, but what this guy has done is to have built a giant raft. So far, he has been blessed by good weather. I can't say what the fall will bring where he is, but coming into the fall here in the northeast, there are going to be some good storms. If he was here he might have another month to get that thing going or pull it out.

If a good storm comes, its going to drag its anchor. If he brings it to a marina and ties up, and it breaks apart, its going to damage other boats. My bet is he knows all this and is just trying to figure out what to do. He has to know the clock is ticking.

 

[Somebody Else]

So far the water phase of Flyin' Hawaiian's adventure is evolving in a predictable manner.

As the dream gets strong-armed into submission by the slow-dawning reality, Hot Rod is retreating into the relative safety of shallow water and the comfort of invisibility. It's going to be a mud-flat condo in some delta backwater.

All that talk about living the high-life in the South Pacific was just a cover -- a way to shut people up and get them to leave him alone.

Master this, master that...

Hardly! We've all seen the evidence.

Master B.S. artist.

That's it.

From my cynical imagination, it's more likely to explode in a meth-cooking accident than it is to fall apart from ocean stresses.

 

[George Dewey]

I find it ironic that some of the same people who were saying we are all armchair sailors are posting here on Saturday, during sailing season. :huh: I have an excuse, I work most weekends!

I can post from my boat...

 

[Steam Flyer]

... ...

And so far, all the dire predictions have died and are awaiting burial. But if I told you all that I was gonna leave Kobenhavn for North Amerika in an open boat with only a rock for a plotter, you pussies would all be calling the Coasties on my ass too. I believe they made it... Yet if some dumbass decides to do the ARC in a Hunter or BendyToy, nobody gets their panties in a bunch even though Ralph Nader already declared said vessel unsafe at any speed. It's a big ocean with tons of wrecks... How about those pros who keep sinking? ...

Yep, including mine... however that doesn't make the basis for prediction is totally wrong. Rust never sleeps, and neither does creeping sogginess. Cheap-ass plywood undersized and under braced does not suddenly become stronger by have a coat of epoxy & out-body tape on the seams (or maybe it was drywall tape). The question remains not -if- but when.

All that aside, my objection to HotRod and his attempted adventure is not calling himself a boatbuilder but that somebody else is getting stuck with the bills, and somebody else is going to have to clean it up when it falls apart (which it will even if it had remained parked on dry land); I hope that somebody doesn't have to put themselves at risk rescuing HR and his presumed kinfolk.

I would give HR all credit for having initiative, imagination, and the willingness to keep fixing problems as the keep coming up.'The fact that he's pursuing a dream is good. But the fact he's chasing a dream on somebody else's dime makes it far less than admirable IMHO.

And I want to get one of those rock plotters. You have to hang it from string though, right?



FB- Doug

 

[mikewof]

I am not pulling for the Rod because we all know how this is going to end. He'll be broke, facing a clean up fine, risking others skin to save his ass (if he ever gets going), lost his bike, possibly his mom, and all for what? If he's living the dream I am dreaming the wrong things. Boat, yes. Island life, yes. P.O.S. boat, no. No idea what I am doing, no. I could go on here. When it breaks up it will be amusing and sad all at once. I'll laugh and point but feel bad too.

And so far, all the dire predictions have died and are awaiting burial. But if I told you all that I was gonna leave Kobenhavn for North Amerika in an open boat with only a rock for a plotter, you pussies would all be calling the Coasties on my ass too. I believe they made it... Yet if some dumbass decides to do the ARC in a Hunter or BendyToy, nobody gets their panties in a bunch even though Ralph Nader already declared said vessel unsafe at any speed. It's a big ocean with tons of wrecks... How about those pros who keep sinking? WWW.gcaptain.com

I find it ironic that redviking, one of the most vocal critics of the voyage of the Cheese Scow has now become an ardent supporter of the FH debacle. At least Stowe built a seaworthy vessel that made a circumnavigation (sailing, drifting, whatever, he still did it) as well as a journey to South America and back. Stowe made several repairs to his vessel while on his epic journey and still managed to make it back. I doubt the FH will ever leave SF Bay and if it does, it won't get far into the Pacific until the inevitable tragedy strikes. So whats up with that shit Red???? Just because HR isn't shamelessly begging for fundage doesn't make FH anything more than a poorly conceived, poorly built piece o' shit. It has yet to sail under its own power and I doubt it ever will. The best thing that could happen is that it will sink into the mud in the delta somewhere and this little misadventure disguised as a dream will be mercifully over without loss of human life.

Hmmm... Yeah, add some sprouts, a soy, some grifting and a void Ho video and I would sing a different tune for sure... But in this case, its all speculation... HR may be crazy, but he has a ways to go before being Stowe crazy.... And now you think Anne was well built? How times have changed.

Red, say what you will about the cheese scow, but I sailed on Anne, that may have been a slow boat, but it was a heavy, well-built boat. Sure, there were some saddled dead horses, and a little decay here and there, but that boat was rock solid.

I docked near Anne and saw storms that tossed every docked boat there around like styrofoam cups, except for John Krevvy's 133 foot Lightship Frying Pan and Stowe's boat. In fact, it moved so little I was thought for a while that she had her keel in the mud.

I sailed on Anne, pulled sheets on Anne and I would have no safety concerns in taking my wife and children on that boat. But I wouldn't put my loved ones on the Flyin' Hawaiian unless maybe it was hauled somewhere outside of Tuba City, Arizona and converted to a Snow Cone stand by the side of the road, and even then I would make sure it wasn't about to rain.

 

[Somebody Else]

All that aside, my objection to HotRod and his attempted adventure is not calling himself a boatbuilder but that somebody else is getting stuck with the bills, and somebody else is going to have to clean it up when it falls apart (which it will even if it had remained parked on dry land); I hope that somebody doesn't have to put themselves at risk rescuing HR and his presumed kinfolk.

I would give HR all credit for having initiative, imagination, and the willingness to keep fixing problems as the keep coming up.'The fact that he's pursuing a dream is good. But the fact he's chasing a dream on somebody else's dime makes it far less than admirable IMHO.

I appreciate your concern, but I haven't put a single dime into his Hot Rod's endeavor yet, nor do I plan to.

 

[Steam Flyer]

All that aside, my objection to HotRod and his attempted adventure is not calling himself a boatbuilder but that somebody else is getting stuck with the bills, and somebody else is going to have to clean it up when it falls apart (which it will even if it had remained parked on dry land); I hope that somebody doesn't have to put themselves at risk rescuing HR and his presumed kinfolk.

I would give HR all credit for having initiative, imagination, and the willingness to keep fixing problems as the keep coming up.'The fact that he's pursuing a dream is good. But the fact he's chasing a dream on somebody else's dime makes it far less than admirable IMHO.

I appreciate your concern, but I haven't put a single dime into his Hot Rod's endeavor yet, nor do I plan to.

-shrug- you know what I meant

FB- Doug

 

[Steam Flyer]

I find it ironic that some of the same people who were saying we are all armchair sailors are posting here on Saturday, during sailing season. :huh: I have an excuse, I work most weekends!

I can post from my boat...

I just got in from a race... exciting one too, although for the wrong reasons unfortunately

:wacko:

FB- Doug

 

[Grinder]

Where the hell is the boat?

 

[redviking]

Actually I am with RedV on my opinion of Reid Stowe as well. He got very lucky. He came at his little adventure with more going for it than HR but only just. Reid's little adventure had plenty of opportunity to go badly. People who go out totally unprepared and have to be rescued are not admirable. They are prizes that Darwin didn't get to collect! Reid got away with it, HR, I think will be less fortunate.

Perhaps. Having done the long beach Hawaii run myself, I cannot recall a more boring 19 days at sea. Period. Can be so docile... HeY look, that crazy VET turned down an AMVER and mad it back sans keel. What is worse? We are all so quick to judge. I would have been pro Reid if it wasn't for the sacred side slipping crap and other nonsense. If a bundle of coke bottles can make it, so may HR. Calling for someone to rat on HR to the Coasties goes beyond my limits as a mariner. I wouldn't take a Morgan from Miami to the Bahamas, but plenty of folks have. Kill the drama... Let him do what he needs to do. Tania Aebi didn't know how to navigate, nobody called the Coasties. Reid, well Reid did the cat thing... Let HR fail or not on his own terms sans SA Patrol... Just saying...

 

[dcbsheb]

Where the hell is the boat?

That's the number one question. It's been two days and no pictures. Time to send Clean on an assignment. Maybe the Boatpix guy can help out. He sure likes getting way closer than he needs to be.

 

[buzzardsbay105]

This just in:

(HR didn't make the cut)

2013 Darwin Awards2013 DARWIN AWARDS

You've been waiting for them with bated breath, so without further ado, here are the 2013 Darwin Awards:



Eighth Place

In Detroit, a 41-year-old man got stuck and drowned in two feet of water after squeezing head first through an 18-inch-wide sewer grate to retrieve his car keys.




Seventh Place

A 49-year-old San Francisco stockbroker, who "totally zoned when he ran", accidentally jogged off a 100-foot high cliff on his daily run.

Sixth Place

While at the beach, Daniel Jones, 21, dug an 8 foot hole for protection from the wind and had been sitting in a beach chair at the bottom, when it collapsed, burying him beneath 5 feet of sand. People on the beach used their hands and shovels trying to get him out but could not reach him. It took rescue workers using heavy equipment almost an hour to free him. Jones was pronounced dead at a hospital.

Fifth Place

Santiago Alvarado, 24, was killed as he fell through the ceiling of a bicycle shop he was burglarizing. Death was caused when the long flashlight he had placed in his mouth to keep his hands free rammed into the base of his skull as he hit the floor.




Fourth Place

Sylvester Briddell, Jr., 26, was killed as he won a bet with friends who said he would not put a revolver loaded with four bullets into his mouth and pull the trigger.



Third Place

After stepping around a marked police patrol car parked at the front door, a man walked into H&J Leather & Firearms intent on robbing the store. The shop was full of customers and a uniformed officer was standing at the counter. Upon seeing the officer, the would-be robber announced a hold-up and fired a few wild shots from a target pistol.

The officer and a clerk promptly returned fire, and several customers also drew their guns and fired. The robber was pronounced dead at the scene by Paramedics. Crime scene investigators located 47 expended cartridge cases in the shop. The subsequent autopsy revealed 23 gunshot wounds. Ballistics identified rounds from 7 different weapons. No one else was hurt.

HONORABLE MENTION

Paul Stiller, 47, and his wife Bonnie were bored just driving around at 2 A.M. so they lit a quarter stick of dynamite to toss out the window to see what would happen. Apparently they failed to notice that the window was closed.

RUNNER UP

Kerry Bingham had been drinking with several friends when one of them said they knew a person who had bungee-jumped from a local bridge in the middle of traffic. The conversation grew more excited, and at least 10 men trooped along the walkway of the bridge at 4:30 AM. Upon arrival at the midpoint of the bridge, they discovered that no one had brought a bungee rope. Bingham, who had continued drinking, volunteered and pointed out that a coil of lineman's cable lay nearby. They secured one end around Bingham's leg and then tied the other to the bridge. His fall lasted 40 feet before the cable tightened and tore his foot off at the ankle. He miraculously survived his fall into the icy water and was rescued by two nearby fishermen. Bingham's foot was never located.

AND THE WINNER IS....

Zookeeper Friedrich Riesfeldt ( Paderborn , Germany ) fed his constipated elephant 22 doses of animal laxative and more than a bushel of berries, figs and prunes before the plugged-up pachyderm finally got relief. Investigators say ill-fated Friedrich, 46, was attempting to give the ailing elephant an olive oil enema when the relieved beast unloaded.

The sheer force of the elephant's unexpected defecation knocked Mr. Riesfeldt to the ground where he struck his head on a rock as the elephant continued to evacuate 200 pounds of dung on top of him. It seems to be just one of those freak accidents that proves... 'sh*t happens'



IT ALWAYS SEEMS IMPORTANT TO THANK THESE PEOPLE FOR REMOVING THEMSELVES FROM THE GENE POOL.

 

[SloopJonB]

All that aside, my objection to HotRod and his attempted adventure is not calling himself a boatbuilder but that somebody else is getting stuck with the bills, and somebody else is going to have to clean it up when it falls apart (which it will even if it had remained parked on dry land); I hope that somebody doesn't have to put themselves at risk rescuing HR and his presumed kinfolk.

I would give HR all credit for having initiative, imagination, and the willingness to keep fixing problems as the keep coming up.'The fact that he's pursuing a dream is good. But the fact he's chasing a dream on somebody else's dime makes it far less than admirable IMHO.

I appreciate your concern, but I haven't put a single dime into his Hot Rod's endeavor yet, nor do I plan to.

I'll bet some of your tax $$$ end up paying to clean up the mess it leaves behind.

 

[Spoffo]

<p>NEW PIX! We're back from our mini-vacation and, as reported, FH is now anchored off China Camp.  However, it really is not in the sheltered China camp anchorage.  It's a bit farther south and much father offshore - - I'd guess almost a mile.  I've tried to mark it on a Google Earth shot below.  In this position he is much more exposed to wind and, especially, chop than he was before.  He's also much closer to the shipping channel, as you can see from the wide shot</p>

<p> </p>

<div>



</div><div>



</div><div> </div>

<div>Shortly after I found them, I was lucky enough to see HR drive up in the Bayliner (<em>aka</em> FH Jr.)  He tied up to the starboard quarter and handed up a few bags of groceries.  there then follow a Keystone Cops routine where Rod and one other person attempted to lead FH jr. around and, I think, attempt to berth it in the tunnel between the hulls (where it had been in the previous anchorage.)  I watched fwhile  they pushed and tugged with two dock lines, a couple of boathooks, a deck brush and a 2x4 and the the Bayliner swung every way but into the wind and where they were trying to put it.  Several times the Bayliner started to pound - - <em><strong>hard</strong></em> - - on one of the rudders (which stick out a good 3 feet behind the hulls, and at one point Rod got one of the lines massively fouled on one of these same rudders. Several times they let the boat trail 50 yards or so downwind of FH and I thought they were going to lose it. I finally left after half an hour, and they were still wrestling.</div>

<div> </div>

<div>I'm not saying Rod and his crew are clowns.  The Bayliner is a large-ish, heavy boat. It obviously has terrible sailing characteristics - - appearing to fall off and pivot around the lower unit any time they gave it half a chance - - and it was bouncing around pretty good in the chop.  Rather, this whole episode just illustrates how difficult this new location is.  If disaster doesn't strike, I'm guessing they'll have to move again soon.</div>

<div> </div>

<div>Finally check the rigging in the last picture.  it's looking a lot worse for wear. There's something that looks sorta like a furled sail attached to the forestay, but the lines attached to it don't make any sense.  That boom  (gaff?) that angles up between the two masts seems to be out of position at the top, and there are loose lines everywhere bowing in the wind.</div>

<div> </div>

<div>I'll try to take another look tomorrow, but this new location involves driving about 3 miles.  In the old one, I could just walk up the street 3 houses to see FH at anchor and check if FH jr. was at the gas dock.</div>

<div> </div>

<div>

<div>



</div><div>



</div><p> </p>

</div>

<p> </p>

 

[ZeroTheHero]

no pix Spoffo, or I can't see em.

Edit: And now I can!

 

[Willin']

Great info Spof!!! The pix, however, seem to be of the traditional fog bank in a snow storm variety from what I can see.

ETA Never mind!

 

[ZeroTheHero]

Are they wearing pfd's? Kinda looks like it

 

[Spoffo]

Sorry. I started to type before I realized I hadn't uploaded the pix, so I posted it unfinished to save while I did that. Now the pix are there, but the editor seems to have now included all sorts of html tags??? no idea why.

 

[Spoffo]

Are they wearing pfd's? Kinda looks like it

Yes, both Rod and the other (Mrs. Rod?) were wearing those big puffy legal-type PFDs. Big improvement over last week. Though at one point in the battle of the Bayliner, Rod was down on the lowest step over the rudder with his off

 

[ZeroTheHero]

your pics are in an album on SA as well, that might be it