Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Chelsea Beach Sunset

We were down at the Surf Club a couple of weeks back and this was what was on offer... You gotta love winter in Melbourne...



The colour looked a lot more intense before i converted from .NEF to .JPG... and you could actually see the sand, oh well, you live and learn.



Monday, July 25, 2011

A Few Photos from my Trip to Weipa

I recently went to Weipa for work, and took a few snaps with the trusty Iphone camera, the results aren't too bad...

 Sunrise at Evans Landing

 Windy late afternoon at an out of the way beach

 Looking over Hinchinbrook Is, with Orpheus Is in the foreground

Looking out to into the Gulf

And obviously, NO SWIMMING!!

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Time lapse video of Paris at night...

Found this timelapse video and just had to post it...it's great!


Le Flâneur (music by The XX) from Luke Shepard on Vimeo.

Car Park Of The Week Award...

Goes to the young lady driving this little red car!!


lines...what lines...???


But the best part is, this is a one way street which she backed along against the traffic to get the parking spot...

Last Night's Storm...i do enjoy a good blow!

When it comes to weather, i love the numbers and the stats.  Not the everyday stuff, but the extreme events.  
Take last night for example.  I was a little too excited when i heard that 60kt winds were forecast to arrive between 10pm and midnight.  So when the wind started to blow, i went to my go to sites to watch things develop.  
When we went to bed, at about 11, things were starting to get going.  It was blowing a solid 30kts, with stronger gusts. So i checked what has become my favourite live weather site...The Mornington Yacht Club Weather Cam...


MYC Weather Cam
Mornington Yacht Club is about 15k south of us, so i can generally rely on the data to be somewhat relevant to what we're experiencing.  
As you can see a lot of weather related numbers and graphs are displayed.  The chart provides about 10 hours of data as well as the current conditions and some historical data.
My inner weather nerd was very excited looking at the charts, you can clearly see when the front hit, although the pre-frontal weather was more severe, which is often the case on Port Phillip.
The wind was sitting at between 30 and 40kts out of the NW.  With the temperature, an unseasonably warm 15degC.  What is also clear is the pressure dropping.
The all of a sudden at 2:30am, which is incidentally when the rain started, the wind became gusty but dropped, the temperature started to drop and the pressure started to rise.  All signifying the passing of the cold front.
Looking at the historical summary, it appears last nights storm wasn't as severe as others we've had in the past 3 years...luckily it's only June, and we've still got a chance fro something stronger!!


Definitely an evening to be tucked up in bed and not on the water!!

Thursday, June 16, 2011

A Calmer Mordialloc Beach

Went for a walk at lunchtime and got a shot of Mordi Pier sitting on a calm Port Phillip...


Unfortunately i didn't have my camera with me. However, the iphone still gives a sense of the serenity :)

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

A Stormy Mordialloc Beach

It was absolutely pouring with rain and blowing a gale when i shot these. Consequently, i gave absolutely no consideration to the settings on the camera, i just pulled it out..shot...put it away. By some miracle the two rock splashing shots turned out OK. The colour on the third photo is a little strange...let's just say the white balance was completely wrong... :( ... I must remember to shoot in Auto or RAW...based on the two card slots and truck load of memory, i vote for RAW... :)





Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Dinner



Chicken & Leek Risotto...yummy!!

Sunrise at Mordialloc Creek

As i left home this morning to go to work, it was a typical frosty Melbourne morning.  So first thought...damn, it's cold...second thought, nice morning for some pics.
And i wasn't disappointed, here's a snipet of Mordi Creek on a frosty Melbourne morning...just for the record, it was a lovely 4 deg C at 7:30...





Monday, May 16, 2011

SOUTH SEA ROLLER DERBY!!

Back in May last year, we were convinced (and it really didn't take much convincing) by some friends to go along to see the Roller Derby at Keysborough. Well we didn't have anything else to do and thought it sounded pretty cool, so why the hell not!

And i tell you all what, it was great! We've been back to Keysborough twice and over to Geelong as well, and each time thoroughly enjoyed it.

We're definitely looking forward to next season, and hopefully our friends, Marshall "Lord Fast Quad" who is trying training to become part of Team Zebra (the ref's) and the accident prone Jackie (just back on her feet after busting her ankle and hoping to get back to boot camp), will become part of the action. 

So until next season, here's some action from the Cutthroat Charmers and the Dolly Rogers (from the Tour of Booty bout)... I wasn't going to post these pics, because i was a bit disappointed with them...but thought why the hell not!

More info here at the South Sea Roller Derby website...     













Monday, March 7, 2011

Just a bit of randomness in General about Jedda Trailer Sailers for Sale...

Occasionally i have a look and see where my hits have come from...i've noticed a few from people searching for things such as "Jedda trailer sailer for sale" and similar...
I'm not making any comment about these boats, other than to say, that since i've had mine, i don't think there has been a stage when there hasn't been at least one for sale in the yard at Yaringa...Linky Thing for Yaringa Boat Sales so if you're looking for one, that might be the place to start...
Good Luck...

Not Quite The Day On The Water i Was Hoping For...But On The Upside...At Least Now I Know Where The Leak Is...

It's been a while since Maggie had been out for a sail, and Sunday was the day. 
I arrived at the marina and Maggie was waiting for me on the hardstand, with a gentle easterly breeze barely bothering the flags. This would be a good day to get the main up and sort out the reefing lines before hitting the water. After about half an hour, the lines were sorted and i had Maggie moved to the water.
Once in the water i did the normal set up...hank on the jib, run the jib lines, kick over the engine...so far so good. Then time to lower the keels. This is normally the first thing i do, just to resist some of the sway and give a bit more stability under foot...why i did it last on this day is anybody's guess???
Oh and i might add, that since i'd last been down to see Maggie, we'd had quite a bit of heavy rain, so i checked inside the under sink cupboard - where i'd previously found water - for any leaks...and nothing...that's great!!
So now to winding down the keel...as always, i release the handle from the catch and ease the keels down...however, this time as the keel lowers i here a cracking of fibreglass...hmm, that doesn't sound good...so i go below and check the hatch beneath the sink - the previous area of flood related interest (clicky and clicky for previous story) - and well what do you know...we've struck water...hmmm, not so good...!!
So i do what anybody wanting to go for a sail does, wind the keel right down and evaluate just how bad the leak really is...well...on the upside i didn't hear any more 'glass breaking, but a quick look in the hatch shows that the of water in flow has increased...um...so maybe going for a sail isn't such a good idea after all... :(
So back up on the dry i have a bit of a look underneath, and it appears that the keels have corroded to the extent that the induced swelling put too much pressure on the casing and CRACK!!...BUGGER!!!...DAMN!!!!
For the last 18 months or so i've been meaning to put Maggie up in a cradle, drop the keels and tidy it all up and looks like the time has come...
No doubt, once i get this operation under way my award winning literary skills will bring you all - OK the unlucky person who reads this - the next next exciting instalment of...drum roll please... 


...Tim's Jedda Renovation...

until then...Happy Sailing...

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

And the Marlay Point Over Night Race is almost upon us again...

For those of you who are new around here, the Marlay Point Over Night Yacht Race - MPONR, is an absurd concept involving setting sail from the Lake Wellington Yacht Club...clicky here for map...at somewhere between beer o'clock and dinner time and racing through the night, arriving at Paynesville any time between the early hours of the morning and midday, depending upon your boat and the wind...


I did the race last year on a mate's boat and i'm lining up on the same boat again this year. Hopefully, one day i'll get my act together and get my boat down there...


Here's my thoughts and recollections of last years race...





If you really can't be bothered clicking the links and reading the stories...firstly, let me say i'm very disappointed in you...but don't worry, here's a quick version of events...


Pre-race briefing from RAAF weather expert...Melbourne is getting smashed by storms, we should be OK...hmmm..that sounds ominous...
Set sail from yacht club just before start time and starts to absolutely piss down and blow about 20-25??? knots...Start delayed...
Almost start time...wind dies to not a friggin zephyr!!
Drift aimlessly in the direction we should be heading...
Find entrance to channel...BOTH SIDES!!!
Drift along channel...
Hooray wind...well, not so much...wind blows directly on our nose in 50 m wide channel for 15 minutes...fairly intense tacking session at 4am...
Finally exit the channel at 6am, just as the wind picks up to about 8-10kts...fairly good sailing for the next three hours...
Then...WIND STOPS...again...!!!
Drift aimlessly for another couple of hours...skipper finally decides to pull the pin as we appear to be getting further from the finish...
Oh, and i forgot to mention that massive electrical storms were surrounding us all night...but on the upside, we could generally always see...


Writing that now, it doesn't really seem that much fun. Each year, most sailors, say that they'll never do it again...well...until next year that is!!


Let's see what this year throws up...




Happy Sailing...

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Single Handed Sailing Tips Book

I know many sailors out there spend a lot of time single handing their boats, be it because you can't find crew, you like the solitude of sailing solo, the crew you do have are passengers not crew or people just don't trust you!! Whatever the reason, a lot of effort goes into setting up your boat to make things easier to sail solo. 


I, like many others, spend a large amount of time looking over other people's boats and tinkering with things to get it just right...


A friend on an online sailing forum pointed a publication by the Single Handed Society, based in San Francisco, which is available for free download.





I haven't had a chance to go through the book, but those who have - some of whom I would regard as very experienced sailors - appear to have got a few tips.


Hopefully, you can also get something out of it.


Happy Sailing, Tim.

Sunday, February 6, 2011

A Couple of Shots of The Moon at Merimbula



Both the shots were taken using a 1/3 of a second exposure with the ISO set at 1600. As with all the images i have posted, these are just the raw (not RAW...just unedited) file, i haven't photoshopped anything yet, largely because i don't know what i'm doing.
As i don't have a tripod and remote, i was balancing the camera on a fence post and carefully taking the shot without bumping the camera.

Monday, January 10, 2011

Claire Doing Some Floral Arranging


With this shot, i tried to make the focus on the flowers...maybe if i was doing it again i would increase the depth of field to sharpen Claire as well...oh well, you live and learn... 

The Spider Cake Claire Made for James' Birthday

Sailing on Western Port

Claire enjoying a glass of Birthday Bubbles

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Claire & Emily Stepping Out

Frosty

New Years Resolution

After neglecting Maggie for far too long my New Years Resolution is to...


GO SAILING!!