We have been planning to take VALIS out on an overnight sail for several months, to give the crew a chance to regain (or gain) their sea-legs, and do some open-ocean spinnaker practice. We had agreed on the weekend of April 12-13, and if the weather wasn’t appropriate we would stay in the Bay. As […]

VALIS is getting ready for the Pacific Cup!   On Friday, Apr 11, Daniel T, Alan B, and I met onboard VALIS to review the systems and rigging, and any changes necessary.  We were joined by our rigger J.P. (J.P. Boatworks, Sausalito – whom I highly recommend).  We went over the boat from stem to […]

Here are some photos from our jaunt out to see the Queen Mary 2 as she entered San Francisco Bay. On board we had Paul and Mary Elliott, Daniel Terhune and his daughter Brook, Chick Petersen and Deborah Parrish, and Paul Grossman. Daniel and Paul G. have sailed many miles on VALIS: Paul was crew […]

Here is the Google Earth file showing our excursion around the bay, including a jaunt out into the Pacific to welcome the Queen Mary 2. Unfortunately, my camera malfunctioned, so images here will have to wait. We left Sausalito around 11:00AM, and motored or sailed (under genoa only because the main is still at the […]

We took VALIS out to Alcatraz for Fleet Week, and what an interesting day it was! In addition to some impressive ships, and some amazing demonstrations of air power and grace, we learned first-hand (again) what boaters mean when they say that anchoring is the second-most stressful thing we do (anchoring next to dozens of […]

Lately I’ve been working with AIS (Automatic Identification System) tools and hardware for VALIS. AIS is a system used to track ships using VHF transmitters and receivers. Ships broadcast their position, speed, course, etc, and we can receive these signals, allowing us to anticipate close encounters and make necessary course changes. AIS is a breakthrough […]

We finally made it to the Farallon Islands, rounding the southern island in the morning of May 29, 2006. This was after a very trying evening under heavily reefed main and staysail, with winds and seas conspiring to put the entire crew “off their feed”. But survive we did, and the morning found us in […]

Here is a Google-Earth track of our little sailing excursion today (Sunday). We had great weather — pretty warm (t-shirts for most of the day), decent wind after we got out of Richardson Bay, some fun swells at sea, and porposes. Now, we return to our regularly scheduled rain… Click on the file below to […]

You are reading the new and improved VALIS blog. I am now using WordPress software, running locally on the Sonic.net server. I will be using this blog to keep up-to-date on the upcoming Pacific Cup race. Please note the “Pacific Cup Calendar” page (there is a link to it on the right side of the […]

Greetings! I have been playing with Google Earth, which is an incredibly cool program for exploring the earth via satellite and other photos, elevation databases, geopolitical info, etc, etc, all in a very easy to use package. I have created a tour based on the 2003 VALIS voyage to Hawaii and back which you might […]