AJ Oliver

Like the Dutch designed "schooners" that revolutionized modern sailing . . (large craft that could sail to weather like demons) "early 18th century: perhaps from dialect scun ‘skim along’, influenced by Dutch words . . " As I recall from a year or so ago, one of ya had a young 'un who was researching that in The Netherlands. How about an update ?

You have to learn to play in it - ice boats, ice fishing, ice skiing, ice skating, . . more or less ice everything (Although last year around the Sweetwater Seas we had practically no winter at all. I'll bet Invercargill was colder the last few months.) Wait, I take that back. Checked out Invercargill climate. In winter we are colder - and Montreal is WAAAAY colder. Sure glad I did not make an ass of myself . .. . . . . .. . . again The ice boats are ridiculously fast . .

Looks like I will be rooting for ya Kiwis again. I cannot abide the business practices of Richare DeVos. Turns out that Amway is also present in Aotearoa.

His greatest achievement has been to type all of the notices out, on a little bitty screen . . with one finger.

I will be honored to chip in a few Yankee Dollars

A quick comment from an alternate universe: ML King taught us that, if we determine that a law is unjust, we can and should break it; but we should also be prepared to accept the legal consequences (without whining). That way, we can show our respect for the law in general while breaking a particular law. Kind of like Socrates' approach. On the whole, I support Mr. Smith. Who knows, he might be able to strike a blow for the freedom of the seas by his action.

OMG !! Survival conditions - hope the gent makes it. Is circumnavigating the isles always that sketchy ?

Neither China nor Russia, or the two combined . . are any sort of rational military threat. But who is rational these days ?

BP's posted photo is downright embarrassing . . could not figure out its origin.

Glad he made it in . . that forecast lee shore big wind looked really scary. Good on ya mate !! Just don't let that Kea eat yer boat ! Salute from the Sweetwater Seas

A sailor's worst nightmare . . the sound of big waves breaking on the shore at night. Hope he makes it - the gent has some stones.

Totally flash !

Hey Mr. Wheels, good to hear from you again.

A five thousand year-old town . . wiped out by the wonders of Western Civ. Had not known that story - thanks for posting it

As an aside, hopefully not much thread drift . . . Boats, kayaks, bicycles etc are selling very well in the US People are apparently looking for non-close-up recreation. A good time to sell a boat here actually Sailing Clubs here are starting up regattas again - just without the cheek to jowl parties

Ahem, now about that OP . . . I guess that explains why the Canadians claim the right to exclude US boats from their waters, not just anchoring, but sailing over them. But don't get me wrong, the USAean gummint is worse. Our continent could be witnessing the unraveling of 200 year old Rush-Bagot Treaty Sad

One of the cruisers from our Club sailed across the international border into Canada a few weeks ago, attempting to enter the port of Leamington, Ontario. He was told quite brusquely that under no circumstances could he land, and further that he had to leave Canadian waters immediately. Two points: (1) Our sailor is very involved in politics, and really should have known better. The Canadian border has been closed to US boats for at least five months. We had a good laugh at the Bloke's expense. (2) It appears that the Canadians are not discriminating agains

Sorry for my part in some thread drift . . But the US being outspent on the military by China is ludicrous.

The chart below, like US military accounting in general, seriously understates US security spending - the figure in the chart DOES NOT INCLUDE: spending on the entire US itell system (NSA, CIA, FBI, and more), spending on vets pensions & health care, nuke weapons R & D and production, and much else. https://www.pgpf.org/chart-archive/0053_defense-comparison A fair estimate of total annual US military spending is around $1.2 trillion, about 7% of what used to be our GDP. https://www.fcnl.org/about/policy/issues/wars-militarism/pentagon-spending

By any honest measure, the US spends more than ten times as much on the military as China. Don't trust the Blob.

For sure, as you know . . the effects of tornadoes are usually restricted to particular areas - sometimes only meters apart. Don't ask the Sweetwater Seas how we know.

Yeah, thanks. All those posts by Rehab made it difficult to access what others had written.

Another problem with e-charts is that it is pretty easy to zoom out a bit to far on your nav screen - and if you do that, some hazards will not be shown. I can think of several fairly recent examples of boats hitting the beach and/or reefs for that reason.

Hey, now hold on a minute there pardner . . . I thought we were the apex predators !!