97-Year-Old Message in a Bottle

It's not everyday that you hear about a real-life message in a bottle outside of a romantic comedy! Maybe we should keep our eyes out for a movie based on this story...

Because Guinness World Records confirmed the April 12 discovery of a 97-year-old message in a bottle by the Shetland Islands fishing boat. The bottle was released on June 10, 1914, by the Glasgow School of Navigation, one of a batch of 1,890 scientific research bottles designed to float close to the seabed. The location of the returned bottles allowed researchers to map the undercurrents of the seas around Scotland.

"It was just a normal day and we were out fishing for monkfish," Andrew Leaper, 43, who skippered the boat, Copious, said. "As we hauled in the nets, with a mixed catch of monks, megrim and cod, I spotted the bottleneck sticking out of the cod end of the net.

"I quickly grabbed the bottle before it fell back in the sea," he added.

{Read more}

Whitsunday Islands

I find myself wondering all the time, "Where are our students going after they take courses from us? Are they sailing? Are they stuck on land simply with the dream of sailing?" We get to see so many of them come back and charter is the San Juan Islands with us, but the ones who don't remain a mystery. So, when I heard from Doug, I was elated! (Doug and his son, Kaj, took classes this summer)

 

"We're just back from our trip to Australia, where we did a one week  bareboat charter in the Whitsunday Islands...The trip was great.  In particular, thanks to SJS and Mike the sailing portion was terrific, stress-free and thus more fun because Kaj and I knew enough to handle the boat, make anchorages (many anchorings!) etc. without setting ourselves up for ugly surprises. The boat systems part of the course also was a boon; much less mystification and much better ability to tell our crew (there were 5 of us on a 41' Jeanneau) how to make water last, not stop up the heads, etc... Though our boat did have a chart plotter, the basic nav skills Mike taught us made it possible to lay out a course each morning and have a much better idea of where we were going, when we should arrive, how to get there if there was a plotter failure. Understanding the importance of wind and tide vs. anchor factors was also great; the wind/tide/current situation in the Whitsundays is equally as exciting as in the San Juans and we had a lot of anchoring to do in places where dragging would have been costly.

I should mention that we had one night with a 25kt. steady blow guesting to 39kts. while anchored among fringing reefs off Hook Island. Thanks to Mike's training (and a GPS anchor alarm down in the cabin, I'll admit) although I can't say I slept well I was at least secure in the knowledge that I could monitor the boat's position and knew how to deal w/anchor problems etc. and get the boat powered up efficiently  if things went awry. 

Thanks again for helping make it happen!"

Doug Bostrom

Seattle

 

 

{Here is} a snapshot of typical Whitsunday conditions while we were there, seasonally prevalent. Sunny, lovely tradewinds S-SE 15-20 knots. Perfect sailing conditions!! We were making about 6.5 knots when that photo was taken, did it all day without a single fault.  Swells came w/the deal but who could complain?

 

Do you have a dream of sailing? We would love to be a stepping stone for you, as we were for Doug & Kaj. Again, thanks Doug for sharing! We are looking forward to seeing you again!

-San Juan Sailing & Yachting Crew

Preparrrrre to be Boarded! {Pirate Voice}

We have had a hand full of classes going out each weekend (in addition to dozens of charters), and enjoyed hearing about Andrew & Leslie Dawes' experience on their week-long learn-n-cruise class!

"We had a great time, although we have a bit of reality whiplash as we return to parenting three boys and life back on dry land. We're already talking about when we can do our first charter."- Andrew

Happy at the Helm

Study, Study, Study

Ummm...Where Are We?

Scouting for Pirates




I know you are all wondering "Why the pirate hint in the title of this post?" I am so glad you asked!  It was Chad's birthday (another student on the boat, and a friend of Andrew's). Andrew and the rest of the crew schemed and told Chad that they were all going to dress in pirate costumes for Chad's birthday. However, joke was on him when none of the other crew showed up in costume -- save for the birthday boy (birthday man?)! But it provided for some great laughs and fantastic photos!