Oct 07 2008
More loveliness in our Bay:
Water Districts Fined For Bay Sewage Spills
(I’d post the article and discuss it, but the AP would fine my socks off if they knew, so I’ll just link and hope they don’t catch me)
And from Baykeeper, Oil Spill Bills Signed Into Law by the Governor
Governor Schwarzenegger signed into law seven bills [...]
Aug 27 2008
At last, something resembling good news about Poo in the Bay:
Success in Burlingame
Baykeeper reached a successful settlement with the City of Burlingame to end the City’s sewage spills to the Bay. Burlingame – one of the worst sewage polluters in the Bay Area – has agreed to substantially improve its sewer system and end illegal [...]
Aug 16 2008
Last Wednesday, we got the opportunity to take the family out on a sweet little sundown sail on our friend Tom’s boat, s/v Tempest. Tom is a liveaboard right down the dock from us, and we’d taken him out on our boat a few times. He’s a great sailor and a fun guy to have [...]
Feb 15 2008
OK folks, I am losing my sense of humor here. I can’t even come up with good metaphors or puns or similies or anything.
San Quentin’s Raw Sewage Leaks Into SF Bay
SAN QUENTIN (CBS 5 / AP / BCN) ? Authorities in Marin County tested the waters in San Francisco Bay Thursday after an estimated 1,500 [...]
Feb 02 2008
I am beginning to believe that it might actually be more dangerous to live on the water.
My pal F just sent me this.
We’re still seeing tar balls and slicks from the Nov. 7 oil spill. And the marine life has definitely not recovered. And now, sickened by that, they’re having to contend with 2.7 million [...]
Dec 18 2007
http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2007/fortune/0712/gallery.101_dumbest.fortune/11.html
“Fortune chose the absolutely dumbest of the dumb that the gods of fate and humor delivered into our laps - and yours - this past year.” And Captain John J. Cota’s unbelievably minimalistic “I touched the delta tower” made it to number 11. Way to go.
Course, me ‘n mine are still raging about the [...]
Dec 12 2007
One of the basic tenets of hosting non-sailors on your boat, especially when you’re liveaboards or cruisers, is “Never do anything differently than you normally do.” Well, this weekend, we absolutely exceeded ourselves in sticking to it.
My friends and colleagues Alec and Adriana, and their friend Geoff, came to visit us on the s/v Excellent [...]
Nov 14 2007
Yesterday, I happily fed the gulls.
I mentioned in a previous post that the bird life has been decimated by this spill; I don’t care what numbers are being officially reported; the marina seems barren and deserted since the spill. Usually, I am awakened in the morning by the calls of the gulls, and I haven’t [...]
Nov 12 2007
The oil-coated animals are beginning to wash up now.
Fish and Game is out walking the breakwater, talking about all the supplies they’ll need … for tomorrow… to collect the bodies.
I am sitting here thinking of Rachel Carson, who thought that Silent Spring would be brought by pesticides. Here on the Bay, it’s brought by stupid [...]
Nov 10 2007
Thank you for your support in response to Wednesday’s oil spill. We appreciate the outpouring of offers to help and we’ll keep you updated on opportunities as they arise. It’ll take all of us working together to clean up our precious Bay after this oil spill’s destructive wake.While we are heartened by the overwhelming interest [...]
Nov 08 2007
Here’s a press release from NOAA, about everything that’s going on with the oil spill from their perspective.
http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2007/20071108_oilspill.htmlÂ
And another piece from Reuters,
http://uk.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUKN0822954120071108Â
And lastly, what you can do to help, from BayKeeper:
http://www.baykeeper.org/Â
Nov 08 2007
It is a great day to not go sailing.
The fog yesterday was really thick. I couldn’t even really see the marina wall, which is saying something, because we’re berthed right next to the thing. And then my pal Jonathan sent me this.
If you look on a map, this is really, really close to us. And [...]
Oct 18 2007
Seen the trailer for Sharkwater yet?
If you’re not equally horrified and intrigued, you should be. A screening will be happening in San Francisco at the Roxie on Tuesday, October 30. If you’re not local, or can’t make the show, it’ll be nationwide on Nov. 2.
Go see it. Drag someone with you who doesn’t want to [...]
Jul 08 2007
Yesterday was the first day we had the opportunity to keep a promise to ourselves.
Since we are clearly novices to sailing in general and to the Excellent Adventure in specific, we promised ourselves that whenever Jason, Marc, and I were all on the boat together working, we’d knock off at sunset and go for a [...]
Jul 07 2007
July 4, 2007.
We’ve been working like dogs on our little boat, frantically trying to get her in good enough shape to move aboard. Jason and Marc have been pulling insane hours doing boat foo while I pull insane hours trying to make the money to bankroll boat foo. Stress levels are pretty high, but [...]