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What Is the Origin of the Twin Flame Love Theory?
by Dr Amanda Noelle | Dec 11, 2013 | Uncategorized | 0 comments
Origin of the Twin Flame Love Theory
In my recent article post, How Do I know if my Partner is my Twin Flame?, I talk about the many signs that your partner is your Twin Flame or symptoms that they're not. I also mention that the concept of Twin Flames is not a new one, and that in his Symposium, Plato speaks of the ancient concept that Twin Flames are literally the other half of the human soul that has incarnated into a form of another, and the reason why we all have the desire to meet our soulmate (most of us do anyway). Here's an interesting and at least entertaining read about soulmate love from our favorite Greek philosopher. Click here for my video: What is a Twin Flame? to get a better understanding of the Twin Flame theory:
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Aristophanes's Speech from Plato's Symposium
Translated by Benjamin Jowett from Collected Works of Plato, 4th Edition, Oxford U. Press, 1953 (189c-189d) p 520 to (193d-193e) p 525
Aristophanes professed to open another vein of discourse; he had a mind to praise Love in another way, unlike that of either Pausanias or Eryximachus. Mankind, he said, judging by their neglect of him, have never, as I think, at all understood the power of Love. For if they had understood him they would surely have built noble temples and altars, and offered solemn sacrifices in his honour; but this is not done, and most certainly ought to be done: since of all the gods he is the best friend of men, the helper and the healer of the ills which are the great impediment to the happiness of the race. I will try to describe his power to you, and you shall teach the rest of the world what I am teaching you.
In the first place, let me treat of the nature of man and what has happened to it. The original human nature was not like the present, but different. The sexes were not two as they are now, but originally three in number; there was man, woman, and the union of the two, of which the name survives but nothing else. Once it was a distinct kind, with a bodily shape and a name of its own, constituted by the union of the male and the female: but now only the word 'androgynous' is preserved, and that as a term of reproach.
In the second place, the primeval man was round, his back and sides forming a circle; and he had four hands and the same number of feet, one head with two faces, looking opposite ways, set on a round neck and precisely alike; also four ears, two privy members, and the remainder to correspond. He could walk upright as men now do, backwards or forwards as he pleased, and he could also roll over and over at a great pace, turning on his four hands and four feet, eight in all, like tumblers going over and over with their legs in the air; this was when he wanted to run fast.
Now the sexes were three, and such as I have described them; because the sun, moon, and earth are three; and the man was originally the child of the sun, the woman of the earth, and the man-woman of the moon, which is made up of sun and earth, and they were all round and moved round and round because they resembled their parents. Terrible was their might and strength, and the thoughts of their hearts were great, and they made an attack upon the gods; of them is told the tale of Otys and Ephialtes who, as Homer says, attempted to scale heaven, and would have laid hands upon the gods.
Doubt reigned in the celestial councils. Should they kill them and annihilate the race with thunderbolts, as they had done the giants, then there would be an end of the sacrifices and worship which men offered to them; but, on the other hand, the gods could not suffer their insolence to be unrestrained. At last, after a good deal of reflection, Zeus discovered a way.
He said: 'Methinks I have a plan which will enfeeble their strength and so extinguish their turbulence; men shall continue to exist, but I will cut them in two and then they will be diminished in strength and increased in numbers; this will have the advantage of making them more profitable to us. They shall walk upright on two legs, and if they continue insolent and will not be quiet, I will split them again and they shall hop about on a single leg.'
He spoke and cut men in two, like a sorb-apple which is halved for pickling, or as you might divide an egg with a hair; and as he cut them one after another, he bade Apollo give the face and the half of the neck a turn in order that man might contemplate the section of himself: he would thus learn a lesson of humility. Apollo was also bidden to heal their wounds and compose their forms. So he gave a turn to the face and pulled the skin from the sides all over that which in our language is called the belly, like the purses which draw tight, and he made one mouth at the centre, which he fastened in a knot (the same which is called the navel); he also moulded the breast and took out most of the wrinkles, much as a shoemaker might smooth leather upon a last; he left a few, however, in the region of the belly and navel, as a memorial of the primeval state.
After the division the two parts of man, each desiring his other half, came together, and throwing their arms about one another, entwined in mutual embraces, longing to grow into one, they began to die from hunger and self-neglect, because they did not like to do anything apart; and when one of the halves died and the other survived, the survivor sought another mate, man or woman as we call them,–being the sections of entire men or women,–and clung to that.
Thus they were being destroyed, when Zeus in pity invented a new plan: he turned the parts of generation round to the front, for this had not been always their position, and they sowed the seed no longer as hitherto like grasshoppers in the ground, but in one another; and after the transposition the male generated in the female in order that by the mutual embraces of man and woman they might breed, and the race might continue; or if man came to man they might be satisfied, and rest, and go their ways to the business of life. So ancient is the desire of one another which is implanted in us, reuniting our original nature, seeking to make one of two, and to heal the state of man.
Each of us when separated, having one side only, like a flat fish, is but the tally-half of a man, and he is always looking for his other half. Men who are a section of that double nature which was once called androgynous are lovers of women; adulterers are generally of this breed, and also adulterous women who lust after men. The women who are a section of the woman do not care for men, but have female attachments; the female companions are of this sort. But they who are a section of the male follow the male, and while they are young, being slices of the original man, they have affection for men and embrace them, and these are the best of boys and youths, because they have the most manly nature.
Some indeed assert that they are shameless, but this is not true; for they do not act thus from any want of shame, but because they are valiant and manly, and have a manly countenance, and they embrace that which is like them. And these when they grow up become our statesmen, and these only, which is a great proof of the truth of what I am saying. When they reach manhood they are lovers of youth, and are not naturally inclined to marry or beget children,–if at all, they do so only in obedience to custom; but they are satisfied if they may be allowed to live with one another unwedded;
Is Leo showing us a clue here of Plato's Twin Flame concept?
And such a nature is prone to love and ready to return love, always embracing that which is akin to him. And when one of them meets with his other half, the actual half of himself, whether he be a lover of youth or a lover of another sort, the pair are lost in an amazement of love and friendship and intimacy, and one will not be out of the other's sight, as I may say, even for a moment: these are the people who pass their whole lives together, and yet they could not explain what they desire of one another. For the intense yearning which each of them has towards the other does not appear to be the desire of lover's intercourse, but of something else which the soul of either evidently desires and cannot tell, and of which she has only a dark and doubtful presentiment.
Suppose Hephaestus, with his instruments, to come to the pair who are lying side by side and to say to them, 'What do you mortals want of one another?'
They would be unable to explain. And suppose further, that when he saw their perplexity he said: 'Do you desire to be wholly one; always day and night in one another's company? for if this is what you desire, I am ready to melt and fuse you together, so that being two you shall become one, and while you live live a common life as if you were a single man, and after your death in the world below still be one departed soul, instead of two–I ask whether this is what you lovingly desire and whether you are satisfied to attain this?'–
There is not a man of them who when he heard the proposal would deny or would not acknowledge that this meeting and melting into one another, this becoming one instead of two, was the very expression of his ancient need.
And the reason is that human nature was originally one and we were a whole, and the desire and pursuit of the whole is called love. There was a time, I say, when we were one, but now because of the wickedness of mankind God has dispersed us, as the Arcadians were dispersed into villages by the Lacedaemonians. And if we are not obedient to the gods, there is a danger that we shall be split up again and go about in basso-relievo, like the profile figures showing only one half the nose which are sculptured on monuments, and that we shall be like tallies.
Wherefore let us exhort all men to piety in all things, that we may avoid evil and obtain the good, taking Love for our leader and commander.
Let no one oppose him–he is the enemy of the gods who opposes him. For if we are friends of God and at peace with him we shall find our own true loves, which rarely happens in this world at present. I am serious, and therefore I must beg Eryximachus not to make fun or to find any allusion in what I am saying to Pausanias and Agathon, who, as I suspect, are both of the manly nature, and belong to the class which I have been describing. But my words have a wider application–they include men and women everywhere; and I believe that if our loves were perfectly accomplished, and each one returning to his primeval nature had his original true love, then our race would be happy. And if this would be best of all, the best in the next degree must in present circumstances be the nearest approach to such a union; and that will be the attainment of a congenial love.
Wherefore, if we would praise him who has given to us the benefit, we must praise the god Love, who is our greatest benefactor, both leading us in this life back to our own nature, and giving us high hopes for the future, for he promises that if we are pious, he will restore us to our original state, and heal us and make us happy and blessed.
This, Eryximachus, is my discourse of love, which, although different to yours, I must beg you to leave unassailed by the shafts of your ridicule, in order that each may have his turn; each, or rather either, for Agathon and Socrates are the only ones left.


Oxagile, a fast-growing provider of software development outsourcing services incorporated in BelHard IT holding, has taken on two new development endeavors outsourced by Hewlett-Packard® Russia — a work process automation solution for a large GSM operator and a comprehensive e-commerce portal for a Kazakhstan corporation.
"The names of the end customers are not disclosed for anonymity purposes, but we can say these software solutions will be at the core of the clients' businesses", said Natalie Alexenko, head of Oxagile PR department.
A legion of most complicated technologies is used to implement the new projects. In case of the full-scale e-commerce web system, there is an intricate combination of MS SharePoint, MS Commerce server, MS BizTalk server and MS Dynamics AX packed into one product.
"Despite the project's complexity we are sure we can handle it. It's the pool of experts we have, their team spirit, the experience in meeting deadlines that makes us believe we can and Will do it better than rivals", said Sergey Marchuk, Oxagile CTO.
"The progress here depends on the collective effort of all the participants, but we are dealing with the IT industry leaders, among which are BelHard, Hewlett Packard and a global telecommunications solutions provider. So, in the end of the day, I think this will be a most exciting experience that will become an important part of Oxagile success story", said Alexandr Zihmanchuk, the project's Team Leader.


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Shadows of the past season 1 torent
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Racer from British Touring Car Championship drives an OMS 25
Current British Touring Car Championship competitor Andrew Jordon came to Gurston Down on Saturday, to sample a selection of cars competing in the Avon Tyres TTC Group MSA British Hillclimb Championship meeting running at the weekend.
A newcomer to hill climbing and Gurston Down, Andrew took his first runs in a car familiar to him; the 4 wheel drive, 2 litre turbo Ford Puma owned and driven by Mike Manning, whom Andrew has competed against in the past in a similar car.
He then moved to single seater racing cars, a discipline that is new to Andrew. Starting with the 1100cc Empire of Simon Fidoe, he cautiously set off from the start line; very aware that all three cars he was driving were potential class winners the following day and would need to be returned to the paddock in the same condition as when they set off.
His final stead of the afternoon was the 1600cc OMS 25 of James Blackmore. Andrew had spectated during the practice session and was impressed by the speed of the fastest unlimited capacity single seaters some reaching speeds of 152 mph at the finish, on what he referred to as 'a cart track' The top speed of the OMS 25 in James' hands at Gurston is 119 mph when he crosses the finish line.
Andrew Jordon leaving the start line in the 1600cc OMS 25
Andrew Jordon seemed to enjoy his runs in the OMS 25 judging by his broad smile
OMS 25 owner James Blackmore with (from left to right)
Simon Fidoe, Andrew Jordon and Mike Manning.


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Turning the Tables: women's multiple roles in peace processes
On May 9th NOREF co-hosted the event "Turning the Tables: women's multiple roles in peace processes" alongside PRIO and the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The event featured a panel with Mariam Safi from Afghanistan, Rida Al Tubuly from Libya and Rasha Jarhum from Yemen.
Photo by NOREF
The prominent women were invited to Norway to share insights into the status of women's engagement in the peace processes in their respective countries, and also to make recommendations to the network of Nordic Women Mediators who held their annual meeting in conjunction with the event.
Mariam Safi shared that there is currently an expanding space for women in the Afghan peace process. "The platforms that are now in place for Afghan women were never given to us. We created these platforms and we demanded these spaces", she said. Rasha Jarhum highlighted the importance of women's inclusion in all aspects of track two work, and Rida Al Tubuly stated that "There is no peace or democracy when you exclude women. We want women to be a part of not only mediation, but all parts of government".
The panel discussion was followed by closing words from the Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ine Eriksen Søreide, who echoed the panelists in saying that we must increase women's participation in peace processes. "It is time to turn the negotiating table outward, facing those not at the table but those who endure the conflict" the Minister said.
Nordic Women Mediators (NWM) is a network of women from the five Nordic countries who have professional expertise relevant to conflict mediation, peacebuilding and negotiations. The network was established in 2015 and holds annual meetings to discuss relevant issues and exchange experiences.
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NOREF Norwegian Centre for Conflict Resolution | Web editor: Håkon Repstad


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ट्रेन का गार्ड नीचे घुस जोड़ रहा था एयर पाइप तभी चल पड़ी गाड़ी फिर जो हु...
In West Bengal the life of the railway worker has survived. Actually, the guard of a railway was recovering the air pipe under the train. Only then did the car move forward, then some people standing nearby raised the voice of the train and stopped the car. Although there was no harm to the guard during this period
Actually, the children and children survived while having an accident at Howrah-Digha Express in West Bengal. When the train going from Dahan to Howrah station started suddenly. During this, the train guard was examining the air pipe below him. According to media reports, after the video was revealed, a railway official said that the incident took place on Howrah-Digha express train in Howrah of Friday.
He said that the air pipe was separated during this period. Whose guard was investigating. At the same time, the CPRO of South Eastern Railway Sanjay Ghosh while talking to the media said that the guard was adding the air pipe, then with the misunderstanding the driver started the engine and the train started running. The driver got information on the screaming people at the station
Ghosh said that an inquiry committee has been set up to investigate the incident. He said that this incident happened due to misunderstanding between driver and guard


between I search for, and attempt to, perfect my sobriety.
drink my behaviors were still shouting …"Alcoholic"!
fear also became a huge factor in my daily life.
in hopes of making my emotional ailments go away.
My life was a wreck and alcohol was no longer helping.
alcohol tried to coax me into taking my own life.
people and I took advantage of many financially.
been allowed to control and dominate me for too long.
person alcohol had led me to believe.
searching of self is at times grueling and overwhelming.
me far away from any possible chance of relapse.


Tolunay D, Karabiyik B, Temerit A (2011). First results of a nation-wide systematic forest condition survey in Turkey. iForest 4: 145-149.
Monitoring of forest condition in Turkey started in 2006 when a 16x16 km grid of Level I plots was established. In 2007, the first 48 Pinus brutia plots were surveyed for crown condition. In 2008 and 2009, the plots were 398 and 563, respectively. In 2007, the mean defoliation for P. brutia was 13.0 %. In 2008-2009, the mean defoliation was 19.5-19.8 % and 27.0-23.0 % for coniferous and broadleaved species, respectively. Defoliation was higher than 25 % on 24.6-18.7 % of the monitored trees. The species with the highest defoliation were Carpinus betulus and Juniperus foetidissima in 2008, and Quercus pubescens and Juniperus communis in 2009. The slight improvement in forest health in 2009 may be attributed to better weather conditions than in 2008 (higher precipitation). The forests along the Black Sea coast of Thrace showed the highest defoliation in both 2008 and 2009. This may be due to transboundary air pollution from Istanbul, where sources of sulphate and nitrate pollution occur. Elevated defoliation rates were also observed in the Black Sea region; they were most probably caused by biotic factors in plots subject to industrial pollution.
Analyses of wet and bulk deposition in four different regions of Istanbul, Turkey. Atmospheric Environment 37: 3571-3579.
Türkiye' de termik santraller ve çevresel etkileri. Istanbul Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi. Cografya Bölümü Dergisi 13: 1-26.
Forest health status in the Carpathian Mountains over the period 1997-2001. Environmental Pollution 130: 93-98.
Atmospheric emissions from large point sources in Europe. The Swedish NGO Secretariat on Acid Rain, Sweden, pp. 50.
The condition of forests in Europe 2009 Executive Report. UNECE / EC, Geneva, Brussels, pp. 12.
Forest condition in Europe. 2010 Technical Report of ICP Forests, pp. 178.
General directorate of forestry, web page of Turkish forest ecosystems monitoring programme.
Chemical analyses of the major ions in the precipitation of Istanbul, Turkey. Environmental Pollution 105: 273-280.
Climate change 2007: synthesis report. Contribution of working groups I, II and III to the fourth assessment report of the intergovernmental panel on climate change (Pachauri RK, Reisinger A eds). IPCC, Geneva, Switzerland, pp. 104.
Murgul bakir fabrikasinin ormanlara yapacagi zararlar ve orman idaresince alinmasi lazim gelen tedbirler hakkinda teklif. I.U. Orman Fakültesi Dergisi 1: 44-48.
Bati karadeniz ve marmara bölgesinde hava kirliliginden (SO2) kaynaklanan orman zararlarinin belirlenmesi. kavak ve hizli gelisen orman agaclari arastirma enstitüsü, Teknik Bülten, No. 206, Izmit, Turkey.
Eskisehir, sakarya, bilecik, bolu yörelerinde hava kirliliginin ormanlar Üzerine etkisinin belirlenmesi, Cevre ve orman bakanligi arastirma projesi, Proje Nu ESK-02.8302/2002-2007.
Composition of wet deposition in Kaynarca, Turkey. Environmental Pollution 118: 401-410.
Lignite-fired thermal power plants and SO2 pollution in Turkey. Energy Policy 34: 2690-2701.
Türkiye' de asit yagmurlari. In: III. "Atmosfer bilimleri sempozyumu bildiri kitabi", pp. 1-16.
Manual on methodologies and criteria for harmonized sampling, assessments, monitoring and analysis of effects of air pollution on forests. Programme Co-ordinating Center, UN/ECE, Hamburg, Germany and Geneva, Switzerland.


When legend Margaret Pomeranz recently spoke out about the obligation of local film critics to support the Australian film industry, she generated an interesting conversation in the critical community. Her article also inspired bookseller Martin Shaw to adopt a similar stance with regards to the literary community, in an op ed that asked why ABC's The Book Club seemingly avoids covering Australian releases (the only Australian release discussed on the show this year was Paddy O'Reilly's The Wonders, which panellist Marieke Hardy repeatedly referred to as a 'terrible book').
No one, however, has yet brought this issue to bear on critical coverage of Australian television. Whether it even warrants a similar examination begs the question: what even is TV criticism (let alone Australian TV criticism)? Taking a broad sample from what's available, local TV crit is a melting pot that includes academic studies and publications; amusing recaps of locally produced reality television and Offspring; or focal interviews or features in the mainstream press; blogs that offer marketing spin or up-to-date news – and of course, Fairfax's Green Guide still floats around each week, with its smattering of bite-sized reviews and increasingly obsolete listings of broadcaster airtimes. Meanwhile, the likes of Meanjin and The Monthly offer intermittent essays that contain more sophisticated textual engagement and deeper social or political ruminations on Australian television.
Television criticism is a wild, youthful beast that's hard to tame into definition. Many arts critics dabble in discussion of television, rather than making it the sole focus of their career (perhaps due to the lack of reliable opportunities for television critics in Australia). Would those who err on the side of Pomeranz argue that critics who discuss the small screen in the public sphere are obligated to be critically kind in their local coverage?
To be honest, I don't have answers. I don't feel remotely compelled to cast aspersions or make demands about what writers should or should not discuss, and how they should do it. Given TV criticism's relative infancy and the form's inconsistency, it would be difficult to apply any guidelines. But I can speak for myself: I do feel an obligation or pressure (self-inflicted, not editorial) to ensure I regularly discuss Australian content here.
Read more at Kill Your Darlings.
Posted in Criticism, Film and TV, TV CriticismTagged ABC, Australian TV, Glitch, Matchbox PicturesBookmark the permalink.


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39th President of the United States: 1977 ‐ 1981
United States Ambassador to Pakistan Nomination of George S. Vest.
The President today announced that he will nominate George S. Vest of Bethesda, Md., to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States to Pakistan. Vest is a Foreign Service officer of the Class of Career Minister.
Vest was born December 25, 1918, in Columbia, Va. He received a B.A. in 1941 and an M.A. in 1947 from the University of Virginia. He served in the United States Army as captain from 1941 to 1946.
Vest entered the Foreign Service in 1947 as consular officer, Hamilton, Ontario. From 1949 to 1952, he was consular officer at Quito, and from 1952 to 1954 he was political officer at Ottawa. He was Canadian Desk Officer, then special assistant to the Assistant Secretary for European Affairs from 1954 to 1959.
From 1959 to 1960, Vest was political officer at Paris for SHAPE, and from 1960 to 1961 he was political officer at Paris for USRO. He was Chief of the Private Office for the Secretary General in Paris (NATO) from 1961 to 1963, and in 1963 and 1964 he attended the National War College.
From 1965 to 1967, Vest was deputy director of the Office of Atlantic Political-Military Affairs at the Department of State. He was Deputy Chief of Mission, Brussels, for USEC from 1967 to 1969 and Deputy Chief of Mission, Brussels, for NATO from 1969 to 1972.
Vest worked on CSCE negotiations for the State Department from 1972 to 1973. From 1973. to 1974, he was deputy assistant secretary for press relations. From 1974 to 1977, he served as Director of the Bureau of Politico-Military Affairs at the State Department.
Vest received the Superior Honor Award in 1973 and is fluent in French.
Jimmy Carter, United States Ambassador to Pakistan Nomination of George S. Vest. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/243123
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The Crate Beyond
When you join Antique Shop Mysteries, you'll automatically receive exciting new stories beginning with this book. Frequency of shipments noted by media type. Cancel anytime.
Spring has sprung in Somerset Harbor, Maine, and the picturesque tourist town is bustling with fresh faces, start-up social events, and businesses making their debut. In the midst of all the new excitement, however, there are old secrets lurking in the attic of Sedgwick Manor, and Maggie Watson is forced to confront emotional baggage from her past even though all she wants to do is enjoy her present.
When an unexpected message requires Maggie to finally go through long-ignored boxes from her late husband's archaeology lab, she discovers more than just priceless Native American artifacts in her storage room. Instead, she pries open a years-old mystery that casts doubt on her beloved Richard's intentions -- and even his integrity.
Hesitant to open the proverbial Pandora's box, Maggie distracts herself with preparations for the town's History by Candlelight Tour and tries to delay her investigation of the crates' contents until after the event. Unfortunately, someone else is in a much bigger hurry to unpack the past, and Maggie becomes a target for increasingly frightful encounters. As the alarming incidents pile up, Maggie starts questioning the motives of even those closest to her.
Not knowing where else to turn, Maggie enlists her friends at the historical society to get to the bottom of the confusing cargo. Can she bear it if the results of their research cast Richard in a poor light? Will knowing the truth about these puzzling packages help her get the closure she seeks -- or will it upend her fragile life in unimaginable, and potentially disastrous, ways?
This is one mystery Maggie must handle with care . . . or else.
Maggie Watson
June McGillis
Ruth Harper
Maggie Watson is 44 years old. She has lived in the beautiful town of Bennington, Vermont, most of her life with her husband, Richard, who was a successful professor of archeology at a nearby university. Together, they built a loving home and raised their daughter, Emily. And then, three years ago, Richard suddenly died. Maggie had thought they'd spend the rest of their lives growing old together in their cozy New England cottage. But with Richard's passing, Maggie's life changed in ways she never anticipated. And now with Emily off at college, Maggie still isn't sure quite how she fits into this new, lonely phase of her life.
Then, when she unexpectedly inherits Sedgwick Manor -- her aunt's 19th-century colonial mansion -- and the adjacent Carriage House Antiques shop, she wonders if this is the change she needs to move forward with her life. So, on a chilly day in mid-September, Maggie and her equally curious cat, Snickers, head to the small seaside village of Somerset Harbor, Maine, and begin an adventure that will change their lives.
June has run the Carriage House Antiques shop for over 10 years and was a close friend and confidant of Maggie's late aunt. She's outgoing and witty, and she has a natural talent for decorating with antique furnishings. Maggie loves June's enthusiastic spirit and caring nature, warming up to her immediately. It's no surprise that June soon becomes Maggie's best friend and "partner in crime" as they dig into the mysteries of Sedgwick Manor.
Maggie's daughter is warm and friendly with a big, bright smile. She's always been close to her mother -- even more so since her father died three years ago. But now she has left Maggie in order to study nursing at St. Joseph's College in Maine. Maggie understands that Emily needs space to spread her wings and become the independent, responsible young woman she raised her to be, but she still misses her daughter.
An avid quilter, Ruth is the president of the Somerset Harbor Historical Society. She extends a warm welcome to Maggie and invites her into this small group of friendly women. Maggie takes an immediate liking to her. Ruth offers to help Maggie solve the mysteries of the antique pieces found in Sedgwick Manor. She has lived in Somerset Harbor her entire life and always seems to know the buzz around town. Ruth knew Maggie's aunt Evelyn very well, and Maggie can't help but wonder if Ruth might also know Evelyn's secrets.
The Secret Letter
The Christmas Riddle
Pieces From the Past
A Ring of Deception
Loom and Doom
Six Feet Undertow
Framed for Life
Season of Misdeeds
A Chime to Kill
Deadly Prospect
Humbug Hijinks
A Fedora Offense
Danger in Spades
Bride and Seek
Rigged for Murder
Three Ring Threat
Treble and Strife
Tools of the Traitor
O Stolen Night
A Slippery Slope
Dead and Married
Thank you for your interest in The Crate Beyond


I am finding that one of the things I am enjoying most at the sailing club I recently joined is the Wednesday night pursuit race. This week was no exception.
The fox never did agree with the Portsmouth Yardstick for the dogs.
Pursuit races, for the uninitiated, are when multiple one design classes race together with staggered start times. Based on the published handicap numbers for each class - or local variations of those - the start times for each class are set as near as possible to compensate for the different speed of each class so that, in theory, if all the boats were sailed perfectly they would all cross the finish line together after the fixed time set for the race. Of course none of the boats sail a perfect race so the first boat across the finish line should be the best sailor across all the classes. In a club like ours with multiple classes it is a good way for everyone to participate in a race together.
I find it's best not to take any handicap racing, including pursuit races, too seriously. Handicap numbers are at best only an average across all wind conditions, and some classes will do better in light air, others do better when planing is possible, and so on. Moreover in a pursuit race, boats usually start at whole minutes after the slowest class starts so that is another approximation and hardly ever reflects the precise differences in handicap numbers. You can drive yourself crazy if you start worrying about whether your class is disadvantaged in some way by the handicap system or pursuit start times. It's best just to forget all that and focus on staying in front of the fleets chasing you from behind (if you started first) or catching as many boats as you can if you sail one of the faster classes and start later.
The Bloody Mary is a really serious pursuit race for really serious sailors.
It is the largest inland dinghy race held in the UK.
At my club the Sunfish start first. One minute later the Day Sailers (usually there is only one) start. Two minutes after that the Lasers - now joined by the RS Aeros - start, and the Flying Scots start one minute after the Lasers.
So far this year, before this week, three different Flying Scot skippers have won a race, and the Day Sailer has won one race.
One of the great pleasures of a small lake club like this one is the camaraderie between the sailors on the beach as we rig our boats and get ready for racing. This week was no exception.
I arrived early and immediately met a man who told me he was going to be crewing on the Day Sailer. We were exchanging information about our sailing backgrounds when we spotted a car with a trailer that seemed to be shuffling backwards and forwards on the boat ramp and basically going nowhere sideways. We hailed the driver and asked if help was required and we gave assistance to unhitch the trailer and push it to where the driver wanted it. I am too gallant to reveal the gender of the driver.
Another sailor arrived whom I recognized as another new member because I had met her at the mandatory safety seminar for new members earlier in the year. (A great idea, by the way. How many other sailing clubs make the effort to make sure all new members are well trained in boating safety?) I knew she had been looking for a used Sunfish in good condition for racing, so we chatted about her new acquisition, a 20-year-old Sunfish in great condition and with new foils. Reminded me of my last Sunfish, of similar vintage but with teal deck and purple cockpit.
On the beach one of the Flying Scot skippers came over to welcome the lady with the Sunfish to the club and admire her boat. It was the same man who had welcomed me to the club when I first showed up at the beach with my RS Aero. Apparently he has been a member of the club for decades and seems like a really nice guy. Once he left I told the Sunfish lady that he was a really good Flying Scot sailor and probably the man to beat tonight. "If you can stay in front of him you will be doing well." She laughed and said she didn't think that she was that good a sailor.
The breeze was surprisingly good for a summer evening. It was certainly stronger than Sunday, 6-9 mph I guess, but with some interesting shifts and variations in wind speed across the course.
2 minutes later it was our start. 4 Lasers and 2 Aeros. My son was sailing one of the Lasers. (I forgot to mention - he has now joined this sailing club too.) I sailed with my 9 rig. The other Aero sailor opted for his 7 rig.
The boat end of the start line was slightly favored and I could see that three of the sailors were setting up to play games of "Don't go in there!" and "Up up up!" right by the committee boat. So I stayed clear of them and started a little further down the line. I came in below them, got a great start and jumped out into clear air straight away.
The only lady in the Laser fleet was spotting the shifts better than I was on the first beat and we were dueling all the way up that first leg and I was only just ahead of her at the windward mark.
I had thought there was more wind on the right of the course (looking upwind) so I played that side downwind and passed the leading Sunfish, pulled out a lead on the Laser sailor and got the inside overlap at the leeward mark on the Day Sailer to take the overall lead.
On the next beat I went right and the leading Laser went left and that really set her back. I was sailing in good pressure and being lifted into the mark. Down the second run I could hear the wake of the leading Flying Scot behind me getting closer and closer. But he couldn't catch me and I won the race!
So a singlehanded sailor finally won the pursuit race this year! Five different skippers from three different classes have won the five races so far this season. The handicap system might not be perfect but it certainly seems to be giving a number of different classes a chance to win.
Back at the beach my son came over and congratulated me.
The sailor of the RS Aero 7 told me I had probably ruined the current handicap for the Aero 9.
Whatever. I really can't get worked up about it. If it is decided that Aero 9s should start a minute after the Flying Scots instead of a minute before them, it really wouldn't bother me.
The RS Aero 9 rig feels to me like the rig that the boat was designed for. It seems to perfectly match the boat. I am sure I will still want to use the 7 rig when it gets really windy - just as many Laser sailors will switch down to a Radial when they are overpowered in a full rig Laser.
I love my RS Aero 9.
I love having an omelette and a glass of wine with my bride at home after the pursuit races.
On Monday this erstwhile RS Aero sailor drove down to Little Compton for what turned out to be a superb afternoon of solitary Laser sailing. The trailer parking lot only had one other trailer in it and there was nary another boat in sight on the river when I launched.
The wind was around 5-10 knots but I think it must have been stronger earlier because the waves seemed better than that. It's hard to describe but they are different from Bristol waves. I did some long upwinds and downwinds like I did last year with various sailing friends. The wind seemed to be getting lighter as I sailed but I managed to get some good rides on waves while sailing by the lee.
The lighthouse looked spectacular when I sailed up close to it. I had forgotten what a beautiful spot this is. I think Little Compton may be the best place on the planet for Laser sailing. There are at least 14 reasons why.
And that's not even counting the fact that JP Morgan used to fish here.
And did you know that the inventor of the three-ring-binder lived in Little Compton?
Where was I? Where am I? Oh yes, Laser sailing in the best place on the planet for Laser sailing.
There is a group of Really Serious Laser Masters Worlds Sailors who have a Training Group that sails out of Third Beach Newport (not in Newport) on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I saw a couple of Lasers (actually a Radial and a Laser I think) come out from Third Beach on the other side of the Sakonnet River just as I was about ready to come in on Monday. They were probably some of those Really Serious Laser Masters Worlds Sailors getting some extra training time in on Monday because of the forecast of thunderstorms and tornadoes and giant hail stones for Tuesday. They probably sailed in the thunderstorm too. They are really serious.
I guess I used to be a Really Serious Laser Masters Worlds Sailor myself. I used to join in with those guys when they had RSLMWSTGs at Third Beach or Bristol in other years. These years I'm only a semi-serious Laser sailor. I'm not going to the Masters Worlds this year like all those guys in the RSLMWSTG. Been there. Done that. Actually done that six times. Got it out of my system. Ticked it off my bucket list.
Actually I suppose I am a semi-serious semi-Laser semi-Aero sailor these days.
Evelyn's Drive-In looked to be doing a roaring trade as I drove home. Next time I must come earlier with some friends so we can get back to Evelyn's by around 4:30 and snag a table for a leisurely dinner by the side of Nanaquaket Pond.
with some tables you could snag.
I love sailing on my own.
For those new to the story, the RS Aero has 3 rigs, with sails of approximately 5, 7 and 9 square meters.
RS Sailing recommend them for people of different body weights.
Many RS Aero owners are buying the boat with more than one rig. Some sailors may use a 7 or 9 rig most of the time but also have a rig one step down for heavier wind conditions. Or, like me, they may have a 7 rig for most conditions but also have a 9 rig for those lighter wind days.
Of course, other things being equal, the boat with a larger rig should be faster. But is a 9 rig with a heavy sailor much faster than a 7 rig with a lighter sailor? In heavier winds can a sailor in a 5 rig beat a sailor in a 7 rig who is overpowered?
1. Lasers and Aeros seem to be quite comparable in speed and we are having close competitive racing by starting Lasers and Aeros together.
2. The 5 rig is indeed an excellent option for a sailor who finds the 7 rig too much to handle on a very windy day.
3. The first day we raced 9 and 7 rigs together the three boats finished a 30 minute race within a second of each other.
The Seattle RS Aero fleet have also been trying to work out how to race the different Aero rigs together. Here is what Seattle Aero sailor Michael O'Brien wrote in a comment to my post Three Flavors of RS Aero.
When we have a regatta with 10-20 boats per rig size ... no problem. Race in per-rig fleets.
But for now, while building fleets, I favor scratch racing where you can use any rig in any race. It is simpler and works surprisingly well. As you say, the 7 and 9 have differences in speed, but when sailor weight is factored in -- it is often the sailor weight that is the bigger factor. Rig size gives the heavier and lighter sailor the chance to extend their range both up and down.
Our experience seemed to support the same conclusion.
But it seem we may have been wrong.
On Sunday the winds were very light. Maybe 5 knots at best but often much less than that and sometimes only 0-1. The water was flat (of course). There was a light drizzle at times.
In these conditions the RS Aero 9 blew the Lasers and the RS Aero 7 away.
I am the heaviest Aero sailor in our fleet. I was sailing the Aero 9.
Upwind it was easy for me to establish a lead on the rest of the fleet. Although, in the first race one Laser sailor did stay within a few boat lengths of me on the first beat.
Downwind I don't think the Aero 9 had much of an advantage, if any. I was passed on one run by a Laser and the Aero 7 also closed the gap on me. I suspect I don't really know how to sail the Aero properly downwind in light airs yet. Or maybe I am just too fat.
I won both races by a considerable margin. And it was all due to distance gained upwind.
After the two official races, we asked the race committee to give us a start for a "race" back to the club. It was a reach all the way. The Aero 9 pulled out in front of the Lasers and Aero 7 immediately after the start, and just kept extending its lead.
In these conditions, it seems the RS Aero 9 is way too fast for fair scratch racing with Lasers and smaller Aero rigs.
But it did feel good!
I love my RS Aero 9!
If a racing sailor receives information from someone else during a race has he infringed the Rule against receiving outside help?
The question came up in a friendly discussion among the Laser and Aero sailors after the finish of one race yesterday.
It seems the courses we sail most often at the club are W4 and W5. As you can see from the club sailing instructions a W4 course has a downwind finish and W5 has an upwind finish. On Sunday we were sailing W4.
Actually the diagrams in SIs don't tell the whole story because we also use W4 when we have the start/finish line in the middle of the course. Everyone knows (at least I thought we all knew) that this means start-1-2-1-finish. A downwind finish. The number indicates the number of legs, not the number of laps.
This is what happened on Sunday. The Aeros and Lasers were racing together (as usual.) The first boat - an RS Aero - crossed the line going downwind on the second run and was given a finish horn. (Modesty prevents me from naming the sailor.) A little while later the next two boats approached the finish line. One sailed outside the line and continued downwind towards the leeward mark. The third boat was clearly sailing a course which would take him outside the pin. So the winner of the race, being a kind, friendly person, hailed his two friends and told them it was a downwind finish. #2 came back and #3 changed course and they crossed the finish line downwind as required.
1. Was the information received from another sailor against the Rule against Outside Help?
2. Even if it were legal in these circumstances, would it have been illegal in other circumstances?
3. Would it have been OK for the Race Committee to advise the sailors verbally of the correct course once they noticed that they appeared to be sailing the wrong course?
4. Would it have been OK for the Race Committee to answer a sailor's question if he had asked the RC if he was on the last leg of course and was approaching the finish?
Here is the relevant Rule. Other Rules may also apply of course.
And just because I like it, here is the video again of me (in the RS Aero 7) crossing the finish line of a W4 course at the club RS Aero/ Laser/ Sunfish regatta at the end of May. It was a little windier that day.
In the interests of full disclosure I should reveal that I was also suffering from course amnesia in the race in the video and was initially planning to sail outside the line and keep on going downwind towards the leeward mark. But I realized at the last minute that I should cross the finish line (maybe I saw the course board - duh!) and headed up to a broad reach to cross the line.
PS Apparently this video is one of the most watched videos on the MYCSunfish Fleet YouTube channel - (is that the right word?) but there's a lot of other good stuff there too, so head over there now and SUBSCRIBE!!!
I love my RS Aero.
No, I love this video because the caption is slightly misleading.
There appears to be a whole series of posts and articles lately on the general theme of how boredom is good for you and why you should "embrace the boredom."
Hmmm! The boredom of training.
It sounds right, If you are going to be good at anything - running, sailing, playing the guitar - you are going to have to do lots and lots of practice and training.
And sometimes that gets boring. The ones who succeed learn how to "embrace the boredom."
I can see that. The people who rise to the top are mentally tough enough to stick at the training plan and keep working at it even when they are bored with it. They "fall in love with boredom."
When I was training to run marathons I had to do a number of really, really long runs. Longer than the marathon distance itself in some cases. And what's more boring than running? Put one foot in front of the other. Repeat for 30 miles.
I solved it - to an extent - by exploring different places to run. Trails through unfamiliar woods (until the time I got lost and had to run even further than planned to find my way home.) A trail alongside an historic canal in another part of the state. Actually it was still pretty boring at times.
It's much the same with sailing.
The top Olympic sailors are sailing on at least 100 days every year. I think even sailing would quickly become boring if you were doing the same drills with the same people in the same boat at the same place day after day after day.
Of course, we sailors are lucky in that the winds are rarely the same from one day to the next so that introduces some variety into the program.
But we can also avoid boredom and burnout by mixing it up. Sail in different places. Sail on the sea and on lakes and on rivers. Sail on flat water and in waves. Do solo practice. Tune up with one training partner. Attend a group clinic. Sail small regattas. Sail large regattas. Travel to other countries to sail. Sail in different boats.
But surely most of us sail for fun. Why do it at all if it's boring?
Do you have to "embrace boredom" to succeed.
If so, how do you make yourself do that?
Are there other tricks if you want to put in the time to hone your skills to a high level without getting bored out of your mind in the process?
Is embracing boredom the new mindfulness?
Does embracing boredom make you more creative?
Or is boredom just a bore?
Why are some days on the water kind of blah - and then just when you least expect it you have a day that brings a huge smile to your face?
Yesterday afternoon was one of those special sailing sessions that make you glad to be alive, glad you sail a Laser, and glad you have such good friends to go Laser sailing with.
The only word to describe it is… stellar.
first-rate, out of this world.
The omens were not good at first.
We agreed to check the weather forecast on Tuesday morning.
One of my friends was concerned the winds would be too light.
I had seen some forecasts that suggested we would get showers and even thunderstorms.
Tuesday morning was very foggy with no wind.
In the end we decided to go sailing anyway.
At lunch time the fog cleared and a southerly breeze started to build up the bay.
When we launched in Bristol around 2:30pm there was a juicy 10-12 knot breeze from the south that was stirring up some interesting crunchy waves.
We raced WL courses with rabbit starts around a couple of government marks.
Somehow I had got it in my head over the winter that this is about the most boring way imaginable to spend a couple of hours on the water.
I was wrong. We all had a blast.
It was one of those days that repaid hiking hard, sailing the boat flat, and working the boat through the bigger waves upwind. In spite of my sore back on Monday after sailing on Sunday, I threw myself 100% into the fray and worked as hard as I could.
It felt fast upwind and my back wasn't hurting. Is adrenaline a painkiller?
Downwind it was possible to catch rides on some of better waves and I played around with different angles until I found out what seemed fast. I felt loose and relaxed in the boat.
I can't remember the last time I had so much fun in a Laser.
I have been neglecting her.
No, it's worse that that. Ever since I took delivery of my RS Aero, I have been totally ignoring her.
We have had so many good times together - and helped each other through a few bad times - for so many years and yet I just put her aside.
Yes it is true. Until Friday I hadn't sailed my Laser at all since that memorable day when my Laser and I crushed my friends in their Aeros on the last race of the day on May 17. Crushed!
"When you switch back to the Laser after sailing the Aero for a while, you will feel like you are driving a truck. The momentum and weight difference is dramatic."
So I took my faithful but neglected old Laser over to Bristol last Friday to give here some attention and renew my relationship with her.
It was fun, even exciting at times.
It wasn't like driving a truck at all.
Phew! I was seriously worried that sailing an RS Aero for a few weeks might have killed my passion for Laser sailing. Far from it. In fact it felt so good to be back in the Laser, almost as if my time in the Aero had re-energized my enthusiasm for the Laser. I guess I really am going to be a two boat sailor.
The next thing I was interested to explore was an initial answer to the question I asked myself in A Tale of Two Boats - would sailing an Aero help develop sailing skills that would also make be a better Laser sailor.
I was much more sensitive to weather helm. I think I had got used to sailing the Laser with a heavy helm - because I wasn't sailing the boat flat enough - that I had grown to tolerate it. The Aero is very light on the tiller and now I was more sensitive to when the Laser had weather helm and was naturally trying to reduce it.
I was much more active in the boat - moving my upper body in and out a lot to balance the boat. Whether this was because I had got used to doing this in an Aero or whether it was in response to the extra sensitivity when the helm felt too heavy, I don't know. A Laser coach once told me that I am not active enough in the boat; I tended to lock my body in one position and hope that would work all the time. Sailing the Aero seems to have cured me of this fault in a Laser.
My tacks seemed a lot smoother and under control compared to how they were before in the Laser. I really don't know why, because I don't really feel I am doing good tacks in the Aero yet. Perhaps I am really comparing my current Laser tacks to my current Aero tacks, but I don't think so. Or perhaps in struggling to get my Aero tacks right I have somehow indirectly made my Laser tacks seem easier.
It's early days yet, and I wasn't comparing my boat speed to another boat. But it does seem that sailing the Aero may develop skills that will positively impact my Laser technique too.
On Sunday, I took my Laser out for a sail on Mount Hope Bay. I was expecting to be drifting around practicing my roll tacks, but almost as soon as I launched the wind picked up from under 5 mph to more like 17 gusting into the low 20s from the south-east.
So, I cranked down the cunningham and cranked on the vang and hiked as hard as I could and worked my way through the waves upwind for a couple of miles or more, towards Roger Williams University.
I have nothing positive to report at all about how sailing the RS Aero may have helped my upwind technique in a Laser in stronger winds. In fact quite the reverse. Either I am not hiking hard enough in the Aero, or maybe the Aero hiking position is so different from how you hike in a Laser, that it's no real help when you go back to the Laser. Whatever the reason those two upwind miles felt like damn hard work.
I have a vague recollection that after dinner I fell asleep on the living room floor. This morning my back feels like it always feels when I go back to Laser sailing after too many weeks off. Sore.
Memo to self: the only way to keep fit enough to hike hard in a Laser is to do a lot of Laser sailing in heavier winds. Seriously.
But going back downwind, even though the wind had dropped a little, was pure pleasure.
I love sailing on the bay.
I am a two boat sailor.
We haven't had a Maps on Monday post for a while so as today, 15 June 2015, is the 800th anniversary of the signing of the Magna Carta let's have some maps related to that.
Magna Carta was agreed by King John of England and a group of rebel barons at Runnymede, near Windsor, on 15 June 1215. Although Magna Carta was somewhat limited in scope, dealing with such issues as the rights of the church and protection for the barons from illegal imprisonment, the political myth of Magna Carta as a document guaranteeing widespread personal liberties persisted until well into the 19th century. It influenced the early American colonists in the Thirteen Colonies and the formation of the American Constitution in 1789.
This strip map from a 1675 "road atlas" of England and Wales published by John Ogilby shows the routes that would have been taken by the king and the barons to the field at Runnymede where the Magna Carta was signed. The king rode down from his castle at Windsor and the barons crossed the River Thames at Staines, where a "wooden bridge" is marked on the map.
Researchers at Cambridge University have recently created the first digital maps of the travels undertaken by King John and of his successors Henry III and Edward I during their reigns. It turns out that John was pretty much always on the move raising taxes and holding court, trying to hold on to his authority in spite of the challenges from those pesky barons.
And what does all this have to do with sailing?
Except I think every sailor has at some time lost a "personal treasure" overboard. A cell-phone. A pair of sunglasses. A favorite hat. Yes?
So show some sympathy for King John who lost most of his personal belongings, including the Crown Jewels, as he and his retinue and their pack-horses crossed one of the tidal estuaries which empties into the Wash.
Oh, and for all my American readers, did you know that every American president except one, is descended from King John?
Can you guess who the exception is without going to that link first?
And what is the most valued "personal treasure" that you have lost to the ocean depths?
The RS Aero comes in three flavors - 5, 7 and 9.
The numbers refer to the approximate sail area of each rig in square meters.
Each rig has a different sail area and a different length bottom mast section.
So you can have whichever flavor - or sail area- suits you best.
If you are a manly man you will want the RS Aero 9.
It's just like the Laser and the Laser Radial. As my friend Yarg of Apparent Wind so eloquently wrote in - Why Manly Men Never Use a Radial Sail - there's no way a manly man would want to sail a Radial or an Aero 7 rig. Those are for girls, right?
As it turns out… wrong. Very wrong.
Back in last March when I placed what was apparently the first Aero order from North America, I ordered it with the 9 rig. I was hovering a bit over 200lbs at the time and based on what I read on the website it seemed that that was the rig for me.
But then George Yioulis of West Coast Sailing went over to England to try out the RS Aero and came back saying he was advising his customers that even men of my size should initially buy the 7 rig. And when I went to Minorca Sailing in September I tried both the 9 rig and the 7 rig and came to much the same conclusion.
The 7 rig was enough of a challenge for me in strong winds. On the other hand the extra sail area of the 9 rig was a delight in lighter winds.
So I decided to buy both the 7 and 9 rigs.
My two fellow sailors in the Boston Aero Fleet also ended up buying two rigs. Yarg, who weight is in the recommended range for the 7 rig anyway, opted to buy the 7 rig with a 5 rig for those heavy air days. And the Email Dude, whose weight is somewhere between mine and Yarg's bought a 7 and 9 rig like me.
So then we were faced with the decision as to how to race these rigs. There isn't really any handicap racing at our host club, so at our winter planning meeting - at Mick Morgan's Irish Pub - we all agreed that for racing we would use the 7 rigs (at least initially) so we were on a level playing field. At least I think that's what we agreed. It was very noisy and I had lost count of how many pints of Guinness I had had by then.
While we were pondering how we would use the 5 and 9 rigs, the Class Rules for the RS Aero were published and they addressed the issue of how Aeros would be raced, but when it came to the rules for swapping rigs they had us scratching our heads.
The rules say that the Aeros should be raced as separate fleets by rig size 5, 7 and 9 "where numbers permit" and that otherwise they should race using Portsmouth Handicaps.
Fair enough. But the next rule had us puzzled.
So Yarg could swap to his 5 rig if we were sailing a handicap series (which we are not.) So if it was really nuking and he was totally overpowered in his 7 rig, the rule seems to imply that he couldn't sail his 5 rig because we were essentially doing fleet racing of 7 rigs. That seemed a little weird.
The second part of rule C.1.4. is even weirder. You can switch to a bigger rig but you rank as a "new entry." A (perhaps unintended) consequence of this rule has already come into play in a series in the UK. There are 4 events in the series with best 2 scores counting. So you could sail a 7 rig in the first event, switch up to a 9 rig for 2 of the subsequent events, and sail the 7 rig in one of the subsequent events. You would then count as 2 entries with 2 scores for each. So you could actually be both first and second in the same series??? How does that make sense?
None of this made it any easier to figure out what our local rig-swapping rules, if any, should be.
In the end it was moot.
At our first regatta - the First RS Aero Regatta in USA East of the Continental Divide - it was really nuking. Well it was quite windy. We all started in 7 rigs but Yarg did capsize a few times. I know he capsized because in every race in the morning on one of the downwind legs I heard a big splash behind me and someone cursing a lot.
Of course that opened the floodgates.
If a lighter sailor can switch down a rig in the heavy stuff, then it must be OK for a heavy sailor to switch up in the light stuff? Right?
OK. I know it's debatable. We have debated it a lot in my other class. In fact the old geezers in my other class debated it so much that we now have a rig-swapping rule for North American Laser Masters regattas that, as far as I know, nobody else in the Laser class in the world uses.
In any case, when the three of us raced in the Wednesday evening multi-class pursuit race last week I told Yarg I would like to use my 9 rig, just to see what would happen. If we don't test out these different rigs we never will figure out whether and how we can race them together. The Email Dude opted for a 9 rig too. So we started together, one 7 rig and two 9 rigs.
The other two Aero sailors got better starts than me so I was playing catch-up all the way up the first beat. As I recall, Yarg was leading at the first mark. I had a good downwind leg and gained the lead. On the second upwind, the first boat chasing us, a Flying Scot caught, up with us. I led the Aeros down the second downwind but the Scot rounded ahead of us at the leeward mark. Yarg, close behind me,went right on the short final beat, so I went the same way to cover him. The Email Dude went left, got a lucky shift and gained on us. We converged at the finish line. It was almost a tie. We finished within a second of each other, with the Email Dude in second (after the Scot), me third and Yarg fourth.
The 7 and 9 rigs are actually the same speed in light air?
Or, perhaps, more likely, a 160lb sailor in a 7 rig is as fast as a 195 lb sailor in a 9 rig in light air?
We should just sail the rigs that suit our weight and we will have even racing?
If only I had got a better start I would have won the race?
Yarg is a much better sailor than Email Dude and me?
I do love pursuit races.
I am so glad I bought this boat.
I am so glad I joined this club.
Must have been 1979, I guess.
Tiller Extension #1 on the patio of our house in Maidenhead, England.
I am called Tillerman because I steer a boat with a tiller.
Tillerwoman is called Tillerwoman because she is married to me and because she is an avid gardener. She tills the soil.
I hadn't started sailing in 1979. That came a few years later.
But here is photographic evidence that Tiller Extension #1 was interested in gardening - also known as playing with dirt - at an early age. He was probably "helping" his mother to plant some flowers around the patio. He didn't take up sailing for another 6 or 7 years.
Tillerwoman grows vegetables in raised beds.
Tiller Extension #1 grows vegetables in raised beds too.
Tiller Extension #1 is a better sailor than me.
I think he would concede that his mother is a better gardener than him. But they do learn things from each other. They are both better gardeners than me.
And here is the same little dude again at his 15 year college reunion last weekend.
Can you spot which one is him?
Hint: He's not carrying a trowel or wearing a blue cardigan.
I now own two boats.
A Laser and an RS Aero.
It seems hard to believe but it's less than four weeks since the Aero was delivered.
I have to admit that in those few weeks I have sailed the Aero more times than the Laser, partly because I was desperately trying to learn how to sail the boat properly in preparation for racing in the first RS Aero Regatta in North America this side of the Continental Divide.
But the longer term plan is to split my time more or less equally between the two boats.
The question I have is whether sailing two boats that are similar in some ways (both hiking single-handers) but very different in others (designed in different centuries - one half the weight of the other) will make me a better sailor in either or both boats - or just very confused.
Some of my Laser sailing instincts undoubtedly help me in sailing the Aero. Some of those instincts may be totally wrong for the Aero. I need to unlearn old habits and learn new ones for a new boat.
Some of the challenges I face in learning to sail the Aero might help me with the Laser. Better feel for balancing the boat downwind perhaps? More practice at capsize recoveries maybe?
In his classic book on self-coaching in sailing - SAIL, RACE AND WIN - Eric Twiname lists swapping boats and classes as one of the twelve main ways of learning, right up there with race experience and solo practice and group coaching.
It happens to be great fun to learn the quirks and idiosyncrasies of different boats. You will also find that each class emphasizes some particular skill, and if you learn that class you will have learned that particular skill better than anyone else who has not sailed that class.
Will sailing the RS Aero make me a better Laser sailor?
Will continuing to sail the Laser make me a better RS Aero sailor?
Or do you only become a good sailor in one class by devoting all your time on the water to that one class?
I would really like to to hear your experiences and opinions on this question.
Norfolk Broads in England - probably 1985.
Must have been the same week as the photo in this quiz.
The Norfolk Broads are a network of navigable rivers and lakes in the counties of Norfolk and Suffolk.
A great area for yachting and motor-cruising and generally messing about in boats.
My sons and I would have been about the same age as my two oldest grandsons and their father are now.
I live in Tiverton, Rhode Island on the east coast of the United States.
At the end of July I plan to do a spot of yachting on the Columbia River, at Cascade Locks in Oregon, way over on the other side of the continent.
The Columbia is the fourth largest river in the United States, the largest river in the Pacific Northwest, and the river with the greatest flow of any North America river draining into the Pacific.
But I will not be the first sailor from Tiverton to sail on the Columbia River.
If you had asked me who were the first Americans of European origin to travel on the Columbia River, I would have guessed Lewis and Clark.
In fact the first American of European origin to sail a boat on the Columbia River was a native of Tiverton, Rhode Island - Captain Robert Gray.
Robert Gray was a merchant sea captain who undertook two trading voyages to the northern Pacific coast of North America, between 1787 and 1793, and pioneered the American maritime fur trade in that region.
He also completed the first American circumnavigation of the world in 1790.
During his 1792 journey, Gray noticed muddy waters flowing into the Pacific from the shore and decided to investigate whether he might have encountered the "Great River of the West."
On May 11 1792, he ordered a small sailboat launched to attempt to find a safe passage across the sand bars at the mouth of the river. On the evening of that day, his men found a safe channel, so he sailed his ship into the estuary of the Columbia River. Once there, they sailed upriver and Gray named this large river Columbia after his ship.
So that's why the Columbia River is called the Columbia River.
It's also why British Columbia is called British Columbia.
All down to some sailor from Tiverton.
Saturday was a perfect day for racing on Lake Massapoag, sunny, 80 degrees, wind from the SW in the mid-teens gusting into the 20s. Champagne sailing conditions.
I think that counting my days in an Aero in Minorca last year, the days in the demo RS Aero in Newport and Bristol in March and April, and the days on Lake Massapoag more recently in my own boat, this would be my 12th day sailing an Aero.
But I had never raced it before.
The race committee gave us 6 races with windward-leeward courses, usually 2 laps with a downwind finish, except for the last races of the morning and the afternoon when we had upwind finishes near the windward mark - and nearer to the club for post-race refreshments. As well as the 3 RS Aeros, there were 18 Sunfish and 8 Lasers at the regatta too. The RS Aeros started with the Lasers, as we will for club racing. It seems to work out well and means less waiting around than if all the fleets had separate starts.
The short video gives you a good impression of what the sailing was like. But the caption "Tillerman Wins in an Aero" is totally wrong. The blog reader who posted this video to YouTube exaggerated slightly. One Aero had already crossed the line so I was actually second Aero in that race, which is where I finished in the regatta too.
2. Don't break anything on the boat.
3. Don't break anything on me.
With a couple of minor exceptions to objective #3 (more in another post perhaps) all objectives were achieved.
I can't remember the last time I had so much fun at a regatta.
I think I'll watch the video again now.


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We got our Parson Russell puppy, Buster, late last summer. He's now 7 months old and as the weeks pass, his personality is developing. He laughs a lot and is very enthusiastic about everything and everyone. His hobbies include jumping up to say hello to visitors, barking at cars, hugging other dogs and licking horses. His crate is in our kitchen and he has always been very good about going to his cosy bed at night with his favourite squeaky chicken. He loves this so much we're on chicken number 3.
I think it helps that his bed is right by the warm radiator.
Most mornings he is quite happy to stay settled in his bed, listening to the sounds of the shower or hairdryer upstairs as we get ready for work. Hearing our footsteps on the creaky stairs is his cue to bounce up and down and welcome us. His sheer joy at the start of each day is brilliant and now we have a routine, he knows all his favourite things are coming his way. Outside for a sniff and a wee, round the corner to visit the ponies, home for a massive game of fetch followed by breakfast and surveillance duties from his window seat. If he's lucky and there's a bundle of washing going into the machine, he might score a sneaky sock.
The only cloud in his endless blue sky is when the servants take away newly acquired toys (toilet rolls) and put him in doggy jail (behind the baby gate in the kitchen).
These are his favourite things in the whole world, especially the red ball. If the servants let him, he would play fetch with these until he fell over.
But sometime the servants adapt his toys, for example cutting the chewed and frayed fronds off his squid. Meanies.
I currently work from home and have a small office set up in our back bedroom. Buster visits me there because he thinks my office is his Fartorium. He also thinks he's very funny.
Despite his sometimes unsavoury presence, we are very appreciative of our good natured, scruffy little dog. There are no cushions left on our sofas, the floors have a permapaw covering, we have to hide the toilet roll, be on call when he rings his bell to go outside for "dog time" and groan with frustration when he forgets his manners, refuses to sit for anything less than sausage and behaves like a devil dog on the lead. For all that we find him irrisistible.


Verizon purchased Yahoo for $4.48 billion in June 2017 and bought AOL for $4.4 billion in June 2015. Yahoo and AOL were initially combined into a subsidiary called Oath, which was renamed to Verizon Media this month. Verizon's media division hasn't been able to compete effectively against Google and Facebook in the advertising market. Positive momentum for the media group includes Yahoo Sports' NFL streaming, Yahoo Finance's expanded coverage and visitor growth, and the Yahoo-HuffPost News Network getting 41 million visitors in November.


Timeshare at El Marques Palace offers relaxation at its very best. The timeshare resort is tastefully structured around the main heated pool and children's pool for privacy, so take it easy with the many comfortable sun beds around both pools. You can find tenis courts on site and also sauna, there are elevators, and snack bar for your little tasters. Explore this famous island's magnificent beaches, museums, restaurants, and entertainment. El Marques Palace is located near the enchanting cliffs of Los Gigantes. The beach, only a short walk away, offers water skiing, scuba diving, and boating. Golf courses, gym, casino, grocery store, medical facility, and restaurants are nearby. Book a car rental at the reception desk to explore this wonderful area. El Marques staff are extremely helpful and knowledgeable about the surounding area. The resort is the perfect couples retreat, and home base for your luxury Canary Island vacation.


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Erply: Skype of Business Software?
Erply, a business software firm, has raised $2 million in funding from Redpoint and Index Ventures, along with Marten Mickos, Zack Urlocker (both formerly of MySQL), Kenny van Zant (SolarWinds), Aydin Senkut, David McClure and the Accelerator Group.
The company, founded by Kristian Hiiemaa in Estonia, is a 2009 Seedcamp winner and is already profitable. Its client base is growing roughly 20% each month, according to Hiiemaa. They currently have 2,000 business customers and 8,000 users.
Seedcamp is a UK based incubator program cofounded by Saul Klein. This is the first Seedcamp winner to get funded by Index Ventures, where Klein is a partner.
"We think Erply can do for business software what Skype did for telecom," Klein told us. Skype, like Erply, was developed in Estonia before being sold to eBay in 2005 with a $2.75 billion valuation. Klein is hoping that Erply follows a similarly disruptive path, by making traditionally expensive business applications more affordable for smaller companies.
Erply specializes in business management software, helping companies deal with inventory control, bookkeeping, and other tasks, from their brick-and-mortar stores to online operations. While rivals like SAP, Microsoft and Oracle dominate the larger accounts, Erply focuses on small businesses— courting them with cheaper fees. Typically, a small business will fulfill their software needs with the larger providers or local developers, but Hiiemaa says more are defecting to Erply as the company finds success in its marketing efforts. The lionshare of the $2 million will be funneled towards marketing and expanding the company's team in Eastern Europe. So far, the company counts 8,000 seats and 2,000 companies.
Although Erply offers a mix of free and paid packages, many customers are opting for the paid packages (the average subscription fee is $74 a month) — the company boasts a 25% conversion rate from free to paid. Small start-ups are taking advantage of the free versions, but Hiiemaa says most companies are entering on the pay side.
Sidenote: the company is also betting on the iPad— Erply is preparing to launch a new application for the device in the near term that will help with real time inventory management.


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With $2 Million in Backing, Climb Hire Tackles the Social Ladder
Taylor Hill devised a plan to better her life. To move beyond her current customer-service job, she'd teach herself how to use customer-management software popular with the type of higher-paid sales position she coveted. But the self-described visual learner realized self-teaching didn't work for her without someone to make sure she truly understood the work.
"It's hard to focus on your own," says Hill, 25. "You can miss a lot of things when you're learning on your own."
To better her chances, Hill has become one of the 40 members of the first cohort of a new program meant to prepare aspiring, underrepresented technology professionals in the San Francisco Bay area. The program, run by a group called Climb Hire, has $2 million in backing to get the program off the ground, courtesy of donors not new to education—Google.org, the charitable arm of tech giant Google; Schmidt Futures, a philanthropic initiative from former Google Chairman Eric Schmidt; and the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation.
The program promises 100 hours of online training and 100 hours of in-person training for 16 weeks. Participants like Hill pay nothing up front. Once she lands a job that pays at least $45,000, she'll pay $150 a month for four years so that others can go through the program as well, says CEO Nitzan Pelman.
Pelman, 43, previously served as founding executive director of Citizen Schools' New York branch and founding CEO of ReUp Education. About 20 years of work enrolling people in college left Pelman looking for a more effective path for low-income earners to land more lucrative jobs.
"With a couple of exceptions, [colleges] don't care about graduation rates," she says. "I got into this work because I want to break the cycle of poverty. The way to break the cycle of poverty now is to get a job."
Climb Hire is organized as part non-profit, part cooperative, meaning members may share in the moneymaking side of the business that will charge employers a finder's fee for staffing services. Climb Hire is still deciding what to charge companies for those services, Pelman says.
The nonprofit wing trains cohort members to become database administrators for customer relationship management tools by software provider Salesforce. Members also receive professional portfolio help and two in-person sessions a week. As part of qualifying for the program, Hill and other students pass one-hour online assessments, a video interview, in-person group interview and background and reference checks.
One goal of the program is for the cohort to create a social network, referring each other to job openings and helping future alumni find work. This is to correct for something Pelman experienced during past work with students from low-income backgrounds—that they often lacked the friends and associates who could tell them about higher-paying jobs. She admits that she's never applied for a job, usually learning about a job before a post through friends and colleagues. She wants to bring that type of access to her participants.
For Google.org, which provided a $500,000 grant to Climb Hire as part of a $50 million fund focused on workforce-innovation programs, the institution's unusual structure and the income sharing agreement business model helped Climb Hire secure the funding, says Andrew Dunckelman, Google.org head of education and economic opportunity. "She's taking the best of what's happening across workforce training and combining them," he says.
Google.org's past grants in education-related programs include $25 million earlier this year to help black and Latino students access computer science education and another $25 million for projects that use artificial intelligence. Schmidt Futures has supported Remake Learning Days Across America as well as the "Responsible Computer Science Challenge."
For Hill, one of the original cohort members, Climb Hire is an alternative to returning to College of Alameda, to finish her degree. She says her mom would feel happy if Hill completed her degree, but Hill much prefers working and making money. She's confident that something like Climb Hire can help her climb the social ladder.
"I want to succeed, and I see sales as a way into it," she says. "I have the personality. I'm good with people. I just need the experience."
Tech Applications That Support High Quality PBL
The Honor of a Lifetime – The U.S. Presidential Scholars Program