Saturday, November 3, 2012

the end is near

A light frost on the lawns, windshields and roofs gave way to the rising sun this morning as I walked laps around the neighborhood.  It was the first frost I have noticed this year, a mild one.  A hard frost should arrive in the next week or two.  

The was barely enough of a breeze to rustle the leaves.


I had hoped for a good day on the water.  It is late in the season and I want to get out a few more times before I begin the winter maintenance.  Clear skies, eight mph of wind was the forecast.  On the drive to the ramp I looked out from over the bridge and saw a heavy chop on the river.  I'll need to tuck in a reef, I thought.  At the ramp I walked down to the water's edge and it was bitterly cold.  Blowing 15 mph just made the temperature in the mid-40's seem even colder.  It was not a day for a relaxing sail, the kind where I could bask in the sunshine and tend the tiller with a nudge of the kneed.  I turned around and headed back home.

The last sail of the year will be in the next few weeks.  Last year I sailed after Thanksgiving, above, the wind strong enough that I finished the afternoon under mizzen and jib.  The temperature was more comfortable than today.


In 2010, as far as I can tell from this log, my last sail was late October when I sailed with Paul and Dawn, above, for a few days in North Carolina.  I came home to find a heavy work load and and early winter, one that brought an early season snow and then the heaviest snowfall I have seen here in over 20 years.  



In 2009 my last sail was just a few days before Thanksgiving.  Anytime I sail close to Thanksgiving I am happy.  I know that by December the water will be cold, the cool fronts will be rolling in from the north bringing gusty breezes.  



I hope I have a few more chances to get out this season.  Maybe this coming Friday, when I'm off from work, I'll sneak out for the day.  I need to hope that the weather will have settled down from the predicted mid-week nor'easter.  The nor'easter seems to be close to a certainty, but the strength in unknown. ( A strong nor'easter would not be good for the outer banks, many areas of which lost their protective dune lines to Sandy.)


I have ordered a new camera for next year's sailing season.  I've concluded that I will not find a better waterproof point and shoot camera than what I have now - all the waterproof point and shoots have flaws of one sort or another.  I've decided to stay with that camera, a Pentax Optio W90, when waterproof is needed, either because of rain or salt spray.  When waterproof is not needed, I hope to use the camera above, a Canon PowerShot SX160.  The camera has a few features I like such as being powered by aa batteries, a 28 to 448 mm zoom, image stabilizer and the controls for shooting on full manual.  

Is it a good camera?  I don't know.  The reviews have been good, but reviews can't be trusted.  When this camera arrives I will put it through the paces.  Should it not be the camera I want, I will use Amazon's return policy to the fullest.

steve

2 comments:

Shawn Stanley said...

Does that say 16x OPTICAL zoom?

Awesome.

I have an older school Panasonic with a 10X optical and it is behemoth in comparison. I've found that 10-12X is about the limits of a handheld and getting the image stable enough..for me anyway. The IS features should help.

Waiting on feedback once you receive the camera.

Steve said...

That is what it says. We'll see. steve