Wants to Link Up With Meachan - Re: Seeing an Oslojolle

      Any chance of linking me with Mathew A. Meachan from Gig Harbor, WA? He mentions seeing an Oslojolle up that way. I own US#1 Oslojolle built at Grimstad, Norway in 1960 by Sverre Westermoen.
      I would enjoy learning more about this boat.

Best wishes,
Wayne Demmel
wdemmel@prodigy.net

Mighty Chicken Safari and Volvo Ocean Race

Dear All,

      Durban stopover marked the midpoint of the voyage of Mighty Chicken. Although I was well prepared mentally for solo sailing, I have to admit that sometimes it was tough to know that with every 1000 miles I am further from home. Now I am looking forward to downhill sailing. For South Africa I also planned to haul out the boat for a fresh coat of bottom paint. However, after 16,000 miles, Interlux, courtesy of Mr. Brad Schmidt of General Paints, is still holding. My friend Michele's visit could not have come at a better time and we went for a few days on Safari. Learning from mistakes made during the meeting with whales on the Indian Ocean, this time the photographer (me) controlled his excitement and took many quality snapshots. However, as a motion picture cameraman, I need more practice. A proper video camera would help too. Nevertheless, I am keeping the clips taken with my photo camera. They better reflect the atmosphere of the herd of over 150 elephants. I am confident that during a pub night in our Yacht Club you will enjoy, as I did, a little break between sailing clips.
      For my birthday, Michele took me to Cape Town to watch the arrival of boats in the Volvo Ocean Race. In comparison with the campaign of Mighty Chicken it was a most intimidating contrast. At the same time it gave me a little pride in my progress to date. Unlike Mighty Chicken, carbon fiber, state of the art racing machines were beautifully painted and equipped with the best hardware money can buy. Crews have top quality personal sailing gear to stay dry, comfortable and are really good looking (the equipment not the crew, I haven't been away that long). In short, they have luxuries I can only dream about. On top of it, each Volvo 70 racing crew of 10 men, plus an onboard media person has the support of an army of sailmakers, riggers, shore technical crews, marketing, public relation reps, etc.
      On Mighty Chicken, Figaro 30, one man does it all. Two weeks of vacation with Michele came to the end. As she flew back to Vancouver, I went back to my sailing chores. In a few days, once I seal my heavy weather gear with duct tape and make a few hops towards Cape Town, me and Mighty will be ready for the Atlantic. Talk to you then.

Cheers,
Andy Lepiarczyk
Mighty Chicken

Coast Guard Reviewing Need For Mukilteo Lighthouse

      The Coast Guard is conducting a study regarding the navigational necessity of the Mukilteo Lighthouse in Mukilteo, WA.
      The study is focused on determining the need for an active Federal or Private aid to navigation in the lighthouse based on waterborne commerce, marine casualty information, port/harbor resources, emergency response plans, routine and emergency communication capabilities and future development projects. The Coast Guard is soliciting local mariners for their comments and input.
      The lighthouse's beacon is a historic Fresnel lens which is currently owned and operated by the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard would like to operate the lighthouse as a privately maintained aid to navigation by permit to a public or private entity.
      Any mariner who desires to comment about or participate in a survey of the Mukilteo Lighthouse as a federal aid to navigation should contact:

Lt. Pat Marshall
(206) 220-7278
patrick.a.marshall@uscg.mil.

Glowing Report for Lighting Company

      We hear lots of complaints about poor service and business practices and I would like to reverse the trend a little.
      We have had five Alpenglow compact flourescent lights on Kacheena since 1987 or so and found them to be efficient, attractive and low draw. They have performed flawlessly with only very infrequent bulb changes for 20,000 miles of offshore and inshore cruising.
      Two of the lights stopped working at about the same time, which I assume, was a ballast failure. This, after more than twenty years! I contacted Alpenglow and shipped the lights to them in Eureka, MT. and received the prompt response that they would repair the lights and return them immediately. They then emailed to say that they were shipping them. True to their word, I received the lights back a couple of days later. In addition to repairing the ballasts they also upgraded the red, nightlight function to LEDs. To stand by their product after so long is unheard of in our disposable society.
      The service was friendly, informative and efficient, and to make the experience perfect, the cost was, to say the least, extremely economical. In an age when we receive so little courtesy and effective business service, Alpenglow stands head and shoulders above the crowd.
      I have no affiliation with or interest in Alpenglow, I am just a very satisfied customer.

Keir Robinson
SV Kacheena
Vancouver, BC

Participation Doubled for TTPYC Fun Races

      The Three Tree Point Yacht Club and Des Moines Marina want to thank you for your donation to our 2008 Mid-Sound Summer Social Series. It was a great success! We measure our success by the following:

• Participation in the events doubled this year, both in number of boats and attendance at the socials after the races.
• We filled a van full of food for the Des Moines Food Bank
• We raised over $5,000 for the Easter Seals "Camp "Stand by Me" Program.