Sailing: First time out alone

Sailing: First time out alone

OK, so you walked in the boat for the first time, you managed to balance both when standing up when the boat is stopped and when sitting across the sail when you want to sail. What next?

It is always a good idea as a starter to avoid hitting other boats. Another good idea is to never hold the boom. And finally if sth goes wrong when going upwind remember, just let the sail go and keep the rudder straight. When going downwind, turn to upwind and stop (the sail is already all the way out).

Before leaving the dock it is always a good idea to check the direction of the wind, take a look towards the sea/river/lake and find out where are the puffs (these darker areas on the water where the water is rippling) are coming from and finally warm up. It is something that sailors rarely do. But they should. A little jumping and stretching (if not running on the beach) will get those legs warned up. After all, you are relying to them for hiking (when you put your legs under the hiking straps, extend your legs so that your butt and back are outside the boat).

Finally it is a good idea to know what happens if you are about to meet another boat. This is why we have rules: the
ISAF (International Sailing Federation) rules. As all rules, they are boring and mostly for racers, but it's good to know of their existence as it will make other boats not fear you!

Sailing II

Sailing II

The MIT sailing pavillion has Techs as single-handed boats and double-handed FJs.




After years of sailing single-handed boats, today I tried the FJ. My crew was someone who had only sailed the FJ once; yesterday! But we did relatively well when practicing tacking and timing ourselves at the start line, in preparation for the Chix Only team race in the end of July. What I really liked was the feeling of a very light rudder. Especially since the Tech's and the Rhodes' rudders feel very stiff and heavy, the experience came as a positive surprise. However, it seems that we are a light-weight combination. Today there was no wind whatsoever, but at times both of us were sitting up and I would hike!!

The weird part about this boat is that the main is really small: only 6 sq.meters. Compare with the Europe which is single-handed and has a sail area of 7 sq.meters and the equivalent double 420 with main area of ~10 sq.meters. What we really need to find out before the race is how does the crew hike out and whether they wear a waist harness that attaches to a trapeze (I read in wiki that it should exist, but I didn't see it today). A clear difference with the international FJ is the lack of spinnaker. I'm not sure if this has to do with the fact that we're racing in the Charles river, where raising a spinnaker would take more time than crossing the river with the spinnaker on.

In any case, the preparation is going well. Next time we need to hike, tack, jibe and prepare for the start line!

Sailing

Sailing

In an effort to procrastinate from writing my Master's thesis whose topic is controlled biopolymer assembly etc.etc, I decided to start a series of posts about dinghy sailing. It will include some intro lessons, some lessons on tactics, some rules and some rigging advice. I think it will be a good way for me to read and research a bit more the new state of the art of dinghy sailing, as I have not been sailing very seriously the past few years. I always sailed a single-handed dinghy (first Optimist, then briefly Laser Radial and finally the Europe). I will ask the technical advice of friends regarding small boat design (I am curious as well).

Coming soon: after July 26th

Michalis

Michalis

I have started reading my friend's blog. Michalis who went to college with me makes some interesting observations.

Life guards

Life guards

Today, I learnt crazy things about swimming pools, lifeguards and beaches. And I feel in a position to make a comparison between the US and Greece.



By the way, this is Vouliagmeni beach in Athens, which does have a lifeguard. I really miss Vouliagmeni, where I used to train for sailing. The Charles river in Boston cannot be compared to the beauty of my city!




As I was having dinner at a friend's place who lives in a block of flats that has a medium-sized swimming pool, the ones you can swim across with ten strokes or so. I jokingly asked if we could go swim. The reply came as a surprise :
- No, the pool is closed after-hours, because the life-guard is not here.
- You have a life-guard for this swimming pool ?
- Of course! We have to have a lifeguard.

I had only seen lifeguards at the gym's pools (my friend Darcie worked as one, and I think she once had to save someome) at hotel pools, and sometimes at the organised beaches in Greece. And as I'm trying to find out more, I run into the following newspaper article (from Kathimerini: article in greek)

Popular beaches, where popular is defined as any beach having more than 500 people within one day - I don't know if they need to be simultaneous, must have a lifeguard. BUT, the mayors do not appoint them. As if they cost too much, for the three months of work they do, and they do not allow the mayor to do their festival, their fair and their garbage collection. As if their job is not of primary importance with 290 drown people during 2006. As if someone else can help and save our fellow citizen offering the correct first aid. As if the mayors had brains!

And things got worse as I kept reading the article. Apparently, lifeguards are recognised by the ministry of commercial shipping as professionals (after obtaining the necessary licensing), but not by the ministry of work and social insurances, resulting in the omnipresent greek chaos of I can work, but they won't pay me. Once more it's ridiculous.

Tα καμένα

Tα καμένα

In support of all those who don't want to see Athens' and the rest of Greece's forests remain burnt, but would rather see them taken care of and having trees replanted:

«Κυριακή 8 Ιουλίου και ώρα 7 το απόγευμα, όλοι έξω από τη Βουλή. Απαίτησε την αναδάσωση όλων των καμένων εκτάσεων. Απαίτησε τον σεβασμό στο περιβάλλον μας. Δείξε με την παρουσία σου ότι σε νοιάζει. Φτάσαμε στην ώρα μηδέν. Μακριά από πολιτικές σκοπιμότητες, απαίτησε δράση τώρα»

A few (at least 10) years ago, I was at a children's camp in Calamos Attikis, in Greece. Surrounding the camp there was what I found to be a huge fire-protection zone and then the forest laid beautiful with its green colors. One afternoon, the fire that had been burning in the area finally reached the camp. I remember that we were told to just take a sweater and some water and board the camp's shuttles, which indeed took us away from the camp and at a beach, where we would definitely be safe.
The camping staff and everyone was really nice to us. We ate at the beach, we washed our fruit in the sea and kids as we were we played with our torches and chatted. I don't remember us being particularly concerned or scared. In the pre-cell phone era, the panic attack of our parents could not reach us. We were relatively happy in our ignorance of the seriousness of the situation. I even think that we went back to the camp late that same night and that tired we crashed.
What I do remember very vividly, however, is how the next morning, curious to see how close the fire had gotten, we went to the football stadium from where the fire-protection zone could be seen best. And I swear, we could see the burnt trees. And later, the next couple of days, when we went to the sea for swimming, or when our parents finally came to pick us up, we would drive amidst the burnt forest.
Even though I am sure nature itself can do a good job, and new plants can start growing, I am a very fervent supporter of replanting trees. It is just really sad to see the dead trees being there years after the fire took place.

For the record, I don't understand those who burn forests to build. They are going to build next to the burnt trees. Even if they plant some trees in their own vicinity, they are going to be next to a deadly burnt forest. They are going to build at a place that has no formal electricity/water/waste management. And when they flood with the first October rains, they will call the city and the community to save them and protect their houses. Ridiculous.

Mandelbrot

Mandelbrot

Very exciting for those of you who like fractals. I just found a talk by Mandelbrot http://mitworld.mit.edu/video/52/

I haven't watched it yet, so don't complain if it's not that good.
But, hey, it's Mr. Fractal, it has to be good.
As a wiki reference to intro Mandelbrot set
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandelbrot_set

Mini-trip: Salem

Mini-trip: Salem

I am bewitched!! Last Saturday my roomie and I along with a bunch of BU people we don't know, we went to Salem, MA.







The witch trials were based on events that took place there. But nothing compared to the Inquisition in Europe. We are talking about 20 people in the witch trials here, and thousands of people in Europe...simply no comparison.

In any case, I find it very interesting that a few girls caused so much trouble in the state and affected so deeply public perception against witch craft. After all, there were a bunch of teenage girls, in a society that sounded very puritan and which was really fast to point the finger to a black woman for "be-witching" the girls. And the more people believed and feared, the more power did they give the courts to rule against their own neighbors.

Which brings us to sth very important: if someone with some power persuades the public that they should fear sth (an idea, a group of people) whether rationally or irrationally, the public will immediately grant greater powers to the leader to destroy the cause of the evil. Ahem, reminds you of sth?

Theory 2: Driving in MA - permit, bureaucracy and computer screens

Theory 2: Driving in MA - permit, bureaucracy and computer screens

I've been very absent lately, and I profoundly apologize. But I have been DOING stuff. One of them had been to try to graduate from Boston University with a Master in Science. The other has been to (finally) get my driving license here in Massachusetts.
Note that I already have a European license, so I'm doing it to get it done as it is valid for five years as opposed to the international which is valid for a year or so.

I studied for the written test (aka. the permit) which ended up being highly annoying as the booklet focuses on how to keep your license and what are the fines for each of the minor and major crimes you can commit on the roads. NOT how to drive safely, correctly and how to take care of your car. ONE of the SIX chapters was about right of way and driving safely. The rest was about fines, penalties, insurance policies.
I consider this as a state attitude. And I am 24 and I know how to drive, but for a 16-year-old, maybe it would be more useful to say what is correct to do rather than mention what is wrong. As far as I have heard, it is highly pedagogical to tell students what is correct to do rather than what not to do.

Overcoming my frustration every time I needed to read the next chapter of the booklet, I finally finished it and my steps took me to the Boston Registry of Motor Vehicles. I go early, I get my number for the license and wait. And wait. And wait.
Because as it turns out that one-two RMV employees are taking care of licenses. Their job is to check your identity documents, collect the payment and perform a basic eye-check. The procedure takes a few minutes.

The result: the RMV has 10-12 computer screens where the permit test can be taken.
When I went to use it, we were only 3 people in the room leaving the other 7-9 computer screens completely useless. Simultaneously, outside, there must have been another 30 people waiting to take the test!! Bureaucracy doesn't just take computers to be overcome. It also requires management which recognizes the areas that are overloaded at any particular time and turns the attention of the personnel to that area.

And now the test. OF COURSE, like 7 of the 20 questions were about fines and what would be the punishment for doing this, not doing that...etc.
And the best part. Even though the computer knows my year of birth (which assumes that it knows that I'm over 18, so not a junior operator) 5 of my 20 questions are about junior operators!!!!

With this I leave you to the complete craziness of bureaucracy and the thought that it doesn't matter whether you are in Athens or in Boston. Waiting lines are universal!

Theory 1: The Gym - Resemblance to a big city

Theory 1: The Gym - Resemblance to a big city

After having turned my knee while skiing in the Alpes, I spent the past month trying to walk, stretch, bend and rotate it. But this week I decided that I've had enough and I felt well enough to go to the gym. And focused on my knee "test-drive", I went to the gym alone. And here comes my theory. The same people go to the gym the same hours every day, every other day. You see them again and again. The faces are familiar, the people alien. Because we have this unsigned agreement that we are in the gym to exercise, with the earphones, the iPods, the TVs that decorate the space. Not to talk. I even felt bad that I poked the girl next to me to ask the time. She looked at me scared and bothered, as if she was ignorant of my presence, as if I was an intruder in the iPod life.
This situation reminds me of the bus in the big cities. Every day everyone takes the same bus to work, at the same time, with the same people. But the understood agreement is that we don't talk, we don't ask how each person is doing, although we do know when someone is sick, when someone has not slept well, when someone is happy. And we observe.

Does this bother me? Maybe. Somehow it is reflecting the world we live in. Which I wish were a bit friendlier.