A Periodic Publication of Nautical Lore, Book Excerpts, and Love of Reason ----since 1980

Flotsam and Jetsam

Have you registered to vote yet? For many it is too late. Hundreds of local elections are scheduled nationwide for the months of August and September. For many voters the deadlines to register have passed.

While there is no way to fix that problem for the local elections be sure and get registered for the upcoming National Elections. You do not want to wait too late for that opportunity to exercise your democratic muscles.

Whether you vote Democrat, Green, Independent, Progressive or Republican the important thing is to VOTE!

www.ncat.org

Did you enjoy those fresh vegetables this spring and summer. To insure that you are getting the most nutritious meals possible consider shopping organic! Organic vegetable stands are popping up all over the nation as more and more Americans are concerned with the quality of food they eat.

Sailor's Delight

George M, from Galveston, TX writes:

“Lee, tell us more about heaving to…”

"Heaving to is a method used to maintain drifting position with your sails and rudder counterbalancing each other. Try heaving to on your sailboat in good weather as hull action varies due to weight and keel shape. We enjoy trolling under sail with pole holders on the transom. In a hookup it is necessary to heave to going upwind, or beam to when going downwind.

The best example I can remember was on the 31' Minka with most sailing in the winter months. After slogging upwind in a noisy upper force 5 with cold spray continually coming aboard, the boat would heave to easily to go below for an hour to have supper. The noise was minimal below, the ride was comfortable, and the owner a good cook."

Read more about it in our mentor’s work:

Royce's Sailing Illustrated Vol I, Patrick M. Royce, self published 1993, p. 150..

The Captains Move North

www.amazon.com

Chapter 14

Encounter with the Sioux September 1804

"In the first two weeks of September, the expedition gradually entered the country where the short-grass prairie of the drier High Plains predominated. The wildlife became even more abundant than below. There were herds of elk in every cospe of woods along the riverbank. Deer were as plentiful as birds. Buffalo became a common sight. The men pointed out a "goat" which no one could identify but no one could catch either. Captain Clark pronounced the plums the "most delicious" he had ever tasted, the grapes "plenty and finely flavered."

On the 3^rd, the captains sent Colter to chase Shannon again. Two days later, tracks along the riverbank indicated that Colter wasstill trying to catch up and that Shannon had lost one of the two horses that he had with him. Private John Shields came in from a hunt to report another wonder, a deer with a black tail. Lewis saw more wild goats on a hill, but they ran off before he could even describe their color. The hunters brought in three bucks and two elk.

Moving the keelboat and the pirogues upriver required a tremendous effort from each man; consequently, they ate prodigiously. In comparison with beef, the venison and elk were lean, even at this season. Each soldier consumed up to nine pounds of meat per day, along with whatever fruit the area afforded and some cornmeal, and still felt hungry."

Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West by Stephen E. Ambrose, Simon & Schuster, 1997, p.165.

The Wreck of The Edmund Fitzgerald November 10, 1975

Frederick Stonehouse, Avery, 1996.

The most detailed explanation of the details of the foundering of the Edmund Fitzgerald is found in this watery tome. Yet, were it not for the haunting lyrics by Canadian songwriter Gordon Lightfoot, the sinking of this ship would have slipped into a familiar obscurity; the final resting place in a graveyard of sunken ships.

Great Lakes ore carriers are enormous ships. Then the Edmund Fitzgerald was launched in 1958 she was the largest ship on the Great Lakes. At 729 feet in length, she was 100 longer than most WWII aircraft carriers.

The Edmund Fitzgerald held 26,116 tons of taconite pellets on her last voyage to Detroit, enough metal to produce 7,500 automobiles.

The November storm that contributed to the loss of the vessel was horrendous. Wind gusts were recorded at 85mph at the Macinac Bridge, forcing the closing of the structure. The Soo Locks measured a gust of 92 mph. Enormous waves were generated in the cold lake, some of them topping 25 feet in height.

Stonehouse's book covers the dry facts, the wild speculations, and a series of deliberately reasoned theories. If you love tales of the sea, and mysteries at that, be sure and hunt up a copy of The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

www.amazon.com

LAST WORDS :

“Say first, of God above or man below, What can we reason but from what we know?” Alexander Pope Essay on Man (ep. I, 1. 17)

The questions: what we can know, and how we can know it, brings us within the nether regions of classical philosophy, contemporary psychology, and current sociology.

Every day we face the challenge of knowledge. This challenge is summarized by the search for the Truth in Life. Every day people you know, and people you will never meet will attempt to influence you and your decisions.

International pharmaceutical companies spend more money on their Marketing department than to Research and Development. Why, pray tell? To influence your choice. Politicians utilise a bewildering plethora of financial sources to fund advertisements to influence your choice.

At what point are we sifting through propaganda? How do we parse the difference between adverts and pure unadulterated propaganda?

The Cambridge Dictionary defines propaganda thus: “information, ideas, opinions or images, often only giving one part of an argument, which are broadcast, published or in some other way spread with the intention of influencing people's opinion”. Advertisement is defined “to make something known generally or in public, especially in order to sell it:

QUADRENNIAL MUSINGS:

During the period before the election use these definitions (check out your own dictionary for nuanced differences), and apply them to what you see and hear.

Apply the Lamp of Truth to claims and counterclaims.

Question Authority.

Doubt the source.

Don’t be a disciple for the Democrats. Don’t be a Republican misanthrope. Don’t be a blind zealot for the Independents.

Question each statement made.

Question the reason behind the statement.

Ask yourself who stands to gain (or lose) from this statement.

Question whether the person making the statement is objective, or whether they have an axe to grind (or bury in someone’s back).

Also, take no source of news, information, rumor, and hearsay, as gospel. There is no extant political gospel.

If you receive the majority of your news from one source, you run the risk of being intellectually manipulated. Keep your mind open but be sure and keep a tarp handy to keep the rain out of the hatch!

Happy sailing!

Lee Wind.

Send Correspondence to:

P.O. Box 1960

Buckley, WA 98321 leewind1960@yahoo.com

LEE WIND has been published periodically often times from different parts of the world for over 24 years. Originally mimeographed, then photocopied, now mainly emailed to interested parties around the world. “LEE WIND educates sailors, stimulates the imagination, and upholds the Lamp of Truth.”