Coldplay

A week of sailing up and down the Florida coast, a weekend of climbing up a thousand feet or so of rock, what could possibly keep the excitement streak alive? How about fourth row tickets to Coldplay courtesy of Mix 106.5? Sounds good to me!

Either fourth row seats make a show a lot better, or Coldplay is just awesome. This was probably the best show I have ever been to (although people getting lit on fire at Rammstein still brings back fond memories). The Coldplay guys all looked like they were having as much fun playing as I was watching. I was also incredibly impressed by how nice they were and how much they appreciated the fans. I also didn’t know they were all so talented. Chris, the singer, also plays the piano and the guitar. Johnny, the guitarist, also sings and plays keyboards, Will plays drums, sings, and plays the guitar, and Guy plays bass and sings.

They also did a lot of cool things for the show. They released a ton of glowing butterfly confetti for one song, and for Yellow they dropped huge yellow confetti filled balloons that everyone tossed around. At one point Chris was about three feet away on the stage and some girl touched his hand and went crazy. It was pretty entertaining to watch!

And if a great show isn’t enough for you, they also gave everyone free CDs with nine live tracks. I was pretty impressed with that because it makes perfect sense from a business standpoint. Anyone can go online and download your music for free, but you can’t just go to an awesome show for free, oh, what a sec…

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Fourth of July Climbing

This Fourth of July weekend was the most exhausting and most challenging weekends of my life. Will and I went to Lovers Leap to meet our friends Sean, Ryan, and Mike for three days of intense climbing, intense hiking, and intense traffic.

Day 1, Friday, July 3rd:

We left camp at around 7:30, and after a half hour of scrambling up a steep trail we were looking up the 500 foot, three pitch Corrugation Corner on the Main Wall of Lovers Leap. There was a pair of climbers already on it, and we sorted our gear while we waited. When we got everything ready, I lead the first pitch without any problems. After I set my belay station, Will had to wait for soloist (i.e. no ropes) to pass by before he cleaned the first pitch and then led the second. I cleaned the second pitch and met back up with Will on an awesome ledge that was a perfect spot to snap a few photos and rest. The last pitch started with me climbing up a chimney that ended with a rather frightening, minimally protected move (which would later be even more frightening for Will when he climbed it and the backpack he was dragging swung out and almost pulled him off the rock). Other than the backpack incident, we topped out without any problems. The reward for the climb was an incredible view of the valley. From such a great height, the climbs we did last year on Hog’s Back looked like tiny bouldering problems. Unfortunately, we didn’t have any parachutes so we had to walk the long hike back down to the valley floor.

We had left a bag at the bottom of Corrugation Corner, but we didn’t feel like walking back up the steep, winding trail. Being mountain climbers, we prefer to climb straight up a big, solid rock rather than meander up a lot of switch backs covered with small, sliding rocks. There was a nice 200 foot, two pitch climb called The Farce that looked like it would get us close to our bag. It turned out that it didn’t get us as close as I thought, but it was a fun climb nevertheless. Will led the first pitch that ended with a scary, minimally protected traverse. I led the second pitch and it was easy but a bit runout. After we retrieved our bag, we headed back to camp where we cooked a spaghetti dinner and met up with our friends who had just arrived.

Day 2, Saturday, July 4th:

On the Fourth of July, I spent the most frightening four and half hours of my life on The Line, a 400 foot, three pitch climb on the East Wall. The climb pushed me to the edge of my comfort zone and brought me amazing moments of clarity and simplicity that can only be experienced while hanging on a rock hundreds of feet above everything. There were a few times where my legs were shaking, my arms were getting tired, and my hands were barely able to hold the rock, but then just when I needed it I would find a perfect hold to hang on to or a ledge to stand on and rest. Every one of these moments found me thanking God and the Earth for creating such an incredible rock. The most terrifying move of the climb was the overhang at the very end. It wasn’t very difficult physically, but hanging backwards 400 feet in the air with nothing below me was a huge mental challenge. The end was just after the overhang, and I topped out with a massive relief and thankfulness that I didn’t die or break anything or even fall. I’m not going to say anything else about this climb other than that it takes FOREVER to trad climb with three people.

After The Line, Will and I were so tired that we couldn’t climb anymore. We tried to set a top rope anchor for our friend Ryan, but we just didn’t have the energy. To remedy our energy problem, Sean, Ryan, Will, and I drove to South Lake Tahoe and we ate two extra large pizzas at round table. The pizzas gave us enough fuel to walk around the lake to look for a boat to rent. All the boat rental places were closed so we passed out on the beach only to be awakened by a bunch of bright lights exploding in the sky.

Day 3, Sunday, July 5th:

Sunday was our last day, and Ryan still hadn’t had a chance to climb. We argued for a while about what to do before I decided that we would climb the first pitch of The Farce again. I led the first pitch, set the top rope, and then Ryan sent it like a champ. Mike and Will both climbed first pitch of The Farce, and then we sent Mike up The Groove on the same rope. It was only a short climbing session, but Will and I were so tired and sore that we couldn’t do anything else. Mike wanted to climb the Surrealistic Pillar, but we had to disappoint him.

The weekend was amazing and exhausting. I climbed over 1100 feet total over the three days, which is more than I’ve ever done before. Add a couple of miles of hiking up and down steep, precarious mountain trails with 30 pounds of gear, and you’ve got yourself enough exercise to last a week. Let’s see what kind of trouble we can get into next weekend…

References:

Lovers Leap
Corrugation Corner
The Farce
The Line
The Groove Read more

Pirates of the Florida Keys

A few months ago, my boss Marc needed to round up a crew for a sailing trip. It only took a few incentives to get me and Will on board, and with Marc’s brother in law we had the crew of four that we needed for a private ASA certification course. We sailed the waters of Southern Florida for a week with Captain Joe of the Blue Water Sailing School of Ft Lauderdale to get our bareboat chartering certification. Everyone had a great time, and the only word that can be used to describe the trip is “perfect”. Read on for the daily sailing log.

Day 1, Saturday, June 20,
Overnight on the boat in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida

The sailing crew met with Captain Joe Logan, three time ASA “Outstanding Instructor” recipient, at the docks in the afternoon. Joe gave us the tour of our vessel, the 51-foot Dufour sailing sloop Gitana. The temperature and humidity were miserable, and the people returning from last week’s courses were complaining about the complete lack of wind. I was a little worried about how our class would go, and I was disappointed because we spent the night on the boat at the dock without any sailing Saturday. Marc didn’t care though, because he had already decided the trip was going to be perfect no matter what happened. Fortunately Marc was right.

Day 2, Sunday, June 21,
Ft. Lauderdale, Miami, Biscayne Bay

I woke up Sunday covered in a thick layer of sweat that can only be obtained after a summer night in Southern Florida on a boat with no air conditioning. Luckily after we made our way out to the ocean there was a nice sea breeze to cool us down. The wind also gave us our first opportunity to do some sailing. We learned how to raise the main sail with the head to wind, and then we raised the Jib in a close-hauled course. Barely a half-hour after the sails were raised, we hit a thunderstorm with gale force winds. We furled the jib with no problems, but then the wind picked up, rain started pouring, lighting crashed everywhere around us, and I thought that perhaps I might die on our first day at sea. When we tried to take down our brand new main sail (that had just been raised for the first time not but 30 minutes ago), Will dumped the main sheet instead of the halyard, and all of a sudden the boom was swinging around wildly as the wind shifted every 20 seconds. At this point my glasses were covered with rain and I could barely see anything. I can’t remember exactly what happened, but we managed to get our main down without any more incidents. After the sails were down, Captain Joe motored us through the Miami Harbor in a dense fog with only one stop to retrieve Alan’s hat after it got blown into the water. If I was in command I would have said forget the hat, but Captain Joe steered us right up to the edge of harbor and we retrieved the hat with a boat hook. The storm passed after we got through the harbor, and we practiced our anchoring in Biscayne Bay outside of Key Biscayne’s Hurricane Harbor. After an exciting first day and an incredible dinner of tilapia and some sort of pilaf thing, the crew turned in for the night.

Day 3, Monday, June 22
Biscayne Channel, Hawk Channel, Elliott Key
Skipper of the Day: Marc

Day three started with student lectures and our ASA 101 test. It was a beautiful day for sailing with 15 to 20 knot winds and not a thunderstorm in sight. Circle drills in Biscayne Bay got us familiar with all the points of sail. After that I took the helm to sail through Biscayne Channel on a wing-on-wing run and then a broad reach. The three feet or less of sand on each side made for some nerve racking sailing even though we were only doing four knots. The wind died a little after we cleared the channel so we motor sailed down Hawk Channel to Bache Shoal for a little snorkeling. The water was crystal clear and the reef was very healthy, but there weren’t many fish. After snorkeling we were refreshed and ready for more circle drills before setting anchor off of Elliott Key just north of Caesar Creek Bank. That night we ate steak, mashed potatoes, and vegetables, and after dinner we watched an incredible lightning storm a few miles west that went on for hours. I had never seen anything like that storm, and sitting there on anchor watching lightning streak across the sky was one of the most awesome experiences of my life. That night I slept out on the deck enjoying a cool breeze and the thunderstorm that went on all night.

Day 4, Tuesday, June 23
Hawk Channel, Biscayne Channel, Dinner Key Marina
Skipper of the Day: Alan

After breakfast the wind shifted, and the thunderstorm that was so beautiful the night before headed in our direction. We took the ASA 102 test below deck while sideways rain pounded outside and the storm tossed the boat around. I was happy that we weren’t sailing through the storm and I was grateful for the cool wind. Tuesday was navigation day, and Marc and I got to be the first navigators. It was confusing at first, but after an hour of trying to figure out what we were doing we managed to chart a course back up Hawk Channel. We had to make a few course corrections along the way, but somehow we eventually made it up to the Biscayne Channel. Will was at the helm as we sailed through the Biscayne Channel on an amazing close haul right at the edge of the wind. Half of us thought we wouldn’t make it through under sail, but we sailed close hauled all the way to the red 16 daymark. At red 16 Will did an awesome tack south across the narrow channel and then brought us about one last time for a glorious exit. The last leg of our journey was a straight course across the bay to Dinner Key Marina in Coconut Grove. Unfortunately that course brought us right into another big thunderstorm, but this time we were ready. In an amazing feat of teamwork, we furled the jib and lowered the main in only a few minutes. Will dumped the correct main halyard line and I pulled the mainsail down. We finished just before the rain started, and standing protected and dry under the Bimini Top as the Florida rain poured down was the perfect reward for a job well done. The storm blew past us as Marc steered through Dinner Key Channel, and by the time we were docked the rain had stopped. The clear evening was perfect for enjoying half-price Mojito night in Coconut Grove.

Day 5, Wednesday, June 24
Dinner Key Marina, Biscayne Bay
Skipper of the Day: Will

Docking a 51-foot sailboat is downright frightening, as we found out during docking practice Wednesday morning. Basically you aim right at the dock as if you are going to hit it, and then turn away at the very last second. And then there are these annoying little things called wind and current that do everything they can to make it even more difficult. Docking practice finished successfully without any new holes in the boat, and then it was back out to Biscayne Bay for man overboard drills. Everyone got a chance to practice the figure eight method and the much better quick stop method, and we finished early enough to sail a short race course. Joe gave us our waypoints and then Alan and Will charted us a course while Marc and I steered. On our last leg of the course, Joe taught us how to chicken jibe in front of green 1 to keep us off of the 4 foot deep sand bar. That night we anchored by Hurricane Harbor again, and then we rafted with the Third Wish, another Blue Water ship. The night was full of excitement because the Third Wish had blown their jib, a different sailboat had run aground on the sand bar next to us, and it was Mexican night. So our crew blasted Latin music (I don’t think it was Mexican), ate giant burritos and drank a lot of rum while we watched the Third Wish crew cut down the remains of their jib and we watched the boat that had run aground heel like crazy while turning away a few different sea tow boats. We did have a little excitement on our boat when the captain’s kayak came untied (he used a clove hitch, not a round turn and two half hitches!) and Will had to dive in and swim it back. Needless to say this was the best night of the trip and we all had a blast.

Day 6, Thursday, June 25
Biscayne Bay, Miami, Ft. Lauderdale
Skipper of the Day: Luke

Our last day of sailing was cool because at that point we were all confident with our newfound sailing abilities, and it was my turn to be skipper of the day. Captain Joe pretty much stayed out of our way and made us do things on our own. I took the helm as we retrieved our anchor without any directions from the captain, and Marc and Will plotted us a course to the Miami Harbor. I steered us through the harbor without any incidents, and when we got back out on the ocean the wind picked up enough for us to sail most of the way back. We took down the sails outside of Ft. Lauderdale, and motored in to the refueling dock. Midway through our refueling Joe made us stop to watch a power boat as it drove by blasting rap music with a bare naked woman on the bow dancing like a stripper. After the distraction we finished fueling and I motored us away from the fuel dock back to our homeport. To celebrate our successful voyage we toasted a few rounds of rum and tonic at Kim’s Alley Bar.

Day 7, Friday, June 26
Ft. Lauderdale, Denver, Los Angeles, San Jose

We woke up early Friday to get some studying in before our final ASA 104 test. Everyone passed without a problem, and we are now certified by the ASA for bare boat chartering! We finished just in time to run over to the airport for the excruciatingly long and boring 9-hour flight from Ft. Lauderdale to Denver to Los Angeles to San Jose.

Conclusion:

We really did have a perfect trip. The wind was perfect, the temperature was cool at sea, the weather was great except for three storms, no one fell overboard, and we were never in irons, didn’t blow any sails or run aground or hit anything or sink the ship. I could go on but I don’t want to make you any more jealous than you already are right now.

And while we didn’t die at sea this time, a lot of other people did die on land while we were gone, including Ed McMahon, Michael Jackson, and Farrah Fawcett; may they rest in peace.

References:

Photos

Charts of waters we sailed:
Miami, Biscayne Bay, Key Biscayne, Biscayne Channel
Hawk Channel, Elliott Key

If you are unfamiliar with some of the terms used:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sailing

People who died in 2009:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deaths_in_2009 Read more