tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-90065391717275246042024-03-19T04:48:52.945-07:00New Zealand Yachting Trust 2011 Opti Worlds TeamTeam Scribehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04335858548781026742noreply@blogger.comBlogger34125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9006539171727524604.post-59592899863385193182011-10-04T15:12:00.000-07:002011-10-04T15:27:26.730-07:00Bermuda Jr. Gold Cup 1From Auckland to LA on NZ2 12 hours then 7 hours waiting in the US Airways lounge for their 5hr flight to Philadelphia, arriving 6am local time then 4 hours waiting for the 2 hr connection to Bermuda sooo that's 30hrs travelling! It was good to get here in the end. Bit reminiscent for me as I have been here 3 times before in 88, 92 and 93 for the Bermuda Gold Cup when I was with Nippon Challenge.<br />
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All this years competitors are new for me except my old friends Yaji san and Peter Gilmour. I have known Yaji san since he was 19 with no sailing experience joining The Nippon Challenge. He now tells me he is 45!!! How time flies!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizMUN5Uv0Dt4Ty25WGcoU8SrDTnHSIFu3vZASpJzavomBlAL5fUhrIZOKZUuArqxfut8sJEMysKIUJXSOSkOj8NtHZWqrx2eG4fUYgm3xTFFd7Kzvgy4l3gOQN7EkxymT_fGgeu5XV1jo/s1600/IMG_0830.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizMUN5Uv0Dt4Ty25WGcoU8SrDTnHSIFu3vZASpJzavomBlAL5fUhrIZOKZUuArqxfut8sJEMysKIUJXSOSkOj8NtHZWqrx2eG4fUYgm3xTFFd7Kzvgy4l3gOQN7EkxymT_fGgeu5XV1jo/s320/IMG_0830.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">The last 10 years odd, the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club have been running the Jr. Gold Cup in Conjunction with the main event. They invite the top sailor from countries around the world to come and race against the top Bermuda skippers. info here:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://bermudagoldcup.com/renre-jr-gold-cup-mainmenu-57">Jr Gold Cup</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">By today most of the jr skippers had arrived and were getting their boats sorted. Some got out for some practice in the morning when there was a light breeze while the big boys started the elimination round robins for the main event. Unfortunately the breeze died and only one set of races could be held. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Some pictures from today:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7ETdfiW5_LbZcjGAQ3EWZ_Ib2P-yt0OjOJPmjaoFu4FAnllaJWKffxaHhgYVfPniUdcS05ZtRfMVwOV6IkqHCulMTR4bxPd11p2q2ee4tPXZAhScgSiro3FNyM-wrqnaaag0_Zf5AD4g/s1600/IMG_0812.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7ETdfiW5_LbZcjGAQ3EWZ_Ib2P-yt0OjOJPmjaoFu4FAnllaJWKffxaHhgYVfPniUdcS05ZtRfMVwOV6IkqHCulMTR4bxPd11p2q2ee4tPXZAhScgSiro3FNyM-wrqnaaag0_Zf5AD4g/s320/IMG_0812.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> Cruise ships regularly come and go through the narrow Hamilton harbour stopping the racing.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2k_c0EttjrvlIp6j6mlksFDYUYP7OI2I75BM731o5-CnN95yIz2bRsAkTnhHfk5-lW8kQfBeGA8mwkp012owWCtFt0eimQVHpabRRmHIiyShx1y6uGyCufwzKU_jDGt4HQ00DuFSDVyw/s1600/IMG_0813.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2k_c0EttjrvlIp6j6mlksFDYUYP7OI2I75BM731o5-CnN95yIz2bRsAkTnhHfk5-lW8kQfBeGA8mwkp012owWCtFt0eimQVHpabRRmHIiyShx1y6uGyCufwzKU_jDGt4HQ00DuFSDVyw/s320/IMG_0813.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> Local Insurance company Argo is the title sponsor of this major World Match Race Tour event.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWOWVfNzTnnM79SNg4GI0tMLQmGcHvlMtW_o5vrYl5ggUke9AQ55Z28fKSFounwUFo1c7OV52aNytps3Eg2LRZsOHETYYlJ0DuWgJd8w7eTVx_kQisXCMh7Q9Iq6bDlpolQs1QpVOjWnI/s1600/IMG_0814.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWOWVfNzTnnM79SNg4GI0tMLQmGcHvlMtW_o5vrYl5ggUke9AQ55Z28fKSFounwUFo1c7OV52aNytps3Eg2LRZsOHETYYlJ0DuWgJd8w7eTVx_kQisXCMh7Q9Iq6bDlpolQs1QpVOjWnI/s320/IMG_0814.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> The sailing is done from the marina pontoons. No trolleys here.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVtrcrQnNDdtc7jF3-uSnykDYhI986pZ_Zst4gAzHWu5EI65nLK6cJOjTtWR15oqQzyDaYrw-OZOHeyt1frunsyksekX1jEV7qhC4rcnQ-p0jATJISnkmy_CKnYKhhQLfTH6XJInhzlX8/s1600/IMG_0816.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVtrcrQnNDdtc7jF3-uSnykDYhI986pZ_Zst4gAzHWu5EI65nLK6cJOjTtWR15oqQzyDaYrw-OZOHeyt1frunsyksekX1jEV7qhC4rcnQ-p0jATJISnkmy_CKnYKhhQLfTH6XJInhzlX8/s320/IMG_0816.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> The big boys boats are 8 IOD (International One Design) yachts made of fiberglass. For information on these boats go here: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_One_Design">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_One_Design</a> They are great boats for match racing and have been used for ages! They are the same as what I sailed back in 88!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSOnZOiDb_5dCoybED9ZxXjU_zMK9o3BDfnY_tWd30j5woknnNjAzaaNhqf1AfwEVhdqLD5ENhSMVgs1fL_l6nbfcX749cn4YCd1lSVvLchJslA_L0pH-SWXvosEGRqTo028a0N9cPfRk/s1600/IMG_0817.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSOnZOiDb_5dCoybED9ZxXjU_zMK9o3BDfnY_tWd30j5woknnNjAzaaNhqf1AfwEVhdqLD5ENhSMVgs1fL_l6nbfcX749cn4YCd1lSVvLchJslA_L0pH-SWXvosEGRqTo028a0N9cPfRk/s320/IMG_0817.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> The Opti racks in front of the RBYC</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYzkNtgcIH-4jM82n_xdR2ds9Uyx32OY5dqRrwzan1G6cAGuR1xV1qoLzMgJafRQAse9iGdowq-_IaxogpIa8HjekbqgTQw3uYLqLOXKPSdnMCNVGPY1b79ippVecotBDHCCr9N0VLaAE/s1600/IMG_0819.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYzkNtgcIH-4jM82n_xdR2ds9Uyx32OY5dqRrwzan1G6cAGuR1xV1qoLzMgJafRQAse9iGdowq-_IaxogpIa8HjekbqgTQw3uYLqLOXKPSdnMCNVGPY1b79ippVecotBDHCCr9N0VLaAE/s320/IMG_0819.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> The opti launching pad with some boys burning off excess energy with a swim off the marina. Can't keep them out even though coach Tom (who is from Wales and knows our Pwllheli coaches by the way!) told them that there are barracuda in the harbour!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZwFJ_hT7gjmPHRpbRqZx_Np88ww8TxDv1JFKtded_yCrRU_rxbDsaTiB_b_-63Q_80CCXeJWDORQ0xjejjXnF8Xow376Xr4j_TBujjCUxU7I9hwCYpOGzbxpB2hSX94PdX7w4sBrMjVY/s1600/IMG_0818.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZwFJ_hT7gjmPHRpbRqZx_Np88ww8TxDv1JFKtded_yCrRU_rxbDsaTiB_b_-63Q_80CCXeJWDORQ0xjejjXnF8Xow376Xr4j_TBujjCUxU7I9hwCYpOGzbxpB2hSX94PdX7w4sBrMjVY/s320/IMG_0818.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">A group of International skippers chill while waiting for some wind.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Team Scribehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04335858548781026742noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9006539171727524604.post-86356652178740737802011-08-18T05:15:00.000-07:002011-08-18T05:15:58.996-07:00Watch this space....Last night we had dinner with Keiju Okada who goes to high school here in Karatsu. Last years Worlds team members will remember him as the 60kg "beast" (Len's description) that was 3rd in Langkawi and this years 4.7 Worlds team will also know him because he came 4th there. An interesting, well mannered and dedicated sailor to say the least.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFAuFx9mtND6Mrvp71TijPhkwPWiFkO4bLksmH7IKRTKbKjxZjKZYSvoNTipGYY_hzRo1lpDxOBmmn3FhxHjc3kYePlPQeRIFl56XM3KG13PT5HFec6lBVk_rzV6bzaWzB-texqj2SwaY/s1600/IMG_0639%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFAuFx9mtND6Mrvp71TijPhkwPWiFkO4bLksmH7IKRTKbKjxZjKZYSvoNTipGYY_hzRo1lpDxOBmmn3FhxHjc3kYePlPQeRIFl56XM3KG13PT5HFec6lBVk_rzV6bzaWzB-texqj2SwaY/s320/IMG_0639%255B1%255D.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Keiju sails here almost every day of the week and so was kind enough to give the boys a few pointers on the wind patterns around the bay. He actually comes from a different area of Kyushu but because there is a high school here that has a very strong sailing team, he has moved here by himself to go to that school. The students involved in the sailing program don't have much time for study by the sounds of it though!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Today we managed to hook up with a group of 3 from Enoshima including Yuka Kishi the girl in the Worlds team for Napier. We set up a windward leward course and did a few short races. The breeze has been offshore yesterday and today so it is very puffy and shifty ranging from sitting in the boat to full power/hike.</div><div style="text-align: left;">We had a huge rain squall come through the first race and the wind shifted right about 40deg. After the squall it settled back into the left right puff and 30 deg shifts coming off the land. A bit like the North Shore beaches in a south westerly only worse.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuJ4P2vcyUEmIg5k5VAJ9BrQRXB2rG9A-JV9fP95ysAUPp_Ww96KKUae0tgngmdkq4fIoTG5qzodUC81FCm4i3qRFMAaMp0RbdrS0JMc8N572rOyMt-y6iK03Q2MRJV049UA2eHeOe4rg/s1600/IMG_0641%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuJ4P2vcyUEmIg5k5VAJ9BrQRXB2rG9A-JV9fP95ysAUPp_Ww96KKUae0tgngmdkq4fIoTG5qzodUC81FCm4i3qRFMAaMp0RbdrS0JMc8N572rOyMt-y6iK03Q2MRJV049UA2eHeOe4rg/s320/IMG_0641%255B1%255D.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Len heads for the shower in the Opti supervan. Actually that's about the only thing this van doesn't have!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYhu2ruQ6poV1cHd-8tCRlr6HjOlKWm1AumsVjcXH7lKi7A5ZmLJwXoZccxUPnjkTqW3rhV72qUR0yT6CG_-Q99Ge7qVhljFGm5h5wb6P2hupEZjteWBSVpNNEH70BP5eHsRsn8qH_QAg/s1600/IMG_0642%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYhu2ruQ6poV1cHd-8tCRlr6HjOlKWm1AumsVjcXH7lKi7A5ZmLJwXoZccxUPnjkTqW3rhV72qUR0yT6CG_-Q99Ge7qVhljFGm5h5wb6P2hupEZjteWBSVpNNEH70BP5eHsRsn8qH_QAg/s320/IMG_0642%255B1%255D.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">Had some good practice on the race course with these 3 sailors from Enoshima (tokyo olympics sailing venue) up near Tokyo.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #edeff4; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">The lad in blue is their coach Wataru Komiya and did the Opti worlds in Dan W's era. The girl in black is Yuka Kishi and she is in the Worlds team for Napier</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #edeff4; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1kVdhc7-5hrw32XU5tKc4m8oxesd2OW6f4vA03H-jptHlpX9Q93neE6cnqt3LukrPFsNQyAb4jXWu9ZGaxWIgY5npd173QNuhQaiDz6E7-QY7aZ66nHjPSZ3HfXUP7RyrKDTwR1XIcYw/s1600/IMG_0643%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1kVdhc7-5hrw32XU5tKc4m8oxesd2OW6f4vA03H-jptHlpX9Q93neE6cnqt3LukrPFsNQyAb4jXWu9ZGaxWIgY5npd173QNuhQaiDz6E7-QY7aZ66nHjPSZ3HfXUP7RyrKDTwR1XIcYw/s320/IMG_0643%255B1%255D.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #edeff4; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">Len gets some direction from the locals during his efforts to take out the Castle</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #edeff4; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH40HEIC28wiHupbjfBEljeMMPIdPFL5NzMtOwhe8KLGvAdmCEN60mA9m9U1sgEjycXxbkLSp3oFC91OJ7pD5UhZedqdL0-eOAl_j0DfkXsAuxgJcJ53F7PWIrgwAfZkBu7rhgUi2BNAw/s1600/IMG_0645%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH40HEIC28wiHupbjfBEljeMMPIdPFL5NzMtOwhe8KLGvAdmCEN60mA9m9U1sgEjycXxbkLSp3oFC91OJ7pD5UhZedqdL0-eOAl_j0DfkXsAuxgJcJ53F7PWIrgwAfZkBu7rhgUi2BNAw/s320/IMG_0645%255B1%255D.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #edeff4; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Things start to spin up tomorrow. It is measurement day and they are really serious about it here. Each club has an allotted time during the day and the Hikari team are late afternoon. The big problem now is how soon we will have to come in from practice to allow enough time for the hiking straps to dry out! If your straps aren't dry they won't measure you (weigh the boat). I am now checking the rules.....</span></span></span></div>Team Scribehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04335858548781026742noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9006539171727524604.post-1196902321967865522011-08-17T07:33:00.000-07:002011-08-17T08:08:57.683-07:00Second to last leg<a href="http://maps.google.co.nz/maps?rlz=1C1SKPL_enNZ401&q=karatsu%20saga%20japan&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wl">Google map of Karatsu</a><br />
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In Karatsu City now after a 4 hour drive down from Hikari City in the Koizumi family opti wagon. This is the best opti car I have seen yet. It is a special long wheel base hi roof Toyota something or other. It has a shelf for sleeping or carrying 2 optis in the back and racks inside the roof for spars and sails and yet it is still long enough to have the backseat set up as normal and of course it has a tow bar to tow one of the club VSR's<br />
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Now being on Kyushu Island, it meant we had to drive over the spectacular Kanmon suspension bridge which spans the narrow ish gap between Honshu and Kyushu.<br />
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<a href="http://maps.google.co.nz/maps?rlz=1C1SKPL_enNZ401&q=karatsu%20saga%20japan&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wl">Google map of Kanmon kyo bridge</a><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho7GAEpdWow9V3FkjfuxbwOrS0k2n1tN15FIrC5cNqklKfuzJ1CMFhXQI1DUpufoQzNrChfF8Wx4j2f9cagl4devgIm3ODz5oqdW1bvdHSM2bG9n2zWlDDQsj-B_OZrjTrOVufA_4yKa0/s1600/P1040330.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho7GAEpdWow9V3FkjfuxbwOrS0k2n1tN15FIrC5cNqklKfuzJ1CMFhXQI1DUpufoQzNrChfF8Wx4j2f9cagl4devgIm3ODz5oqdW1bvdHSM2bG9n2zWlDDQsj-B_OZrjTrOVufA_4yKa0/s320/P1040330.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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The big attraction in Karatsu is the Castle which dominates the skyline here standing high and proud on a hill . Look for it in the background in future photos!<br />
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After arriving at the Karatsu Yacht Harbour we launched the VSR, pulled the optis out of the van and got the boys out on the race course area for a bit of a sail.<br />
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</div>Team Scribehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04335858548781026742noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9006539171727524604.post-85224828048929042372011-08-15T06:23:00.000-07:002011-08-15T08:32:35.005-07:00And you thought Texas was hot!Been here in Japan a week now and I don't think it has been under 35C once. All of us have spent a lot of time trying to find a cool place to catch up on the time zones with an mid day siesta.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqn9RK6V_ph7QXrp_F0i94jwFY-6mcI5c2d4tWGN0HlUE-FKkmgdFg2tcqJiSfbiJHJ50FL2Woed9N9Lj5pAC81Zle4k-HfDarav4S-cdeZvm5ccXzgLZYB4bMrbbX9w3rHPA2Ae1_Ko8/s1600/IMG_0605%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqn9RK6V_ph7QXrp_F0i94jwFY-6mcI5c2d4tWGN0HlUE-FKkmgdFg2tcqJiSfbiJHJ50FL2Woed9N9Lj5pAC81Zle4k-HfDarav4S-cdeZvm5ccXzgLZYB4bMrbbX9w3rHPA2Ae1_Ko8/s320/IMG_0605%255B1%255D.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzQAgUpQDA1dzPk1YBjcJPdsYqAkr1wU1S9Se5WndZt6imu22fsIWLTSpvvwqWtIetyrrGiMYMQUVJXmMhQz8spKvRZS-7amIipFXJcQlw3ml5LwBYSTK6GTzJv5plnPn0Gnml1i5kkyo/s1600/IMG_0609%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzQAgUpQDA1dzPk1YBjcJPdsYqAkr1wU1S9Se5WndZt6imu22fsIWLTSpvvwqWtIetyrrGiMYMQUVJXmMhQz8spKvRZS-7amIipFXJcQlw3ml5LwBYSTK6GTzJv5plnPn0Gnml1i5kkyo/s320/IMG_0609%255B1%255D.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Love the VSR's. wonder if they would notice if one was missing.....</div><br />
Leonard's first day sailing in Japan since a year ago here in Hikari City, Yamaguchi Prefecture after a 10 hr 790km drive from near Tokyo. This is where the Japan Nats were last year and we are being looked after again by the Koizumi family here. We met their middle son, Ibuki, last year at the UK Nats. Ibuki was in the Japan National team at Langkawi. He just missed out on a trip to Napier and will age out of optis but his 11 yo brother Gaiyo is the up and come sailor here now. The plan is 2 days practice here then move another 4 hours drive west with the Hikari Club team to this years venue at Karatsu, Saga Pref. on Kyushu Island. The Hikari Club has been kind and lent us an oldish Winner but we found today that the mast collar area had some hidden damage and the collar was floating around in an enlarged hole. So a little bit of repair work is on the programme for tomorrow before we move to Karatsu the next day.<br />
I took the attached 2 pics with the iPhone. One from the top of the mast collar and one from underneath. Now I know the meaning of FaceTime on the Iphone!<br />
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</div>Team Scribehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04335858548781026742noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9006539171727524604.post-87140930238787680352011-08-06T16:58:00.001-07:002011-08-09T17:03:44.017-07:00Final Day UK Nats<div align="justify">Hi All.
<br />Sitting in an internet cafe in Tokyo as I write this, the final blog. We have just said goodbye to Rob, Kazyuo and Leonard as they continue on with their journey catching up with friends and family in Japan and then onto the Japanese Nationals while we head for home, we have a 10 hour stopover here before flying out to Auckland. I am pretty sure I speak for all us when I say we are looking forward to getting home.</div>
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<br /><div align="justify">Everything was quite rushed at the end of Racing on Day 4, unlike most regattas that finish earlier on the last day the last warning signal was not until 3.45pm which they went right up to, with the prizegiving at 7pm. Our drama was we had to leave by 8.30pm that night to drive to Heathrow (6 hours) to catch our plane to Frankfurt then Tokyo. As soons as racing was finished we had to return the charter boats, race back to the apartment pack the cars, throw sailing gear in the dryer and get back to prizegiving, we didn't end up leaving until 8.45pm so quite a quick trip with Mark leading the charge and Rob right up his tail. So unfortunately there has been no time to blog until now, fortunately the facebook updates have been real time and taken some of the pressure off. </div>
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<br /><div align="justify">Well our boys have made us all so proud, all finishing in the top 5. We have been inundated with messages of congratulations from you all so from everyone here thank you so much.</div>
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<br /><div align="justify">Final results were Leonard 1st, Markus 3rd, and Isaac 5th.
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<br /><div align="justify">For the previous days sailing we had seen a typical sea breeze come in and blow from the South West, Race Day 4 was somewhat different we had a shifty flukey offshore breeze, varying from 3 knots to 10 knots during the day. During the guys speed tests before racing they were noticing massive changes in wind direction and this remained constant for the day making it difficult to return consistent results. </div>
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<br /><div align="justify">Three races were sailed for the day, which gave a total of 12 sailed all together.</div>
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<br /><div align="left">Clink on the link to see overall results. <a href="http://www.kbsuk.com/data/optimistiocaevents/data/results/2011natsengoldnh.html">www.kbsuk.com/data/optimistiocaevents/data/results/2011natsengoldnh.html</a></div>
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<br /><div align="justify">I think the trip has been a great success, the boys have experienced some great highs and some lows along the way to go with them, they have dealt with both situations really well. They have experienced sailing under pressure with the need to perform to maintain and hopefully improve their position and had lots of starting practice. They have learnt heaps and hopefully they will be able to take this learning with them through to the Worlds at the end of the year.
<br />Well time to sign off, thank you all for taking the time to follow the boys and we wish Leonard well in Japan.</div>
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<br /><div align="center">A few snapshots from the last day.</div>
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<br /><div align="center"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 239px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5637919526389526274" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY4K-vQv91BddzpyU-63p6wVx85hFKtJX1cFHUYT2pLrrDjQ5W29E8VqJA-MRI1nperkt6SlsRRcLmxenbiPTdGfaapij4-DpfMVP-9JqSPrTuMSUOkNASYCxJJt0YfDBOBs_gRTtg-2sd/s320/IMG_00302%25281%2529.jpg" /></div>
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<br /><div align="center">The boys about to leave the beach for the last time.</div>
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<br /><div align="center"></div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 314px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 275px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5637919531567134194" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEKHjdcmNPTbF7d4w_Dm8uHRwQCVpdrUENVP-ihG5NaDpPrMAvWjpVairxNKcRGCAoFstIr-As-bQwF0JnOqIvkMrqdYKwwrpGMXAKKSzeE92gWdHTYECvjiFw0bbZ72bdtfBBMRgzWv8h/s320/IMG_00301%25281%2529.jpg" />
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<br /><p align="center">The boys off doing some fine tuning between races, Markus on helm, Max on mainsheet and Leonard the tactician, oh and I nearly forgot the big boy (Rob) hot on their heels.
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<br /><p align="center">The boys with their well earned hardware, also Bleddyn (coach) and Max (Honarary Kiwi from Dominican Republic)
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<br /></p>scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18328937744558029120noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9006539171727524604.post-13145512454756465562011-08-04T11:49:00.000-07:002011-08-04T12:30:41.171-07:00UK Nats - Day 4<div align="left">Another night of rain but we have woken up to a slighty overcast day but the forecast is for the day to clear and provide a bit of breeze.<br /><br />On the water today at 10.30am with some better pressure around 12-15knots, a lot of cloud cover which would hang around most of the day and provide 3 good races in some reasonable breeze.<br /><br />All the boys are now in the gold fleet so it made it much easier to follow them in the same flight. Mark is doing a great job of putting up to the minute positions at mark roundings on facebook for those of you staying up late to keep updated. The facebook page is optiworldsnz 2011 nzl team for those of you wanting to have a look, some extra photos to llok at as well<br /><br />The results from today<br /><br />Race 1<br />Leonard 1st Isaac 5th Markus 32nd<br /><br />Race 2<br />Leonard 3rd Isaac 6th Markus 8th<br /><br />Race 3<br /><br />Leonard 1st Markus 4th Isaac 9th<br /><br />Overall<br /><br />Leonard 1st Markus 2nd Isaac 5th<br /><br />All good, now all the boys in the top 5 with 2 races scheduled for tomorrow.<br /><br />Check out the full results at: <a href="http://www.kbsuk.com/data/optimistiocaevents/data/results/2011natsengoldnh.html">www.kbsuk.com/data/optimistiocaevents/data/results/2011natsengoldnh.html</a><br /><br /><br />At the end of tomorrow we are bags packed and gone by 8pm for our 7 hour driver to Heathrow to jump on the plane and head home, Rob Kazyuo and Len jumping ship at Japan so Len can smoke them all at the Japanese Nationals.<br /><br />The laughs from today.<br /><br />Today we were doing the old throw the bottle in the water and measure the tide trick. All good, Rob was up the front so his job was to retrieve the bottle. Anyway we come up to the bottle Rob reaches in to grab the bottle and showing commitment reached in a litlle further to get the bottle, oops to far and there he is hanging over the side head buried in the water bum pointing upwards, we had to jump forward and pull him back into the boat, and we all thought Leonard was the only one who could fall out of the boat on the reach, we were wrong, it must run in the family..<br /><br />Then there was Isaac ready to start race 2, off goes the gun and off he goes got nailed and a pretty deep start, one of the English girls was in front of him wearing Markus's orange beanie, off it flies into the water, so what does Isaac do, he tacks grabs the beanie and continues to sail out left, must be a lucky hat Isaac finished 4th in this race. Definetly not standard practice and I am sure Mum will be horrified reading this!!!</div>scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18328937744558029120noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9006539171727524604.post-9474331462913162352011-08-04T10:41:00.000-07:002011-08-04T11:49:10.767-07:00UK Nats - Day 3<div align="justify">Hi All, once again I have to start with an apology this post should have been up yesterday but the internet at the apartment is diabolical, the only good thing about this is that I am now sitting at our local 'The Crown' I made the mistake of wearing my Chiefs Rugby top so it has taken a while to get past all the local welsh boys.</div><br /><div align="justify"><br />The weather has been amazing even the locals can't believe the amount of sunshine we have had, a little bit more wind would be nice though. Today we had around 8 knots of breeze which died off early afternoon. This was enough breeze to allow us to get 2 races in and complete the qualifying series. </div><br /><div align="justify"><br />The results from today were:</div><br /><div align="justify"></div><br /><div align="justify">Race 1</div><br /><div align="justify">Leonard 1st Markus 2nd Isaac 4th </div><br /><div align="justify"></div><br /><div align="justify">Race 2 </div>Markus 2nd Isaac 6th Leonard 8th<br /><br />Overall<br />Markus 1st Leonard 2nd Isaac 7th<br /><br /><br /><div align="justify">Hows that 1st and 2nd overall go the Kiwis and all three in the top 10. The S.H.I.T.S on tour are doing the damage, lets hope they can keep it up. With the early finish the kids were keen to go to the movies so an early dinner and off to see the final of the Harry Potter series, big kids included. By the way Markus has changed his name to 'Rock' short for rockstar, at the end of the second race today he was approached by a rib full of people with cameras and microphones wanting to interview him, the interview will be on BBC Wales 6.30pm today, I am sure there will be an online way of watching this somehow.</div><br /><br /><div align="center">A few photos from the day.</div><br /><p><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 239px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5637065333513982834" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpTYPVcRh1aap_WMPLsQJEC3hpNoo5NrsMErZCMEg7biTAKDKVzSLBkXSMKDwy5YTTrDW3aOH3AQTQ_JDcuDZTzaxOowxzaoF-VzxGRr3GT3XmBPdsg5Gq_2WoXaFFaDfcxsDmlpvVdcYF/s320/IMG_0287%255B1%255D.JPG" /></p><br /><p align="center">The boys standing outside someones front door, either we breed em big at home or this town was colonised by very short people.</p><br /><p align="center"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 316px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 247px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5637067140126865058" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibArf-Z1A8vte4FxxYCNBOytvamBZ0koY2mbmP9HJIVOiwYEELC6oBkdfW_0RoBxCRWpnf0REuJcBs79iavEqIP7HnvJbJRVR0Mg2ktnJrS8VIlL8wKoyLWr7MnWYaxFAaMVOqHyxhdIz8/s320/IMG_0288%255B1%255D.JPG" />Who said only the little kids could wear beanies!!</p><br /><p align="center"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 239px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5637065324347096962" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0RBG8jQOlRo_W5MzvZ88GwCMXo9pONPJHtY7mXe284q9X7PoQUpvlILJ4ljo3nRiGB4TwArm2wKKhYDauO3LXBnJKgMZRhFeLnR6of5FeJpE3saN7lHm4I74Lg4ntbNawnam_NlaC_Fa1/s320/IMG_0289%255B1%255D.JPG" />Rob chilling out between races.<br /></p>scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18328937744558029120noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9006539171727524604.post-88467589622405221942011-08-02T22:40:00.001-07:002011-08-03T12:08:47.482-07:00UK Nats Day 2<div align="justify">Day 2 started with the sound of rain falling on the roof, in fact it had been raining most of the night, the forecast predicted around 2 knots for the day so it wasn't looking too pleasant all round.<br />
We met at the club in the morning and met Bleddyn (Defrigs brother) the boys coach for the rest of the regatta a local kid who has just returned from the Youth World 49ers in which he came 7th so will be helpful with local conditions etc. By about 9am you could see the sky clearing and things looking a little more promising, the latest forecast was now for a bit of breeze in the morning dying off early afternoon. The race committee was onto this and sent the kids out a little earlier, so by 10am we were on the water with about 5knots of breeze which we were very surprised and pleased about. The sun was even trying to break through. Mark and I were hassling Rob for putting on sunscreen, something we would later regret as we now both look like beetroots. By the time of the first race the breeze had picked up to around 8 knots and all was looking good. The fleet is separated into Junior and Senior fleet with the Junior staring first, the PRO started today's racing for all fleets under a black flag, this didn't stop several general recalls fortunately none of our guys were affected, whew!! The breeze remained reasonably consisted all day but was full of pressure spots so you definitely had to sail with your head out of the boat.Three races were sailed for the day which now gives a total of four overall, hopefully tomorrow we can get in two more which will constitute the qualifying series, from this they will be split into gold and silver fleet for the rest of the regatta, hopefully all our guys will be in gold making it easier to watch them all in the same flight. Some great results from the day with a few bullets and one not so good race for some with a potential drop. The wally of the day has to go to Leonard today, the kids were sailing an orange bowl course, which is top mark, wing mark, gate, reach mark, finish. Last year at the UK Nationals Leonard was pinged by the measuring boat after finishing a race for his sail ties being to loose and didn't want the same again this year, so as he rounded the reach mark with a small lead he thought he would stand up on his gunwale and check his sail to make sure it was not out side of the power band marks, great idea but oops I don't think falling out of the boat into the water was part of the game plan, so a quick scurry back into the boat and across the line in first saved the day, and yes his line was in the bands, luckily for Robs heart rate we missed the event but couldn't understand why Leonard was wet through when he came to the coach boat, we couldn't believe the story when Leonard told us, well done Leonard I think it will be hard for anyone to better that one..<br />
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The results:<br />
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Race 1<br />
Leonard 12 Markus 1st Isaac 8th</div><br />
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<div align="justify">Race 2</div><br />
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<div align="justify">Leonard 1st Markus 4th Isaac 5th</div><br />
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<div align="justify">Race 3</div><br />
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<div align="justify">Leonard 8th Markus 2nd Isaac 8th</div><br />
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<div align="justify">Race 4</div><br />
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<div align="justify">Leonard 1st Markus 19th Isaac 47th.</div><br />
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<div align="justify">I will put up a link to the results but <a href="http://www.optimistsailing.org.uk/">www.optimistsailing.org.uk</a> will see you in the right direction.</div><br />
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<div align="justify">Got to get out on the water so more detail and photos hopefully next time.</div><br />
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<div align="justify"></div>scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18328937744558029120noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9006539171727524604.post-25532825356573617282011-08-01T14:26:00.000-07:002011-08-01T14:26:27.703-07:00UK Nats 1st dayThe weather forecast was for light winds and light they were, from a max of about 5knots at the start of the racing gradually dropping to nothing at the end of the second senior flight with the fleet drifting over the shortened course line at the gate.<br />
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There was quite a committee boat bias on the line for the early starts and recall after recall to the extent that both senior fleets had 2 black flag starts. Markus and Isaac went for what I call the "late committee boat" start by going in late and popping out from the committee boat and going right. The right was favoured and Markus pulled out a good lead by working it. Isaac didn't push quite as far right and went around the top mark in 9th. Markus held his lead in the dying breeze and won by a good margin. Isaac picked up a place to finish 8th.<br />
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Leonard made his start about 1/3 up from the pin in a good gap with clear air and was soon able to cross most of the fleet over to the right hand side. He didn't go as far right as the race winner Freddie and was 6th at the wing mark when we saw him next. The run got lighter and lighter and he was over run by a bunch before getting to the gate and ended up 12th.<br />
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The PRO announced that he would wait until 3:30 and re-evaluate. No wind was in sight and they pulled the pin. So, only one race down.<br />
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Mark has put some pics on the Facebook page.Team Scribehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04335858548781026742noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9006539171727524604.post-37619406267573457742011-07-31T16:20:00.000-07:002011-07-31T16:52:22.047-07:00Lost in CyberSpaceWhile waiting with Scott on the beach for the boys to return, (and before we "lost" him) we spotted this very small boy pulling his boat up the beach with his Mum and another even smaller boy in the boat getting a ride. Mum stopped a little bit in front of us and told the little sailor to wait there while she went back and got "Johnny". Off she goes again way down the beach and little "Sammy" is left there looking after his "Opie" (as they call them here) and even littler "Joey". So we say wow he's a small sailor and ask him how old he is. "Six" comes the reply. WOW we thought and proceeded to have the age old debate about how young is too young to start them. I started when I was 5 or 6 because my older brother was sailing a P class. I had my ups and downs but went on to sailing as part of a career. I personally think we should encourage those that want to start their kids early to do so if they think that is good for them.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxyPRNPYqOqJFxHpV7YEN5myto7TSEMjr-2QbbTy3Y3Wkz3WC5JmABnp1t470AVJ6rNjTmDPIDLfel1tOxKg7C5VYAteiwHPGQvEQ8w5JSiBLsE6Cnylog7s43xT0K5f6jCaG6yAuptwY/s1600/IMG_0561s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxyPRNPYqOqJFxHpV7YEN5myto7TSEMjr-2QbbTy3Y3Wkz3WC5JmABnp1t470AVJ6rNjTmDPIDLfel1tOxKg7C5VYAteiwHPGQvEQ8w5JSiBLsE6Cnylog7s43xT0K5f6jCaG6yAuptwY/s320/IMG_0561s.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Anyway, Mum returns with the next sibling and "Opie" in tow and then starts getting them all up the beach. Scotty asks the 6 yo if he had had a good sail and if he is going out again tomorrow and gets a really positive "yes" in return!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBG9SBVAAJoOP0uQQOOwj50YQlxJn3Rn4rauDxR6hym9E8zwttXYuhljwO7jd-QgtL0EO5dGjYEM1L_y2GhwGWdnn9pM1-qQIThKHARQeDgckoXZgmiljykwDey2Bw6khZpTvUj8wW8vg/s1600/IMG_0562s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBG9SBVAAJoOP0uQQOOwj50YQlxJn3Rn4rauDxR6hym9E8zwttXYuhljwO7jd-QgtL0EO5dGjYEM1L_y2GhwGWdnn9pM1-qQIThKHARQeDgckoXZgmiljykwDey2Bw6khZpTvUj8wW8vg/s320/IMG_0562s.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The UK Nationals this year have some 440 participants. In addition to the Senior and Junior racing fleets (which are also split into Gold and Silver fleets after 6 races) there are 3 levels of what they call "regatta" fleet. The racing fleet, equivalent to our Green fleet, then a coached race fleet and a sort of "learn to sail" fleet. I guess the octopus is a group of the the LTS. ie lots of progressive levels for encouragement through chances of success. Must be a few future Olympians here.</div><br />
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As reported by Scott, (how he knew that from his position on the beach I'm not quite sure) Leonard got called over the loud speaker system to report to the race office. We headed over there wondering what he had done wrong but it turned out they wanted him to make the "Sportsmans Oath" (or whatever you call it) on behalf of the International competitors at the opening ceremony. He accepted and here are a couple of iphone zoom pictures (quality not good when you zoom)<br />
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</div>Team Scribehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04335858548781026742noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9006539171727524604.post-26841704123435640292011-07-31T04:21:00.000-07:002011-07-31T16:31:44.540-07:00Practice Race<div align="justify">Hi to all you dedicated followers, everyone starting to get back into regatta mode (parents included) with the practice race today. Spent the morning chilling a little and rechecking and setting up the boats, we caught up with our Honorary Kiwi friend Max and his family today also. The forecast was overcast with 12-15knots gusting 22knots which sounded promising, but never eventuated and maxed out at around 10knots . The kids were out on the water at 1pm with a 1.55pm warning signal, one of the interesting things about launching was that the kids were advised to wear something on their feet before they went into the water as there was weaver fish (I think that was what they called them) that lay on the sand and if you stood on them they would sting you. The race finally got underway at around 3 pm after several general recalls and postponements. The rain came in and changed the wind direction causing the race committee to change the course no sooner was this completed it stopped raining and the breeze swung back causing another postponement, hopefully this is not a sample of what we are going to see for the week. The Windguru forecast is showing it will be quite a light regatta with a couple of days at 2-4knots and picking up a little towards the end but nothing above 8knots, time will tell though. As I have found out practice races are something that is not taken to seriously, it is as much about the race committee making sure they are ready and the same for the competitors, most competitors seem to take the start seriously go to the top mark and from then on tend to pull out, some say it is not wanting to show everyone else to early who is good, others say it is bad luck to finish the race let alone winning it. Our guys did the top mark wing mark and pulled out at the bottom mark, Isaac and Markus were in one flight and Leonard in the other. All three of them were in the top 10 before pulling out which they were all happy about. There is about 150 boats entered in the senior fleet from 12 different countries so quite an international flavour. Leonard was asked to speak at the opening ceremony on behalf of the international sailors seeing as the NZ team had travelled the furthest. Racing starts tomorrow at 11am (10pm NZ), we have a rib so will be out on the water so keep an eye on facebook as I am sure Rob will be throwing live updates in there, for those of you who like your sleep I should have the blog up by around 9am NZ with a link to the results also. So back into it.</div><br />
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<div align="center">A few pics from today, Rob has a few more and will post them when we can get the internet to go for longer than 30 seconds.<img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5635642214974842882" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8YEcJUYxBZscLN4L0YAPWozCIPIQU4aALE3tceo8e1SOnFnTDieDO64HrE0yBoLGV7nejkKBJrH5hWHjY8U3JyZBnp5Mf48-1_-q130isB1ERTlEJWJuD7NpVCrIwyg9cridBrKL1F1be/s320/IMG_0281%255B1%255D.JPG" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 239px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" />Getting ready to go out for practice race, you will notice the boys are wearing a few more layers than in previous regattas.<img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5635642205830478386" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihw9CIj7bZhZDq0xJGFh6FkQUSNAXTXQTErUjSNiZe6stT93sQnwJPs4L2vYsVVD9KaZHDTwotoKIlo_QhCcC2pfKZ4NZBbf7u0SWJBmblu1_m3Vsm-HbD_YCBap_jDea_7PEP5roT31R1/s320/IMG_0282%255B1%255D.JPG" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 239px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></div><br />
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<div align="center">You will notice the small tent on the beach, no different from home in the summer! The difference is we use them to keep out of the sun, here they have them so they can jump in and stay warm!!</div><br />
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<img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5635644700015002706" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggItTnsbUlNLmQMhL4QOJ4miu5paSI3nafJrGXATK_hDld8A-tKX4fY1y07KILombvbUUX2uokhQNHLXcLbLvVFu52xU0MKippaEfYmoZ5IXm_B5cKClH5KYJEEKHR4vlD1fxYsxm6mTG5/s320/IMG_0284%255B2%255D.JPG" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 239px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" />Ready for the opening ceremony.<br />
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I have put this down the bottom hoping no one will read it.<br />
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Every day that goes by seems to have a little drama in it and today was no exception, the only problem is I was involved in this one, so as I am writing about today I thought great no need to tell anyone, I have since been threatened with all sorts of punishment if I don't write something. Went something like this...<br />
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<div align="justify">We were sitting in the yacht club today when we get a txt from the coach saying kids on way in. Great we start heading for the beach. Once we get there we see the junior fleet coming in and possibly one of the senior fleets behind them. Rob was in jandals and I was wearing shoes. As you would have seen by yesterdays photos the tide goes a long way out, so Rob volunteered to go down and see the kids coming in I would look after the jandals and help them up the hill once they got back. Rob set off and I headed up the beach a bit to the dry sand and sat down, I pulled out my phone and checked a few txts etc etc, maybe 5-10min went by while I was doing this. I then got up and walked back down to where I was previously. It got down to about 20 boats left to come in, about 3/4 hour has passed now, I thought to myself typical our guys are out there playing silly buggers and will be the last in. I then here a whistle, I thought that sounds a lot like Robs whistle so I turned around and sure enough there he was standing up the beach, I went up to him and asked how did you get up there thinking he must have got a ride around in a rib or something. But no as it happens on his way down the beach to see the kids he was met by them coming up one of the first off the water, they got back up to where I was couldn't see me or the jandals</div>scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18328937744558029120noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9006539171727524604.post-74529177650517980812011-07-30T15:19:00.000-07:002011-07-30T15:19:14.647-07:00Robs first pics In PwllheliAfter quite a drive from London the last part was really nice. Green countryside and lots of old stone houses.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">We had a leg stretch at this little town 30 mins prior to Pwllheli:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgod_jSoeyNdry2KgL6o4OqEq-8GmrHnVh5opdUcWFWory82V7jB_qelB1A7P9qkyKTceHOSGA_uTOQqciayks0PzuvcK2Sxrm-71W5wH0Z8kBpd27YW5XktFFB9IqUIRRuljDGhE3VcCs/s1600/P1040197s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgod_jSoeyNdry2KgL6o4OqEq-8GmrHnVh5opdUcWFWory82V7jB_qelB1A7P9qkyKTceHOSGA_uTOQqciayks0PzuvcK2Sxrm-71W5wH0Z8kBpd27YW5XktFFB9IqUIRRuljDGhE3VcCs/s320/P1040197s.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSX8v0auQf0ezU0zNCOQErKVL5praDORR6kyx9G5ER8crFQe11EAsRopvdha4miXsGxW2_1pOaQDbBuQjNAC5q2EgVDyoo9HkBg521QGGhR1BIQy_26_gWPKeOtHyKWpGxneS5YBfWaNQ/s1600/P1040192s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSX8v0auQf0ezU0zNCOQErKVL5praDORR6kyx9G5ER8crFQe11EAsRopvdha4miXsGxW2_1pOaQDbBuQjNAC5q2EgVDyoo9HkBg521QGGhR1BIQy_26_gWPKeOtHyKWpGxneS5YBfWaNQ/s320/P1040192s.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Why is it that boys have to explore anything and everything?<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYsriyYrfAZw_7355KeqUyDZkphnEQmL8BZMZtJbPj5GHViGhyphenhyphent_HqaMPtLsLT3nWHS-hS-ADfWrsmjLPqw_WMOLzwZs3gTq_mFjgYb2e69-4tksTquesqdDv0H-YsPuGQu5LdanqhzV8/s1600/P1040199s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYsriyYrfAZw_7355KeqUyDZkphnEQmL8BZMZtJbPj5GHViGhyphenhyphent_HqaMPtLsLT3nWHS-hS-ADfWrsmjLPqw_WMOLzwZs3gTq_mFjgYb2e69-4tksTquesqdDv0H-YsPuGQu5LdanqhzV8/s320/P1040199s.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>One way of attacting attention to your restaurant! Yuk!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia2xZnLtfPwp8DFCf7rC6jaLvtKEOfTUwJEkZqC1LMAlHPZg6ict60RobeGVvZ4D2QXu3Im_Z3H7XXfrG0vbXTBFmILwUMCKJIFLv345bM0r4jisHPv_pe9AstF71mAUnL91b1q4u4viU/s1600/IMG_0556s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia2xZnLtfPwp8DFCf7rC6jaLvtKEOfTUwJEkZqC1LMAlHPZg6ict60RobeGVvZ4D2QXu3Im_Z3H7XXfrG0vbXTBFmILwUMCKJIFLv345bM0r4jisHPv_pe9AstF71mAUnL91b1q4u4viU/s320/IMG_0556s.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>We arrived at the UK Nationals venue at last!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMATe53spniK8b8WZJrslMuKcYmaqiLjkULLSdd1rh1gjOesZobxjg2nq1rhAkCQ-bj2qIXtFHv9UY0FhlcqzR-O9Ky1IpQiwqKAJGv3PBvQ-IDHUgLn8e_gJXIXUZHUD0JVjXbWcDcng/s1600/IMG_0557s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMATe53spniK8b8WZJrslMuKcYmaqiLjkULLSdd1rh1gjOesZobxjg2nq1rhAkCQ-bj2qIXtFHv9UY0FhlcqzR-O9Ky1IpQiwqKAJGv3PBvQ-IDHUgLn8e_gJXIXUZHUD0JVjXbWcDcng/s320/IMG_0557s.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Boy it's a long way out to the water at low tide!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioMPa7VCtObCYlh3_wSG1MOfmAY2TpcD6d6fdP9wvLH1GCza2uYPTaDpupU_GpCqyiX4c8QRXqY3IJsfYY7GdgESKrQ9FS_GJcjbgPa8-rXR6WJD_voAtuHU7NkhBft3gKVJGWgOekzEU/s1600/IMG_0555s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioMPa7VCtObCYlh3_wSG1MOfmAY2TpcD6d6fdP9wvLH1GCza2uYPTaDpupU_GpCqyiX4c8QRXqY3IJsfYY7GdgESKrQ9FS_GJcjbgPa8-rXR6WJD_voAtuHU7NkhBft3gKVJGWgOekzEU/s320/IMG_0555s.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>The dinghy park. You tow your boat from here, through the sand dunes and down the beach.<br />
Actually the venue is quite large and you can see the yacht club buildings and marquees in the background.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6K7C7XnaQHM9vd2UWKR1CFZd2uh65286fdaYdu2W_Cq-3VwGCT32HuWEO_qYSha5ADqzs6tmkueI0iGC4SXktoUMxem7KmbG8XVRvO6vCUllb2biNy2pvPQGN2r9c0k1IGU9o3Ailedo/s1600/IMG_0552s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6K7C7XnaQHM9vd2UWKR1CFZd2uh65286fdaYdu2W_Cq-3VwGCT32HuWEO_qYSha5ADqzs6tmkueI0iGC4SXktoUMxem7KmbG8XVRvO6vCUllb2biNy2pvPQGN2r9c0k1IGU9o3Ailedo/s320/IMG_0552s.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Measurement and registration was a breeze in the big tent....<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRKRo9RoUJcKAlpZ_MNeB0Boz8CTJaQi-5VNmzI4ZH09DdfA4rIkxA41SNnrNgXU_1jkNhVy8eq6bSGZSg4W1hUCwsrzxm5iU41xIaAJslrOcsdnVId1JLZcYm-lG0YUXyGwlfs1CsgrU/s1600/IMG_0558s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRKRo9RoUJcKAlpZ_MNeB0Boz8CTJaQi-5VNmzI4ZH09DdfA4rIkxA41SNnrNgXU_1jkNhVy8eq6bSGZSg4W1hUCwsrzxm5iU41xIaAJslrOcsdnVId1JLZcYm-lG0YUXyGwlfs1CsgrU/s320/IMG_0558s.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> so the boys went for a sail in the afternoon with our local coach Dyfrig Mon<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpg2-o1tbQ_6qJ4BCDWnDvvDzVJ4PslJjndGIUEzLpStdm7eVXCmfIPP9q90mmJzjrz3bQPVnoFL-aWkrwfLEBdLh_ueVVuSH_yCT24wSMxjsixKn8-vh7Kj2u6dRok0ZJdbOAPCto4zw/s1600/IMG_0559s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpg2-o1tbQ_6qJ4BCDWnDvvDzVJ4PslJjndGIUEzLpStdm7eVXCmfIPP9q90mmJzjrz3bQPVnoFL-aWkrwfLEBdLh_ueVVuSH_yCT24wSMxjsixKn8-vh7Kj2u6dRok0ZJdbOAPCto4zw/s320/IMG_0559s.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
Dyfrig having a debrief after sailing today<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPOgrCsirXo2-4vmxPo588M0zyN4u3iE0spypd43Goap-n-5xkTdgerkY9T2MFmqwkr7avkDMp6IxNz3iPkEMclPqiPuFd10bLAl8Tfvc32jDrmFoQi3z8syHVpKyhaAQoOEJrGuaGR2A/s1600/P1040204s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPOgrCsirXo2-4vmxPo588M0zyN4u3iE0spypd43Goap-n-5xkTdgerkY9T2MFmqwkr7avkDMp6IxNz3iPkEMclPqiPuFd10bLAl8Tfvc32jDrmFoQi3z8syHVpKyhaAQoOEJrGuaGR2A/s320/P1040204s.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> You can see the marquees and yacht club from our Pwllheli home....<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8f12R-M8-UZJ9BdKEYv9BkWlbBIZEux5kzkgYrmyoDdLJV0-YObuV3FcksKnZw8rFaQbf1UGRYtzcNt8qMaeMGNgqTm9OBnw0BpFYxTVGbwCipkkb9ZEL1od_G-zcDN_VxWqriM7LxTQ/s1600/P1040207s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8f12R-M8-UZJ9BdKEYv9BkWlbBIZEux5kzkgYrmyoDdLJV0-YObuV3FcksKnZw8rFaQbf1UGRYtzcNt8qMaeMGNgqTm9OBnw0BpFYxTVGbwCipkkb9ZEL1od_G-zcDN_VxWqriM7LxTQ/s320/P1040207s.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> We can get wifi but it is in the apartment next door so you have to be resourceful to pick up a signal......<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigGs9gzDliVyFK_yKxTCpkq8-8e2YpnivrQtbwvZC1iGH7zouSNrzOnq6iME_8MKm8fMvXq0IfjdU-auprErMdLML9MJrZQszEzLZtgMAvnLLvvLxF68meTzq9GJRVQ0b28NSvn_lWQRc/s1600/P1040209s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigGs9gzDliVyFK_yKxTCpkq8-8e2YpnivrQtbwvZC1iGH7zouSNrzOnq6iME_8MKm8fMvXq0IfjdU-auprErMdLML9MJrZQszEzLZtgMAvnLLvvLxF68meTzq9GJRVQ0b28NSvn_lWQRc/s320/P1040209s.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> Everything is built to last here.....<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMX7W0mCjA8ghUxqVjLAV6Y6vz3Q1smB8C1xwZgSVs9EVz4BMEOuwC0qOmsUpPYgekQOHfsWsAk8Yk_yWnyHZJAt0J2FrQNwBWqGBSn5KirsJ72G-nFB3-Iwd3Rfme-5BXDxW_D7oCUsk/s1600/P1040212s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMX7W0mCjA8ghUxqVjLAV6Y6vz3Q1smB8C1xwZgSVs9EVz4BMEOuwC0qOmsUpPYgekQOHfsWsAk8Yk_yWnyHZJAt0J2FrQNwBWqGBSn5KirsJ72G-nFB3-Iwd3Rfme-5BXDxW_D7oCUsk/s320/P1040212s.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Bit different to Hamilton eh Dad....and no Scott hasn't taken to rolling his own smokes....I wonder what they were actually talking about......<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii_SVyq0q08jgrPtlH-0eAXL88ZfPgD09lkRsvdIK6LyOkNWhaOzJY3XtEO_YruxkUsychmz2UvNsJ8JQkq0MuoMM_9N9f2ps6FPf9wooFobfnYbZrzFj-E37tBMlF4OtHdbqqK-avO0g/s1600/P1040214s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii_SVyq0q08jgrPtlH-0eAXL88ZfPgD09lkRsvdIK6LyOkNWhaOzJY3XtEO_YruxkUsychmz2UvNsJ8JQkq0MuoMM_9N9f2ps6FPf9wooFobfnYbZrzFj-E37tBMlF4OtHdbqqK-avO0g/s320/P1040214s.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>The supermarket is just down the road so we laid in some supplies. Mark here checking on what Scott has bought for breakfast.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgova2FQMEdkQAZcgRRiN5tCh-XeBj-M4E2PioATWPmTEZKyFXUSfRM4ZX8-8ZBJs7QtHJIqrikLUpbiEoy7mxDi1JD12oFKmQTFCAzLilNzexYkPjPsrnlbnlf3C4Lga6qHwqfAc59oqY/s1600/P1040218s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgova2FQMEdkQAZcgRRiN5tCh-XeBj-M4E2PioATWPmTEZKyFXUSfRM4ZX8-8ZBJs7QtHJIqrikLUpbiEoy7mxDi1JD12oFKmQTFCAzLilNzexYkPjPsrnlbnlf3C4Lga6qHwqfAc59oqY/s320/P1040218s.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> We headed down the road for some dinner....<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw1Kj264W6erKoozlybBhQHQKhNvY4GIRJqoFqh2r8aVf2JnPqDz_Uf7DWuv0me0CDboD5wLZq5kvLT4lNv-YGa-sLPhmlmjwZou_0ixP5l0gvjDQzOOLO78zHdavfv5WJRkKz59a_e-Y/s1600/P1040219s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw1Kj264W6erKoozlybBhQHQKhNvY4GIRJqoFqh2r8aVf2JnPqDz_Uf7DWuv0me0CDboD5wLZq5kvLT4lNv-YGa-sLPhmlmjwZou_0ixP5l0gvjDQzOOLO78zHdavfv5WJRkKz59a_e-Y/s320/P1040219s.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>and the pub had a kids menu so....Hey Dad are we actually allowed in here? <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg32uv-gOZ4tGBmFBiBoW6uUPSZ0dmfqdiYHNceshWTOIgwdwLQoz2pmRT1Mo-nIYqVKsUF5OgFIbuN2Tu5B1bELmIzWXlT1lNfvhcwhmLxLOIfwALRSDQ-exCmrVNiCjwu8o32sa6jdpY/s1600/P1040224s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg32uv-gOZ4tGBmFBiBoW6uUPSZ0dmfqdiYHNceshWTOIgwdwLQoz2pmRT1Mo-nIYqVKsUF5OgFIbuN2Tu5B1bELmIzWXlT1lNfvhcwhmLxLOIfwALRSDQ-exCmrVNiCjwu8o32sa6jdpY/s320/P1040224s.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Markus, Mark and Scott went for the ribs....<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWxaGtI7LML_UHEpzGcIrQP44wASfL1JslcvYPa9-A2cK8JAu3uTeefwnGZCasbxdSMayvKlFzJbU0Ns9wEYypLF9W5rjIj3N2ZOKbQJHWDagh6GjkuHHq_gRjpsDVDc9qy2iDRNJqW40/s1600/P1040227s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWxaGtI7LML_UHEpzGcIrQP44wASfL1JslcvYPa9-A2cK8JAu3uTeefwnGZCasbxdSMayvKlFzJbU0Ns9wEYypLF9W5rjIj3N2ZOKbQJHWDagh6GjkuHHq_gRjpsDVDc9qy2iDRNJqW40/s320/P1040227s.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> Tonight they had a welcoming party for the International competitors..(bit more friendly than when we went to the Oz Nats)<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGcVgomUU-fBam_0VVcrVMiC_rhihS4gxceZmukXE361CVaWSVmy79dLcvUUNCdmeXvnjWdu3mz5gqZR_bCVw7VmNT6tWCNvNAtxqTiIiklPSL5BsCjyARIbxKsdmPpJXWAcc0Pfd1yrs/s1600/P1040233s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGcVgomUU-fBam_0VVcrVMiC_rhihS4gxceZmukXE361CVaWSVmy79dLcvUUNCdmeXvnjWdu3mz5gqZR_bCVw7VmNT6tWCNvNAtxqTiIiklPSL5BsCjyARIbxKsdmPpJXWAcc0Pfd1yrs/s320/P1040233s.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>The boys were chatting to Will and some guys they had met at the US Nats.....<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOvZNBKXfL_YxdaYikKeBeVCGrORbYcsD7dd9fok4dyBlRBi-ijJ7DJBQMMd3enBIZHj2v5cm3t6IE0t38xjWeDNXoa1DEDAp1WnZdKcD9WrPwTF-zSf8GZpkGMsxF57RM6dPsAPvW0xE/s1600/P1040237s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOvZNBKXfL_YxdaYikKeBeVCGrORbYcsD7dd9fok4dyBlRBi-ijJ7DJBQMMd3enBIZHj2v5cm3t6IE0t38xjWeDNXoa1DEDAp1WnZdKcD9WrPwTF-zSf8GZpkGMsxF57RM6dPsAPvW0xE/s320/P1040237s.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> when the Irish girls discovered Isaac......<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLVrJ-7Q5p1ojfq6tzG76tSLiYMVVgxrNZmhZUX5jqy-3B9T3V5PxsZMh0pt1zL09XilVP-zQGxSHRikq_GprZPOmaaxW5rqWrZBo9pw_YMYfh-3iLTp3CniOdqAQCTuJ7NofreCw7Huo/s1600/P1040239s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLVrJ-7Q5p1ojfq6tzG76tSLiYMVVgxrNZmhZUX5jqy-3B9T3V5PxsZMh0pt1zL09XilVP-zQGxSHRikq_GprZPOmaaxW5rqWrZBo9pw_YMYfh-3iLTp3CniOdqAQCTuJ7NofreCw7Huo/s320/P1040239s.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgDiWu4zzTsjDnDI9M7xAO1O5SWJ-yl2zxI7whB1Nu7O98PRqXXU1iBo6w8s7JoOi17CPCm1mG7NMCl97FxoZchyD6UMRY-FBoaD1RNb_U-AuynhOYYcYKNmTyJhiP0TaNMIlNciYg_HA/s1600/P1040235s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgDiWu4zzTsjDnDI9M7xAO1O5SWJ-yl2zxI7whB1Nu7O98PRqXXU1iBo6w8s7JoOi17CPCm1mG7NMCl97FxoZchyD6UMRY-FBoaD1RNb_U-AuynhOYYcYKNmTyJhiP0TaNMIlNciYg_HA/s320/P1040235s.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>While Team USA had a briefing.....<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRuCJkFq98w2X2XsI2FbA37yVtJ3Pw8cnrnBgJbSVES0SXsfo-szLREnL4UrIC_OcKzMO400T4DdAWg_K3-Y_053XRLXJcC5ksiDRB3JIgQVjk7d4_uOHeibwTDu3cF4Id8KmMglhRpBw/s1600/P1040240s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRuCJkFq98w2X2XsI2FbA37yVtJ3Pw8cnrnBgJbSVES0SXsfo-szLREnL4UrIC_OcKzMO400T4DdAWg_K3-Y_053XRLXJcC5ksiDRB3JIgQVjk7d4_uOHeibwTDu3cF4Id8KmMglhRpBw/s320/P1040240s.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>In front of the real clubhouse!</div>Team Scribehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04335858548781026742noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9006539171727524604.post-75873793545596805902011-07-30T09:46:00.000-07:002011-07-31T06:10:38.620-07:00Pwllheli - Wales<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPU6yLEnjiA81bGyNJnzBiyWSef12_XdJ2fFFtGJvN2go_mb3Gzmh86XLRAKAa6GRVrghmoonqfJMgEYWlJnd7CSfR4YMg4x45OcMEbGb_9bgnPbp4Z8HT9cqjBHHaWvvsi-LzVCfFm-5B/s1600/IMG_0276%255B1%255D.JPG"></a><br />
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<div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHnsqLK6pIFw68DpPinaeLJq0irZj1CqmLU_jPqvVVPnP5tSdKwFZRthButhPkhiTz85aj5mShWRxpkkkpeYOCZ8uGVjAselmohQdA39n54e9J93E9_59sTQJtsidktc1uSVENncAvR2QR/s1600/IMG_0275%255B1%255D.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 239px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5635202761859608706" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHnsqLK6pIFw68DpPinaeLJq0irZj1CqmLU_jPqvVVPnP5tSdKwFZRthButhPkhiTz85aj5mShWRxpkkkpeYOCZ8uGVjAselmohQdA39n54e9J93E9_59sTQJtsidktc1uSVENncAvR2QR/s320/IMG_0275%255B1%255D.JPG" /></a>The lads making the most of the opportunity to catch up on some sleep on the way to Pwllheli</div><br />
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<div align="justify">Well this time I am sitting on the deck at our house in Pwllheli (prounounce P-well-e) Wales. Most of yesterday was spent travelling from London to here, took around 6 hours with a food stop, actually had my first flat white since leaving NZ, it was so good (but not as good as your ones Tash).</div><br />
<div align="justify">So we have gone from Central London to the very outskirts of the UK, towards the end of the journey you could have easily mistaken that you were in NZ, plenty of green grass rolling hills, sheep and cattle. Got here around 6pm last night then checked out the local supermarket went to the sailing club and had a nose around then decided we would walk down to the local pub for dinner. Quite an eye opener, narrow streets with kids playing on them, front doors to houses as high as our kids. Had to try the bangers and mash with mushy peas, not bad.. Today we have been down to the club picked up our boats and the kids have been out for a sail. Tomorrow is the practise race so we are slowly getting back in the groove. The kids were all keen to say something so I will go pour a wine while they blog......</div><br />
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Leonard: The weather got colder when we arrived in the UK and as we were launching today I realised that this was not going to be a warm regatta. We got out there with Dyfrig and did a few tacks and we learnt about what the wind does here, we decided to go in and rest after that.</div><br />
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<div>Markus:<br />
First full day here in Wales and its not too bad. the weathers been great only needing a pair of shorts and a T-shirt. The waters filled with these random little worms and its pretty disgusting really. Ive met a few mates while ive been here and I think all the kiwis are glad weve finally made it. Doverigg i think thats his name has been really good help and now we are all Pwllheli guru's! Hi everyone back at home, see you soon!!</div><br />
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Isaac:</div><br />
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Its great to talk again</div><br />
<div>USA was a great place to sail the water was a little bit brown but still very hot I didnt start the regatta off well with a raf and a ocs but i held my self straight and ended up 13th. </div><br />
<div>The weather in Wales isnt as hot but its not as cold as I thought it was going to be. Hi to all at home, hopefully we all have a good regatta, Talk soon </div><br />
<div></div>scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18328937744558029120noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9006539171727524604.post-5895878645645130182011-07-28T14:38:00.000-07:002011-07-29T12:47:33.849-07:00Photos from London<div align="center">Not in any particular order - click on the photo if you want to make it bigger<br />
<img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 239px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5634546002082111634" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiID4JXunf7RG4MNo7sHAnF60KVHB6o9iLixlmiJw4e7bLMJxsa_lQV_zfXgVQkDTKcVjqkz1l5k_DVKWRcHG76ntefCKeE9_2VOEvZ22YtGJu827_GPqfAK-kjFxIRzz-gN-83ERwe5Gt/s320/IMG_0242%255B1%255D.jpg" /> A sample of the wares available from Harrods - a mere 37000 pounds</div><br />
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<p align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbfPwpr2qb_nd1p0t-f_BHVm3U2i9tzoh6WlUvfzhAgSpU48yuNUUB0OdC0EPBukEirafS65kZ-phCpz09Nm4rLebKxKQpxBvL_dCdrNMbyOkiyq7D9ADi5YsQOU2SAZqfclv9XYhec5dB/s1600/IMG_0238%255B1%255D.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 316px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 224px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5634545997030634738" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbfPwpr2qb_nd1p0t-f_BHVm3U2i9tzoh6WlUvfzhAgSpU48yuNUUB0OdC0EPBukEirafS65kZ-phCpz09Nm4rLebKxKQpxBvL_dCdrNMbyOkiyq7D9ADi5YsQOU2SAZqfclv9XYhec5dB/s320/IMG_0238%255B1%255D.jpg" /></a><br />
or if that is not to your liking how about an 80000 pound underwater scooter<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD0ELrrEm00Rtc0t5Oi-qczGmdrSkdIm4LRF9K9lYTBi-Sjunmmh7p1A-53FNKLVMDFo2XtdgPm_H8vGN49x0nHRgFYimWhgci1rwKJXPIgZcnYdCtY0vblE4NhKbdhZ2sGmfNxfkooY4t/s1600/IMG_0237%255B1%255D.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 316px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 231px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5634545995460938226" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD0ELrrEm00Rtc0t5Oi-qczGmdrSkdIm4LRF9K9lYTBi-Sjunmmh7p1A-53FNKLVMDFo2XtdgPm_H8vGN49x0nHRgFYimWhgci1rwKJXPIgZcnYdCtY0vblE4NhKbdhZ2sGmfNxfkooY4t/s320/IMG_0237%255B1%255D.jpg" /></a> or maybe an 8000 pound exercycle<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAVDwkO1QIReHhLv-bChVF08ACw1EMwL2_64ec191-zVXa0Dk0pdkg6JvskSL0OKJirKS1uwK9H9EPogVGzcOhPYLS0bmLvNavlLez4dZvU3rbGCafYJQHt0DE7rKTHvk9D0Wm77tiFXg7/s1600/IMG_0235%255B1%255D.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 316px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 238px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5634545988513991474" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAVDwkO1QIReHhLv-bChVF08ACw1EMwL2_64ec191-zVXa0Dk0pdkg6JvskSL0OKJirKS1uwK9H9EPogVGzcOhPYLS0bmLvNavlLez4dZvU3rbGCafYJQHt0DE7rKTHvk9D0Wm77tiFXg7/s320/IMG_0235%255B1%255D.jpg" /></a><br />
They even sell fresh produce at Harrods </p><br />
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<div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEiXKLNptSWr-JTNHzehqvp5SApCarL47WFCzREPDN_rjcO2BsI1M7WPopOZFXiFQYxivB82IGs2QSyaCq6xBz6LQK_iga-ntCbOZ6Be-SH-l4XNCcInVgxh6nrjuQeCguTbaui0HK2jK2/s1600/IMG_0275%25281%2529.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 316px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 228px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5634545986996627970" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEiXKLNptSWr-JTNHzehqvp5SApCarL47WFCzREPDN_rjcO2BsI1M7WPopOZFXiFQYxivB82IGs2QSyaCq6xBz6LQK_iga-ntCbOZ6Be-SH-l4XNCcInVgxh6nrjuQeCguTbaui0HK2jK2/s320/IMG_0275%25281%2529.jpg" /></a><br />
The London Bridge<br />
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<div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmaXX8pK5d6Pp4pWGB8frAGD7_xRfSgoUOGaM23KlS9nXVYTTIYD9EZ9wosyfcfXCpNuFBY9FaGeCd1f-aJn8hKpnXg1tlafw4l4nMN1S5kM2N1U8F2g3Byuh-Btc-utXSSayh61fVallU/s1600/IMG_0211%255B1%255D.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 316px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 228px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5634541674882722386" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmaXX8pK5d6Pp4pWGB8frAGD7_xRfSgoUOGaM23KlS9nXVYTTIYD9EZ9wosyfcfXCpNuFBY9FaGeCd1f-aJn8hKpnXg1tlafw4l4nMN1S5kM2N1U8F2g3Byuh-Btc-utXSSayh61fVallU/s320/IMG_0211%255B1%255D.jpg" /></a> The Tower of London - Location of the Crown Jewels</div><br />
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<div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 239px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5634561202368876978" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP6c8hYq0sjSfHtqUSxqrIFzzqlvExLJsMwvVqCsKLDNeA8YcS5c01lkpFHUUHbd4IMJucpW9smbE5lWIWXZ_ZCuCdljGPo4eOjTIwn-CzVJ4F6pu3CQHJIjYhArGcIzLQwOy1mY7xLGEv/s320/IMG_0215%255B1%255D.jpg" /><br />
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<div>About to depart on our bike excursion<br />
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<div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdmFPRPFITaMNqtCt365QU5ZPnkWF_2cVTJ4s_09AehVkwp843hkVt8UDRaSRhBkLSiyUvaRp6Y88z_gcdG5MOkKiopr4V9dp7qC-3rDofZ4t8BcegffKCtndquzH5F7m98__-uCCUyovh/s1600/IMG_0225%255B1%255D.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 239px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5634541021382043362" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdmFPRPFITaMNqtCt365QU5ZPnkWF_2cVTJ4s_09AehVkwp843hkVt8UDRaSRhBkLSiyUvaRp6Y88z_gcdG5MOkKiopr4V9dp7qC-3rDofZ4t8BcegffKCtndquzH5F7m98__-uCCUyovh/s320/IMG_0225%255B1%255D.jpg" /></a><br />
The Marble Arch - This used to be the entrance way to Buckingham Palace until the Queen at the time decided to have it moved (can't have been big enough I suppose)<br />
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<div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggj12q2SFSPF7wXw_Ra97F6PhZCgQIV8_QA-U9lA90_Tmz1H96VYvO-8PW3BsTHLGASeunA2w4Yc-fs-7472ZdvJK-N_B8SYQQyC4kdvb5Mq25UEicagxQEIq4LCWamnZqXtboV192DIHX/s1600/IMG_0226%255B1%255D.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 239px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5634541015101296722" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggj12q2SFSPF7wXw_Ra97F6PhZCgQIV8_QA-U9lA90_Tmz1H96VYvO-8PW3BsTHLGASeunA2w4Yc-fs-7472ZdvJK-N_B8SYQQyC4kdvb5Mq25UEicagxQEIq4LCWamnZqXtboV192DIHX/s320/IMG_0226%255B1%255D.jpg" /></a> One of the car yards in Central London- Gull wing Merc and a Lambo not bad!!<br />
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<div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguP1ogEpstC7sGY_O9YytEzkCsqKwQcSN9kdxxIeIa7X3eJ4DLuyumUipStbJI-inGDHuZBOJpa1724ARJ__ycKzYwsCVe-bhAWgdffV9yrZQGSkFtqJY7TYzOwEOMkS4PLqhFAhEL3tlF/s1600/IMG_0245%255B1%255D.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 239px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5634541012883570162" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguP1ogEpstC7sGY_O9YytEzkCsqKwQcSN9kdxxIeIa7X3eJ4DLuyumUipStbJI-inGDHuZBOJpa1724ARJ__ycKzYwsCVe-bhAWgdffV9yrZQGSkFtqJY7TYzOwEOMkS4PLqhFAhEL3tlF/s320/IMG_0245%255B1%255D.jpg" /></a>Directly opposite the car yard people riding horses in Hyde Park<br />
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<div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMPilAYu7NOqMLwCgDqPkEBphtek3nfrsjay0YmA6-C7jlqn1XHgk39zm8Hv3UqLx9gyE0yXtniUg_17SAQEwFYOdHBi9DNZMFekP6gaXui2AXwBkGOk1uR99dh-ApssGQeDSamKuwnxKN/s1600/IMG_0254%255B1%255D.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 239px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5634541003386973970" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMPilAYu7NOqMLwCgDqPkEBphtek3nfrsjay0YmA6-C7jlqn1XHgk39zm8Hv3UqLx9gyE0yXtniUg_17SAQEwFYOdHBi9DNZMFekP6gaXui2AXwBkGOk1uR99dh-ApssGQeDSamKuwnxKN/s320/IMG_0254%255B1%255D.jpg" /></a><br />
Big Ben - apparently named after the guy who installed the actual clock his name was Ben and he was a big guy, makes sense I suppose.</div><br />
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<div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPhb46ybjG4zE1FIWXnCNIJ8V24DJUr77WXzYNmwevfsrYOnkZ2UVcSFRp09FHMSdbCqvq_nU_9ec4pIO5FxqYAj-C0-nbzTXVMuuDAovm5eHmfxsMxxJEDynq9p8BNntIB74qBWU_-sCO/s1600/IMG_0266%255B1%255D.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 239px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5634540999592122162" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPhb46ybjG4zE1FIWXnCNIJ8V24DJUr77WXzYNmwevfsrYOnkZ2UVcSFRp09FHMSdbCqvq_nU_9ec4pIO5FxqYAj-C0-nbzTXVMuuDAovm5eHmfxsMxxJEDynq9p8BNntIB74qBWU_-sCO/s320/IMG_0266%255B1%255D.jpg" /></a><br />
The boys at the Maritme Museum, dressed for a day on the beach.<br />
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<div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCJ55UcE551sda52-U_LC0kjpwYbYEILt5JQXpahdUfDkTrr4Dq9uA7TIULhWT_cjRDI7o6ot-S0kguza0QNffnHWWDJTutUtvyP96opq-Pmf0xcJzRMcOis3qLH_rLIbI6xrJrrY44YdJ/s1600/IMG_0269%255B1%255D.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 239px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5634539946798269282" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCJ55UcE551sda52-U_LC0kjpwYbYEILt5JQXpahdUfDkTrr4Dq9uA7TIULhWT_cjRDI7o6ot-S0kguza0QNffnHWWDJTutUtvyP96opq-Pmf0xcJzRMcOis3qLH_rLIbI6xrJrrY44YdJ/s320/IMG_0269%255B1%255D.jpg" /></a><br />
Maritime Museum, this boat was the first boat to reach over 100mph, held the water speed record at 111mph in 1933.<br />
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<div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5D-sPFZN28BiwAnFe5wUvNdUwvb2jZfHBB2QM0NEqc5UoqXDvFaNjnw05EPmF5AFuFhxZge2ffElMi0wbMfMfHG73oNEYoeNMumQQ94_8TBEGQTiG7hcazZeueAiJK2re5pWHC0Ww5hIJ/s1600/IMG_0270%255B1%255D.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 239px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5634539943198971122" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5D-sPFZN28BiwAnFe5wUvNdUwvb2jZfHBB2QM0NEqc5UoqXDvFaNjnw05EPmF5AFuFhxZge2ffElMi0wbMfMfHG73oNEYoeNMumQQ94_8TBEGQTiG7hcazZeueAiJK2re5pWHC0Ww5hIJ/s320/IMG_0270%255B1%255D.jpg" /></a><br />
To all the shoppers looking, sorry all I could afford was the photo. </div><br />
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<div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic_W1NMqNkw1Q9smiIX5MSOEEKraz0gXZMujUBFGT9A4z1LnBMlxzZAMnrYC3fpQy5Njo_UtZ5g-zOhRdhlyM3ptBI3ArzQz0b728nsKKbLAz4d05Brwn8QAML0rP_dgL16iUd8Ph9NCiD/s1600/IMG_0273%255B1%255D.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 239px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5634539937872790450" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic_W1NMqNkw1Q9smiIX5MSOEEKraz0gXZMujUBFGT9A4z1LnBMlxzZAMnrYC3fpQy5Njo_UtZ5g-zOhRdhlyM3ptBI3ArzQz0b728nsKKbLAz4d05Brwn8QAML0rP_dgL16iUd8Ph9NCiD/s320/IMG_0273%255B1%255D.jpg" /></a><br />
Standing outside the entrance to Churchills War Rooms<br />
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<div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq7zPb9KsJeGGSVFkdWNdq_PMbMMc-HKQIJcrDpQZg8zFD_3zDvup72k1pub4G_1jBsbBscNfVFw6AH_NDEh7KImfCrNIAfnvFLWpYrqESoA4EoWwW5WvxEcIQS0eWmFxNvrNHqVYIL-LD/s1600/IMG_0274%255B1%255D.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 239px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5634539930961117074" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq7zPb9KsJeGGSVFkdWNdq_PMbMMc-HKQIJcrDpQZg8zFD_3zDvup72k1pub4G_1jBsbBscNfVFw6AH_NDEh7KImfCrNIAfnvFLWpYrqESoA4EoWwW5WvxEcIQS0eWmFxNvrNHqVYIL-LD/s320/IMG_0274%255B1%255D.jpg" /></a> The boys with the guard standing near the entrance to the Primeministers house at 10 Downing Street. You will notice Rob also found a barber today hence the haircut, I am sure he only got it cut because the barber offered you free Beer...<br />
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<div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyMBCQSk-vl3g3lUcGnGAFcStQDUMpCJYvuWLAmNIATldo18B0_-faMk10ObjTo2bhm2WJ6htc_MPdof9yvMp8e_bi-b3tiFiw9gpyxm5qxdew2_3fnqb2TVevV3ULu09K6EFEKwXzsC6s/s1600/IMG_0021%25281%2529.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 239px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5634539925849601474" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyMBCQSk-vl3g3lUcGnGAFcStQDUMpCJYvuWLAmNIATldo18B0_-faMk10ObjTo2bhm2WJ6htc_MPdof9yvMp8e_bi-b3tiFiw9gpyxm5qxdew2_3fnqb2TVevV3ULu09K6EFEKwXzsC6s/s320/IMG_0021%25281%2529.jpg" /></a> Yeah Buddy, world famous in London..<br />
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<div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjS9og2xyGeLI8F890gWbgeHAj88oETyvX8JLgIarRZfNC5W0hJDn385Lhp4wH1zz30d958nmee-D1Ctaf1Wp-7ipOp2YeYa_6FCaAs5gELTRmcNOUepJUfrCdrQx9VRgyTznjTo-FqmND/s1600/P1040118.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5634532947644414146" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjS9og2xyGeLI8F890gWbgeHAj88oETyvX8JLgIarRZfNC5W0hJDn385Lhp4wH1zz30d958nmee-D1Ctaf1Wp-7ipOp2YeYa_6FCaAs5gELTRmcNOUepJUfrCdrQx9VRgyTznjTo-FqmND/s320/P1040118.JPG" /></a><br />
You would have thought by the end of the day they would have no energy, wrong, hanging like monkeys on the tube ride home<br />
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<div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-3qSk50_5xUyNg32oxkBCCac7R_p5AfRNwrIyOakZp9yQ2RkIbrRx_z3tAXBFpzHwXsrMEVGtshurBpXmWfZbDBiQhX7Pruxf14CgC8f9a-OrEOOLvITTuAOaOO76nFg_vrgjIMH48320/s1600/P1040131.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5634532940969224402" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-3qSk50_5xUyNg32oxkBCCac7R_p5AfRNwrIyOakZp9yQ2RkIbrRx_z3tAXBFpzHwXsrMEVGtshurBpXmWfZbDBiQhX7Pruxf14CgC8f9a-OrEOOLvITTuAOaOO76nFg_vrgjIMH48320/s320/P1040131.JPG" /></a><br />
Yes it is real gold, well gold gilt at least, hand painted on gold.<br />
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<div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkaLWnORui4u-dNAUdG7jddrVzttIHO7OrG02OjkXlOaJUtcE6pxX2rvPIdysXGN8kq-yF5tCR42x1i-BMXHls3kC6047xgJBo8-wTGx953Zeilfkd_VDOelSwlgl0tcv1dPDeALTIVB50/s1600/P1040175.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5634522813184248722" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkaLWnORui4u-dNAUdG7jddrVzttIHO7OrG02OjkXlOaJUtcE6pxX2rvPIdysXGN8kq-yF5tCR42x1i-BMXHls3kC6047xgJBo8-wTGx953Zeilfkd_VDOelSwlgl0tcv1dPDeALTIVB50/s320/P1040175.JPG" /></a><br />
The last hurdle before arriving at the Hotel.<br />
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</div>scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18328937744558029120noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9006539171727524604.post-43925802335983952092011-07-28T13:25:00.001-07:002013-05-20T19:17:02.087-07:00Sightseeing in London<div align="justify">
Hi All. Welcome to the sightseeing section of our blog. </div>
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We have had a great couple of days, the most amzing thing has been the weather, I had these visions of cruising around London with jackets on and it being dark by 3pm. I got that a little wrong apparently I have to wait until we get to Wales for that. The weather for the last two days has been stunning (by English standards) sunglasses required and a t-shirt would suffice.</div>
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<strong>Day 1</strong></div>
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Kazyuo has had earache for the last day or so, so she was unable to come with us today, so Rob stayed behind also to help Kazyuo out and sort out our rental car situation. The vehicle we had rented to take us plus our gear to Wales was way to small so we ended up having to order two smaller vehicles instead, we just hope we can fit all the gear plus us in to them, tomorrow will be the test. So Mark the lads and myself headed off on the adventure into Central London. We caught the tube into town then purely by accident ended up on push bikes cycling around London, it was a hoot, we got the odd stare, I am sure the kids thought they were driving out in the rural outblocks of NZ and not on the narrow overcrowded streets of London, driving three wide, up on the curve, back on the road antics were not what the locals were used to seeing. We then jumped on the open top double decker bus and tripped around seeing the sights, Buckingham Palace, Downing Street, Westmister Abbey, Big Ben, Tower of London etc etc. We jumped off the bus at Harrods so we could say we had been there, spent about an hour and probably saw 1% of it, back on the bus then off at Madame Tussauds Wax Museum back on the bus then on the tube and home.</div>
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Day 2</div>
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The plan was to start at 8.30 and head for the Maritime Museum, it wasn't until I answered the phone at 9.15 hearing Leonard say where are you guys that I realised we had majorly slept in, so a bit of pressure on the day with the late start. We navigated our way around the tube and ended up in Greenwich the location of the Maritime Museum, spent a good couple of hours here before navigating our way into Central London on the tube, the next stop was Winston Churchills War Bunker, this place was amazing it was the location that Winston and team ran their war game plan from, full of history and extremely well preserved. The kids were keen to jump back on the bikes and head back to the tube, the best thing about this was the cold pint waiting for us at the pub when we got off the bikes. Then back on the tube and home. I have kept the above pretty brief because there has been plenty of photos taken so I will let them do the talking.</div>
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Tomorrow we are up early (I know this because I will be setting the alarm this time) and off to get the rental cars for what looks like a six hour drive to Wales. The following day is measurement, the next being a practice race and then the day after the start of the regatta. I think that makes it the first of August regatta start. Enjoy the photos..... </div>
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scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18328937744558029120noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9006539171727524604.post-35073235549129414892011-07-27T05:19:00.000-07:002011-07-27T05:19:33.179-07:00Robs last Houston picsWell Scott has brought you up to date and he Mark and the boys headed for London sightseeing today while I have stayed at the hotel to rearrange our vehicle to Pwllheli and catch up on the emails etc. The shopping spree in Houston has increased the bags to bursting point and the car I booked will be too small. Sounds good but it was never actually going to be big enough. The Dodge Caravan we had in the US (filled to the brim) was way bigger than the European so called "7 seater" VW Sharan we reserved for here.<br />
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The pics:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHVkZN1Ede8TJsCf9L2yy8ODUlSUYWUfd0zE5j_Hqqi1NfiX6BsGYak4amWbnVBbPTGwpYVrDYDAUUU76oNP-jg1VZukfg2OsEdFQDX3npxH0jEp62Ks_luNEBVxnlBlq5Dc6zosP5QAU/s1600/IMG_0504s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHVkZN1Ede8TJsCf9L2yy8ODUlSUYWUfd0zE5j_Hqqi1NfiX6BsGYak4amWbnVBbPTGwpYVrDYDAUUU76oNP-jg1VZukfg2OsEdFQDX3npxH0jEp62Ks_luNEBVxnlBlq5Dc6zosP5QAU/s320/IMG_0504s.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuDgi6BZ7x_5EPrYuUcYzWnrNV6RCyGXHD_HXfm5s8YKXcO-ojDf7P2yOsiLW7JnTOBc_XPv5N57Yp5i72PnG-z0rqQjZWRGLozf2JxjDuVZO7AoYSg_awpgNfzfH7IMmjKnHaz7XNfFc/s1600/IMG_0508s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuDgi6BZ7x_5EPrYuUcYzWnrNV6RCyGXHD_HXfm5s8YKXcO-ojDf7P2yOsiLW7JnTOBc_XPv5N57Yp5i72PnG-z0rqQjZWRGLozf2JxjDuVZO7AoYSg_awpgNfzfH7IMmjKnHaz7XNfFc/s320/IMG_0508s.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ9ldb-g5No6TM_sOm1DLRRAPpO1pHc9XB3TrrAXvOwWRk-BPQEwPf_v6o6MCjJjBqLBARqm1M8SH_y13dOtojQhvra1DHUxRbrmx1W6rvSLaRqx83Z_EXTKZnaS9oPNAEMJMUvxNQs80/s1600/IMG_0513s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ9ldb-g5No6TM_sOm1DLRRAPpO1pHc9XB3TrrAXvOwWRk-BPQEwPf_v6o6MCjJjBqLBARqm1M8SH_y13dOtojQhvra1DHUxRbrmx1W6rvSLaRqx83Z_EXTKZnaS9oPNAEMJMUvxNQs80/s320/IMG_0513s.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> This was the the biggest charter boat trailer and can take 56 optimists. It is designed to take 420s as well. They and the other 2 charter guys were packed and gone in no time heading for the next venue which is a 36 hour drive away.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA02fgdVQ1a0DB-lrl9LOXwea35EcPIYZ6zMjcuqnr_h3jiEBE-UZjX5ZzDkBlIyL1yVGDe06CjyPEY-6ZNyZt9ey5J4skxIjT_Ie4zl_PtmMLcaAjRx0XGW8Xz8RmiRiA5pVQTAKi6oY/s1600/IMG_0510s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA02fgdVQ1a0DB-lrl9LOXwea35EcPIYZ6zMjcuqnr_h3jiEBE-UZjX5ZzDkBlIyL1yVGDe06CjyPEY-6ZNyZt9ey5J4skxIjT_Ie4zl_PtmMLcaAjRx0XGW8Xz8RmiRiA5pVQTAKi6oY/s320/IMG_0510s.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> The US Worlds team were all here so it was great to have the chance to race them before Napier.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT5ZwyZb1dOxpFf33xWFiFN9ODnNeb3Tee0j3iGFIV-lG4UwTOJCjaNut2RXwZC_SZZaUGl0FVQHv7XqqPuM_xfktFZ3ulhGlbUMH7jRw3rzp2dP5MAeF0FbHfqFc00JObVNqrJRU0Gog/s1600/IMG_0515s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT5ZwyZb1dOxpFf33xWFiFN9ODnNeb3Tee0j3iGFIV-lG4UwTOJCjaNut2RXwZC_SZZaUGl0FVQHv7XqqPuM_xfktFZ3ulhGlbUMH7jRw3rzp2dP5MAeF0FbHfqFc00JObVNqrJRU0Gog/s320/IMG_0515s.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Leonard and Isaac putting their time to good use waiting for the dinner to arrive while Markus talked with his Dad </div>Team Scribehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04335858548781026742noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9006539171727524604.post-56966765281825777852011-07-26T15:11:00.000-07:002011-07-27T05:31:18.292-07:00Leonard wins the US Nationals !!!<div align="center"><br />
<div align="left"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhkpuC_Jx8mg8c20JjdMm2W64NNMVUuGmUbhFQTVA_gsVYkV9rJf8SC1eYxnfVUSX9Mhsjs5N1w8wWLMBOhlRP9KwMVoOAn1I_DOuWgQCSWZUyuIGcTjTb1pkchRgez0tbLMk4mT6xR20j/s1600/IMG_0194%255B1%255D.JPG"></a></div><br />
<div align="justify">I am sitting in the lobby at the Hotel in London as I write this. It seems so long ago that the racing at Houston finished but unfortunately we were unable to get onto the internet at the end of the regatta so I have some catching up to do sorry. Straight to the good stuff, Leonard has cleaned up winning the regatta in convincing style, with Markus close behind in 4th and Isaac clawing his way back up to 13th.<i> (note from Rob here: you will notice that Isaac had 4 bullets/bananas/hats and, if he had of sailed the course properly and got the top group finish he should have had in race 1, we would have had 3 in the top 5).</i> Well done guys you have made us all so proud, and thank you to all the well wishers who have facebooked, texted emailed etc, it is much appreciated and brings a smile to everyones face when they get them. So a brief summary of the last few days. First the racing then the goss.</div><strong><br />
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<div style="text-align: left;"><strong>Race Day 4 - Texas Houston</strong></div><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">The race committee had plans of doing 3 races on the last day with an earlier start of 9am as opposed to the noon we were getting used to, the warning signal for the last race had to be made by 2pm. The weather gods weren't playing ball though, the breeze hadn't really been coming in until noon and today was no exception. We went out on the water at around 10am as there was some breeze, but it proved to be inconsistent and the Race Committee struggled to lay a course. Finally we got a race underway at 1pm in a lighter breeze of around 5knots, this was to be the only race for the day and the final one for the regatta. Isaac ended up with a win in this race, Markus came 12th and Leonard 32nd.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div>For full results click here.<br />
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<div align="justify"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5633796791790652898" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVY8w0IlTkr14abvwRo3r6rYuY5-EGlAFU1pFzflJSmOvZ5mY8W1reN6-lTA4ZsU_Lc7skv8NpFnqP8JFOnTQ4e2UiS4GEOkeZS6BlJ_BD5CWsNJoJU0ArxN3oalcfImYFFxGssK-GGS9k/s320/IMG_0193%255B1%255D.JPG" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 219px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 312px;" /></div></div><br />
The lads about to head out on the last day.<br />
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<img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5633795877006228002" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6KcJxMtF4VPiO5St8jwPd4dLj9wy2AUoGq06MDZW9ApaKv8gttOf961J0OxTCZv7EmJcada_gbf3IxktvLivfg4mR9T2jtaTAhrkmSps7dlioJ8OnIVQkMk4q8ZXES4YI8UI1fPr5Fcz0/s320/IMG_0195%255B1%255D.JPG" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 208px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 314px;" /><br />
Out trusty spectator boat.<br />
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<div align="center"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5633805699467031170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwSIMQJRXDfzNTH9_G0afaom7DcP1dUoQmtzXavAYpr9U0NRuvyoq2tNoXAv6RVUe2Qsql6uVd9VcAxs_fvQUB-nVsTa5jd918Rzh2DJ9OifRrTC2Zff_Gfu0cEJdffuXo-cy5BNanUU21/s320/IMG_0204%255B1%255D.JPG" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 239px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></div><br />
Couldn't resist this one 'Hamilton Yacht Club' wouldn't that be nice<br />
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<div style="text-align: left;"><strong>The Goss</strong></div><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">One of my big 'must do in Texas' things was to have some spare ribs, they say every thing is bigger in Texas, so that suited me bring on the big ribs. One night at the buffet the theme was prime beef, I got all excited and thought here we go here is my ribs, well there was ribs but they were no bigger than my little finger :(. Anyway we get to London and sit down for a meal, I look at the menu and whammo 'Spare Ribs' so I got my spare ribs but not quite as I expected, in London as opposed to Texas, all good though..</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Yesterday was a long day for everyone we got up at 8am and headed for the mall, all the kids and some of the bigger kids were looking forward to a little retail therapy, unfortunately the NASA space station lost out to the shopping. With this done we headed to the airport for our flights out, this is where we said goodbye to Chris as he headed back from Texas to New Zealand, all was going well until we were about to go through screening at the airport. Isaac went to take my laptop out of his carry on bag to place on the conveyor and realised he only the had the case with no laptop inside, he had left the laptop in the rental car. With very little time in hand I had to exit the controlled area jump on a bus head back to the rental car company, once there they informed me the van had been sent to get serviced so they rang the service department, they found the laptop drove it back to the rental car company gave it to me, back on the bus to head to the terminal go through all the security drama again and meet back up with the team whew!! what a mission. All was looking good raced onto the plane sat down and started to relax, Rob looks over and says can you remember when you last saw me with my sunglasses on, we tracked back through the day and after all the drama it ends up Rob left his sunnies at the airport while waiting for me, oops!!, so now every time we got off a plane or out of a car Isaac gets"Isaac have you got the computer".</div><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">Anyway we flew out at 4pm from Texas to Frankfurt a 9 hour flight then from Frankfurt to Heathrow another 1 1/2 hours. Once in London it took us about an hour to organise a mini bus that was big enough to carry all 6 of us plus our oversize luggage to our Hotel, this ended up being an hour and a half drive, so when we finally reached the hotel there was many sighs of relief. Mark (Markus's Dad) has caught up with us in London and will spend the rest of the trip with us, we are here for two more days before heading off to Pwhelli -Wales. Our list of sights to see for the next few days was discussed tonight over a pie and a pint so should be a lot of fun and a well earned rest for the guys. I am sure I will have some good blog material up over the next two days, till then talk soon.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
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They will sleep anywhere when they are tired.<br />
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<img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5633795865658086722" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIe1S4RZTDRHdpkyBL8WXa5BvwEu9saMQ8KBo4AvPvaVsOhJ-5YA0IIEYAAT0sBxOedfflYWvHLm7lWm7BAJZZ4MHYi0pdmcj5ixN3p8LQrpzmd2eK4bWqTg_NlKmekxPfB4LfJw3F_yN8/s320/IMG_0209%255B1%255D.JPG" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 184px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 316px;" /> Some tired travellers waiting to check into the Hotel in London </div>scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18328937744558029120noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9006539171727524604.post-82667092679746596442011-07-23T22:06:00.000-07:002011-07-23T22:23:18.804-07:00Robs 3rd day pics<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;">The boys had a pretty good day today except for Isaac getting involved with another boat just after the start and the resulting turns got him a bit deep in the fleet. It was great to see the 3 NZL's arriving at the gate always at the front of the fleet. Our American hosts are starting to complain that with our guys always at the front it's getting a bit boring.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQn7u38C0g2NBhDxoCggn0aA7AOKvP7g_2PxA0B0RYfI-Cq8lo-yg_dMplxyvrkcf6mXJXYkZcGJVN-poKrTEP0nkXT1azPhyphenhyphenD-HhDTX-2o9srqZhfGMANXnyq0gbTte4n5L0MJl1G-oI/s1600/P1040044.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQn7u38C0g2NBhDxoCggn0aA7AOKvP7g_2PxA0B0RYfI-Cq8lo-yg_dMplxyvrkcf6mXJXYkZcGJVN-poKrTEP0nkXT1azPhyphenhyphenD-HhDTX-2o9srqZhfGMANXnyq0gbTte4n5L0MJl1G-oI/s320/P1040044.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> Scott at the office dreaming up something to put on the blog.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL4J74ZqKcTufTOLsanGFMcrnJx6nRDwFpMrAA-XJayTN6vVS_mF-uR-rJF3pk1c9XXiUaOsijQUVK8q657foLlQXHzihYNEpEnrYVxxxfdTGt4BPYiDhUrE0hbAOM47ZFRKLFXqceRb8/s1600/P1040046s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL4J74ZqKcTufTOLsanGFMcrnJx6nRDwFpMrAA-XJayTN6vVS_mF-uR-rJF3pk1c9XXiUaOsijQUVK8q657foLlQXHzihYNEpEnrYVxxxfdTGt4BPYiDhUrE0hbAOM47ZFRKLFXqceRb8/s320/P1040046s.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> Isaac leads into the gate Race 1 and picks the correct side to win comfortably.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMucdcp_ToQWuLRs-jwT6bOORLdJgXm5EE12o5IXHB9utjaI-XTIHtbREgG01lZPzTGbMO-eA35X_QUetN-JB6RQ77Fi5J3Cc4kjUWxo92b_A3BN32UigEOFFwu2uIJTwJe8Z51JCe5cc/s1600/P1040050s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMucdcp_ToQWuLRs-jwT6bOORLdJgXm5EE12o5IXHB9utjaI-XTIHtbREgG01lZPzTGbMO-eA35X_QUetN-JB6RQ77Fi5J3Cc4kjUWxo92b_A3BN32UigEOFFwu2uIJTwJe8Z51JCe5cc/s320/P1040050s.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> Len leads into the Gate in race 3 today.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvPWQekbW-Y8VmrM2kQiz_ODS4VsmNIElxVajb08WHX6JaP-nLnz8phJ9KRzCN_Sl3ZuvArHqei-ZfOAJ0lF0W4zGB-kWgOCARdStIVKsXs9ywl682ehPpUD9rXbqYPXBGhhy0MrjeLgQ/s1600/P1040055s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvPWQekbW-Y8VmrM2kQiz_ODS4VsmNIElxVajb08WHX6JaP-nLnz8phJ9KRzCN_Sl3ZuvArHqei-ZfOAJ0lF0W4zGB-kWgOCARdStIVKsXs9ywl682ehPpUD9rXbqYPXBGhhy0MrjeLgQ/s320/P1040055s.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Len coming into the gate in Race 4 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKAH3Xb2LIzV7kAD6ySwHy5zkaigbiBu6IFEcfvJltjYwdeHCQTfu3LJCnRA6dR5D3qpAeUHtxaTYKOZM4jpA4vf3hTwz6ytEugWdfiboZj17bfywxucmb3_XQARk8LNsikgGXmGGGObo/s1600/P1040056s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKAH3Xb2LIzV7kAD6ySwHy5zkaigbiBu6IFEcfvJltjYwdeHCQTfu3LJCnRA6dR5D3qpAeUHtxaTYKOZM4jpA4vf3hTwz6ytEugWdfiboZj17bfywxucmb3_XQARk8LNsikgGXmGGGObo/s320/P1040056s.jpg" width="320" /></a> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">...... and goes on to win by 55 secs</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqdirh75zVeTlTG8DvtYkpjkkMtwtc534mbHZsKYHnNpK4149V330SCIBy3haYw17NBiN3E2huS2kho6EVCuE8GuapmiG4iQUC-Fo1qC4afH5SVrVsCyzhac4VM5ZE6dQ7XOGenFD1tOM/s1600/P1040060s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqdirh75zVeTlTG8DvtYkpjkkMtwtc534mbHZsKYHnNpK4149V330SCIBy3haYw17NBiN3E2huS2kho6EVCuE8GuapmiG4iQUC-Fo1qC4afH5SVrVsCyzhac4VM5ZE6dQ7XOGenFD1tOM/s320/P1040060s.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;">The slightly out of control coach rib comes alongside to report the finishing positions</div>Team Scribehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04335858548781026742noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9006539171727524604.post-30548631687511553482011-07-23T19:43:00.000-07:002011-07-23T22:14:43.238-07:00Day 3 - Texas Houston<div align="justify">Well where do I start, what a day full of all sorts of dramas, so here goes...</div><br />
<div align="justify"></div>By the time 'yo all' (a phrase we are hearing so much) read this it is probably old news, Rob has become a techo and throwing updates on the facebook page from his i-phone as soon as the kids are finishing, pretty hard to compete with that, so make sure you check the facebook page Opti WorldsNZ 2011 nzlteam to get up to the minute reports..<br />
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<div align="justify">Another fantastic day of sailing, the sailing conditions have been absolutely fantastic infact to quote Chris "This is the best sailing conditions for a Nationals I have ever seen". So a pretty amazing opportunity for our guys. One of the awesome things about the venue is that the bay they are sailing in is all of 11ft deep. This shallowness keeps away all of the pleasure boats so you are not fighting with their chop all day.</div><br />
<div align="justify">Today was the start of what is called the medal round. the first two days are qualifying rounds. All our guys managed to qualify in gold fleet. </div><br />
<div align="justify">The conditions were supreme yet again, Race 1 was sailed in 10-15 knots Race 2 and 3 were 15- 20 knots and Race 4 dropped back to 10-15 knots. The race committee wanted to sail 4 races today. With the first warning signal not being until 1 pm we don't come off the water until about 6.30pm. We have found the Race Committee to be very efficient as soon as a flight finished they are pretty much marshaled straight back to the start line a bit of time to hydrate etc etc and straight into it, makes for great viewing.</div><br />
<div align="justify"></div>Today's Results:<br />
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<div align="justify">Leonard: 4th, 6th, 1st, 1st </div><br />
<div align="justify">Markus: 5th, 13th, 4th, 6th</div><br />
<div align="justify">Isaac: 1st, 40th, 6th, 3rd</div><br />
<div align="justify"></div>Overall (after 11 races and 1 drop) - Leonard 1st, Markus 3rd, Isaac 18th<br />
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Leonard is on fire now out in front with a pretty commanding lead around 20 points from memory, with two drops still in hand.<br />
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<div align="justify">Markus has had a good solid day and has moved into 3rd and tapping on seconds shoulder.</div><br />
Isaac is slowly clawing his way back, didn't need the 40th today though.<br />
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<div align="justify">Some of the Americans that were looking pretty good have had a mixed day so consistency is paying dividends.</div><br />
<div align="justify">You are thinking it all sounds pretty normal where is the drama in all that well this is where the fun begins. Chris and Will (American coach we are sharing a boat with) head back in to the dock after the days racing. The rib is a 5mtr rib powered by a jet rather than an outboard. Anyway coming into the Marina the boys are gunning it doing 35knots passing everyone, they enter the marina area and decide to button off, upon decelerating the boat decides to turn hard right, so Will hits reverse but to late!! they hit the breakwater wall doing about 20knots. Apart from a few scraps and bruises (egos included) the boys were okay, many of the boats going passed them were just shaking their heads. The boat sustained minimal damage and will live to sail another day. But wait there's more.</div><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5632773888455724738" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFTYoxSA-eWUoP5TEBPCCjblKjPpwstkVSVFUz2vTPjXvwIU2ribar_EY7y-SaJhCcTGNVj8roJqT0hJpfKDsFiVLwME7ruJUQSLPK7fkVgmNb7-deJGsjTInd-alk7IsA6eHOmoiBUCCX/s320/IMG_0185%255B1%255D.JPG" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 239px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /><br />
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<div align="justify">All the boys get to the shore, boats washed up and packed away. Isaac and Markus decide it would be a good idea to throw Leonard into the water to celebrate his success, a lady passing by said you should throw him into the pool, Robs reply was "nah salt water is good for him go ahead". What the lady should have said was you should throw him in the pool because the water is only 3 ft deep and full of barnacles. A visit to the site doctor for some running repairs and Leonard's feet are all taped up. </div><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5632775749160829906" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB7OR4VwvDh1vQjtp96TRnpkCJuXSo44cwtSUc06ri8D-DV9Vw6lB1CCMPR_MJlK1GU2xx7XeCJvdoUFDcHRzDjMn23JN05ueeXSzzCpQix0CY3k8o1nEaqKyE_ytEObc6B1rpXYuohHow/s320/IMG_0190%255B1%255D.JPG" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 239px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /><br />
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<div align="justify">All in all a good day with a few laughs, Rob, Kazuyo and myself spent the day on the spectator boat again, even had time to sit on the sun loungers for a while, another tough day at the office...</div><br />
Race Committee hoping to get three races in tomorrow so go the Kiwis.scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18328937744558029120noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9006539171727524604.post-10341534581975604052011-07-22T22:02:00.000-07:002011-07-22T22:02:03.713-07:00Day 2Well it was another hot day here in Texas. The daily skippers briefing has been put back to 11:30 and each morning they dish out the "bullets" from the day before in the form or hats. So it has changed from bananas to hats. Just as the skippers briefing finished, a good sized thunderstorm descended on the area and the racing went into a holding pattern for a while. Team NZ retired to our convenient air conditioned bungalow and waited for the flag to go up so we could head out and do battle.<br />
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Scott and I hitched a ride on a large Grand Banks power boat with the hope of getting some kind of view of the action on the water. We were mostly anchored up just below the gate so we had the binoculars trained on the start line in the distance and were sometimes just able to spot the NZL numbers coming off the pin in most races. The pin had a bias on it most of the day varying with severity as the fresh sea breeze oscillated back and forth through some 20degrees. Then as each fleet rotated around the course we were able to pick up the NZL numbers amongst the leaders each time they approached the gate.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnFA4dZ5QyghCSMy_jja-i-7qsS-ntngAg75FBzeHH61FAmijGkj2d1Ek9V_kyfbH-QfLyhTtsAB5Lw69XY_I1e35kvshpB6OHQupL_hf9L4n8Ug9jl8JFFMhBZW5DUx8YPIas4KLZSko/s1600/P1040034s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnFA4dZ5QyghCSMy_jja-i-7qsS-ntngAg75FBzeHH61FAmijGkj2d1Ek9V_kyfbH-QfLyhTtsAB5Lw69XY_I1e35kvshpB6OHQupL_hf9L4n8Ug9jl8JFFMhBZW5DUx8YPIas4KLZSko/s320/P1040034s.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Isaac approaches the gate in 3rd, hot on the heels of the leaders</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Today Markus and Leonard were in the same flight and were usually within spitting distance of one an other at the gate but I was too busy watching and forgot to take any pictures!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Anyway, awesome sailing conditions and great racing for the guys.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPrrtf0nqX90R-Cs750gKD8oNIbDcLJVmTTx7C9xMdJJbXksHfb-KSVcjG2r7nsdpGHLFm0J5e9TppagB2SaxepPfG1eNXw0do39OKM8clBZDZeY-UbKJrl4IhAy33zlZ7QMI8mAlUtT4/s1600/P1040030s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPrrtf0nqX90R-Cs750gKD8oNIbDcLJVmTTx7C9xMdJJbXksHfb-KSVcjG2r7nsdpGHLFm0J5e9TppagB2SaxepPfG1eNXw0do39OKM8clBZDZeY-UbKJrl4IhAy33zlZ7QMI8mAlUtT4/s320/P1040030s.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Leonard comes ashore after a pretty good day on the water.</div>Team Scribehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04335858548781026742noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9006539171727524604.post-22261171923103004562011-07-22T21:11:00.000-07:002011-07-22T21:11:52.466-07:00Texas Houston - Race Day 1<div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiml7hQv4LG7vsiYiM87TdfkoXfGeN1FwfxrQdXTDbBPQM9ceLJWLj0Joz5nYtWve7zrjJKHQE9_JULvB3qMEUqeveEG7qt6MD8PBabvE4p0yMI3I1cq98kF_8iFo336GoHdxVh_yYWtX0X/s1600/IMG_0174%255B1%255D.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5631907301403795298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiml7hQv4LG7vsiYiM87TdfkoXfGeN1FwfxrQdXTDbBPQM9ceLJWLj0Joz5nYtWve7zrjJKHQE9_JULvB3qMEUqeveEG7qt6MD8PBabvE4p0yMI3I1cq98kF_8iFo336GoHdxVh_yYWtX0X/s320/IMG_0174%255B1%255D.JPG" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 239px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">Another look at the Houston house</div><br />
<div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1hSedbmM8BNyMlQagD_kKnmzyBWM8rph8HweXeNpOurEi_5gRZG7u5V6KDzs20xkOnbo3NLR06Cx9af_W_gv5L1neWxivsZjOsieCL6gJ5f9Ljvx0ZVu0eucbixe8f9u_zIyDLu2XIStv/s1600/IMG_0171%255B1%255D.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5631907295687228178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1hSedbmM8BNyMlQagD_kKnmzyBWM8rph8HweXeNpOurEi_5gRZG7u5V6KDzs20xkOnbo3NLR06Cx9af_W_gv5L1neWxivsZjOsieCL6gJ5f9Ljvx0ZVu0eucbixe8f9u_zIyDLu2XIStv/s320/IMG_0171%255B1%255D.JPG" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 239px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">The hard schedule taking its toll on the sailors. Now resorting to wheelchairs through the airports!</div><br />
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<div align="justify">Well I think I started one of my earlier posts in Santo Dominigo saying wow it is HOT here, well I take that back, now that we are in Houston wow it is HOT here. Sitting at the Houston Yacht Club (HYC) should have brought my Hamilton Yacht Club (HYC) hat I would have fitted right in. Yesterday was a day of travel and we were all pleased to finally get here. All the travel was fine, the interesting bit was taking the rental vehicle our 7 seater Dodge Caravan from the Texas Airport to the Houston Yacht Club, Rob tackled it like a seasoned campaigner, the old I-phone with google earth was a real help also, it is about an hours drive from the airport to the yacht club. The kids were pretty zonked by the end of the day a combination of the travel and the heat. Markus is struggling with an ear infection at the moment, I think as a result of a few to many wipe outs on the Banana Boat. We managed to get him to a Doctor last night who has prescribed some antibiotics and ear drops. He woke up this morning feeling a heap better which is a relief. </div><br />
<div align="justify">We are staying at a house which borders on the perimiter of the yacht club which is just so handy. The Yacht Club is very upmarket, when we arrived last night all the parents were upstairs having dinner, Everyone was dressed up to the nines, we were a little underdressed in our shorts,shirts and jandals. It has been a struggle to get the kids outside to do their boats as all they want to do is vege out on the couch and stay out of the heat. Can't blame them really it is currently 37 degrees outside. I think that could be one of the big hurdles for them dealing with the heat everyone justs seems so lathargic, the parents included!!! We have been able to get Chris onto a coach boat with one of the local kids who is coaching two kids so that has worked out well. We have elected to stay onshore today but hope to get out on a support boat tomorrow. Kazuyo is trying to get us to relax and enjoy the day rather than trying to peer through binoculars at the specs on the horizon, she may win on this one today as I feel a nana nap coming on.</div><br />
<div align="justify">The morning was spent setting up the boats, it seemed to take forever in between getting out of the sun and taking on copious amounts of water. There was an opening ceremony with the overseas countries and all the states represented being recognised. The kids got out on the water at about noon and are currently completing their second race. No results coming ashore until the end of the day so will keep you updated as soon as we get them. There is a nice breeze blowing probably a good 15knots and a bit of a swell running, so may suit our guys, the only downside being the guys have pretty much been dropped on the racecourse with no time to get to understand the local conditions. Time will tell.<br />
<br />
Update:<br />
results here: <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/optinationals2011/results/results/nationals-day2-preliminaryresultsthroughrace7">https://sites.google.com/site/optinationals2011/results/results/nationals-day2-preliminaryresultsthroughrace7</a></div></div></div>scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18328937744558029120noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9006539171727524604.post-6311598247915722552011-07-21T15:20:00.000-07:002011-07-21T15:43:58.275-07:00Robs Houston first day pics<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz9ODtERCvMEV8h8E42lCw096PVHHl3ge0KVknJ0ATViuxPpcsFwcV3l5LLvlzCPiTNLVQ-hlQn3i3_gPiWlhhhbqT3kTlQkOixVQgu9mlfXUb-2rDILzzdfPScFj6YCHaIGl3JuGHpXo/s1600/P1030996s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz9ODtERCvMEV8h8E42lCw096PVHHl3ge0KVknJ0ATViuxPpcsFwcV3l5LLvlzCPiTNLVQ-hlQn3i3_gPiWlhhhbqT3kTlQkOixVQgu9mlfXUb-2rDILzzdfPScFj6YCHaIGl3JuGHpXo/s320/P1030996s.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> Sorry about the jumbled order of photos. Our Houston home. Apparently there was 3 feet of water here during the last Hurricane that landed nearby</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidpV5n5-X406NqEmGDSAl4ip3U_oPEntXQhXVvU3B_TMKFXiH27fCGuN15mWXXpflr_w1Ovtz_U0uL3dAJytP-Qye1ruoaDk3tkXbk-_5NsAkdPB2T9GN82nomfk8Mtgo03dBYn48QCxA/s1600/P1030989s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidpV5n5-X406NqEmGDSAl4ip3U_oPEntXQhXVvU3B_TMKFXiH27fCGuN15mWXXpflr_w1Ovtz_U0uL3dAJytP-Qye1ruoaDk3tkXbk-_5NsAkdPB2T9GN82nomfk8Mtgo03dBYn48QCxA/s320/P1030989s.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> The measurement and registration was well organised and pretty painless</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnIqy4OedBmw3MkFdXGukuzo3pZJrTbxkYL-c45Zr1giWLN3LgGeN0RIBY93YZ4ZqSAUIk5DoEDCOT9-Jn9PlN8oSd4RHG0JOZOWmhrhOrTlfmu9fBhWnXpEQN8o-ekeYinGgeioD0shk/s1600/P1030988s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnIqy4OedBmw3MkFdXGukuzo3pZJrTbxkYL-c45Zr1giWLN3LgGeN0RIBY93YZ4ZqSAUIk5DoEDCOT9-Jn9PlN8oSd4RHG0JOZOWmhrhOrTlfmu9fBhWnXpEQN8o-ekeYinGgeioD0shk/s320/P1030988s.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> A new 3D star was on display in front of the Marque</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEtknIqHz-EerAN7IHOfCUPopk3BD_iLwQRAJPWBRLyq0cpxyZeIfPTwsC20ku2ewajslsMXDFVw3a-0QMOR-hguDCvt-hpiZyx4MsfAvOkYIK2n23ZxaELo9yXv1-4SmyAu3GgESJ7QA/s1600/P1030987s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEtknIqHz-EerAN7IHOfCUPopk3BD_iLwQRAJPWBRLyq0cpxyZeIfPTwsC20ku2ewajslsMXDFVw3a-0QMOR-hguDCvt-hpiZyx4MsfAvOkYIK2n23ZxaELo9yXv1-4SmyAu3GgESJ7QA/s320/P1030987s.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> Steve, you need a bigger trailer</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSOhgEFeVnzKBgZGidlJb1fi60qPoNnEjx818_lD7JH6mgCgHC_WrROafHsFIqFQ5EdhZLItb05iif_AZ6RR4jjWh2XnBrwLTCSOeygDzK011OtNy8HvsU8jpYQf24K54MWhG-qPCCoKY/s1600/P1030983s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSOhgEFeVnzKBgZGidlJb1fi60qPoNnEjx818_lD7JH6mgCgHC_WrROafHsFIqFQ5EdhZLItb05iif_AZ6RR4jjWh2XnBrwLTCSOeygDzK011OtNy8HvsU8jpYQf24K54MWhG-qPCCoKY/s320/P1030983s.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> The view of the club from our deck.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyz1rj0blQCtPjTi2mIqGQ7hshM9wyaB-Eg0Znd-MQDpVHELqe_bhll1mBYYwPWfymXLXWBFo2rM8nSreJme0lfXuBf46u6LPBd_1n_dzAUDNbUQaDDxEliH153djyA0BdanK3m36Qof0/s1600/P1040029s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyz1rj0blQCtPjTi2mIqGQ7hshM9wyaB-Eg0Znd-MQDpVHELqe_bhll1mBYYwPWfymXLXWBFo2rM8nSreJme0lfXuBf46u6LPBd_1n_dzAUDNbUQaDDxEliH153djyA0BdanK3m36Qof0/s320/P1040029s.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0Th7hQtz-8N4Gew6ZOjf_DvvUXHJcu8jA8_1y9d25PkhGIiCX_EjI07BhwRyQsnIEoFTtfebZSM1DaUliOJYv5WkTgoYV9qy2R5oNTdf3-65bmWiguPO9V-DgluXfz9C21TkiJgq70TI/s1600/P1030992s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0Th7hQtz-8N4Gew6ZOjf_DvvUXHJcu8jA8_1y9d25PkhGIiCX_EjI07BhwRyQsnIEoFTtfebZSM1DaUliOJYv5WkTgoYV9qy2R5oNTdf3-65bmWiguPO9V-DgluXfz9C21TkiJgq70TI/s320/P1030992s.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> The trophy cabinet</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgESfOveRcXp27v0FHnZ1hZgHdYKndDGM258jSEDC9KuZwwk-n-eXoxIOdVZH8A64wnB9nvQczFAkNQAOcdQgtm-kfmxeuZwYYFfTVy4egKsbFlnSfmVbeROrCXN0tl4rxXLT0v4lSQU28/s1600/P1030990.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgESfOveRcXp27v0FHnZ1hZgHdYKndDGM258jSEDC9KuZwwk-n-eXoxIOdVZH8A64wnB9nvQczFAkNQAOcdQgtm-kfmxeuZwYYFfTVy4egKsbFlnSfmVbeROrCXN0tl4rxXLT0v4lSQU28/s320/P1030990.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> Lots of history in this club</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGPJ7Clky2MMMyL1L6fDHmBfyVKvNCIjyk2mY_68RHpHnUM1SVSAntCvWI_TbF65itHP3JzN0lFMfCbplnUmOvKjKys-6EBbWmvmUMlgkh4E5ourn1mlJc7C0Sa4eNv9yWpECOc0WoWQY/s1600/P1040004s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGPJ7Clky2MMMyL1L6fDHmBfyVKvNCIjyk2mY_68RHpHnUM1SVSAntCvWI_TbF65itHP3JzN0lFMfCbplnUmOvKjKys-6EBbWmvmUMlgkh4E5ourn1mlJc7C0Sa4eNv9yWpECOc0WoWQY/s320/P1040004s.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> The boys get ready for the opening parade and ceremony</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ10fiLqqPENPMmBUjKN3VYlnZGW1aeoW4WsVdf3lUH_hWX2qH9qRFOMfut8iqGBEtag4_pf8mAbRoxiIkEOMgxODe07sUNxHFRqrXw8DwQGWnrNwe-qk_3S4YfaaU635E0w7SohseGYY/s1600/P1040011s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ10fiLqqPENPMmBUjKN3VYlnZGW1aeoW4WsVdf3lUH_hWX2qH9qRFOMfut8iqGBEtag4_pf8mAbRoxiIkEOMgxODe07sUNxHFRqrXw8DwQGWnrNwe-qk_3S4YfaaU635E0w7SohseGYY/s320/P1040011s.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> while Sambo works on the boat......</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJtfK63T5SBoZOQLkw-wcsuZqy92UG_xEx8S04kJ_iSj4PKSW2NWIhMNRpxGwfSOdPi8Oc5nVpnBkznsTASg3PIvTCw0Qf9jM3XodXtK-JQuuhbyj1jOBb1oE9IUDC7q1e9sLTyAfB0qo/s1600/P1040014s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJtfK63T5SBoZOQLkw-wcsuZqy92UG_xEx8S04kJ_iSj4PKSW2NWIhMNRpxGwfSOdPi8Oc5nVpnBkznsTASg3PIvTCw0Qf9jM3XodXtK-JQuuhbyj1jOBb1oE9IUDC7q1e9sLTyAfB0qo/s320/P1040014s.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPjQ3D_WrQQ7kn09DE4y7KyUyDqSzCAJ1o91kveKRi7Kw0abZWq5Y1rfagLT6WYQF8tLyySX4NHwxzMZ8Hw5tBE1ARwNR93OWnEMIipp85uTRlg1WiGT1sV_Benea0M83plwDyL2MEra0/s1600/P1040015s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPjQ3D_WrQQ7kn09DE4y7KyUyDqSzCAJ1o91kveKRi7Kw0abZWq5Y1rfagLT6WYQF8tLyySX4NHwxzMZ8Hw5tBE1ARwNR93OWnEMIipp85uTRlg1WiGT1sV_Benea0M83plwDyL2MEra0/s320/P1040015s.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQclW0I_31m9wPkzptJbvPdt2R4A6cOFEl-XYCtNio1KBXX1jOqCsitxK4emzIaVuCfq6klhst-gh7SASyX4r54F3gYrvJG-YyjMsPrvknl29DiUvWvJW8pqRKPkVycVjbmJEBmhGXVHc/s1600/P1040021s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQclW0I_31m9wPkzptJbvPdt2R4A6cOFEl-XYCtNio1KBXX1jOqCsitxK4emzIaVuCfq6klhst-gh7SASyX4r54F3gYrvJG-YyjMsPrvknl29DiUvWvJW8pqRKPkVycVjbmJEBmhGXVHc/s320/P1040021s.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRBeMP3WRgFtio37GTImNMRVFkiOT5nv5Kh-ab3lKOXQTwJl46crU5foLw75Kk3oCjZ-Q5d3wzElkkehEKTXQXl-DPEdq73irmK-WDeMM65HKKA-yHw8yrZIEoXY-5U7jFbBQCp-A4db8/s1600/P1040024s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRBeMP3WRgFtio37GTImNMRVFkiOT5nv5Kh-ab3lKOXQTwJl46crU5foLw75Kk3oCjZ-Q5d3wzElkkehEKTXQXl-DPEdq73irmK-WDeMM65HKKA-yHw8yrZIEoXY-5U7jFbBQCp-A4db8/s320/P1040024s.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> The boys were surprised by the seriousness of the occasion when they play their National Anthem here</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2lcfzfC9KA1uP8yWH5S5gBhZOOeQNUixIs83-wTql4UNP_kgK0CuJhjEPrA-oQ8fnjNxhEicHpeDcQqDcKRYkYU6xkl4X-oLgXtdHbklZrEfXrgQw8jqBV1y0AXOevoxZIQ1_kVVVCus/s1600/P1040025s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2lcfzfC9KA1uP8yWH5S5gBhZOOeQNUixIs83-wTql4UNP_kgK0CuJhjEPrA-oQ8fnjNxhEicHpeDcQqDcKRYkYU6xkl4X-oLgXtdHbklZrEfXrgQw8jqBV1y0AXOevoxZIQ1_kVVVCus/s320/P1040025s.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Last minute tuning of the centerboard cases. Our $100 roll of special tape is coming in handy!</div>Team Scribehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04335858548781026742noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9006539171727524604.post-67810890055674313902011-07-19T10:11:00.000-07:002011-07-21T14:57:38.579-07:00Training Clinic - Day 3<div align="justify">I am sitting at the yacht club at the moment struggling to write this, not because I have nothing to say but because up until now we have been blogging about drinking cocktails by the pool in the sun. Well today we are under cover it is persisting down, lightning, thunder the full works. It hasn't stopped the kids from staying in the pool though, all the locals think they are crazy. The locals assure us it will pass and won't last for long, I hope they are right. The last couple of days at the yacht club have been quite quiet not to many people around so we pretty much have the run of the place. In saying that the yacht club opens at 8 am every day it closes early on Mon, Tue and Wed at 8pm, from Thursday on it can be open until 2am, imagine that...</div><br />
<br />
<br />
As a result of the weather there has been no sailing today so far, if this continues it will make it very interesting packing everything up. Well it is now later on 3pm and they storms have come and gone all day, so they have decided to call it quits and pack everything up, a real shame they didn't get out but may give the kids a bit of a chance rest as tomorrow we get up at 5.30am and travel from Santo Dominigo to Miami then Miami to Houston. We arrive in Texas Houston around 6pm tomorrow night, and by all accounts the weather is going to be just as hot.<br />
<br />
Will be off line for a day or so I think as we travel so next update will be sitting in Texas hopefully.<br />
<br />
Some photos from the last day in Dom Rep.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8wodYRzLAsvEUyyVkatnyrDg9bmNArJ7PJ040AAiPS4N9F6VtNn8oqxUWPKDJv_OfzaY8aW3lSkvbLEIC57SbiKagvzz6v-QtpSNuYxwtOHOT3PcQebamWJop0u5kwWMWeC_C8XY-CRM/s1600/P1030966s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8wodYRzLAsvEUyyVkatnyrDg9bmNArJ7PJ040AAiPS4N9F6VtNn8oqxUWPKDJv_OfzaY8aW3lSkvbLEIC57SbiKagvzz6v-QtpSNuYxwtOHOT3PcQebamWJop0u5kwWMWeC_C8XY-CRM/s320/P1030966s.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> Off to the club on the last banana</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgytYPtnk0RveHz6wfAmg0jzkaWz_vP2vcPF_83aB55gAvT8Sx_cinA347YeKbwUInOiUoKQEGKPnKogKqjjgE9xnxpoCegCFxCjYFLoGdzDVe2LyN_3ku0cTVqQo7ndzWMFapClZ9KA0A/s1600/P1030973s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgytYPtnk0RveHz6wfAmg0jzkaWz_vP2vcPF_83aB55gAvT8Sx_cinA347YeKbwUInOiUoKQEGKPnKogKqjjgE9xnxpoCegCFxCjYFLoGdzDVe2LyN_3ku0cTVqQo7ndzWMFapClZ9KA0A/s320/P1030973s.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Martin explains the finer points </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilOiYadUDxOhYyBZ4skvlpxyGngtTGY-KQIJQp_muHtbbYr86GV4dBwLSTlp1rCg7eUnZIiHzLAmpUT8Ssgt4goQCGvUxEPIwBop8bUyhBepo417SgqyKHS5vtj7J1BbeceWMN2pc9bO4/s1600/P1030974s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilOiYadUDxOhYyBZ4skvlpxyGngtTGY-KQIJQp_muHtbbYr86GV4dBwLSTlp1rCg7eUnZIiHzLAmpUT8Ssgt4goQCGvUxEPIwBop8bUyhBepo417SgqyKHS5vtj7J1BbeceWMN2pc9bO4/s320/P1030974s.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjjzNz99aWpeTGGyeORN_MNhOGjwLjlnweD9kYPX7B_58E7fEPDZNtAbL8ED0s4uphUSHQurfiw8T_fLA8g62f9qWAYJLrx2n2iB6bSXbrKA6m_bRGfly5CWoZ-NKSm5L1n6Xs1z7GL68/s1600/P1030962s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjjzNz99aWpeTGGyeORN_MNhOGjwLjlnweD9kYPX7B_58E7fEPDZNtAbL8ED0s4uphUSHQurfiw8T_fLA8g62f9qWAYJLrx2n2iB6bSXbrKA6m_bRGfly5CWoZ-NKSm5L1n6Xs1z7GL68/s320/P1030962s.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> clinic bonding</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU9PQh7HLdUm2GPGBwUFitqM5k3DRosPWhYSuF39Fmy1XQJaApvErp0FjJCTXut7n6XFJJalmfihGTvqv324Z_uKqbO_-AHORNxsIIZWaLg9Y7b_dcY9JmYXQ4rPd840rNU3G7qE1TLpo/s1600/P1030954s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU9PQh7HLdUm2GPGBwUFitqM5k3DRosPWhYSuF39Fmy1XQJaApvErp0FjJCTXut7n6XFJJalmfihGTvqv324Z_uKqbO_-AHORNxsIIZWaLg9Y7b_dcY9JmYXQ4rPd840rNU3G7qE1TLpo/s320/P1030954s.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Scott making the most of the facilities</div>scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18328937744558029120noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9006539171727524604.post-33269669083776974312011-07-18T17:57:00.000-07:002011-07-19T09:19:57.994-07:00Training Clinic - Day 2<div align="justify">A few words from the Boys.....</div><br /><div align="justify"></div><br /><div align="justify">Chris: Awesome weather over here, been as really cool last couple of days. Sailing conditions for the coaching clinic have been perfect, 15 knots each day with a wicked swell and 30+ degrees. Kids sailed alot better during the second half of the regatta and all did well to climb back into the top 10. I thought this was very promising as i know they can all sail a lot better still. </div>Weather conditions for our training clinic have been awesome and both kids and I are learning plenty.<br />One more day here in Paradise and then we are off to texas for the U.S nationals so looking foward to seeing them back in action.<br />Hi to all back at home :)<br /><br /><br /><br /><div align="justify">Max: I have been asked to write on the blog due to my new rank of "wannabe kiwi." So here we go!! The sailing in the clinic has been awesome so far, 12 knots breese and blue skys (does'nt get much better!). I have been learning loads of stuff about wave sailing which is something we don't get very often in GB unless at Pwhelli (I think I spelt it right) where the British Nationals are being held. I'm looking forward to seing the Kiwis there. Hi Dad, Grandma and Grandad back at home :). Off for a swim now!!!</div><br />Markus: Gidday my followers! Having an awesome trip so far, fortunately the wind has picked up over the last few days, so not so many draining hours on the water. The yacht club is truly the coolest club i've ever been to, maybe I like it so much because of the pool... The regatta went well for us all, and I think we've left our mark on Dominican Republic and hopefully the boys will sail well here next year. Anyway, its our last day here in paradise. Next stop the U.S.A! Yea buddy!<br /><br />Leonard: It has been a weird regatta being sick.<br /><br />Isaac: With this being my first overseas trip I am very happy with my result at the regatta. The pool has been the best part of the trip so far, has been cool meeting heaps of sailors from different countries. I am looking forward to Houston and hopefully all of us do well there.<br />ps. and yes Mum I am making notes in my book.<br /><br /><br /><div align="justify">Well one day left at the Dominican Republic, It has been another hot day with some good breeze for the training clinic. We have been here a week now and kind of feel a bit more like locals, we have got the Motel and Yacht Club sussed you know where to be at what time who to speak to get everything. Having a rental car has been the thing to do, infact having a 'Rob' to drive the rental car is the way to go, they say just drive like a maniac and everyone will think you are a local (just joking Rob you don't look like a local!!) Seriously it gives you the independence to come and go as you please as opposed to be limited to the one or two bus trips per day to the yacht club. What has been great to see is the kids socialising, no matter what part of the world they come from they all end up in the pool together laughing and chatting, from what I hear everyone has now got a heap more friends added to their Facebooks. As time passes I am sure many of their paths will continue to cross.</div><br />Anwyay lights out I am told....scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18328937744558029120noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9006539171727524604.post-37515555585168636772011-07-18T13:33:00.000-07:002011-07-18T13:33:04.152-07:00Some gems from the last few days<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGG5Ex-W-wOWNMkmT4tXl6Nb_KlzX23ZtJ17TlefVGIUGE1NsFwa3vI82FxTa3zjWUmqQdApj9k1JOBESV8qEOKuK9sM5JTCAqrlh9QbX5pDd79qLhaGC_zJiGAWoJCzDKQ-ggqORWvCY/s1600/IMG_0452s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGG5Ex-W-wOWNMkmT4tXl6Nb_KlzX23ZtJ17TlefVGIUGE1NsFwa3vI82FxTa3zjWUmqQdApj9k1JOBESV8qEOKuK9sM5JTCAqrlh9QbX5pDd79qLhaGC_zJiGAWoJCzDKQ-ggqORWvCY/s320/IMG_0452s.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> Leonard gets the all clear from the Nurse. Temperature normal</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFp_bYdJZcrNXBk4nJWh2gPi8epIxVWzYpRaivhGK1rv3Uh_dC2nOPgO-QTqjXp2ejDOPARnsgS6wOfNhT_aI8xsqAB9VenYH2IZRk-ToUNvzIgw3s8pgFUvRnQeiaTdpzibJyOnsPst0/s1600/IMG_0462s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFp_bYdJZcrNXBk4nJWh2gPi8epIxVWzYpRaivhGK1rv3Uh_dC2nOPgO-QTqjXp2ejDOPARnsgS6wOfNhT_aI8xsqAB9VenYH2IZRk-ToUNvzIgw3s8pgFUvRnQeiaTdpzibJyOnsPst0/s320/IMG_0462s.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> Celebrates with a coconut drink</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhUV24fXCwSp7g4HA1BcHB97MtxfhslQM-PxCBUQbxT6T46rnfmddMljL3PWg069V87O095WBLp967cn2JcEYjiRm3dW3utX_dVJmdbWIsvRxnFFH9_45AWA9bb_GsVt4oUaEhi9bEpe8/s1600/IMG_0460s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhUV24fXCwSp7g4HA1BcHB97MtxfhslQM-PxCBUQbxT6T46rnfmddMljL3PWg069V87O095WBLp967cn2JcEYjiRm3dW3utX_dVJmdbWIsvRxnFFH9_45AWA9bb_GsVt4oUaEhi9bEpe8/s320/IMG_0460s.jpg" width="288" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> Chris puts on a brave face even though he hasn't been feeling well for a couple of days now</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-gOxXHNYGhTN08iehSr_aXD8kxM4ep5NMNisN_3t6AWUr9XGp9JhIFOojNFCWjS47Eu6f4xIf0qOxgA2rbcwOPNHum43VBlQoIXtJJONlPQq0mTKGd3nsldHS-D7qO41ckthH-xbZbZE/s1600/IMG_0456s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-gOxXHNYGhTN08iehSr_aXD8kxM4ep5NMNisN_3t6AWUr9XGp9JhIFOojNFCWjS47Eu6f4xIf0qOxgA2rbcwOPNHum43VBlQoIXtJJONlPQq0mTKGd3nsldHS-D7qO41ckthH-xbZbZE/s320/IMG_0456s.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> How do you keep kids out of a pool and focused on sailing in an environment like this?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC-wUysh7TVZz-rL0FaxJSMHt0UAuxSE4bKz78hX0C4W7BdhfEJWvYkK8_r5H4Hlo6WQXp9NyJ6iayTUizrD451Fnv0bP2Iz6VFRNW2tnZxb5sVe9DxVwgBmorWjKjPB8PXrgxWi-4ybI/s1600/IMG_0470s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC-wUysh7TVZz-rL0FaxJSMHt0UAuxSE4bKz78hX0C4W7BdhfEJWvYkK8_r5H4Hlo6WQXp9NyJ6iayTUizrD451Fnv0bP2Iz6VFRNW2tnZxb5sVe9DxVwgBmorWjKjPB8PXrgxWi-4ybI/s320/IMG_0470s.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> The boys take along Sally and Max, our new friends from the UK on their 1st Banana boat ride for getting bullets in the racing.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2Xw0AyR5aA1CfCLmW5OCQWczCgzvoGjcrAeLpl9Hn7L_5hdcd52C4qjhyewXFnXXSRCFBJ6Dp1zl-LQd_2gavxXjF8H7w2J81R6rJxDD1mjqD00hk1mYqrItydgXAm852B-c3hM0uHNA/s1600/IMG_0474s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2Xw0AyR5aA1CfCLmW5OCQWczCgzvoGjcrAeLpl9Hn7L_5hdcd52C4qjhyewXFnXXSRCFBJ6Dp1zl-LQd_2gavxXjF8H7w2J81R6rJxDD1mjqD00hk1mYqrItydgXAm852B-c3hM0uHNA/s320/IMG_0474s.jpg" width="288" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> The well earned new mode of transport to the Yacht club!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgL-7JAUrHZvjt8YyH2QI2IJlujwDrBWnyOc_mMpNP31p6kNeLbGfID8DZbIhqLig8HWm31hvS8xsT_gzCG5w5Nm6B8IqMyKPQGm28lTipgItJRCAJaVWDUseuSVGPYP3FhW7gSlXKqH0/s1600/P1030951s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgL-7JAUrHZvjt8YyH2QI2IJlujwDrBWnyOc_mMpNP31p6kNeLbGfID8DZbIhqLig8HWm31hvS8xsT_gzCG5w5Nm6B8IqMyKPQGm28lTipgItJRCAJaVWDUseuSVGPYP3FhW7gSlXKqH0/s320/P1030951s.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> Coaches meeting at clinic lunch break</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNGGub0KQby5a3azf7LSQoq3IeRn8AXImDTrvZHB22sA-r37B-ZlZLb-OKpBxjW-KUgcpbDk3KvRqkEZTcsZDrQcYyIwHViIQvFFs54XCpUvaEZOGEDL9KyJhaWEB-GADwsbOyV5RKneg/s1600/P1030947s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNGGub0KQby5a3azf7LSQoq3IeRn8AXImDTrvZHB22sA-r37B-ZlZLb-OKpBxjW-KUgcpbDk3KvRqkEZTcsZDrQcYyIwHViIQvFFs54XCpUvaEZOGEDL9KyJhaWEB-GADwsbOyV5RKneg/s320/P1030947s.jpg" width="288" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> Sailors meeting at clinic lunch break</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5GcskxO4Pcd-ZrKmiaPO_KTbQUM_vX8ndHQc5tcpP43vDuWbLU5HAYlOKFnoyeLuCtnytpFaKegDQlUn1UkirgIF9Wmlm5mgCDhLSFzV6exzVHMr6fBUm6_kXSSCDJZxZyNjUDuDh8lM/s1600/P1030945s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5GcskxO4Pcd-ZrKmiaPO_KTbQUM_vX8ndHQc5tcpP43vDuWbLU5HAYlOKFnoyeLuCtnytpFaKegDQlUn1UkirgIF9Wmlm5mgCDhLSFzV6exzVHMr6fBUm6_kXSSCDJZxZyNjUDuDh8lM/s320/P1030945s.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> Santo Domingo - a city of contrasts</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqaiafTAVrsJttETGubooTBpHohoqBH2_mhWs_M37gsawTSetSa928V8MetGJ93DP7-nmZw_agw_xQ0DYDP9QKsP4kscKhrIh5o8aQQdFYHvTPdzG1RtcQJNNa21glbYntiZtjtqL5zzM/s1600/P1030926s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqaiafTAVrsJttETGubooTBpHohoqBH2_mhWs_M37gsawTSetSa928V8MetGJ93DP7-nmZw_agw_xQ0DYDP9QKsP4kscKhrIh5o8aQQdFYHvTPdzG1RtcQJNNa21glbYntiZtjtqL5zzM/s320/P1030926s.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQf13-QIYR65Y08o1bJzY6HeF64dh19xCiB_677C6V_0IXIXQ1nuZIZICuvsnui7Y-K-MQFeY1acTbxDtxdZNDj9H-cwEaEmxLiFLLcXlCKk48NaI1A3adOwTqxHJEGxD0MD8i5x4FWK4/s1600/P1030943s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQf13-QIYR65Y08o1bJzY6HeF64dh19xCiB_677C6V_0IXIXQ1nuZIZICuvsnui7Y-K-MQFeY1acTbxDtxdZNDj9H-cwEaEmxLiFLLcXlCKk48NaI1A3adOwTqxHJEGxD0MD8i5x4FWK4/s320/P1030943s.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> Don't know what he was trying to sell us but you could probably do all your shopping through the car window </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqjIK8OJ9ZcnbB9xo_r1bWmr1R6hVlpqzBk1FQ_1PJfpAn6ZGwqbYeW3JgFdFFCSMvLd86ZHFu0WBNK9NAr5UwTjLyaET7JdKEguOtVkHmW2q6uPK-VA4nTb7ihhwk7lBBNBrDir5Tu_4/s1600/P1030933s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqjIK8OJ9ZcnbB9xo_r1bWmr1R6hVlpqzBk1FQ_1PJfpAn6ZGwqbYeW3JgFdFFCSMvLd86ZHFu0WBNK9NAr5UwTjLyaET7JdKEguOtVkHmW2q6uPK-VA4nTb7ihhwk7lBBNBrDir5Tu_4/s320/P1030933s.jpg" width="288" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> Scott studies up on the local history</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz3vDZNSY-7_HASNHWKNWtq6PLJcDm4_xI7uRvRkAVqC0LNKSUP4sxko2qlER3YBOhsrqBIoXbeS-acJZCj7Vp-kmZ80enFzo4AjWI2WSOab-LfE3ejVeUAh7qDfIHHWjJwXUM1eVLWtw/s1600/P1030934s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz3vDZNSY-7_HASNHWKNWtq6PLJcDm4_xI7uRvRkAVqC0LNKSUP4sxko2qlER3YBOhsrqBIoXbeS-acJZCj7Vp-kmZ80enFzo4AjWI2WSOab-LfE3ejVeUAh7qDfIHHWjJwXUM1eVLWtw/s320/P1030934s.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> This place had a sign saying something like the "Independence Park". Go through the old gate to the old town main street below.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_EW5Wi0UITkaRHejrmxTYLja66isGO7rYuf3N3haXfEMsmyb7btWdR68qhTOKVGgQ0ZQfGhOT3n1_793daa_yFd1W7ghdMFIQsrWqHYDP8-YTT2O0zfSM34duR8HzUDOX4D4awjXexC4/s1600/P1030942s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_EW5Wi0UITkaRHejrmxTYLja66isGO7rYuf3N3haXfEMsmyb7btWdR68qhTOKVGgQ0ZQfGhOT3n1_793daa_yFd1W7ghdMFIQsrWqHYDP8-YTT2O0zfSM34duR8HzUDOX4D4awjXexC4/s320/P1030942s.jpg" width="288" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Team Scribehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04335858548781026742noreply@blogger.com0