Toluu

Waterlog

All things in the marine layer.

Tom Perkins' megayacht 'Maltese Falcon' sailing to SF next springNovember 29 2007

Tom Perkins's Maltese Falcon
Originally uploaded by Ciccio Pizzettaro

Consider it part of Tom Perkins' global victory lap: The tech mogul's 289-foot square-rigged "Maltese Falcon" is scheduled to sail under the Golden Gate bridge sometime in late April or early May of 2008, a reliable source tells Waterlog. By "under," I mean just barely: The tip of the Falcon's masts will clear the bridge by a scant 10 yards.

Here's the real scoop though: The trip isn't just for Perkins to parade the world's second biggest sailboat in front of his living room window in Belvedere: According to the source, the Falcon will also be here on business, allegedly to be outfitted with a new, top-secret luxury appendage. More on that later...

Cosco Busan v. the Bay Bridge: Caught on TapeNovember 15 2007

While the NTSB begins a year-long investigation into the Cosco Busan's collision with the Bay Bridge and resulting oil spill, the public is already sitting on a key piece of evidence that suggests this was a colossal screwup of the ship's crew. The Busan's publicly accessible AIS transponders (a requirement since 2002 for all oceangoing vessels) show that the ship started its northern turn toward the bridge far too late -- in fact it appears it was navigating a southwest course parallel to the bridge shortly before the crew got correct bearings, then made a sharp right turn to try and clear the tower. (In the image at right, the red arrow in the center is the Busan, on its collision course during the turn.) Visibility was reduced to as little as a quarter mile by fog at the time, according to some reports, but given all the navigational equipment on board these ships, and the supposed experience and skill of the bar pilot, Capt. John Cota, bad visibility won't hold up as a rationale for being the first vessel in 74 years to hit the Bay Bridge. Even if, as the Chronicle reported today, the ship may have been having problems with radar tracking.

Tha

Fiji underwater hotel still a definite ... maybe!July 17 2007

Reporter Alex Pulaski at the Oregonian has a detailed update on Bruce Jones' quixotic fantasy to  to build "Poseidon" -- a 24-room underwater hotel on a small island in Fiji. Jones says he's leased 25,000 sq. ft of space for manufacturing facilities in Portland, which has convenient port facilities and a logical home base from which finished modules would be shipped to Fiji.  But no contracts have been signed, and one potential contractor that runs a ship-repair yard says he hasn't heard from Jones in months. No word, of course, on who exactly who -- if anyone -- is bootstrapping the venture.

More here.

AmCup: BMW Oracle sailing into a deep holeMay 18 2007

Coming into the America's Cup semifinals, no team of the 11 challengers looked more dominant than Larry Ellison's BMW Oracle squad, which cruised through the round robins, blowing away lesser opponents and handily beating top contenders Emirates New Zealand and Luna Rossa. But four races into the semis, with BMWO squaring off against Luna Rossa (while ENZ is battling Spain's Desafio Espanol), Ellison's quest to take the Cup back has suddenly hit the skids. Today, USA98 lost again, and now trails 3-1 in a best-of-nine series with the Italians.

Most worrisome for Ellison (who's joined the afterguard for all the races, with skipper Chris Dickson at the helm) is that BMWO has lost most of the starts to Luna Rossa, and has missed the calls on critical wind shifts -- the kind of tactical stuff you expect the best-funded crew and yacht in the competition to nail. Most telling, in fact, is that despite winning the 3rd race in a dramatic comeback, BMWO has trailed at every turning mark through four races. Luna Rossa has -- so far -- outclassed and outsailed the Americans, and Dickson will have to stage an even bigger comeback to get to the finals and face Emirates New Zealand.

Many more details at the

Pic of the week: Ellison gets a helping handApril 20 2007

Yes, that's Larry getting a turn at the helm in the race earlier Friday during the opening round of the Louis Vuitton Cup in Valencia, Spain. Now, why BMW Oracle skipper Chris Dickson also has a hand on the wheel I don't exactlty know - perhaps showing the CEO a steering trick?-- but it clearly didn't hurt: The BMW Oracle team handily beat Germany's United Internet in the first race, and China's (admittedly junior-league) AC squad in the second and BMW Oracle leads the field going into round two tomorrow.