Kaimusailing

I continued clear out under the boat and started to move stuff from the old worktables I had made over a year ago and then realized I only had to move the tables a little bit and they could stay under the boat but out of the way of any hoisting straps.
.
The tables were moved and the boatyard owner and manager happened to be nearby, so I showed him the situation and talked about when we could do the mast and raise the boat onto higher blocking.
.
So, we are ready to go ahead to raise the mast and the boat whenever they can fit us in to the boatyard's busy schedule. There is always work I can do while waiting for things like this.
.
Just as we are delayed, so the America's Cup Louis Vuitton series is delayed. High winds, which never ever happen this time of year in Bermuda. The postings by myislandhomeBDA on youtube have stopped for now. The Bermuda web cam has not shown any foiling catamaran activity for now. It is all scheduled to start on Sunday, and now I realize that it is a very active sports weekend. The Giro d'Italia bike race is scheduled to finally end this weekend, the Grand Prix of Monaco is happening on this weekend, the Louis Vuitton America's Cup Challenger Series is starting this weekend, plus the Indianapolis 500 race. Maybe it's better to wait and watch some of these sporting events instead of raising, uh, the mast.
.
I had made a new variation on my Tom Yum soup back when I was suffering from the flu. It didn't make me any sicker, and I made it again, which confirmed that it wasn't lethal. The key ingredient is "instant tom yum paste", which is usually available in an Asian grocery. When I looked online, I found someone offering their home brew Tom Yum Paste on Etsy, the eBay for arts and crafts. I have been using a quart jar of this paste for over a year without refrigeration with no ill effects. I guess it is something like ketchup, it simply won't spoil.
.
My soup is a merging of Thai Tom Yum and Chinese Hot and Sour, and this new version comes out very rich and hard to believe how simple it is to make. Here's the soup making sequence, first throw 1-2 tablespoons of Instant Tom Yum Paste into a medium sauce pan, then add two chicken bouillon cubes, then drain the water from a large can of whole baby clams and a large can of straw mushrooms into the pan. Add enough water to make about 2-3 cups in the pot, shred two or three sheets of Nori seaweed sushi wrappers into the pot using scissors, and bring the mixture to a boil. Simmer. Gather 2 eggs, balsamic vinegar, and sesame oil for the next step. After the mixture has simmered for a few minutes, quickly break the two eggs into it, then stir vigorously with a fork. It will take a minute or two to keep the eggs from glopping together. They should thicken the stock without clumping. Add a good amount of balsamic vinegar, about one or two tablespoons, then add the contents of the cans of mushrooms and clams. Mix thoroughly and make sure there are no large mushroom pieces or large egg clumps in the soup. Add a teaspoon or so of sesame oil and mix again. Turn off the heat. Let the soup steep for a while. The result should be a thick spicy stew with lots of nutrition.
.
The sporting weekend continued with me failing to get a reliable video stream of either the Formula 1 qualifying, or the Louis Vuitton challenger series. After giving up on the internet, I made it to the local gas station restaurant which was empty except for the cook and one server. They had NBC Sports Net on their satellite feed, so I got to see the last race of the day in Bermuda. It was the English boat, Ben Ainslie Racing, against the Japanese boat, Team Softbank Japan. Now, who would be favored in a sailing race, Brittania who rules the waves, or Japan? I was surprised to see the start sequence and the Japan boat skippered by Dean Barker, who was fired from the same job over at New Zealand after losing the cup last time, come sailing with a vengeance at the English boat. The maneuver is called a hook and the overtaking boat sails into the lee of the victim, then begins to luff up. The victim can tack away, away from the start line, which is disastrous, or they can try to luff up with the attacker, which usually results in coming head to wind with less speed than the attacker and thus sitting in irons while the attacker bears off with a huge advantage.
.
Of course all these skippers are highly skilled and know all the start scenarios, so they also know how to counter an attack and maybe reverse the situation and get the advantage. The victim of a hook has to react quickly without breaking any of the right of way rules or incur a penalty by collision. The key is to keep ahead of the attacking boat, keep boatspeed and try to force the attacker over the line. Poor Ben Ainslie was caught with his boat speed down, and he tried to bear off a bit to pick up some speed. Dean Barker luffed him and there was a collision. This resulted in a penalty. Most of the comments about the incident were about how someone could get killed in a situation like that, Barker was making 35 knots during the attack.
.
The rest of the race had Barker leading by about 10 seconds until Ainslie backed off, probably due to the realization that his boat was damaged and breaking it further would mean the end of his chances for the cup. The photo (from the 35th America's Cup site) shows the damage and the news is that perhaps it is the end for Ainslie's boat if they can't fix it overnight. I know a good boatyard...