Tag Archives | Nordhavn 52

Studying the Costa Concordia Grounding

I maintain a work-related blog mostly focused
high-scale services, data center design and operations, server hardware design and
optimization, high-scale storage software and hardware systems, flash memory, service
design principles, power efficiency …

More snow … and freezing rain

Sunday's snow mostly was
gone by Monday, but we got another load later in the week. The weather system was difficult
to forecast. Although the snowfall was less than the re…

Snow

Snow is fairly rare in the Puget Sound, so a layer of the white stuff always is a
treat. We'd spent the weekend in LaConner, where 2-3 inches of snow had fallen overnight,
and left aro…

Winter lights

One upside to winter's shorter days is the nighttime lights. Whether from a passing
ship, a moored boat, or a nearby house, we enjoy being snug inside with a view to
lights twinkling i…

Weather window

A storm warning was in effect, with
winds expected to reach 40-50 knots in the afternoon. More systems were on the way.
The only obvious weather break coming up in the next few …

The Wild Pacific Coast

A southwesterly gale was well underway as
we approached Ucluelet. 6-8′ waves were rolling through and crashing into the shore
on either side of us. The buoy in Carolina Channel, to our west, was disappearing
completely behind the waves. The calm…

Christmas Cruise 2011: After the storm

On Christmas Day, the barometer fell nearly 20mb in 24 hours and Environment Canada
was predicting big weather: Storm warning in effect for West Coast Vancouver
Island South. Wind west 25 t…

Christmas Cruise 2011: Julia Passage and Snug Basin

The first time we encountered surface ice on saltwater was back in 2002, on a winter
trip to Desolation
Sound and Princess
Louisa Inlet. We had to break
ice to reach Chatterbox Falls. We&#0…

Christmas Cruise 2011: Jarvis Lagoon and Pipestem Inlet

Winter boating has its challenges, but one of the many rewards are the waterfalls.
Flows that might be non-existent or just a trickle in summer gush and roar in winter.
Teakearn Arm in Deso…

Christmas Cruise 2011: Seattle to Effingham Bay, Barkley Sound

We first planned a Christmas cruise to Barkley Sound in the fall of 2003. That November,
however, we attended a presentation by Cliff
Mass on

the difficulties …