Last Sunday for the Offshore Spring Series #4 at FBYC I sailed aboard Wavelength and brought along Lauren and Patrick for the ride.  We mounted the GoPro camera to the spreaders and here’s a couple of photos from that.  I’ll put together a video in a few weeks.

2011 Offshore Spring Series #4 Spreadercam 1
2011 Offshore Spring Series #4 Spreadercam 2

After a half day of work and an afternoon drive to Wrightsville Beach North Carolina I’m at Carolina Yacht Club for the Laser Atlantic Coast Championship this weekend.  It looks like we’re going to have some beautiful weather with warm conditions and mostly sun.  That also means the wind could be a little light at times.

Sunset on the sound at Wrightsville Beach NC

This evening I hung out with the SSA crowd who have a house a couple blocks down from the club.  We had a lasagna dinner and watched the sunset.  Approximately 16 sailors from District 11 have made the trip down.  We’ve all got D11 pinnies so we should be easy to spot.

Watching the Sunset on the sound at Wrightsville Beach NC

Nikon D7000 with Sennheiser MKE-400 and Grip

This week I upgraded to a new Digital SLR camera.  The Nikon D7000 finally does decent video with stereo sound at the right price.  Last summer I bought the Nikon D3000 when my then 6-year-old D70 needed replacing.  I knew that would only be a temporary camera until Nikon came out with the right camera for me.  In addition to the camera I’ve also gotten the vertical grip and a Sennheiser shotgun microphone.  I’m looking forward to both the better quality photos and the better videos this camera will make. The point-and-shoot camera really wasn’t cutting it for a lot of the videos I wanted to make.  I’m going sailing this weekend and will have a great opportunity to try the camera out.

I’ve finally gotten my photos from Key West Race week posted.  Many of them come from screen captures from the video cameras we were running.  Hopefully in another week I’ll have the video completed.  Some photos of the boat by the professional photographers are here and here.

Jon aboard Lucky Dog during Key West Race Week 2011

2010 has come and gone and I thought I’d post some of my favorite photos from the last year:

2010 James River High Water

January 27, 2010 High Water on the James River at Pony Pasture.

Sun setting during the Moonlight Regatta

June 26, 2010  Sun setting during the Fishing Bay Yacht Club long distance moonlight race.

July 4th sparklers

July 4, 2010 Lighting sparklers on Stove Point to celebrate the 4th.

B/W Mr. Roberts Bow

July 18, 2010 Caroline riding the bow of Mr. Roberts back to Jackson Creek after a day of race committee during the 2010 USODA Layline Nationals.

Opti Nationals Starting Line

July 20, 2010 Starting line during the 2010 USODA Layline Nationals.

Shot of Mr. Roberts at the start of a race on Wednesday

July 21, 2010 Photo of Mr. Roberts and the starting line during a sequence in the 2010 USODA Layline Nationals.

Optimist Sails at Start during the 2010 USODA Layline Nationals

July 21, 2010 Optimist sails close together during one of the starts at the 2010 USODA Layline Nationals.

ECU 2010 Home Opener Panoramic

September 5, 2010 East Carolina University Football home opener against Tulsa. First game with the new stands in the end zone and the new score board.

Cape May Harbor Sunset

September 24, 2010 Sunset from the Corinthian Yacht Club of Cape May in Cape May New Jersey the night before the first day of the Laser District 11 Championship.

Mr. Roberts and Lasers on Fishing Bay

Saturday, October 16, 2010 Day 1 at the Chesapeake Bay Laser Masters Championship taken from Fishing Bay Yacht Club as the Lasers head back out to the course after a short break while the course was reset.

Washington Monument/Arlington Cemetary HDR

November 13, 2010 Arlington National Cemetery as the sun sets on the Washington Monument in the background.

Canon SD1400IS

My second of two Canon SD870IS cameras bit the dust this weekend.  It had survived boating, tailgating, snow, rain, beaches, trips to 10 different states, spilled beer and numerous drops, but it was no match for Christmas dinner.  At some point Christmas Eve the lens was scraped ruining the photo quality.

It has been replaced by the camera pictured above: a Canon SD1400IS.  This is my 6th camera in a little over 6 years. It’s not a high-end camera, but will do what I want and has HD video.  For the price I won’t feel too bad if it suffers similar fate after a year and a half.

Thanks for the memories 870IS #2. RIP.

My sister was in Washington DC this weekend so it was the perfect opportunity for the family to meet up and see the fall colors in our nation’s capital.  We finished with a trip through Arlington Cemetery.

The best photo was an HRD of the head stones with the sun shining on the Washington Monument casting it in a golden glow.

Washington Monument/Arlington Cemetary HDR

I want to thank all of the sailors who came out for the 2010 Chesapeake Bay Laser Masters Championship at Fishing Bay Yacht Club last weekend.  We had a record turnout since 2000 and it was by far the best and most fun FBYC Laser Masters regattas that I’ve been a part of.  I also wanted to thank the race committee, our fleet members and all of the other volunteers at FBYC who helped make this regatta what it is.  All of the competitors enjoyed it and got some great sailing, and that would not have been possible without the help of everyone involved. Congrats to John Bertrand on winning his second straight Chesapeake Bay Laser Masters Championship.

2010 Chesapeake Bay Laser Masters Group Shot

The complete write-up of the regatta and results can be read here. With 25+ knot winds on Saturday, the boat I was on was just a little too wet to get the camera out.  I was able to get a few good shots from shore and a bunch of great photos on Sunday.

Mr. Roberts and Lasers on Fishing Bay

I hope to see everyone back at FBYC for 2 Laser Regattas next year: The District 11 Championship and US Sailing Singlehanded Championship Area C Elimination in late May or early June, and the 2011 Chesapeake Bay Laser Masters Championship in October.

Today was the first day of the Chesapeake Bay Laser Masters Championship at Fishing Bay Yacht Club and what a wild windy day it was.  Unfortunately it was so windy and so wild that I was unable to get my camera out.  With all the spray and having to get in the water to help out tired sailors, I just wasn’t able to get too many shots of the racing.

Read about the day here and check out the first day results.  Tomorrow’s forecast calls for less wind and will hopefully enable more photos to be taken.

Start of race one
Start of race 1.