New small sailing boat....time to go sailing but first ...

Well it has been a while since I last blogged, I guess life's stuff takes over sometimes and things get 'swept under the carpet'.

I decided that after a sabbatical of 20+ years from sailing that I would get back into sailing again. Sailing is a fantastic way to relax, get back to nature (although, I like getting into nature, I'm not much of a bush walker) and a nice, inexpensive and wonderful way to visit other places of Interest.

So.....I've bought myself a nice little trailer sailer yacht although, looking at it in the driveway it looks larger than it would if on water :-)
I decided on a Trailer sailer (TS) because I can hitch to my car, trailer it to a nice piece of water to sail all in the space of a weekend. On a larger yacht I would need to plan a week to get to a sailing spot, weekend there and then a week to return all in all, 2.5weeks to spend a weekend sailing. Although, the TS is smaller and more compact for living in it does allow me to sail fantastic areas in a weekend. 

The TS I decided on is an Investigator 563 model (5.63mtr long) and is very seaworthy. Actually, that's the reason I purchased it because living here in Tasmania and on the Coast (Penguin) of Bass Strait the weather picks up quite strong so a seaworthy boat is a must. The I563 being a trailerable small yacht meant seaworthiness was of greater priority because TS's are not normally known for their righting ability. Investigator 563's are a fantastic TS because they have a righting ability that mimic a much larger sailing boat. (The ability to stay upright rather than excessive heeling or worse capsizing)

Currently, I'm refurbishing the I563 with all new electronics and some electrical 'bling', adding a nice marine oven, sink and LED lighting, repainting the interior and deck, sewing new cushion covers (yes, men can sew), replacing some worn out fittings and generally making her ship shape and comfortable.

My Investigator 563

The compact but very comfortable interior for 4 people

Well, that's it for now..
Thought I had better add a new post
Cheers, Pete 

A fantastic ride to Railton, the Bridle Track rd andf Sheffield

Saturday 6th October 2012  

Decided to take a ride to Railton, then onto the Bridle Track Road and ending at Sheffield.

A nice leisurely ride along the Penguin Coastal road between Penguin and Ulverstone. Then onto Forth and Spreyton. Continued through Spreyton to Railton.

Stopped at a fantastic coffee Shop called " Limestone Cafe - Bakery"  16 Foster Street, Railton. After a yummy BLT and a couple of superb coffees it was time to head to the Bridle Track Road.

The Bridle Track Road is a Targa Tasmania stage and a fantastic piece of twisty road. I took the Kimberly to Sheffield direction (up the hills) but Targa takes the Sheffield to Kimberly direction down the hills.

All in all, a fantastic day our, some excellent coffee and a fun ride. 

Why do motorist speed up when you overtake them only to slow down when you're past them?

An interesting observation about overtaking cars.

I've always felt that some (hmm, maybe most) motorist actually speed up when you overtake them on the highway or road. Usually, I don't care much for this practice but lately, I've given this more thought.

Recently, when I was driving home from work I steadily caught up to a motorist on the highway. I was travelling at the posted sped limit and it was a dry road and sunny day. I easily caught the motorist in front of me and over took him only to have him actually speed up. Thus, instead of me overtaking the other driver at my pace, the other driver now keeping pace with me. We were side by side for  a good few kilometres at the posted speed limit (110kph) and then something strange happened he backed off and started dropping back in speed and started to fall behind me. 

This is when I decided to experiment (safely) and also back off my accelerator (There were no other cars using the highway thus, there was no risk). I dropped back to 100kph before I then resumed my pace at the posted speed limit of 110kph. As I continued down the highway I looked in my rear view mirror to see the other driver now quite a distance behind, indicating they had resumed their previous speed as I was going no faster. 

This proved the point to me that: Motorist speed up when you start to overtake them only to slow down when you're past them?

Why do motorist do this?, is it because:
They have some innate need to not be overtaken but give up just as easily
They feel some sort of achievement by 'making you earn' your overtaking move
They want to be "boss" for the overtaking move and their slowing down is their way of indicating "they won" 
Humans have a natural desire to 'be first' 

A strange but it seems regularly occurring observation indeed.
Pete 

Hello lovely people

Well, after convincing my upper primary school aged students that a blog is a great way to enter the internet I though that I best take my own advice. So here I am.

I initially wanted to create a double edged blog about my Honda Bobber style motorbike project and life in general however, it became too hard to create. Thus, I settled on "Life in general' and shall include snippets of my bobber motorcycle project with the crazy and beautiful that make this world an amazing place as we all journey through life  .

Life is truly amazing and when we see the little beautiful and interesting things in life, there is no need to concentrate on the crap and rubbish as the C&R will always strive to bring us down. 
Yes, the crap & rubbish in life exist but we cannot allow the C&R to drag us down and importantly, we cannot allow the C&R to manifest in our own lives.

Example, I still marvel when I see birds in flight yet, I know how flight and air pressure works, it's the beauty in flight that amazes me. It's the little things in life that are truly amazing. I think think it's amazing how insects manage to create there spectacular colours. 

Lastly, I also enjoy the feeling of roaring down the road on my motorbike, wind in my face (and the occasional insect), enjoying the freedom on the motorbike and just a pinch of 'bad biker' running through my veins although, I absolutely believe in leading the good life.