Allegro!

Allegro: The musical tempo meaning "quick and lively" or, literally "cheerful"

Allegro is the name of my sail boat and this definition fits her to a "T". Allegro is a 1982 Tartan 33R and the only one of her kind on the west coast that I am aware of. The 33R is the masthead version of the much more prevalent fractional rigged 33. Masthead meaning the fore sail attaches at the top of the mast rather than attaching lower or, a "fractional" distance below the top.

Well, Allegro has been a tad neglected over the past year so the decision was made to right some wrongs. Since MSC up in Anacortes did the original delivery of the boat and almost all upgrades and maintenance since new, I thought it only fitting to deliver the boat to them for some additional TLC. So, let's schedule a trip to Anacortes aboard the good ship Allegro.

Now, for those of you who are not sailors, sailboats are not known for their ability to reach high rates of speed.... about 6.5 knots is the best we can do without a gale. Allegro is moored in Everett and the distance to Anacortes via the Swinomish Channel is approximately 45 nautical miles. Since there is no possible way to do the trip without fighting some adverse currents this time of the year, you better figure an average speed of 5.5 knots. You do the math..... this trip is going to take the whole day.

Since things have been a bit stressful at PGS of late, I decided that a good managerial summit would be in order and what better place to do this than to have all my managers held captive on a boat for 9 or so hours. Allegro is all about low stress and this was probably the best leadership idea I have come up with in quite some time. As we departed Everett you could just see the stress levels begin to drop and creativity ran rampant among our little group. Lots of good discussion, both work and non-work related, flowed in generous quantities throughout the day.

The guys met up at Allegro in the early AM, we readied the boat for departure, made a stop at the pump-out, and then motored out into the bay. The morning began with a thick, soupy, fog with visibility in the 100 foot range. Thank goodness for GPS chart plotters. There be islands out there..... somewhere!

As the day wore on the sun did begin to shine and slowly burn off the fog. It really turned into a beautiful day. It would have been nice if the wind would have blown a bit so we could sail but I guess that was too much to ask for so we motored along to the sound of that little diesel engine mixed with some Jack Johnson music as backup.

It always amazes me just how relaxing it is to be on the water. For whatever reason I just never get bored. My crew commented on the exact same feeling, so it isn't just me. There is just something about bobbing along watching the sea critters, eagles, and debris all while navigating the straights, channels, and passages of the puget sound that keeps the mind occupied. Speaking of navigating, here is the entrance to the Swinomish Channel:

We got really lucky this time as the tides were fairly high and navigating the narrow channel was relatively simple. The last time I had come through this channel on my way to Succia it was at a low tide and I basically navigated by brail. I do believe that I left a bit of Allegro's keel rubbed along the bottom of the channel. The channel is always interesting as you see lots of big motor yachts moored along the waterfront in LaConnor and the narrow channel affords views of some pretty spectacular homes.

Once you leave the channel it's not long before you arrive at the Anacortes Marina. Some more rather tricky navigation through shallow dredged channels and we arrived at the fuel dock/haul-out for Marine Service Center. Handed over the keys to Skip, gave a few instructions, some well wishes, loaded things up into the Jeep that my wife had so graciously brought up to get us and headed home. What a great day!

Skip got Allegro hauled first thing the following morning and sent me some pics of the bottom:

Now, that don't look so bad!

Oops, I did leave some keel on the bottom of that channel last trip through!

All in all, this was one of my better trips on Allegro and I am really looking forward to getting her back all gussied up for the summer cruising season. My crew performed flawlesly and did a great job of covering some really important management subjects. I think I will have to get them to crew for me more often..... maybe a PGS racing crew! Stay tuned.....

Cheers!

Cap'n Ron

Redundancy!

I'm a Surveyor.  I'm a statistician.  I like redundancy.

What can I say?  If you don't show me more than one result, well.... I'm just going to assume the info has a blunder, I have no confidence.  If my crew sets up over a known point and measures a baseline to a second known point, they had better give me a full measurement to that second point so I can compare it to previous measurements.  If they don't, I'm just not really sure they know where the hell they are....  Come on guys.  Check your back-sites!

I'm a runner.  I like redundancy.... Yep, I like to repeat the same run so I can compare the results to previous runs.  Redundancy.  I get asked, on a regular basis, if I'm getting tired of my lunch run route.  I've run this little 6+ mile, one-way route more times than I care to count.

The cool thing about it is that I'm so familiar with the route that I'm able to judge my performance and how I'm feeling at almost any point within the run.  It's factual.  I have past measurements to compare it with.  Redundancy.  Yeah, baby!

I'm a sailor.  I like redundancy..... No, wait!  I don't like redundancy on the water, at least not when racing.  Sunday was a bit redundant.  Like, in a no wind kind of redundant way.  So little wind in fact, that we had to cancel racing because we ran out of beer under the postpone flag.

The one thing you learn by sailing in the Puget Sound is just how many light air days we get around here.  I have come to the conclusion that if you can deal with the challenges of sailing here you can pretty much sail anywhere in the world with confidence.

We have big tides, big currents, big rocks, shallow deltas, rip tides like nothing you have ever seen, heavy air that makes lead feel light, navigation hazards, fog, and the list goes on.  Man, do I love sailing!  One day, the Pacific will be mine!

'til next time,

Cheers!

Oh my!

I think I saw the sun today!!!!

I did, I did, I did saw the sun today!

Maybe we will get through this winter yet.  It's been a long one but, alas, the days are getting warmer and definitely getting longer.  Sun is coming up earlier and setting later each day and my nasty attitude is beginning to show signs of moderation.

Exactly 4 weeks from today I will be riding down the big concrete slab headed south on the motorcycle.  I spent the eve with GVB planning the escape.  We're thinking a blast down I-5, covering as many miles as possible in the fewest amount of hours, and getting to the warm desert sunshine as quickly as possible.

From there we'll begin to slow down and explore.  Spending time in Joshua Tree, the Mojave Desert, Death Valley, and the eastern Sierras heading north from Death Valley.  We'll determine our crossing back to the coastal deluge dependent on weather systems and temps.

Can't wait!

Cheers!

Hey, Look.... An update!

Took a little time this afternoon to put together a little update. This should keep the blog police off my back for a few days!

Around the Office:
Busy, busy, busy….
There is a lot of marketing going on around here including SOQ’s, proposals, phone calls, lunches, etc. We are working hard putting together new marketing materials including information regarding the new scanner. There will be 2 of us attending a 3 day course in government contracting that spans this weekend. The main purpose of these classes is to help us better serve our public sector clients and to better market to this sector. Then, the first week of March, I’m sending a couple of my senior guys down to California for a 5 day training course for the scanner and associated software. This is some pretty intense training and should give us the technical edge needed to compete in the scanning market. This training should also help us to become more efficient in performing and processing scans. We have a new office Tech that is starting on the 3rd of March. Forrest is an LSIT and will be directly in charge of managing the field crews and helping in the field when needed. We are really looking forward to the added depth of knowledge and extra help with the office load.

Leica ScanStation 2

Cool! What else can you say when referencing a piece of equipment that gives you a 3-D scanned image of a site collecting data at a rate of approximately 50,000 points per second! We did an ALTA/Design Topo of a site in Kirkland using the scanner with astounding results. Accuracy levels are every bit as tight as expected with independent redundancy checks meeting or beating stated accuracies. Here’s a cute little image of the scan we did in Kirkland. I like!

Upcoming Projects of Note:
Nothing huge but some interesting stuff none the less. We’ll be up at Oak Harbor to do some mapping for the Marina which will include extensive bathymetry and adjacent upland topographic mapping. One of our crews is headed over to Kennewick to do an ALTA/Design survey next week. This will be another opportunity to use our High Definition Laser Scanner, especially since one of the adjoining streets is highway 395…. Talk about busy streets! We’ve got a small wetland/fish habitat mapping project to get started on up in Skagit County. This survey will include the mapping of a slough and some high detail mapping of a bridge and flood control structures, more scanning. On top of this we have a couple of construction layout projects and a scattering of small surveys. All in all, things are looking pretty good for only the first week in February.

Marathon Training:
5 weeks in and all is going well. Last week was a nearly 40 mile week with a 14 mile long run. I spent a good amount of time working on speed including some intervals and hill work. Roughly 135 miles for the month of January. Worked pretty hard leading up to that mileage and was definitely feeling the fatigue. This week is a recovery week with only about 20 miles scheduled. I’ll spend more time on strength training this week and keep the runs shorter and slower. Next week’s long run is a scheduled 16 miler…. Long runs will start hurting soon. Once I get in the 18+ mile range I find the long runs get far more mental (and boring).
Weight loss has been a tough proposition. Not sure what is going on with the body but I feel like I’m running a calorie deficit but not losing any weight? I have to be careful not to cut the calories too much during the heavy mileage weeks otherwise energy levels will crash and the chance of injury goes up. Still want to lose that weight though! 13 weeks to go….. Boston or bust, baby!

Play Time:

Got the GS wheels back from Woody. That hurt a little more than expected. He was unable to save the front rim so he ended up using the hub and spokes off the destroyed wheel and replaced just the rim. Still saved a couple hundred dollars over a new setup and it's still stronger. New header is headed my way. I was going to just upgrade the entire exhaust but I got such a good deal on the new header that I decided to just save the money for other endeavors. I still need to get those new Ohlins installed but that will have to wait until next week. As long as they are on the bike before March 12 I'll be fine.

My annual trip to J-Tree in SoCal has been turned into a combined motorcycle/climbing adventure. I'm going to take about 10 days to do the trip leaving 2 to 3 days for climbing in the park. I'm just looking forward to actually seeing the sun and feeling warm!

Until next time....

Cheers!

It's the Economy.....

Oh.....

.... and I thought we were just having trouble staying busy. Yep, it's a little slow at the PGS Office. Oh, don't get me wrong, we're holding our own and keeping the crews going. It's just that we like having a bit of a backlog of work. I know, we shouldn't be greedy, but I have a tendency to stress a little when I start worrying about my guys missing work.

Things really are going nicely and I believe that some decent projects will be kicking loose soon. I guess I'm just venting a little of my stress on the ol' keyboard. We are just now finishing up a nice 35 acre topography project over on the Kitsap Penninsula. We did get to put together our first complete project using the high definition laser scanner. That was fun and interesting and I'll be putting together a write up soon on that experience. The February training class that was supposed to be going on this week got cancelled. The next available class will be the first week of March and I've got 2 guys scheduled for the 5 days of training down in California. I'm looking forward to having a more intimate knowledge of how the software works. We get by just fine with it but I know that we will be able to be more efficient once the guys are trained.

I hope everyone is enjoying the LONG - COLD winter that we have been having. This could also have something to do with the general slowdown in our industry. Maybe? Ya' think? I don't think I've ever been so eager to get away from the winter weather here. Usually much more temperate. The mountains won't be accessible until late in the summer due to the snow pack that's piled up. Our usual spring river work will probably be delayed this year due to heavy river flows from the melt off. Of course this could require additional mapping for flood prevention. Gotta' look at the bright side.

I'll try to take the time to put together a more complete update later in the week.

Cheers all!