Australia

So, I've been home from Australia for almost half a month, and I think I finally have some control over my jet lag. I had never travel such a great distance in my life, and let me tell you, going across the International Dateline is a sonova bitch! That being said, I thoroughly enjoyed my stay in the land down under.

We headed out to Australia on July 23rd for the Seawind dealers conference. It was fairly chilly day in San Francisco, but when is it not? The flight was 14 hours or so, and I'd rather not talk about it. Just picture being on three consecutive flights in a row to Hawaii, and you can kind of get the idea. When we landed it was very cold in Sydney. About 53 degrees and raining. What struck me right away is how very similar to the United States Australia is. I mean, I guess I thought it'd be like Europe or something. Sure, the cars were a little smaller, and you didn't see as many raised monster truck hillbilly mobiles roaming around, but it was still pretty similar.

Our Taxi driver took us to our motel just outside of Sydney. Actually, calling the place a motel would be a misnomer. It was really just an apartment that is rented out daily, and this is the Australian version of a motel I guess. We spent our second day taking in the sites of Sydney. We saw the Opera House, the Sydney Harbor Bridge, a street fair, their Space Needle looking tower thing, and the new Apple Store. It really is a beautiful city. I was most impressed by how few cops I saw in Sydney. I mean, it is a huge city, and I don't think I saw one cop for at least three days into the trip. A truley astonishing thing to be hold for a former Los Angeles resident like myself.

Richard, the founder of Seawind Catamarans took all of us dealers out for a sail on Sydney Harbor. Truely, sailing there is a religious experience for any sailor. It reminded me much of going out on the San Francisco Bay. I can see now why the two cities are often said to be so alike. We also saw no less then half a dozen Seawinds out on the harbor. Part of me wishes it had been the summer though, because I would have loved to go out to Manley Beach.

We spent the next three days down South in Wollongong visiting the Seawind factory, and having various meetings. The factory visit was a real treat, and it was fascinating to see how much work goes into building a Seawind. It's so rare to see such craftsmanship go into Yacht construction, and it is easy to see why Seawinds are such well made and study boats. During our stay in Wollongon we slept in an old farm house, where I found a huge spider. Let's just say I didn't sleep so well that night, and could of sworn I felt something crawling on me.

The next few days were spent in Sydney again. We attended the Boat Show, and it was great to see so many boats that you never see in the Bay Area. Also, I was able to scope out some of the French Cats, which I just do not get. Call me a hater if you want, but I think they are floating homes with a mast. It does seem like multihulls are more accepted out in Australia, and this made me a little more envious. Well, that and the fact that they have a $17 an hour minimum wage can make you jealous too.

I wish that I could have traveled around Australia some more, but time did not allow it. You can be sure that I will be going back to Australia soon. Next time I hope to make it up North to Brisbane to check out the Great Barrier Reef. Then, off to New Zealand, hopefully. I really liked the dealers from New Zealand, who were gracious enough to teach me the rules behind rugby while we watched New Zealand exact out revenge on Australia's team. Anyways. Definitely an exciting trip, and Australia, good on ya mate.

Video from my film school days.

Just wanted to post this video I made in school. Many of my friends are still very involved with this cause, The Journey of Hope. It is a cross country bike ride held every summer.

Wednesday Night Racing

Tonight my Dad, John Green, and I raced in the OYC Wednesday night race series on a Corsair 750. My Dad sails this race weekly, but this was my first time tagging along. It was a blast to get out there on the Oakland/Alameda Estuary. After all, this is where I learned to sail. As a child I spent many a days dodging cargo tankers in an small El Toro. Hell, I nearly sank the damn thing once or twice out there, but that's another story.

It sure was nice today to race in a friendly low key situation for a change. Often times races are so intense that the crew ends up wanting to kill each other before they cross the finish line. Due to the tight quarters of the estuary, we were practically be on top of our competition, which gave us plenty of opportunities to yap it up with them. To top it off we came in first, and just in time for a beautiful red and gold San Francisco sunset.

Back from OZ

So, it's been a few days since I've been back from Australia. I am still very tired from the whole 14 hour flight, and lack of sleep. I'm going to have more about it soon... when I get some energy. Cheers.