This is just a quick reminder that the Water Show is tomorrow! The weather looks perfect for hanging out in the garden and enjoying some great artwork with friends.

Hope to see you there!

Better late than never…

The Whig published an article I wrote on the last trip to the Bahamas. You can find it here.

Morning all,

As part of my training I do a daily “Weather Briefing” which I find is a good way to stay on top of what is happening meteorologically. I keep all of my notes in Evernote, and have decide to publish that notebook so folks can go and see what I think is going to happen. I’ll be keeping track of whatever weather is relevant to me, so things may move around a bit…

You can find my notes here.

For the geeks in the crowd, here is a widget that you can use to re-purpose my notes.

Anyone who has come into a busy commercial port at night will appreciate this video. I always find it amazing how the pilots get these massive things through such confined spaces. The pilots definetly earn their money.

Enjoy!

From Drop Box

On Sunday I drove down to New York state to meet Caj who drove the boat back from Florida. It was an easy trip across the border and the bridges. (Ok backing into the driveway is never easy…)

I’m in the process of emptying everything out and getting her ready for some paint and some rigging work. Should have her back in the water in a couple of weeks.

From Drop Box

Lindsey Fair and Greg van Rossem are putting together an art auction to help raise money for the sailing team. Here’s a description of the event:

This art auction will be like no other in Kingston. It will be a day to raise money for the Minimus Sailing Team (www.minimus-sailing-team.com) to compete in the Mini Transat race from France to Brazil with Nathon Baron at the helm. The art will be inside and under tents outside if weather permits, it will be a relaxed, but lively event with friends and art lovers. All auction items will have a water theme but can be any media, any size, any format.

We encourage everyone to spread the word about this event, but everyone will need an official invitation to attend. To get an invitation or get on the list let Greg V or Lindsey F know.

I think this is going to a great event; beautiful venue, lots of great art and of course all of the interesting people that make up the team, the artists and our community. Hope to see you there! If you are on facebook, Lindsey has the event posted. Otherwise shoot one of us an email and we will be sure to get you an invitation.

Hello Friends,

The first and most important thing I want do is to thank all of you for your support in helping us to reach our goals over the past couple of years. Many people keep reminding me about all that we have accomplished over the last two years and I must admit that I tend not to dwell on the things that are behind us because we have so much ahead of us. That said, with your generous support since February 2007 we have accomplished a great deal:

* Purchase the boat.
* Purchasing all of the equipment to legally race offshore.
* Race the Bermuda Ocean Race and delivery/ practice trip back to the US.
* Complete the 1000nm Qualification (almost twice!)
* Almost 5000nm miles of sailing and practice.

One of the accomplishments that I am most proud of is bringing people together on a project that is more challenging than anything I have taken on in my life thus far. Rallying the community around the children at the Boys and Girls Club and working directly with those children has been especially rewarding. If we accomplish nothing else in this campaign, having had the chance to make new friends and work with such inspiring people would have made all of the hardship worth while.

That being said, the financial strain, both personally and to the campaign has been significant. To race the Mini Transat in 2009 would take a large infusion of cash. My estimates are that it would take in the neighbourhood of $20 000 to pay for transportation, logistics, race fees and replacement parts and equipment for the boat. At this time, it would be fiscally irresponsible to move ahead with competing in the Mini Transat this coming fall.

Given this situation, the team has decided to set our sites on the 2010 race. This will take a little pressure off us in terms of fund raising, and hopefully give our ailing economy a little time to recover so that corporate partners are again thinking about sponsoring amateur athletes like me. I also believe that the extra preparation time will allow me to refine both the boat and my sailing skills and manoeuvres.

Now that we have a bit more time, I am looking forward to the opportunity to strengthen our relationships with our sponsors and supporters. The sailing team has started many great relationships and I am looking forward to building those up and continuing the great work that we have started in the community.

We have so much more to give our community, our sponsors, and our individual supporters. I am really looking forward to showing people what we have to offer and to invite one and all to get on board this adventure that is bringing so much to our community, to our children and to individuals who dream of the sea and far off lands.

Your ongoing support and friendship are very important to me and to my team-mates. We will do our best to keep you up to date on what is happening and I am sure that we will be calling again for your help and support as we get closer and closer to reaching our goals. We want to engage you, excite you and involve you in a project that is bringing great things to our community.

I want to be a competitor in the Mini Transat, not just someone who is a good candidate to finish. I honestly believe that the boat and I will be a contender if we are properly funded and well prepared. I welcome the opportunity to find this funding and to further prepare both the boat and myself. While I am disappointed to not be headed to Europe this April, I am excited at the opportunity to be a real contender in one of offshore racing’s most gruelling tests. We: myself, the boat and the team, can be good enough to go and win this race. We will need your continued help and support.

So to finish, I am humbly asking that you keep up your support over the next year, so that we, all of us, can go to France and show the world what we hardy Canadian, Great Lakes, sailors are made of!

Many thanks for your ongoing support. We are stronger together and I am so excited to finish this with you. Let’s make it happen!

Nathan Baron, Skipper
Minimus Sailing Team

Direct: 613-453-0610
Email: nathan.baron@minimus-sailing-team.com
Skype: nathan.m.baron
www.minimus-sailing-team.com
www.withoutletters.com

From MST 680

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Just wanted to let folks know that got the all clear from my doctor this morning.

I had a rather nasty bump on the head on the last leg coming across the Gulf Stream and I was a little more nervous than usual about. It’s bloody hard to diagnose the severity of a head injury when you are by yourself. (When you are alone you can’t really monitor pupil dilation, change in sleep patterns, etc.)

The doctor said I probably had a mild concussion and whip-lash and suggested physio or chiropractic to deal with the stiff muscles in the neck.

Makes me want to get more medical training…

More soon.

n

From MST 680

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Ola!

Sorry for the small pause in communicaitons from me over the last couple of days. I’ve been recouperating…

Since arriving in Miami I’ve been enjoying the good life ashore and trying to eat and sleep as much as possible. I must admit to feeling pretty beat up (you’ll see why in a minute) and I am really enjoying the couple days I’ve had over the weekend to recover. But this is all over tomorrow as we haul the boat and get her ready for the road again.

The leg from the Bahamas Bank to Miami was luckily not quite as ominous as Greg made it out to be. Crossing the Gulf Stream is never comfortable, but it wasn’t that bad even with 20-25 knots NE wind. (Which luckily diminished to 15-18 knots as I approached the US coast. The harbour was busy with commercial traffic outside and hords of pleasure boaters once I got inside the harbour.

In the early evening I had a terrible sleeping accident. I was trying to catch a 20 minute cat knap in the quarterbirth and had the step/ nav seat around my shoulder height. As I fell asleep, I must have been holding myself in place, because when I finally succumbed I slid across the bench and hit the leeward side of the cabin hard jarring me awake and bouncing my head off a bulkhead. Just another day of life inside the washing machine…

Ann Marie and Ray were waiting for me at Shake a Leg and after getting tied up and getting a couple of ice cold bottles of water into me, I spoke to a group of kids that were at shake a leg for the day and had some questions for me. The kids were super and it was an excellent way to be reintroduced to people again.

It’s been a nice couple of days as I nurse my wounds and clean up the boat. Having a couple of days to shift my head space has been good for me. Shake a leg is the perfect place to do this, as the community is so supportive and they know what it’s like to be up against a challenge.

As soon as I get back to Kingston I will get all of the photos and video up so you get the first hand experience. I always find it fun to go through all of this after a trip.

I wanted to send out a huge thank you to everyone who has sent messages of support and congratulations over the past few days. It’s been a very rewarding experience for me personally, but as always I am just the guy on the boat. the vast majority of the work is done back on the hard and as usual my team mates deserve more for cudos then me. I get to be the guy on the boat!

More when I get back to Kingston!

n

Friday, February 27, 2009
Dateline: Miami - Shake-a-leg Yacht Club

After 9 days at sea alone in a 21 foot boat Nathan has completed his 1000 mile qualifying sail for the MiniTransat race.

This is the message from minimus race central…

“It is 15:42 and Nathan just called from his cell phone…he is within 15 minutes of arriving at the dock where he understands the folks at Shake-a-Leg have arranged a little welcoming thing for him.

I’m sure we all wish we could be on the dock to catch his lines!!!!”

We all congratulate Nathan on this huge accomplishment.