an infrequent repository of mostly new stuff
Original Daggerboard Plan
The Melonseeds of the 1880’s had daggerboards, as have most built since. Above is the original Chappelle plan drawing shown in black lines. A couple of things are striking about the original. First is the unusual crescent shape. It’s unusual enough that I had never seen one done like that before, and the reason for this shape is both interesting and ingenious. Continue reading “Adventures in Centerboard Design 2 – Virtues of the Daggerboard”
Fog above, Water below, Boats between
Random Thought #842:
Air and Water are both fluids – just of very different densities. There’s some limited mixing – clouds, fog, rain, foam – but gravity eventually separates them again, like oil and vinegar.
Ergo: Continue reading “Adventures in Centerboard Design 1 – Fluid Dynamics”
Black Angus, Morning Fog, Scottsville
It’s a 45 minute drive to work and back every day from Scottsville to Gordonsville. There are three or four different routes, but all go through rural farmland and take about the same time. Beats sitting in traffic. These are all shots from that drive, mostly from a single day.
Maple Grove, Scottsville
Some in the yard, and Route 6, Irish Road, just west of town. Route 6 runs all the way up into the mountains, through the Rockfish Valley, then up and through Rockfish Gap. On the way, it winds through apple orchards, along streams, past log cabins in quiet coves, lots of farmland and forests and a few small crossroad villages. Continue reading “More Scottsville”
Rockfish River above Schuyler
Rockfish Gap has been a natural gateway through the mountains for thousands of years, Once travelled by Indians and wildlife along a footpath from the coastal plain to the Ohio Valley, today a highway, four roads, two railroad lines, and the Appalachian Trail all converge on this spot. Black Bears still follow the route as they move from one valley to another, lumbering along on the shoulder of the road like pedestrians. The Blue Ridge Parkway begins here, heading south, as does Skyline Drive, going north. From the crest of the ridge there’s a view that stretches for 20 miles down the Rockfish Valley, and it’s one of the most beautiful views I’ve ever seen. As many times as I pass through there, my heart still hurts when I see it. The Gap and the Valley both are named for the Rockfish River that winds below, and it’s astonishing to think the entire view was created by that little stream, small enough to throw a stone across. Continue reading “Rockfish River”
Mr. Cheek’s Pond
The Cheeks’ place is a few doors down, across from the old Presbyterian cemetery. They have a small pond between the hay field and the house, and it’s lined with trees. Neighborhood boys like to fish there in the summer. There’s a Tupelo Gum on the bank that, for a few mornings every fall, catches fire when the sun burns off the mist.
Cattail Pond, Cismont
For friends and family, former Virginians and ex-pats, people who no longer live where the leaves change color, here are your annual fall foliage postcards. I’ll try to do some every couple of days, so you can follow the progress. Continue reading “Keswick & Cismont”