Patrick Gleason's Posts - Hydroplane and Raceboat Museum2024-03-28T19:17:33ZPatrick Gleasonhttp://thunderboats.ning.com/profile/PatrickGleasonhttp://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/66498190?profile=RESIZE_48X48&width=48&height=48&crop=1%3A1http://thunderboats.ning.com/profiles/blog/feed?user=1ppco80y4rpve&xn_auth=noDoha, Day 5 - Winding Downtag:thunderboats.ning.com,2010-11-22:6315479:BlogPost:41802010-11-22T18:59:31.000ZPatrick Gleasonhttp://thunderboats.ning.com/profile/PatrickGleason
<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt"><font size="3"><font color="#000000"><font face="Calibri">On our last full day in Doha, as planned, we went down to the pits and did the final prep on the boat for shipment. Hatches were given a final dry-out where needed, covers put in place, hatch screw plates and internal hardware was sprayed down with rust inhibitor, and we placed the big plastic cover on the trip to keep it clean on journey home. Last word is that the boats won’t head out…</font></font></font></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3"><font color="#000000"><font face="Calibri">On our last full day in Doha, as planned, we went down to the pits and did the final prep on the boat for shipment. Hatches were given a final dry-out where needed, covers put in place, hatch screw plates and internal hardware was sprayed down with rust inhibitor, and we placed the big plastic cover on the trip to keep it clean on journey home. Last word is that the boats won’t head out for about three weeks, and then it’s a seven week scheduled trip, so about the time I return from the APBA National Meeting in Detroit in late January (oh, what a fun trip THAT will be!), the boat will be in port in the US, and Nate will dispatch his hired gun to pick up the rig and drive it back from Florida to the Northwest. </font></font></font></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><font color="#000000" size="3" face="Calibri">All things considered, the boat is in pretty good shape, and it will be essentially ready to roll upon its return. Our Ill-Tempered Turbine Engine is in a wooden crate to be air shipped back and should be in Seattle next week.</font></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><font color="#000000" size="3" face="Calibri">Having completed boat work today, after a short lounging by the hotel pool, we went into the City Mall. This was had a very “Bellevue Square” feel to it, with an ice rink, a multiplex theatre, and a Toyota/Lexus Dealership all as part of the mall. All told, there were 5 stories. And like any mall, there was some vacant spots in it. But, a mall, for the most part, is a mall. One of the more interesting stores there was Carrefour, which is Doha's The Place That Sells Everything: The Wal-Mart of Doha. Groceries, consumer electronics, furniture, apparel. You name it, they got it at Carrefour.</font></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><font color="#000000" size="3" face="Calibri">And, like just about any mall, you can spend maybe an hour and a half to two hours there, and reach the conclusion that you’ve seen plenty…so back to the Hotel we went.</font></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><font color="#000000" size="3" face="Calibri">The F1 Tunnel Boat teams showed up today in the pits and were beginning to set up. A pleasant surprise was running into my old pal Bill Rucker, who is affiliated the Qatar-sponsored F1 Team. It’s amazing how after being involved in this sport for 40-plus years, the names, people and friends you gain, and where you run into them. Putting this into perspective, I had always known as a kid that I would somehow find a way to get involved in racing, but I don’t think I would have ever expected being in a situation that took me on a 10,000 mile boat racing road trip. I’ve been very fortunate.</font></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><font color="#000000" size="3" face="Calibri">Well, time to finish packing and get some sleep before a 6:30 AM ride to the Airport. As I close out Doha Blog 2010, I’d like to leave you all with a little entertainment. You can all sing along, it’s to the tune of “Back in The USSR”, and with apologies to Lennon/McCartney:</font></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNoSpacing"><font color="#000000" size="3" face="Calibri">Flew halfway around the globe for QMSF</font></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNoSpacing"><font color="#000000" size="3" face="Calibri">Didn’t sleep too well last night</font></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNoSpacing"><font color="#000000" size="3" face="Calibri">All the way the screaming babies kept me up</font></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNoSpacing"><font color="#000000" size="3" face="Calibri">Man it was a noisy flight</font></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNoSpacing"></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNoSpacing"><font color="#000000" size="3" face="Calibri">Went off to race in Qatar</font></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNoSpacing"><font color="#000000" size="3" face="Calibri">You don’t know how tired you are, boys</font></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNoSpacing"><font color="#000000" size="3" face="Calibri">Back to the race in Qatar</font></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNoSpacing"></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNoSpacing"><font color="#000000" size="3" face="Calibri">When we got there it was just another boat race</font></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNoSpacing"><font color="#000000" size="3" face="Calibri">Just super far away from home</font></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNoSpacing"><font color="#000000" size="3" face="Calibri">Hope the hotel bellman doesn’t lose my suitcase</font></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNoSpacing"><font color="#000000" size="3" face="Calibri">I can’t get my cell phone to roam</font></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNoSpacing"></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNoSpacing"><font color="#000000" size="3" face="Calibri">Went off to race in Qatar</font></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNoSpacing"><font color="#000000" size="3" face="Calibri">You don’t know how tired you are, boys</font></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNoSpacing"><font color="#000000" size="3" face="Calibri">Back to the race in</font></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNoSpacing"><font color="#000000" size="3" face="Calibri">Back to the race in</font></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNoSpacing"><font color="#000000" size="3" face="Calibri">Back to the race in Qatar</font></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNoSpacing"></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNoSpacing"><font color="#000000" size="3" face="Calibri">Well the Burka wearing ladies really knock me out</font></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNoSpacing"><font color="#000000" size="3" face="Calibri">You only see their eyes</font></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNoSpacing"><font color="#000000" size="3" face="Calibri">And taxi drivers racing through the roundabouts</font></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNoSpacing"><font color="#000000" size="3" face="Calibri">They’re driving faster than Dave Villwock did to win the big first prize</font></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNoSpacing"></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNoSpacing"><font color="#000000" size="3" face="Calibri">Oh, show me sandy dunes and spitting camels too</font></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNoSpacing"><font color="#000000" size="3" face="Calibri">Shopping in the Souq for gifts</font></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNoSpacing"><font color="#000000" size="3" face="Calibri">Wish I knew some Arabic to get around</font></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNoSpacing"><font color="#000000" size="3" face="Calibri">I can’t read their hieroglyphs</font></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNoSpacing"></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNoSpacing"><font color="#000000" size="3" face="Calibri">Went off to race in Qatar</font></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNoSpacing"><font color="#000000" size="3" face="Calibri">You don’t know how tired you are, boys</font></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNoSpacing"><font color="#000000" size="3" face="Calibri">Back to the race in Qatar</font></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNoSpacing"></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><font color="#000000" size="3" face="Calibri">Hope you enjoyed the Blog. See you all soon, and don’t forget to tip your servers!</font></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><font color="#000000" size="3" face="Calibri">R-19</font></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class="MsoNormal"></p>Day 4: Safari!tag:thunderboats.ning.com,2010-11-21:6315479:BlogPost:41442010-11-21T20:24:13.000ZPatrick Gleasonhttp://thunderboats.ning.com/profile/PatrickGleason
<p>After going down to the pits this morning to finish packing up the truck and grabbing some pieces off the Gearbox to send home, we high-tailed it back to the Mariott, changed into some clean clothes, and went off on the “Safari”. Safari can mean a couple different things, but this particular connotation involved a 4-wheeling caravan out into the Qatar desert and sand dunes, about a 45 minute ride from Doha.<br></br><br></br>We had a caravan of about 8 vehicles, mostly Toyota Landcruisers, Nissan…</p>
<p>After going down to the pits this morning to finish packing up the truck and grabbing some pieces off the Gearbox to send home, we high-tailed it back to the Mariott, changed into some clean clothes, and went off on the “Safari”. Safari can mean a couple different things, but this particular connotation involved a 4-wheeling caravan out into the Qatar desert and sand dunes, about a 45 minute ride from Doha.<br/><br/>We had a caravan of about 8 vehicles, mostly Toyota Landcruisers, Nissan Pathfinders and the odd Lexus SUV. After we drove out of town into a seemingly endless expanse of flat dirt, had pan and scruffy little tufts of the odd vegetation here and there, we arrived at the base of a big sandy hill. We all got out of the rigs and the drivers proceeded to partially deflate the tires. About 10 minutes later, off we went, straight up the hills of deep sand drifts. <br/><br/>It was pretty obvious that for the drivers, this was clearly NOT their first rodeo, and my initial thought was that ok, these guys must be the “professional drivers” that the car companies get to do those things on the car commercials that real folks like us aren’t supposed to do but did as teenagers. We went for several hours, up, down, traversing 45 degree hills while throwing sand like water off a skid fin, rattling our butts up and down on moguls, flying off precipice of doom, pausing every now and then to take in the view of the Persian Gulf, the mountains across the border into Saudi Arabia, and at one point, they let us out of the rigs while the drivers went off on their own, putting on a little demonstration of their vehicle’s capabilities, with a touch of “can you top this?” thrown into it.<br/><br/>Finally, we ended up about 1 PM at a little beach resort at the edge of the Persian Gulf. We ate lunch, lounged in plastic chairs and some of us took our turn at Camel riding. There’s pictures on Facebook of this (Thank you, Chris Denslow, and I WILL get even with you!) if you dare to look.<br/><br/>After a two hour break at the beach (which seemed like 4…A number of people in our party commented that taking 8 carloads of boat racers to the beach without any beer might be considered a gross misdemeanor in some Western civilizations), we started the long trip back. Outside of town, you really see the truly massive expanses of oil refineries, energy generating plants and industrialization that this country roughly the size of Connecticut is putting together. Comparisons are inevitable to what we know or think we know, compared to this place that seems so distant to our homes. Seeing the endless horizons of refineries and construction was a little reminiscent of the massive plants you saw in school textbooks of Detroit as the automotive industry took off…or of Boeing’s B-17 lines in World War II. Qatar is definitely a happening place, make no mistake. <br/><br/>After we returned to the Hotel, we cleaned up, had a seriously good (and expensive!) dinner in the Hotel, and then went to The Souq. Easiest way to describe this is “Pike Place Market, Qatar version.” Lots of hand crafts, souvenir trinkets, clothing, pets (tons of birds, also fish, rabbits, cats, dogs, lizards, you name it…I briefly was tempted with the notion to buy a monkey to send to Troy Holmberg, but I figured the customs logistics would be insurmountable. There was even a nightclub in the middle of the Souq called Déjà vu, but it doesn’t seem to be affiliated with the American establishment of the same name: No sign of 49 beautiful camels and one ugly one.<br/><br/>Eventually, I wore down and Jim Riley assisted in getting as many of us back to the hotel as he could squeeze in his car, then went back for another load. Once again, proving he’s a class act.</p>
<p><br/>Tomorrow, a final button up and lock down of the boat as we turn it over for shipment, a trip to The Mall is being discussed, and one last day to snoop around Doha. We fly home Tuesday morning, and I feel a touch of a cold coming on. As they say, Timing is Everything.<br/><br/>R-19<br/><br/><br/></p>Day Three: The Thrill of Victory...but not for ustag:thunderboats.ning.com,2010-11-20:6315479:BlogPost:41132010-11-20T19:47:42.000ZPatrick Gleasonhttp://thunderboats.ning.com/profile/PatrickGleason
Today was the conclusion of The UIM H1 Oryx Cup. The two big winners as you all probably know by now were Dave Villwock, who not only won the Oryx Cup but picked up his 62nd career win, tying him with Bill Muncey for the sport’s winningest driver…..and Steven David who brought home his third consecutive Team High Point Championship for The Oberto/Madison gang. These are both HUGE accomplishments by any measure, and my hat is off to both drivers and teams for having such great seasons.<br />
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As for…
Today was the conclusion of The UIM H1 Oryx Cup. The two big winners as you all probably know by now were Dave Villwock, who not only won the Oryx Cup but picked up his 62nd career win, tying him with Bill Muncey for the sport’s winningest driver…..and Steven David who brought home his third consecutive Team High Point Championship for The Oberto/Madison gang. These are both HUGE accomplishments by any measure, and my hat is off to both drivers and teams for having such great seasons.<br />
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As for us….well for my outboard racing friends, the simplest explanation is that the U-17’s performance was eerily similar to The DeRailer’s 2010 season: We tested this morning with the new fuel control and the boat ran great. Then, we went out for our heat and it was SSDD: same stuff different day. The engine would fall on its face and loose fuel control once Kip started getting on it. We scratched after our DNS in heat 3A and got an early start on packing things up. It’s going to be a long 7-10 weeks before the boats get home, so we are shipping the offending engine back via air freight to get an early jump on diagnosing its trouble…so, look out, Troy Holmberg…you’ve got something else to look forward to arriving soon besides impending parenthood.<br />
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Tonight was the Gala Banquet at the conclusion of the event. A semi-formal event, it was kinda scary to see how well some of these folks cleaned up. Seriously, the food was great, the local entertainment and music was very cool, and they had all kinds of nice little surprises for all the participants. We even had a 107 year old guest in attendance: The APBA Gold Cup was brought to the event, all the way from APBA Headquarters in Eastpointe, MI. Some of us longtime APBA Members were a little surprised to see it there, since about 6 years ago, APBA made the decision that the trophy would no longer travel with the year’s winner due to its age and its value. It’s permanent home is the APBA Offices in Eastpointe, and it usually only sees the light of day the second week of July for the Gold Cup race in Detroit. But, this year’s winner was The Spirit of Qatar, and since Sheik Hassan was unable to attend the Detroit event, one can only guess that the next best thing was to bring the trophy to Doha and have it on display (out of its glass case, no less!) at the Banquet. Fear not though, APBA Members: The trophy was there under the watchful eye of APBA Board Member Fred Hauenstein, you can all sleep well tonight.<br />
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Tomorrow, we’re going down to finish up packing the rolling stock (almost done!), then it’s off to tomorrow’s planned “Safari” which doesn’t involve hunting animals but promises to be a hair-raising 4-wheeling adventure out in the one spot of Qatar where there actually are sand dunes. My local connection here tells me it’s very cool. Yes, I will wear my seat belt. And take lots of pictures.<br />
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Until then,<br />
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R-19Day Two: Woofed.tag:thunderboats.ning.com,2010-11-19:6315479:BlogPost:40742010-11-19T20:32:45.000ZPatrick Gleasonhttp://thunderboats.ning.com/profile/PatrickGleason
<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt"><font color="#000000" face="Calibri" size="3">Hi friends,</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt"><font color="#000000" face="Calibri" size="3">Your obedient correspondent is a little woofed tonight, so I don’t have a ton of piffle for you. The U-17 struggling with some overheating and fuel issues, so it was another late night in the pits while we pulled the motor, pulled the PT wheel out, changed a fuel control and got…</font></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><font color="#000000" size="3" face="Calibri">Hi friends,</font></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><font color="#000000" size="3" face="Calibri">Your obedient correspondent is a little woofed tonight, so I don’t have a ton of piffle for you. The U-17 struggling with some overheating and fuel issues, so it was another late night in the pits while we pulled the motor, pulled the PT wheel out, changed a fuel control and got ready for tomorrow’s action. Light a candle and send some good vibes our way…Our Gang Racing could use all the help we can get.</font></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><font color="#000000" size="3" face="Calibri">One of the things I meant to mention yesterday but forgot to expand upon is the newfound appreciation I have developed for the music here. Being a music freak to begin with, I have some pretty eclectic tastes, so I guess it would make sense that I would be grooving on the Mad Jams of the Persian Gulf area. It’s got this strong, aggressive percussion thing going, a minor-flavored modal key thing, swooping, heaving strings, and then that unique, in-and-out-of-the keyboard-cracks wavering tonality that gives it that real ethnic flavor (much better than Veal Bacon). I usually keep it cranked on the clock radio in the hotel room, especially since there is no in-room coffee maker. It’s great for waking up, and I wish I knew the name of the artist(s) so I could go buy a CD or two….it would be just the ticket for doing some housecleaning to…or for driving.</font></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3"><font color="#000000"><font face="Calibri">Speaking of driving, it’s true: They drive totally WACK over here. Every ride in a Shuttle Bus is an adventure. This morning, one of our crew wives’ bus was involved in a slight fender bender. Nobody hurt, and thankfully about the only damage was ripping a mirror off the bus they were riding in. There’s lots of roundabouts, people go in them really FAST, and apparently the rule here is that the person on the INSIDE has the right-of-way in the roundabouts. Need I say more? I think the music may contribute to their driving. </font></font></font></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><font color="#000000" size="3" face="Calibri">The evening open pit session was again, a lot of fun. It gave me a chance to talk to several people who are native Qatarians (I think that’s what they are called). They are friendly, warm, soft-spoken and have made us all feel very welcome here. The Qatar Marine Sports Federation team is totally awesome. They have made us feel like Rockstars here and the hospitality is amazing. There are a few Race sites in the States that could learn something about Hospitality from these folks. And the best part? The only airshow is watching the planes take off from the Doha Airport across the bay….and the little lost parakeet that came flying through our pit area this morning.</font></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><font color="#000000" size="3" face="Calibri">All for now,</font></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><font color="#000000" size="3" face="Calibri">R-19</font></p>Day One: A Beautiful Race Site, Cool Music, Photo Opportunities and Camel Tossing?tag:thunderboats.ning.com,2010-11-18:6315479:BlogPost:40202010-11-18T18:30:00.000ZPatrick Gleasonhttp://thunderboats.ning.com/profile/PatrickGleason
<p>Day one of the Oryx Cup Experience is in the books. We started off with the breakfast at the hotel, which wasn’t too bad, although “Veal Bacon” is NOT Bacon. Make no mistake about that. There was a lot of setup to do on the boat today, so much of the morning was spent heads down, getting electrical systems back in the boat (we removed the boards after San Diego), getting the skid fin bolted on, mounting props, and doing all of that “first day at the race site” stuff.<br></br><br></br>Getting the…</p>
<p>Day one of the Oryx Cup Experience is in the books. We started off with the breakfast at the hotel, which wasn’t too bad, although “Veal Bacon” is NOT Bacon. Make no mistake about that. There was a lot of setup to do on the boat today, so much of the morning was spent heads down, getting electrical systems back in the boat (we removed the boards after San Diego), getting the skid fin bolted on, mounting props, and doing all of that “first day at the race site” stuff.<br/><br/>Getting the boats in and out of the water isn’t too rough (great crane operator!), but the portable docks that are kind of similar to the Tri-Cities layout are big, plastic portable interlocking floaty things that are kind of like Legos. To say that they are not entirely stable would be an understatement. It will be a miracle if somebody doesn’t go off them before the race is done. That said, the water is very warm.<br/><br/>And the DAY was really warm over here too…about 11:30 until about 2 it was Tri-Cities kind-of-hot, and then in the mid to late afternoon, it starts cooling down. By about 4-4:30, it’s very pleasant, with a light breeze coming through and the sun starting to set. When the sun goes down, it’s kind of like in an elementary school play when the narrator says “And the sun went down” and they drop the cardboard sun straight down to the floor. Boom. Game Over. Dark.<br/><br/>At about 5, they opened up the pits to the general public. Some of us were repairing some fiberglass on our experimental wing, so here we were, up to our elbows in Epoxy, cavosil and squeegees when the cry went out, “HEAR THEY COME!” I made a mad dash up to the truck and got some caution barrier tape out to cordon off our little fiberglass workshop. Before we knew it, we were surrounded by throngs of people who were watching our handiwork with great interest. But that was hardly the attraction of the pits. Apparently, a local young man asked Tiffany Troxell Brown and Stephanie Weymouth if he could get a picture taken with them. Before we knew it, there was a huge line of young men lining up with their cameras out, waiting to get THEIR pictures taken with the girls. They got more attention than our boat. Thankfully, Tiffany and Stephanie were very gracious and good sports about the whole thing.<br/><br/>As we packed up and prepared for the trip back to the hotel, it was amazing how many people, complete families, were out after dark, just taking in the sights and checking things out. And all those incredible buildings you see in the Doha skyline shots? Many of them are bathed in colored lights at night, some of which change colors. Really spectacular. Qatar is making a bid for the 2022 World Cup for Soccer, and many of the buildings, signs and banners reflect their enthusiasm for bidding for this. It will be interesting to see if they get it..I think it would be great for them.<br/><br/>Camel Tossing would not be one of the sports, but we were wondering about it. They had a kid’s entertainment area set up, where they had a camel that children could ride, led around by an attendant with a camel leash. As we were leaving the pits tonight, we heard all this racket and commotion and were startled to see a camel in a big sling, being hoisted into the back of a pickup truck. Clearly the camel was not pleased, and one of our team commented, “Oh, look! They’re doing Camel Tossing!” (NOTE TO HARM: Sure wish we could add pictures to Blog Postings!) Thankfully, no animals or crew members were harmed in the transport of this camel.<br/><br/>And that’s about it for today. Our first heat race is tomorrow. Kip has work cut out for him with both the U-96 and the U-7 in our heat, who both qualified faster than we did, but Kip has a way of making those situations work out for us, so keep good vibes out for the U-17. We’ll talk again tomorrow.<br/></p>
<p>R-19</p>2000 miles down, and a boatload to go....tag:thunderboats.ning.com,2010-11-17:6315479:BlogPost:38942010-11-17T00:18:44.000ZPatrick Gleasonhttp://thunderboats.ning.com/profile/PatrickGleason
<p>Made it to Houston, and am waiting to get on the flight to Doha. We board in about an hour. Word is there's free internet in the pit area, so GAME ON as far as blogging, time permitting. There's not much down time when you go racing with Nate.</p>
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<p>Hopefully there will be a few less caterwauling infants on the international segment of this journey. I swear that there is an IBWC (International Babies with Colic) Convention going on Houston. They were all on the flight…</p>
<p>Made it to Houston, and am waiting to get on the flight to Doha. We board in about an hour. Word is there's free internet in the pit area, so GAME ON as far as blogging, time permitting. There's not much down time when you go racing with Nate.</p>
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<p>Hopefully there will be a few less caterwauling infants on the international segment of this journey. I swear that there is an IBWC (International Babies with Colic) Convention going on Houston. They were all on the flight down.</p>
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<p>Later,</p>
<p></p>
<p>R-19</p>
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<p></p>"Are you going to be like that Kid Again?"tag:thunderboats.ning.com,2010-11-15:6315479:BlogPost:38642010-11-15T20:04:46.000ZPatrick Gleasonhttp://thunderboats.ning.com/profile/PatrickGleason
A couple of years ago, Disney ran a commercial on TV. Like most of them, it featured some impossibly cute little window-licker kid tossing and turning in his bed. His watchful mother peeked into his room and said,"Johnny, aren't you asleep yet?", to which the the kid croaked back, "I'm too excited to sleep!"...because mom and dad were taking the family to the Magic Kingdom. Remember that one?<br></br>
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About the same time that a was popular, I was getting ready for my first season-long…
A couple of years ago, Disney ran a commercial on TV. Like most of them, it featured some impossibly cute little window-licker kid tossing and turning in his bed. His watchful mother peeked into his room and said,"Johnny, aren't you asleep yet?", to which the the kid croaked back, "I'm too excited to sleep!"...because mom and dad were taking the family to the Magic Kingdom. Remember that one?<br/>
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About the same time that a was popular, I was getting ready for my first season-long adventure as an unlimited crew member with The Spirit of The Navy team. I was flying out the next morning to Evansville and was pretty jacked up about the trip, though I hadn't said much about it at home, other than asking my wife for a ride to the airport. Anyway, I was tossing and turning the night before the trip and sometime during the wee, small hours, my wife woke up and asked me what was wrong. My response, which was croaked out in the best squeeky-kid falsetto was "I'm too excited to sleep!" <br/>
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I've been to a ridiculous number of boat races since I started following the sport. And, I'm still waiting for me to reach burn-out point. I know everybody does at one time or another, and I have no reason to believe that I'll be any different. I just can't see it coming anytime in the foreseeable future. I know the sport, I know the players, the good, the bad, the BS and everything to expect, which usually happens. The only thing I don't always know is why I keep coming back. It takes the sights, the sounds, the smells and the whole vibe of the experience of being at the race to remind me why I'm still doing this....to make me want to go to another one...and to have my wife look at me in the morning after a crummy night's sleep to say to me, "are you going to be like that Kid again?" That was the question of the morning, and she already knows the answer.<br/>
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So, tomorrow is the day of departure. Nate Brown and one of our crew members left this morning. They will be getting there to get an early jump on getting the boat set up. Current travel plans have the rest of us arriving in Doha Wednesday evening, and I suspect I'll head straight to bed when I land. I've never been very good at sleeping on airplanes, so I'm not sure what to expect with the whole jet lag phenomenon.<br/>
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It will be many of the same faces, the same boats, the same type of racing that we've done all summer long. For me, I'm looking forward to see ow it all plays out in a culture and setting that is as far different as anything I could imagine. Nate wrote an extrememly conservative Game Plan for San Diego, in spite of the fact that the boat is running better and better with each race and the little changes he has been making to setup and ride. Kip is doing an amazing job of acclimating himself to those changes and can drive the wheels off the thing. We all had to buy in to the conservative game plan of San Diego to make sure we had a good, completely intact race boat to send around the globe immediately after San Diego. Once we were through there, Nate promised us that we will go racing "for real" in Doha. Man, I can't wait to see what that looks like. Even though I am the self-professed "FNG" on Our Gang Racing, I continue to be amazed at the talent of the guys that Nate has surrounded himself with, and at Nate's own abilities to stretch the resources that he has into making a race boat that has proven in qualifying that it's fast. Now we get to see what it can do in a racing situation.<br/>
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There's still a little bit of packing left for me to do and a couple loose ends to tie up. WIth any luck, my next post will be from somewhere "out there."<br/>
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Until then,<br/>
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R-19"You're going WHERE to do WHAT???"tag:thunderboats.ning.com,2010-11-05:6315479:BlogPost:32562010-11-05T22:10:31.000ZPatrick Gleasonhttp://thunderboats.ning.com/profile/PatrickGleason
<p>Yep...that seems to be the universal reaction when I tell people that in just over a week from today I will be going to Doha with the U-17 crew to compete in the Oryx Cup. The first response is "will you be safe there?" (am I safe ANYWHERE???), followed by "where is that place?" (turn left at the opening of the Persian Gulf) and then always the big one, "Who's paying for it?" (a very rich Sheik who really, really, really likes boat racing!).<br></br><br></br>Thanks to the HARM's terrific new web…</p>
<p>Yep...that seems to be the universal reaction when I tell people that in just over a week from today I will be going to Doha with the U-17 crew to compete in the Oryx Cup. The first response is "will you be safe there?" (am I safe ANYWHERE???), followed by "where is that place?" (turn left at the opening of the Persian Gulf) and then always the big one, "Who's paying for it?" (a very rich Sheik who really, really, really likes boat racing!).<br/><br/>Thanks to the HARM's terrific new web site, it appears I have a nice little venue to chronicle this trip. I'm not gonna lie, and I'll tell you right up front that I don't know how often I will be able to update this once I hit the road, and posts may be short and sweet, long and rambling, and at times bordering on incoherent...all the things you love about me anyway, right? That being said, I will do my best to tell you what's going on, my impressions of Doha, things I see that tickle me, and stuff that you will hopefully find of interest...Insha' Allah, and assuming I can find wireless connections there. We leave on Tuesday the 16th, when we fly from Sea-Tac to Houston, then from Houston to Doha.<br/><br/>Stay tuned...this should be fun. <br/><br/>sponsonhead</p>
<p>R-19</p>