4th of July

 Have an amazing

4th of July!

Hope you enjoy story of the Star Spangled Banner as most have never heard it, 

and two musical renditions of the Star Spangled Banner, 

which will reminds us all why this nation is so amazing.

(scroll down)!

Rock out to this amazing rock n roll version of the Star Spangle Banner.

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Race 2 Alaska 2024

Hello fellow sailors, its time again for the Race 2 Alaska (R2AK) 2024, actually I am posting a bit late as some teams have already arrived in Ketichan Alaska, the big fast boats. I actually don't really follow the big boats but the small boats, boats 20' and under, kayaks, paddleboards, small day sailor dinghies, and Hobie cats.

This year I went to watch the start of the race, actually I arrived the day before to attend the pre race party and check out many of the boats and their gear (pics and more info coming soon). I was able to talk to many of the racers. They all seemed to be down to earth, regular people who have a desire for adventure and to test their abilities, yet none of them took lightly the challenge ahead.

I will be posting pics and boat and gear details via more post shortly.

The race started at 5:am on Sunday June 6. Many of the participants were up and getting their boats ready to go at 3:am, or earlier. I got up at 3:am and about half the racers were already at their boats.

The racers I was most interested in is Team Spirit of Nevetz skipper by Ohad Shafrir from Israel aboard his 16' catamaran (X Cat); Team Tips Up skippered by John Ped & Kaila Pfrang from Colorado USA aboard their 16' Hobie catamaran; Team X skippers by Xia Huang from USA/Singapore/China aboard his Hobie Mirage Tandem Island; Team Willy Wild Cat skippered by Adam Cove from Maine USA aboard his cat boat monohull; I was going to mention a few other teams but by this writing, sadly they have all ended their attempts, Did Not Finish.

More news coming. Visit R2AK.comVisit R2AK.com

Memorial Day

SEE MEMORIAL SERVICES Times below for the Coeur d'Alene and Hayden Idaho area. Contact your local military group(s) for events in your area.

 

I thought it was only fitting I supply you with this article about honoring those that have fallen in war to keep us free. See Article Below!

And I personally would like to thank those who USA military family members have paid the ultimate sacrifice to keep us free, not just in this country but also for the world. There is no greater love than to give your life for another!

May we all remember their sacrifices today and forever. Let us visit their graves, support gold star families, and help lift where we stand, in our communities. Let us always stand, put our hands over our hearts, and take off our hats for the national anthem. And let us remember to defend the US Constitution at all costs via voting for those who know and uphold it, and by getting involved in our local communities. To truly honor the fallen is to uphold that which they fought and died for.

And to add to this, today is to specifically remember our fallen US military members and no one else! Memorial Day Monday is more than just another holiday. See Memorial events at the end of this page to enhance our remembrance. Also watch a USA military movie to remember the fallen, such as the Band of Brothers, Pearl Harbor, Midway, etc. Make a comment below related to your favorite war movies and memories of the fallen.

Have a wonderful Memorial Day!

Skipper Miles Moore

MEMORIAL ARTICLE by the Navy SEAL who killed Usama bin Laden

Don't wish me a happy Memorial Day

Don’t wish me a happy Memorial Day. There is nothing happy about the loss of the brave men and women of our armed forces who died in combat defending America. Memorial Day is not a celebration.

Memorial Day is a time for reflection, pause, remembrance and thanksgiving for patriots who gave up their own lives to protect the lives and freedom of us all – including the freedom of generations long gone and generations yet unborn. We owe the fallen a debt so enormous that it can never be repaid.

Memorial Day is a time to honor the lives of those who would rather die than take a knee when our national anthem is played. But they will fight and die for the rights of those who kneel.

This holiday is a time to think of young lives cut short, of wives and husbands turned into widows and widowers, of children growing up without a father or mother, of parents burying their children.

Memorial Day is a time to think of might have beens that never were. Of brave Americans who put their country before themselves. Without these heroes, America would not be America.

Unfortunately, for many Americans this solemn holiday might as well be called Summer Day – marking the unofficial start of the season of barbecues, days at the beach, time spent on baseball fields and golf courses, hiking and enjoying the great the outdoors. All those things are great – we all appreciate them and they are some of the best things in life.

But Memorial Day is not Summer Day. Nor was the holiday created as a way to promote sales of cars, furniture or clothes.

Another Memorial Day brings with it a whole lot more than the start of summer. Since last Memorial Day, grass is now growing above the final resting places of many young men and women whose lives were taken too soon while defending our country in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and other far-off places many Americans have rarely heard of.

When Army Sgt. La David Johnson, Staff Sgt. Bryan Black, Sgt. 1st Class Jeremiah Johnson and Staff Sgt. Dustin Wright were killed last October in an ISIS ambush in Niger, many Americans asked: We have troops in Niger? These unknown soldiers lost their lives protecting you – every one of you reading these words.   

Think about this: Millions of high-school seniors are walking across auditorium stages this season, receiving their diplomas. Most will go on to college or jobs, but some will choose a career of military service, joining the second generation of American warriors fighting in the Global War on Terror – a war that began with the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks that took the lives of almost 3,000 people in our homeland.

Most of these new recruits – who were not even born or who were just infants when the 9/11 attacks took place – will make it home just fine. But some will not. I pray that I am wrong, but the sad truth is that the number of American war dead on Memorial Day in 2019 will be higher than it is on this Memorial Day.  

On Memorial Day, I salute my brothers and sisters-in-arms who have served beside me in War on Terror. My heart especially goes out to the families of those who did not return home. In fact, I think about all those who served and those who have given their lives fighting for America from our county’s earliest days in the Revolutionary War. They all have my gratitude.

We think we are strong, but in war any of us can be turned into just a memory in an instant. And war seems to have been the universal experience of just about every society on the planet at one time or another, for as long as there have been human societies.

How do we stop the wars resulting in such tragic waste of lives? How do we stop the number of American war dead and war dead in other nations from growing? I wish I knew the answer. But battle lines are being drawn and redrawn, and wars and terrorist attacks just keep going on and on. Weapons are getting bigger. Bombs are becoming smarter and more lives are being lost every day all over the world, leading to more death, more anger and more war.

Some are so loyal to their cause that they strap bombs on their bodies or fly passenger jets into buildings. They conduct beheadings. They set prisoners on fire. How do we find common ground with them? Do we even try to find common ground, or do we finally take the gloves off and start landing punches intended to take our enemy out for good?

I’ve been on over 400 Army combat missions and have seen more war than most Americans. More than I care to remember, but cannot forget. There is never a shortage of war. War spreads faster than fire and like fire it leaves destruction in its wake.

It hurts my heart as an American every time I see another service member’s body being brought home draped in an American flag. But it hurts my heart as a human being with every act of war we are all unleashing against each other around the world.

This Memorial Day, I urge all Americans to remember all the fallen sailors, soldiers, airmen, Marines and Coast Guard members who have so bravely served our country, as well as their families.

And I urge all Americans to join me in the hope and prayer that somehow, someday people around the world will focus more on our similarities than our differences and that we will move closer to a time when war is just a memory – part of our past but not our future.

Robert O'Neill is a Fox News contributor and ex-Navy SEAL best known as “the man who killed Usama bin Laden.” O'Neill joined the Navy in 1996 and deployed as a SEAL more than a dozen times, participating in more than 400 combat missions across four different theaters of war.

Hello everyone! I hope you all will find a Memorial Day ceremony in your area and go to it to honor our fallen Heroes. I know I will as I have family that have served and one son who is serving now in the Navy. We need to make this day more than a day to buy things and barbecue, etc. It should be a day of reverence.

Here below are two events in my area that honor our fallen Heroes.

Plus after noted events is an amazing article by the Navy Seal who killed Usama bin Laden. A very inspiring article by an American hero who teaches how to truly observe Memorial Day.

MONDAY/MEMORIAL DAY

Kootenai County Memorial Day events:

• 9 a.m. Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 889 Memorial Day ceremony — McEuen Park, 420 E. Front St., Coeur d'Alene

• 9:30 a.m. Hayden Veterans Commission and U.S. Submarine Veterans Inc. wreath laying on Hayden Lake — Honeysuckle Beach, 2369 E. Honeysuckle Ave., Hayden

• 11 a.m. Marine Corps League Detachment 966 Memorial Day ceremony — Coeur d'Alene Memorial Gardens, 7315 N. Government Way, Coeur d'Alene

• 11 a.m. American Legion Post 143 Memorial Day ceremony — Evergreen Cemetery, 2834 N. Spokane St., Post Falls

• 11 a.m. Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 889 Memorial Day ceremony — Forest Cemetery, 1001 N. Government Way, Coeur d'Alene

• 11 a.m. Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3603 Memorial Day ceremony — Pleasant View Cemetery, 1298 S. Goldfinch Road, Post Falls

• 11 a.m. Hayden Veterans Commission Memorial Day ceremony — McIntire Family Park, 8930 N. Government Way, Hayden

• Noon, American Legion Post 154 and the city of Rathdrum Memorial Day ceremony — Pinegrove Cemetery, 6693 W. Highway 53, Rathdrum

• Noon, Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1473 Memorial Day ceremony — Greenwood Cemetery, 400 10th Ave., Spirit Lake

Worrell 1000

The Worrell 1000 is back and is currently happening right now from May 12-25, along the east Coast of the United States. This was the race that all long distance high performance catamaran small boat sailors wanted to do, but it ended in the late1990's, but now its back in 2024.

Check it out at this link... https://worrell1000race.com/

Facebook... https://www.facebook.com/Worrell1000/about

Race live tracking... http://kws.kattack.com/WPlayer/WPosDisplay.aspx?FeedID=1983

Race live video... https://www.facebook.com/100063474465855/videos/1124729012137083

SailGP Racing

Next SailGP Racing series at Canada, June 1-2, 2024.

Watch SailGP F50 foiling catamaran racing live or via replay on Youtube.com/sailgp

It was great to see a team other than the typical New Zealand and Australia teams win it all for this series on March 23, 2024. Team Australia was pretty much dominating throughout the racing with New Zealand close on their heels but in the final with these teams Spain was able to pull off a very convincing win. Team Canada and France had moments of great performance but were not able to keep it consistent enough to get into the final (Canada was close).

One might want to ask how Team USA did? Well they capsized on a practice race the day before the official racing started. The wing trimmer adjusted the wing in the wrong direction resulting in the capsize and with that the wing was damaged and they were officially out of the racing in Bermuda. They SUCKED as usual!

Race Day 1-2 Highlights

Full Race Day Videos

Lake CdA Carboard Boat Race

We are proud to announce the 1st annual Historical Lake Coeur d'Alene (CdA) Cardboard Boat Race.

The theme of this event is to commemorate our rich Historical Lake CdA Steamboats history.

Our goal for this event is simple, to bring the community together to laugh and cheer on the participants. This event is for both the racers and spectators.

Many of the participants are taking great care to build their boats, others not so much :)

There is a $10 non refundable fee to insure participants are serious about competing and to cover a bit of our expenses. By paying the fee you are then signed up to participate. Click here to sign up and please read the rules.

Racing starts at 10:AM, July 19th, 2025 at Independence Point in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho USA.

To learn more about about our steamboat history please visit the Museum of North Idaho and Historical Lake Coeur d'Alene (coming soon).

REGISTER

 

REGISTER

Choose Fun To Sail

 

Unmanned boat crashes into sailboat

   

A news report from 3 years ago reported that an unmanned inflatable boat crashes into a sailboat In Mission Bay, CA. USA, injuring 1 on the sailboat. "Officials from the San Diego Lifeguard Service said they heard reports just after 6 p.m. of an unmanned vessel crashing. The boat's operators somehow lost control of it and ended up in the water, lifeguards say."

So what really happened, if you watch the video it is obvious the person operating the boat fell overboard while under way (as reported). The operator did not have the ignition safety lanyard connect to their life jacket/clothing. This means this when the operator fell overboard the lanyard was hanging from the motor safety ignition switch allowing the motor to continue running. If the operator had it connected to their clothing the motor would have shut off immediately and prevented the accident.

Sadly this is an all to common boating mishap. The safety shut off switch and lanyard are their for a reason but many boaters ignore it much to the determent of their and others safety.

Falling over and having the boat continue far beyond you is only one of many issues. The boat leaving you of course can be a problem, particularly if one does not have a life jacket on. Many times the boat motor will kick to one side of the boat make the boat go in a circle, call the spiral of death because the boat can come back and run you over. The other issue is the boat continuing on without you can result in the boat running into others.

So freaking put your darn lanyard on, weather you driving a small fishing boat, or a ski or wake boat, or outboard motor on a sailboat, etc. connect the lanyard clip to you!

 

Entitled Boater

Those of us who boat a lot know entitled boaters all to well, add on top of it when a person feels they are better than others because they are financially rich it just adds another layer of annoyance. We all have seen it way to many times. Such a person is Ace Rogers, a rich businessmen (digital marketing firm in University City CA called Doctor Multimedia). He tried to dock (his hired skipper under his orders) his ridiculously priced 4.5m Lamborghini yacht at a private dock and when the dock hand said you can not dock here because its a private dock this entitled man started yelling at him, to the point that he said he would kill him. Hate speech is bad but not a crime, but threats of violence is a whole other level. He did apologize after being called out online. The dock worker should get a raise for being so composed.

Post Falls Dam Construction

The Post Falls Dam is going through some renovations in Spring 2024. None of the work is going to affect boating on the river or the lake. Dam was finished in 1906 and now needs some updates. It is amazing how this dam was built so well and has lasted so long.

To learn more about the dams construction schedule and details visit these links...

https://www.myavista.com/about-us/about-our-energy-mix/post-falls-ncd

https://investor.avistacorp.com/news-releases/news-release-details/avistas-post-falls-hydroelectric-dam-selected-us-department

See the past construction work done on the dam