And practical... There is at least one El Toro sailor/racer who does just that - makes a wind vane out of a bird feather, gently ironed to flatten and then mounted on some kind of lightweight piece of wire that pierces the quill and is affixed to the masthead. He described it on the El Toro list somewhere earlier this year. FWIW: http://www.eltoroyra.org/index.htm I have #769, a pretty darn old plywood El Toro, awaiting some rehabilitation on the hull to get her back in sailing shape. cheers, John S. On 11/24/2016 08:45 AM, Thomas Buzzi wrote:
How about one feather at the masthead wind vane? Classy.
On Thu, Nov 24, 2016 at 10:07 AM, Conbert Benneck <chbenneck@gmail.com> wrote:
Hi gang,
In Connecticut I have observed wild turkeys flying from one field to another. They have big powerful wings.
The thought just struck me; with Thanksgiving today, maybe you should make certain to keep all the turkey feathers you can get from your turkey and those of your neighbor's.
When all the Black Friday hoorah is over, and the dark winter days are here, then you might consider stitching your saved turkey feathers together to make a wonderful, very light weight and effective feather spinnaker for your M15 for the coming sailing season, instead of watching the TV and football.
Just think, you'll be the envy of your fellow sailors for the original idea, and for its effectiveness when sailing in whisper breezes....
So, save the turkey feathers, recycle them and put them to good use, and have a great Thanksgiving.
Connie
-- John Schinnerer - M.A., Whole Systems Design -------------------------------------------- - Eco-Living - Whole Systems Design Services People - Place - Learning - Integration john@eco-living.net - 510.982.1334 http://eco-living.net http://sociocracyconsulting.com