OT-- boat lovin' -- look here if you love boat stories

[Grizz]

Most of ya know I'm a boat person, whatever that means.

This is part of what it means:

http://empresspublications.com/xy/boat_love.htm

Enjoy. And kudos to whoever figures out where there's lever action to be found aboard...

Grizz

[rjohns94]

Very Kewl. I too am a boat person. A sail boat person to be exact. I enjoyed the read and history of the stories.

[mescalero1]

I am not a boat person, but that was still cool.

[Grizz]

Very Kewl. I too am a boat person. A sail boat person to be exact. I enjoyed the read and history of the stories.

Thanks Mike,

Yeah, I've sailed some and am looking at options to go again. Believe it or not, and I hardly believe it myself, I'm considering building a Wharram Cat out of aluminum. She can go almost anywhere, sail in almost no water, take the hard whenever it's useful, and do it with speed.

I was planning to build a sharpie so I could have a beaching gunkholer, but that compromises the seagoing, where the cat can do both. I'm smitten.

[Grizz]

I am not a boat person, but that was still cool.

Thanks. Yeah, it's fun to see what makes people tick. My boat got me out of the rack for lots of years. Well, and the fish that followed her around. And now it's all good.

[JP_TX]

I'll collect those kudos, Griz.

"Enjoy. And kudos to whoever figures out where there's lever action to be found aboard..."

Why the tiller, Skipper. On the Nina, of course.

The furthest I have skippered a boat was from Marina Del Rey to San Diego via Long Beach, Newport, Dana Point, Oceanside, and Mission Bay. Loved that trip more than I could explain. There and back via Avalon, Catalina Island.

The whole beautiful aventurous trip, as a new boat with a new sailer with only a compass and a chart. And with my wife of course in a 20' cuddy cabin powerboat.

I had my boat built by an Orange Co. company from the model at the L.A. boat show. My wife picked out the colors. We watched them spray the gelcoat in the mold. We loved that boat. One of the worst days I can recall, was the day I sold it.

You're right. There is something about the bond a person makes with a boat. You commit to keep it safe from shoals and poor seamanship and it commits to keep you safe till you get back home. Easy to understand, but hard for anyone who hasn't done it to know.

I still recall the best quote about sailing that I've ever heard.

"The definition of a sailing adventure, is poor planning."

Thanks for the memorys

JP

[rjohns94]

I would love to hear how your build comes on that cat! I have a Friendship sloop and will be moving aboard I think in the near future. No telling what horizons i will sail to then.

[horsesoldier03]

Very Kewl. I too am a boat person. A sail boat person to be exact. I enjoyed the read and history of the stories.

Thanks Mike,

Yeah, I've sailed some and am looking at options to go again. Believe it or not, and I hardly believe it myself, I'm considering building a Wharram Cat out of aluminum. She can go almost anywhere, sail in almost no water, take the hard whenever it's useful, and do it with speed.

I was planning to build a sharpie so I could have a beaching gunkholer, but that compromises the seagoing, where the cat can do both. I'm smitten.

As a land lover, it all sounds GREEK to me, but I do understand that there is a LEVERGUN aboard!

[Grizz]

Good idea horsesoldier, but I said lever. I wonder about Columbus's arms. I think he had muskets and probably small canon, but don't have any immediate information. Something to explore.

JP had a great call and of course gets double kudos because he found a lever I wasn't referring to. The other lever fits in the windlass to raise the anchor. That wood barrel forward is fitted with mortises that staves fit into. Then the sailors wrap the anchor line around the drum and raise the anchor one click at a time. I had the benefits of hydraulics on my boat, and had a version of that drum on my anchor winch that I used for kedging the boat or handling anchor problems. One day I snagged an extra two hundred pound anchor that was my spare for ten years.

Mike, Nina was at the Center for Wooden Boats where they had a Friendship Sloop in the water. Really beautiful and a sailor's boat for certain. That's another boat that looks very friendly and accomodating, with well earned reputations.
http://www.cwb.org/BoatDatabaseSailLarge.htm Scroll down to the picture of the sloop Amie with her tanbark sails set. What a beauty.

My project is in the dreaming stage right now. It's hard to find study plans of the boats I'm interested in, I'm looking though.

Grizz

[Malamute]

" I wonder about Columbus's arms. I think he had muskets and probably small canon, but don't have any immediate information...."


I haven't looked at your link yet, so maybe I'm missing the point,.... but one of my favorite parts of the new version of "King Kong" was when they were preparing to go ashore and rescue those that the creepy natives took. I like the way the captain thought. He must have been a boy scout.

[Hobie]

I love such things as I was recently telling Mike. However, I guess the furthest I've sailed on my own was a circumnavigation of Lake George, New York. Sailing, not motoring... I'm now blessed to have an Old Town Pack Canoe and memories of many happy days serving in Grandfather's crew (which were me!). Thanks for the story. Neat!

[rjohns94]

here is the photo show of my boat, done by its previous owner. I bought the boat in may of 07.

http://photoshow.comcast.net/watch/vR5gK5hd


and for those on dial up, here is a single picture:

[Blaine]

When you get Her done, can we Pen Test Her? I'll bet the 525 makes the biggest dent

[Grizz]

When you get Her done, can we Pen Test Her? I'll bet the 525 makes the biggest dent

What, you don't think it would lodge in the offside skin?

You can hold the orange skillet.

Mike, your boat is gorgeous. Remember, adventures are for readers, sailors don't need any extra excitement. I can imagine the pleasure of sailing that beauty in a whole sail breeze with coffee brewing on the fire, the rising moon replacing the setting sun, and the steering stars appearing one by one. Do you have cruising plans?

[GANJIRO]

Grizz, you lived a life my Dad and me only dreamed. He always had dories in his life, and thus so did I we even building one together back in the early 80s. But the only other boat worth mentioning was his 22' Seabright Skiff he had built in the Yokohama Shipyards in 1963 which he named the "Petrel". This boat was a gaff rigged sloop with a 3hp Yanmar single cylinder diesel. He had the boat shipped to Hawaii in 1966 when he got transfered here, and I have so many pleasant memories of time on that little with Dad on the week ends in Kaneohe Bay. If I can locate a picture I will post. He always had this dream of after retiring to build a larger vessel and live aboard it, but my mom a landlubber would have nothing to do with that idea. I remember going over numerous boat plans with him before settling on a design we both fell in love with, a 32' Colin Archer type double ended gaff rigged Ketch design by John Atkins the "ERIC". http://www.boat-links.com/Atkinco/Sail/Eric.html


We would spend hours together looking over charts of the Pacific planning our trips into the South Pacific with the Society Islands, the Marquesas, and the Tuamotus high on the list. I still have all the charts with the "great circle" courses still marked on them as well as a whole library of boat books with designs by Colin Archer, John Atkins, John Hanna (the Tahiti Ketch another popular design with us, I know a tad under sailed but who's in a rush?). I haven't really looked at these since Dad passed away a year ago the 15th of June, but I think I can handle it now. Thanks for the inspiration. Thank you too Mike for sharing pictures of the "Lady E" with us, she is a beauty and my Dad would have heartily approved he always having a soft spot for gaff rigs of any type. My Dad's only sibling his older sister Evelyn whom he was very close too he always referred to by the nickname "E". She still lives in Hingham, Mass. and I think I will write her, it's been a while since I have. Thanks for the post, it has brought back many pleasant memories I forgot about. I've got something in my eyes for I better stop here. Thanks again.

[Grizz]

Ah Ji, we're connected more than you know. I've wanted to sail around the world all my life. I love Atkins boats too, and I built Thistle, the flush deck version of Eric, out of ferrocement when that was all the craze. Hull only. It was nearly perfect. But I took off to Alaska and never got back to her, eventually trading the hull off. I have no idea what became of her.

I nearly stopped work on Thistle to build Clione, which is one of the best Bill ever drew. But it had taken me a year to get the lines drawn full size and I didn't want to start over. Memories eh?

I hope I can sail your way some day. It'd be easy to get a 26 footer going, they're cheap around here, but I don't care for fiberglass and I love aluminum on the water. But I can't buy the materials for a cat for the amount of shekels that I can get a fiberglass boat going for.....


Eric is the first boat to circumnavigate solo non-stop.

http://www.boat-links.com/Atkinco/Sail/Thistle.html

Thistle is the identical hull with a different rig and deck arrangement.

Regards

[GANJIRO]

This is SO interesting, the Thistle was also one of my Dad's favorite, and I believe I have plans for her somewhere in my Dad's collection. My Dad too back in the late 60s got all thrilled about the ferro cement craze and was seriously considering building one in our backyard, and floating her down the canal to the ocean. I still have the Ferro Cement study plans in the library. He had his choice down to "C-Mist" by Samson Marine.
He liked the hull but preferred a ketch over a sloop so drew in a ketch rig to his liking.



Back in '95 when I worked for the State Harbors Division I spotted a 26' "Eric Jr." for sale at a local harbor. It was made from strip diagonal planking with epoxy resin and fiberglass coating. This boat was solid and in beautiful condition and the owner wanted $5600.00 which I though was a great deal. I excitedly went and told my Dad of plans to buy her, and sale her thru the islands but he talked me out of it, I think by this time his dreams of sailing were over.

[rjohns94]

Grizz. I have plans to up anchor in the next few years. Working on paying down debt and getting ready to live off my retirement check. First sails will be down the coast to the carribean. After that, I want to continue down through the ditch in panama, to the galapagos islands, then into Ji's territory, then on to south pacific tahiti, and a few others, then to new zealand, Australia, up through the med, the azores and carribean, completing an around the globe trip in the wrong direction !!! I may skip the ditch and dip down through the inside passage around the horn. Anyway, those are my plans, no time schedule. I have been working on the boat increasing storage, adding equipment and studying up.

[jeepnik]

Darned, not what I thought when I read the title. I've had some "boat lovin'" and really like it. But back on topic, great story.

[JP_TX]

rjohns94,

You've got a very trim cutter there.

JP

[Grizz]

Ji, An Eric Jr in f'glass sold last winter in TX for $4500. An unbelievably good buy. It was on the hard at a lake and needed trucking to real water.

When I built the hull of Thistle in the Bay area there were fifty fc boats under construction. I worked on plastering day on a lot of them and I wound up with the best crew and best results I'd seen. I've known a couple of fc commercial fishing boats. They do fine unless they hit a rock. That knocks enough concrete out of the armature that the boat just sinks straight away. Something that would be survivable in a wood or glass or metal boat. They are frangible.

There were lots of Samson designs being built, a number of Benford designs, and three Atkin Ingrids built as sisters on the piers in San Francisco.

My sailboat at the time was a replica of the boat in the SF Maritime Museum that Konichi Hori sailed from Tokyo to SF, the first solo west to east crossing on record. I used to sail in and out of the Berkeley harbor with no engine. The good old days. I wish I'd met you and your Dad, I bet we would have dreamed up a pile of good memories. I have the sailing charts to cross to your chain of volcanos, but now days I'd just use the gps and steer by stars at night. I'm still dreaming young men's dreams, that's for sure...

Thanks for sharing them with me, it's great.

Grizz

[Grizz]

Mike,

I'd love that passage thru the Magellan Straight. I just read a book about his voyage and his discovery of the passage. I'll send you the name when I recall it. It's more than worth reading, and it could be a travel guide for parts of your own trip.

Don't forget about the ring of fire, and the Baranof voyages, and the Drake travels and the Spanish excursions into high latitudes in the eastern pacific, and the Portugese and British incursions into the Orient. There's lots of exciting passages to cross tacks with, and I hope you make every log entry you dream of.

Grizz

[rjohns94]

Grizz,

I am a big fan of Slocum, and his telling of the story of multiple attempts through the straights, placing tacks on the deck to keep the natives from boarding in the dark as he slept in the lee, have captured my soul and dreams.

[GANJIRO]

Grizz, Was that fiberglass Eric Jr. a one-off or was a production boat? $4500 is a steal, Marconi rigged sloop I'm guessing. I think you and Dad would have gotten along finely he too loving the lines of the "Thistle". On of his last dream boats was the Westsail 32 which was a Marconi sloop rig on a fiberglass "Eric" hull, a real beauty though my Dad said he'd change her to a gaff rig sloop if not a ketch.

Mike, I'm in the process of reading Joshua Slocum's adventures a second time, it gets better each round. Just a few months back on the local Craigslist there was a welded steel replica of Slocum's "SPRAY" for sail, and she was a beauty. If you ever make it to the islands and need a crew for one of your island legs look me up, oh heck look me up anyways, the beer's on me. The musical names of the Marquesas Islands Fatu Hiva, Nuku Hiva, Hiva Oa still ring in my ears. You would have liked my Dad too Mike, and crusty old salt with a twinkle in his eyes.

Man I miss my old man so much.

[Grizz]

One of his last dream boats was the Westsail 32 which was a Marconi sloop rig on a fiberglass "Eric" hull

There is an error in the table of offsets of the thistle and eric designs that I discovered in lofting the boat. I had to learn how to loft boats in the process of building, and there is an error in one of the stations very near the stern. I faired the station into the rest of the body lines and produced a perfectly fair hull.

I happened on one of the westsail32s on the hard in Los Angeles and drove straight to it. In the walkaround I could see that their loftsmen had done exactly the same thing to get fair lines. It's obvious because the error is a matter of a couple inch bulge at that station if it isn't faired in correctly. I've often wondered about that. Maybe it wasn't an error, maybe it was a tell, because the offsets for that frame were never corrected that I can tell.

Ah the minutia of the boat lover's attention to details...

Funny thing is, for all the thousands of wharram cats that have been built there is precious little online showing their lines, it's like a well kept secret, whereas Atkin lines are available all over the place.

My wife just gave me a copy of Atkin's Of Yachts and Men, his autobiography plus the genesis of his double enders. I highly recommend it. Atkin is one of the most evocative writers in that field, and his discussion ties in perfectly with the pen and ink sketches of Charles G. Davis. The introduction was written by Charles F. Chapman. How's that for a trio of good guys?



This is the image that sent me over the edge and kept me going for the entire process.

And here's someone's Thistle bound for Maui:

http://www.boat-links.com/Atkinco/Photo ... histle.jpg

Grizz

[rjohns94]

JI, I know I would have liked him. Perhaps on one of those legs as we share the helm of Lady E, your dad's spirit will be evident and abundant about us, dancing in the waves, shining in the dawns and sunsets, and speaking to our spirits as the wind fills our 5 sails. blessings

[GANJIRO]

I look forward to meeting the both of you Mike & Grizz hopefully not in the too distant future.

Here's another of my Dad's final dream boats (they shrunk in size as he got older) a Flicka 20 again he preferring a gaff rig over the Marconi (Bermuda) rig. He especially liked the Pacific Seacraft version though they were pricey.
http://flicka20.net/Articles/AbouttheFl ... fault.aspx
http://www.flicka20.com/

[rjohns94]

i almost bought a flicka, beautiful boats. They are notoriously slow though. I purchased a cape dory instead, nothing like the flicka. I sold the cape dory a year later to go up in size to the friendship sloop. I almost bought a Westsail 32, just couldn't close the deal. I love the gaff rigged boats. So much class. I hope one day to own a Gozzard 37. My dream boat. http://gozzard.com/main/g37/

[GANJIRO]

The funny thing about my Dad is didn't mind the slower boats the Fliocka and the Tahiti both reputed as slow and undersailed, any excuse to stay out on the water longer I'm guessing. That Gozzard 37 is a beauty, Is she considered a Friendship Sloop? If you're gonna dream, dream big. Would you mind sharing some details of the "Lady E"? She is a beauty.

[rjohns94]

Ji:

here is the data on Lady E, (E stands for Escape). She is coast guard registered. She was made in 1971 by Bruno & Stillman. she has wooden spars, gaff and booms. Five sails, three forward (jib, staysail, top staysail,) along with Gaff Main and topsail. She is powered with a 60 hp volvo engine. Her large open cockpit seats plenty on 6 foot benches port and starboad, as well as two either side of her teak helm wheel. Storage is under those cockpit seats. down below to starboard and port are berths. Nav station to starboard, sink and ice box to port. folding table offset to port. Small reefer under nav station. Two burner alcohol stove on starboard. Head is forward on port side. Closet on Starboard. V berths forward with chest of drawers under. The 54 foot mast is keel stepped dead center of the v berth area. Chain locker and storage forward. There is storage under the berths, and outboard of the berths. Water tanks were removed to gain more storage, now a water maker run off dc power can make water while at sea, otherwise its kept in gerry tanks. Bronze ports run fore and aft both sides, with screens. I have fans inside, air circulation is via solar fans in the two hatches in the cabin. The boat's duel batteries are charged via the engine's alternator or the solar panels topside. The boom is 31 feet long. The jib is club footed. All sails forward and aloft are controlled by roller furlers (manual) that lead back to the cockpit. I can control all the sails from the cockpit except the main (3 reefs). The boat is designed to stop. that means, you sheet on the jib hard, let the main run free and the boat will point into the wind and stop. The jib keeps the boat pointing into the wind. This was to allow the lobsterman to sail up to a lobster pot, stop the boat and haul the trap and reset it. To get started again, you just haul in on the main sheet and off you go. I had her out in 30 foot seas in a gail off the coast of Mass. and not one wave made it to the cockpit in the 16 hours of storms. Her 6 tons just rode up the waves very very easy. She makes close to 8 knots undersail and can carry alot of sail area high up so she can make way in a whisper of a wind. that 54 mast really pokes up there. She has a 10 foot bowsprit ahead of her 31 feet LOA. She has mahogony on the interior and carries her lead ballast in the bilges. She is kept dry by two bilge pumps.

:

[rjohns94]

What is a friendship sloop?
Friendship Sloops



Along the shore a beautiful gaff-rigged sloop majestically cuts through the water taking each wave masterfully and with poise. On a nearby wharf a man turns to a friend to inquire about the impressive sloop sailing by. "Why, it's a Friendship" is the reply. Wherever a Friendship Sloop can be seen, sailing or moored, there will be people to admire her graceful lines and sailing ability.

The Friendship Sloop has no real birth, but was gradually developed around 1880 from the fishing and lobstering needs of the men of Muscongus Bay on the Maine coast. It is certain some of these fishermen had seen a Gloucester fishing boat, and being impressed with lines, had incorporated some of its features into their own hull designs. These men did not build a "class boat" where every hull is the same length. From existing records we find that the original builders constructed sloops varying in length of 21' - 50'. Probably the average length would be about 30' - 40'. The basic designed was scaled up or down depending on length, and followed a pre-set formula. They all had an elliptical stern, and most of them a clipper bow, and were gaffed rigged. The pre-set formula included such measurements as: the beam equaled one third the overall length, and the length of the mast should equal the length overall plus half the draft, etc.

Boat shops dotted the coastline of Bremen, Bremen Long Island, Morse Island, Cushing, Thomaston, and Friendship. In 1903 there were 22 sloops being built on the shores of Bremen Long Island alone. Many of the men went into the woods to cut their own wood, and hauled it to the saw mill with horses. The island builders floated their sawed planks (25' - 36') suspended over two dories to get it to their offshore boat houses. Each builder had some little secret innovation which in his estimation made his model better than the others.

The wives were put to work when it came time to make the sails. Usually the builder took the sail cloth out in the field to cut the pieces the way he wanted them. Then his wife had to take a "bite" down through each piece, and set it together. All this was done with a treadle sewing machine.

Launching was done in many ways. Some sloops were dragged onto the ice in the spring and left to float as the ice melted. Others were hauled to the water by oxen.

The usual procedure was for the fisherman to spend his winter building the sloop, fish with it all summer, sell her in the fall and start the process over again come winter. She was sold for what the builder had in it, usually $350 - $500. This schedule enabled him to have a boat to work from and something to keep him busy all winter.

There are many names that are remembered as builders: Carters, McLains, Collomores, Winchenbachs, Morses and others but Wilbur Morse's name comes up as father of the Friendship Sloop because of the large number that come from his shop. It is said a sloop was launched every two or three months. Because of Wilbur's mass production and his shop being in Friendship, this great sloop acquired the name of the town he was building in.

Thus it was before the turn of the century one could see Friendship Sloops all over the bay engaged in seining for herring, hand lining for cod, sword fishing, mackereling, and lobstering. Lobstering today is a difficult enough job with all the modern-day motors, electronic gear and the like, but to haul and bait traps, plus managing a huge sail and keeping a boat with about a five foot draft off the rocks must have been a full-sized order for most men. When an eighty-year old lobsterman was asked about this, he said, "Lead out the sheet of the mains'l quite a way, and trim the jib tight while you're hauling. The sloop will lay good then."

The advent of motors and modern equipment around 1915 almost relegated this great craft to extinction, but her fine lines, her seaworthiness, and her great record have added "yachting" to her long list of uses. Many a yachtsman has been awed by the graceful lines of this sloop. Bernard MacKenzie of Scituate was one such sailor. He sailed his beautiful Voyager in a Boston Power Squadron race in 1960, and in the strong winds, won the race. This inspired him to have a Homecoming Race in Friendship. In 1961 fourteen Sloops sailed in a regatta, and the Friendship Sloop Society was born. Each year now a regatta sponsored by the Society is held in July in Maine and Connecticut. It is also held in Massachusetts during August.

The Friendship Sloop's fishing career has given way to progress, but her charm will live forever.

[rjohns94]

[JerryB]

I have really enjoyed reading ya'lls sailing stories, but I reckon I'll just stick with my old canoe on the clear cold creeks and rivers of North Arkansaw with lotsa smallmouth and trout.

[Grizz]

The Friendships are truly outstanding and yours is a knockout.

Someone once asked a lobsterman how he knew where all the rocks are and he said he didn't know where they all are, "I just know where they aint." That's about 95% of a safe voyage right there.

[Grizz]

Ji and Mike,

You might get a kick out of this. It's the FAA WX cam sight on Cape Spencer.

http://akweathercams.faa.gov/sitelist.php

You have to scroll the list and click on Cape Spencer

After that click on the SouthEast Loop button.

After the disclaimer appears click on the top left thumbnail.
Then click on Play. You can use the slower button to control the loop speed.

The body of water is Cross Sound, the inlet across is Lisianski Inlet, and my house is 4 miles south of that little island down the way.

There is a map on the main Cape Spencer page that shows the orientation and view you see from that camera. Those images are approximately ten minute intervals and gives credence to the saying "if you don't like the weather just wait ten minutes." The Sound is benevolent today. Plenty of boats have come to grief and many boats and ships have foundered in the waters around Cape Spencer. I am intimately familiar with those spots, cruised through those rocky channels and anchored many times inside of Cape Spencer Light and up Dick's Arm for better shelter from the weather. There is a passage through the rocks going to the west that we use as a short cut to avoid the Spencer rips.

My home stomping grounds...

Grizz

[Rusty]

Thanks guys this has sure been an interesting read. I've often thought how great it would be to be able to fish the no motor zones around here with a shallow draft sail craft of some kind. No motor right? that's where the fish are the most plentiful anyway.

[rjohns94]

Rusty: I recently sold this boat and it was the ultimate thin water, quiet waters sailing vessel. I sailed and fished off this boat in rivers and lakes and bay.

[GANJIRO]

Aloha Mike, Thank you for the detailed reply on Lady E's specs, she is a beauty. Interesting coincidence but back in '74 when my Dad retired from 33 years of US Army, and Army Civil service he seriously considered getting back into commercial fishing (he commercial fished for Cod & Pollack back in New England before WWII). He looked around for various commercial designs but settled on a classic Maine Lobster Boat a 35 footer made by Bruno & Stillman. He always consulted me on boat designs and I remember going over the brochures and study plans, and loving the lines of this classic Lobster Boat. Like so many of Dad's dreams this one for some reason or another also fell thru. So many dreams, so little time.
Is the Bruno & Stillman yard still in business? Is your hull also a balsa wood core like their Lobster Boats were?
Very small world.
Love the red sails on your little boat.

[rjohns94]

Bruno and Stillman are no longer in business. The friendship is fiberglass. they built very few of them, most people could not afford the workboat at yacht prices. The melonseed is one of my favorite all time sailboats. IT defines sailing for me I parted with it recently to focus getting Lady E ready to live on.

[GANJIRO]

Sad to hear about Bruno & Stillman, they made quality boats.

I'm in the process of rigging my aluminum Grumman canoe for sailing so I can slow troll the bay in peace and quiet efficiently, I installed a leeboard, aluminum mast, and rudder, and bought a used 60sf windsurfer sail for 20 bucks but haven't tried it yet, the pink and yellow stripes are a tad gaudy.

[Grizz]

Looks good. Did you make the ama? Is there one to stbd. Not a proa with mast in one end, unless you're moving the mast... Tell us more about it and let's see that gaudy sail...

and one more, why is the ama and the "steer-board" on the port side, eh?

[GANJIRO]

Looks good. Did you make the ama? Is there one to stbd. Not a proa with mast in one end, unless you're moving the mast... Tell us more about it and let's see that gaudy sail...

and one more, why is the ama and the "steer-board" on the port side, eh?

Aloha Grizz, The ama is from an older one-man outrigger canoe that the seller threw in no extra charge but I had to fabricate my own iako (aka) from CPVC pipe with wood closet rod inserted for extra rigidity and strength. I did my canoe Hawaiian style with one ama (float), and on the port side like all Hawaiian canoes. Not sure why it's done that way, but when in Rome...
I have my outboard motor bracket on the port side also so the ama can help support the weight, and more in center drag wise, and I have one clean side without obstruction to tie up to my pier on. The easiest (read cheapest) solution to mounting a rudder was to use the motor bracket, clamp-on oarlock, and install the oarlock socket on the motor bracket. I used an extra paddle I had, and leftover closet rod to make a rudder, hopefully she holds though I'm not planning any trans-Pacific sails at the moment. I'm still trying to decided whether to use a bulky windsurfer bloom or fabricate my own from wood or bamboo.
Question for Grizz & Mike. Windsurf sail have no provision nor need for reefing the sail. I'll be sailing in winds no greater than 15 knots though more likely 10 knots, and my canoe is under-sailed at 60 sf. Do I need to be concerned about reefing ability or can I just slack the shrouds if an unlikely rogue gust should one occur?

MAHALO A NUI LOA

[Grizz]

All in good order Ji

There is probably a very ancient reason for the way the rigging is put together. My guess is it has to do with prevailing wind patterns. But that's just a guess.

As to the reefing, just release the sheet and the sail will go downwind and depower. That's if it's a sleeve type sail that fits on the mast like a gunsock.

However, the windage of the mast and the stuff flying in the wind is still there. In a hard chance you could unship the mast and lash it in the boat. I'm sure you know that a five gallon bucket can be a best friend in a little open boat. Even a big one sometimes. For one thing, if you rig for it you can throw it in for a sea anchor. And it dewaters efficiently too..

Do you see catamarans around? Do you have any likes or dislikes about the ones you see? Are there lots of multihulls?

Grizz

[GANJIRO]

All in good order Ji

There is probably a very ancient reason for the way the rigging is put together. My guess is it has to do with prevailing wind patterns. But that's just a guess.

As to the reefing, just release the sheet and the sail will go downwind and depower. That's if it's a sleeve type sail that fits on the mast like a gunsock.

However, the windage of the mast and the stuff flying in the wind is still there. In a hard chance you could unship the mast and lash it in the boat. I'm sure you know that a five gallon bucket can be a best friend in a little open boat. Even a big one sometimes. For one thing, if you rig for it you can throw it in for a sea anchor. And it dewaters efficiently too..

Do you see catamarans around? Do you have any likes or dislikes about the ones you see? Are there lots of multihulls?
"
Grizz

I might try the windsurf sail without the boom first and see how she does that way if I have to slack the shrouds I won't have a heavy windsurf bloom flailing about. I do have a sea anchor handy for any emergencies.

As far as cats I see allot of the smaller Hobie cats along the beach at Lanikai for the week-enders to play on. I see allot of larger catamarans in Mamala Bay mainly from the 2 main boat harbors in Honolulu Ke'ehi, and Ala Wai. Many are of the "Rudy Choy" designs. Rudy Choy is considered by many as the father of modern catamarans. Right after High School I worked for Rudy Choy crewing his many cats he owned and ran dinner cruises from. I even crewed what was then the largest Catamaran in the world (so claimed) the "'Ale'ale kai" once the private yacht of Henry J. Kaiser himself. Here's the history of Rudy Choy if interested: http://www.choydesign.com/about/history.htm . They are extremely fast but I'm like my Dad, not in any rush, so cats never really appealed to me much preferring the lines and grace of a nice gaff rigged Colin Archer style double-ender mono hull. The one exception to a gaff rig both Dad and I were willing to bend on was the Chinese Lug Rig (aka Junk rig) the efficiency of the design and classic looks being very appealing especially in schooner rig. My Dad at one time serious considering a Chinese Lug Rigged (William Garden) "Pinky" schooner.

[Grizz]

Thanks for the Rudy Choy link, that adds to my searches.

I am drawn to the cats for their passagemaking speed and for their thin water capabilities. My last boat drew around 8 feet and that precluded the use of a lot of anchorages. Sometimes I had to move when the tide dropped enough that my keel was bouncing on the bottom. Or I had to run an extra hour to get decent spots.

Now I want to be able to get into those spots that were out of reach, and anchor on the inside of the fleet, instead of outside. It can make a huge difference if you're sheltering from weather, or just want a more private spot. I am really drawn to the amphibious aspect of being able to use beaches and tides for camping and access to the shoreside. I'm looking for a wharram hitia 17 or something along those lines to see if the infatuation can bloom into romance.

It's still hard to believe I could rotate from a deep draft guy to a multihull driver so easily, but I have been bitten...

Grizz

[Hobie]

AS related earlier, my nick comes from a misadventure on a HobieCat 16. They are a staple of all the touristy areas. It is especially neat how you can run them right up onto the beach.

[Grizz]

AS related earlier, my nick comes from a misadventure on a HobieCat 16. They are a staple of all the touristy areas. It is especially neat how you can run them right up onto the beach.

Hobie,

There's beaters around here that are cheap enough to get into sailing them. Did you ever camp-cruise hobies in the chesapeake? They look great for investigating those little sloughs and creeks and marshes.... I live on tidewater and can beach a cat. I'm looking.

[rjohns94]

Ji,
you might consider a sprit rig like I have pictured in the small boat. This is a very efficient rig and so long as you don't make it fast, is very difficult to cause the boat to over turn.

[2ndovc]

Great reading guys!

Here's my Dad's Tartan 37 " Imagine". In a little bay in Puerto Rico when I caught up to him last winter.


He left Lake Erie almost three years ago. The boat's on the hard in Trinidad for the summer so the Old Man could come home for surgery on his knees. One down and one to go. He can't wait to get back to his boat now. He considers that home these days. It's been nice to have him home this summer but I know he misses being on the water.

My Brother-in-law put up a web site for him so we could follow his travels. I've been bugging him to add some titles and descriptions but hasn't as of yet. One of these days he might slow down.

http://www.sailstheworld.com

Good looking boat Mike. I grew up sailing and looking forward to getting another one. Haven't even had time to put the speedboat in the water.
jb

[Grizz]

2ndovc,

I remember now, I thought there were more watermen about. Your Dad's got a beautiful boat. I bookmarked his site so I can drool some more. I hope he's writing his story. I figure there's a hundred arm-chair sailors for every one who is out doing it. Including me.

Grizz