New Boat 4 Sled

[sleddog]

If you're looking for a Holiday gift for your favorite singlehander, the recently published novel RAROTONGA authored by Christian Williams may fill the bill.



Christian, a singlehanded sailor himself and vet of the '79 Fastnet Race storm, writes with sailing authority and authenticity. Much of the book takes place on board a thinly disguised, Ted Hood design, Little Harbor 60 that leaves on a stealth voyage into the Pacific with its driven solo skipper Bobby Ayres. It's a bit of a mystery why the "voyage to nowhere," except Ayres is being pursued by the IRS and maybe other demons with ill intentions.

Leaving hurriedly from an Ensenada boatyard that has just burned down and without his new lady crew creates some karma problems for Ayres, the first being a poorly secured trysail track rips off and the sail goes overboard and fouls the centerboard in a storm....From there... well you'll have to read it yourself. Christian Williams has done his homework, much of it based on his own offshore experience and extensive music background.

Ayres, the singlehander, does make escape to Raro. But RAROTONGA's denouement is not the usual approach to Avatiu like Synthia recently experienced.

If you're a singlehander and don't recognize someone or someplace in this story, you're not looking hard enough. I even found myself, WTF.

RAROTONGA is available in paperback, Kindle and audiobook.

Thanks, Christian. Good stuff.

PS: If you can find the author's one and only navigational error on page 78, you are invited to brandy and eggnog at the Capitola Boat Club fireplace.

 

[BobJ]

An update on Imp:

https://afloat.ie/sail/historic-boats/item/44842-imp-is-coming-home-to-cork-harbour?fbclid=IwAR2rBCTcMu4o3gJSSuOK-qICQD3GzRPAy5H99aWTyN9sEpJ2cfHJB3IGV_s#.Xe3fWNYLdP8.facebook

 

[sleddog]

Coming in on a "Wing and a Prayer," Synthia and Danny are 100 miles SE of destination Ko'olina, Oahu on the 16th day of their delivery of a Jeanneau Sunfast 3200 from Tahiti to Hawaii.

The one time 2018 PacCupper was left to rot in a tropical backwater marina for a year, accumulating mold, leaks, marginalized electronics, and at least one wasp nest below. The main has failed 3 times and they are under jib alone, having run out of patching tape for an attempted 4th repair. The engine tranny is failing. They are down to granola bars and rice.

They'll be fine once they arrive tomorrow, clear customs, and allowed to get off and hike up to the Marriott Bar and Grill. I asked Synthia, before she left SFO and had not yet seen the boat, why she was taking this on?:

"For the adventure."

 

[sleddog]

If you're looking for a Holiday gift for your favorite singlehander, the recently published novel RAROTONGA authored by Christian Williams may fill the bill.

PS: If you can find the author's one and only navigational error on page 78, you are invited to brandy and eggnog at the Capitola Boat Club fireplace.

Captain Bob, of Haleiwa Hawaii, called today to say "hold the brandy, I'll take the eggnog. I've sailed to both places, and the correct answer on page 78 of Christian's book RAROTONGA is Manzanillo is 435 nm north of Acapulco, MX, not 500 miles south as printed."

Right On, Cap.

 

[Intermission]

Captain Bob, of Haleiwa Hawaii, called today to say "hold the brandy, I'll take the eggnog.
Right On, Cap.

Well if he isn't going to drink it, can I have it?

 

[sleddog]

Well if he isn't going to drink it, can I have it?

This morning, 45 minutes before sunrise, looking east over Monterey Bay towards the Salinas Valley and the backlit Big Sur Range and Monterey Peninsula, the sky was a delicious, fireplace orange /red tequila sunrise.



The proverb "Red Sky at Morning, Sailors Take Warning, Red Sky at Night, Sailors Delight, has been in nautical lexicon for hundreds, if not thousands of years.

For brandy, eggnog optional, in front of the CBC fireplace, "Red Sky at Morning, Red Sky at Night" is possible where? (more than one answer may be correct, and we are looking for all correct answers combined.)

1) Northern Hemisphere only
2) Northern and Southern Hemisphere
3) Northern Hemisphere, but not in the tropics.
4) Northern and Southern Hemisphere, but not in the tropics.
5) In an area of high atmospheric pressure.
6) In an trough of low atmospheric pressure.
7) In the transition between high and low pressure.
8) Not if the sky is clear.
9) At the South Pole Station in mid-June.

 

[DaveH]

OK, I'll try...
IIRC, it's usually the High Pressure that holds dust and other things in the atmosphere, so:
#2 is true
#5 for Red at BOTH morning and night;
the origin of the phrase is #7 (red sky in the direction of the High).
#8 is possibly true; depends on the definition of "clear". Just saying you could have red without clouds.

#9 seems very unlikely conditions for any sun based observations! again, just sayin'.
DH

 

[sleddog]

Hi David,

Happy Holidays to you!

Regarding the Red Sky quiz above, the sole correct answer you nominated was #7. And I'm sorry, but "possibly" and "unlikely" are equivocal answers.

Try again if you like. Someone else want to guess?

 

[Intermission]

This morning, 45 minutes before sunrise, looking east over Monterey Bay towards the Salinas Valley and the backlit Big Sur Range and Monterey Peninsula, the sky was a delicious, fireplace orange /red tequila sunrise.

View attachment 4941

The proverb "Red Sky at Morning, Sailors Take Warning, Red Sky at Night, Sailors Delight, has been in nautical lexicon for hundreds, if not thousands of years.

For brandy, eggnog optional, in front of the CBC fireplace, "Red Sky at Morning, Red Sky at Night" is possible where? (more than one answer may be correct, and we are looking for all correct answers combined.)

1) Northern Hemisphere only
2) Northern and Southern Hemisphere
3) Northern Hemisphere, but not in the tropics.
4) Northern and Southern Hemisphere, but not in the tropics.
5) In an area of high atmospheric pressure.
6) In an trough of low atmospheric pressure.
7) In the transition between high and low pressure.
8) Not if the sky is clear.
9) At the South Pole Station in mid-June.

I'm guessing #4, #6, #7, and #8.

 

[AlanH]

Coming in on a "Wing and a Prayer," Synthia and Danny are 100 miles SE of destination Ko'olina, Oahu on the 16th day of their delivery of a Jeanneau Sunfast 3200 from Tahiti to Hawaii.

The one time 2018 PacCupper was left to rot in a tropical backwater marina for a year, accumulating mold, leaks, marginalized electronics, and at least one wasp nest below. The main has failed 3 times and they are under jib alone, having run out of patching tape for an attempted 4th repair. The engine tranny is failing. They are down to granola bars and rice.

They'll be fine once they arrive tomorrow, clear customs, and allowed to get off and hike up to the Marriott Bar and Grill. I asked Synthia, before she left SFO and had not yet seen the boat, why she was taking this on?:

"For the adventure."

I wondered how that was going....thanks.

 

[Philpott]

If you are looking for a very powerful aluminum cutter .... This is your ship, just arrived single handed from Tahiti to Anacortes, WA in 27 days, and going up for sale.

My my!That boat is beautiful. And very clean. Much too clean for my taste. I prefer the look of a boat that has been there and back, and kept her skipper safe the whole way:

 

[sleddog]

More INTERMEZZO II, an aluminum, "go anywhere" 62 foot cutter by the Dashews in the 1980's. Recently singlehanded Tahiti to Anacortes, WA in 27 days and soon to be for sale.

Flush decks and high freeboard was unusual at the time.

Both MOLI and INTERMEZZO II are aluminum. If you are going into harm's way, aluminum is probably the best material for the hull one could choose.

 

[BobJ]

It has a nuker and a juicer - even I could cook on that boat!

 

[Philpott]

That is a beautiful cabin. Kindof like Dura Mater’s, except bigger, cleaner and with a headliner. And a stove. And more expensive bedding. And ... okay, a few other inconsequential amenities for the cruiser class.

Moli’s cabin, on the other hand, is a sailor’s dream.

 

[sleddog]

I'm guessing #4, #6, #7, and #8.

Hi Brad,
You have guessed the 3 correct answers, #4,#7, and #8, and your brandy will be waiting for your visitation to CBC.

#4 is correct as "Red Sky" can happen in both the N and S Hemispheres between 30 to 60 degrees latitude, but not in the tropics. This is because weather systems travel West to East between 30-60, and East to West in the tropics. You need a West to East weather system to produce a Red Sky.

#7 is correct because Red Sky happens as the early morning sun shines from the eastern sky upward into the clouds of an approaching low as a high pressure departs eastward and the low approaches from the west. (Red Sky at Morning, Sailors Take Warning." The opposite can be true at sunset: the low's clouds depart eastward and fair weather from a high approaches from the west ("Red Sky at Night, Sailors Delight.")

#8 is theoretically correct because if you don't have clouds, you can't have red skies. I might argue this point. I have seen red skies at sunset without clouds during 1991 and '92 following the cataclysmic eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in the Philippines. Fine dust entered the atmosphere from the eruption and was carried around the world. I also saw a red sky once looking east at night off the west coast of Baja. It looked like somebody had dropped the bomb and the earth was ending. After research into this strange phenomena it was determined to be the Northern Lights..

 

[Intermission]

#6 was a stretch, but once in a decade or two, sometimes red skys can peek under the leading edge. But no, not square in the trough. My bad.

 

[sleddog]

Beginning this time of year, I begin to be asked about emergency steering. The first thing I say to prospective participants is this:

Whatever emergency steering (ES) is chosen should be able to be fitted offshore and in a seaway. It should work at speed using white sails balanced on a reach and with twin jibs downwind. The emergency steering system should also work with a tiller pilot and/or wind vane, and get you to the finish line before the race deadline. Otherwise your belt buckle is for naught.

ES is an issue for everyone. I'm pleased to see Jackie organizing an on-the-water gathering for Jan. 11 & 12th at RYC.

Some solutions are easier and cheaper than others depending on transom configuration and pocket book. Some worry less about weight, complexity, and speed and say "I'll use a drogue to steer."

I do know everyone's ES works in theory. In practice, less so.

The problem is keeping the back of the boat at the back and the bow pointed at the destination. Easier said than done. It involves some sort of lateral resistance aft to keep the stern inline.

The resistance provided can be a spinnaker pole, a drogue, anchor chain or milk crate. The trade off is the more the drag, the slower the boat speed. Going slow for a long distance gets old fast.

Emergency steering doesn't have to be mounted exactly on centerline. Transoms are often thin laminates and structure needs to be considered often with hefty back up plates

The SC-70 PYEWACKET had a cool and tested ES rudder that mounted on a transom track. Their main rudder went away in a TransAtlantic race and the ES rudder was quickly deployed and steered nicely at speeds to 9 knots. Robbie wanted to go faster, so they set their spinnaker, the boat jumped to 12 knots, and the transom track ripped off.

If I were an inspector, which I'm not, I'd want a video of one's ES being mounted in the ocean in wind and seas greater than 15 knots. I'd also want to see the boat tacking and/or gybing, and then steering a couple of miles in a reasonably straight direction.

Two after thoughts. One is carrying a substantial bung to pound into a rudder tube to knock out a damaged or bent rudder shaft.

The other is the goal of getting downwind with twin jibs and no rudder.. For a sprit boat to accomplish this, two poles are needed, and two butt end attachment points on the front of the mast. How many sprit boats have a mast attachment point? Slim to none.

Questions? I can be reached at eight3one-four75-zero278

 

[Philpott]

Aforementioned On-The-Water Gathering

View attachment NOR Emergency Rudder Race - Copy.pdf

 

[sleddog]

Just about every nautical Christmas Card with Santa has Capt. Claus doing something really stupid: speeding on a jet ski, sailing hugely by-the-lee, overloaded akin to a Mexican panga...

It appears this year the Coast Guard has gotten into the act.


I prefer a painting of a lovely schooner boiling across the Diamond Head Finish Line.



Happy Holidaze All!

 

[AntsUiga]

View attachment 4961

The previous seminars have had delightful, informative video documentation. Those were easier since the seminars were inside at a single location. The demonstrations during this event will be dispersed aboard every entry.

Is there any likelihood of a summary video? (Certainly, it would be more challenging to produce).

Ants