MAGICdreamer
Member
This might be humorous....
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New Boat 4 Sled
- Thread starter sleddog
- Start date
This might be humorous....
Dazzler
m/v PACIFIC LOON
Bob seems to be pretty good at research. So, what’s the story behind the boat name RUTSAN? And for extra points what was the name of the Star boat that Jake built in his Tiburon garage? And why that name?
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My first boat was a Snowbird, a 12' catboat with a boom the length of the boat..It weighed near 400 pounds. The Egyptian duck cotton mainsail smelled delicious.
In 1978 I upgraded to a different 12 footer that became WILDFLOWER's tender. It could be stowed below decks and made multiple passages to Hawaii and the S. Pacific. Here we are in Tonga.
The stock Windsurfer, as well as sailing, could be used as a stand up paddleboard, good for ferrying supplies from the beach as well as giving rides to kids, including DOLFIN's 8 year old Kelly.
Eventually the 60 pound Windsurfer grew heavier, more unwieldy, and God forbid, slower.
Yesterday, after one last sail and 45 odd years, I took a Skillsaw to the trusty Windsurfer. To make room for the new boat.
The new boat is smaller than the Snowbird, and 1/3 the weight of the Windsurfer. No moving parts and can be launched and underway in 2 minutes. Can be carried in a backpack. Is good exercise for most body parts as well as balance. Can carry 320 pounds and draws 6". As well, 90% of the local fleet are women. Did I mention $399 complete at Costco?
BobJ will have to paddle solo..But Jackie and I can paddle DH. What's there not to like?
PS: part of the reason for visiting the Coast Guard 45 was to ask if they enforced the "carry a PFD aboard a kayak or SUP, whether in harbor or at sea. The answer was "No."
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Philpott
Cal 2-27 Dura Mater
Well, okay. That's a purty ... vessel. And a good price for it. Do I sit in front or back of the skipper? Will we leave the harbor? Since you'll be gone camping with Annie next week I'll call ahead for my ride upon a later date (surely I've won some competition and not collected?). And yes, I see the weight limit, so you'll need to lose some weight. Save the ice cream for me.
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Racing in Bermuda in 1935, Corny Shields, then commodore of the New York Yacht Club, saw the 6 meter SAGA and fell in love with the Bjarne Aas design. After some negotiations, Shields and Aas reached agreement that a new One Design class, called the "International One Design" (IOD) would be designed and built by Aas based on his SAGA.
Under Corny Shield's direction, Aas reduced the length of SAGA slightly to 33' 5" and increased the beam for the IOD.
By 1937, the entire first run of 25 boats was racing on Long Island Sound. Between 1936 and 1970, nearly 300 wooden IOD's were delivered by Aas in Norway and approximately 150 still race in a dozen fleets around the world including 11 once in the SF Bay fleet, founded in 1954.
Despite many outstanding skippers in the IOD fleet, the undisputed king of the heavy hitters was San Francisco Bay's own Jake Wosser. Jake sailed IOD's from 1945 until the late 1980's and won 3 World Championships as well as many fleet championships during his 5 decades in the class. His dominance was so complete that rivals called San Francisco Bay "Jake's Lake."
Jake did not confine his winnings to just IOD's. But was super competitive in any class he chose to sail. At home in Tiburon, Jake built a Starboat in Ruth's garage in 1955 and named it RUTHLESS after his dear wife. As well, his IOD RUTSAN was an amalgamation of his family's name for wife RUT(h) and daughter S(us)AN
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With so many good memories on the Windsurfer, you must have delayed chopping as long as possible!
I bid farewell to my 40 lbs Bic last year and sawed it in three for bulk pickup. I still retain my large planning green board. It's hilarious to ride when the wind pipes 18 knots.
JB
I bid farewell to my 40 lbs Bic last year and sawed it in three for bulk pickup. I still retain my large planning green board. It's hilarious to ride when the wind pipes 18 knots.
JB
Dazzler
m/v PACIFIC LOON
“At home in Tiburon, Jake built a Starboat in Ruth's garage in 1955 and named it RUTHLESS after his dear wife.”
My ex-wife CAB and Susie Wosser were childhood best friends. I met Susie in high school, before meeting my future (later ex-) wife. The Starboat name came about because Ruth liked to go sailing, but as she told it her role was mostly to pass out sandwiches and beers. So as the Starboats (yes plural, another story...) were being built in the garage, it was clear that Ruth would not be sailing on that boat. Hence the name RUTHLESS (without Ruth).
Another story: It used to be that no races were scheduled in July. That was when racing boats (Birds, Bears and even IOD’s) cruised to the Delta. Steamboat Slough was a popular local and often boats were left there for the month with the family while the men commuted. CAB, as a little girl, had cruised with the Wossers on RUTSAN to the Delta. She remembered sleeping in the forepeak with the spinnaker pole.
I had heard stories of how those engineless boats would sail back from the Delta on a less than direct path through Middle Ground. I should post that route.
My ex-wife CAB and Susie Wosser were childhood best friends. I met Susie in high school, before meeting my future (later ex-) wife. The Starboat name came about because Ruth liked to go sailing, but as she told it her role was mostly to pass out sandwiches and beers. So as the Starboats (yes plural, another story...) were being built in the garage, it was clear that Ruth would not be sailing on that boat. Hence the name RUTHLESS (without Ruth).
Another story: It used to be that no races were scheduled in July. That was when racing boats (Birds, Bears and even IOD’s) cruised to the Delta. Steamboat Slough was a popular local and often boats were left there for the month with the family while the men commuted. CAB, as a little girl, had cruised with the Wossers on RUTSAN to the Delta. She remembered sleeping in the forepeak with the spinnaker pole.
I had heard stories of how those engineless boats would sail back from the Delta on a less than direct path through Middle Ground. I should post that route.
At 9:20 a.m., after 2 days local sojourn and under clear skies, Jackie on DURA MATER departed Santa Cruz Harbor for Monterey, San Simeon, Morro Bay, and points south. Fair winds, Jackie!
DM's tracker seems to work, but only within cellular range, which is likely not along the Big Sur coast.
https://www.jibeset.net/daysail.php
DM's tracker seems to work, but only within cellular range, which is likely not along the Big Sur coast.
https://www.jibeset.net/daysail.php
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On another SSS Forum thread DAZZLER mentions Schmieder Bank: [ ~3 nm West-Southwest of Point Sur is the relatively shallow Schmieder Bank, with the top at about 20 fathoms. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schmieder_Bank. My Sue was one of the Cordell Expedition divers who originally explored Schmieder Bank resulting it it being included in the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. ]
For Marianne's Macapuno icecream with blackberry topping, 2 history questions, both of which must be answered correctly to win the prize: what famous wreck, the length of the TITANIC, lies just seaward of Schmieder bank? And where in San Francisco Bay area is the monumental homeport for this ill-fated ship?
I'm sorry, but DAZZLER is excluded from winning the prize.
For Marianne's Macapuno icecream with blackberry topping, 2 history questions, both of which must be answered correctly to win the prize: what famous wreck, the length of the TITANIC, lies just seaward of Schmieder bank? And where in San Francisco Bay area is the monumental homeport for this ill-fated ship?
I'm sorry, but DAZZLER is excluded from winning the prize.
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Is Stillwater Cove viable as a an anchoring option? I have fond memories from back in the 80's.
Ants
Yes, Stillwater is a lovely spot. One must be prepared to navigate and anchor in kelp. Apparently a buddy boat to DURA MATER from SSS Forum (ENCORE!, Cheryl and Brad) wrapped their prop in Stillwater and couldn't get kelp wad off, slowing their recent southbound passage. Maybe we'll receive a report here...
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When I was a kid, there was a Mercury fleet that raced out of Stillwater Cove. The boats were stored on trailer on the pier, or during weekends when we raced both saturday and sunday, a yellow polyester line was strung across the harbor, with loops and buoys to moor on. I crewed for a family friend, Colonel Ollie Wood, who was the nicest guy in the world off the boat, and transformed into a shouting, demanding curmudgeon when afloat. Me, in 8th and 9th grade, learned to just sort of ignore all the noise and do the best I could at the time, with whatever it was. That fleet continued on into the mid 80's at least and possibly beyond.
The behemoth USS MACON, a LTA (Lighter Than Air) rigid dirigible was built in Ohio in 1933 and designed as a flying aircraft carrier, capable of carrying 5 Sparrowhawk scout planes inside its cavernous belly.
MACON and her sister the AKRON, had a design flaw in the attachment of their tail fins to the hull. On Feb.12, 1935, in a squall, MACON's 2,700 pound upper tail fin ripped off and she ultimately went down about 3 miles off Pt. Sur. 2 of 83 crew were lost.
MACON, initially homeported in the giant hanger at Moffett Field in Sunnyvale, was lost to history until 1979 when a fisherman out of Moss Landing accidentally hauled up a piece of aluminum honeycomb from the dirigible's structure.
Eventually, MACON's debris fields off Pt. Sur were located, mapped, and photographed by ROV underwater submarines at a depth of 1,500 feet. The exact location, though secret to discourage treasure seekers, is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Here's MACON flying over the Moffett Field hanger. The size of the hanger, visible from Highway 101, is so immense that it has its own inside weather.
Congrats to PJ for winning the Macapuno Icecream with blackberries. PJ, if you have a chance to visit CBC before setting off RTW, please know you are always welcome.
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Last time I looked, as recent as last year, Mercurys still raced out of Monterey and Stillwater. And the class had some real heavy weight competition. The Mercury is ideally suited to those localities, as the aft rake of the keel and keel hung rudder means kelp doesn't hang up and they can race through kelp with impunity. No other boat, big or small, one design or custom, can do that. Long live the Mercury!
Dazzler
m/v PACIFIC LOON
As I recall, the kelp by the Fall can be very challenging to navigate through and especially to get an anchor to set. Some years ago we dove in Stillwater Cove, anchoring near Pescadero Rocks. We went there after an aborted dive (because of big swells and very strong current) out at the The Pinnacles in Carmel Bay. It was an interesting dive with visibility at the most 8-12 feet. I remember doing a square dive pattern and being proud of finding the boat again without surfacing.
Quiz question: Why is the Sausalito YC's committee boat named "Mercury?" I'll buy myself a half gallon of ice cream and answer it. Because the early members mostly sailed Mercurys built at the Nunes Brothers shop in Sausalito. You could buy the plans, you could buy a kit, or you could buy a completed boat. The Nunes even rented space at their shop where amateurs could build the boat with some help from the pros. A little later Myron Spaulding designed and built a larger version call a "Clipper." I keep my boat at Clipper Yacht Harbor, adjacent to Myron's old shop. There's a Clipper on a pedestal at the entrance to Clipper YH and from a distance you can't tell the difference in profile between the two boats - although there are some differences.
Another note: The Nunes were also responsible for the Bears. Again, you could buy the plans, a kit, or a completed boat. All the keels were cast at Nunes and legend has it the the mould was used as a shop doorstop until it disappeared at some time. As with the Mercurys you could rent space at their shop to work on the boat. And launch it at their docks at the foot of South Street.
Another note: The Nunes were also responsible for the Bears. Again, you could buy the plans, a kit, or a completed boat. All the keels were cast at Nunes and legend has it the the mould was used as a shop doorstop until it disappeared at some time. As with the Mercurys you could rent space at their shop to work on the boat. And launch it at their docks at the foot of South Street.
ToddArnold
New member
I always wondered what the story was with the sailboat on the pedestal at the entrance to Clipper YH. Thanks for sharing that, Pat!
- Todd
