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New Boat 4 Sled
- Thread starter sleddog
- Start date
Thanks, John. Here's Mark's own words from 2006:
I have an extra passenger on board Alchera, at least in spirit. Last year my yellow Labrador retriever "Kruger" of 13 years died after a long and happy life. Great dog, loved the water, but was scared to death of boats. Just couldn't get comfortable with the idea of the deck moving underneath him. Even the small motion of walking down a marina dock would freak him out. I once took him out on a calm lake in a big houseboat, and he didn't like that a bit. So it was always a shame that I was never able to take him out sailing, or even motoring, his entire life. You could tell he wanted to come along, but he just couldn't get over his fear.
After Kruger died, I had his remains cremated. A portion of those remains are now aboard Alchera, nestled in the center console where the motion is the least. He seems to be quite happy now, and he can do all the sailing he wants with me and never be afraid again. His spirit flies along with Alchera and I as we race towards the finish, and in my imagination he watches over us and keeps us safe.
Mark
solosailor
New member
Dan and Linda Newland, he was FTF in his own design and build Newland 37. An honorable mention to Ben and Lucie who did the PacCup doublehanded as their honeymoon...... and yet they are still sailing together !
solosailor
New member
I thought it was Tainted Love that needed the furling screws? Or maybe we were wiring his solar via VHF comm?
The thunder of big surf has been heard as far as a mile inland these last two nights, prompting the Santa Cruz Harbormaster to send out the following e-mail:
WARNING! THE HARBOR ENTRANCE IS SHOALED!
The harbor entrance is shoaled due to recent storms and heavy sea and swell conditions. Depths in the federal entrance channel are unknown at this time, but shallow conditions are evident, and there is dangerous breaking surf in the entrance. Mariners are advised not to transit the entrance channel at this time due to unsafe and unknown conditions.
No kidding. As the sun rose at Santa Cruz Harbor, and we gathered for "Coffee Club," waves were regularly crashing over the West Breakwater, "closing out" the entrance, which is shoaled to wading depth by the winter sandbar.
Equally impressive this morning, 1.5 miles southwest of the Harbor and .5 miles offshore of Lighthouse Point, 3rd Reef was breaking every couple of minutes. 3rd Reef, 19 feet deep at low tide, infrequently breaks, maybe once or twice per year, and because of its inaccessibility and danger, rarely gets surfed.
I wrote last August 28 about Jack O'Neill and Dave Wahle once surfing 3rd Reef on Jack's P-Cat (http://sfbaysss.org/forum/showthrea...Sled&p=12162&highlight=jack+o'neill#post12162...... This morning I learned Howard Spruit, back when he was a 140 pound, tough-as-nails, lifeguard, built himself an 11'2" "gun" surfboard just to surf 3rd Reef. When the time came, he jumped off the rocks at Lighthouse Point and paddled half a mile seaward.
Nobody else was surfing out there. But Howard caught his wave. One wave. A giant.
Howard made it back to shore unharmed and took his surfboard into his shop and cut off two feet. No more riding 3rd Reef on a surfboard for Howard. He's the only one to have done so I'm aware of.
Meanwhile, yesterday, just down the street, sirens converged at the Capitola Beach. A lone surfer had become "embayed" at the Capitola Cliffs and couldn't paddle back out. The surf pushed him against the cliffs, not a happy position.
First on the scene was a KSBW news crew, followed by the Fire Chief, 2 fire trucks, three lifeguards, four police cars, a crowd of onlookers, and a partridge in a pear tree.
Two rescue swimmers went into the water. It was good to see them wearing Churchill Swim Fins.
The rescue swimmers made contact with the distressed surfer and towed him and his board seaward, where a jetski crew from the Harbor picked them up and transferred them onto a Patrol boat, that had somehow at their peril, made it out the Harbor Entrance.
As Howard Spruit said this morning, "Big surf puts electricity in the air."
Another chance for an invitation to egg nog and brandy in WILDFLOWER's cockpit:
The distinctive blue and yellow Churchill Swim Fins, first invented in 1936, are named after what famous sailor? That's easy. But what was the name, class, and significance of his boat, and where was she totally restored (the first time?)
WARNING! THE HARBOR ENTRANCE IS SHOALED!
The harbor entrance is shoaled due to recent storms and heavy sea and swell conditions. Depths in the federal entrance channel are unknown at this time, but shallow conditions are evident, and there is dangerous breaking surf in the entrance. Mariners are advised not to transit the entrance channel at this time due to unsafe and unknown conditions.
No kidding. As the sun rose at Santa Cruz Harbor, and we gathered for "Coffee Club," waves were regularly crashing over the West Breakwater, "closing out" the entrance, which is shoaled to wading depth by the winter sandbar.
Equally impressive this morning, 1.5 miles southwest of the Harbor and .5 miles offshore of Lighthouse Point, 3rd Reef was breaking every couple of minutes. 3rd Reef, 19 feet deep at low tide, infrequently breaks, maybe once or twice per year, and because of its inaccessibility and danger, rarely gets surfed.
I wrote last August 28 about Jack O'Neill and Dave Wahle once surfing 3rd Reef on Jack's P-Cat (http://sfbaysss.org/forum/showthrea...Sled&p=12162&highlight=jack+o'neill#post12162...... This morning I learned Howard Spruit, back when he was a 140 pound, tough-as-nails, lifeguard, built himself an 11'2" "gun" surfboard just to surf 3rd Reef. When the time came, he jumped off the rocks at Lighthouse Point and paddled half a mile seaward.
Nobody else was surfing out there. But Howard caught his wave. One wave. A giant.
Howard made it back to shore unharmed and took his surfboard into his shop and cut off two feet. No more riding 3rd Reef on a surfboard for Howard. He's the only one to have done so I'm aware of.
Meanwhile, yesterday, just down the street, sirens converged at the Capitola Beach. A lone surfer had become "embayed" at the Capitola Cliffs and couldn't paddle back out. The surf pushed him against the cliffs, not a happy position.
First on the scene was a KSBW news crew, followed by the Fire Chief, 2 fire trucks, three lifeguards, four police cars, a crowd of onlookers, and a partridge in a pear tree.
Two rescue swimmers went into the water. It was good to see them wearing Churchill Swim Fins.
The rescue swimmers made contact with the distressed surfer and towed him and his board seaward, where a jetski crew from the Harbor picked them up and transferred them onto a Patrol boat, that had somehow at their peril, made it out the Harbor Entrance.As Howard Spruit said this morning, "Big surf puts electricity in the air."
Another chance for an invitation to egg nog and brandy in WILDFLOWER's cockpit:
The distinctive blue and yellow Churchill Swim Fins, first invented in 1936, are named after what famous sailor? That's easy. But what was the name, class, and significance of his boat, and where was she totally restored (the first time?)
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Sad news from my brother that the Annapolis Yacht Club was burning this afternoon. AYC is the center of Chesapeake sailing. No report on damage yet, but it looks serious.
http://www.wbaltv.com/news/firefighters-battle-threealarm-blaze-at-annapolis-yacht-club/36933306
http://www.wbaltv.com/news/firefighters-battle-threealarm-blaze-at-annapolis-yacht-club/36933306
2 Egg Nogs for Mr. Spruit coming up.
We should note that Owen Churchill, inventor and patent holder of the modern rubber swim fin, won the Olympic Gold Medal in ANGELITA in 1932 off Long Beach. ANGELITA, a pretty and fast double-ender that rivaled YUCCA in speed and looks, was designed by Nick Potter. Potter grew up a boyhood friend of L. Francis Herreshoff and later worked as a designer for L. Francis' legendary father, Nat Herreshoff. Later Potter worked with L. Francis in the Starling Burgess office in Boston. Potter ultimately settled in Newport Beach, California and supervised the construction of many of his designs at the nearby Wilmington Boatworks (WILBO). Potter became known as the Herreshoff of the West Coast. His lovely double-enders were works of art.
ANGELITA was bought by Alan Simpkins for $10,000 in 1982 and rebuilt in Santa Cruz by Bob Thompson and crew. At the time, ANGELITA was nothing more than a shell of her former self, no deck, interior, or rigging.
In 1984, the rebuilt ANGELITA, looking beautiful again, took the water as flagship of the Los Angeles Olympics. Churchill, then aged 88 and all smiles, was again at her helm with two of his original 1932 crew, Richard Moore and John Biby.
I believe ANGELITA still sails to this day in Maine.
We should note that Owen Churchill, inventor and patent holder of the modern rubber swim fin, won the Olympic Gold Medal in ANGELITA in 1932 off Long Beach. ANGELITA, a pretty and fast double-ender that rivaled YUCCA in speed and looks, was designed by Nick Potter. Potter grew up a boyhood friend of L. Francis Herreshoff and later worked as a designer for L. Francis' legendary father, Nat Herreshoff. Later Potter worked with L. Francis in the Starling Burgess office in Boston. Potter ultimately settled in Newport Beach, California and supervised the construction of many of his designs at the nearby Wilmington Boatworks (WILBO). Potter became known as the Herreshoff of the West Coast. His lovely double-enders were works of art.
ANGELITA was bought by Alan Simpkins for $10,000 in 1982 and rebuilt in Santa Cruz by Bob Thompson and crew. At the time, ANGELITA was nothing more than a shell of her former self, no deck, interior, or rigging.
In 1984, the rebuilt ANGELITA, looking beautiful again, took the water as flagship of the Los Angeles Olympics. Churchill, then aged 88 and all smiles, was again at her helm with two of his original 1932 crew, Richard Moore and John Biby.
I believe ANGELITA still sails to this day in Maine.
Dazzler
m/v PACIFIC LOON
In related big swell news the USCG has been broadcasting on VHF16 since Friday night a warning that there are 6 shipping containers floating/drifting southward from the general vicinity of the SF Sea Buoy (aka the Light Bucket). I heard the Bar Pilot boat CALIFORNIA report this afternoon that they had not seen the containers today, suggesting that they are headed south. I'm sure there's more to this story.... Look out Sled, the're headed your way.
At least three containers came ashore at Pacifica overnight. They were washed off the outbound Matson container ship MANOA Friday night when she slowed to discharge her pilot near the Light Bucket. That's the SE Farallon visible just above the blue box.
Someone should wake Robert Redford
And in Cornwall, England, a large piece of a SpaceX rocket that exploded two minutes after launch in June from Cape Canaveral, Florida, has drifted ashore after crossing the Atlantic.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...wall-coast-covered-in-barnacles-a6752076.html
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Philpott
Cal 2-27 Dura Mater
oh I get it. We're allowed to google the answers. Googling for eggnog. Okay, now I'm in. Howard, if you knew that off the top of your head I stand corrected and impressed.
Last Friday's ocean swell that removed the stack of containers off the MANOA near the San Francisco Lightbucket provided some interesting times outside the Golden Gate. A good friend was piloting an inbound tanker and provided this description and photos of "tanker surfing":
On Friday afternoon tanker Ardmore Chippewa was inbound ... maiden voyage. VTS called me as I was surfing through the bar channel and asked if I was changing course a lot trying to avoid something. I told them there were 20 foot swells and I was just trying to stay in the channel. I conned the ship from the port bridge wing so I could watch the waves and give helm orders in anticipation. Even on a half-ahead bell we took the drop on one big buggah ... awhooooooo. The captain was not quite as excited.
On Friday afternoon tanker Ardmore Chippewa was inbound ... maiden voyage. VTS called me as I was surfing through the bar channel and asked if I was changing course a lot trying to avoid something. I told them there were 20 foot swells and I was just trying to stay in the channel. I conned the ship from the port bridge wing so I could watch the waves and give helm orders in anticipation. Even on a half-ahead bell we took the drop on one big buggah ... awhooooooo. The captain was not quite as excited.
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I did not Google for the Angelita trivia, I just know that stuff and more.
The story goes that DR. Eric Peterson traded his Cal 20 for the aging 8 meter in the mid 60s, It became the scratch boat on Monterey bay for several years. (until Bill Lee Showed up)
I used to relish beating Her around the Wednesday night courses with my Hobie cat. Eventually the boat became too much for Eric to maintain and get crew for so it went back on the market. Eric then traded the boat to O'Neill for a Santana 22. Gene Koblic bought the boat with the intension to restore it and had Doug Brouwer start removing the rotted planking, (at Moores reef) and ran out of money. It sat there for a few years until Allan Simkins put together a group to have C&B Marine restore it and donate to the Olympic committee for the LA Olympics. It got sold to somebody who brought it back to Santa Cruz for a while, I met him once but don't remember his name. I have been told that it was restored once more and is currently on the east coast.
BobJ
Alerion 38 "Surprise!"
Google gets its boat data from Howard and Skip.
Speaking of L. Francis, this Araminta has intrigued me (read "tempted me") for a long time:
Araminta on YachtWorld
When it arrived as a new boat at Strictly Sail, it made EVERYTHING else at the show look like utter crap. After the show they entered it in the HDA series and did pretty well with it, then packed it all up and took it back to Legendary Yachts (where it was built). It's essentially a new boat. I just can't figure out what I'd do with it.
They built a second one at the same time and had hopes of building several more. The other one had teak decks which didn't appeal to me. With regular trips to Fred's shop or Spaulding, you could almost keep up with the maintenance.
Speaking of L. Francis, this Araminta has intrigued me (read "tempted me") for a long time:
Araminta on YachtWorld
When it arrived as a new boat at Strictly Sail, it made EVERYTHING else at the show look like utter crap. After the show they entered it in the HDA series and did pretty well with it, then packed it all up and took it back to Legendary Yachts (where it was built). It's essentially a new boat. I just can't figure out what I'd do with it.
They built a second one at the same time and had hopes of building several more. The other one had teak decks which didn't appeal to me. With regular trips to Fred's shop or Spaulding, you could almost keep up with the maintenance.
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Critter
Desert Ratfox
Hey, it washed up on my boat's namesake island! In 1984 my dad and I had a beer in the building you see in the background.
For those of us geographically challenged, Max's boat is named after the Island of Iniscaw, in the Scilly Islands, Cornwall, on the SW tip of England. Iniscaw ("island of the elder trees"), now named Tresco, is located at 49deg-57min N x 6deg-20min W for those with Google Earth.
Iniscaw looks like like a darned pretty place, no cars, population 175, with one pub, as Max remembers. Iniscaw's history dates way way back, as it was prime location for plundering shipwrecks. In 1550, King Charles got in on the action and built a castle there.
4 miles SW of Iniscaw, aka Tresco, is one of the world's most isolated and dramatic lighthouses. I've rounded this lighthouse, as it is a mark of the course for the Fastnet Race. An eggnog and brandy onboard WILDFLOWER for whomever is first to name this famous lighthouse. (and no, it is not the Eddystone Light.)
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