New Boat 4 Sled

[Dazzler]

Consider this...
(Unfortunately, DAZZLER is DSQ from this Quiz, 'cause he knows the answer. But doubt he's reading, as Tom and Sue are off to dive Bonaire. No 3BF for them.)

Sled, Greetings from Bonaire. Good quiz! Keep it up. Fun stuff.
We arrived last night and could see masts in the harbor. If I get a chance to check it out, maybe pictures.

Tom & Sue

 

[sleddog]

Who would have thunk Lands End made "Pussy Hats?" True. Here's H. Spruit in his at Coffee Club yesterday morning:



Yesterday, I biked downtown. The assembling crowd was massive, enthusiastic, and with many wearing knit pink Pussy Hats. Most of downtown Santa Cruz was closed to vehicular traffic. Taiko drummers provided the beat with synchronous thunder.



After some barely audible speeches at City Hall, the "March" began. With such a crowd, shoulder to shoulder, it took about 30 minutes to get moving..the vanguard reaching the end of the March, 11 city blocks on, before the main body got moving. I would guess 8-10,000 marchers, not counting the crowds on the sidewalks, balconies, and roofs. Not a cop in sight.

I felt sorry for the young kids and dogs down around knee level. But spirits were high. A loud cheer erupted in front of Planned Parenthood on Pacific Ave. when a doctor, with stethoscope, appeared with a sign saying "Resist!."

Somehow I ended up accompanying a Native American Dance Troup, who's members were frocked in colorful costume with dozens of silver bells . I had a firm grip on my sign, as the pre-frontal breeze was gusty.

About an hour later the end of the March was reached at Louden Nelson Park. My bike, locked to a guard rail, was surrounded by a sea of humanity. It took a while to extricate,the escape being behind the stage where the post March concert was in full swing.

In the Bay Area, a reported 60,000 marched in Oakland, 20,000 in San Jose. Sweethearts Annie, daughter Naima, and granddaughter Olina marched last evening in soggy conditions of wind and rain in downtown SF, the parade, in support of Women's Rights, led by Joan Baez singing "We Shall Not Be Moved" in Spanish. (No Nos Moveran) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKopB66ujuQ



I don't know how big the SF crowd was, but reportedly the largest ever to march in San Francisco. After, Annie, Naima, and Olina took the trans-Bay ferry to Larkspur, and made their way home to Sausalito. I talked with Olina, not yet 2, on the phone last night, and she was wildly enthusiastic, the energy was that contagious.



Lot's of fun signs. One of the best: IKEA has a better cabinet!

 

[sleddog]

Massive swells yesterday tore the stern off the SS PALO ALTO, the legendary "Cement Ship" at Sea Cliff State Beach, just down the road from Capitola-In-The-Sea.

Local weathermen at the National Weather Service in Monterey said recorded 34 foot swells, 15 miles offshore, were the largest in their memory. The Coast Guard closed the San Francisco Bar and Entrance Channel to all shipping yesterday, last night, and this morning. Too dangerous, even for big ships.



Hard to imagine the Cement Ship was once a casino, restaurant, dance hall, with a swimming pool. After she initially cracked in half, the hull was stripped and became a fishing pier...Now the PALO ALTO. with gulls as observers, is returning into sand, from which she was built as a tanker in 1920.

 

[DaveH]

Consider this: At one time San Francisco Bay had an estimated 300 near one-designs, varying in length from 55-70 feet. These heavily canvased sailing craft had adjustable sprits and centerboards, They were usually sailed, even raced, Double-Handed, although Singlehanded was not unusual.

A most unusual thing about these boats was they were rigged with traditional slab reefing (shortening sail from the top down and tying in reef points.) But in addition, they were frequently reefed from the bottom up. Yup. The main was raised and the main boom went higher up the mast.

What was this class of boat, and why "reefing from the bottom up?"

(Unfortunately, DAZZLER is DSQ from this Quiz, 'cause he knows the answer. But doubt he's reading, as Tom and Sue are off to dive Bonaire. No 3BF for them.)

OK, I'll stick my neck out.
are you speaking of "pumpkin seed" sloops? my understanding is these were distant cousins to the Sandbaggers of Long Island Sound.
from pictures I've seen, these were mostly gaffers... botttom up reefs so that the gaff stays in place?

me thinks the chicken awaits someone else...

 

[BobJ]

"Hay scows" aka scow schooners would reef up their sails so the booms would clear the bales of hay stacked on deck. There were lots of them and often they were sailed shorthanded (the scows, not the hay bales - although it's said that in a good year you can get to Hawaii on a bale of hay).

Speaking of sails - For a leg o' mutton, are the battens in Rags' current #3 jib vertical or horizontal?
.

 

[sleddog]

"Hay scows" aka scow schooners would reef up their sails so the booms would clear the bales of hay stacked on deck. There were lots of them and often they were sailed shorthanded .

Well spoke, BobJ! San Francisco Bay history is centered around scow schooners that delivered vital materials from Sacramento to San Francisco to Alviso, and many points in between. They were flat bottomed, shoal draft, with a centerboard and steering system to the rudder that allowed the wheel to be raised up, sometimes 15 feet or more, so the skipper could see over his cargo.

Scow schooners were first developed as 40 foot sloops in the 1850's. In later years, as cargo grew, larger scows were built, and the handier schooner rig became popular. Between the 1860s-1870's scow schooners served the San Francisco Bay region before there were bridges, roads, and trucks. Their cargo was mostly lumber, brick, shell, coal, hay, grain bags, and produce. So numerous were these scow schooners that as many as 30 could be seen on any given day unloading brick in San Francisco.

Although scow schooners carried many different types of cargo, it was the improbable sight of a hay stack sailing smartly across San Francisco Bay that caught the public fancy and earned the name of "hay scow" regardless of the cargo.

Here's COVINA beating down Suisun Bay. Check out the main topsail and "twist" in the sails.


Matthew Turner, San Francisco's most notable builder of wooden boats, launched many scows from his yard in Benicia. Notable is the fact all these scow schooners were originally engineless, and plied the Bay under sail alone, while poling and kedging up shallow creeks. No small feat of seamanship and hard labor.

And here's ANNIE L, 67 feet long, (same length as CHUBASCO), delivering more than 350 bales of hay for San Francisco's horse population. Sometimes as many as 700 hay bales were loaded. No wonder the working sails had to be "reefed up." That's a lot of horse poop. hihi


By 1943, all the scow schooners, doomed by the advancement of gas engines, were gone, rotting derelicts on the mudflats. All except ALMA, which was rescued from the mudflats of Alviso on a dark night in 1959, when the tide was especially high.



ALMA, after much restoration, graces San Francisco Bay to this day as a National Historic Landmark. Long live ALMA!

 

[sleddog]

Speaking of sails - For a leg o' mutton, are the battens in Rags' current #3 jib vertical or horizontal?.

Back in the dark ages, in the age of white sails, when I used to crew on RAGTIME, the #3 had vertical battens
(However, knowing BobJ's quest for leading edge technology, the trick answer is probably something like "inflatable and 45 degrees to vertical.") But I will stick with "vertical," and mint sauce with the mutton please.

 

[Wylieguy]

In October my 3 Grandsons joined me for an "ALMA" sail on the Petaluma River. Elljay, the oldest and a 3rd grader, wrote a report for his class on the "History of the Petaluma River" and scow schooners were an important part of that history. If you've "sailed" up the Petaluma River (which is really a slough renamed in order to get the Army Corps of Engineers to dredge it), you can appreciate how difficult that was in a blunt bowed box. Add in fog. Along with hay, produce, & eggs, they hauled most of the cobblestones used in San Francisco and Oakland. The stones were quarried in what's now Spring Lake Park and Annadel Park in Santa Rosa, hauled by rail to either Petaluma or Lakeville, and "scowed" to their destination. Here's Elljay, Preston, and Tyler helping hoist the main and Elljay "riding the rail."

 

[Wylieguy]

Sled, Will you be having that mint sauce on canvas as you carve up the LOM sail? Good idea to remove the snotter before you dive in with your knife and fork. ;-)

 

[BobJ]

Fine looking crew there Pat. BTW, you were actually witness to part of the problem with the unmodified sail.

For Sled, yes, it was a bit of a trick question. Here's my current #3 jib, before modification:



Photo credits: That fine "white sails" photo at the start of the 2008 SHTP was taken by Christine and Jonathan @NorCalSailing

The photo under the Gate was at the start of our ill-advised 2014 Pacific Cup and was taken by Leslie Richter @Rockskipper

 

[sleddog]

Big waves pound the California Coast about once a decade. Last Saturday, when the stern of the Cement Ship broke off, and the SF Bar was closed, was that "once in a decade."

Maverick's pioneer surfer Jeff Clark drove down from Half Moon Bay to Santa Cruz in the morning looking for a place to paddle out. Said Clark, "Biggest swell since 2001, I saw waves breaking a mile off the beach all the way down.”

Although some may argue, paddling out a mile in 20-40 foot surf to catch a wave is basically not possible.

Not that some didn't try. Shawn Dollar caught a wave with a 20-foot face, electrifying the crowd gathered along East Cliff Drive at Pleasure Point. But everyone else who tried was washed unceremoniously back to shore.

“I’ve never seen waves that big at Pleasure Point,” said Jeff Clark.

Veteran big wave surfer Tyler Fox and a group of four friends decided to try something audacious: surf the two miles from Pleasure Point to New Brighton Beach. Fox, a pro big wave surfer, has ridden "Ghost Trees" at Carmel when it was 70 feet, so he knows what it's about.

The five paddled out and into the teeth of one of the afternoon’s larger sets. Said Fox, " “I was farthest out and a set broke another 100 yards beyond me. I got pounded by the first two waves and the third broke my leash.
I was underwater kind of laughing to myself thinking, there is no way I’m going to die at Pleasure Point.”

Three of the five managed to make it out and rode double to triple overhead waves all the way to New Brighton. It took an hour and a half..... Doggies.

 

[BobJ]

I never quite got the surfing thing - something about having eleventyseven tons of water crashing down on top of you just for fun. But then I'm an accountant.

We were asking a lot of the full-length top roller batten and it didn't last long. They're made of composite now instead of leftover venetian blinds, but they still don't like to bend. So we're experimenting with a vertical top batten and horizontal roller battens for the middle and bottom (all because of the roller-furler). The jury is still out.

 

[sleddog]

Speaking of sails - For a leg o' mutton, are the battens in Rags' current #3 jib vertical or horizontal?.

Hah, so it was a trick question. "Both vertical and horizontal" apparently is the correct answer for the leg of mutton. I would never post a trick question myself ;-)

As you know, I also have roller furling on my cat. My jib is from an Etchell's 22, and it used to have battens. Battens don't roll up. I got rid of the battens, and surprise, little difference in the shape of the sail. Blasphemous I know. But politely suggest trying your #3 with no battens, and a tad more leech cord tension.

From my point of view, the loss in shape with no battens is offset being able to have a nice tight roll on the headfoil.

 

[Philpott]

Well, regardless of the technical characteristics of Bob's new jib, it's very pretty.

 

[BobJ]

Thank you Jackie, but the grey #3 is now five years old. I've been fiddling with the battens for awhile!

It appears Hank Easom is having the same issue with the #3's battens on his beautiful new SERENADE:
Today's 'Lectronic Latitude (scroll down)

Going batten-less doesn't work with these 3DLs - there's way too much leech hook, even with a slack leech cord.

 

[Philpott]

It appears Hank Easom is having the same issue with the #3's battens on his beautiful new SERENADE:

Hank Easom. Didn't he rig the lovely Kynntana? Where IS that boat? Carliane? Still near Quinn's Lighthouse?

 

[BobJ]

You're thinking of Hank's nephew Scott, who owns Easom Racing & Rigging. Yes, KYNNTANA spent a few days at Scott's and got some new go-fast bling.

That was awhile back, before the Corian

 

[Wylieguy]

Hey Bob, I've got an old steel crow bar I inherited from my carpenter father out in the garage (I mean extra boat junk storage area) that looks to be about the same dimensions as your broken batten. I'd be happy to donate it to the cause. And, I'd guarantee that it would never break on you! Probably last thru several new roll-up headsails. What a bargain. Pat ;-)

 

[BobJ]

I have a hunch the crowbar's bend characteristics won't match the sail design. But thanks.

 

[sleddog]

Big waves pound the California Coast about once a decade. Last Saturday, when the stern of the Cement Ship broke off, and the SF Bar was closed, was that "once in a decade."
Maverick's pioneer surfer Jeff Clark drove down from Half Moon Bay to Santa Cruz in the morning looking for a place to paddle out. Said Clark, "Biggest swell since 2001, I saw waves breaking a mile off the beach all the way down.”

The physics of breaking waves is a fascinating study, and the California Coast in winter, with Highway 1 near shore for much of its length, is a close-up classroom for surfers and photographers alike.

When Maverick's big wave pioneer Jeff Clark reported he saw waves breaking a mile out to sea as he drove from Half Moon Bay to Santa Cruz last Saturday, I have little reason to doubt him. Generally, waves begin to feel the bottom at a depth of 1/2 their wave length (measured from crest to crest.) When a wave "feels the bottom," friction makes the wave begin to slow and rise up. A wave 200 feet from crest to crest would likely begin to hump up in 100 feet of water.

As the wave slows and rises up, it can begin to break. As the 10 fathom (60 foot) depth contour line roughly parallels the coast a mile offshore, this means the breaking waves Jeff was seeing were generally in the vicinity of 45 feet high. (60'/1.3wave height).

As BobJ sums it up succinctly, "eleventyseven tons of water crashing down."

Here's Santa Cruz Harbor last Saturday. The vertical posts in the foreground are the supports for the old trolley tracks which ran from Santa Cruz to Capitola.



According to surfers who remember these things, last Saturday was a 10 year event. It is a sobering reminder the San Francisco Bar, that horseshoe shaped shoal 2-7 miles to sea, that surrounds the entrance to San Francsisco Bay, is only 25-35 feet deep at low tide. And more shoal at places like the "Potato Patch," (Four Fathom Bank) just west of Point Bonita.

And the 27 foot shoal at the northwest end of SE Farallon Island is where LOW SPEED CHASE met her tragic end in a monster breaking wave in April, 2012.