cat whisperer
Recently, while fly fishing for false albacore inshore of Cape Lookout, North Carolina, my brother and his son had a close encounter with a humpback whale. The humpback apparently was scooping up menhaden, a small silvery fish, when it vertically surfaced within inches of their 19 foot runabout, and came 12' out of the water. My brother said the whale had bad breath, and later did a complete breach out of the water.
Last edited by sleddog; 03-06-2016 at 12:45 PM.
cat whisperer
On another thread, Gamayun wroteBack in the day, I was $100 short of paying the balance of the yard bill and getting WF liberated. I asked the yard manager if he'd be interested in buying some clean lead, and if so, what would he pay.Originally Posted by Gamayun
"We'll take it, give you 40 cents a pound."
I did a quick calculation, chalked a horizontal line 3.5" up from the bottom of WF's keel, and called my friend Dave Wahle. I told DKW I needed him ASAP at the boatyard, and to bring his chain saw.
Dave showed up, and I pointed to the chalked line on the keel and said, "Cut there." Dave loves moving heavy objects, and is experienced cutting lead with a chain saw. Using liberal quantities of oil and tallow, Dave cut off the bottom of WF's keel in 10 minutes. "Like cutting butter," was his comment.
The bottom of the keel went "thunk" on the tarmac about the same time the yard manager showed up to see what was going on. I said, "there's $100 worth of lead. Launch me."
Last edited by sleddog; 03-06-2016 at 07:58 PM.
Cal 2-27 Dura Mater
So Wildflower was shallower-draft than originally designed? Did you ever notice a difference in her performance that made you regret your decision?
cat whisperer
WILDFLOWER's keel was a reject from the Wylie-28 Half Tonner keel mold. On the 9th pouring, the keel mold deformed and bulged, making the keel an inch wider and several hundred pounds heavier, as well as having cavities and flaws. Unusable. Wylie Design Group was going to junk the keel and melt it down. I bought the keel for cost of materials, cleaned it up, and fitted it to WILDFLOWER, which I was building after work over in the corner of the WDG shop at Willow and Clement, in Alameda, spring and summer of 1975.
When Dave Wahle cut off 3" of the bottom of WF's keel in January, 1986, it probably put the keel at about its designed weight, 2,750 pounds. I never noticed a difference in her sailing qualities, especially as WF was built as a cruiser, with a full length skeg and usually a bilge full of anchor chain and canned stores. Draft was reduced from 5'8" to 5-5", which was a good thing for getting over Santa Cruz Harbor entrance sand bar.
There's WILDFLOWER leading Norton Smith's SC-27 SOLITAIRE out the Golden Gate, start of the 1978 SHTP:
Last edited by sleddog; 03-06-2016 at 08:23 PM.
cat whisperer
Yesterday's storm locally brought 3.5 inches of much needed rain, and a southerly wind 30, gusting to 40 knots. Howard furled his new moonraker awning at Harbor Cafe, and no damage reported. The Santa Cruz Harbor entrance again filled with sand, negating the dredging done over the last four months during which time 206,000 cubic yards of sand has been dredged at great effort and expense. Any port in a storm? Don't try Santa Cruz Harbor.
Happier news across the Bay, where yesterday afternoon about 3:15 p.m. a baby sea otter was born in the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Great Tide Pool. Mom, a wild otter, had swam into the tidepool, apparently to avoid the storm going on outside.
While small crowds of Aquarium onlookers huddled under their umbrellas and respectfully maintained silence, just below and unfazed by the attention, Mom gave birth to an apparently healthy baby otter.
Post birth, Mom and baby bonded and groomed on a rock in the middle of the tidepool.
http://www.ksbw.com/news/otter-gives...arium/37057638
Last edited by sleddog; 03-06-2016 at 10:37 PM.
cat whisperer
[QUOTE[/I] Sending congrats and respect to nephew Jeremy on making it from New York to Patagonia, the southern tip of Chile, where he safely arrived in late January.[/QUOTE]
When last heard from, my nephew Jeremy has picked up a lady passenger for the back of his KLR650 motorcycle as he continues his explorations in southern South America. I don't know how this creativity would do over the Andean passes. But looks way more comfortable for those pampas traverses. Can't say much about their sails though. Trim! Hike!
https://vimeo.com/89231356
https://vimeo.com/86823830
Last edited by sleddog; 03-08-2016 at 11:11 AM.
cat whisperer
It was "breeze on" during yesterday's (Friday, 3/12/16) frontal passage in Central CA. 40 mph gusts were recorded most of the day at Pt. Blunt on Angel Island and a 52 mph blast registered at 1 pm.
At Bolinas, IMP crew member and author of Legend of IMP, "Bio"Bill Barton reported his backyard model of the Fastnet Rock Lighthouse "took a major hit. 60 knot blasts reported.. No one hurt!"
Bill keeps his Fastnet Rock Lighthouse well planted on his cliff overlooking Duxbury Reef as a reminder of the '79 Fastnet Race Storm in which 18 lives were lost.
On IMP, we beat the last 15 miles up to the Fastnet Rock in conditions that could be described as a Turner-esque maelstrom. I don't mean Ted Turner, whose 62 foot TENACIOUS, the 1979 Fastnet Race overall winner, had already rounded the Fastnet Rock and was headed back for Plymouth before things got downright mean. (See Christian Williams new book Alone Together. Christian was aboard TENACIOUS https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MY3GFaHwRAA
William Turner was a prolific and much beloved artistic genius and English Romantic seascape painter. Seeing his paintings at the Tate and National Gallery in London is an experience not to be missed if given the chance
Conditions that night, 37 years ago, were described by British Met as "Force 10." On IMP, after we blew away our storm jib, we carried on under triple reef main, going sideways as fast as forward. The last 15 miles up to the Fastnet Rock were dead to windward, in the dark, with no distinction between air and water. Everything was spume.
IMP was the next to last boat to round the Fastnet Rock that memorable night. ECLIPSE, another 39 footer, was last around, having suffered a severe knockdown when only 12 miles from the Rock. Shortly after, conditions "closed out" and became too extreme for any of the smaller boats to make headway.
It began to get light a few hours after IMP ultimately rounded the Fastnet Rock. What dawn revealed was awe-inspiring. The waves were mountains, many breaking on their top 20 feet with whitewater cascading down 40-50 foot faces.
Bill Barton and I were watchmates that morning, alternating at IMP's tiller, as we tried to broad reach through the dangerous seas. The other six crew were below, much the safest place should we be knocked down beyond horizontal or rolled 360 degrees, as at least 77 racing boats ultimately were.
Bill and I tried to whistle and sing. The wind blew away our feeble efforts. It was scary to look astern. It was scarier not to, knowing that if one of those monsters had our name on it, we were likely going upside down.
During the afternoon, the breeze and seas moderated. IMP and her crew, wet and tired, were OK. We set the spinnaker in 30 knots, which seemed like a calm, and carried on racing.
It wasn't until after we finished that we learned the magnitude of the storm and subsequent rescue efforts, the largest since the evacuation of Dunkirk in early WW II and biggest ever rescue operation in peace-time, involving over 4,000 people, including ships from the Dutch, Irish, and English Navy, lifeboats, commercial boats, fixed wing aircraft, and helicopters.
I'm sure Bill Barton is busy righting his Fastnet Rock Lighthouse.
Last edited by sleddog; 03-14-2016 at 07:02 AM.
100 - 199 posts
If interested in the artist William Turner (1775-1851), the movie "Mr. Turner (2014)" is excellent:
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mr_turner/
cat whisperer
Many readers are familiar with Small Craft Advisor, a glossy and popular Wooden Boat derivative published in Port Townsend. $7.95 at the newstand, or $34.95 for a year's subscription (6 issues.)
SCA is full of interesting stories, many of them mis-adventures by the experienced and in-experienced alike.
Unfortunately for readers, SCA's editor recently sailed a Yankee Dolphin for their "Boat Review." The YD was featured on the cover, and other photos were also included. The written review was mixed, and not representative of the excellent characteristics of this 24 foot Sparkman and Stephens design I am well familiar with. And which won her Division and 2nd Overall in the 1996 SHTP.
Here was my Letter to the Editor which oregonian refers to, which I am surprised was printed:
"Though the Yankee Dolphin is one of my favorite small boats, I feel a civic duty to advise the editors they have done a disservice to this fine design in their Boat Review. The cover photo, and other photos of BLUE DOLPHIN, though perhaps picturesque, show the featured boat out of trim, with the main boom held nearly amidships and topped awkwardly by what appears to be a fouled topping lift. The outhaul is slack with many foot wrinkles, making the mainsail too full for the point of sail. The partially rolled jib is sadly misshapen while the winch looks to have an override.
Add the fact the photos show BLUE DOLPHIN being steered with the tiller held nearly vertical, compromising its leverage, and it's no wonder the writer found this Yankee Dolphin "taxed, heeling a bit much, exhibiting weather helm that remained a touch strong."
SCA may need to up its game to retain its "Advisor" status."
Skip Allan, Capitola, CA
And here was SCA's reply:
You're right, Skip. While we worked out some of the kinks you mention during the course of the review sail, some of what is pictured looks sloppy. A few things-like the outboard wouldn't kick all the way up, the fixed height of the aftermarket tiller, etc., were out of our control-but we still could have done better a better job of it. Having said that, we don't think we mischaracterized the boat or its disposition. Regardless of our clumsy handling, she did fine and, as we noted, tucking in a reef in the main would likely have settled her down nicely.
(photos by Debra Colvin, SCA)
Pobrecito.
Last edited by sleddog; 03-16-2016 at 08:39 PM.
Alerion 38 "Surprise!"
That looks like the YD's hull but it's very different from the sheerline up - maybe they explain this in the article (which I haven't read).
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