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Thread: New Boat 4 Sled

  1. #1791
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    In 2008 I got to Hawaii without an engine. A Navik windvane drove for about 4 days, during an awful lot of gray skies as Sleddog will remember. I actually engaged one of the ST2000's for some extremely light air hours. I still recall my dismay one early morning, at discovering the boat careening hither, thither and yon, even though the Navik was still engaged. I pulled up the oar only to discover that the bottom 2/3rds of the fiberglass foil had busted clean off, rendering the unit essentially useless. From then on it was ST2000's.

    I had a small gasoline generator on board. It ran for about 20 minutes and died. I spent an entire day trying to entice it to start again.... no deal. So it was solar panels and nothing else for the last 12 days. Now, I have to admit that I wasn't very competitive!

    BTW, my first outboard motor, on my Cal 20 was a Seagull. Man, that thing stank.
    1968 Selmer Series 9 B-flat and A clarinets
    1962 Buesher "Aristocrat" tenor saxophone
    Piper One Design 24, Hull #35; "Alpha"

  2. #1792
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    OK, since there was earlier talk of Stars, I'd like to hear what messrs Sleddog and others in the SSS have to say about Mercuries.

    About 1969 I took sailing lessons at the Monterey YC in El Toros. I think I drove my instructor nuts. Anyway, I took to the sailing much better than the tennis lessons I'd had in past summers. My mother really wanted me to play tennis, but it just didn't really *click*. Anyway, after those initial lessons I crewed for a family friend, Col. Ellie Wood, on his plywood mercury out of Stillwater Cove for a number of years. I've considered buying my own Mercury off and on during the years. There was a light blue 'glass one at the Alameda Marina for years and years, that never moved and I seriously thought about making some phone calls, but never got around to it.

    Schock used to make glass Mercuries. Moore still has a mold, I think, and will make a new boat for ya if you want one. I wonder if anybody made a business out of making plywood Mercuries. Maybe the Nunes brothers?
    1968 Selmer Series 9 B-flat and A clarinets
    1962 Buesher "Aristocrat" tenor saxophone
    Piper One Design 24, Hull #35; "Alpha"

  3. #1793
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    [QUOTE=[I]AlanH asks:OK, since there was earlier talk of Stars, I'd like to hear what messrs Sleddog and others in the SSS have to say about Mercuries. About 1969 I took sailing lessons at the Monterey YC in El Toros. I think I drove my instructor nuts. Anyway, after those initial lessons I crewed for a family friend, Col. Ellie Wood, on his plywood mercury out of Stillwater Cove for a number of years. [/I]

    Mercuries are cool! At 18' LOA, Mercuries were originally designed more than 70 years ago for the heavy breezes of SF Bay. Mercuries are excellent two person boats, you don't need a heavy crew to be competitive in a breeze, and they can be towed behind the family car. A competitive Mercury can be had for as little as $1,000.

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    But Mercuries have something special going for them that lets them happily sail the waters off the Monterey Peninsula and Stillwater Cove, at Carmel. For the first trivia of 2017, what is it that is singular to the Mercury design, and why is this feature important? A hint is the number 57.

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    Last edited by sleddog; 01-02-2017 at 08:29 AM.

  4. #1794
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    I don't know how it relates to the number 57, but I'd think the full keel with attached rudder would help when sailing around kelp.

  5. #1795
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    The MERCURY was designed by Nunes Brothers, Sausalito specifically for windy SF Bay. Between the hull shape and a particularly high ballast/displacement ratio (57%), they are quite stiff. This also means that they are a great two person boat where the crew is a lighter weight person.

    My high school friend Luke Conover and his father built a MERCURY in their garage. The boat was named REVONOC.

    A closely related boat design is the CLIPPER designed by Myron Spaulding. There is a CLIPPER on display at Clipper Yacht Harbor, Sausalito.

  6. #1796
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dazzler View Post
    The MERCURY was designed by Nunes Brothers, Sausalito specifically for windy SF Bay. Between the hull shape and a particularly high ballast/displacement ratio (57%), they are quite stiff. This also means that they are a great two person boat where the crew is a lighter weight person.
    Excellent info from BOBJ and DAZZLER regards the Mercury, and its bigger sister the Clipper. The Nunes Brothers, Manuel and Antonio, came from the island of Pico in the Azores and, after moving from Sacramento, were well established boat builders in Hurricane Gulch, at the south end of Sausalito, with a boatshop and marine railways where the Portofino Apartments now stand. Other than the Mercury, the Nunes' designs of the Bear Boat and the Hurricane, are active to this day. As is the magnificent schooner ZACA. ZACA, too big to fit inside the Nunes' shop. was built in a special building at the foot of Main St. in Sausalito.

    Interestingly, in April, 1930, ZACA was launched bow first and sped down Main St on the still visible railways. In pursuit was silent film star Marie Dressler. Eyewitness accounts agree that Ms. Dressler had made use of a few bottles of champagne herself before attempting to christen ZACA. Dressler swung the champagne bottle, missed, lost her balance, and fell into the water. She was reportedly rescued by a speedboat which raced after the departing yacht.

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    Unfortunately, we still don't have a "winner, winner, chicken dinner" for the Mercury Class trivia question "what is singular to the Mercury design, and why is this feature important for sailing out of Monterey and Stillwater? A hint is the number 57"

    Both BOBJ and DAZZLER are not incorrect: The Mercury does have a full keel and attached rudder.....but so does the popular Shields Class in Monterey. Also, I was unaware the Mercury's high ballast/displacement ratio of 57% is what makes the Mercury so stiff. The number "57" I was thinking of is related to something different about the keel than the ballast/disp. ratio.

    On your marks, set,.........

    (Tom, was your high school friend Luke Conover related to Harvey Conover who was tragically lost at sea when his S&S REVONOC mysteriously disappeared in the Gulf Stream during a severe northerly?)
    Last edited by sleddog; 01-02-2017 at 03:59 PM.

  7. #1797
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    In that case I'll go with my initial inclination (is that a sailing pun?) and suggest that although it's a one-design, each Mercury had a slightly different keel. There were, in fact, "57 Varieties."

    In a post during the early days of Skip's thread, I mentioned that my older sister and my friend Rick got their braces stuck together. This happened one night aboard Rick's family's Columbia 50, which lived at the end of one of the piers at the Alameda Marina. At about that same time, there was a Mercury for sale at John Beery's (this was just after John moved his brokerage from Berkeley's Aquatic Park to the Alameda Marina). Against his better judgement and AFAIK without the owner's permission, John let Rick and I take the Mercury out one afternoon. Knowing Rick, he'd probably told John we had formed a syndicate to buy and race it. It was blowing pretty good in the Estuary and we decided to see how far we could make it heel. Fortunately Tom is right - Mercuries are pretty stiff - because they also have an open cockpit without coamings.
    .
    Last edited by BobJ; 01-02-2017 at 07:17 PM.

  8. #1798
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    Quote Originally Posted by BobJ View Post
    In that case I'll go with my initial inclination (is that a sailing pun?) and suggest that although it's a one-design, each Mercury had a slightly different keel. There were, in fact, 57 varieties.
    57 Varieties of Mercury keels??
    Nope, that's not the "57" I was thinking of either. Next thing is somebody is gonna remember towing a Mercury to Tahoe with their '57 Chevy and slept in the trunk.
    If BobJ was unsuccessful at sinking a Mercury in the Estuary, what can we trust him with?

  9. #1799
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    How do you know we were unsuccessful? You might recall we successfully sank a submarine out there.

    Oh and the Mercury was red - about the color of Heinz ketchup...
    .
    Last edited by BobJ; 01-03-2017 at 10:46 AM.

  10. #1800
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    Ok Sled, I don't know the answer. I give up, and I bet when you tell us we all go, "but of course." I will add that putting the Clipper design in historical perspective, an unusual feature for that time is that the boat was designed with a lifting bridle. I suspect that feature has had a lot to do with the Clipper's popularity in the challenging waterfronts of Monterey and Stillwater Cove. But the number 57 is a hint? I don't know.

    My friend's father was not the Conover who died in the S&S boat REVONOC (Conover spelled backwards). Some may remember when the old ferry boat BERKELEY was berthed in downtown Sausalito, next to the Sausalito YC. Onboard was a store called the Trade Fair. Luke's parents owned that store.

    And for BOBJ, I worked for John Beery at the time you were messing with that Clipper (oops, I meant Mercury).

    And on another distantly related note, my parent's first boat was a S&S designed Cape Cod Mercury (no relation to the Nunes Mercury). That was the first boat I ever sailed on.
    Last edited by Dazzler; 01-03-2017 at 10:14 AM. Reason: An oops.

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