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Thread: New Boat 4 Sled

  1. #511
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    Sep 2007
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    It sounds like you were wise to move away from SINGLE MALT. I wonder if they made it through the night.

    Those Ranger Tugs crack me up - the dealer is here in Alameda. You can get a bright red (or green) 27'ish foot long one with both bow and stern thrusters (really?) for a quarter of a mil or something. The few times I've seen them trying to dock, it seems they've needed both bow and stern thrusters.

    Your recent post has shattered the bucolic image I had of your recent anchorages. (Isn't that a great word? From the root word bucus, which rhymes with mucus...)

  2. #512
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    Sep 2007
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    Capitola,CA
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    For you dirt boat speed freak afficianados, Santa Cruz locals Dennis Michael Bassano and Alan Wirtanen are bringing a fleet of dirt boats, Mantas and mini-Mantas, to Pier 29 at San Francisco, 1:30-4:30 pm, this Saturday and Sunday to match race the Oracle America's Cup crew. Dennis and Alan have been sailing dirt boats for years, but not sure about stadium sailing ;-)

    It is Pro-Am competition, with the Oracle crew being the "amateurs." The big cars with wing masts will be on display, as the course is too tight for their 80 mph straight away speeds.
    Last edited by sleddog; 08-04-2013 at 08:37 PM.

  3. #513
    Join Date
    Jul 2013
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    Port Hadlock, WA
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    Good work in avoiding the Malts if a blow was coming but too bad you had to give up a favorite anchorage because of two idiots. Don't badmouth those Ranger Tugs too much....there may be one in our future...distant future.....but we're actually reading ads in broker's windows. Scary!

  4. #514
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    Jan 2013
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    Reno, NV
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    I'm glad the fuel issue was resolved. It seems like a summer of bad fuel stories, with 100gal dirt in the fuel from a dock in Mexico, another in So. Cal contaminated with water, Diesel in Gas, Diesel in Gas.... But glad you are on your way to next adventures. I had heard at the LTWYC post double-hand the reason the Red Menace Moore 30 did not sail was because Lester and family had to practice for their dirt boat debut at Pier 29 this weekend match racing Spithill and crew.... sounds like there will be quite the crowd.

    And I'm excited because I'm going dirt boating today a nice break from all the A/C circuit design and troubleshooting for my studies... I'm sooo Laddered OUT! Relay I am... LOL the nerds will get it.
    Last edited by Santana20Vixen; 08-02-2013 at 09:24 AM.

  5. #515
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    Sep 2007
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    Leaving Gorge Harbor on Cortez Island, we came upon a sad sight. Four big (44'?) Bayliner powerboats were rafted together on one anchor and one shore line. The evening before, the group was in party hearty mode, so much so they apparently forgot to check their depth clearance aft.

    With two hours to low tide, the group was aground. I could see the props, shafts, and rudders of two of the yachts high and dry and snuggled into the shoreline rocks. An expensive start to one's holiday weekend.

    We crossed from Cortez Island to Read Island, and anchored off Lambert's Beach, intending to participate in the Read Island Picnic. Just ahead was the fine old gaffer ZULU, Brian and Marlene from Seattle. Brian is an instructor at the Wooden Boat Center in Seattle. It was a fun group, many friends, good food, and Celtic music into the night.

    This morning, 8/4, I upped anchor early and set off 13 miles north to Port Maurelle, home of good friends Rob and Laurie Wood. The wind was on the nose, NW, 10-20 knots, most of the way, and we motorsailed with just the double reefed main. We transited Beazely Pass with Tusko Rock to starboard at one hour before slack, and found 3 knots of favorable ebb current. Tied up at Port Maurelle and greeted by the local cat, Smokey, who was just a kitten last year.
    Port Maurelle's posit: 50-14.360 N x 125-09.431 W

    Tusko Rock, in the middle of narrow Beazley Pass, is just visible at low tide, and has claimed many victims over the years. Rob and Laurie rescued one elderly lady a few years back who's powerboat ran afoul of Tusko. They took this person home for tea, and she introduced herself as (retired Supreme Court Justice) Sandra Day O'Conner.

    Rob and Laurie were having their own shakedown adventure on their new, homebuilt, 20' aluminum cat WILDCAT. Their outboard gas was contaminated with water, and they were blown ashore at the entrance to White Rock Passage. Fortunately they were towed to nearby Rendesvouz Island by singlehander Mark on MISS MADISON, where the problem was sorted and fresh fuel obtained.
    Last edited by sleddog; 08-06-2013 at 12:59 PM.

  6. #516
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    The Read Island picnic had families from five nearby islands. One lady and her husband introduced themselves: Katherine and Steve B.. It turns out I was talking with the great, great grand daughter of John Cox Stevens, first commodore of the New York Yacht Club in 1844, and head of the syndicate that built the schooner AMERICA, that in 1851 challenged the Brits on a wager, and came home with the AMERICA's 100 guinea cup that was to become the America's Cup.

    It turns out Katherine descends from one of the more remarkable families in American history. Her family at one time or another bought what is now Hoboken, New Jersey, and started the first steam ferry service across the Hudson between Hoboken and NYC.

    They also pioneered the first use of propellors on steam yachts, founded Stevens Institute of Technology, and bequeathed the towing tank where many famous yachts were tank tested ......

    I doubt John Cox Stevens would recognize his AMERICA's cup today. With more similarities to flying than traditional sailing, the AC-72's lift up and fly out the water at 40 knots. ORACLE's skipper, to further his team's chances, recently took flying lessons.

    The Reno Air Races race laps around a similar length course as AC-34. But the planes are going at speeds often in excess of 400 mph.

    I doubt WILDFLOWER will be foiling anytime soon, if ever. I fondly compare her to a gypsy wagon, or an ultralight tree house.
    Last edited by sleddog; 08-23-2013 at 12:04 PM.

  7. #517
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    My hosts on Maurelle Island, Rob and Laurie Wood, are mountaineers par excellence, Rob has guided and climbed on Mt. Waddington, highest mountain in British Columbia, more than anyone. And was first to pioneer routes on Mt. Bute, which has a vertical granite face twice as high as El Cap in Yosemite.

    Rob was recently a technical consultant on a most remarkable National Geographic documentary, "The Man Who Can Fly."
    If you've never seen this film, I recommend it as being in the spirit of Mallory on Everest and Shackleton in Antarctica: pushing the bounds of exploration of the unknown for its own sake. There's a short trailer at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvgxR0Rt_us

    Unfortunately, I just learned after posting, "The Man Who Can Fly," about 45 minutes in length, is difficult to find and was only shown once on TV. I suspect National Geo's lawyers were having indigestion.
    Last edited by sleddog; 08-08-2013 at 01:59 PM.

  8. #518
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    WILDCAT, (to starboard of WILDFLOWER in below photos,) has an unusual background. Her predecessor, QUINTANO, Rob and Laurie built and used for many (30?) years on expeditions up remote fjords, ferrying alpine climbing and cross country skiing clients.

    Four years ago, Rob was whipping some line with a torch. He failed to notice the flame had not been fully extinguished and QUINTANO burned to the waterline and sank. Rob and Laurie were devastated.

    By happenstance, Rob's friend Chuck is the mechanic at the remote Homathko River logging camp, 60 miles up Bute Inlet. Logging is finished in the Homathko Valley, and Chuck had time on his hands in the winter. To teach himself aluminum welding, Chuck built WILDCAT. No plans, no boat building experience. Chuck then sold WILDCAT to Rob and Laurie, and they towed her out of Bute Inlet to their home on Maurelle for finishing.

    As might be expected, WILDCAT is a bit rough. But she was built 80 miles from the nearest civilization, in a shop 2 miles up a nearly inaccessible glacial river.

    WILDCAT, Rob, and especially Chuck at Homathko Camp have ties to the above mentioned "Man Who Can Fly." Chuck's experience welding aluminum on WILDCAT allowed Chuck to build the spring board off which Dean Potter flew to descend the 9,000' Mt. Bute in a 3 plus minute flight.
    http://www.judithmwilliams.com/?q=node/61

    Currently, Rob and I are attempting to figure out a sailing rig for WILDCAT. This afternoon we will meet members of the Homalco Tribe of First Nations people who are paddling their traditional cedar dugout canoes to pay homage to their native lands up Bute Inlet.
    Attached Images Attached Images   
    Last edited by sleddog; 08-09-2013 at 11:09 AM.

  9. #519
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    Jan 2010
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    I've been very much enjoying your "travelogue" posts re sailing in the great NW. Happy to hear Wildflower has been such a success and would like to see some pictures of her showing her evolved set-up, equipage, etc.

  10. #520
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    Yesterday Rob and I motored WILDCAT 4 miles NW in the Okisollo Channel to visit Josh and family. We were paced to port by a pod of 6-8 orcas. Their chuffing was audible over the outboard.

    We stern anchored off a small cove, and beached WILDCAT on the shingle shore. Just inland is the boat shop, and the 44' catamaran under construction off the grid. This is a big project!

    Returning WILDCAT down channel, the orcas were once again present, having turned around near the Okisollo Rapids and heading back towards the Surge Narrow Rapids.

    The rapids are ever present, and except at slack water, their thunderous roar can be heard for a great distance. The tidal current speed at the rapids is given in the Tide Book in knots, 12 knots not being unusual. However locals Rob and Laurie, with 40 years experience, measure the current by the height of the overfalls as well.

    Rob and Laurie, in their 16' outboard powered commuter skiff, transit the Surge Narrows Rapids at any time, using local knowledge of back eddies. They are very much aware of the current boundaries, wind against tide, and keeping an extra reserve of power if needed. They do not take the experience for granted. Similar to entering a busy freeway on ramp, Rob and Laurie run the rapids nearly every day and are "in tune" with their environment.
    Last edited by sleddog; 08-10-2013 at 06:52 PM.

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