New Boat 4 Sled

[sleddog]

North Island of New Zealand is currently getting pummeled with heavy rain and wind from Cyclone Gabrielle passing down the east coast hitting Auckland and the Coromandel Peninsula. Flights canceled, bridges and roads closed, power outages, and flooding with winds 65-70 knots and higher gusts being reported.
Ironically, next door neighbors to CBC are in New Zealand cruising their 47 foot, Paul Whiting design sloop CHEYENNE. Currently anchored in Wairahi Bay, Port Fitzroy, on Great Barrier Island, they had a rough night last night even though their position is landlocked. Their baro is currently a record low 28.8 inches/975 mb with south wind steady 45 kts with higher gusts. They are in 20 feet of water, 180 feet of chain rode, good holding with mud bottom as the center of Gabrielle passes near and just east of their position.

All three aboard CHEYENNE, Alan Blunt, Pitter and Dave Fox are highly experienced and competent sailors. To hear them report a "rough night" would be an understatement. Hang on, Team!
CHEYENNE's posit on Google Earth is 36 degrees, 12.55 minutes south x 175 degrees, 20.32 minutes east.
[

Good news from CHEYENNE. Extra-Tropical Cyclone Gabrielle's large eye passed nearly overhead with a baro reading of 28.5 inches/ 965 mb(!). During the lull they moved a mile north to Smokehouse Bay in Port Fitzroy to get protection from the increasing westerly, now 35, gusting 50. CBC's neighbors, Pitter and Fox, went to New Zealand to do some cruising on CHEYENNE. Some cruise. "Storm of the Century" is headline news. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/

Smokehouse Bay on Google Earth is 36-12' S x 175-19'-47" E

[sleddog]

Hank Easom RIP. A friend to all, and a master of his craft. Watching Hank sail his beloved YUCCA was such a wonder, a perfect symphony of wind, wave, and water, we could not help but pause and watch.

[sleddog]

As some know, San Leandro Harbor and Marina lie a mile southeast of the Oakland Airport runway. A narrow and shoal 2 mile entrance channel made for difficult access, never mind severe shoaling left no water with extensive mudflats inside at low tide. The harbor has been permanently closed and slated for development as a 500 unit residential housing complex.

The last boat standing in San Leandro Marina was the Santa Cruz 52 ROSEBUD, 54 feet overall, designed by Bob Smith and built by Bill Lee at Santa Cruz Yachts. ROSEBUD, the lightest of the '52's, was abandoned for 17 years when a previous owner was busted for running a meth lab. ROSEBUD was only a week away from going in the dumpster when 505 Worlds Champion Mike Holt and 3 of his mates acquired ROSEBUD for almost free under stipulation she be gone within a week.



If there is anyone who could spring ROSEBUD from her mud berth and undertake a restoration, it is a crew of 505 sailors. Amazingly, they got the engine running, and at low tide walked what remained of the channel, marking it with bamboo poles.

They heeled the boat to 11 degrees with a halyard to an abandoned dock and waited for a 7 foot high tide. A SC-52 draws 9', but with the engine running and the dock rafted, whenever they would stick in the mud, they would just crank on the halyard and heel the boat more.

ROSEBUD is/was at Berkeley Marine Center undergoing complete restoration. The rigging is good as are the spars. The interior cleaned up, the bottom scrubbed and painted, and Bob's Your Uncle ROSEBUD now is a back alive, looking like the million dollars she originally cost. Congrats Mike and crew!





Thanks Mike Holt for the photos.

[Intermission]

Did they make it out of San Leandro and in to Berkeley on the same high tide?

[Philpott]

That is a wonderful story and Rosebud is a beautiful boat. What do her new owners intend to do with her? Will she keep her name? Who will make new sails for her? Will she stay at BMC for awhile yet? I see she is at the BMC fuel dock in this photo, with (one of) Ruben's boat(s) there in the background. Where will she live now? Someone just captured one of the few 52' slips in the RYC harbor, after a 15 year wait, so it probably won't be there.

[MillyB]

I did not know that Bob Smith designed her- wow ! He was quietly building his first quarter tonner behind the quonset hut that housed Dewill sails, where we both worked in the early '70s. So nice to see her looking good again !

[Critter]

with the engine running and the dock rafted, whenever they would stick in the mud, they would just crank on the halyard and heel the boat more.

Skip, so let me get this straight. They side-towed the dock out with them and used it as ballast to heel the boat? Brilliant!

[sleddog]

Skip, so let me get this straight. They side-towed the dock out with them and used it as ballast to heel the boat? Brilliant!

Sorry to say, I've only met Mike Holt once, for 10 minutes, in the office at Dave Hodges sail loft. I was not expecting this inspirational story, nor taking notes. What I have written is from this brief interaction, from memory, and may have gaps/misinformation. I don't know Mike's plans, nor anything about whether they will keep the name, who will make the sails, where she will be berthed, etc. It's up to you, dear readers, to tell us more. CBC is just a mushroom farm when not scooping Macapuno.

I have sailed considerable miles on and against Santa Cruz 52's. The designer, good friend Bob Smith, worked for Bill Lee at the time. Bob and I worked at Tom Wylie designs back in the '70's on Clement and Willow when Bob was first designing and building boats. Thus Milly's reference to the 1/4 tonner in the Quonset hut. Most SC-52's were built as cruiser/racers with plush interiors and granite counters. ROSEBUD was built as a racer, and could hold her own against SC-50's, SC-70's...

FYI, the name of a design often has nothing to do with the actual LOA (Length Over All) SC-50's are not 50, SC-52's are not 52, SC-70's not 70 feet, and Cal-40's not 40 feet.

[Dazzler]

Skip, so let me get this straight. They side-towed the dock out with them and used it as ballast to heel the boat? Brilliant!

More of the story, with a picture of the “dock”, was in the December ‘22 Latitude 38.
https://www.latitude38.com/issues/december-2022/#70

[sleddog]

More of the story, with a picture of the “dock”, was in the December ‘22 Latitude 38.
https://www.latitude38.com/issues/december-2022/#70

Thanks, DAZZLER! Mike Holt just wrote: "Here is a picture of the dock being used and us in full escape mode. We took Rosebud first to South Beach and then BMC. When we left San Leandro we were not sure we would get out, so we had nowhere booked! Rule 1 we found out is not everyone can accommodate a boat this big! All the best and thanks for sharing the story! Mike"