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Thread: New Boat 4 Sled

  1. #621
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    Once upon a time as I was sailing my Holiday 30 (Dutch built, fin keel, wood sloop) from Nuku Hiva to Tahiti, I looked back and saw my wood rudder pop to the surface! A funny reaction was my immediate disconnect of the tiller so I could put it over to reverse course and pick up the blade. Of course, the boat did not respond! So, what to do? I had no spare rudder, but had always considered the spin pole astern tactic. However, I did have an Aries servo-pendulum wind vane. So all I did was disconect the steering lines from the tiller and lead them to the spinnaker winches, centering the servo rudder. Now, when the vane was moved, it turned the servo blade as designed. However, since the blade was now unable to move from side to side (fixed by the steering lines at the winches) it acted as a rudder and steered the boat. So I could steer the boat by manually flopping the wind vane. But wait! I quickly discovered that it self-steered by lining the vane up with the wind in the "normal" manner. The pendulum blade steered the boat directly instead of developing tiller power in the usual mode. And off we went on to Tahiti! Even self steered thru a minor gale.

    This was only possible because of the immense strength of the Mk 2 Aries and the fact that the rig was secured to the deck, rather than the transom, making the connection less stressful to the boat. I'm sure my current wind vane, a French Atoms would not be strong enuf. I don't think the San Francisco stainless clone of the Aries would be strong enuf either, altho I would not hesitate to try in the event of rudder failure.
    Just thought I'd pass this on, for what it's worth.

  2. #622
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    Thats great! Thanks for sharing that.

    This begs the question: Could the Aries be considered as an emergency rudder.......Brian? Having a boat with an outboard rudder like I have (Westsail 32) it seems VERY unlikely that the rudder would be lost. Of course it is possible.

  3. #623
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    My Anacortes, WA, correspondent, a veteran of the Northwest Passage in 1969, is at 65 the youngest rower on the Old Anacortes Rowers and Sailors crew (OARS.) Gary sent his report a few days ago:

    Out the door at 0645 this morning with the porch thermometer reading 25 degrees. Underway in the harbor at 7:10 & after investigating a 1928 32' classic powerboat (anchored outside of breakwater) that had sunk Sat. we proceeded south. Ducked into Anacortes Marina to escape easterly wind but soon came to an abrupt stop. The fairway surface was covered by a sheet of ice & the sound produced by our moving boat on contact seemed unfriendly to the cedar planking. A vigorous row followed by a hot cup of coffee & a danish is not a bad way to start the day. All the signs point to snow (soon) so my main activity today will be to keep the wood stove glowing.

    Blocked by ice? Not the 739 foot Panamax bulk carrier NORDIC ORION. Especially built for ice operations, this 2011 ship has an 18,420 hp main engine, compared to 12,000 hp for normal bulkers her size.

    After sufficient planning, NORDIC ORION loaded 73,500 tons of coal in North Vancouver, Canada, and on Sept. 6, 2013 set sail for the Northwest Passage. At a speed of 13 knots, NORDIC ORION crossed the Arctic Circle and passed Pt. Barrow on Sept. 16.

    In Barrow Strait, south of Resolute, NORDIC ORION reached her most northerly point of 74-41 N. During her passage, she was in regular contact with Canadian Coast Guard. On Sept. 22, NORDIC ORION cleared the Northwest Passage, passing the south tip of Greenland on Sept.25, continuing across the Atlantic, the North Sea, to the Baltic. On October 8, when NORDIC ORION arrived at the port of Pori in Finland to unload her coal, she had sailed 8,200 miles, 1,000 miles fewer than through the Panama Canal. This was only half of her historic voyage however. (to be continued)
    Last edited by sleddog; 12-18-2013 at 08:40 PM.

  4. #624
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    pogen is offline Sailing canoe "Kūʻaupaʻa"
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    Quote Originally Posted by WBChristie View Post
    Thats great! Thanks for sharing that.

    This begs the question: Could the Aries be considered as an emergency rudder.......Brian? Having a boat with an outboard rudder like I have (Westsail 32) it seems VERY unlikely that the rudder would be lost. Of course it is possible.
    I have observed the Monitor emergency rudder deployed for testing on a Pacific Seacraft 44. First, it was very hard to deploy. It is very heavy for the size of the blade. Second, it was pretty ineffective at actually steering the boat, even in very moderate wind and flat sea state. It will get you through an inspection I guess, but I don't think you would really want to count on it.

  5. #625
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    When I first visited San Francisco's Golden Gate Park as an undergraduate, there was a forlorn, weathered ship resting inland, near the beach, in the shadow of the the windmill. She was GJOA, a 70 foot sloop built in Norway in 1872 as a sealer and herring fisher.

    Under Roald Amundsen's command, GJOA's 6 crew were first to transit the fabled Northwest Passage, a 3 year endeavor in which they spent two winters iced in. Amundsen and GJOA arrived in San Francisco in Oct., 1906, six months after the great earthquake. Amundsen and crew were treated to a hero's welcome by local natives, reliving their own form of hardship.

    Rather than sail GJOA back to Norway via Cape Horn, Amundsen sold GJOA to San Francisco. After sitting in the mud in Vallejo for several years, GJOA was hauled onto land at Ocean Beach in front of 5,000 spectators and put on display. Having already suffered hardship of Arctic winters, San Francisco's beach front climate of wind, blowing sand, salt air, and vandalism did GJOA no good. With hippies on LSD setting campfires inside, GJOA's sturdy construction deteriorated until, in 1972, GJOA was thankfully shipped home to her native Norway and totally rebuilt.

    Amundsen later went on to sail FRAM to Antarctica and was first to the South Pole. One of Amundsen's greatest achievements modern day navigators enjoy is his discovery and charting of the location of the North Magnetic Pole. When you plot your compass course on a paper chart using the magnetic compass rose, you can thank Roald Amundsen.

    GJOA's story is a tribute to the plucky little ship. http://oceanbeachbulletin.com/2011/0...den-gate-park/
    Last edited by sleddog; 12-18-2013 at 08:42 PM.

  6. #626
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    Default Gjoa

    Skip,
    When I was in the 3rd Grade we made a field trip to GG Park. With my Kodak Brownie camera I took a b&w photo of GJOA and later made this painting from the photo. Tom

    Name:  GJOA sm.jpg
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  7. #627
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    What a nice collection of stories we have for Christmas delectation. In space of a week, we've had a first hand account of RAGTIME laying down, sans steering, at 20 plus knots in the Molokai Channel; Gary and OARS crew rowing a cedar planked rowboat into ice at Anacortes; the General sighting his rudder floating up astern and what he did about it. And, most specially, for the star at the top of the tree, Dazzler's 3rd grade painting of GJOA in Golden Gate Park.

    As a "what the *!*? happened?" contribution, thanks to Ann C. for the below photos, the first of which could be titled "Accident at Sea in Yelapa." That's the wood for Ann's new casita floating in the surfline.

    Second photo of WINDROSE from Ventura, well anchored bow and stern (bow into prevailing swell) in Yelapa Bay.

    Happy Holidays One and All. Thanks for being here.
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    Last edited by sleddog; 12-20-2013 at 09:09 AM.

  8. #628
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dazzler View Post
    Skip,When I was in the 3rd Grade we made a field trip to GG Park. With my Kodak Brownie camera I took a b&w photo of GJOA and later made this painting from the photo. Tom

    Name:  GJOA sm.jpg
Views: 633
Size:  98.9 KB
    Tom, Gotta love your mother for saving that.

  9. #629
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dazzler View Post
    Skip,
    When I was in the 3rd Grade we made a field trip to GG Park. With my Kodak Brownie camera I took a b&w photo of GJOA and later made this painting from the photo. Tom

    Name:  GJOA sm.jpg
Views: 633
Size:  98.9 KB
    Tom's painting is pretty darn good. He even got the ratlines right. Here's an early photo of GJOA under sail, sometime around 1900.
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    Last edited by sleddog; 12-20-2013 at 09:21 PM.

  10. #630
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    Jackie, Yes, and I will be spending time in the next few days with my Mother and Father (96 and almost 97 respectively). I've had the painting for decades and maybe someday it will get a frame.
    Happy Holidays, Tom

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