Tour du Leman 2006 It cant be done

This 160km, non-stop race round Lac Léman (Lake Geneva) was the first big expedition rowing challenge I actually rowed (rather than coxed) in. 

Completing it changed my whole mindset, gave me a belief in what I could do on the water, and taught me the No.1 rule of long distance rowing, as far as Im concerned.

---

Event: Tour du Léman à lAviron
Where: Geneva, Switzerland
Distance: 160km non-stop
Time: 16h 23 mins
Boat type: Touring coxed quads (known as "yolettes")
Number of crews in the event: 19
Event Organiser: Société Nautique de Genève

---

Why we finished up doing it
A club mate at York City RC came across a poster for this event whilst visiting a gig club whilst on holiday in Cornwall. It obviously had to be done.

Why it happens 

The event started in 1972 when the Société Nautique de Genève (SNG) celebrated its centenary, and each part of this multi-watersport club was charged with coming up with a way of marking the occasion. The "rowing circle" suggested the audacious plan of rowing the whole way round Lac Léman, the lake on whose western end Geneva sits.

Before the race

We were the first crew to arrive in Geneva, and were impressed that, as promised, someone from the club picked us up at the airport. The race fee also promised free accommodation in "dormitories", which turned out to be in the local nuclear bunker. We should have realised: Switzerland provides a bed in a nuclear bunker for every one of its citizens, and in times when theres no immediate threat that the superpowers might press the button, these are made available as accommodation for community events.

See, it was turning out to be an unexpectedly socio-cultural tour already!

Being a mixed crew, we politely split up into girls and boys rooms for the night, and went to bed. We heard various other crews turn up during the night. In the morning, our socio-culural education was further extended, when we realised that continentals just arent aware of British niceties of male/female separation, and that all the rooms had become mixed. Well, no problem. 

On the other hand, we did find the tendency of German rowing gentlemen to wander around in the type of undergarment sometimes referred to as "budgie smugglers", rather more than we wanted first thing in the morning.

But on to the rowing...

We prepared the boat the day before the race by taping up the riggers in case of big waves, and stowing vast amounts of bottled water, jam sandwiches, and other snacks aboard. And then enjoyed the pre-race cocktail party, complete with canapes provided by the in-house restaurant, who were clearly experienced at quite how many nibbles 95 long-distance rowers could pack away.

Crews sprint off the start, en masse.

The race starts when a gun is fired, and the assembled mass of crews, sprint for about 600m past the famous Jet dEau, across the lake before turning through 90 degrees to head out along the Swiss (north) side of the lake. Within a few kilometers, we were past the iconic UN building and the field spread out. Some of the lakeside towns looked charming; many featured little chateaux typical of the region. At Lausanne, where the IOC is based, we said "Wow!" at the sight of  huge Olympic rings on show at the lakeside. 

Somewhere between Nyon ("Nylon without the "L") and Lausanne we finally got the hang of sculling yolettes, which involved rating at 24 and just tapping it along. If you rate lower than that, as we had for the first several hours, its like picking up a floating sack of potatoes every stroke.  You have been warned. 

Navigation
To ensure that all crews really do follow the perimeter of the lake, the organisers issue a number of waypoints round which all crews must pass. We had a borrowed an old hand-held GPS, and programmed the various waypoints into it. Bearing in mind that this was 2006, and the iPhone was yet to be released, we found this rather tremendous, and enjoyed the count downs to each point.

Practising swapping before the race.
We didnt get much better at it.

Swapping strategy
Most crews swap the cox every 30 minutes, so that each crew member rows for 2 hours, and then coxes for half an hour. The swapping procedure is rarely elegant. And most of the jam sandwiches met a sticky end under my foot during one of the changeovers.

And back to the rowing again

The day was hot, and we made sure we were drinking plenty, but even so, by the time we go to near the top of the lake, we realised we had over-catered rather in the drinks cabinet, and poured litres and litres of the bottled water wed bought, over the side. Given we were due to pass Evian in due course, this felt somewhat like the a watery equivalent of bringing coals to Newcastle.

Around 5pm - wed done a good days rowing, and rounded the top of the lake. Except we still had to row all the way back down the lake, albeit along the shorter, French side, to our bunker beds in Geneva. Hmm. As dusk fell, we turned on our navigation lights, which allowed us to see what we thought were the crews in front and behind. But frankly there were several little twinkly lights in the distance, and it was impossible to tell what was going on. To paraphrase The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy: Lac Leman - its big. Really big.

As we headed away from Evian, things were getting pretty grim, and here I learned one of the key things you MUST know when youre doing expedition rowing (or expedition anything else, pretty much). When you feel so tired that you cant imagine anything can possibly make you feel less tired, including eating, which would require more energy than you can muster anyway, eat. You WILL feel better. Yes, it sounds obvious, But youd be surprised how long it can take the bring to figure that one out, if it doesnt already know, and is having to come up with it for the first time when its tired and hungry.

And then the batteries in the GPS ran out. And in their case, not even the offer of jelly babies was going to persuade them to make any more contribution to the trip. And the problem with this part of the lake is that there are all sorts of bays you DONT need to go into, and one you do, and we frankly had no idea which was which, which got rather stressful. So we finished up "missing a mark" although only after a rather confused, shouted conversation in French with the safety cruiser that was shadowing us, in which they thought we were saying that we wanted to "abandon", when all we really wanted to know was where we were. Maybe "Nous sommes perdus" has connotations of "All is lost" - we never got to the bottom of that one!

On-board entertainment
Strangely, the black comedy of this situation rallied our spirits and soon someone reminded us all how, when we had announced what we were doing at the club, and answered questions like "How many days will that take you?", one of the elder statesmen had pronounced firmly "It cant be done." Actually, we were all fond of the gent in question - whose name was Colin Jones, and having reached the stage where you have either to laugh or cry, we chose the former, and launched into rousing choruses of "Colin Jones, Colin Jones, Colin Jones" to the tune of "Ere we go, ere we go, ere we go." Really, it helped at the time, and youll just have to believe me.

Despite our best efforts, attempts to play "Today I went rowing and I saw..." didnt last for more than a few letters as the boys hadnt grasped that youre meant to "see" things in alphabetical order, so we were mightily relieved when FINALLY we rounded the last corner and saw the lights of Geneva spread out ahead of us.

It gets better and better
After crossing the finish line, and paddling round the club landing stage, we were immensely relieved to find kind helpers to help us drag the boat out of the water (still with too many drinks on board), and we were served with a 3-course meal - SNG are just the best event organisers in the world. Two of us fell asleep after the soup, with our heads on the table, and were mercifully whisked up the hill to the dormitories, whilst the other three made the most of the situation and ate our mains and puddings as well as their own. No point in letting a good lasagne go to waste.

Rule No.2 of long distance rowing (Rule No.1 is EAT):
wear gloves (this was the AFTER photo).

If youre impressed so far with the airport pick ups, the idiosyncratic accommodation, the cocktail party, and boat-carrying help and pasta when you really need it - get this - there was also a Sunday lunch provided the next day after the prize giving. Honestly, if SNG made lager, it would be brilliant.

A couple of FAQ
Q: You were on the water for over 16 hours. Er, how did you go to the toilet?
A: We all agreed never to talk about that again. So were certainly not telling you.

Q: Will you do it again?
A: At the time, the other woman in the crew and I agreed that we were terribly proud to have done it, and there was no need to do it again. Do you think we stuck to that, though? Find out here!

The Rules of Expedition Rowing

Expedition rowing is not like "normal" rowing. Sure, you sit in a the same kind of boat, and do the same kind of stuff with the blades. Thats not what I mean. Expedition rowing requires strict adherence to three key rules. Ignore them and not only will you suffer, but your crew mates will suffer too, and theres every chance that you wont make it to the end of your chosen expedition.

However, Im not sure which order they belong in. Maybe theyre equally important? 

1. Eat. 
You use a lot of fuel when rowing long distances. Fact. Your fuel tank is not large enough to do the whole thing in one go (think Formula 1 in the 1990s, say, and not like it is today). Fact.

This all seems perfectly reasonable and sensible as you read this in front of your computer or other online device. But youd be surprised how often people get this wrong. although theres a good reason why they do.

Which is, that when you havent eaten enough, your decision making ability is impaired. And this leads to you making poor decisions about eating. Which only leaves you MORE "not having eaten enough": you can see the obvious spiral downwards.

So, here are some tips to remember about eating on expedition rows:

1. Eat when you have the opportunity. Dont wait till you feel hungry. You may not have the opportunity to eat then.
2. If you feel too tired to be able to make the effort to eat, use your last reserves of effort to eat. It will be worth it.
3. If you feel so tired that you dont think even eating will help you, eat anyway. It WILL help.

To help with point 1b, make sure you have easily-digestible, easy-to-eat food close to hand. I am a big fan of having a Ziplok bag of Jelly Babies by my rowing seat. My crew mates are often fans of this too (offering round Jelly Babies makes you someone people want to row with).

My crews hands after our first 160km race

round Lac Léman. Note the lack of blisters.

We wore gloves.

2. Look after your hands (and bum).
As far as Im concerned, there is absolutely no need to finish up with raw hands and skinned bottom at the end of an expedition row. Or, worse, part way through one.

Injuries like that are almost certainly going to  doing to reduce your physical performance, but they will also get you down. And long-distance rowing is generally hard enough mentally, without you making it unnecessarily worse.

So heres the deal: wear gloves. No, I know that, with one exception I can think of in the last 15 years, no international rower wears gloves. Or even any good club rower going to do an outing or a race. But this is different. Its expedition rowing. Youre not just nipping up and down the river for an hour and a half and then going home. Youve got to keep rowing all day. And possibly the day after too. Maybe even for several after that. And "once its gone, its gone".

Gloves may also not be enough: use tape too, and take supplies with you.

And heres what happens if you dont: the double Olympic gold medallist and ocean rower James Cracknell famously went on to do a race to the South Pole, in which he got infected blisters. However, he admitted later that when he felt his boots starting to rub, he didnt call for his team to stop so that he could tape up the friction points, and when they did next pause for a scheduled break, he didnt grab that opportunity to do so either, as it was a lot of effort and he was exhausted (Im sure he was).

And the point here is that, only a small part of the way in to his long trek, his feet were clearly not going to get any better by being ignored. It is NOT "manning up" to put up with the pain. Stop and tape up at the first sign of tenderness.

"Happy bum."

The same goes for your bottom. Fixed-seat skiffers face the greatest challenge here, with  condition known as "skiffers bum" being widespread, even from a 45 minute trip round up the river and back on a Sunday morning. 

Nevertheless, when I turned up for my first "meander" with a large piece of upholstery foam, there was a lot of laughter. Which had died down by half way through the first day. And when we assembled for my second, well, lets just say that "Square Sponge" had plenty of company (and the local branch of Fabric World couldnt understand its unusual spike in foam sales).

Things arent quite so difficult in the gluteus maximus area for sliding seat rowers, but theres still no need for unnecessary suffering. "One seat pad good, two seat pads better" pretty much sums it up, as far as Im concerned, and in a survey of people Ive rowed round Lac Léman with,  100% agree.

3. Shut up and row.

Perhaps this should be rule Number 1 because, whilst the two rules above define WHAT you should do on an expedition row, this is the very epitome of HOW you approach the whole thing. 

Its also the basis of how you should choose your crew mates (never, ever embark on any row  further than about 15km with someone who cant do this, and dont even contemplate more than 5k with such a person if there is a sharp or heavy object in the boat, just in case youre tempted).

Incidentally, I was amused to read on the website of a French womens four called, of course "Rames Dames",  who rowed the Atlantic, that the concept has universal traction: their team slogan was "Tais-toi et rame".

When the going gets tough, just shut up and row.
(Note good observance of Rule 2 here.)

Just in case youre not quite clear why this is so important, perhaps because you are planning an expedition row but havent yet experienced one, Ill try to explain. Much as all of us who get as far as our second expedition row love doing it, expedition rowing isnt the same as going to Disneyland. If it were, everyone would be doing it and you wouldnt get the sense of achievement. As my slightly baffled stepmother commented "You seem to spend a lot of time, cold, wet, tired and in pain". I pointed out that on some rows the weather was nice and warm and it didnt rain, but she was right about the other two.

But when youre tired and in pain, you want to have faith in the rest of your crewmates. When you do, you can safely be determined not to be the weak link and let the others down, which will help you push on. You dont want to know that theyre struggling, and they dont want to know that you are. The last thing they need to be thinking is "Is X going to make it?", "Is Y not pulling any more and am I going to have to work harder as a result?", and definitely not "Why doesnt she shut up?" And, frankly, if you dont talk about it, it isnt so bad.

Telling other people about your (rowing) problems (during an expedition row), is pure selfish indulgence. It wont make the boat go faster or the finish come any sooner. Dont do it. 

Expedition rowing: great to do and
great when it ends too.

Most expedition rowers arent daft, and we can all spot a bit of discreet back stretching whilst the cox is changing over. But the trick is to smile cheerfully at the person behind you as you try and get your spine to click, find something positive to say something like "The waters nice and flat here" or, of course "Fancy a Jelly Baby?", and gloss over the fact that youre wondering whether youll need a crane to life you out of the boat at the end.

And, above all, no one likes a whinger.

4. If its valuable and would sink, tie it on. 
This one clearly isnt in the same league as the first three. But, having had one expedition row disappointingly turn into an unplanned swim, I can promise that it would have been even more frustrating to have lost my camera (waterproof), GPS, and torch, all of which had been tied on and were successfully recovered with the boat.

5. Know how to use your abdominals.
When you back hurts, and it almost certainly will, you can reduce the strain on your back by engaging your abdominals aka "sucking it all in". Its an effort, but nothing like as bad as rowing for another two hours wrapped in lower back agony.

If it helps, engage the services of a Posture Pixie to sit on your shoulder and whisper "Sit up" in your ear at regular intervals.

Posture Pixies and their relatives

For most of us, long distance rowing is demanding on the back. The good news, though, is that help IS available, and I dont just mean taking a couple of 12-hour Neurofen before you start (though I am a strong believer in doing that). There is no need to struggle to sit up, keep your back flat and engage your abdominals on your own.

The Posture Pixie is there to help.

As anyone who has paid attention during Peter Pan or has read Terry Pratchetts Small Gods knows, creatures like the Posture Pixie exist if you believe in them. I called it into being in 2006 when  I was vaguely organising ("coaching" would be to strong a term) a very tall, very thin young man, who generally tried to row as if he were about a foot shorter than he actually was, and I was worried that he as going to do himself some permanent damage if he did that for the full 50km of the Boston Marathon.

Fortunately, he survived, thanks to some great work by a Posture Pixie who sat on his shoulder the whole way, whispering "Sit up, Charlie" at regular intervals. Other members of his quad later voiced concerns that he had developed an ongoing friendship with the Posture Pixie, but he was over 16 by then and it really wasnt my problem.

Posture Pixies are very useful, but
somewhat limited conversationally.

I was asked recently, by the coach of an adult novice squad, where she could buy a supply of Posture Pixies, as her coachlings desperately needed their help. All I can say suggest is that, if the belief route doesnt work for them, I look forward to readers pictures of any that they have a) made out of PlayDoh, icing sugar, or similar substances or b) knitted.

This woman is beyond help from a Posture Pixie.
Her only hope is to scull.

The Magic Rigging Fairy
This is where the belief thing doesnt work. We all WANT there to be a Rigging Fairy, and weve probably all rowed with someone who apparently believes that she exists. But she doesnt. Sadly.

This is what we want the Rigging Fairy to do.
Do you see her in the picture?
No. Because she doesnt exist.

Below 40 South an adventure to be shared

Life is full of adventures,  you can share this one.

For as long as I’ve known him, and that’s a good 25 years or so, Howard Rice has been working on setting out on an adventure that would define his life.

He’s had adventures that top anything that most people have ever had but his sights are high and his ambitions large.

Read on, and follow the team as we help Howard.  While not everyone can sit alongside him in the boat, we can all of us experience the highs and lows of this voyage of exploration through the video that will be made from his cameras.  Support is needed, please help us get what will be an amazing story out there for all to share.

Check out the link below for details on that.

Heres "Southern Cross"  near complete,  being fitted out at SCAMP Camp Michigan this last summer.
As I write shes about to be launched for test sailing her gaff ketch rig tried for balance and her many systems tested.

Me? I designed the boat, it’s a SCAMP, with changes to suit the environment into which it will be venturing, I’ve a Kiwi sponsor who prefers to be anonymous, who’s covered my airfare to Chile from here. This means I can support Howard and help prepare the boat (thanks so much, I could not have even considered it without that help).

Sailing a boat of my own design in the Straights of Magellan was not on my list of possible adventures, but its going to happen.  Life is full of suprises!

Here is the press release from Lutra Productions who will be making the “movie”.

Press Release

Announcing “Below 40 South” a documentary being filmed about a solo voyage of exploration in a 12 foot sailboat through Tierra del Fuego and into the Southern Ocean.

Lutra Productions is pleased to announce we will be producing a documentary film of footage shot by solo sailor Howard Rice as he explores the remote, dangerous and staggeringly beautiful Tierra del Fuego in southern Chile. Howard has built the wooden sailboat he will explore in (A highly modified Small Craft Advisor magazine SCAMP design) and aboard this boat cameras will be mounted to record a daily video diary of his adventures below 40 degrees south.

Dateline: Austin Texas, Port Townsend, Washington- December 7^th, 2015

In February 2016 sailor and explorer Howard Rice will attempt to voyage south on the Straits of Magellan and out into the Southern Ocean to explore the remote southwest islands of Tierra del Fuego. Howard Rice sailed the eastern part of the Beagle Channel and south rounding Cape Horn in a fifteen foot wood canvas sailing canoe in 1990. He returns to explore further. His voyage began with the construction of the boat he will sail and Lutra Productions has documented portions of the build to incorporate into the planned film “Below 40 South, A Voyage To The Dark Side Of The Moon.” Rice’s actual voyage begins in January 2016 on arrival of the crated boat in Punta Arenas, Chile.

Rice and the boats designer New Zealander John Welsford will test sail the boat on the wind swept waters of the Straits of Magellan. Lutra Productions will be there to film the launch and test sailing before Rice sets off alone south into the wilderness of Tierra del Fuego and the storm wracked Southern Ocean. There will be no support boat and no film crew following him. He is sailing solo, unsponsored and will be operating a range of small GoPro cameras to record this amazing and historic small boat voyage. Some men and women may choose to cross oceans in small boats but all sailors know near shore navigating is by far the most hazardous, Tierra del Fuego below 40 south is considered the most dangerous ocean environment in the world and is home of the infamous Cape Horn.

Rice will have one year of opportunity to explore the region but hopes to conclude his voyage within six months of his departure unless more time is needed. The southern winter begins in May and Rice has equipped his 12 foot boat with a wood stove should he need it for warmth and is prepared to sail in winter if needed.

We invite you to contact us to learn more about the plans for the production of the documentary and how supporters can become part of the film production effort. To learn more about Howard Rice’s amazing small boat adventure you can contact either Small Craft Advisor Magazine or Lutra Productions or go to www.below40south.com the official website of the film.

Lutra Productions
4113 Guadalupe Street

Austin, TX 78751

Small Craft Advisor
PO Box 1343

Port Townsend, WA 98368

Media Contact Information:

David Nichols- Producer/Director
Lutra Productions
512 695-7365

david@lutraproductions.com

Josh Colvin-
Small Craft Advisor Magazine

1-800-979-1930

smallcraftadvisor@earthlink.net

www.below40south.com is the official website for the film

Mast glued up rudder and daggerboard glassing

Ok, another frustrating boatbuilding day here in New Hampshire.

The mast got glued up today in a long session.  It takes a deceptively large amount of glue.

First, I laid down the mast ladder frame, with the two sides to be glued next to it.  I primed the wood to be glue with unthickened epoxy, and then made up the thick stuff.  Application of the glue went along the base plug, narrow staves, and ladder framework.  Afterwards, I picked up the ladder section and placed it upside down on the wide stave.  The other side of the ladder was then glued up and the wide stave dropped onto that, making a sandwich.  Mr. Storer recommends a clamp every foot.  I only have 9 clamps that can be used on the mast.  Mr. Storer advises his customers to use packing tape... use a clamp, wrap the mast with packing tape to hold the pressure, move on.  This method has been used by other Goat Island Skiff builders, successfully.  It kind of worked for me, but not to the degree I would have liked, the clamps hold more pressure.  Regardless, better than nothing, and with some careful maneuvering I was able to make sure that all gaps were closed up.

It took longer than I thought, and a lot more glue than I thought.  There were a few areas where I really had to force the staves into position, and this was a pain.  For some reason I dont have any real overlap in the lower half part of the mast or I could have used nails to hold it in place.  I used my muscles instead, and clamped them down, and hoped for the best.  In  a few locations theres an overlap on one side and an underlap on another... not much, about 1mm, but I see it, and it pisses me off.  I should be building to tighter tolerances by now.  I dont know if its impatience to get this done with, or its a level of meticulousness that drives me batty.

Off to check the bottom runners, shall we?

Oh look, gaps!

 In my quest to use less glue (I keep throwing out tons of squeezed out glue) I went with what I thought was a moderate amount of glue... but it obviously wasnt enough.  These are, surprisingly, my worst scarfs on this boat yet.  This is not the end of the world, I can force some glue in there, they are not necessarily under pressure (that would compromise the scarf) and they will fully glued onto the hull.  So this is not the end of the world.

This is:

My daggerboard.  What a mess.  I was so concentrated and focused on making sure I got it smooth around the end of the board, I didnt really care what happened along the edges of the glass.  I figured I could sand it smooth later.  Now, Im realizing I really screwed myself up the wazoo.  This clean up job without going through the soft wood of the board is going to murder my day tomorrow.  UGH.

Ive been out having little adventures

Last week I took the ship out up to Kawau Island, about 2 hours away by sea, visited friends their then went to meet up with the beginning of the Kiwi Raid at Sandspit.

I was the “baggage barge” for the first day, baggage including camping gear for about 30 people was a good sized cargo but there is plenty of space in the covered cockpit aft so apart from needing four loads in the inflatable to get it all ashore at Martins Bay where they were to spend 3 nights at the motor camp while exploring the river at Mahurangi and the islands in the area, it was no problem at all.

I had the pleasure of the company of Roz for a couple of days, she is the organiser behind the Taweh Nugganah raid in Tasmania, those people being the bulk of the participants in our raid here.  Nice to meet you Roz, thanks for the pleasant time, you’re a great “deckhand”.

Raid progress reports here, I wish I could have stayed longer,  next year!

http://nzcoastalrowing.org/page/2/

More Kiwi participants too, this is a fabulous event, well organised, well supported with escort boats, the campsites all arranged, food provided, well done all the organising team.

From there, it was Mahurangi Regatta time, the annual event for classic yachts held in the entrance of the Mahurangi River,  there are usually between 250 and 300 boats there and while I’m primarily interested in the small boats, and admit to being biased and wanting pics of some my own designs, this is a fabulous event and one that I hate missing. 

This time, with the aid of Denny on the helm I was able to get around the fleet, hopefully not inconveniencing any of the racers, and got some very good shots.

Waiting near the beach, this is Carlotta Ann, soon to be renamed Kairos, I dont have any connection to the original name and she was an opportunity not to be missed.  Shes my most of the time home, big, comfortable and capable. I still have five other boats two of them with sails so Ive not defected from the small boat fold.

Breeze, 65 ft on deck, operated by an Auckland Maritime Museum volunteer group, a lovely sight at the Mahurangi Regatta, she sails the course with all of the racers and adds much to the spectacle. Yes Ive been up on that yard, while shes not a big ship its still a long way down.

Four of the St Ayles skiffs from the raid, all Tasmanian crews. Thanks for coming over people, great to meet you.

A sloop rigged Pathfinder,   http://www.jwboatdesigns.co.nz/plans/pathfinder/index.htm 

At this stage of the race  lying second to a boat that has won the event multiple times, local knowledge makes a huge difference on this course.

Rogue, slim, easily moved by that big sail. She finished second, well done. 

http://www.jwboatdesigns.co.nz/plans/rogue/index.htm

Saturday Night Special, designed to be a really quick and easy build for events such as the Texas 200, while not at her best in the very light winds ( the T200 is a notoriously windy event, there is an alternative larger sail area rig) she more than held her own among a fleet of very competitive small racers.   http://www.duckworksbbs.com/plans/jw/sns/index.htm

No excuses for just chasing pics of my own designs, the opportunity does not come up very often so I take it where it happens.  But Ive more pics and will post again.

We took the ship up the river to Warkworth, the town at the head of the navigable part of the river, being a midday tide and a holiday weekend, plus the Raid boats were up there with John Dory their escort,  it was way too crowded and no space at the dock so I managed to turn us around in the smallest space imaginable without touching anyone else, a maneuver that I was very proud of, tied up at the kayak jetty ( not being used at the time) for an hour then headed back out.

Perfect weather, light winds, just enough to move the boats, sunny and calm, itrs a lovely venue and ideal for boatwatchers, birdwatchers as well, there was a big flock of Fluttering Shearwaters resting just off the point as we came in.

I’m back at my home dock now, have a few jobs to do before I catch the bus into the airport and fly across the Pacific to Santiago to meet up with Howard Rice to help prepare the way for his planned Southern Ocean adventure with his SCAMP.

Check it out here.   http://www.below40south.com

The fundraiser is to make a movie so everyone can share the adventure. The cameras are organised, the filming planned, it’s the production costs that we need to cover, even ten dollars will help.  Please.

I’ve not been to Chile before, New Zealand has strong trade ties with that country and quite a few Chileans live here, but this is a first on that continent for me.

I’m very much looking forward to it.

Watch this space for reports.

Rudder and daggerboard ready to be shaped mast lumber!

Today was a surprisingly uneventful day in the my personal Goat Island Skiff world.  Ive been stumbling around lately trying to get traction on a number of projects, some held up by other projects that needed to be completed.  Two large steps forward happened today.

First:  I wandered into Goose Bay Lumber haphazardly and found 4 pieces of 20 x1x4 finished Douglas Fir boards.  All of them were straight, maybe three knots in the bunch, and relatively nice straight grain to boot.  Just four, all four were good, I grabbed them.  These will be my mast that powers my vessel.  I had them cut to 15 8", since the mast is just a smidge over 15 6" tall, this gives me an inch of "oof" space.  Also, they had a 15" planer, I had my daggerboard, and we fed it into the mouth of the machine.  It spit it out a little thinner, and nice and smooth on one side.  The planer was not a precision machine, and while I can lose 0.75mm, Id rather do that by hand than take out a huge chunk or something.  But it helped.

Second:  I called my bro-in-law and he was home, with his 13" planer.  I strapped my mast bits onto the roof of my sedan in a fashion that screamed "I will impale the person in front of me if you rear-end me" and roared up the interstate to the second planer.  In short order I planed my rudder down to the requisite 22mm and it came out amazing.  Then, away I planed my mast stock down to the 1/2" it needs to be.  Back on the roof with a little less mass and a little more wobbliness and back to my garage where I trimmed the trailing edge of my blades and got them ready for shaping.

 

Heres my mast stock. Hmmmm Hmmm delicious stock.

 

So I need to shape the rudder, to make the rudder box, so I can install the rudder hardware to the boat, so I can finally glue down the rear seat.  Then, daggerboard so I can glue down the centercase.  Then, make the mast, make some spars, and then I can start finishing my boat.  One day, one step, at a time.