Duck Punting MOAR!

By popular demand, MRS MUMBLES went back to Plum Island Sound for some more punting!

Strapped to the roof of the car, we shot down to meet again with Dan Noyes and his idiosyncratic 12 punt, and were instead met with calamity-- Dan was dismasted at the bottom of the ramp. While he was sheeting in his dipping lug to fiddle, he wind, barreling down the river at a steady 15kts sent a higher and unanticipated gust which filled the lugsail and broke his burly spruce mastwhich in turn wrecked his mast thwart. His punt was on the hard, so it couldnt heel, applying full force to the mast and partner assembly.  

There was a moment of collective hair grabbing and talk of what the wind was going to do to my bendy POPLAR DOWEL mast and accompanying spars, and what kind of hypothermia would set in after they were chewed up and sent overboard.

The damage is done.

HOWEVER, we are burly New England sailormen, and such trivial matters such as masts, strong winds, and 33F/1C air temperatures hardly register on our annoyance scale when the sun shines as bright as it does and the water beckons. Its only going to get colder, after all. We adjusted our plans and sailed to the flats instead, to do some clamming.  MRS MUMBLES secretly loves Dan, so I offered to sail her down and he could sail her back. This way, everyone got to go sailing, and MRS MUMBLES and Dan get to do their innate sailing thing, which almost sounds obscene but its not, its beautiful to watch.

Also, Dan got to take some FIRST EVAR pictures of ME sailing MRS MUMBLES. (just in case we forget).

The poise as we barrel downwinds. Note bendy mast.

Here, just at this moment, I break a thole pin.
I broke two thole pins today, making it three broken in two sailing days.
I need a new solution.

Downwind, under control, and check out the forestay! Bendy POPLAR mast at its finest.

On the flats, and Dan clamming in the distance.

TIME...

...AND TIDE.

One of these nifty salt pans that remain full of water, above the waterline.

Dan getting ready to go.  I add this picture to show how she sits on her lines.
Disregard wrinkled sail.  Snotter stretched a bit.

I found ICE in Dans bilges.

Dan working MRS MUMBLES upwind and back home. She cuts a fine figure.

Duck Punting Introducing MRS MUMBLES

AHOY! A new boat joins this blog! We have seen a Goat Island Skiff, a Quick Canoe, a Sea Pearl 21, assorted other boats from friends, and now I present FLO-MOs stitch and glue interpretation of a West Mersea Duck Punt from southeast England!

At the end of September, I got a hankering to do something a little different than the coastal open-boat cruising.  A rainy solo evening at home got me reacquainted with Dylan Winters duck punting videos from the UK.  For the intrepid reader who DOESNT know anything about duck punting in traditional duck punts from West Mersea, England, have a look-see over at Ye Olde YouTubes.

I strongly suggest looking at Lurchs page, as he has some phenomenal videos of duck punting with his local duck punting group. I have spent hours watching his videos to glean sailing tips.  Dylan Winter, through his famous Keep Turning Left adventure has literally wrested this small traditional duck boat from SE England and plunked it on the world stage of sailing, where it has weaseled its way into many sailors hearts for its simplicity that also demands high levels of technique.

Duck Punts have no rudders, or centerboards. They are sailed by sail and weight trim, and an oar. They sail in a few inches of water, and cost little to build.

Capn Jon pushed me over the edge, and I built a duck punt in one month, for a few hundred dollars.
I built my punt from FLO-MOs stitch and glue adaptation of John Milgates classic West Mersea duck punt plans.  There were a few aesthetic and construction changes, but the scantlings and dimensions are true to FLO-MOs plans.  I did not play naval architect and I wanted to ensure I kept the West Mersea shape that FLO-MO put together. John Milgate requires a strongback and 10mm plywood, I wanted mine built out of 6mm ply and without the strongback.  Primarily, this was because I wanted to car top my punt, as I live somewhat landlocked.  Meranti ply and pine came from Goose Bay Lumber, leftover epoxy, some screws, and a few cans of Rust-O-Leum.  An optimist club sail came from Intensity Sails for a swell price.

Then, I called the legendary Dan Noyes, who built a solid wood 12 Yankee reimagination of John Milgates punt, and we went punting!

Dan Noyes with his punt on a dolly, walking down to the water.
Dans punt is constructed of solid pine boards and oak frames.

MRS MUMBLES and Dans Punt getting ready to launch.  Note Dans DIPPING LUG RIG.  SALTY!

Detail of Dans Punt

MRS MUMBLES working through the grasses to a hidden creek in Plum Island Sound

Dan follows behind, snaking through the grass

Dan and his dipping lug, which he dips.

Working up another creek

We find small irrigation ditches and follow them deep into the flats.
Notice my super cheap-o boom jaws! The entire rig is made of poplar dowels.
Not ideal, but a quick fix for quick sailing. Forestay to keep mast from wobbling too much.
A more permanent mast is in the works for this winter.

Dan in his own irrigation ditch.

Dans ditch comes to the end of the line. From here, we will drag the boats.

A salt pan, that remains full at low-tide, above the water line, in the middle of the flats.

MRS MUMBLES

Time for lunch! We are pleased with this beautiful day.

Dan sailing MRS MUMBLES
After these pictures, they ran away from me

MRS MUMBLES is very fast, which is why I have lots of stern pictures from a distance,
and very few up-close action shots.
Having a fast boat is not frustrating, unless you are trying to take pictures of it.

Heading home in round-about kind of way.

Hauling out in the muddiest canal we could find in the entire state of Massachusetts.
  

Please join in me in welcoming MRS MUMBLES to GISAmateur Style! HUZZAH!

There is an entire gallery, including construction, that you can peruse at this link.

Download home built fishing boat plans

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Home again and back to work

Home again.

It’s a long way home from Vancouver to my ship in Auckland, Skytrain in Vancouver (great public transport, quick, quiet and cheap! Well done Vancouver BC) then a flight to San Fran, (very nice airport terminal by the way, so much better than LAX, in future I’ll be  paying the slight difference in airfares to avoid the latter) then the loooong 11 ½ hour flight across the Pacific,  then two buses and a 2 km walk towing my suitcase. 25 hours in all. 

You have no idea how glad I was to walk up to the crest of the hill and look down on the river!

Just a comment on airline comfort, Air New Zealand now has seats where a family or friends can fold the oversized leg rests of adjacent seats out to make a couch. Behind me there was a couple with a young child, and they were able to get much more comfortable than is usual in cattle class.

I was super lucky on this flight and was the only one in a row of three so was able to lie down flat, got some “real” sleep which makes a big difference. Recommended, even if you can’t get an empty row those seats are better than any others I’ve seen.

Other than that, I watched (again, for about the fifth time) the first two episodes of  “The Hobbit”, noting all the places in the scenery that I know and have been to.

Its an odd feeling watching a fantasy movie and recognising the mountains and the hills in the background, fun though.

I made it through the trip in fairly good shape which is a relief, a couple of trips ago I would not be fit for much for a week or more afterward but today I’m good. It will take a day or two to reset the sleep cycle, but today I’m going to be working on the drawing board some, have to do some lawnmowing, will be off up the river in the kayak for my excersize run for the day, and will be putting the mast box into SEI. 

There is not so much to do to the little boat now, and I’m determined to get her in and sailing in time for our summer.

I miss sailing small boats, they give a feeling of connection to the water that bigger boats don’t, and its been a while since I had a boat that I could sail on impulse, my little gaff sloop takes an hour from arriving at the ramp to sailing, and an hour to pull her out and unrig her.  Much too long for a sail after supper, but SEI will take maybe 10 mins, less if I leave the rig set up and just bundle the sail and spars.

Note that the rig fits in the length of the boat so its all “inside” when being transported, I trimmed the mast by about 100mm and altered the plans to do this, makes things much easier.

On sails, for SEI I have one of the OZ Racer RSS sails from Mik Storer, you can get these from Duckworksmagazine 

www.duckworksbbs.com/sails/rss/index.htm

Nice sails, very well made, and super well priced!  I expect to be able to put up a post telling all about performance and set, but from what I have seen so far I’m impressed.

Its dead of winter here, the shortest day is only two weeks away, we lose another four minutes out of an already short day, dawn is about 7 30 am, and sunset about 5 15pm.  Yes I know its not anything like the UK or the Northern states, Canada or Scandinavia, but its still wetter and colder than summer, so its heater on so the pens will work, and sitting at the drawing board with my dog curled up asleep in the warm.

Nice, I don’t mind the weather at all.

But roll on springtime.

J

IAZ P goes home!

For epic pictures of IAZ,P getting sent off to her new home, the Sebago Canoe Club, please visit Davlafonts blog, big epicness, Polish-style. I promise.

Thanks to the Goat Island Skiff community and fair winds to Captain Patrick Danger-Danger!

http://gis-davlafont.blogspot.com/2014/05/shepherding-goat-from-point-to-point-b.html

Nose to the grindstone again

Or at least hands to the sanding block,  I’m unexpectedly home so have a chance to get some work done on SEI.  Its cold here, but the daytime temps are ok for WEST epoxy with fast hardener, and the sun comes in through the big windows keeping the shop warm enough for me to work in without heavy clothing.

So I’m sanding off the plank landings, the fillet between the skeg and the bottom and will be running a coat of ‘poxy with microballoons over the ‘glass to fill the weave before a final sand and then primer paint.

Sandpaper time.   Again.  Powered by elbow grease, It always seems to come to this.

I’ve several part pots of Toplac white oil based marine enamel, they came with my ship and that’s what I plan to use when I repaint her in our spring, and am very tempted to use that so I can get accustomed to its peculiarities before getting into the really big job of repainting the 40 ft motor boat.

So SEI will be white, boring but practical, pale green inside to reduce the glare, maybe some darker green highlights and possibly varnish on the seat tops just to tell people that she is a wooden boat.

Its nice to be at a stage where I can see the launching day off in the distance, we’re in the depths of winter here now, traditionally the worst is still to come but the daffodil plants are poking their heads up, I saw the first lamb of this season the other day and we’ve gained over an hour of daylight since the shortest day so there is, just occasionally,  a hint that there might be spring sometime .

I’d like to be sailing SEI when the good weather comes.

On the techo side of things, Howard Rice and I are both of us fans of anything that saves time when building  boats.  Our time on earth is limited so anything that speeds the building up means that we can build more of them, plus SCAMP Camp is a real teacher in that respect.

To explain, SCAMP Camp is 10 days, plus a little work over the in between weekend if the students want.  It’s a challenge to bring beginnner students along faste enough to get those boats ready to ship out on day ten, and anything that saves time is welcome.

We’ve been using the Ryobi cordless brad nailer for a while now, and it’s a real asset, saves about the equivalent of a day on each boat which is major.

We use the Makita builders laser cross level which not only makes it much easier to get the boats straight and true, but it takes a lot less time to do it.

The latest addition to our bag of tricks is the WEST System six10 cartridge epoxy glue system.  

The two parts of the glue are housed in separate chambers within the cartridge, and extruded through the blue mixing tube on the left of the "gun".  There are spares of those available as they are not cleanable but there does not seem to be a problem keeping a part used cartridge.

We don’t use it everywhere on the boats, just for the planking where the ability to run a controlled bead along an edge is very useful, and much faster than mixing by hand, pushing that into a ziploc bag and doing the cake decorating thing.  Sure its more expensive by volume, but there is very little waste and to give you an idea, at SCAMP Camp this year we were hanging a plank every 10 minutes, just about an hour and a half to do a pair of planks on each of the four boats we were building.  I remember that at the first SCAMP Camp we took more than double that,  that’s a saving of about half a day per boat.

Howard Rice running a bead of epoxy along the edge of a SCAMP plank.  The striped shirt is not compulsory equipment for this sort of job but it sure helps ( create laughter at least).

http://www.westsystem.com/ss/new-six10-epoxy-adhesive/

Well worth the little extra cost!

Home For The Summer

Finisterra left Avalon at 0900 on June 23rd for the short trip to the Isthmus, or Two Harbors as it is called on the charts. We picked up a mooring there at 1130 and sat back to enjoy the view of one of our favorite places in the world. Though weve anchored in many beautiful coves and harbors in Mexico, there is something about the Isthmus that makes it more special to us than anywhere else. In the afternoon we hiked over to Wells Beach in Cat Harbor. Its a beautiful walk with views of the surrounding hills and the broad bay below. It was nice to be back.

The following day we hiked three or four miles up the road toward Avalon until we reached a peak that overlooks the Isthmus and out toward the west end of the Island. Catalina, like the rest of California has been suffering from a prolonged drought and the vegetation along the way was pretty dried out. But compared to the sere landscapes of the islands we visited in the Sea of Cortez, Catalina still looks fairly lush.

The superyacht Attessa IV was at anchor off Avalon when we arrived. Weve crossed paths with this well traveled yacht in Cabo, Puerto Vallarta and La Paz.  For more info on this magnificent vessel visit: http://www.superyachttimes.com/yachts/details/1243

After the shark, the next fish to come aboard was this plump little perch, which we released after taking its portrait. 

Two Harbors. The coves on the far side of the bay are called Fourth of July and Cherry cove.

This pretty little schooners home port is Dana Point. Ship Rock is in the background.

Another schooner passes by Ship rock.

Walking back to the harbor, we stopped and chatted with a couple of people chipping golf balls in a little clearing near the village. Turns out they cruised in Mexico a few years earlier aboard their Morgan 44, "Missteak" and will be heading south again about the same time as us. They had found this little makeshift chipping range, so the next day we went back and I spent an hour or so learning how to hit the ball with a wedge. Fun. The following day we hiked toward the west end, passing Fourth of July cove, Cherry Cove, Little Geiger and Big Geiger Coves, and Howlands Landing. It was great to get back in touch with what we consider our home island.

When we left Long Beach back in January we had no intention of coming back, so we gave up our slip in Alamitos Bay. Of course that marina is full now, so we were forced to look elsewhere for a place to keep Finisterra. We had once kept a boat at California Yacht Marina in Wilmington and after checking with the folks there, we took a slip on gangway E. The location is not quite as upscale as Long Beach, but the people are really friendly and its a great place to get work done on the boat. Well probably stay here until we head south again next fall.

Salona 41 Review

I first noticed the Salona 41 a couple of years ago when we were still searching for a new boat. Salona Yachts is located in Split, Croatia. As the American sailboat industry has declined in recent years, eastern European countries have developed a strong presence in the sailing industry and Salona Yachts is a good example of why this has occurred. They build solid, well engineered boats that look good and offer excellent performance. The Salona 41 was designed by J&J Design, which is part of the Seaway group of companies. Over the last twenty years J&J has created an enviable portfolio of designs, including most of the Salona boats.

Sensible keel and large rudder on the 41.

In studying the sailplan and photos, I was impressed by the conservative approach to the hullform. We don t have the lines plan for this hull but based on the photos and drawings, it appears that the longitudinal centers of flotation and gravity are somewhere near the aft end of the hull/keel joint, roughly at the deepest part of the hull in the drawing above. This indicates that the bow sections are finer than a typical cruising yacht but not extreme, and the stern is pulled in a bit compared to many new designs in which the beam at the stern is nearly as wide as the beam amidships. This boat will have good manners even when pressed hard. With a displacement of 16,424 pounds on a 37.56 waterline, the displacement length (D/L) ratio is 138, which might be a bit light for an all-out cruiser of this length but is about right for a racer/cruiser. I like the big, aft-swept keel. It isnt as hydrodynamically efficient as a vertical fin and bulb but it will shed kelp and is, in my opinion, the best solution for a performance cruising yacht. Salona offers four different keels of 5.74, 6.56, 7.38 and 8.79 draft on the 41. For cruising in most parts of the world Id choose the 6.56 version. But for racing on the west coast, the deep keel would be my choice.

In cruising mode, the 41 shows off her  clean lines.

I like the rig on this boat. The chainplates are located a foot or so inboard from the sheer, making it possible to run overlapping jibs but Im not sure they are far enough inboard to allow the tight sheeting angles needed for racing. For cruising, the large rig, with a sail area/displacement ratio (SA/D) of 22.2 means you can leave the genoa home and cruise with nothing bigger than about a 105% jib and a cruising kite. The mainsail is set up with an Admirals Cup style mainsheet that is led aft on the boom and down to a traveler located on the cockpit sole. This is an efficient arrangement but most cruising sailors accustomed to the traveler on the cabin top or even on an arch will find that it takes some getting used to. Notice the stackpack mainsail. Salona has wisely chosen not to install a roller furling mainsail on the 41.

Sleek deck lines, twin wheels and no chines. Notice the short bowsprit on this boat. Youll want one if you plan to do any cruising on your S41. It will keep the anchor chain from rubbing the gelcoat off the bow.

I like the wide open cockpit with the traveler recessed into the sole. 

The cockpit is well designed for racing and cruising. The coamings are wide enough to sit on and the seats are long enough for lounging, yet neither would hamper a racing crew. A large and uncluttered cockpit is essential for quick boathandling in racing situations, and is just as important for cruising. After living aboard for a month or so, youll appreciate every square inch of space in the cockpit.

Two cabin version works best for a cruising couple. 

The boat can be configured with two or three cabins and one or two heads. For cruising I would choose the two cabin, single head version. The forward cabin is large and incorporates a good sized berth, two hanging lockers, a seat and plenty of open space. This kind of space gets important quickly for liveaboard cruisers. The main cabin is open and features a big enough galley and a big dropleaf table amidships. The accommodations plan above shows a forward facing nav station, but the photo below shows the three cabin layout with an outboard facing table with a stool instead of a seat. I would demand the configuration shown above. Those little round stools are great for the local pub, not so good for working at the chart table, especially underway.

The three cabin version, shown here, is okay but the two  cabin version is ideal for a cruising couple.

I like the fact that the builder chose a basic, straightforward interior design, without gimmicky features like angled bulkheads and foldaway tables. This is a comfortable and useful interior plan that will wear well over the long term. If you visit the Salona web site, where all of the photos I used here came from, you can see 360 degree views of all the interior plans.

Salona uses vacuum infusion technology to fabricate the hull, deck and other fiberglass parts of their boats. This process results in light, strong parts and minimizes styrene emissions into the atmosphere, which is important for the health of the people who build the boats, and good for the environment. They also incorporate a structural steel grid in the hull to accommodate keel and rig loads. This is not the easiest or least expensive way to build boats, but ensures they will be strong, light and stiff for years to come.

Overall I give the Salona high marks for design and construction. The boat will be fast enough to be a lot of fun to race, yet has enough cruising amenities to make life aboard quite comfortable. Its a good looking boat that avoids extremes and faddish design elements. The nearly vertical transom lacks a swim step, which would be desirable for cruising, but other than that minor point, this boat is ready to go racing or cruising.