In which IAZ P boldly sails forth to new adventures

AHOY Mateys, Intrepid Readers, and friends!  I report to you this fine spring day that "I Am Zinea, Pterodactylus" has exchanged sailors in a happy fashion and is southwest bound from New Hampshire to the bustling and exciting 6th boro of New York City.  She is now in the hands of Capn Patrick Danger Danger and his nefarious gang.

Lots of symbolic appropriateness going on in this picture

Oh! Poseidon look kindly on IAZ,Ps new crew! I now shall recite to you this slightly modified age-old Goat Island Skiff plea. Amazing aquatic one, please receive it with benevolence:

May they enjoy fair winds and following seas,
High adventure and times of quiet relaxation,
May they always find the port before the storm,
and may she never abandon her crew in their most dire moment of need. 

Appropriate beverage-esque ceremony to follow.

I am happy to see this happen.

Thank you everyone, for everything.  Too many people to list, so many unknown peoples, it doesnt matter, thank you all.  IAZ,P has been such a wonderful experience in my life.  Please continue to follow GIS Amateur Style as we slowly segue fully into Sea Pearl 21 adventuring with "Scout" who has been featured in several previous posts, such as this one.

HUZZAH
HUZZAH
HUZZAH!!!

Spring is just around the corner Well several corners and a couple of straights really

Three minutes and forty four seconds.

Not a lot, you cant do much in that small amount of time.  I can type about 100 words, walk a hundred and fifty yards at a gentle pace, paddle around twice that if I am pushing it along, or brew a cup of tea.

Today I’m working on taking off the plank offsets for SEI, and I can tell you that although it’s not a complicated job, it takes a great deal more time than that. I’ve been on it most of the afternoon and it’s a job nearly done.

But todays time here in the southern hemisphere between sunrise and sunset will be three minutes and forty four seconds longer than the shortest day a couple of weeks ago. The seasons are heading for springtime and we’ll soon be able to tell the difference! 

I will be heading for summertime in 10 days time though, the long trip to Port Townsend has become an annual event for me, SCAMP Camp is a fixture these days, usually run just before the Port Townsend Wooden Boat festival in September this one has had to be scheduled early due to the Maritime Center being booked for our usual time so I am in there in a couple of weeks time being a Schoolmaster teaching people to put their kits together.

It’s a long trip, and most of the airlines go through LAX That place is my least favourite airport on the planet and I’d got to great lengths to avoid travelling through there, so this time I’ve managed to get a decent deal on the tickets with Hawaiian Air, flying via Hawaii then into SeaTac. No I don’t get a stopover, drat.

But its going to be an interesting northern hemisphere summer for me, Jackie Monies and I are touring, from Port Townsend to Michigan, back to Toledo Or for their boat show, then Port Townsend for the Wooden Boat Festival, then wandering south to Oklahoma, Texas and the Port Aransas PlyWooden Boat show.

Once we can get our heads together in PT we’ll be working out where we’ll be, who we can call on, what we’re doing. Our thoughts are to post our schedule so people will know when we’re in their area, stop for a day to meet builders and interested people, talk boats and other nonsense, then drive to the next stop.

All this takes time, more than the 90 days that my visitors permit allows, so I have to leave not only the country but “neighbouring countries and Island territories” as well.  So it looks as though we’re going to Belize, just for a few days. 

Could be a lot worse.

It will be well into spring when I get home to New Zealand again.

Hope to see you somewhere along the way.

JW

Cockpit Table

Ive been busy with work during the month of July so getting things done on the boat has been a challenge. But I did finally finish the new cockpit table and get the Garmin GPS installed.  We also have a new 120% genoa aboard, but havent set it up on the furler yet. Lastly we took the liferaft and MOM unit in for servicing.

The reason for the new cockpit table is that the original one took up too much space and we got tired of it being in the way. The new arrangement works much better for actually sailing the boat and provides a place for the new GPS.

The process began with removal of the original table. The photo below shows the standard arrangement for the B423. You can see that it pretty much fills up the cockpit forward of the steering pedestal. It is fitted with large drop-leaves that make for a very spacious dining table when they are deployed and for many B423 owners its a good arrangement.

The lid fits loosely on the table and encloses a deep stowage bin. Notice the slip pin hinges for the drop-leaves.  

Plenty of room with the table removed

Removing the table reveals the spaciousness of the cockpit. I filled in the holes left by the mounting bolts. Later I installed a teak foot rest which concealed them. The table legs are nicely made of stainless steel and are plenty strong so I kept them for use on the new table.

Table base incorporates a solid, if slippery footrest. The blue tape covers the forward hinge which had an uncanny ability to snag clothing.

The next step was to mock up the new table. I wanted it to be smaller than the original table, incorporate the new GPS and provide solid hand-holds. I took a template off the forward side of the pedestal and entered those dimensions into the computer because I wanted the new table to follow the contours of the pedestal. Then I played around with different shapes until I had something that looked like it would work. I made a mockup out of particle board and check fitted it.

Particle board mockup. 

The new shape looked good, but the original table leg assembly was not tall enough. I wanted the table to be high enough that we could see the new GPS even when standing at the wheel. So while the leg assembly was in the shop getting modified I laminated up a mahogany riser and fabricated the table itself out of 3/4" StarBoard.

The mahogany riser puts the table at a convenient height. The post that the GPS is mounted on can be adjusted for height and it swivels. The cable is routed down through the post and fed into the starboard table leg. From there it passes through the deck and into the aft cabin. 

With the GPS mounted high enough for good visibility from the helm, it was too high to be convenient when sitting in the forward part of the cockpit, which is why I incorporated a pedestal that can be adjusted higher or lower and swivel for good visibility from anywhere in the cockpit. When were at sea, we almost never stand or sit at the helm. When youre on watch alone, the autopilot will always do a better job of steering the boat than a human over the span of an entire watch. The best place to stand watch is in the shelter of the dodger. On the Beneteau 423 that presents a problem because all of the instrumentation and controls are on the "dashboard" at the helm. The new GPS solves the navigational aspect of the problem and it will display AIS information as well. The handheld remote for the autopilot substitutes for the controller at the helm. The new TackTick sailing instruments are wireless and the displays can be located anywhere. So with this system in place we can navigate and control the boat from the most comfortable spot in the cockpit. This gets real important when youre punching into a head sea on the midnight watch and youre the only person on deck for three hours on a windy and moonless night.

On the left is a 2011 Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio, to the right is a 2009 Cakebread Cabernet.

Once the unit was installed we had to check fit the drink holders. They worked like a champ! I have been planning to add a fold-down dining table which would be attached to table leg assembly but for now, were pretty pleased with the current arrangement.


                                                                 The Rescue Pod

Switlik Rescue Pod 4
Switlik refers to it as an "Emergency Floatation System" rated for 4 people. It would be extremely cozy for four, but reasonable for two.

Finisterra has a Switlik Rescue Pod for a liferaft, which is fine for coastal cruising in the temperate and tropical regions where the Finisterra will be traveling. It was time for a checkup so I took it to Avalon Rafts in Wilmington, California. Everyone who owns a raft or races offshore has taken a Safety At Sea course and seen raft deployment demonstrations, so you have a general idea of how they work and how they are equipped. But few of us have deployed our own raft, so we hung around and went through every detail of our little pod. It was something of an eye opener to see exactly how it works, what happens when things go wrong, and what the equipment bag really has in it. It has caused me to revise the equipment and supplies we carry in our ditch bag and I feel a lot more prepared in case we ever have to deploy the raft in a real emergency. If you plan to do any truly offshore work, one look at the Pod when its deployed will convince you to opt for a real liferaft.

The Pod is, as you can see in the photos, basically a flat disc. That means that in has a 50% chance of inflating upside down. It has a righting line across the bottom, so it can be righted, but if you have a Pod, keep in mind that the first thing you may be required to do once youve launched it, is to get in the water and pull the thing upright. It looked pretty easy in the comfort of Avalons shop. It might be a different story in 15 foot seas and 40 knots of wind.

I snapped the photos below with my phone so they are not very good quality, but you can see fairly well what the rescue pod is like.

This is how the raft looks after its hit the water and inflated. The CO2 canister is in the background. It normally remains attached to the raft. The pressure relief valve is the donut shaped part in the foreground. The drogue or sea anchor is the white thing on the left. Equipment visible inside the raft is stored in the equipment bag.

The person standing in the background provides a good indication of the size of the Pod. This is a single chamber raft, which means that if it is punctured, it turns into a large trash bag pretty quickly. So be sure that you throw it clear of any sharp objects and try not to accidentally stab it while getting aboard. The unit comes with a repair kit, suitable for fixing two holes. Unfortunately the instructions are printed on a little piece of paper and carefully packaged with the kit in a small plastic bag. So be sure that when you do get that puncture, youre in a clean, dry place and have plenty of time and good lighting so you can read the instructions, which call for cutting the hole large enough to slip one part of the "clamshell" inside the the air chamber then clamping the other half to it. Stay calm while the air is whistling out of the hole and youre reading those instructions.

Standard rescue pod equipment include a surprisingly effective manual pump, combination strobe and flashlight, puncture repair kit (in the plastic bag), and a relief valve cap (the white thing below the repair kit).

Ill post our revised ditch bag equipment list in another day or two.

In the sun!

Enough said.

Happy New Year to all

As I write, sitting in my bunk watching the sun set over the estuary, its 8 15 pm on New Years Eve.  Traditionally a time of good wishes to all, a time for making resolutions about what will or will not be happening next year, a time for family and friends and a time for reflection.

To be sure its only another marker on an artificial calendar, but it’s a useful marker, one that is close to the longest day of the year where I live and the shortest where a lot of my friends live. It’s a time when we get holiday breaks, some of which have theist backgrounds, some that are pagan but its still the end of year break.

Its also a time when advice tends to be handed out, much of which causes me to look at the advisor and think, you should take your own advice buddy and if you did you’d be better off than you are, but occasionally there is a gem.

Heres one that I heard yesterday.

“When making New Years Resolutions, don’t make ones you know damn well you wont keep, don’t make ones that you know are beyond your ability, but try making one, and ones enough, that is well within your capacity to achieve, and work on it until its done.  You’ll get a lot of satisfaction from that, whereas to vow and fail just reinforces a defeatist position.”

That’s good advice, a bit wordy though. I’d put it thus--- “Get yourself a mouthful of lifes good things, but don’t bite off more than you can chew”.

All the very best to everyone for 2016.

John Welsford.

Quick Fair is amazing!

HOLY BALLS its been a long time since my last update.  Work has been eating me alive, folks, eating me alive.  Im actually home now for more than one day, so I can update this blog, and work on the boat, but in the reverse order because the boat comes first.

Several weeks ago I ordered some Quick Fair from the fine folks at Duckworks.  This stuff is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G.  Its well worth the money.  It mixes easily, quickly, with little fuss.  It applies itself with astonishing ease, especially using a plastic spreader.  It dries quickly.  It sands easily.  I made several corrections over time as I got used to the stuff and ended up with a chine that is-- wait for it-- very fair.  It filled in the little weave bumps left over from the fiberglass tape, it nestled into the ridge between the tape and the hull that hadnt been filled with epoxy, it filled in some holes, and it faired out the gap between the hull and the stem-dowel-thingie.

I am in love with Quick Fair.  To boot, it even looks like chocolate pudding, except if you ate it, you would die.  The smell tips you off to this.  It smells, bad.  I used my respirator.

I also bought a little digital scale for twenty bucks at the local pharmacy.  Its a "The Biggest Loser" scale, named after the TV show, I believe, I wouldnt know because Ive never seen it in my life, but the box talked about it.  This made mixing the Quick Fair in the appropriate manner mucho-easier, because frankly, theres no way to tell how much you have.  It doesnt pour into a graduated cylinder or anything like that.  I am also using this little scale with my epoxy, and it cuts down on waste.  Another "shouldve thought of this a while ago..." moment.

Heres my chine, needing some serious fairing, including little holes in the fiberglass tape that sanded out because there was air trapped underneath and Hand of God seriously pissed:

And bingo!  Quick Fair to the rescue!

Heres a progression of working around the stem.  Slop it on, spread it out, sand it, touch up, presto!

Oh boy!

For all your fairing needs, Quick Fair is the way to go.

I watched this video for some very good tips.

Where is IAZ P now Update from NYC!

Oh boy Intrepid Readers- welcome to a very special installment of GISAmateur Style where we have asked Capn Patrick Danger-Danger on an update and his version of events on acquiring and sailing The Most Famous Goat Island Skiff in the World-- IAZ,P. He has gladly obliged, and without further ado I present to you....

IAZ,P Moves to Brooklyn... NYC That Is

Oh man, where to begin!!?!? So I made up my mind to build a dang boat finally. Even decided what type: The famed Goat Island Skiff of story and song. I had begun to cast about for some decent building space. New York City is not a great place to seek shop space for a labor of love like a small sailboat, so my search was fruitless and plagued with daydreams of tents in the mother-in-laws yard or a temporary shop in a storefront in a rundown neighborhood...

Anybody got a shop I can borry part time for like the next 2 years or so? While I figure out how to build this boat as I build it...?

Well I am not a big fan of "The Universe Will Provide" but the way things go some times what else is there to say? You make your luck. So I hooked up with DaveL. who had recently completed his GIS and was looking for crew for BIG ADVENTURE TIME. I thought "well heres an opportunity to have a sail or two in my chosen vessel" kind of a try before you buy kinda thing. Suffice to say, I ended up aboard GIS "Chivita" bound for adventure on the Long Island Sound and most epic of all in NY Harbor!!?!

Pic from H. LaFontaine

 in very close proximity to Lady Liberty and all her attendant craft big and small. Amazing and wonderful to say the least. Capn Dave at the helm ( I got some too!) and we sailed to and fro near Liberty Island and then made our way up the Hudson to visit the Entrepid on Mahattans west side. What a day! This day became more sailing and aboard Daves brothers yacht Flor DLuna, a fine and comfortable Beneteau Oceanis 34.

Transit from Liberty Landing marina to her home port in Glen Cove at Brewer Yacht Yard was in the offing:

Brooklyn Manhattan and Williamsburg Bridges with deckshark.

Through the East River and Hell Gate out into the Long Island Sound... A sailing weekend that started at a public ramp in New Jersey aboard a tiny yet beautiful hand crafted wooden dinghy (GIS Chivita) and ended with a cool beverage aboard a swanky modern yacht (SV Flor DLuna) Whoa! how did that happen??!! You make yer luck.

So the Summertime rolled and I got to go aboard Flor DLuna a coupla more times, all the while dreaming of my GIS in waiting and my magical NYC Storefront boatyard...

Come the winter and Capn Rick of the good ship Flor D Luna made it known that he would be entering the lady Flor in the Around Long Island Regatta. For those ignorants, (few and far between of course) this regatta starts in the Atlantic Ocean off Rockaway Beach, Queens NY, heading East, leaves Montauk Light to port and finishes some time later in Glen Cove Long Island, Home port of the Seacliff Yacht Club, Regatta Sponsor, and Flors home slip as well. Would I crew? Heck yeah! Sailing day and night? Excellent! Multiple days aboard Flor DLuna? COOOOL!!! You make yer luck. Planning commenced and soon the crew manifest was full: a salty bunch of fools the lot! Ideas and Questions and Charts and What Goes Where and EPIRB and Harness etc. etc.and all the while looking at pictures and videos of various Goats, and the one in particular that is I Am Zinea, Pteradactylus. You know the one:

No question that Callsign has truly captured the essence of something very intense and special with his builder and sailor blog about boaty exploits along the rugged and spectacular Maine coast. At least since somewhere within 2012 I had been ogling the scenery and the sailing within GIS Amateur Style: this is exactly what I envisioned I just didnt know it till I saw it here:

Spring begins to crack open a bit in 2014, and I get a message from DaveL amongst the planning and dreaming and ogling... Callsign is selling his boat! IAZ,P is in need of a new skipper as Sea Pearl Scout becomes the Adventure Realization Engine Callsign needs to fulfill further Adventure Realizing! IAZ,P is for sale!!!!???!?! Hurriedly, breathlessly, I send an email and I join a woodenboat forum. Hey Dude! I want that boat!!! Emails are exchanged and a plan begins to formulate: we will meet to look over the boat, but where? Well, it turns out that about halfway between us is a little town in Connecticut where Callsigns ancestral manse is located, complete with ancestors (very charming folk indeed) white picket fences, a town dock, you get the picture. Very Boaty.

When I arrive IAZ,P is on a trailer behind Callsigns car. After lunch and a chat with the parental units, we look her over and turn her over and "...heres this ding and that scuff..." "...rig this tie that..." and like that. Stashed her bottoms up in the grass in front of the house keeping company with a slightly sagging Aquarius relaxing into her trailer bunks.  I am bursting with amazement at my luck. Imma buy this boat from this guy!  Came time to fork over the cash so I did. What came next? Well, Callsign gave me back some of my cash and handed over a really nice bottle of rum. The good stuff! What a Prince this fellow is! A real reverse haggler. What you might call potlatch I guess in the give better than you get vein. Afterwards, a stroll to the waterfront, a coffee, and good conversation about sailing, water, life, current and tide... yknow, the important stuff. We agreed that I would retrieve the boat from the parental yard within some small space of time, (Thanks Mama Callsign!)

Well now what? I bought a boat with no place to put her!!??

Of course I had some ideas and possibilities, and certainly there are yards and marinas and mother in laws... all storage potentials (some more dubious than others) and none quite right for a fine craft such as Ms. Zinea.

Well, I go to the internet one day (as we do) searchword "small boat storage NYC" or some stupidness like that and there on the glowing screen is the website of the Sebago Canoe Club. Cool. I went down to Canarsie, Which is on Jamaica Bay in South Brooklyn to check out the facilities. I met up with JimL and Beth E. and signed up for Conditional membership. Huh. That was easy. "Yeah bring the boat on down, well find a place over there for her. Buy yourself a dolly." Which I did. The Brothers LaFontaine and Capn Paulie, (Skipper of GIS Kathleen Marie) volunteered to help load and transport IAZ,P, and get this: we cartopped her from Connecticut to Canarsie on a Saturday in late May. Full on Beverly Hillbillies action.

Hilarious and wonderful. Capn Paulie saw us safely down I95 til we got to his exit and sent us on our way with some positive words about the state of our tied down to the roof of the ManVan boat. JimL was at the Club when we arrived and helped us get IAZ,P off the car and onto her dolly and ensconced in the yard.

Relaxing after a rinse.

From that point on, IAZ,P has plied the waters of Paerdegat Basin and Jamaica Bay with interest and abandon, beaching for lunch, running aground, dodging jet skis and fishing boats, sailing with her buds, capsizing a coupla times intentionally and not so intentionally, and teaching me volumes about sailing and my own self in the process. So great to spend the summer on the water with my family and new friends at Sebago.

Jake the Snake gets his wade on...

Crabulator Crabulon with Mouse in the background.

 Matinicus Peapod Mouse, handcrafted by JimL. 

IAZ,Ps new homie.

Lunch on the beach with the gang.

In time I crewed on Flor Dluna in the Around Long Island Regatta,

Read more »

Cabo San Lucas to La Cruz

Three days in Cabo are more than enough, so Finisterra cleared the breakwater of that picturesque port at 10:00am on January 23rd, bound for La Cruz de Huanacaxtle. There was a cruise ship anchored just outside the harbor so the bay was thick with tour boats, paragliders, jetskiers, fishing boats and pangas loaded with vacationers. We picked our way through the crowd and it wasnt long before we were sailing in clear air. The wind, however, stayed light and we began to motorsail again.

A cruising boat struggles to keep his spinnaker full on a light air Bahia Banderas morning.

La Cruz is located on the north shore of Bahia Banderas, about 290 miles southeast from Cabo San Lucas. I plotted a course that would take us 20 miles south of the Islas Tres Marias and then through the channel between Punta de Mita and Islas Tres Marietas, which mark the entrance to Bahia Banderas.

Pretty little trawler in the anchorage at La Cruz.

For the next 30 hours we motorsailed over a glassy sea with winds never getting above five knots or so. With these conditions it is easy to see all the sea life that abounds in this region and we saw so many whales that we stopped counting them and focused more on avoiding running into them. Birds were plentiful and we were entertained by the incredible diving of the blue-footed boobys that fed on small fish that were stirred up as the boat passed by. A bird would dive into the water and swim after its prey under water, usually coming up with a fish dangling from its beak. This is also frigate bird country and we were never without them soaring overhead. At night the boobys and frigates often try to land on the boat. They can wreak havoc on masthead instruments and antennas so we do all we can to keep them off the mast. We had one booby hitch a ride with us for a short while but it didnt harm our masthead gear. Ive found that the best way to keep them off at night is to have a powerful flashlight ready and shine it at the bird just as it makes its final approach to the masthead. During the daytime there is little you can do to keep them off.

An overloaded Freeport 36. If you truly need to carry this much stuff, you may want to consider a bigger boat.

Here is another F36 in the same anchorage. Which would you rather sail?

About thirty miles out of Bahia Banderas the wind turned around and blew hard straight out of the east so we found ourselves punching into a nasty chop with spray flying over the dodger until we reached the mouth of the bay at 0130 the next morning. Once through the pass we turned northward and anchored just off the village of Punta Mita. It was about 0300 by the time we got the hook down and the boat secured.

The next morning we lazed around on the boat for awhile, then sailed the last nine miles to the anchorage outside of La Cruz, arriving around 1500 in the afternoon. There were 46 boats anchored there when we arrived. We anchored on the southwest side of the group, a couple hundred yards from the nearest boat,  then went ashore where we met friends for drinks and dinner at the famous "Tacos in the Street" restaurant. Naturally just after we got our anchor down, another boat arrived and decided the best thing to do was anchor as close as possible to us in spite of all the open water all around us. Thus began our stay in beautiful La Cruz.

The voyage from Long Beach to La Cruz is for all intents, the first leg of our journey. To summarize it, we sailed just over 1,400 miles, traveled from a temperate to a tropical latitude and traversed two time zones. It took a total of 23 days, and we made stops at Newport Beach, Dana Point, San Diego,  Ensenada, Turtle Bay, Cabo, and Punta de Mita. During that time we had excellent weather, though the winds were lighter than we would have liked. The boat, aside from a balky refrigeration system performed flawlessly.

Here in La Cruz well make the decision whether to hurry south to Panama by May, or spend another season cruising in Mexican waters.

Reunion at Ana Bananas in La Cruz. The crews of Scout, Finisterra, Hotel California and Sirena share a table.

The last of the major work

From the last post to Saturday morning (6/12), I have been either at work or home working 9am-1am to get my beautiful Goat Island Skiff ready for launching.  The weather is here, the time is now.  Basically, its a bunch of small items that needed to be taken care of, like gluing the middle seat on:

This is the last time youll see the my patented "Forest of Bricks" to hold down the seat during gluing.  I waited to glue this part because I wanted to make the varnishing of the boat underneath the seat easier.  Less bending and contorting to get under the seat, if you get my drift.

Wait, what? Varnish the inside? Yes, I decided to varnish the inside.  Using a roller, 3 coats, light sanding in between the coats.  It went on easy, no problems.  I also put a 4th coat of varnish on the floor mixed with non-skid grit, and it came out really nice.

These taped off areas got the non-skid.  I used the non-skid material for sale at Duckworks, it worked really nice in the varnish.

Another item of critical importance was a trailer.  So I got one.  A new one.  Holy Splurge!

Its a nice trailer.  I repositioned the bunks to perpendicular to the frame so the hull doesnt "hog" around the bunks.

Also, I needed a tiller extension.  Actually, what I needed was rudder hardware, but thats a post in itself.  BEHOLD!  My Battlestick!

I also had to figure out how to rig this thing.  Its a "balanced lug" rig, and Ive never sailed one nor rigged one, so that took a few hours to figure out.  Its actually going to take a while to figure out to be honest with you, because there are a bunch of variables.  I just wanted it to be up and viable for a first sail.  Part of the fun is tweaking the rig as you sail along! 

Oh boy!  What next!


Theres only one thing left (besides multiple small detail oriented tasks...)

Cats in La Cruz

We spent a couple of days anchored outside of the harbor before moving into the Marina Riviera Nayarit. As soon as we got into the slip I started on boat projects, one of which was to have the hull and deck polished and waxed. Another was to have the teak cap rails sanded and re-varnished.  Finisterra is all bright and shiny now.
 I also had a refrigeration specialist take a look at our freezer system. Ironically, its been working flawlessly since we got here so there was little he could do to diagnose the intermittent problem. We checked all the basics, which I had already done...all good. He did leave me with some ideas about what to do if the problem recurs. The engine also needed servicing and it now has fresh oil and filters, and is ready for the next adventure.

Now that the chores are done, Ive had some time to cruise around the marina, renew old acquaintances, and check out all the boats that are here. There is no shortage of cruising cats in the harbor. They range from Profligate, Richard Spindlers venerable 63 foot cruising cat to the beautiful new Sig 45, Vamonos.

Note the big daggerboards on Profligate (pronounced PRO-fliget)

Profligate was one of the boats that were "embargoed" by the Mexican government. A couple of days ago it, along with most of the other embargoed boats, was released by the Mexican government. So it appears that this controversy is coming to an end.  Profligate is a modified 63 Kurt Hughes design. Perhaps not the prettiest cat in the harbor, it is a functional and practical boat that gets sailed a lot.


Another interesting design is the 50 foot "Kalewa". This boat has a successful racing record and I believe it has also done at least one Pacific crossing. Ill leave it to you to judge the aesthetics of this boat.

Racy, spacy Kalewa

Extended transoms with what appear to be kick up rudders on Kalewa. Notice the swoopy contours of the deck house and lack of lifelines. A very interesting boat.

This Sunreef 70, Blue Guru, is the queen of the local multihull fleet here in La Cruz. Sunreef Yachts has established itself as a leader in the luxury multihull market.

 Blue Guru

Note the massive proportions of the S-70 and the composite boom.  

This Lagoon 470 is much better looking than the brochure suggests. 

Lagoon is well represented in La Cruz with at least three of them in the harbor. The 470 is the best looking of them.

This Lagoon 420 isnt quite as pretty as its big sister. Yellow for the sunscreens probably wasnt the best choice of colors.

Tigress is a Prout 50. 

The most interesting boat in the harbor is the SIG 45, Vamonos.

Sig 45 at speed. Courtesy of Yachtworld.com

Concave bow on the Sig. 

Sig catamarans are designed in France and are usually built there, but Vamonos was built in California by Westerly Marine. With tiller steering and a wide open bridge deck, this boat stands out from the more cruising-oriented boats in the harbor.

The paint scheme on this meticulously maintained 45 qualifies as art.

With accommodations limited to the hulls, the bridgedeck is wide open. This photo courtesy of Yachtworld.com