Sailboats Fair and Fine

Osprey with Love

2012-01-06T17:21:00.000-05:00

                            Osprey With Love

     I bought Osprey from Robert Vest in the 1960's Shew was designed by S.S. Crocker and Built By Herman Lund in Erie Pennsylvania on Lake Erie. For My family she was a home away from home. We drove the 80 miles from Richmond to Gene Ruarks Marina in Deltaville Va.
    We sailed on weekends Vacations and stolen days winter and summer whenever we could get away. She was seen in those years in creeks and small towns up and down the bay From Baltimore to Norfolk. On winter weekends we sailed across the bay often to Eastern shore and sometimes Tangier island. Her wood burning Shipmate kept her warm and cozy even on Bitter cold nights. This young family broke bread to reset and read by lantern light. My Wife Gerogene raised in the Virginia Mountains took to the sailing life like a frog in a pond.
     Osprey on a failed trip to Bermuda suffer a broken Mizzen mast and a broken rudder we limped int the Chesapeake bay. To her credit we sailed with a half a rudder and a mizzen that with some jury rigged stays was able to sail and steer with ease. We ran on engine son me but with the engine shifted on the bed we snapped the drive shaft inside the transmission. After a year of repairing the things that broke and all the things our lessons had taught us might break we headed out again. No thing without flesh and blood has ever been held so high in any families esteem and love than Osprey.
       We sold her at a time when my business would not allow me to maintain her. A young couple lived aboard her for a time and she was sold again. The New owner had the misfortune of having he main mast blown out of her and she is now reduced to a few rotting timbers in a Carolina marsh. She lives in ours and our Children's memories today.              Doug

2011-08-05T17:20:00.000-05:00

This Prelinger owned video Is so beautiful that it seems a shame for it to be setting in an archive. So here it is. I changed the music as I felt the the film maker didn't have the opportunity to get Creative Commons music to use as we do today. I hope that the music I used was better suited. We should all thank those that create art of all kinds and allow us all to use it. All my video and writing will be will be free for anyone to us and I am presently getting it ready to be licensed under creative commons. Doug

2011-08-05T17:11:00.000-05:00

I posted this not because I think anyone is interested in My vacations. I know some who like the sea and the rocky hills. I know some who like ships, boats and rocky coast lines. All of us like a lobster or two. We slept in a canvas Camper and picked blue berries from a sea side field. We rose with the sun to eat our fill of blueberry pancakes. The four of us hiked the trails and set talking beside the rocky coast. We witnessed the power of a raging Atlantic and felt is power through our rocky perch. We Watched the gentle rise and fall of a restive Sea. It was the best of times.

Low Cost Voyaging

2011-06-26T08:30:00.000-05:00

This video is dedicated to the many of us that spend so much money and labor in the interest Low Cost Voyaging. Busters struggles failures and successes so much remind some of my own I had to laugh. I laughed not so much at Buster but at myself! But then that is what good comedy is all about . So to all would be Low Cost Voyagers I say, If you can't laugh at this Stay home. Doug

The Dream of Every Young and Old Sailor

2011-05-19T12:01:00.004-05:00

We'll here it is! The dream of every young and old sailor. To find himself on an Island of beautiful and innocent you ladies. That's the dream that crewed the ships of England and the world. The only thing wrong with this video is the girls aren't naked and they forgot the two G's. Girls and gold! The plight of the poor sailor who was so ill used as to be too tired to swim away, was only hinted at. The Gold nowhere to be seen! I remember seeing this in the movies probably in the 1940's. Doug

The Moron Brothers

2011-05-15T16:01:00.000-05:00

Now here's some fellers that knows a little sumpin about messin around on the water. Play a little music, sing a little, fish some and fry'em. Then they eats'em. Not a one of'm knows nothen about catch and release. I'd Guess! They don't worry none about runin lights. They poops in a pot and I bet the throw it in the woods. No water pollution worries for them?? From the looks of the shanty they built I bet it took a dozen cases of beer to make her as crooked as she looks. Then theres a guy in a little push boat boat with an outboard on her. She ain' got no numbers on her, so I bet she ain't registerd with no inland game and fisheries. Can't say I blame them not for not signen up with some body named Inland Game and Fisheries. Heck they ain't inland they's on the water. Any way's!

Kate 2 Sailing

2011-04-23T14:26:00.001-05:00

Now here's as fine a lass as every plied the waters of the Piankitank river in Virginia. A fine mistress she is and not demanding of the pocket book either. She is the same Kate I show under Construction here. This long video turned out to be sadly brief due to a camera malfunction. Since the whole taping thing was impromptu we were lucky to get what we did, I guess. We had almost no breeze and I found myself pleasantly surprised and bragging of her light air speed and agility. She moved so easily in such light air that I came to the conclusion that she has no need of a motor. Only in a dead calm, would one be considered and with no wind to row against a few splashes of an oar will get you home in good time. There is not an ounce of ballast aboard her and yet as in the video a crew member scrambles forward without just a hint of heeling from his weight out on the gunnel. Stiff indeed! If there was ever a boat that don't need a motor it's Kate.
She has been a joy to me from the moment I tacked her plans to the side of my shed and drew her first lines on wood. Kate is of the design Elver,from the drawing board of Steve Redmond who is online. Thanks Steve.

Sailing Ships and sailing Men

2011-04-02T09:17:00.002-05:00

As a boy in the 1930's, I knew sailors. Most came home and swore off sailing ships for ever.

Drawn to a wild Baltimore waterfront life, they blew their wages on booze, women and gambling. They were shanghaied or signed onto a ship just to have a home for a time. It was not the sea they were drawn to, but instead, family.

A man, known to do his share high up on the yard arms, had respect.

On land, they were lowly and even tramps. Upon the sea, each a respected seamen! To stand his watch, furl canvas in rain and sleet then lend a hand on the bitter end of a sheet, a new boy on board rose to man and mate.

Good people these, though not in a way most of us would recognise.

Among us modern sailboat sailors we may swagger and tell of hanging on with one hand and reefing a flogging sail with the other.

You could with effort, drag the same story from these square rig sailors, though they wouldn't say they were high in the air above mountainous waves reefing and tying as they rounded the notorious capes, driven by snowy squalls. To be 200 ft in the air in gale winds with a sails snapping and booming making every attempt to throw the watch to deck. Cut from heavy cloth, these men who worked, lived and died at sea.

A seaman I knew and was influenced by, was a Mr. Outabridge who fell from the main yard cracking his skull. He supervise the repair of it and inspired the character Doc in the Novel, Of Mooncursers and Other Spun Yarns By Douglas G. Pollard Sr. on sale @ Lulu.com .

My mothers brother Talmage Williams right after World War one was shanghaied aboard a sailing ship in to the far east. After a two year stint when his ship had not made a U.S. Port. He signed aboard a steam ship to Baltimore. Left in port at Tripoli where he had gotten drunk and spent a couple weeks in jail for getting into a bar room brawl. That was his last duty under sail. Arriving home he lost his seaman's papers for a year for jumping ship. During world war two he stayed at sea almost constantly. He made the one and only Mermanske run through the North Sea hauling gasoline. They were close on the German coast and suffered bombings for several days. Talmage said they watched ships burning in the distance every night and all hands fully expected to die on that trip. It was by luck that they never heard wine of diving German Stuka dive Bombers.

To find men like this today you have to look to our men fighting on the sands of the middle east. So, every Generation has it's men.

vacume quater

2011-03-22T19:03:00.000-05:00

Vacuum quatuor from SHIROPPO STUDIO on Vimeo.
Taken from Vimeo

Hills and the Sea

2011-03-03T10:27:00.000-05:00

This Prelinger owned video Is so beautiful that it seems a shame for it to be setting in an archive. So here it is. I changed the music as I felt the the film maker didn't have the opportunity to get Creative Commons music to use as we do today. I can only thank those that create art of all kinds and give it to the public to use free of charge. I would be hard pressed to write and perform music to put in video. It's great to earn money with art but it's also nice to give it away to all. I am slowly putting my work out there for all to use most anyway they like. Doug

The Shanty Boat

2011-02-28T09:41:00.005-05:00

This video is for all my shanty boat friends. This is where it all began with a man named Hank. He left on one of these flat boats up on the Ohio, where he drifted with a load of corn and hemp. He went down river to New Orleans where he met a Creole Women that he couldn't shake off. They raised the roof and moved aboard. The boat looked like the shanty he lived in with a squaller of kids back at home in old Ohio. He called her his shanty boat and with a hint of Irish he called the gal, his shanty women. Now one night Hank came home drunk with a desiring look in his eye. The Creole Lass, asleep in her bunk, awoke and shouted toward the winder. "Who is that at my shanty boat winder awearin' eyes that I cannot see." Now Hank with a sly disguise in his voice, replied, "It is Willy your own true lover". Just a thing to make her laugh. “Oh please come in”. said she, in a beckoning way. Now that was a blow, and Hank replied with a report from his Smith and Wesson. With a wound in her breast, the lass slid from the bunk with a questioning glance stood with help from a shaken Hank. He held her in her dying embrace. With a tear in her eye, she drove her blade right through his aching heart.

So, if it's a shanty boat you want and you take on board a Creole women. Don't be sneaking home at night calling in a strangers voice. This story was told to me by William Masoncup. Hank was his Grandfather. Doug

Wolftrap to key West

2011-02-26T08:22:00.005-05:00

The above video is in the public domain.

We sailed aboard Wolftrap down the Florida Keys in 1987. Georgene and I spent a couple weeks around Key West and had a good time there. Wolftraps crew saw every sunrise and sunset, and wandered the island most hours in between. We spent a few evenings ashore but spent most lazing in our cockpit listening to music wafting across the water. The island's lights were dazzling from the seclusion of our off Island anchorage. Life was beautiful beyond belief and so we drank a toast of rum, orange or grapefruit juice and a sprinkle of tonic water most evenings. A time in our lives fit for the gods, but savored by us lowly but fortunate mortals! We met two young hippie couples with small children who were living in tents on a Key and were building cruising catamarans. Their dream was to cruise the world. I have often thought of them over the years. On such occasions I catch myself secretly smiling with an imagined assurance that they succeeded. I admired their grit I guess. Their children have children of their own likely by now and I wonder what their lives are all about? We don't allow our children to grow up hippies much these days

Key West and North

2011-02-15T14:21:00.001-05:00

Wolftrap South By North

2011-02-13T20:57:00.002-05:00

Sailing aboard Wolftrap from Key Largo to Key West and North to the Alligator River. As a music video she gives some idea as to what the videos will be about, and previewing Wolftrap's entire adventure. South by Northmay not actually be a possibility but who Knows?? Douglas Pollard

WolfTrap South

2011-02-12T18:40:00.002-05:00

This is a preview of video that will be posted of Our adventure of going south from Virginia to the Bahamas and Florida keys.

Take a Ride On a Steam Side wheeler

2011-02-11T19:41:00.003-05:00

We are taking a ride on a steam Side wheel ferry boat. The narration is a bit hoky but it was done for elementary school children, so just overlook it. The experience is great. A ride on the Hudson river in company with steamships, tugs and a few small boats as well as kayaks and a sailing canoe that are about the on boats they are not steam powered.

This reminds me of cruising on the Tolchester. A ferry from Baltimore to Tolchester on the Maryland eastern shore. We went over there to the beach and amusement park.

On another occasion I remember fishing with my father at seven foot knoll, a shallow oyster bed out in the Chesapeake Bay. It was late at night and the Tolchester came close by. She was lit up all over and people danced in her saloon and foredeck while refrains of a sweetly sung song to an instrumental tune wafted across the silent water. In a short time two sailboats sailing side by side on a beat to windward heeling slightly moved slowly toward the east. Their running lights lit them in an eerie glow. I had sailed on sailing sharpies but these were fine small sailing sloops and it was at that moment I fell into a life long love.

At about age nineteen I took a young lady aboard the Tolchester on a midnight cruise. We cruised down the Bay and returned to Baltimore just after sunup. We drank, ate and danced the whole night.
In the hustle and bustle of the Baltimore water front we walked wobbly kneed down the gang plank.

Fort Lauderdale Speed Boat Race

2011-02-08T12:44:00.001-05:00

This video is a race we watched while anchored at Las Olas Bridge in Fort
Lauderdale Florida. We had stopped here before going to the Abacos. I put this in here because I am still working on a video from Great Bridge South.
I started taping this from on top the bridge. Across the waterway they had set up a barge and places along the docks for paid spectators. What I am saying here is said in the video but with a lot less detail. I began taping the race and a surly looking fellow walked up and said you can't tape this race because it's syndicated. I wasn't sure what that meant but remembered the Bowery Boys in the Saturday movies as a kid calling the mob the syndicate. I was sure this guy was one of them as he had on a pinstriped suit in the daytime in South Florida. I stopped taping until he turned and walked away. I began taping again. A policeman walked up and told me the same thing. I left and went down on the grass that I thought was private property and began taping. Two Cops come up on Motorcycles and told me to leave. I suggested that I was on private property. I was informed I was not. I walked over to a break water in front of a house and continued on. In a moment the lady came out of the house and asked what the heck I thought I was doing? I told her, Videotaping that speed boat race. Git, was her reply. I did! I went down onto the bow of my boat and began recording looking through the underside of the bridge. A police man standing on the bridge scowled at me. In a few minutes a police boat pulled up and anchored in front of me blocking my view. I threw one of my anchors out off the bow and pulled my boat over from behind the police boat while still being attached to the mooring buoy. The policeman got on his radio and talked for a long time. I tried to listen to what was being said but he turned his radio down. I thought they might send a boat to board me. I called the Coast Guard on the radio and the told me that as long as I was tied to a city buoy they could do nothing but that they would call the police on my behalf. I was not bothered further. I taped the rest of the race. About a week later we were in a good position to watch the Christmas Boat parade. Now let me tell you something. They really do it up big.

Wolftrap to the center of the World and beyond

2011-01-24T11:43:00.005-05:00

The above map shows Wolftrap's course on the First day of the trip to the center of the world. It started at Sarra' Creek across the York River from the battle fields of Yorktown. The first Night out was at anchor In the Elizabeth river At Hospital Point.

This is the first of a series of videos on Wolfraps trip from Virginia through the inland waterway and over to the Bahamas and Florida Keys. We spent a total about ten years down that way and 15 years living aboard in all. We didn't live aboard Wolftrap all that time but also aboard Kate, a Fantaisia sloop. Wolftrap was far and away the finer sailboat. Kate was without a doubt the nicer live aboard boat though she had many vices as a sailboat, some unforgivable. Still there was some affection there. After all you can even learn to love a mean dog.

Sailboats Fair and fine# 55 :read oldest posts first

2007-04-13T19:52:00.000-05:00

We sailed into Baileys Marina and spun Wolftrap around a piling on a line scaring the guy on the boat in front of us half to death. He ran back and forth across his boat not sure what to do. I snubbed the line on a midships cleat and we swung in on it hitting the dock kind of hard but with no damage except a couple scuffs on the rub rail. Georgene had the tiller while I handled the spring line. I think it scared her worse than the guy in front of us. We had the wind with us and had dropped the sail so that we were making about one to two knots when we got to the dock. Still that's pretty fast when you don't have an engine to stop you. To the fellow on the boat in front of our long bow sprite must have looked more like a ramming device than a spar.

We tied up and I walked up the Dock to talk to Mr. Bailey about hauling my boat. When I walked in I found myself in Church. The crew of five or six young men were all setting around in a circle and Mr. Bailey was preaching. They invited me in so I came in and sat down on a crate that I was offered. After a bit there was a prayer that no one would get hurt working today and that God would give each of them the wisdom and strength to be a good Christian for just this one day. I for one felt better as I though I might stand a chance of getting away from there in a week or so with out having my pockets filched of all coin.

Mr Bailey and I walked down the dock to look at my boat and he wanted to know what it weighed. “O,” about 9000 lbs. with all our junk aboard I told him.

Then it occurred to me that I didn't see a travel lift. “Got a railway,” I asked.

That's her right over there behind you he said. I stood wordless in astonishment looking at the rustiest worst beat up rusty cabled looking piece of equipment I have ever seen outside a junk yard. In a rather squeaky voice I said, “How much will she lift.”

“Oh about four times what your boat weighs. That's how all these boats got up here. I looked around and there were a couple of sailboats over 40 ft. I then realized why we had been praying a while ago. He went over and started her up her old gasoline engine was as quiet as a new Buick. He moved her toward my boat and the gears rattled and clunked as though the bearings were all worn out and the gears trying to climb on top of each other. He run the boom over Wolftrap and one of the kids climbed the boom and took my triadic stay loose between the masts they slung her and lifted her out of the water and swung her around to the other side of the causeway like dock and had her setting on blocks in less than thirty minutes. I started pulling the engine apart I needed a new exhaust riser, the second one in a thousand miles. I finally allowed myself to decide the engine was just to small for the boat and was working too hard. Since I had her apart and the parts were pretty cheap we decided to replace rings bearings and seals and lap in the valves.

We were waiting for parts and having a good time at Jensen beach it was a reasonable walk to a movie theater shopping center with fast food joints we partook of all their pleasures. We walked the beaches and the bridge across the river. The other side smelled better. We went to church with the crew a few mornings and enjoyed it. I don't think I ever heard preaching and praying that came from quit the same direction. They prayed for my engine they prayed that the keelson in the sailboat one of them was working on would not be rotten when he got the garbor plank off. They prayed for each other, some guy at a lunch stand and a host of others that lived close by. They preyed that the wind would blow the other way and push the rotting sea weed to sea that was along the shore and was stinking to high heaven.

They really were a nice bunch of people.

We met a young lady tall thin and some kind of pretty who was chiseling a plank out of her and her husbands boat. She showed me a couple she had replaced on the other side. She had done a beautiful job and had caulked it herself. She said with a big toothy and georgous grin, that all that praying must of helped. She and I, got to be pretty good friends, a fact not lost on my wife.

Sailboats fair and fine# 54: read oldest posts first

2007-04-10T08:38:00.000-05:00

Today is blastoff day for the shuttle. We got up to a buitiful morning the breeze had swung to the east and was light and cool. There was not a cloud in the sky. We unwrapped our sails. The lines we had wrapped arond them had not been needed but when a strong front comes through such as had been expected you never know when a microburst or even a toranado might be in store. I saw a sail come unfurled on a boat in 70 mile per hour winds one time. The boat was knocked down flat. The boat had been left at anchor and took off for the shore. Luckily the sail burst into a couple hundred pieces and several others and myself were able to get to her and reanchor. The weird thing was the owner give me hell for boarding his boat. You have to wonder sometimes what people are thinking.
The launch took place abot 1: 00 in the afternoon. It was a very moving thing for me. I got to thinking about where mankind has come from over thousands of years and here we are sending space ships into the emptyness or maybe crowded reahes of space. Depends on how you look at it I guess. whatching the shuttle sit there with vapor rising from her and listening to the count down on the radio was unforgettable. Finally she was off and we watched her disapear out over the Atlantic. The whole thing brought tears to my eyes. I got some rather strange looks from Georgene. after the launching we upped anchor and saild in a light breeze on down the Indian river.
Later that day I tried to start the engine and it would not turn over. Checking the oil I found water in it. We began looking for a for a plact to tie up for a few days on work on the motor. We could not charge batteries now. We headed on down the Indian River toward Jensen Beach a town that had a couple of marinas.

Sailboats Fair and fine# 53 : Read oldest posts first

2007-04-04T20:14:00.000-05:00

Dec 3 , Tuesday

We rolled out of our bunks this morning to a strongish southerly breeze maybe 15 knots. It had been choppy all night and Wolftrap was banging around a little. We had breakfast got our foul weather gear on and prepared for a wet and rough dingy ride to shore. I lined up on some markers I had picked out before we turned in last night. We appeared to be in the same place. The anchors were holding well. Of course we listened to the weather on the marine band which called for a cold front late in the afternoon. We planned to be back before then. But it was going to be a rough ride back. I dropped an extra bailer in the dink for the ride back. The wind would be picking up more as the day wore on. By the time the front got here the wind would be blowing 25 knots along the leading edge from the south.

I got in the dingy and Georgene handed me a couple of coffees and a thermos full. I fired up the little motor George got aboard with life preservers and a couple back packs. With dry cloths just in case and some lunch. Food would be expensive ashore. We started off heading almost into the waves. I throttled back to keep the bow from throwing water and we very slowly made our way to shore.

When we got to shore we pulled the dingy way up amongst some trees , out of sight from the road or the water. I chained the boat to a good size tree took the motor off and carried it about 50 yards into the woods and hit it under an old wind fallen tree. I put it in a plastic bag and covered it up with leaves. I took a pine bough and covered my tracks so there would be nothing to follow. We walked back to the beach and I lined the boat up with the swing section of a bridge if the boat moved with the wind coming from the south I would be able to see it's change in position by the bridge. We were off to the museum and I was some excited. I had a good time and It was fun for my wife too as we saw things I had worked on and she remembered me talking about them. Of course we didn't make the actual articles that went into space but we built prototype models for testing. The equipment that went in space was built by the big companies that had ridged inspection procedure that we couldn't afford. Later in the day we rode out on the bus toward the launch site but not close at all. That was a disappointment as we could actually see the shuttle better from Wolftrap. I guess you can't expect them to take a buss load of tourists out to look with explosive fuels being handled.

I was feeling a little uneasy about our boat and was glad to get back to the dingy.

We got in the dink and put the engine down in the bottom with the engine head setting on top a couple fenders in case we took on water. I preferred to row as I could keep the boat turned stern to the waves . With a little backward rowing I was able to keep us from going too fast. And keep the boat lined up with the waves. All went well, but boarding was a bit wild with Wolftrap pitching and the dink ducking and diveing and trying it's best to go under Wolftrap's stern.. We got a board and had a slightly wildish ride until the front came through. The wind doubled in speed to nearly 50 knots but it was blowing across the river maybe a mile. Lightning cracked in the woods now to our stern thunder rattled the cups in the galley. The wind after the first gusts droped down to about 30 knots and swung farther to the north during the night. All in all it was a wild night and you can imagine how pleased we were with our anchoring job. There were no other boats within a mile of us so there was no worry there. By two A.M. The wind had slacked to about fifteen knots and all was right with the world. I was happy the winds would be light enough for a launch in the morning.

Sailboats Fair and fine# 51 : Read oldest posts first

2007-03-29T20:31:00.000-05:00

Last night we lazed around in the cockpit listening to some nice music on a local radio station. The sky is full of stars overhead but there is a city in almost any direction you look. You can see the glow in the sky from each of them. The stars directly overhead are the only ones visible. We heard on the radio there was going to be a shuttle launch in three days which inspired me to gaze at the stars in amazement as sailors have done for thousands of years. I wondered how many and from how many lands and seas they looked up and were nearly over whelmed by the wonder of such a sight.

Well it was a sure thing with a shuttle launching in a few days that we weren't going anywhere until that was seen. I planned to get as close as the law would allow and watch.

Since we had several days we decided to go over to the cape and tour the museum and ride out to the launch pad and see the shuttle. We were very excited about the whole thing so Georgene and I studied the chart book to see how close we could get. We made a decision on an anchorage that would get us close but give us room to drag anchor if a storm moved us. The anchorage was on the east side of the Indian river. Cold fronts and squalls usual come from the west and they would put us on a lee shore if an anchor pulled loose.

We weighed anchor and headed on over there in a light breeze and we ghosted along at about two knots and marveled at how good it felt to not feel we needed to make five or six knots.

We sailed into our chosen anchorage and dropped three hooks. Wolftrap set right in the middle of them. We were in a fairly large body of water and we would be leaving her for for long periods of time during the days. I put down a Danforth to the north west and the plow to the southwest. To the East I put out an old Heshoff yachtsman about 25 lbs.

We were anchored in mud and the yachtsman though it might drag in mud would not let go. So if she moved it would be very, very slowly and the other two would have ample opportunity to pull in again. I felt pretty good about how we were anchored and I expected that the anchorage would be full of boats watching the launching. I hoped everyone else would do a good job anchoring their boats. We put the sail covers on and wrapped lines around them to be sure they couldn't blow free. It's not unusual to get gusts of wind to 70 knots in winter frontal thunderstorms. Feeling secure we took the dingy and headed for shore and a two mile walk to the Museum

We were really excited about going to see the space port. I had worked for years doing work for Nasa and felt I was a part of all this and it a part of me. My part was very small but it was big for in my mind.

Sailboats fair and fine# 50 : read older posts first

2007-03-25T20:45:00.000-05:00

Just want to thank everyone for being patient and I should be posting regular again. I still can't post with Linux to blogger as I had hopped I'd be able to do. I would really like to stay off line with the computer I am doing video with.

Doug

Dec.1,Monday Georgenes Log

We were up early and had breakfast before we got underway. We waited until 8 A.M. To get some fuel at the marina across from us. We tied up at the fuel dock at the Anchorage Yacht Basin right across from the big dragon on the point. A man in the boat across the dock from us gave us a loaf of bread and a dozen eggs. The dock master let us stay at the dock long enough to let us stay at the grocery store about a block away.

We managed to get to the Esau Gollie ( Oh Golly )bridge just in time for it's opening at 9:15 and off we go- South on the Indian River again. The first stretch this morning was straight down the middle of this beautiful river. Just before noon the channel started to have a few zig zags because of the many little islands. We passed through the Pelican Island Wildlife Refuge and saw the tiny Pelican Island a mile or so away from the channel with dozens and dozens of Pelicans and lots of other birds watching us go buy. It has really been a beautiful day. We found another nice anchorage just off the waterway behind a little island at mile 945. We stopped around 4 P.M. And both took a short nap. I washed my hair and started supper and Doug took the dingy for a little sight seeing tour.

Having sailed most of the day and only having run the engine about 30 minutes I thought I had better check the battery charge. Sure enough it was down pretty good. We ran the engine another hour. We had run enough to bring the house battery up. But not the starting battery. With days now shorter some reading lights were nice in the evenings. Having it to do over again I would have put a larger alternator on Wolf trap as the one that came on the engine was only 15 amp. When we got to Ft Lauderdale . I run up on a fellow who had a nice 30 amp alternator that he was replacing with a 100 amp and really fancy charging system. I gave him $10.00 It had a bad diode in it and I got one for $15.00 and put it on the little Yanmar. I could detect a little slowdown for about twenty minutes if the batteries were down some but as the alternator load lightened Wolftrap was back up to speed again. There is no end to this more and more electricity thing I would have been just as happy had I stuck with the 15 amp alternator. It jut meant running under power a little longer. I do believe that when charging batteries at anchor the heavier load on the engine from a bigger alternator is better for the engine as long as you never charge batteries under about 1600 RPM's. For a fellow who builds his own stuff It's not a hard thing to but a small refrigerator on board run off a small rotary automotive air conditioner compressor. If you have to run the engine to charge batteries you may as well run a small refrigerator. Even the little 8 hp Yanmar will pull a thirty amp alternator and refrigerator while anchored. You can't run both while motoring If the little refrigerator is really well insulated say 6 inches you don't have to run it but about twice a week for one hour in hot summer time. Unless you are going to live aboard for long periods. I used in our sailboat Kate, the refrigerant that they sell in the automotive stores.

Us men are mostly fools. We take a girl off sailing who has been used to all the modern convinces and expect her to cook, serve meals and a few other jobs in blissful happiness with a kerosene stove that is contrary. No refrigeration, hardly any electricity minimal heat and not even a decent mirror to put her makeup on. You and I can't saw out a new hatch board without an eclectic jigsaw a couple of Rather manly wood planes, chisels

WE can't even read a chart without a chart table. No frilly curtains no flowery bedspreads. Except for one rather large problem we should take only men sailing.

Sailboats Fair and fine; Read oldest posts first

2007-03-19T17:34:00.000-05:00

Sorry folks this may take a few days. I am working onWolftrap Video of the trip south and to the Bahamas. My computer kept locking up and some of the programs quit working. I have had this problem before and have now set up a dual boot system with Linux on one drive and Xp on the other to do only video on using Premier. I will do all my on line work in Lenux. That should keep Xp free of trash. Anyway it will take a few days to get things straight again and start posting. Sorry about that!
Doug

Sailboats fair and fine # 49 : read oldest posts first

2007-03-15T19:41:00.000-05:00

NOVE 30 -Sunday Georgenes Log

We couldn't see much when we anchored last night but we got up this morning to find that we were in a beautiful place. The little man made basin was not meant for but one or two boats anchor- if that. There was a boat ramp that was very busy late last night and early this morning with fishermen coming and going. We were in a manatee area and I was hoping I'd see one- or an alligator. The one mile cut was really beautiful. We came into the Indian river and had a long straight stretch for about 35 miles once we turned to come down the river. This river was much wider with a little more depth and a lot of little islands just off the channel. At one of these islands we saw a couple dozen whit pelicans sitting on a sandbar. They are getting scarce and are considered endangered.

The sun was pretty warm a couple times today, I even put on my bathing suit-and then it rained. We had decided to anchored at mile 915 and I;m really glad we did As we came around Dragon Point we passed a huge stucco dragon sitting right on the point! He was about 40 ft long and 20 feet tall. We anchored at about 4:15 P.M. in the Banana River. It is a popular anchorage about 1 mile from the point to a bridge. There are a coupe of marinas just across the river from us.. After we anchored we saw porpoise swimming around near us and also got to see a fireworks display at one of the homes across from us. Some kids set off about a dozen Roman Candles.

As a kid about 11 years old I visited my mothers brother who had a sign shop Miami. He brought more up to this point to show me this Dragon he had built it and painted it years before. So I had no Idea where the thing was but was kind of excited to run across it.

Sailboats fair and fine # 48 : read older posts first

2007-03-13T14:12:00.000-05:00

Well we were up early this morning before the alarm went off. Georgene was in a chipper mood and says she doesn't mind getting up early now that we are in warmer weather. It's cloudy and we have had rain of and on all day today. We've had a good breeze all day but smack in our face so again it's been motor sailing. We traveled a little slower, straight into the wind as we did. We passed behind Datona Beach today and stopped at the municipal marina long enough to get Ice, fuel, water and a few snacks. We are in tourist country now lined with hotels, resorts and huge homes.

This afternoon we came down the Mosquito Lagoon it's a long straight channel with shallows on each side of the channel close in. This area is fishing camps aplenty. Camping trailers everywhere and people launching and tasking up boats every where along the way. According to the waterway guide the place lives up to it's name. It's fall so I guess the mosquitoes are down and I'm sure the strong breeze is a help as well. The channel has been full of boats all day. I guess these fishermen like to fish in the channel.

Some places they are rafted up and unwilling to move out of your way. It's no problem with Woftrap because I just move out of the channel but If she was drawing five feet I would have to wait for someone to move and listen to their grumbling as the boat behind us did.

The porpoise and pelicans no the fishing is good here they are plentiful. I've heard people say they ride the bow wave because they enjoy it. I think what they are doing is watching the bottom and when your shadow runs over a fish he darts out of hiding to escape and the purpose is on him in a flash.

Running down the lagoon we could see the big missile assembly building at Cape Canaveral we watched it all day and I don't think it ever got any closed even though we were running right at it. It is one big building.

At the end of the days run down the lagoon the channel mad a hard turn to starboard and came into a cut channel that ran across a mile wide spit of land. Trees grow right to the edge and a few in the water. There are people fishing off the bank every 30 ft. Everybody waves and once in a while hold up a pretty string of fish. We had to wait a few minutes for the bridge to open and then motored through. We went on about a quarter mile and turned to Port into a really small basin. I anchored up short on two hooks to make room for another boat if they wanted to anchor. We were at mile 870 and tired. We stretched in the cockpit drank coffee and listened to soft music on our radio.

Sailboats Fair and fine, # 47 : read older posts first

2007-03-12T19:04:00.000-05:00

Hi folks, Well here is where we are with the boat I am building today. Thought you might like to know what I do when I'm not on the keyboard. When the little boat is finished we will embark on high adventure. Now you have to know that at 70 couple of years old getting out of bed in the morning is somewhat of an adventure.

Picture at the top is the just glassed topsides

Next is the Rudder

Below it is the rudder hatch and hatch slides laying with them

The tp picture show the glass with onr coat of epoxy. With one more coat of epoxy on top then a little sanding and I'll start putting hatches and trim on her. One job I'm kind of dreading is bending a toe rail around the deck and bending half rounds on the hull as rub rails.. I will probably have to steam bend them and nail on to the hull to dry. Then drill the holes and counter sink for screws take the strips off and butter them up with epoxy and screw back on. I will likely have to have help doing the bending and nailing on when I take the strips out of the steamer as it has to be done fast. The good thing there is, that job is a ways off as I have to roll her over and glass the sides first. As with most things I dread doing, I start thinking about them way in advance so I'll have plenty of worrying time before I start.
I am really anxious to get the topside trim on and a coat of white primer, so the hull work will have to wait a little bit. I want to see what she will look like with hatches trim and a coat of white. Most if the trim is shellacked and it looks pretty good but will take on a darker amber color with several coats of varnish. I really hope the pine trim holds up well. It's a new thing for me ,varnish over pine but it will give me the color I want and so it will be a while in the weather before I can call it a success. I think it is so much prettier that teak or mahogany. Some of that is that I like the terpentine smell of working in pine.
Doug

Sailboats fair and Fine # 46 : read older posts first

2007-03-10T20:04:00.000-05:00

Here comes a barge with a missle on deck. Headed for Cape Canaveral . If you meet one of these in a bend in the river a deep keel sailboat is nice. Wolftrap with her shallow draft will run aground if you move over to much. My deep draft Fantaisa sloop wont, you just put the wheel over and she moves to the side until the keel begins to feel the side of the channel. No mater how hard you push over on the wheel she won't get any closer to the shallows. I have on occasion in a straight stretch of channel, let go of the wheel and let her find her own way. She will slowly wonder from one side to the other but never touching bottom.

Nov. 28-Friday

We went through the bridge of lions at 7;30 A.M. and after a brief stop at the city marina for fuel and Ice. We were on our way South again. St Augustine was really a nice place to stop- a beautiful harbor. At the town marina, Doug met a man that remembered us from Swansboro. Thats where we did the engine repairs. His boat, I think is the “Sempaytico”. They talked a while when we were getting fuel and he said he would see us on down the line. We waved good by as we backed away from the dock into the wind.

It has been cloudy and overcast all day but no rain. Temp around 70 degrees. Our trip has mostly been a long straight stretch today. The last feww weeks, we've been zig-zagging in and out of rivers- to the edge of the ocean and back again, away from the inlets. Today we passed one inlet and the rest has been a long straight run behind Florida's outer banks. It's more populated now in along the beaches,but some stretches are sandstone banks and real thick palm trees. Still see a lot of flat marsh land, but another change of scenery.

We stopped early today- 4 P.M. Anchorages are in shorter supply than farther North and we slipped into a long, shallow basin behind a little island and anchored. The next anchorage is another ten miles and we probably wouldn't have made it before dark. Besides we were both tired and this place is very pretty. It's barely off the water way and only about 4 ft of water. We are at about mile 820.

I really like these floating docks for Wolftrap. If the wind is pressing her against the dock we take the lines loose except for a bow line. With the dock low to the water Georgene puts the boat in forward the bow line comes tight and the stern swings out. The bowsprit swings over the low dock and when Georgene has the stern straight out. I take the dock line loose swing up onto the bowsprit by the head stay and George backs Wolftrap away swings around and passes by the end of the dock and were off. Any man that don't teach is wife to handle the boat is missing half the pleasures of cruising. Not only that but if the boat looks like it's going to hit a piling they are likely to try and stop it. I know one lady who has never set foot on a boat again after she smashed her toes between the rub rail and a dock. They just can't stand to see the varnish get scrubbed off against something. Besides that your probably stronger, let her do the one finger thing on the throttle while you do the heavy lifting. Every one in the marina will admire you for letting your wife get the praise for a nice docking job and believe me everyone will notice. With a little patience from you, she will learn to handle the boat. It's not that hard, no matter how hard most of us try to make it look that way. Doug

Sasilboats fair and fine # 45 : Read older posts First

2007-03-08T21:01:00.000-05:00

Nov27. Thursday Not Georgene's Log but Doug's memory

We spent the day wondering around town doing a little Grocery shopping and a little wine tasting. We pretty much filled up a grocery cart at the grocery store and they loaned us the cart to take everything to the boat. We loaded the dingy and ferried our cargo out to Wolftrap. Then went back and returned the grocery cart to the store. Walking around town we run up on a a wine tasting and always being up for that we joined in. Some of their wines are made from Fox grapes or scuppernogs and scuppernines. In Florida those grapes are known as Georgia bullets. I had mentioned that my parents were from Georgia, Scuppernog wine was a big deal at our house. My aunt shipped us grapes from Georgia and we made wine every year. I was delighted to find wine like I had grown up with so we bought some for ships stores. We got to the boat and packed them away and head for the fort in the dingy and for .50 cents we took a tour can't hardly beat that for a cheap tour.

Returning to the boat we stretched out in the cockpit to watch the tourist go back and forth. About the time we got good and comfortable a police boat came over and asked us to move as there was going to be boat parade for Christmas so we upped anchor and moved farther out. We settled down again watching the goings on and another police boat came over and said the parade is coming right through where you are. You will have to move. This time I argued a little and was told I could move or they would move me and you won't like it he said. “Alright, alright” I said. My wife punched me in the ribs and said come on move the boat. The cop stood in his boat a few feet away with his fist on his hips watching. I motored out fifty yards and turned to anchor and he waved me on out so I went out another fifty yards and dropped the hook. In a little while to more boats came in and anchored almost where I was. Nobody bothered them. When the parade came through it was way close to shore and nowhere near either spot I had anchored in. I was aggravated but kept it to myself though my wife keep glancing at me out of the corner of her eye not sure what I might do. I would have done something If I could of thought of something to do. . When the parade was over we moved to the back of the line of boats and anchored again.

In a little while a boat came in and anchored close while I was below. We went below to eat and read a little and suddenly a boat that had anchored behind us gave five sharp loud blasts on his horn. I came up quick and we were being drug buy the boat that had anchored next to us. He pulled up his anchor to the water level and started motoring off dragging us with him so I yelled over to him and he went forward and got my rode loose from his anchor so we then went back and anchored for the fifth time At St. Augustine. By this time the whole thing had gotten to be a joke and I was by now in a pretty good mood and am now glad to have this little yarn to tell. The rest of the night was pleasant. Tomorrow would be a traveling day and I would be glad to be away from a city anchorage.

I have about two hours of video that I took in 8mm and then still photo's that I intend to put together in maybe an hour video. If I can remember how to work my video program I will be putting it on line for viewing . Probably in short segments in what ever length I can get someone to host it in. I put a link here to it so that any interested can go take a look. Time is running short as I am writing for two blogs building a boat and trying to sell a book so it may take a little while.

Doug

Sailboats Fair and Fine #44 : read oldest posts first

2007-03-06T21:25:00.000-05:00

The old Spanish Fort at St. Augustine above.

Nov. 25, Tue. Georgenes Log

Left early this morning and motor sailed all day. We had a very pleasant day . I cleaned the boat some as we went along. We have a lot of mildew. I hope we can get some things dried out soon. The bots topsides don't leak but the early morning fog has dampened everything. We anchored a mile 765 in a little creek off the waterway. Tomorrow were going on to St Augustine and plan to stay for a couple of days. It should be a lot of fun there.

The spot we anchored in was not really a creek but a backwash behind spoils that had been dredged from the waterway and deposited along side. We went around behind it and anchored in about four feet of water. Another boat came in and anchored just after sundown.

Nov. 26- Wed. Georgenens Log

We started off a little different to day. When we started to leave the Anchorage, the other boat that had anchored not far from us had swung around on it's anchor and gone aground on a sand bar. We motored over to see if we could help them get off and as we were backing , Doug shifted into forward and nothing happened. We couldn't go forward and we backed in to the other boat and put a dent in it. Also they had out two anchors and one went under their bow and in the dark water we couldn't see it. We picked that line up in our propeller. We put fenders between the boats and Doug went over to free the prop. he then found that a clamp on the shifter linkage was broken and had to be fixed. He then started the engine and shifted by hand down inside the engine compartment so that we could move away from the other boat and then we anchored a gain and Doug fixed the lever. It didn't take long. He had it fixed before I finished getting breakfast. Needless to say we did not help the other boat any. They were really hard aground by this time time ,as the tide was going out. They would have to wait for high tide.

We only traveled about 10 miles today to St. Augustine. We anchored beside the “Bridge of Lions” and had lunch and the rowed ashore. We only walked around for about an hour as the weather looked as if it were going to get bad.A cold front was supposed to move through and thunderstorms were likely. I think probably we'll stay here again tomorrow and do a little sight seeing and maybe have Thanksgiving dinner ashore.

The last few days every time we had crossed ocean inlets we have been calling good friends on the “Colony Two” who are on their way from Deltaville to Fort Lauderdale out side. We didn't expect to raise them but we tried anyway. It would really be fun if he answered.

This harbor is beautiful tonight. “The Bridge of Lions” is really something to see! Day or night! The old fort, Castillo DE San Marcos,is just down the waterfront and it is lighted all around.

Sailboats Fair and fine# 43 : read oldest posts first

2007-03-04T17:08:00.000-05:00

Nov 23, Sunday Georgene's log

It was a very nice day. Doug and I read all day-didn't clean or anything-just relaxed all day.

Well that was her entry for the day and when she says we didn't do anything that's right she didn't hardly make an entry. Actually she read all day. I put the little air cooled motor on the dink and went exploring. The motor is a “Cruise and Carry” a little air cooled outboard motor that weighs 18 lbs, if I remember right. It was a great little engine. If you... The if you, being that you have to run all the gasoline out of it every time you use it. If you are careful to do that, It starts on the second pull, every time. Almost!

Wondered to the paper mill and took in everything I could see and after talking to a guard, was taken on a tour. They don't give tours but somehow I seem to always find someone who will show me around. I guess if you show some interest and ask a few questions there is usually someone will take the time. I ran from there down to the other end of town to the old part. There was no shortage of shrimp boats. I tried to buy some shrimp but everyone said all their shrimp were sold before they went out so one skipper gave me some.

Years ago we had a wood stove with an oven on a boat. My wife makes bread and you'd be surprised at the things you can trade for hot bread. Water melons, steamed crabs, Lobster, and scrimp to name a few are payment for a loaf of hot bread. Hot bread on the waterway is better than gold, especially if they can smell it baking.

The anchorage were we were was between the main channel and a little island. We were blessed with shallow draft and were able to go in close to the island where the tide ran slow and there were few boats anchored. At the north end of the Island was a Old North sea ketch she was about 75 ft long and heavily built she was anchored she was unpainted and her planking and topsides oiled. I would loved to have been able to go aboard. I dingied along side in hopes of striking up a conversation. There was no one on deck so I hung around a while and with great difficulty resisted the urge to knock on the hull or something. I motored slowly around her in the hopes that someone would come on deck but alas they weren't home or they didn't want to fool around talking to some American Yachty.

It was a shame that summer a storm came up the coast and blew her aground. Ten years later she was still there rotting away.

When we had come into the anchorage the night before we had anchored on one anchor as were the other nearby boats. I had a scope of about six to one in six feet of water. In the late afternoon a trimaran abut 25 ft anchored close. In a little while a lady came over in an inflatable and informed me that I had to much rope out and that I might hit them.

I told her I was sorry I had put her in danger and that I would fix the problem. I dingied out a second anchor almost to the beach and pulled over between the two giving them more room. I guess she didn't know that the boat that's there first sets rules for how much room it needs.

Her husband later told me he was sorry that she just don't know and that he planned to take in some rode later before they went to bed giving both boats more room. He said he just wanted to give his anchor time to work in. He was very apologetic

Saiboats Fair and Fine# 42 : Read oldest posts first

2007-03-01T21:40:00.000-05:00

Continue Nov. 21 Friday Georgene's Log

We had to get fuel this evening and we put into a marina at Jekyll Island,Georgia. This place is where so many wealthy families had “Cottages” in the late 1800's and early 1900's. The state of Georgia now owns the Island which is now a state park and open to the public. We are now at mile 684. Tomorrow, if all goes well, we will be in Florida. Doug Says I'll be warmer just because I'll know I'm in Florida!

Saturday Nov22,1986 Georgenen's log

We got up early had breakfast and walked about 1 1/4 miles to the grocery store_ and back to the marina. It was a bout 10 A.M. when we left the marina. We had a really nice sunny day even though it was cold most of the day. We had to cross St Andrews sound and we were actually in the ocean water before we rounded the last marker and turned back in on the Southern side of the sound to find a channel through more marsh grass. It's the most seaward point since we left Virginia. We crossed the St. Mary's River, the boarder between Georgia and Florida about 2 P.M. WE anchored across from Fernandina beach Marina about 3:30 P.M. It really felt good to finally be in Florida. We plan to stay anchored here tomorrow and clean the boat up and let it dry out. It's supposed to be sunny and close to 80 degrees.

Crossing the St Mary's River is a little different experience the tide runs swift and you are crossing shipping channels with ships ,submarines trawlers tugs and barges an every manner of pleasure boat going in all directions. You come out in the river beside a Ship yard where ships set way up in the air in dry dock. There are barges for troops to stay aboard. ( I guess that's what they are.) It seems no matter which way you look there are shrimp boats coming at you or crossing your bow. This was my first impression on other trips through there not much was going on. First impressions are usually lasting so that's the way I picture the place.

The town is old and a fishing town with shrimper's and fishing boats a plenty. The place is kind of special to me as My Grandfather left Roanoke Va. On a train as a young man in 1870 and rode to the end of the line which was at that time Fernandina. There was a housing boom going on as people were moving there from new York. He became a house builder. There is a bar there that dates back to 1850 or so. I st there drinking a beer and imagined him setting there having a drink. There is a painting of a reclining lady of the night on the wall be the bar

I spent a fair amount of time watching the debarker skin logs at the paper mill. A great place to stop Fernandina!

Sailboats Fair and Fine # 41 : read oldest posts first

2007-02-28T20:55:00.000-05:00

Here is one of the occasional hunting fishing lodges along the waterway in Georgia. Most lodges are back in the trees on land.

Nov.18,Tuesday ( Georgene's Log )

It was still foggy this morning. WE waited and ate breakfast and about 9a.m. We decided to go anyway-carefully. We motored on compass courses from marker to marker until after noon. The fog slowly lifted and we had a few hours coming down the Coosaw River that we could see. It was still partly cloudy and chilly. We wanted to get as far as Beaufort S.C. ( pronounced Bufort If you prononce wrong you'll be told) and it was dark when we anchored.

Nov 19,Wed.

We probably should have stayed here a couple of days in Beaufort. We had to wait until 9: oo A.M. to get through the swing Bridge and then we stopped at the city marina for fuel and water. It was really a nice marina with a laundramat and store and the town had stores( groceries etc. ) very close to the water front. We may stop on the way N orth next spring and spend a couple days. Now we just want to get farther south- quick. We decided to try and get as far as Thunderbolt Ga. At mile 583. We sailed a good part of the day which we haven't done a lot of since we crossed the Albermarele Sound. We really made good time and we thought we would be anchored by 5P.M. We didn't count on waiting on a couple of bridges to open though and it was about 6 when we dropped the hook just about a mile past Thunderbolt.

Nov. 20, Thursday Georgenes log

We started off early this morning in the rain. It's been raining all day and still is. Although we anchored early,about 3pm we traveled about 45 miles today. It started raining harder and we were wet, cold and tired so we decided to call it a day. We ducked in a little creek off the waterway and dropped our Anchors.

Nov. 21 Friday Georgenens Log

We got up this morning to find that we had anchored in a very pretty spot. The sun was coming up and not many clouds. Cold, but clear today most of the day we were in narrow creeks bordered by marsh grass. It's really funny to be going along and see grass for miles and miles and see other sailboats maybe a mile or so away and it looks like there in the middle of a field. You can't see the next creek or river until you get right to the markers to make a turn. Every so often you see a tree or a little clump of trees on the bank and then grass for miles and miles. The sun came out this afternoon nice and warm. It's really been a nice day.

It's odd to me that everyone complains about going through Georgia. It's only a hundred miles and It's just a grassy wilderness kind of like so much of the Carolina's are forest wildernesses. When you do come on a fishing shack it's a treat. Running ranges is a little difficult at first but you soon get the hang of it. It sure keeps you in the channel. With little creeks coming in from the sides of the waterway and a current coming out of them you would soon find yourself setting on a mud flat without range markers to line up fore and aft.

When the tide is in Your sails are well above the grass and there is lots of motor sailing to be don. The waterway is so crooked purely sailing would be difficult. A lot of boats go off shore through this section of the country. Ihave met a lot of people in the Bahamas that have never been down the waterway they always go offshore. I always try to talk them into traveling the intracoastal once anyway, it's a beautiful trip but I guess not for everyone.

Saiboats Fair and Fine # 40 : read oldest posts first

2007-02-27T21:10:00.000-05:00

The Picture on the bottom is beaufort S.C. and the one on the top is the Georia Savannas and this is where Savanah gets it's name.

Nov.18,Tuesday ( Georgene's Log )

Nov 19,Wed.

We probably should have stayed here a couple of days in Beaufort. We had to wait until 9: oo A.M. to get through the swing Bridge and then we stopped at the city marina for fuel and water. It was really a nice marina with a Laundromat and store and the town had stores( groceries etc. ) very close to the water front. We may stop on the way North next spring and spend a couple days. Now we just want to get farther south- quick. We decided to try and get as far as Thunderbolt Ga. At mile 583. We sailed a good part of the day which we haven't done a lot of since we crossed the Albermarele Sound. We really made good time and we thought we would be anchored by 5P.M. We didn't count on waiting on a couple of bridges to open though and it was about 6 when we dropped the hook just about a mile past Thunderbolt.

Sailboats Fair and Fine # 39 : Read oldest posts first

2007-02-26T20:19:00.000-05:00

Well we had anchored at Charleston on the 7^th and it was now the 18th.of Nov. It's been a Long stay. My business Partner Bob Grow was in town doing consulting work. He showed us around town, took us to dinner and then grocery shopping at least once. We did all the touristy stuff around town visiting museums, and the slave market, the customs house and walked the docks on the Cooper river. We wondered along the Battery and looked at the old homes along it.

One thing I really enjoyed was a model sailboat race on a small lake in town. Sailing them looked to be great fun except that those guys take the whole thing dead serious. I doubt that I could get that wrapped up in it.

We rode the little wooden bodied trolley all over town. This tourist thing is something we have never done much of so we really had a good time as it was kind of new for us. My Parents came from the deep south and they always had a fondness for the southern cities and I guess some of rubbed off on me. I found the place fascinating.

We had done a lot of walking since leaving the York River and now were able to walk a couple miles going and then coming with an armload of groceries with out any problem. We were both felling pretty good about that.

On our last morning there I walked into town in rain and fog and got our mail. When I got back Georgene was ready to go but we were fogged in. We lounged around drinking coffee and reading our mail. Georgene had sent off a lot of letters as we traveled so she had a stack of responses full of questions about our travels. That would keep her busy over the next week or so answering them.

Finally about 1:30 P.M. the fog lifted just a little so we weighed our anchors and headed out. We motored compass courses from buoy to buoy. The temperature was getting up around 70 degrees now and the fog and clouds were patchy. After a time We hoisted the foresail and picked up a knot in an almost nonexistent breeze. After about 20 miles we rounded a marker and headed into Church creek. As we finished up our anchoring which took a couple tries to find bottom firm enough to hold us so we were in very shallow water but secure. The fog began settling in again as the temperature dropped some. After sun set low flying scuddy clouds came through. There was a bright moon coming through the clouds and a dog barked over on the shore, we could hear people talking.

A few other boats came in, in the fog and anchored. We could see their anchor lights but not them.

There were some trees along the south shore and a couple times when the moon came out from behind a cloud we could see them all spooky and forlorn looking draped in silvery Spanish moss. I had the old Kerosene anchor light but I also had a an electric light as well so I put it up to to see how much farther the battery light could be seen beyond the kero light. I got in the dingy and rowed off to look. To my surprise the yellow kero lantern could be seen farther than the expensive battery light. The kerosene light had a very good Fresno lens. The electric light had one that was simulated out of plastic. After that I felt much better riding to anchor at lest in the fog with my old standby kerosene light.

Sailboats Fair and Fine #38: read oldest posts first

2007-02-25T21:47:00.000-05:00

I hadn't put my long underwear on so I donned them this time and they felt good after being wet. I went topside and began hoisting sails. In a few minutes we were barreling along in a stiff breeze with no waves. The water way only about fifty yards wide hand nothing more than a riffle on it. It feels kind of unnatural to sail in a good breeze with no waves but boy do you go. Around noon we were in the harbor sailing hard on the wind but it had fallen light so were kind of ghosting along. In the waterway you seldom get to let the boat sail itself. Here in the harbor we did and it was really pleasant and it's a great reminder as to what schooners and ketches are for. temperature was up and the sun was warm so we heated up some water and took baths in the cockpit. We finished and dressed just before a tour boat passed us.

We had passed under the guns of Fort Sumter and now were reviewing those along the Battery of Charleston itself. We were heading for the mouth of the Ashley river and beating against a swift tide. Progress was slow. We didn't care. The sun was low in the sky and just beginning to turn the sky pink. After a time we eased into and anchorage behind a red nun dropped two hooks and dropped back on them and hung beside the buoy about thirty yards from it. There were more boats coming into the Ashley and they began anchoring really close. We put fenders over the side just in case. WE wound up with six boats in a very small place and all but us left the minute their anchors hit bottom. WE generally try to make it a habit to stay with the boat at least through a change of tide to see how she will ride at anchor. I guess I don't trust my anchoring as much as some do. You never know though it may be divine providence they trust in or insurance.

It was getting chilly so we covered up in a blanket and watched the sun set under the Ashley Bridge while our coffee was making. AS the dark settled in over the distant Fort Sumter I tried the imagine the shelling back and forth between Yankee ships and the fort about one hundred thirty five years before. Cars running up and down the road beside the anchorage made that a little difficult. We were to stay a couple of weeks and I was never comfortable with the anchorage. The mud bottom had been churned up by thousands of anchorings over the years and boats dragged often in the strong tide. If there was much wind blowing we never stayed away from the boat where the wind was against the tide. There were boats running to and fro at anchor and some pulled out. One couple came home in the middle of the night and had to retrieve their boat from the coast guard station. They then took the boat out into the middle of the channel and anchored. In a few minutes the coast guard made them move and they ran up and down the river most of the night and come daybreak they anchored be side us way to close. At least this time they stayed aboard until the departed. We were glad to see them go.

Sailboats Fair and Fine#37 : read oldest posts first

2007-02-23T20:33:00.000-05:00

We were out of there early before daybreak The tide was out and I had to climb the muddy ladder about seven feet to the dock. The ladder was covered in mud and I being one of those painters that get all over me or a brick layer that gets motor all over me, I manged to get mud all over me and it was wet and cold. We eased out and on down the water way just as the orange broke through the early morning gray sky. There was a stiff breeze blowing and we were going to be on a beam reach. I went below, Georgene, motored along and I changed my cloths.

I had been up and down the coast outside several times and had traveled a little of the waterway once. This was the first time for me to travel the ditch all the way to Florida. I am by now feeling a little closed in. Most of my blue water sailing has been along or with a couple other guys along. Georgene and I got beat up by a very low tropical low years ago on a trip to Bermuda. She vowed not to do it again except maybe in short hops. So thats what we are doing we'll skip over to the Bahamas from Florida and Island hop from there. The Bahamas are perfect for the person that doesn't want to spend weeks at sea. I have a now and then yearning for sea passages but I do them alone. There is some danger involved and to take someone that doesn't really want to face that danger is wrong. More that that I will ruin your sailing as well. The only problem is there is something in me it doesn't satisfy. Now I'm yearning again. I'm building the wrong boat for that so I may sail the one I'm building a few times and sell it. John Wellsford is designing some boats I like and I may build one of them for an Atlantic crossing. I am not talking about this around the house and I half dread having to bring it up. Once its out plans will start to form.

I am building in a plastic covered bow shed. Bad weather has beat it up some so I will have to do some repairs on the shop first.

Saiboats Fair and Fine#36: read oldes posts first

2007-02-21T20:02:00.000-05:00

The above Picture is Georgetown mainstreet with it's bell tower. This is a really nice little town. I haven't been back since 1998 I wonder of the steel mill is still there to support the place.

Nov.6,Thursday

It was raining and chilly this morning and we decided we didn't much want to walk around in the rain in Georgetown so we ate breakfast and left about 9: am. The weather cleared up after a couple hours and we had a pleasant day. We decided to stop early about3P.M. At mile 430, we went into Mc Clellandville. We walked into town to find a store andI certeinly am glade we did. The most georgouse trees I've ever seen! All over the place. Doug said they were called live oaks. I hope we get our Vidio cameraback soonand I'll want to stop at Mc Clellandville on the way North Next Year we're going to get some tapes of those beautiful trees.

As things sometimes work out we didn't stop in on the way home. I think we were to meet someone in Georgetown. We passed Mc Clellandville by and as often the case when you let an oppertunity slip by you loose it. The following fall Hurricane Hugo came in at Mc Clellandville pushing an eighteen foot wave in front of it. The trees and most of those antebellum homes that had stood there a couple of centuries were gone. At least that's what we are told. We have passed by that old town four times over the years since then and have not been able to work up the courage to go into town and see the place. That is really not the thing to do as the town to some degree depends on boats coming up and down the waterway for a living.

This is a good place to talk about my Chesapeake Bay Lumber reef. The main on Wolftrap has a lower reef that doesn't take up much sail so it isn't much good as a reefing point. The good thing about it is. The boom fits the mast with gaff jaws that fits around the mast and a down haul that you can pull the boom down tight with. But you can also raise it. So You drop the sail just enough and and put in a reef then raise the sail and the boom is just over your head when standing. A battened boom tent lays on top and ties down around the edges. You can't sail with it but it's great to be under in the rain when motoring or sailing under foresail and jib. While in Florida we made a few changes in it. We layed the boat hook in the boom crutch and the awning on top of it all tied down. The down haul on the boom was used to tie the forward end of the boat hook up under the boom. Now since the main sheeted to a boomkin we could sail with the lumber reef in. This was a great improvement for the Tropics. We also had an awning for the fore sail boom but we only used that at anchor to keep the hot sun off the boat.

Sailboats Fair and Fine # 35 : read the oldest posts first

2007-02-20T15:35:00.000-05:00

The top picture is looking down the Waccamaw river the next one a little sandbar and then my shadow in the water. The last picture should be first its the cut with it's stone banks. The Waccamaw dumps out into Winyah bay. This whole area is breath taking in it's beauty. This is, Gone With the Wind plantation country. Take a look at Georgetown and close you eyes you may see ladies with parasols and young men in white suits riding Tennisee walking horses and elderly couples in carraiges. It's all there behind the darkness of your eyelids. Now and then you may see a for real paddle wheeler round a bend of moss covered trees along the river. Now that's a thrill.

Nov. 5 Wed.

Well it was up early this morning., Last night we anchored on the Ocean side of the inland waterway, in Little River. A beautiful place with Spanish moss hanging off the trees and a few small white houses along the southern shore line. Shrimpers were coming and going early this morning to and from the ocean. We were in the shallows and they rolled us hard. Sleep was out of the question. There was a little fog as I guess there is everywhere along the coast in the fall of the year.
Today was a long canal run, known as the cut, down to the Waccamaw River at mile 375. We had run on engine through high banks with black peat jutting out from the dark rich soil along it's edges. As you go along these channels the scenery changes every couple of hours. For a time you feel as though you are in wild country and then there are homes of the type found along the suburbs of any American city then you break away into a near jungle like swamp. With trees hung in moss and cypress knees all around. Every half submerged log has Tiel Pot turtles lined up on them. They slide off into the black water to be gone.
We bump bumped our way down the river in light rain that seemed so fitting to the southern swamp we made our way through. We were now out of the Waccamaw and into Winyah bay. With sail up we sailed across the bay to Sampit River that winds it's way into Georgetown. We came into the river in front of Georgetown and anchored. We found ourselves in plain view of a steel mill and a town that reminded me though on a much smaller scale of Dundalk Md. Where I grew up. With it's nigh time glow of steel making and the sound of trains shuttling back and forth with loads of glowing red steel. A couple of ships were tied up and were being loaded with steel. They almost looked to be trapped in such a small river port. An old clock tower peeled out the hours day and nigh mixed in with the sound of squalling tires and roaring V eight engines straining to do 0 to 60 on main street in town. Then the sound of a police siren as some teenage boy got himself a summons to go see the judge.

Sailboats Fair and Fine#34 : read oldest posts first

2007-02-19T17:42:00.000-05:00

Nov.4-Tues.

Only took about ten minutes to fix the line on the mast . Some young guy climbed up the mast and hooked the line for us.We got started off about9AM. It was a beautivul day, temperatures in the 70's. We had a fair wind but light. We sailed and motored and made good time until this afternoon as we turned into the channel at Southport. The tide was against us then and we slowed down right much. We stopped for fuel this afternoon and the dock was so high above us that Doug had to stand on handrail and climb up. They have six foot tides here and it was low.

It finally got warm enough this afternoon for me to wear shorts for a few hours. As soon as the sun got low it started cooling off fast, tho.

We anchored on the north side of a pontoon bridge( the only one in the country now) with about 50 or so other boats. The bridge has broken down and we all have to wait until they fix it before we can get under way again. As I'm writing it's 7:30 PM and we are waiting for the Coast Guard to let us know if and when the bridge is going to open tonight.

The bridge opened about 10:30 and we motored on through. I would like to have seen the bridge better. We only went about 4 miles to find an anchorage. We anchored at mile 342- just about a mile across the boarder into South carolina.

No posts until Tue 19, 07

2007-02-14T20:08:00.000-05:00

Hello all,
I'm going to be away for a few days and am having computer problems so there will not be any posts until Tues. Feb 19. Please come back then and we will get at it again. Below is a article about my Book Of Mooncursers and other Spun Yarns.
"Mooncursers" takes place near "Baltimore Maryland," during the early part of WWII. A story of two boys, each battling his own devils. Both are strengthened through adventure and the overcoming of self imposed guilt. They decipher a cryptic note and right an old wrong. All this in order to give new meaning to the life of an elderly lady living in an old Baltimore slum and to return to her what is rightfully hers. This is a story of boys who find young manhood and lifelong confidence through adversity, adventure and intrigue. Between these covers are other short stories for old boys and young men. Some will delight, drawing a chuckle and others to inspire thought. A few will leave an introspective question or two to ponder. One story is pure piffle. See if you recognize which one. Doug

Sailboats Fair and Fine #33 : Read oldest posts first

2007-02-12T20:16:00.000-05:00

Nov. 3 Monday

We took in our lines and backed away from the dock At 6:55 AM. There is almost no wind and just a hint of fog. We were both happy to be on our way again. A week of messing around in one place has begun to be a long time. Funny thing how big a hurry I was in considering we didn't have to be any place at any particular time. I guess when your traveling you want to travel. The sky was overcast with a smooth layer of clouds that look e like they had been spray painted up there. One thing for sure with a sky like that I was sure there would be no wind for at least a day. We enjoyed the big houses along the water way and motored along at ease.

Being close to the ocean the trees had that look. They all leaned inland with fewer leaves on the Ocean side. I guess the salty wind does that. Kind of gives the trees the look of a strong wind blowing.

We motored along with sandunes between us and the ocean. Now and then we would get a good look at the Atlantic. There must have been a storm off shore someplace because even though there wasn't any wind the seas were running big. The ocean was beautiful. The clouds reflected their gray color in the ocean. It light up as though it were silver with white breakers standing out on it's silver gray surface.

We were running along enjoying the scenery when we heard a bank and a for sail halyard whistled through the air and hit the deck with a thud.

I walked forward cursing the stupidity that let me put that halyard up there without wiring the shackle in place. When I got there and looked up there was the broken shackle hanging in place with the safety wire still in place.

We went on thinking to find a marina where i could get someone to run me up the mast. We pulled into one at Whiskey Creek a nice little marina with floating dock. This was something new to us.

I talked to the fellow at the gas dock who told me he would not be able to run me up there. He said If I let you fall we'll have to buy the marina back from you. He told me he'd come down and help me at lunch time, and he did..

I at one time would climb a mast with out giving it a second though but I shinnied up. This kid walked up the mast like a Haitian walking up a coconut palm. He grabbed the mast brought his feet up and laid back and walked. Swinging one arm out and around to grab the mast then the other. Amazing!.

The marina had a sign up that said in the event of a hurricane all boats must move as the docks will be taken up. Kind of a strange concept for a guy from a marina on pilings to take in.

Georgene and I never had spent much time in marinas a lot of things about marinas were new to us.

In our earlier years of sailing we would have everything packed when we got home on Friday night and head for the boat eighty miles away. As soon as we got there we took off sailing found us a place to anchor snf spent the night. We'd sail all day Saturday and maybe all night then back to the dock and pack up the car after dark and get home at Midnight

If it hadn't been for hauling and painting we most likely would not have gotten to meet any of the marina tenants. Probably some thought us snobbish but it wasn't so we just wanted to sail. I'll have to admit there was some motivation to get away from people.

Sailboats Fair and Fine # 32 : read oldest posts first

2007-02-10T10:46:00.000-05:00

Oct.31 Halloween!

Were still in Swansboro. Doug has the engine all apart in the cockpit and we've been waiting and we've been waiting on parts all week. A place in Moorehead city is supposed to bring them this morning.

Last Friday Doug rigged a boom and a pully and lifted the engine up into the cockpit while we were still at anchorage. Saturday he took the thing apart to make sure what was wrong and what was needed to fix it. We explored a little in the afternoon and Sunday. Sunday. We found the Grocery store a couple miles away and stocked up a little. Monday morning we sailed into the marina ( Casper's ) and tied up. Doug called Moorhead city to order parts and we've been waiting since then. We walked into town and enjoyed our stay but we are ready to get going now

Yesterday morning we saw another boat from Deltaville. Lynn and Smokey Slater on the “Saugeen Witch” pulled up to the dock across from us. They used to have a Ruarks Marina years ago when we had our first boat there. That's been close to twenty years. Hope we meet up with them again farther South.

The “Saugeen Witch” at one time was Tom Colvins boat. He designed and built her and I think as best I remember may have sailed her around the world. I think his first trip was in a schooner of his design and construction.

I had a good time at Casper's Marina they had a little limited machine shop there and I did a little work for them, did a little welding for myself. The place was a hangout for the retired crowd there in town and a place where tall tales abound. There was one fellow that spent his winters way up the rivers fishing from a shanty boat. One of the other men would run up there in a small cabin boat pick up his catch and carry him supples and in the spring tow hem back to Swansboro He had a spare bunk on board and from time to time some of those fellows would go up the river and spend a couple days away from their wives.

There was another fellow that lived across the street from the marina who made both muzzel loading and cartridge rifles though the later were illegal rifles. He was careful who he made them for. Mostly he made guns for family that his family had been making guns for from a time before the revolutionary war. Story was that the federal firearms people came after him and were so impressed with his guns the got a congressman to but through a special bill that was attached to something else that allowed him to get a license free of charge. He made several rifles for the agents in the years following.

He was looking for someone to take over in his place and offered to teach me with the expectation that I would teach his uninterested son if he ever wanted to learn. My interest at the time was going sailing though I regret not learning the gun making I've never regretted the sailing trip so there you go.

Sailboats Fair and Fine #31 : read oldest posts first

2007-02-08T15:50:00.000-05:00

Here's a couple more boats anchored back at Beaufort. I'm not sure but that black hulled boat may be a "Bill Trip" design. The picture with the little blue hulled boat has a white boat over at the shore. That is the dingy dock there. Your dink needs to be strong enough to bang up against the pilings all day and have everyone climb over it.

Well here we are anchored just off Swansborrow. We anchored under sail and with no power and little wind we hardly pulled the anchor in at all. Last night was not a great night the changing tides had us dragging anchor several times in a crowded anchorage. We had sailed in with the tide running out against the wind so we were barely moving over the bottom so the anchor did not really pull in. I was concerned, but I was not the only one dragging anchor. The wind was up some and the boats ran up to windward then turned sideways and charged down river with the tide sometimes pulling out their anchors and sometimes jerking them around to set upwind again. Woftrap didn't sail on her anchor as some did but when the wind slacked the tide would push her to windward. With an increase in wind she would blow against the tide. The anchorage was a mess with every boat reacting different to the wind and way to close together. So they tried to run all over top each other most of the night.

I wanted to re anchor Wolftrap but it was the middle of the night and boats were every which way and I just couldn't see myself charging back into the anchorage under sail. Finally at day break some boats moved out and made some room. We hoisted sail and hauled in the Anchor and Georgene headed out to the channel with her. She jibed her around and headed back in at a good 4 knots. I dropped one hook and we run on dropping the second anchor snubbing them up and they didn't catch hold. We got the anchors up and headed out again and I dropped the Main and jib so we came in on foresail at about two and a half knots and went through the anchoring thing again and this time they took a good bite.

Fellas Let me tell you something, teach your wife how to handle the boat and let her do it, as much as she will. I have many times seen a one hundred and ten pound women trying to fend a boat off a dock or handle a couple of anchors and tackle with her husband cursing her the whole time. He looks a damn fool and she looks like she would like to throw his fat ass overboard. Let her gently push the throttle back and forth while you haul halyards and anchor rodes you both last longer at boating. Throw a wad of paper in the water and let her doc to it for practice.

Feeling pretty good about Wolftrap staying put this time we crawled back in the bunk and got some real sleep until about Ten A.M.

About noon after and rest I food I unbolted the engine which took about an hour.

Then I took the main sheet off which is double blocked on both ends. I attached the main sheet lower block to the engine. After that I hoisted the main boom up high making a gen pole out of it. I lifted the engine out with the four part main sheet. I less than two hours she was setting on a piece of plywood that at had stowed under a bunk for just some emergency like this one. In about two more hours the clutch was apart and I knew what was needed. We went into the Marina and talked with, Casper, the owner and the parts were ordered and would be there on Monday when the supplier would be coming to Swansboro from Moorehead city.

I rented a slip for a few days not wanting to be in a crowded anchorage without and engine with boats sliding all over the place.

You would be surprised how many people with really fine boats don't know how to anchor. Some drop the anchor and then don't pull it in they just leave it laying on top the bottom. About one A.M. they are dragging all over the anchorage screaming hollering and blowing horns.

If You have an engine it's an easy matter to pull up your anchor and move. If you don't your going to be up fending off fifty thousand pounds of boat that wants to run over top of you.

If you don't and you stay where you are you might as well be married the the guy because you are going to be all over top of each other.

About sundown with the breeze falling light I went in and tied a rope from the forward outside piling to the dock that we would be laying along side. The idea being that if we suddenly got a sail full of wind and came shooting in like a bullet we would either break the rope, pull out the piling or stop our boat. I had a line around an aft cleat and we sailed in under foresail alone. As we came to the end of the dock and dropped the sail. We eased into the slip at about a half knot. I went around the piling with my aft line and brought Wolftrap to a stop. Folks walk down to Casper's Dock about sundown so we had a pretty good audience to either be boat handlers or fools. They took our lines and we got a hand of applause.

An awful lot of the confidence of doing this is a result of Phil Bolsters sail laceing on the mast. It never hangs it always come down quickly and freely and I just can't sing it's praises enough. The other thing is the Top yard is just heavy enough to drop the sail quickly. That is of course if you keep the gaff level while it drops. Let the peak or the throat get ahead and it's like having breaks on it.

Sailboats Fair and Fine # 30 : read oldest posts first

2007-02-07T14:27:00.000-05:00

The bottom Picture is a U.S. Army tug aground in about seven feet of water. That thing must be deep draft. Sadly, She's the only south bound boat we passed today.The picture above it is the anchorage at Swansboro and out in front of Caspers Marina. "Nice people."

Oct.23

We left early, about 6:30,and put in a very long day. We dropped Anchor about 25miles down the waterway. It started out to be a very nice day and the weather was really nice. As we were going through the swing bridge at Moorehead city, another boat passed us-- “Gimbi” from Biloxi. The captain called to us, “ Lets go back to Deltaville.”We smiled and waved to each other. Doug and I didn't remember the boat but evidently they had been in Deltaville when we were there. Maybe we'll see them again as we get farther south. The way it looks that's going to be a while. All day long, boats have been passing us going south on the ICW. We thought it was just because the wind was against us but this evening we found out the clutch has been slipping all day and has finally burned up. We turned around and with the wind with us we sailed back about 3 miles and anchored in front of a marina in Swansboro, N.C.

The next few days will be big ones. For a little background on the coming events let me say that as a small kid I had some experience with clutches. My father who was a builder of all manner of things built a garden tractor. For an engine he used a Model T ford engine with it's transmition. I hung over his shoulder and watched handing him tools, but most generally getting in his way. I learned a lesson when I asked a question and he begun to answer. It always took him a lot of time to think over the question and come up with a good answer for a small boy. I asked another question on another subject before he could answer and he lost his patience and said, "Boy when you ask a question If you want to know the answer keep your mouth shut so it can be answered. If you done really want to know don't ask. Now do you want to know or not." "Yes," I replied, and then got my answer.

What this all boils down to is this. The little little Yanmar engine has a small version of the model T Ford clutch on it. So I already knew a lot about rebuilding it right from the start.

While I'm at it, it may be helpful to some to know that the big hydrolic clutches on marine engines are the same clutch with a hydrolic pump to generate the pressure to hold the plates tight together to transmit power to the propeller shaft. Don't let those high techy types tell you you need to go to college to fix one. Seventy five years ago every man in America could take one apart and fix it.

Sailboats Fair and Fine# 29: read oldest posts First

2007-02-06T13:20:00.000-05:00

Boats anchored off Beaufort N.C. and the next one is a wild pony on the beach.

Georgene's log again today and a few more then I'll get back to describing some things that went on.

Monday, Oct,30

We started off early again this morning. Doug really likes to get going early. I have a little bit harder time getting up. It's been so cold the last few mornings. I could have easily stayed under the covers until noon. We got away before 7AM and it was almost 6pm when we anchored this evening. Belhaven was at mile135 and we crossed mile 200 this evening and anchored at Beaufort N.C. We motored most of the time but had a few nice quiet sailing hours down the Neuse River. Woftrap was anchored just across the channel from the board walk. Every one coming south on the ICW must stop at Beaufort. ( pronounced “Boford as aposed to Beaufort S.C.)” There are dozens of boats anchored in a space 100 yds. X ½ mile long. We row the dingy across the channel-about 100 yds. and there are docks all up and down the boardwalk and shore with dozens more boats tied up.

We stayed at Beaufort Tues. and Wed. Tuesday we walked all over the place and mostly looked. We found Hardees and had some ice cream. We also found a book store and I got some more paper backs for our bookshelf.

Wednesday we did our laundry and after bringing it back to the boat and having lunch, we visited the muse um. It was very nice. Doug especially likes to see all those old boats and enjoyed all the old pictures. We stopped at a very nice restaurant called Mikes and had had coffee and apple pie, then came back to the boat. I've been resting and writing while Doug's gone to fill water jugs at the dock and rowed the dingy to the little beach behind us to go walking. I guess it's a little island and their are ponies all over it. I saw some of them down on the beach this morning. It's still awfully cold at night and we are anxious to get farther south.

2007-02-05T21:53:00.000-05:00

2007-02-05T21:50:00.000-05:00

Sailboats Fair and Fine# 28 : read the oldest posts first

2007-02-05T19:31:00.002-05:00

This Video starts at the Anchorage on the Alligator river on that foggy morning heading to Belhaven.

Another Post from Georgene's Log Book

Sunday Oct. 19

We stayed anchored at Belhaven today. We took the dingy into the boat ramp and tied up. We walked into Belhaven and spent a few hours just walking and looking around. We got a few groceries And some more charcoal to heat with. It should be a little warmer tomorrow, I hope. We just lazed around all day today and enjoyed it very much. The two of us enjoyed Belhaven. There are two very nice marinas here and it's only a short walk into town where they have all kinds of stores, restaurants, laundromats etc. We got hot dogs from a nice lady in a sub shop and then walked down along the water front . There are some beautiful old houses here. At “River Forest Marina” they have a “Manor”That looks like one of the plantations out of “Gone With the Wind”.There is also a museum that we intended to see. We walked back and got another hot dog and then got groceries sand took them back to the boat. We just never never made another trip to town. The afternoon was polished off by reading napping and a really good supper and then read some more.

View Leving the Anchorage for Belhaven in a larger map

Sailboats Fair and Fine# 27 : read oldest posts first

2007-02-04T14:03:00.002-05:00

Oct.17,Fri. From Georgenes Log Book

We were up early again and on our way to cross the Albermarle Sound. It turned out to be a good sailing day. I was surprised that there are so many markers and buoys-almost like a highway marked clear across the sound. We sailed a good part of the day and then motored some- mostly after we got into the Alligator River. There's a swing bridge across the river at about mile 84. we thought on such a big river we would probably have to wait for the bridge to open on the hour. As it was surely rush hour and the bridge was the only way to the mainland. Doug called find the next opening time, the man said “Have it open for in just a minute Captain.” He did too. We didn't have to wait at all. We went on down the river to about mile 104 and anchored between Bear point and Tuckahoe Point. Doug had to get in the dingy and row all around the shore line and go ashore to explore. The scenery has really been something. All different kinds of trees and shrubs than we have at home. The water has a kind of rusty red color mixed in from the cypress roots. It's all been different and beautiful but i guess I really liked Saturday morning ( Oct 18 ) the most so far because of all the fog on the canal. We had a long trip down the Alligator River- Pungo River canal. We left our anchorage between 6: 30 & 7:00 & the fog was all along the edge of the canal, until the sun came out good and strong a couple of hours later. The temperatures are still in the 60's. We stopped early at Belhaven to get Fuel and ice. The ice cost $1.00 and the fuel was free.

As we had come out of the canal into the Pungo River, we helped another boat that had run aground where the channel was really narrow.

I didn't take long and we were on our way. This boat was at the marina in Belhaven ,when we stopped for fuel. A man came hurrying out onto the dock to thank us for helping him& introduced himself to us and introduced him self as, Larry. He and his wife, Joanne, on their sailboat” Tring”Had left York River yacht Haven the same day we did. When Doug went up to pay for our gas Larry had already taken care of it. A nice Surprise!

We anchored about 2PM just across the channel from Belhaven. We rested all after noon and read. I haven't smoked for 3 days and i;m almost making my self sick eating crackers and candy. Hopefully, I will get over it in a few days. I told Doug I'd quit when we left. and I didn't buy any extra cigarettes to bring along. I finished the pack I had in my pocketbook our first day out & so, I've quit.

View We started a the North river in a larger map

China's sailing history:

2007-02-04T10:24:00.000-05:00

Hello to my readers in North Korea and China.
On the e-mail forum " Boatdesign@yahoogroups.com " there is an e-mail thread going on called: Any group members in China? It turns out there aren't any and there is an argument going on about China's part in Pacific trade and the landing on America's west coast during ancient times maybe two to four thousand years ago.
So far there have been one hundred and nine posts on the subject. This subject is off topic but any of you that have any knowledge where eastern boat design are concerned should get in there and give us the benefit of your knowledge. Of course you have to join to group, so when you do there will be some members from China and Korea.
Doug

SAILBOATS FAIR AND FINE # 26 : READ OLDEST POSTS FIRST

2007-02-03T18:07:00.001-05:00

Sorry about posting the Dundalk blog post here yesterday. Confusing for most I suspect. Don't feel bad I was confused to.

Doug

During the night something walked across my face I smacked at it and felt something run down my cheek. I figured it was bug juice so I got up and went into the head and looked in the mirror. I had some green liquid on my face Not just a little green but bright green. I washed it off then noticed a bug crawling across the floor It was leaving trail of the same green, then I saw several more and caught them. And opened the hatch to throw them out and the topsides where brown and green. I got the flash light and looked around the deck, and it was covered almost solid with bugs. They looked like lightning bugs but were half again bigger. There was green all over the topsides. I got my cloths on and went out and got a bucket and sluiced the decks and everything on deck, awnings sail bags water jugs all of it. When the decks were pretty much cleared of them I began mopping and flooding the decks with brown water.
There was no more sleep that night because there were a lot of bugs in the boat. They had crawled in through the ventilators. That was one of those jobs that never got done. We had talked about making screens for the vents but it just never happened.
We spent a lot of time catching bugs and cleaning green poop. When the sun came up we made a bee line out of there. I spent a great deal of the day swabbing and washing down the boat. It seemed I couldn't get rid of the darn things . Every time I swabbed the decks more showed up. Finally Georgene said look up the mast and sure enough there were bugs all over the rigging. I threw buckets of water as high as I could reach and then unfurled the sails and a blue million of them hit the decks when I hoisted them. When I thought I was rid of them I dropped the sails and scrubbed them on the deck with mop and soapy water. I worked a good hour on the mess after we left. Then got some sail up for a good sail..

Tomorrows post will be a day out of Georgene's Log bOOK.

View Great Bridge down to the North River to anchor. in a larger map

2007-02-02T14:44:00.000-05:00

2007-02-02T14:42:00.000-05:00

My first saiboat "Tern" Sketch by Doug

2007-02-01T21:50:00.000-05:00

Sailboats Fair and Fine #22 : Read oldest posts first

2007-01-29T12:39:00.002-05:00

It's Oct 15^th and we are barreling along with an outgoing tide cross the Poquoson flats off York County Va. We left Sara's creek early this morning. For breakfast ate fried bacon and eggs with crunchy Toast done on top the alcohol stove, with a little stainless steel wire toaster. There's a wonderful device for ya. We were finishing up the last of the coffee.
We passed through long lines of crab pots that we had been dodging. Crab pots are good news for Wolftrap when sailing in the shallows. I usually figure if we have the board up we can go any place a crabber can go in his Chesapeake bay bateau.

I wasn't paying attention as I should of been. It's easy to watch when you're coming into crab pots but coming out of them is a little different. My eye always has a tendency when not looking for something in particular, to follow the scenery, the distant gulls, a bunch of boats working a school of fish or maybe a freighter coming up the bay headed for Baltimore. That's when it happens we slow to a stop for no good reason, unless it be that we are aground.

I start the engine put her in reverse, Nothing happens. When driven onto the shallows running down wind at nearly seven knots you don't back off with an eight horse power engine. So with the tide going out we were in for a wait. Luckily the tide was nearly low when we run up on the bar. In two hours we might float again. The bad news was we would be sailing against the tide down to the bottom end of Hampton a but we would have a tide with us going into Hampton Roads. We took down sail and put on a pot of coffee, got out the books and enjoyed our visit. After looking the chart over and plotting our exact location right on the edge of a marked channel.
Before running aground we had just crossed the little channel coming from out from
Langley Air force base. The boats running in and out had most likely raised the sand bar along it's edge and that is what we were setting on. After taking a second of looking around I saw the long line of markers coming out of the creek. I guess I had been sailing in a state of coma. There is a thing easily done in home waters.
I could see off in the distance work boats coming, heading for the creek I hoped. When they got closer I radioed them and asked them to rock me hard. I was some surprised to get them on the marine radio. Most of the time they use ham radio and keep the marine radio turned down so they don't have to listen to it. I sat a few more minutes and then started the engine.
They took me at my word and were running full bore and close to my side of the channel.
I felt like with such a small engine I would not be able to back off wither their wake hitting Wolf trap's stern. I put her in forward and full throttle. When the wake hit us we went forward and I headed out dragging on the bottom and nearly coming to a stop but then getting a fresh start as each wave hit us. Finally getting into deeper water we were underway again.
Getting on the radio I bid them farewell and a big thanks for the wake and they returned “Rodger That Cap'n”
We put some sail onto her dropped a little board and vowed to stay off the bottom for a time. I have often said we should have named her ground hog. I have never run any boat aground as much as I had Woftrap. With a shallow, aluminum bottom well protected with epoxy we took a lot of chances and we grounded a lot.

View Sarras Creek South in a larger map

Sailboats Fair and Fine#18: read oldest posts first

2007-01-22T17:18:00.000-05:00

We had gotten and early and started heading down the Rappahanock River approaching Stingray point. We have been on a beam reach running with the tide. We were making good time but the tide was going slack and when we rounded the point we would be beating to windward against a strong tide. Sure enough when we rounded the point we found ourselves beating against four to five foot waves though I guessed the waves would lengthen out some as we beat across the bay. The temperature was rising and it was beginning to rain.
“Getting a cold front?” Georgene commented or asked, it was kind of hard to tell which. She has a way of confusing me by making a statement with the inflection of a question. My answer is usually to mumble something and that's what I did.
“ Well arn't you going to answer my Question? She asked while staring at me. Now I had something I could work with now and said. “ Yeah it's on its way, the wind has been picking up and it's blowing toward the North so it's traveling a long the front. If you look up through those holes in the clouds there are clouds up high traveling west to east. See 'em there really moving and they are wispy looking. Up at that hight the front is really close. I'm going back into Deltaville, I'll change tacks pretty soon. I hope we get in before the front gets here. The front from the looks of those high clouds must be moving thirty knots and if there are any twenty knot gust in thunderstorms we could easy get fifty knots in the puffs.
This is a really good spot to complain about the sorry Noah weather report on the Marine FM radio. You used to be able to tune in a get some weather when ever you want. Well they decided it cost to much to just give weather to boat captains. Now they give us the mountains, the valley, Middle state forecast, Washington DC, Richmond and Hampton Norfolk. By the time they get to Stingray Point or where ever else I may be. I have forgotten that I am listening to the weather, become interested in two seagulls courting and forget to listen. Rather than go through it all again I usually turn it off.

I can usually predict the weather about a day in advance and its about 50% right which is about as good as a wild guess. So for that I like a good professional forecast. A six hour forecast by me is usually right. For that I will also take a forecast but if they are predicting something different the me, I use mine. After all I'm where the weather is going to be and they may well be five hundred miles away.

We decided to come about and head for the Hole in the wall at the south end of Gwens Island, I figured that might bring us into the Piankitank River five miles to the north of the Hole. We beat hard that way for a couple hours making little headway. The waves were running a good five feet and many were breaking. The wind was blowing at lest twenty Five knots and sometime gust higher. Woftrap was staggering under two much canvas. She would go through a wave break out of it and drive into the bottom of the next one. The waves would slap her under her bowsprit before she would rise to near the top and crash on through. Our port lights on the lee side were under water so there was nothing left to do but reef. As usual I had waited longer than was prudent. I reefed the foresail first with a double reef, then reefed the main with a single reef and now we were riding a little more comfortably and I got out on the bowsprit and reefed the jib. Even so with on one big wave that come up from underneath me I quickly wrapped my legs around the Sprite and both stays. I hooked my feet into each other and hung on. I realized I was going to get dunked so I lay forward and wrapped my arms around the Sprite and hung on tight. Sure enough I went completely under and I mean way under. When I came up I saw water pouring off the side decks. The sail was wet a foot over my head when I sat up. It wouldn'heeling have made any difference whether I lay down on the Sprite or not the water would have went over me anyway and I might have wound up hanging upside down under the sprit. There is know way I would have let go with my feet. When I got back to the cockpit Georgene was pale as a ghost. She said she thought I was gone.
I went below dried off and changed cloths and was back up in a few minutes. We were riding quite well and was pushing up on Stinray Point again. We had made almost no headway at all. We were sailing toward Cherry point on the north end of Gwens Island but there was now a big difference. The wind was coming off the shallow waters just off the island and the waves were now smaller. I dawned on me that the tide was starting out along the western shore. It was coming across the sandbar on the inshore side of Stingray light and we were now driving through shorter but steep sided waves. Even so we were now making good time.
We changed our course more westerly and we were running pretty much free and headed for the End of Stove Point. In protected waters the waves were about one foot and we were really moving we went past a can buoy like like a horse with a burr under his tail. The sandbar that runs off of stingray point has a place about a third the way out that is a little deeper and we cut through it with somebody yelling on the radio not to cut the buoy short. I think it was someone in one of the shore homes at the end of the point.
We were healing pretty good so we were able to slither over the bar without a bump. We sailed up the river a hundred yards rounded a day marker and headed into Fishing bay. I dropped the foresail and we came in on main and jib.
Then came the front and it blew in with a vengeance. Sand, leaves and shore dabre landed around us. We had eased the sheets and beat somewhat into the wind with a fair amount of sail flapping. When the first blast got through then headed on in not to far from anther boat and dropped both hooks.
Come morning we motored in to Ruark's Marina tide up along the face dock and spent a couple days talking to and eating with old friends we had sailed in company with for twenty years.
Everyone liked our new schooner rig. Cat yawl rigs in that part of the world were looked on with complete mistrust. Everyone always wanted to know why the boat didn't have a jib? Or I bet she'd be faster with a jib. Of course that's true most likely, as it's been my feeling that if you add more sail you go faster.
Of course that's a lot of the reason I like schooners and ketches. You can carry five sails on either one. A sloop sailor when told that, will always say WAAL, sure if you add more sail you'll go faster. Da
That exactly being my point, I never know what to say to that.

The canvas Lady says#17: By Doug Pollard, Read oldest posts First

2007-01-18T17:03:00.000-05:00

Writing today wasn't in the cards. Spent the day working on our new little boat. So here's A little article I wrote a while back. My wife Georgene used to be the Canvas Lady when we were In Deltaville Va.

Now she is just a lady.

A small group gathered around the binnacle of Georgene Kate. Pollard’s name sake the Sailboat “Kate” and are sipping at steaming cups of coffee and feeling grateful for the protection from a cold March wind that is provided by Kate's Bimini and enclosure. We are not out on a sailing trip which tonight we are thankful for, but instead setting up in the boat yard where we have all been working on our respective boats. The conversation is on boat repair, improvements and tired sore blistered hands.

Tina sips her coffee in one hand and then taking the gloves finger tip of the other between her teeth and pulls. Reaching up to the aft end of the Bimini she strokes the soft leather along its edge and asks smiling, alright Canvas Lady how in the world does someone like me who doesn’t sew have any Idea how to buy a canvas job for my boat.

Yes you've surly got a problem, The Canvas Lady replies but don't feel by you're lonesome. It’s a problem for me as well. I’ve been working with this stuff a long time and there are so many different materials and uses that we all put it to, that its almost impossible to definatly say in every case what the best or worst really is.

Well we all call it canvas. There is canvas and then there is canvas! Actually almost none of the canvas in boat canvas is canvas.

We should thank our lucky stars for that. Real canvas though it conjures up old-fashioned thoughts of hand stitched sails, water buckets, and a thousand other articles out of our long nautical history is just that, history. Canvas rotted, mildewed, shrunk, stretched and required copious amounts of oil or wax to water proof it, even a little. It was generally sewn with cotton and the threads had all the same failings.

It is possible today to construct fabric dodgers and such with nearly the strength of much heavier solid construction using modern fabrics and materials. Don’t believe it? Consider how light a pilot house or flying bridge construction has to be to allow your boat to right herself before the next comer hits her when she’s been bowled over to the gunnel by a wave.

Here are some things you should consider in purchasing canvas work, upholstery and cushions for your boat. Most of these things I am saying are an accumulation of opinions and ideas of several boat canvas shops who’s opinions I respect. Some are my own.

This first statement may seem to fly in the face of good sense. A white top is not cooler! A dark colored top absorbs more sunlight than a white one. Sure the material will get hotter but the suns rays do not go through it to land on you. The white surface will reflect more light you say. That’s true but only about one third of the light reflects and almost all the rest goes right through. The farther south you go the more apparent this gets.

Where outdoor fabric are concerned I consider Sunbrella © the best for Bikinis, dodgers and weather cloths. It holds up for many years outlasting stitching and windows alike. If kept waterproofed it will keep you reasonably dry although a heavy downpour for an extended period will work its way through. The original factory waterproofing may last as long as five years but will need to be recoated about every year thereafter, a simple task with an aerosol can of commercially available water proofing [ye-Gads keep it off the glass]

The color pacific blue is almost indestructible by ultra violet for many years in even tropical sunlight. Most of the red colors fade and turn pink early on, although they seem to maintain their strength. As a reminder remember brown colors contain red pigment. There are other materials that look like Sunbrella and I have no experience with them as I consider saving a few pennies on and expensive piece of work not worth the risk. I personally would insist on Sunbrella on any canvas work. It’s a good idea to ask up front.

Plastic coated fabrics generally don’t leak except were their sewn. Since they don’t breath they do usually mildew. It doesn’t seem to hurt the fabric but it is certainly a sorry sight and will spread below into the interior of your boat if your not careful. Beware of removing the mildew with bleach, it destroys the stitching and it’s not cost effective to restitch something brought to the shop all in pieces.

Many shops use seam binding along edges and around windows and such to cover up raw edges. This plastic product is usually the first thing to go on a Bimini or dodger, cracking and peeling, quickly making a four year old canvas job look ten. It also does not offer the strength that a turned and sew edge offers.

Since we are discussing edges I’d like to voice a personal prejudice. Today most shops use a hot knife to burn and seal edges rather than turn the edges under and sew them. It saves labor and of course money for them and the consumer. I have no evidence that this practice creates any problems or failures but there can be no doubt however that when the edges are turned under and sewn the doubled thickness of Sunbrella on both sides of the glass can hardly help but be stronger. Consider this also: Your boat builder went to a lot of trouble to build your boat with a beautiful finish, fine looking stainless hardware and may have even trimmed it in exotic wood. Suppose he had left the hull and deck seam exposed for all to see it’s jagged edges.

There are a few shops around all over the world that do not back up fasteners with plastic window glass in between layers of cloth. Be wary of this practice your snaps, common sense or Lift A Dot fasteners will pull right through the material the first time they come under a strain. I consider this practice shoddy in the extreme.

What kind of thread to use? Gore-Tex thread or anti-wicking Polyester thread. It’s a well-known fact that Gore-Tex thread is not anti-wicking. It allows water to run into the holes punched by the needle and in fact actually invites it in. Now an occasional shot of waterproofing will stop this but will also collect dirt. Gore-tex will last about twice as long as polyester it is claimed. Most canvas shops have not used it long enough to know for sure it’s so, but it may well be. The down side is it’s expensive, about 15% of the cost of a Bimini or Dodger. If your going to the tropics Gore-Tex seems to make sense for a new Bimini. It should last about six years and then restitch with Polyester for about three more years. With a little luck you may get ten years out of a canvas job. Of course this depends on how fussy you are about looks. The other thing is that the thread usually has flat spots in it that are constantly changing the tension on the sewing machine as the thread goes through the tensioner. The stitching sometimes looks like a chicken has been scratching at it.

I would guess that even though initially Gore-Tex may be weaker than polyester but after a couple of years weathering polyester becomes weaker.

Glass is another subject that’s ripe for disagreement. What kind of clear plastic windows to use in your enclosure or windshield. Of course if you don’t like my pinioning on this just ask anyone and your sure to get a different one.

First to consider is 20 ml Ultra-violet resistant roll glass. Sorry stuff all will agree here. But on a small boat it can be rolled up tight and doesn’t take up a lot of space. Thirty mil. Rolled glass holds up and looks better but only a little. Neither of these are very clear and do not last long. I once replace windows on a 16 ft runabout with heavier glass and to my dismay the boat owner seemed disappointed. I guess it was too bulky for his small storage space? Even the professional doesn’t always know better than the folks using the boat what they need.

Thirty Mil. Sheet glass is great stuff for enclosure side windows and 40mil. Is even better for windshields and Bimini's. This sheet stock can be counted on to last half again longer than the best rolled glass and is clearer from the start. It’s reasonably stiff and holds up well in ultraviolet light. In the windows I make, I run the glass all the way out to the edges of the curtain or dodger. All the fasteners along the edges are run through the folded and sewn Sunbrella and through the 30 or 40 mill glass. The result is the fastener is mounted in 4 layers of Sunbrella plus glass. You will break the fastener before it pulls out.

The dodger on our sailboat ”Kate” was constructed in this fashion. It stood up to one hundred mile per hour winds during a hurricane and there was no damage to it at all. The wind blew directly from the bow. Of course had it blown from the stern it may have been a different story. Who knows?

Polycarbonate glass is nearly distortion free and wonderfully clear and is stiff. On the negative side it can’t be rolled up and is not scratch resistant. It cracks if whipped about in strong wind. It is used on power boat flying bridges where it can be raised up to the overhead and fastened without the need for rolling. Some Say this material does not hold up well in sunlight. Others claim it works well except when covered with a scratch resistant coating in which case it soon looses clarity.

I personally have little experience with this material. These widows are usually large to fit flying bridges on large powerboats and they take up to much space in my small shop. I am aware that Polycarbonate is what Lexan is made of and this product although strong, does not hold up well when exposed to constant sunlight.

Windows made of any of the above materials should never be cleaned with any product containing ammonia. The ever-popular Windex, although great for real glass is one of those that is said to be deadly to some plastic windows.

Custom canvas shops cannot usually compete on price with the manufactures of production made Bimini's. To make one piece of anything cost many times of that one piece made in a production run of thousands. The canvas work on very small boats are often aluminum framed and are adequate for light use. Never, ever should they be left up to weather storms. They are just not strong enough to stand up to thunder squall wind gusts. Canvas work of this kind is generally considered throwaway canvas and can be purchased at retail marine stores at very reasonable prices.

Bimini and dodger bows are the skeleton of your canvas work. It cost very little more to make them of one inch diameter stainless tubing instead of the often-used seven eighths The tubing costs about the same with the fittings only costing a little more. Because of this I only use one inch with the exception of Bimini's for really small boats where the smaller tubing looks more fitting

The fittings that attach to the deck mounts should have wired on pull pins for easy removal when stripping you boat for hurricanes.

Lighter frames that give under wind pressure cause canvas to tighten on one side and go loose on the other, flapping and fluttering. Slack canvas is not long for this world.

You will want to remove your Bimini or dodger on occasion for repair so the top part of the bows should go through zipper pockets so that you do not have to take the frame apart for resewing back at the canvas shop.

It is absolutely essential that the bows be curved across the top so that the canvas will not hold water. Any pocket forming in the top and collecting water will get deeper and hold even more water. I like to see the two middle bows higher on Bimini's than the forward and aft bows for the same purpose. This is not essential if there is enough bow in the top.

All your canvas will be held down to the boat with fasteners. I like Lift A Dot fasteners for this purpose. But have used snaps in cases where they suited better. There are times when Common sense fasteners work better than any other. A case of this is when the canvases pull is straight up on the Lift A Dot stud rather than pulling sideways to it. These fasteners do not do well under this circumstance nor could it be expected to. It was never designed for that kind of service.

Snaps are much stronger than most give them credit for as long as the pull is sideways to the snap.

The other fastener not to be forgotten is the zipper. Plastic zippers are far superior to metal as long as sunlight is kept off of them. Metal zippers corrode unless they are stainless (BIG bucks here) and the first time you jerk one to break it loose a tooth pops out and that’s usually the end of it. The plastic sliders last longer as they don’t corrode as does metal.

No zipper works well unless it’s lubricated. Plastic or metal teeth should be coated with something like WD 40, silicons or petroleum jelly.

Under no circumstance except canvas work from any canvas shop unless the zippers are covered by a flap or some means of keeping the sun off of them. The same is doubly true of Velcro. I would only use Velcro in direct sunlight when there is just no other way. Those little tiny hooks quickly go brittle and break off when exposed to direct ultraviolet rays, often in as little as a year. It’s great stuff below decks where it is protected from direct or reflected sunlight.

Where canvas chafe against wood , fiberglass and more especially rope protection is needed for both. Split cow hide in the form of apron leather is the most popular. It provides protection and at the same time a finished craftsman like look. But there are other uses, handrails on dodgers and steering wheels are often covered with this soft luxurious feeling material On a boats wheel it provides a sure grip and protection for the hands from cold stainless steel. It is impossible not to touch a leather covered steering wheel

For saloon cushions lets take a look at colors first. If you spend long periods languishing about in your boat warmed by a cabin heater during winter months and reading a good books, there is nothing so comforting as warms reds, yellows and browns. Summer months in the cool colors of green and blue can be pleasant but possibly less time is spent below at that time of year. If you are a world cruiser spending months at sea, what a wonderful thing it is to carry the familiar tones of brown earth with you. These combinations of Reds and yellows will cradle and worm your soul while crossing a sea of blue, green and sky blue above. We may love the sea but our home is ashore even for those who cruise to distant lands. After all the ultimate goal is to find land.

Cotton fabrics look wonderful but they don’t work well aboard a boat. Much better is polyester, polypropylene, Nylon and Olefin. Of course they need some kind of moister resistant coating to keep out spills and the damp air of the ocean.

I consider again (I.E. Sunbrella) the best. It’s an acrylic-blend comes in many patterns and colors and is made in many different textures.

A really luxurious interior is Ultrasuede if you can fit it into your budget. It’s not cheap by anyone’s standards but it’s washable and feels so gooood. The amazing thing is that it never looks pretentious in any setting. After a hard day driving into rolling seas it is wonderful to spread out on soft cushions covered in this suede like material.

Buttons help to keep fabric from sliding on the foam cushions but there are other ways of achieving the same thing. Welting around the edges helps as does really well fitting covers that are cut slightly smaller than the foam they go onto. To lie down on a main salon settee and have buttons poking you in the back will cause you to go to a bunk and get a blanket to lie on.

There are embossed plastics that don’t stick to the backs of bare legs when you get up. Some are made so as to resemble cloth and most are hard to distinguish from the real thing. Great where there are children or pets aboard. They wear well but because of the textured surface may need to be scrubbed with a brush when cleaning. Beware though of setting down with that forgotten putty knife in your pocket, you will have a gash in a cushion that cannot be repaired. Make sure you have extra material to replace a torn seat top with. You will not be able to buy more that will match exactly, your color.

Well made covers will increase the life of your foam cushions as well as the covers themselves, so have it done right if possible.

Foam is an absolutely wonderful place to save a few dollars and pay and pay and pay. Save a buck here and it will poke you in the butt or back every time you sit or lay down. Don’t use the very soft 1.5 lb. Foam. Most shops use 2 1/4 lb. With about 35 lb. compression strength it’s really good for cushions in your main salon. Softer backrests are great but may cost more as your upholsterer might have to purchase more foam instead of being able to get seats and backs out of the same sheet of foam.

Old fashioned Foam Rubber or latex is probably the best for the Captain and first mates bunk among all the foams. It comes about 5 !/2 inches thick and is wonderful to sleep on, as your hips never bump bottom. The second choice is one of the stiffer foams such as 2 ¼ lb or six-inch Ultacell high resilience foam.

If you have a high overhead you can hardly get foam for your every night sleeping berth to thick. Remember also that a really soft bunk is hot. You sink to far into it. For cool comfort better to lie on top.

Many boat owners with large aft cabins are buying household mattresses cut to fit their boat bunk. This runs about the same price as real latex foam. All I’ve talked to seem happy with these innerspring mattresses. I guess the steel springs rust in time though it doesn't seem to be a problem in the short run. I know one couple has had one for maybe 5 years.

Cockpit cushions are a real love hate proposition. They get wet, usually take forever to dry and there is a storage problem. With plastic covers they stay dry a little longer and wet forever. Closed cell foam stays dry but is generally hard as a brick to set on. Dry fast foam is my choice you can spray a garden hose straight through it and air goes through as well. When covered with Sun-Sure the cushions will dry in about a half a day if stood on edge The only problem being that they need to be fairly thick. The older dryfast foam was very soft and you hit bottom even with four-inch thickness and that was a major drawback. Today it comes much denser but I doubt that you can get as thin as two inches and still have a comfortable seat.

The sun-sure covering looks a great deal like nylon window screen but comes in a verity of colors, patterns and mesh size. These thicker cushions can be left outside if finding a place to store them is a problem. Just be sure they can’t blow away. Other products of this kind are textelen , sheerweave and Ultraweve that is used as window sun shades in boats and Rv’s. Cushions of this type are not slippery when wet so you are in less danger of falling when standing on them.

Acrylic covering is stained by the sun tan lotions we all need to wear for protection from today’s high ultraviolet sunlight. These stains are permanent.

I like to fasten cushions in place with snaps mounted in short straps that are sewn at both ends. You can reach your finger into the strap and press the snap onto it’s mating part.

The most luxurious piece of equipment on a boat of any kind, power or sail, is the full-length awning. On hot summer days it provides shade for the entire boat and crew. It saves the topside gel coat, bright work, canvas, cushions and people. Yes, it even takes the strain off the air conditioner. Old time buy boat captains and riverboat captains knew this and they all had one on board. Putting into port they quickly set them up as does Bahamian island traders of today.

We have a material today that makes these awnings even more practical then they have ever been. It’s called Stamoid. It is light strong and waterproof. This product carries a guarantee of five years. An Awning for a 40 ft boat can be rolled into a small bundle because it is so thin and then stuffed into a small locker. It is light so there will be no strained backs. This material is about double the cost of Sunbrella but because it is light and strong it saves some on labor though nowhere the difference in cost. A big plus is that since awnings are only used in the summertime they should last for many years thus greatly reducing their cost per year.

Properly rigged they will catch rainwater filling your tanks and they are a lot cheaper than a water maker.

On occasion I have seen powerboats in the Bahamas sporting full length awnings looking much like a political gathering aboard the old presidential yacht Sequoia. I have never understood why awnings have fallen from favor on powerboats don’t have them. So very elegant they are!

I personally am willing to cover most anything on a boat to protect them from the elements, but there are drawbacks in overdoing it. Consider that six coats of varnish scuffed up with sand paper and lightly re-varnished a couple of times a year, will last twenty years out in the mid Atlantic states sun. I’m not sure how the labor involved stacks up against having to remove so much canvas and replace it again every time you go for a sail. If you have intricately carved teak, as do some boats built in the Far East it is surly practical to cover these carvings. I have found that boats that take more than about fifteen minutes to get underway are almost never used for that sundown cruise after work. What a pitty!

Used reasonably, canvas as protection for bright work, can save a lot of work and expense. How much to cover has to be decided by the owner

Dodgers, Bimini and enclosures though not cheap in themselves are a real bargain when you

consider the cost of added living space aboard your boat. Sticking with a well-canvassed 35 ft. boat as compared to stepping up to a 45 ft. boat to get space and comfort can easily pay for that long sought after cruise to the Caribbean.

Finishing her Monolog, Georgene said, Sorry folks if I’ve talked your ears off. I guess you shouldn’t have gotten me started though, you know?

One member of the group stretching and groaning as we all stood said we splash in the morning so I guess it’s bedtime. Our guests worked their way down the ladder to the ground, pairing off they all headed for their boats.

The Canvas Lady and I stood on deck high above the ground watching a ship make its way down the Chesapeake Bay. It’s lights flickered in the clear, crisp and cool night. Hit by a gust of wind we each felt a chill. We moved into our cockpit and lay basking in the heat coming up out of our cabin. The little diesel heater below was doing its job. We watched the lights going out, one by one, in our neighbors boats.

It would be over an hour before we woke up to go below to our bunk. We closed the hatch as there didn't seem much point in heating the cockpit with no one up there.

The End

Sailboats fair and Fine#16: read oldest posts first

2007-01-16T15:17:00.000-05:00

We had stopped at the dock and took on fuel to the tune of three gallons. A couple bags of ice and we were all set for a few days. While there I put the mast, centerboard and rudder to the Dyer Dingy. A wonderful little sailing dingy though not strong enough to be left tied to a dingy dock with twenty other boats banging into it. We had learned a long time ago to pull her ashore. She if not beat up by other boats was likely as not to windup under a dock. Being so lightly built an incoming tide and a few boat wakes would wreck her surely. The other thing we did was to leave her on a long painter and that way all the other dingies would be pulled in front of her on short lines. Those boats kept ours from getting under the dock and no one ran into her as she was out of the way. All the years we owned her about fifteen in all nobody stole the rigging. Pretty amazing I think, considering all the places we took her.
The tide was now to our liking as it was about slack and would soon becoming in.
Parrot creek where we were going is shallow so we didn't want to get their on a complete high or low tide. Either one could be a problem and if we had an unusual high one which was likely after all the easterly wind we cold wind up setting on top a bar for a month waiting for another high tide. If we should get there at high tide we'd go in with our depth finder down. About four foot of center board sticking out Woftrap's bottom.
Our batteries were getting low, evidence a sluggishness in starting the engine. ( would have to be more careful with that). With that in mind we headed out motoring. Here is an unhappy thought. The screw we wound up with on Woftrap was not exactly right. The engine was only coming up to twenty eight hundred RPM's she was designed to run at thirty six hundred tops. At that lower speed we weren't getting full horse power out of her but worse than that she was blowing some black smoke. We'd come to regret that.
The wind had backed around to a light breeze from the South West. We hoisted the foresail sheeted her in and was soon motor sailing at six knots.
In about an hour we were off Parrot's creek and ready to head in. Wanting to be pretty coming in I hoisted sail and slowed the engine, leaving it run slow.
Every where we went with her we caused a stir and for me that's no small thing. The folks in this little shallow creek were not used to having sailboats of any size come in. They were very appreciative and came down to the boat landing to look at Wolftrap. Oyster shucker's at the oyster house must have been on break they stood on the dock point at us and talking. We were anchored in about four feet of water. We let the engine run another hour. The propeller always spun slowly while in in neutral so Wolftrap needed to be anchored between two anchors if the engine was to be run for charging batteries. She would run to the ends of the to anchor rodes and set there.
“Oh Thank you so much for coming into my creek and I hoped you will keep her here from now on” a lady who lived just across the creek said. Georgene, Replied well thank you,” but we will be leaving in a few days. Oh I'm so sorry but I'll tell you what, I'll will have a dinner party on the patio and you will be my backdrop. She wrote down everything Georgene told her about Wolftrap so that she could tell her guests.

Our Son, daughter in law and grandchildren lived a couple miles down the road so we set off walking. The lady didn't offer us a ride and beeped the horn and waved as she passed us on the road
We had a couple nice days with the kids and took a little time one day to explore the creek in the dink. We followed a small meandering gut that went through marshlands and small hills on all sides. Cranes, red wing black birds, geese, and ducks seemed to ignore us as we made our way. A little way off there was the crashing through the woods of a hound who let us know where he was by baying as he went. Figuring we had interrupted the daily lives of enough wild life we headed back to the boat. Each of us took an oar and practiced the art of tandem stroking of the water. While setting backwards. Georgene had one arm in a sling so only had one hand to pull an oar. I rowed with one hand to. With a light breeze behind us it didn't take too long to get to the boat.
We bought oysters at the shucking house and hung around watching the women shucking oysters a little while. They carried on a steady banter about one thing or another. A fair amount of it being about this fellow or that with a lot of somewhat dirty sounding giggling and laughing. Sure made a fella glad he'd never been out with any of them because there is no telling what they might say, for the amusement of all.
Our daughter Elaine, being a tidewater gal fried us all oysters for dinner. they were golden brow, moist and just right. I'll be John Brown if they weren't good.
We would be leaving tomorrow so the kids would see us off in the morning. We spent the night with the kids and let Wolftrap fend for herself. It felt pretty good to sleep in a real bed.

Sailboats Fair and fine#15; READ OLDEST POSTS FIRST

2007-01-16T10:00:00.000-05:00

We rolled out about eight in the morning. I was pretty chilly so I started a fire in the little cabin heater and crawled back under the covers and backed up to Georgene who pushed me away and fussed at me for getting in bed and freezing her. In a little bit we could feel warm air coming into the forward cabin. In a moment Georgene got up and put the coffee on the cabin heater. There's not a lot of tide in Urbana Creek so we were laying into the wind. The breeze kind of medium was somewhat variable in direction, it was swinging from North east to east and back.
An elderly Deltaville schooner Captain named Edmond Ruark away back when I was about thirty couple years ago told me that, “If the wind blows out of the North East and it doesn't rain it will never rain again”
"Georgene," I said.
Absently she said, “Yes”
“Georgene,” I said again,
“What, Douglas, “ and I could here the pages of her book flipping shut.
“We're gonna get wet today, It's going to rain.”
I heard the hatch open and then close and she said, “No, it's not cloudy at all.”
We dingied ashore and walked to the Urbana drug store and its double horse shoe lunch counter was full of people. “Coffee y'all?” a middle aged lady inquired of us.
“Yes mam,” I answered.
She turned in the swivel chair and said to the waitress, “Laura these folks need a hot cup of coffee.”
"Hi y'all, want'em fer here," she said with a big toothy smile.
“Two please,” I answered.
A fella got up and offered Georgene a seat and she tried to talk him into setting back down. He'd have none of it so she took his offer, thanking him. Didn't look like anyone was going to offer me one so him and stood drinking coffee.

A fellow walked through the door and said. “Wee, it's raining already. And all heads swiveled to look out the big front window as though they never had seen rain before. One lady said sure is, and someone else said yep sure is.
George turned to me and said, “How did you know it was gonna rain.”
“Captain Ruark, told me,” I said grinning.
“You know, Captain Ruark? By the way I'm Dan that's ma little boy Danny right there”. Danny half stood and grabbed my hand in his and eagerly shook me all over. He was about six four and three hundred pounds and playful as a puppy.
I told them all, Ed's saying. They all smiled knowing smiles. One said , ”He's one that would know for sure.”
“Yeah Capt. Ed knows about all there is come sailing a schooner. I sailed with him when I was a youngun about like him, cept maybe a hundred pound sack of potatoes lighter. That was the, Schooner Columbia F.C, we was on and she was the fastest schooner around in them days.” Dan's head was moving up and down as though he was agreeing with himself.
“Capt. Ruark, was about the best they was when it comes to dead reckoning. Believe me I know cause we had a lot of Schooner captains over to, Christfield, where I come from."

"The Schooner was tied up at Pratt and light street aside the Steam boat, Smoky Joe ferry“Now it was one foggy night when we left out of Baltimore. It was in the middle of the night in the middle of January an in the middle of the channel.” Dan laughed at his own little joke and we all laughed with him. By now we were all leaning forward listening. It was pretty obvious that Dan is the local teller of stories.
“There was a North Easter blowing and a little snow was coming down through the fog. We sailed right down the, Pottapsico River, and out in the bay past, Seven Foot. Knoll The fog was so thick you couldn't see the end of the bow sprite.

"I asked, Captain how are we ever gonna get through this fog?"
"Why, dead reckoning of course, Replied the Captain."
"They weren't no bay bridge there at Annapolis in them days Ya know. Any ways we sailed all day and you couldn't see noth'en. There was ice on the sails and rigging.' Now y'all can believe me them old fog horns was sounding, you couldn't tell where they was coming from in all that fog. We sure wasn't in the channel cause the whole way we never did see any buoys. Feeling a little concern, I again said if we don't soon see a buoy how the heck we gonna know where we are Captain. Captain ED again said, Why dead reckoning of course. We was all straining our eyes looking to be sure we didn't run over noth'en. The fog was so thick the sun didn't even shine through and I swear if you stood up forward you could hear the bow cutting through the fog.” A snicker went around the counter and little Danny slapped his ham hock of a hand on his leg and roared, we all laughed at him.

“After another couple of pretty scary hours Capt ED said Dan lets get the sail off'er and be quick. We'll tie up to the stake in the middle of the creek till morning' Captain Ruark barked forward at us. The sails was doused and I went up on the bow and stood . Captain Ed, yelled tie'er up. I said Captain they ain't noth'en I don't see no stake."
"Put your hand out there and I did and sure enough I grabbed hold of that stake and took a line aroun'er. I said in surprise Captain How the heck did you know it was there and he said, Why dead reckoning of course."
"Dan reared back on his heels shook his head back and forth and said now they ain't nobody knows a better Captain Ruark tale than that." Everybody busted out laughing and all stood up and clapped.
"Danny get up from there Dan said quickly. Folks I was gonna tell a story on my little women but she's coming across the street now an I don't want her to catch me talking about her, she will beat the tar out a me."
A little tiny women stuck her head in the door and yelled "High everybody I'll see y'all at the oyster festival gotta git home, Come on Dan, Danny lets git."

Sailboats fair and fine#14: Read oldest posts first

2007-01-14T15:31:00.000-05:00

Sometime in the morning I awoke to the slap, slap sound of waves hitting the hull. I raised on one elbow, pulled the curtain aside on the elongated port light to see what was going on. The sun was not up yet but there was the morning greyness all around, with just the faintest touch of gold in the eastern sky. Then another work boat came by. It was a local water man named Talmage. I started to get up but eased back instead to my bunk and was off to dream land in a hurry.

The next thing I knew it was light inside the boat and I could hear and smell coffee brewing and bacon frying. Georgene was setting on the stool at the stove reading a book. I lay there a few minutes watching the intentness with which she read. I remember thinking one time that every young man that wants to mess around on boats first needs a young lady. Not just any good looking gal but one that likes to read. Don't matter whether she likes boats or not. She needs to be a good sport and like to read. During those moments when you watch a calm sea, a seagull diving or swooping along a wave top she'll be reading You may even be listening to a dog bark on a somewhat distant shore, she'll be reading. If you take the girl along that doesn't read she'll be talking. Oh yes give me the girl that reads every time and all the better if she likes to read to you. Nothing makes a man feel more like a king then setting in the cockpit of his boat sipping coffee or a sundowner while being read to in the softness of a feminine voice. So sweet!

I made my morning trip to the head for a quick pee. That's the trouble with an Anchorage where you can't pee off the stern because there is houses everywhere. Shaking the thing over the transom is every bit as satisfying as cutting down a tree to my mind.

I took my coffee out to the cockpit and studied my world. In a few minutes my eggs and bacon was handed to me with buttered toast made over the stove.

In about an hour I started up the engine went forward with the engine idling in forward. I took in the excess anchor line as we motored over top of it. I made the anchor line around a cleat and said Georgene she looked up from her book and I waved my hand in a circle with three fingers sticking up and pointed the direction I wanted to go in. The boat came over the anchor and pulled it out and I held up my hand and pointed out and a round to head out as I then started pulling the anchor in. I grabbed up the boat hook and laid the anchor over the hook under the Bow sprite. She ran the boat out of the creek and headed out to the bay. I went below and got us another cup of coffee and we were on our way to the old town of Urbana on the Rappahanock River. We motored along slowly at about half throttle. We dropped over a couple of spoons on our fishing rods and trolled them along. It was a beautiful morning the sun was high enough to not be right in our eyes. As we rounded stingray point on the wrong side,a thing we could do with our shallow draft we watched a Menhaden ship with its accompaniment of open boats take in a what must have been five tons of fish. The old ship was one of the last world war one Submarine chasers still left in the fleet. She was really handsome in her own way . Long and slender and built for speed. She was painted Grey that to me seemed so very fitting. We motored along slow and finally in early after noon we went under the Rapahanock River Bridge. Just about that time we snagged a fish .and I reeled him in. He was a late blue fish. I took in the other rod as one fish was all we need for tonight's supper. I would guess he weighed seven pounds. I put him live in the cooler.

A slight breeze cold and moist came in from the east so we hoisted sail and was soon sailing along about three knots. There was a wall of fog rolling in behind us that looked to be about a thousand feet high. As we sailed west we could see that it was slowly catching up. We put on heavier cloths and hats. It wasn't long before I went below and put on long underwear. We were just out of summer and I guess our blood was thin. The dampness didn't help any. In a few minutes Georgene came out with long underwear showing around her collar and foul weather gear on and she was carrying mine. We changed into boots and gloves next. The temperature was in the mid to upper forties and that's cold when you still wearing your summer blood. We fired up the engine again in a vein attempt to stay in front of the fog. Before we got to the creek it caught us. I had taken a bearing on the harbor mouth and we headed for it. We took down the sails and motored very slowly using the Loran and the boats tied in their slips along the west shore. They are easy to follow as the white hulls make them more visible than the brush and trees on the east bank.

After a bit I figured we were in the middle of the creek right off ED Hurley's marina. A spot that held a little romance for me. This was the spot where I had back in the 1950's moored my Hershoff 18 for about five years.

We dropped the hook and started making coffee. In a few minutes somebody said hey “Wolftrap, Wolftrap I wouldn't anchor there.” Georgene, half shouted, “Look come here look.” I had no idea what she saw but when I looked aft there was the gas doc ten feet behind us. In a very short time the waterman would be coming in to unload at the dock With the fog they were most likely coming in the creek now. It wasn't a problem because they wouldn't likely run over us but I sure would be embarrassed to have them catch me anchoring right in front of the dock. We got a way and re anchored just as five boats came to the doc. And four others circled around. One of them came close by and yelled, "Hey Doug don't ya know no better'en to anchor on top the dock."

"How'ed you know," I yelled back.

"Ed called out on the radio and told us to be careful cause some yachty was anchored almost right on the dock."

When the time would come to go back to Deltaville I knew I was going to catch it, because the story would be something like I anchored on the dock and couldn't start my engine and half the fleet had to circle around for an hour in the fog.

That blue fish was good. Didn't have any lemon so we poured a little jigger of white wine on him when he was frying. Holy cow! Was that a meal?

A tribute to boat builders and beer: Read the oldest posts first

2007-01-12T17:45:00.000-05:00

Didn't feel like writing on the Wolftrap story tonight so I did this for the boat builder instead.

. Sooo! about noon I got in the pickup truck drove up to the corner and bought a six pack of Imported dark beer and an equal number of light to mix. I went back to the boat and went back to work. Today my work all morning, has been to sit in the shed and look at the cockpit. I couldn't seem to figure out what to do with the seats. I opened a dark beer and a light beer and poured them into a cold tea pitcher and started drinking it . Sure was good. I drank and studied my problem. After a time I sawed a piece out of a frame and moved the stringer out in the middle into a little more curve. That's the one that the cockpit coaming attaches to. Then I cut out a temporary coaming and nailed it to the stringer with a couple of finishing nails. I set down on the other side of the cockpit to study my handy work and realized the tea pitcher was empty. Going to the shed I refilled it with two more beers. Now setting in the cockpit I felt a little more was needed. I went to the band saw took a piece of wood a couple feet long and sawed a pretty curve.into its edge. I climbed up into the boat had a couple more drinks of beer and contemplated the sheer beauty of the curve. Satisfied that an old world artist could do no better I drove a couple screws through the coaming and the stringer into the beautifully sawn wood behind them. All of it pulled into that fine curve and I found myself nearly over come by it's beauty , a kind of oneness between the coaming, the curve, Kate.and my inner soul. I had several more drinks.

I picked up a piece of sandpaper had another drink and began to sand. Had another drink and sanded some more.using finer and finer sandpaper until it began to take on a kind of sheen. I had a couple more drinks and got up to go to the shed for a refill. I had a couple drinks and considered offering one to my drill press who just stood there on her four legs, seemingly speechless. I guess she already had some.

I went out ter Kate and climbed the stepladder with a pitcher in one had and the ladder in the other. You see, the bladder, ladder that is, must have been drinking too as it was quite wobbly. Went to the usual place, one goes to while sailing, the stern, to pee. To far to the door and I didn't want to pee in the sawdust ,so I went to the bow and barely was able to wet the grass behind the shed. Sure ain't the pressure there, there once was.

The cockpit sole moved drunkenly. I slipped and dropped to a sat on a seat not to spill even a dab. Now there is a strangeness about a boat in a shed that is afloat on water where there ain't any. The boat didn't rock it kind of waved as the water did and that made my eyes go all funny. So to straighten my vision, as beer is sometimes prone to do I had a couple more drinks.

I picked up the fine sandpaper and gently caressed my beautiful coaming. Then it struck me the sand paper and the wood were one with my sole, excuse me soul. I felt a deep need to achieve perfection as had been done with the curve in the coaming it's self..

The sunlight bounced off the water around me and wriggled all over the inside of my cathedral ceilinged shed.

I had seemed to have been sailing a while and from the looks of things I was way to far from the house to get back to it. I had another drink or two and looked to the distant horizon, a place I longed to be, so as to pear at another distant horizon. There must be some secret there.. I laid down as we sailed upon a vast Blue green ocean. Suddenly in my mind I saw beyond and beyond! I gathered up another drink or two in all of my hands. All them horizons was followed by a revolution, revalation I think, I saw that. there are some that simply sand with out the combination Zen, beer, the inner being and sandpaper. They surly never achieve the insight that we hoo-doo do. I alone in my altered condition, know the pride God felt when he made Eve and placed her in the Garden of Eden. for the joy of Adam. God must have loved Eve for he made her perfect and beautiful but how much more he must have loved Adam to give her to him.

I alone in all the world. As the night darkened and the stars were snuffed out like burning candles and I sailed off into blackness of a starless night, I realize the powerful Zen of sandpaper and beer had failed me. I had not understood it all. How is it I may by felling, sawing, sanding and glueing build a thing of beauty and turn it over to another? A lovely thing worth more than gold that contains a piece of my heart. Is it she I love, or my fellow man to whom I have given so much for a thing so fleeting, as a bit of wealth.

Doug

Sailboats fair and Fine#13: read oldest posts first

2007-01-11T17:37:00.000-05:00

The above pictures are Jacksons Creek Deltaville Va. as seen from Deltaville marina. I was later on one of several Dockmasters here.

We left our buoy to port and was steady picking up speed we sailed a quarter of a mile and headed off toward New Point Light which we could see in the distance. We weren't heading South yet, but going North To Deltaville, Urbana, and Parrot creek, where our son lived.

We were sailing down wind and sailing about four knots with a breeze picking up. I raised the centerboard as it wasn't needed on this point of sail. We picked up another half a knot. The fog was almost gone now and we began stripping down to lighter cloths and our shorts came out as we took turns going below and steering. Georgene put on our second pot of coffee and in a few minutes I could smell it's wonderful aroma. We were skimming over the flats now with the muddy bottom just under the keel. We turned on the marine radio for the first time and listened to some weather.

There was resistantly a little more water under the keel now so we hoisted our Mizzen staysail. There was now a little chop running as we got farther off shore and the breeze picked up. We were now making a full six knots and climbing. We were soon off the flats and heading across the Mobjack bay Channel with the fish traps coming up quick. Wolftrap was now throwing spray and pushing seven knots.

LOOKING GOOD DOUG came over the radio. I went below and answered, Yeah Ginnea who are you. WHISH MY DADDY COULD SEE YOU, was the comeback in a quick staccato of fast and heavy Guinneaeze. It was Edmund a local fisher man. His father now eighty six had recently turned over his boat and gear to him. The old man a fisherman from the age of sail had much admired our boat when we were building her and had stopped by often to talk and watched as had many of the local Guinneamen did. We were building her as a cat yawl and he told me on every visit she needed to be a schooner. You have to remember that the age of sail lasted in the lower bay a long time after all the sailboats had been replaced in other places. There were still schooners going to Baltimore around 1950 carrying produce, seafood and often timber out of the Chicahominy swamp down on the James River.

Pow, pow gunshots rang out then over the radio accompanied by the high pitched wine of an outboard motor screaming at high speed came the words help, “Help help” some guy is shooting at me. Then we heard, “Ain't nobody shooting at you but but your gonna wish I had if I catch you. Pow Pow Pow came across the water. The Coast guard came on the radio wanting to know the name of the boat in distress and what is your location. No answer. The coast guard said Mathews county men come back. And then came the Coast Guard we have boats on the way.

Cost Guard, Coast Guard this Ginny one, Ginny one. This is Coast Guard Yorktown what is you position Ginny one . Ginny one gave a position and then stated we caught that fellow stealing crabs from our crab pots but we ain't a shooten at'im.

Next on the air was “You did so and all we wanted was a crab or two for bait”. Your gonna get bait If I catch you was replied by Ginny one. This is Coast Guard Yorktown hold your positions a Vessel is on the way. We ain't gotta gun was Ginnie's reply. This is Coast guard Yorktown all vessels concerned lets take this traffic to a working channel.

Ginny one probably threw the gun over board in a plastic bay wit a crab pot buoy on it. Theres a jillion crab pot buoys out there so the coast guard would most likely not find any gun. The fellow stealing crabs probably learned a good lesson as did every one he knows. I know one thing I sure wouldn't want to get caught stealing crabs . Justice could be swift.

We didn't switch and there were no more gun shots. I figured nobody got shot so it was the Coastguards problem. By now we had passed New Point light and were headed up the bay. With the wind nearly behind us and now up pretty good our knot meter was reading seven and a half knots steady. There was land one quarter of a mile up wind and the waves had dropped down some, and Wolftrap light house was getting bigger all the time just off our Starboard bow. In an hour we had Wolftrap light house to the east of us and had turned a little westward heading for Stingray Point and Deltaville. The wind was coming around more to the west and was dropping out a little. In a short time we were leaving The Hole in the wall at the south end of Gwen's Island aft of our beam. Cherry point was off our port bow and dead ahead Stingray Point. The wind was dropping light and we were sailing just under four knots. With small swells running and were were enjoying our sail. The sun was warm and Georgene was working on a suntan. We had the centerboard down about half way so we stayed out side the Green dolphin at the north end of Gwen's Island.

We turned in some and lined up with Jacksons creek in Deltaville. The breeze fell out to nothing so we started the engine. We worked our way through the horse shoe bend in the channel and headed into the creek We found a good spot just off the yacht club and run the anchor in hard. In a few minutes we were in the Dingy rowed to Ruark's dock and walked into Taylors restaurant to eat and found our selves among friends we had known for years. A couple of hours were spent in conversation. It was a pleasant evening.

back at Wolftrap we ran the anchor light up drank coffee, read, listen to music and turn in about ten oclock for a really good night's sleep.

Sailboats Fair and Fine: read oldest posts First

2007-01-10T20:28:00.000-05:00

The top picture shows Wolftrap's interior layout and deck layout The little heater was fired with wood, coconut husks , coal and sometimes charcoal. When we used charcoal we gave ourselves plenty of ventilation. We never burned soft coal. It makes so much soot it can clog up a chimney.

Notice how the anchors hung off the bow sprit. There is nothing better. The crank tiller was a fine thing in a boat with a wide cockpit. You could rotate the tiller and it was always close enough to the helmsman the he never had to reach across the cockpit when coming about We put a regular water closet in the head instead of the portable head called for. These are a few features and we'll talk more a them and others as we go south.

Sailboats Fair and fine: read olderposts first

2007-01-10T20:08:00.000-05:00

Sailboats Fair and Fine: read oldest posts first

2007-01-09T18:11:00.000-05:00

Wolftrap Drawings showing both rigs. Top picture is Schooner Wolftrap Sailing

Well we hung around about six weeks and I was offered work and took some of it. A little income makes all the difference. We visited friends and family and in general had a good time. I did some work on the boat that we had planed to do in Fort Lauderdale. I was feeling pretty good about the whole thing though I felt sorry for my wife. All this time Georgene was feeling down. She had a broken arm we had sold our nearly new home and moved on a boat that she couldn't stand up in and September was steady moving on. We were starting to have chilly nights and we couldn't drink the marina water.

About that time my new video camera broke down and we had to send it to Canon to have it fixed. I tried to talk them into lending me one until mine was fixed and they didn't show any interest. I told them what we were doing and offered to buy another one at a price reduced enough that I could sell it and not get hurt to bad. Again they weren't interested. It would be six to eight weeks before we could expect to get it back.

We went back to see Georgene's doctor and they thought we should wait three months while she took therapy. We decided to go in two weeks. They wanted her to sign a release and told us she would never get full use of her arm without professional help with the therapy. She still had some time to wear a sling so we had time to think about it.

This time there were no offers to throw a party . I guess friends and relatives were sick of us and wanted us to go on an get out of town.

The day before we were were to leave to go up the bay we were feeling a little nervouse about one of us breaking something so we didn't do any thing even remotely dangerous.

We moved Wolftrap out to the face dock at the end of the pier. I don't think we slept much that night. We probably would have been as well off sailing up the bay all night. Some time late we went to sleep and it got pretty cool the temperature dropped to the mid thirties and a pretty good layer of fog moved in. About four A.M. We were jolted awake. The work boats were on their way out and the first one rolled us against the dock. We had fenders out they are never exactly right somehow.

I jumped out of bed and said, “Common George lets get going.”
She raised up sleepily and said, “It's dark and we haven't had any coffee or breakfast,”
“Well we can get started and you can make breakfast under way,” I pleaded.
“No, I want my breakfast and I want to go wash up and brush my teeth,” she answered with a fair amount of firmness so thats what we did.
I stewed the whole time and didn't brush my teeth. Now you know that gets'em every time. I felt like I was even.
Finally the sky was getting light but the fog wasn't. There was a breeze holding against the dock but not strong. I went over a piling with a dock line and made it to my forward port cleat. Put the engine in forward and with just a little power she began pulling the stern out. The plow anchor mounted on the Bowsprit skidded across the top of the dock and I let go the dock line and pulled it to me I put her in reverse Wolftrap started backing away. I want to say right here that Wolftrap steered better than any sailboat I have ever owned. She had a balanced rudder with part of the rudder forward of the rudder post. With the engine running in reverse there was none of that thing of her backing to port. She went where you aimed her forward or reverse. I pushed the tiller to starboard and she backed to port and lined up with the channel. We headed out at about three knots through the fog. We could see from one buoy to the next so it was a piece of cake. We cleared the end of the channel and headed outto the channel of the York River. We were aiming for Buoy 22 which would be coming into view if the course I had laid into my Loran was correct. I hoisted the main and trimmed her and she started pulling right away next the forsail was hoisted and finally the jib and we killed the engine. Near silence ensued with only a gental swish, swish, of her bow gliding through small waves and then we could her the bell on buoy 22 . With a hot cup of coffee in the cold damp air and a feeling that God loves the world, we watched the sun sneak through the clearing fog.

Sailboats Fair and Fine: read oldest post first

2007-01-08T21:43:00.000-05:00

The machine shop was sold in the summer 1986 and we put our house up for sale. It sold quick. I probably should have asked more for it?? In September we, moved aboard and was challenged by a hurricane. We were expecting about 100 mile per hour winds. We anchored out in Sarah's creek. With a CQR plow, two Danforths and a Herrshoff yachtsman with Woftrap in the center. I had almost no concern that we would drag anchor at least not more than fifty feet. The storm took a different course and we had about 50 knots of wind. We had spent the night aboard and were really happy that the worst of it missed us. It was really a pretty safe thing to do. We were up in the back end of the creak in a few feet of water. We were nearly surrounded by tall marsh grass and in the worst case we might wind up in someones bean field. The other boats were farther out in the creek and pretty much out of our way. Of course there was always the worry that one of them would drag anchor and hit us. I think that all our boats were in less danger than being tied to the docks with a couple hundred other boats all pulling snatching jerking at the pier and all In danger of climbing on top the piers. In a couple days we moved down to the old Buoy 22 Marina down in Guinea there in Gloucester Va. We had kept a boat there in the late 1960's . We loved the place it was almost all work boats ,water men and a few scraggly looking live aboards. Most of these guys worked at the marina or with crabbers or pound fishermen. Every body wanted to put us to work. we declined. We were busy running back and forth buying groceries and supplies. We ran around telling friends goodbye and all that usual kind of stuff They all wanted to give us a going away party and we wanted none of that. Ten years before we left for Bermuda after a huge going away party and about eight days later had to come sneaking back to the dock with a half wrecked boat. But thats another story. We scratched items off of lists as we shopped and added more. A lot of that was silliness as we were going down the waterway and would have ample opportunity to buy supplies. The water at the marina tasted like river bottom mud so we hauled jugs of water in the car from up on the highway. We only had about 30 gallons of water with the idea we would get all we wanted on the way.

We spent time at the Laundromat , the drugstore stocking up on our medicines and all manner of first aid items. We had been talking about how nice it would be to have one of those new 8mm video cameras. We had shopped around looking at them. I had found one I liked. It was a lot of money. Finally we decided to go look again. That afternoon we lost our minds and paid $1600.00 for a video camera. We had a little portable TV set stuffed up in the bow so we could watch our movies. The camera and the television set both would work on 12 volts DC and that was wonderful.

It was the day be for we were ready to leave. Georgene and I headed for the showers I got back to the boat first and set in the cockpit looking again for the one thousandth time at the waterway charts. Georgen came down the dock carrying he bag of toilet items, damp towels and cloths she had changed out of. There was a line across the finger pier from the stern of the boat in the next slip. IT hung down about three inches off the finger pier. Georgene stepped out onto the finger and the rope caught between her toes and the sole of her open towed candle. She started falling forward. I was standing on the boat seat pulling the boat over for her to get aboard. I jumped over to the finger pier to grab her and she fell forward and I landed partially on top of her. She went off the side of the pier grabbing the topside of the boat. She fell in hanging on to the boat. She came up blowing water and laughing and said, That must have been the funnest thing to watch ever. To bad there was nobody here to see it it. My Golly my shoulder hurts. I helped her out of the water. When on the dock went from laughing to crying. I asked, “Can you raise your arm.” I dreaded the answer. “No,” she said with a knowing look We tied her arm up and I helped her put on dry cloths and we went to the doctor. It was broken alright so we put off leaving for while.

Sailboats Fair and Fine: Read oldestest posts first

2007-01-07T16:27:00.000-05:00

I decided I would take Woftrap and go sailing. For sailing in the Bahamas and farther south I felt that the cat yawl rig with it's 500 square foot main was unhandy for sailing the Bahamian winter northers. I wanted the rig broken up into smaller parts. That my aging self and wife could handle. See I thought I was getting old. Boy what a waste of good muscle and sinue that was.

We began building a new rig using what spars we could, from the cat yawl rig. Bob, David and I sat up late nights in my office and drew up a rig using Mr. Bolger's same center of effort. The main mast was shortened and stepped on deck just forward of the main hatch with shrouds. The forward mast partners were made smaller for a 4' dia. foremast that mast when stepped was shorter than the 35 ft main mast and was stayed.

To keep the center of effort in the same place we added two feet to the bow sprite and put side stays on it and a bob stay so the jib stay could be kept tight. The tops of the masts were stayed together. The mains stays were somewhat back so they would to some degree act as back stays. The length of the main boom was determined by how far I could reach standing on a cockpit seat and leaning out over the transom to adjust the out haul. We started off drawing a gaff main and gaff fore sail.

To get her to balance the bow sprite would have had to had to have been several feet longer. It was already 6ft long and would have gone to 9 feet. A bit much I thought. As a result we changed the main to a Bermuda rig, and a gaff foresail The top of the main mast was fitted for a sheet to the foresail gaff So that when trimming sails the yard could be trimmed in so that she had a good shape at the top and was pulling good. The the fore sail boom was sheeted in until it was pulling. There was a big advantage in this type of rig. The foresail controlled by two sheets could be pulling top and bottom and not back wind the main going to windward. With a rig like this she would and did sail to windward like a banshee. There was another halyard on the forward side of the main mast and that was for the flat spinnaker that had been used forward when Woftrap was a cat yawl. We used the flat spinnaker like a Genoa buy attaching the luff to the deck behind the foremast. On some occasions we used the old spinnaker pole to set the luff of the sail to windward when reaching and running.

We also had a spinnaker and Genoa that we only set a few times with a large crew on board. It was unbelievable and scary as hell!! I thought we were going to sail her right under and would have I believe if the wind had picked up. Still she was not as weatherly as she could have been.

She had a clubfooted jib that had to be hauled in tight to get the whole sail to pull. That caused the lower portion to back wind the foresail. Had there been a sprite it could have been sailed with the sail out just as far as the foresail and their would have been no back winding any of the sails. She would then sail to windward with most sloops even though her sails were a low aspect ratio. The difference being that all three sails would have 100% of all all there canvas pulling as compared to about 80% in the Bermuda rig. It absolutely amazes me that sloop sailors keep saying that the foresail on a ketch or a schooner back winds the aft sail so they are slower to windward. With that kind of thinking all boats would be faster if they were cat boats. I never see sloop sailors take their jib down when they sail to windward. The sail that is forward doesn't have to back wind the sail behind it unless you want it to.

Off the wind is where the schooner comes into its own, where it is faster than a sloop and when you add on a staysail or golly wobbler speeds pick up at least a knot no matter what speed you are sailing at.. The staysail is over the cockpit and is easily hoisted and lowered by one person. Now the speed is limited by how far you want to drive the bow down in the water and how much you you want to lift the stern out and will you be able to keep the rudder in the water. With a schooner rig there is a good reason to rake the mast. The longer the boom the more rake in the mast is needed. With the mast raked the boom lifts off the water as it swings out when running down wind.

After all this schooner bragging I have to admit that she was really a ketch I guess as the gaff foresail was slightly bigger than the main even though not as tall.

Woftrap was slower now with her new rig even though she had the same square footage in sail area as the cat yawl rig had. We could carry extra sails then she would outrun most anything around.

All this talk about speed leaves out the fact that with her new rig she was easy to handle. More so than with her original rig. All lines came back to the cockpit and there was a down haul on the jib. With her ease of steering and the ability to balance the helm every time new sail was added and the fact that all sails could be handled from the cockpit. I could single hand her with four sails pulling. The first reef amounted to dropping the staysail. Then she could be reefed by Dropping the foresail then reefing the jib and main. Then the foresail hoisted again and reefed. The whole time she would be sailing herself. The whole trick to reefing while single handing is watching the weather and reefing sooner than later. I can see no reason for being caught with too much sail up. When I was young and foolish I used to get caught once in a while but in recent years I have not allowed it to happen.

Two anchors hung under the bowsprit and they were threaded through blocks on the forward end of the sprite. Set from there there was no tenancy to sail in the wind when at anchor. It also kept anchor roads and chain off the forward sides of the boat. Woftrap's 8 hp engine would not pull the anchors into the bottom as tight as I liked them. We usually sailed or motored in, dropped a hook and sailed on dropping the second hook then sailing between then and when we thought we were halfway we would head to windward and wrap both roads tight around the Sampson post. She would pull them in halfway to hell for a secure nights sleep.

sailboats Fair and Fine: read oldest post first.

2007-01-06T18:20:00.000-05:00

Here is a little about what I think Wolftrap is. Years ago I owned a Hershoff 23 named TERN she was thirty four foot on deck with a twenty three foot water line. She had a shallow hull and a deep keel I would say the hull drew two and one half foot and the boat drew six and one half feet. Her bottom was slightly rounded with a generous radius where her chines would normally be Her bottom rising upward was also rounded. Up forward he bottom rolled up to give a fine entry. I think she was a modified sharpie in the same sense the class boat Star was. She was fast! Off the wind in good wind she would sail eleven knots and she would do it all day long, not surfing.. Wolftrap I also think is a bit of a modified sharpie her bottom rolls up and is also round some. Yes there was a little bit of compound curve there. Took a sledge hammer to work some of that in at midships she was a slightly 'V, Bottom, in a triangular shape. So amid ships there was a section of straight run. The strait run next to the keel was about eight feet long and out at the chine about two feet long. That section had about six inches of dead rise. Going forward the plating turned upward to create a fine entry. So she was to a degree a modified sharpie with some of the characteristics of Commodore Monroe's Presto ketch. I think she was a near perfect compromise for a plated boat as compared to a well rounded hull like a Presto.

I out ran a fair number of supposedly fast racer cruiser type sailboats to windward. Wolftrap was not faster to windward than those boats could have been. The fault was in the Skippers. Most people often don't understand sailing to windward. There sailing a boat with five thousand ponds of tension on the rigging to keep it all tight. They have a boom van on the main. They draw the boomvang down to pull the curl out of the sail and they have no idea what they have done. They then sheet the main in to the center of the boat and maybe even a little to windward. If you don't have a boom vang you have to sheet in tight so that the top of the sail is pulling up where the wind is blowing. The bottom of the sail is pulling little or none. It doesn't matter that much because the wind is lighter down that low anyway. Sailing like that is a disaster with a boom vang because the whole sail is sheeted in and none of it is pulling properly.

A sprite rig takes care of the problem if you don't sheet it in tight. It is primarily a boom vang eliminator if it is used right. I see sprite rigged boats sailing with the sprite parallel to the water. All it is when used like that is a boom for this you need a boom vang.. If the forward end is not set up higher then the aft end it does not pull the curl out of the sail.

A sail like an airplane wing does not create lift if it is less than seven degrees off the wind and it doesn't create lift if its greater than eighteen degrees off the wind. In which case it just pushes the boat sideways and maybe even backwards if you maintain the same course. Lets say you are sailing 45 degrees to the real wind. But because you are moving the apparent wind comes into play. Now the wind moves toward the bow the boom is sheeted in amidships and it is about twenty degrees to the apparent wind and is not pulling. The top of the sail is about ten degrees to the apparent wind but there is another thing because the sail is billowed out some the leading edges is less than seven degrees and is luffing. The sprite and boomvang both let the bottom of the sail out into that seven degree to eighteen degree range. The boomvang does it with shrouds and spreaders costing a pile of money and increased weight aloft as well. It takes increased ballast to carry it all. The sprite can do it with free standing masts, and very little hardware and you wind up with simular windward ability and very docile down wind running. Because the sprite is holding the aft end of the sail down it is much less likely to broach. If the main does broach there are no shrouds for the sail and sprite to slam up against so you can let the main sheet run.

We delighted in outrunning a lot of the racing boats in the Fishing bay yacht club on a regular basis though we turned down offers to race around the buoys. In addition we often cheated by cutting across the shallows in about 30 inches of water to beat the fleet home for sundowners at the dock. She was referred to by the turtle neck sweater, sport coat, set as that funny looking fast boat. Of course we took offense to that funny looking claim and our welder "Glick" three sheets to the wind, threatened to throw one bank president over board and we almost had a riot on the dock I think the president and his crew may have played football together in college as several had pug noses and all were big. My partner a pretty good diplomat was able to save the day with a bottle of scotch and drinks all around. We were asked to move our boat to a marina on the other side of Stingray point. The marina we were in was owned by a close friend so I was able to talk him out of banning us from his place. I was forced to make some promises for my crew of welders and machinists that I couldn't keep. We had to move down to the York river to a marina that was somewhat more rowdy where we were in alike company. The marina crowd was a bunch of hard drinking power boaters and my gang fit right in.

For the better part of a sumer David and Linda took to sailing. They sailed all up and down the York River and Mobjack bay. They were a part of the lighthouse presrvation group that was busy keeping the New Point lighthouse from falling into the Chesapeake bay so they spent a lot of Sundays out there on that Island with Wolftrap anchored in close. The two of them younger that Bob and I had all there young friends on board a great deal of the time. They should have changed the boat name to Bakini heaven. Every time I saw them Wolftrap was covered in young wives in bekinis. If the duty of a boat is to give please Wolftrap surved her purpose.

After a time they not really being lifelong sailors tired of sailing and moved on to other things leaving my family and I to sail peacefully all over the Chesapeake bay and beyond.

We were considering selling the machine shop. The turbine business was coming to a close. The battleships were ready to go on line so there would be no new orders for blades or turbine rotors. The law required them to carry a complete set of spare parts for the turbines. The Battle ship Missouri, Yorktown and a few others had been commissioned from the moth ball fleet and would be sailing.

Sailboats Fair and Fine: Read oldest posts first

2007-01-04T21:00:00.000-05:00

The wood work was going beautifully plywood with mahogany trim inside. The carpenter was a real craftsman. One of our employees grand father did caneing so we had him put cane in all the locker doors. The white interior trimmed in mahogany with mahogany sole and a kind of green yellow velvet cushions she was beautiful. Her hull was off white with a dark chocolate brown boot topping and the same brown above the rub rail. All was set of with buff spars and white on the tips.
A set of trail boards were carved and we we off to go sailing. We put her in the water at Sahara's Creek on the York river across from Yorktown. We were disappointed in her. She wasn't stiff enough to carry her heavy spars. I talked it over with Mr Bolger accusing him of designing spars to heavy for the boat. He reminded me it was my idea to use pipe as it was cheaper. I conceded begrudgingly and set to work ordering new material this time tubing. The mast would be 1/8 thick and 5 inches in diameter. The bottom coming up through the deck would be ¼ and sleeved where they joined. The top yard I think 16 ft long was 1/16 thick and only weighed 6 lbs. A lot of weight was cut out .Then in spite of Phil Bolger protests we added more lead bringing the total ballast to 2100 lbs. That was 1600 lbs over what he thought was right. With all that ballast and wooden interior that he had not figure on she was still fast as stink. That of course says a lot for her hull shape's weight carrying ability.
We sailed her her on the York river for about a month making minor changes here and there we hauled her a couple of times and tried different propellers to get the engine to come up to speed. She was getting better all the time we raced a couple of “racer cruisers” down the York river with them carrying full spinnakers and us with our flat half spinnaker. We started off ¼ mile behind them and caught and passed them in less than 12 miles. Can you imagine what would have happened had we been carrying the 400 lbs. she was supposed to carry? I'm sure she would have been a half to a full knot faster.
There were a couple things about her that bothered me. I had insisted that the sprite be offset with a bow in it so that it would not press into the sail going to windward. So the forward end of the sprite had a dogleg in it that rested against the mast. It had to be held up level with a bridle. That was a pain in the neck. So we moved the dog leg forward and held the sprite about 12 inches away from the mast with the halyard and a line down to the deck. In light air if she rolled any the sprite banged the mast. We sounded like a bell buoy. The other thing was with the mast all the way forward there was almost no room to stand on the bow and hoist the sail and sprite. It really was a precarious place to be. Setting the spinnaker was a problem and somewhat dangerous. We made some changes that helped but I was never completely satisfied with the mast all the way forward. My wife worried I'd get knocked overboard so we had some man overboard drills that didn't add to her comfort much. They were things I decided to live with for the most part.
She would have been a better boat with wooden straight sprites. As a matter of fact looking back she would have been a better boat had I kept my ideas out of her and just built her as designed. Even so she was a fine, fast and seaworthy vessel. The aluminum masts worked well.
We took Woftrap to Deltaville where we planned to keep her. There was a yacht club in Fishing bay where we were. They raced small boats most weekends and racer cruisers out in the bay on others and there were racing cruises which we joined into several times unofficially much to the aggravation of the yacht club.
One Friday night while eating a shrimp and oyster buffet at a local restaurant the yacht club commander asked my partner if we were going to sail to Hampton with the yacht club fleet.
Bob said, “No we hadn't planned on it.”
“Well Now you don't want to race to windward for 50 miles is that it. You aren't afraid we'll pass you coming back before you get to Hampton are you? Your partner, Doug says you guys are fast on all points, isn't that so Jess,” he asked turning to the man beside him.
“Yeah he says there's nothing faster than a fast boat and he's got the fast boat.”
That of course wasn't exactly true, though I had bragged some.
What I said was, ”There ain't nothing slower than a bunch of bankers in a bunch of slow boats.”
Bob and his shop crew came across the finish, an unofficial third. How's that for a crude hard chined boat. The truth of the matter was they weren't beating as hard to windward as those boats could have sailed. In a lot of wind it probably could have been a different story. But that didn't make it any less sweet for Woftrap.
I being away for the weekend was, never the less, prouder than a new daddy with a baby boy.

Notice: To Snowbirds and Mariners: read oldest posts first

2007-01-02T17:24:00.000-05:00


Hear I sit my ears attuned to the deafening quiet emanating from the
spirited sailing vessels desiring to winter in the Bahamas.
I have listened intently for the fluttering of signal flags
and sails raised on high. Alas! There is to be heard not a sound.
I fear they may have been swallowed in that vast sea of shoal water and
treacherous finger Islands that abound along the Los Olas Trail.
Who's restaurants movie theaters and  marine stores are more attractive
to the sea fairing man than even sirens or comely Island maidens. These
treacherous waters where thousands of good ships lie trapped among
finger piers that grasp and hold, each ensnared in spider like
webs of Dacron filaments and highly charged power cables.. Thousands
cry in vain for their release.
It is a sad fact, known to all sea fairing folk who hide in dread and
fear, at anchor among the many Bahamian Keys that the ever tightening
web is set to draw them back.
Barely out of reach, thousands languish aboard their vessels, doomed
to the eating of the most unsavory of food as lobsters, fish and conch.
These many poor souls destined to swim amongst such gaudy colored coral
reefs as to sear their senses and lie in soft sands and worm sunlight
without benefit of the most meager form of clothing. We fear for you who
are such a short distance from terrible danger.
Sense you danger those of you that have tarried in Los Olis Bite.
You stand in great peril and must break you shackles and escape the
terrible fate to be visited upon yourselves. Sail across that narrow water
that separates you from eternal life of pleasures. Even you who have
been bitten by that most beautiful Black Widow spider, FT. Lauderdale. Yes!
There is life even after the Widow injects her paralyzing venom for those
who are bold and do not tarry.
We listen for your bow wave and the rustling of your canvas.
From the land of cold north winds that is the Chesapeake Bay and other
northern waters we will rise up and cheer your deliverance to the free
waters to the east.  You shall be our light in this land of dark murky
water filled with slimy stinging fish and things.
Here in a land where there are never to be seen, thongs and tiny snippets
of material barely to hide the most desirable of things. This land of narrow
minds and wide behinds.
We are watching. Rise up! Cast away you bindings. Sail away to the watery
places of your childhood dreams. Listen to the North for our shout.
ESCAPE TO THE EAST, MY GOOD MAN. Escape I say:     TO THE EAST!

Saiboats Fair and Fine: Read oldest posts first

2007-01-02T11:44:00.000-05:00

The cabinets and bunks was all aluminum and were built in as strength members to the whole mono coupe design. With the centerboard trunk going all the way through the deck it became the partition between the head and galley. An excellent use of a centerboard trunk if I ever saw one. With a wide and comfortable birth forward and two seat berths in the saloon she was comfortable for four. We even managed to sleep two on the saloon sole one night.

The engine arrived. And we set her on the engine mounts and it was a fit. The engine was a single cylinder Yanmar horizontal cylinder. There was an awful lot of questioning about the size of the engine. The general consensus was that the little diesel would not push the boat in anything but a dead calm. But I was optimistic. Just a little too optimistic a twelve horse engine would have better. But she pushed Woftrap hundreds of miles through canals both with and against the wind sometimes 25 knot winds and she always made at least some headway. The engine was under the cockpit sole and had a hatch for access to it. If I were to build the boat again I would build a bridge across the front end of the cockpit. It would add strength to the boat though it wasn't need. The big advantage would be it would give good access to the engine from inside the cabin and no leaky hatch would be required in the cockpit. It would also give enough height over the engine to allow for a vertical cylinder engine. I don't think horizontal engines are available today. A bridge would greatly reduce the cockpit size so there would not be laying down room on the seats. The worry over the big cockpit taking two tons of water would be reduced though. On coastal runs out in the Gulf Stream where waves could get huge in twenty knots of wind out of the North that was a concern.

The ½ inch thick rudder needed to be faired on the leading edge back to about half the rudder width. Here I learned something about Epoxy. Not having used it before I was ignorant of it's heat generating ability. I read the directions but didn't believe it could catch on fire if put on too thick. Man was I wrong I plastered it on filled with micro balloons which of course helped to hold the heat in. In a moment it was smoking and the whole shop came running. It didn't catch on fire but it heated to a dark brown and cracked wide open making a believer out of me. That's the trouble with being the boss and trying to do something tedious. There is never the time to do it right. I gave the job to a machinist apprentice who did and excellent job.

Foam was sprayed inside and then the outside painted with Emron. We needed a shed to polish turbine blades in so we bought the trailer off an old tractor trailer. We brought it to the shop, jacked it up on blocks and took the rear axles and wheels and made a four wheel trailer for, Wolf Trap, and took her so miles to Gwens Island to a boat carpenter to have her wooden interior put in. We worked on the spars and painted them. A local sailmaker made us a set of sails and we waited for our boat to come home.

Sailboats Fair and Fine: Read oldest posts first

2007-01-01T14:21:00.000-05:00

Mr. Bolger later told me he general y leaves the chine out of the plan view of sketches because some people consider them unattractive. By this time I really liked her high stern and even to this day I am amazed that I didn't like it initially.

I didn't have a table of offsets so I made estimates of frame sizes and tried to figure out how to get it all out of a minimum number of plates. After a lot of hair pulling and a lot of guess work I decided that 30 ft would save wasting a lot of aluminum.

I called P. Bolger and we talked it over and he allowed as how, in his own way, that bigger is most always better so he redrew her. When we got the drawings she was even more handsome as her height was the same but with her longer hull she really was fine looking.

We talked about spars. They needed to be aluminum so that we could make them in the shop. I told him that pipe would be cheaper than tubing so we decided to give that a try.

We set up a shed roof over a concrete slab with corrugated fiberglass roof. We had a stack of heavy water proof canvas to close in the open side. The boat had to be built inside so that the wind would not blow away the argon gas that shielded the welding from oxygen in the air.

I took a stack of ½ “ plywood, painted one side putting that side down on the concrete floor hoping it would keep the moisture out so that the plywood would not curl up. The sheets were nailed together with corrugated fasteners the whole thing painted and I started lofting. I had built some smaller boats by eye but had never done any lofting. As a machinist I had done a lot of laying out of machinery and parts. So I started in a way that seem right to me.

Feeling in over my head I visited a local Chesapeake dead rise builder who said, "I don't know nothing about no lofting or working from drawings. I build by proportion and dead reckoning. If it looks right it is and there weren't any measuring or lofting to it. A boat Builder ether know what a boat looks like or he don't, in which case he ain't no boat builder".
Trying a couple of other builders I got some advice that got me going in the right direction. It took me about a week of burning the midnight oil to get her lofted up. Some nights I finished up about one AM.. With a half hour drive home and needing to be back at 7:00 am to run the shop I decided I didn't need to be in such a hurry. After that I cut my days shorter and got more work done and with less mistakes. Before the lofting was complete we began cutting out parts because I had some people with nothing to do.

I did a lot of head scratching laying out the transom but finally got it after some trial and error

We bought a water cooled mig gun for our welder, Rick could weld 60 inches a minute with it continuously. He called it making the fir fly, and he did. I bought a hand held nibbler that could cut the length of aluminum plate in less than a minute.

We straitened up edges with a router and a six foot hardened steel strait edge. For the plating job we used Luann plywood for templates and cut plates to fit with a little sanding here and there. The boat went together in a hurry. We had a boat with bunks and cabinet work ready for sand blasting in eight weeks after the lofting was complete. She had a couple of unfair spots on the hull that we had to cut loose and re weld . On deck there was a spot that kinked because the was a little bit of compound curve there. We used the main hatch slides made ½ in. thick with the proper curve on their bottom edge to pull the kink out. A grab rail was put on to pull out the rest of the kink She looked great from all angles. In addition we placed a set of struts on deck coming from the forward part of the hatch back to the outer edge of the cockpit. It was leaning back about ten degrees. It was there to brace a deck that tended to oil can when walked on. I also figured it might be a good place to snap a dodger on should someone want one.

She was sand blasted the outside one night and the following night we did the interior. The next day we etched with aluminator inside and out and allowed to dry about an hour. With two of us on the outside and two on the inside the whole boat was painted with alodine before she could get a chance to corrode.

Wolftrap to the Center of the World and Beyond: Read oldest posts first.

2006-12-30T09:31:00.000-05:00

Woftrap in a sling: Note the fins on the rudder,very efective. You will see that the rig was changed,now sporting a schooner rig. Note how deep the chine is under the water line. My mistake, she is carrying about a thousand lbs. too much ballast.
Though very fast she would have been faster with less ballast. I had fears that if rolled over she might not right.

A nearby boat builder suggested I talk to Phil Bolger to design the boat. I had never heard of him. He said talk to him, he will understand what you want and what you like and I will guarantee you will be satisfied. All this while we stood looking at, Black Skimmer, which I liked from some angles and hated from others. From the side she looked great from the bow and stern I thought she was God awful ugly. I had seen and sailed on some local sharpies as a kid in Baltimore but none had square sides. I just couldn't look on a square sided boat with any enthusiasm. In my mind you bent a plank around the length of a boat and because it was leaning outward it curved to form the sheer. How could you have sheer with perpendicular sides. Just seemed to me unnatural. The person I was with was Mike O'brian the now editor I believe of Wooden Boat magazine. Mike was building small open boats along about then. At the time I thought his messing with small open boats was a complete waste of time. Like so many things this too has done a complete turn around in my mind. It's a funny thing the whole world has always been way ahead of me.

In those days I had not read a lot of boat building or design books. My experience was pretty much limited to sailing and repairing rot, painting, scraping, and hand stitching old sails. Most lines on my boats were spliced and never thrown away until they looked like squirrels tails. I made baggy winkles out of the remains because I couldn't bring myself to throw them away.

I called Mr.Bolger and talked to him. I was really impressed by our conversation though he didn't agree with me on all my idea's where the kind of boat I needed to build was concerned in order to have what I want and still be able to sell it. He said he had an idea for a boat like I wanted but it would be hard to do in 26 ft. I agreed to 28ft. He convinced me to go with a cat yawl rig as a trial rig. I was given an overwhelming amount of reasons why it would be a better rig, not to mention that the schooner rig was out of fashion and would be hard to sell and he felt that windward ability for a manufactured boat was needed as a selling point. We decided on a cat yawl rig with sprites. She was to have a raised deck with a side profile somewhat in the manner of, Moccasin. Which was a boat I admired but a shape not easily built from aluminum plate.

Sprites were and idea that took a little getting used to. I was in favor of gaff rigged sails. My boat was getting farther and farther away from what I had envisioned and I was beginning to have serious doubts about what kind of design I was going to wind up with. At that point I was about to give up on Mr. Bolger feeling that we were not talking about the same boat at all.

He sent me a couple cartoons of Woftrap and I was really intrigued.

My partners liked what they were hearing from my conversations so I wrote a check and sent it to Mr. Bolger to make up a set of sketches so we could see what he was talking about. I think the sketches were to cost $300 and to be deducted from a total of $1000 if we decided to go with his design.

There was a lot of speculation as to what sort of boat she would look like.

Finally one morning a set of drawings arrived along with a letter. Mr. Bolger's letters are a work of art in themselves. We passed it around the shop and everybody in the place read it. The secretary had to run off a bunch of copies for the fellows in the shop. Reading his letter, my thoughts went to Joshia Slocum there was a kind of similarity to the cadence and rhythm with a bit of a feel of an earlier time and a definite reverence for the modern. Phil Bolger knows how to set the hook I thought.

I reached in the envelope and pulled out the drawings, my hands were actually shaking. I was shocked at her looks I didn't like her much. Her stern was too high, her rudder was funny looking, the off center mizzen almost floored me and to my eye the rig was funny looking.

I called my partners into my office to take a look and they were disappointed. We sat talking reading the letter and studying the drawings. That evening we wound up setting in my office until after midnight. The conversation was more and more in terms of well I like this or that or some other thing. The reason for the odd shape of the rudder became apparent when we realized the tiller came through the top of the transom and being a tiller that could rotate from side to side in order to have it on which ever side the helmsman was on thus eliminating any need for a hiking stick made sense. The mizzen was off center so that the forward mast could be folded back and the mizzen folded forward. The handrails in place of life lines along the forward deck at first looked odd but had began to grow on me as I realized the could be set on or leaned against to steady oneself. And they were big enough in diameter that they would not cut you in half if you fell from one side of the boat to the other. They were also strong. And they did have a traditional look about them. We had all grown more accustomed to the look of the rig but worried that she would not go to windward on one tack with a sprite pushed into the shape of the sail.

Over the weekend I made up a list of things that I liked and things I disliked. The dislikes were now few.

On Monday we all got together and decided we weren't crazy about the rig but that we would try it. There was no doubt by now as to whether we were going to build her or not. We were!

There was some thing still wrong with her looks but none of us could figure out what. Finally I said she is to high sided or slab sided or something like that. They all agreed and we stood looking at her drawing blown up and thumbtacked to the wall.

The old black smith leaned his head around the corner of the door and said. “She don't look right cause she ain't never gonna git built.”

“What the hell you mean Elliot? Where gonna build her,” the company president Bob said with a fare amount of force.

“ No Ya ain't, cause she aint got no chine and ya can't build a boat like her with out no chine.” was Elliott's acid reply.

Well he was right. I picked up a pencil and drew in an imperfect chine about where I thought it ought to go. There it was she was a really handsome hull her high sidedness was gone and she now looked three dimensional and be sides that the gental curve running along her side was quite beautiful.

Boat Building Machine Shop: Read oldest posts first

2006-12-29T14:17:00.000-05:00

We did aerospace work and a fair amount of work for the local waterman. We had what was probably one of the last all around blacksmith shops. Our blacksmith started making oyster tongs in the spring and early in the fall they began to sell. All were sold before spring the next year. We made on order patent Tongs for clamming and oystering, as well as oyster drudges. The clam and oyster tongs were operated by winches run off the power take off of the main drive engine. The power came into an automobile rear end where the drive shaft had been on the car. We used a car wheel brake and master cylinder to stop one side of the differential. A differential being what it is, when you stop one side the other side turns one direction when you release the brake the other side runs the other way. One way lifts the tongs by way of a gin pole and the other way lowers them. Pretty clever these waterman. Some of the sons from Tangier island and Smith Island are working out there on the Chesapeake Bay today with college degrees. They left for the cities couldn't stand being away from the water and returned and most before age 30. A few left high paying jobs for satisfaction.

We worked for Nasa doing wind tunnel models, strain test samples and models of the shuttle. They were made of hardenable stainless and were about 3 inches wing tip to wing tip. They were tested at 9000 miles per hour in a wind tunnel.

All of this was coming to an end, so for the navy we began making steam turbine rotors and blades along with bearings for turbines and even ships propeller shafts. This rather boring work kept the machine shop busy but left the welding shop with nothing much to do.

Half kidding manner, so I could grin and back out if everyone said something like your nuts. I was at the same time dead serious and hoping some would say that's a good Idea. Feeling a little sheepish, I said, “ Don't laugh you guys but, LET'S BUILD A BOAT”. My two partners busted out laughing, followed by the guys in the shop. They all knew where I was coming from. We had a bad habit of building toys in our spare time so I knew none would be greatly surprised. So in defense of myself I said,” Just hold on and hear me out.” I explained what I wanted to build for my self and how if I liked the boat surly there must be one or two people a year in the world who would also like it and buy one. If I or nobody else liked it we could always sell it at cost and find another project. With a minimum of success we could build two boats a year, not Exactly a booming business but enough to keep the welding shop busy.

It was agreed to by all. To my amazement there was not one single desenter. Amazing, I thought!

We were a shop of model makers who were bored sick with making production runs of thousands of parts. The morale picked up right away. Conversations turned to boats and building them. I began to find magazines and books in the shop on boats and boat building.

I drew a chalk sketch on a concrete slab in our stock yard. It was crude and somewhere near full size. My partners and everyone else thought it too small. They all had kids. So we bumped the size up to 26ft.

Wolftrap to the Center of the World and Beyond: Read oldest post first

2006-12-28T15:30:00.000-05:00

The sailboat Woftrap was built by Mars Machine works in Virginia as a project to keep the welding shop busy in off times.

Here she sits at the Dock of Gene Ruark's Marina in Deltaville Va. waiting for sails from Rod Hayes at Gloucester Point. Va. Spring 1979 Above she is sailing off Stingray Pt. Chesapeake Bay.

Here's a little something about the people and Company that Built Wolftrap. Bob Grow, was President and David Grow treasurer and I brought up the rear as Shop Foreman and Vice president.
Bob and David were the sons of a barn stormer and brought that tradition into the business. Bob was a stunt pilot, Commercial pilot, aircraft mechanic, motorcycle rider and one time successful bounty hunter. He was a sharp minded business man, a keen maker and spender of money. He was to some degree a womanizer and could talk the matches out of the hand of Lucifer. Bob married a little tiny women, Irene, who is pleasantly mouthy or not so pleasant if you find yourself on her wrong side. To the astonishment of us all she tamed him.
A perfect Company president I thought, and to my sadness he passed away a few years ago. David is a stunt pilot, a builder of airplanes and a rebuilder of many classic planes. In the shop he handle the paperwork of complex government contracts saw to the buying if materials and the shipping of product. David never got to big to go into the shop and do the dirty or nasty job if it was called for, he was dedicated. He and his beautiful wife Linda ran the business from the office. The shop was run a certain amount with the idea that we should make money to be able to play hard. We Did! My partners were in charge of Airplane and motorcycle play and I ran the boat play department.
The first part of my job was to figure out how to do the machine work and for me that was easy. It came natural with very little thought. The hard and biggest job for me was how to work forty or forty five people successfully. Myself being somewhat introverted I had to step out of my own personality to even begin to accomplish that task

I had recently sold my Crocker Gull class ketch and was without a boat. I was working long hours in the Machine shop where I was shop foreman and had tried to put boats out of my mind. That proved to be more in the nature of ignoring a tooth acke. After a short time finding myself weak, I gave in to images of fine little sailboats that wondered through my mind like cows in a pasture. I first eliminated the sailing ships then the sixty footers and the thirty footers and settled. I was finally thinking in terms of something about 23 ft for my wife and I . Our teen age children were way beyond the age of being willing to go sailing with mom and dad except maybe on Saturday morning for a couple of hours. I had in mind a boat suitable for us right up into our old age. I thought I was a lot older than I was. I was at fifty, a mere lad as I look back.

I was thinking in terms of a wooden boat, shallow draft with a little bit of windward ability with the board up. Hopefully powerful to windward with the board down. I liked the idea of a raised deck to get comfortable living space to be gone a year at a time. I liked the little Yanmar engine for power and I had a preference for a ketch or a schooner. I have always felt that a sloop just can't carry enough sail. If racing and lets face it, if two sailboats are going the same direction and in sight of each other they are racing. A two masted boat running or reaching can pop out a mizzen staysail and pick up a knot. Not enough? Set a flat spinnaker and you are really moving. Any amount of wind at all and you are sailing beyond hull speed. Because your off the wind you are hardly heeling and sailing in most cases with nearly a neutral helm. A main boom end well past the transom on a boomkin with a good long bowsprit for good directional stability. Low rig to keep healing easy and a couple of topsails for the July, August doldrums.

We felt that if we wanted to go back to Bermuda with a centerboard slot that went all the way up through the boat. We could replace it with a ballasted foil shaped keel that could be slipped up through the boat and pinned in place. In shallow water it would be unpinned so that the keel could push up through and even hoisted from the mast to get off the bottom. Of course the boat would have to be designed to do that. It would not be difficult to remove the keel and put the centerboard back in for sailing n the the Chesapeake bay.

Sailboats Fair and Fine : Read oldest posts first

2006-12-27T17:57:00.000-05:00

For all you folks out there that have found themselves married to a sailboat I have to feel sorry for you and at the same time feel a certain amount of envy for the joy she must certainly bring to you. The hours spent in hard but pleasurable labor keeping her in a state of repair and polish are without a doubt worth it. Now there's a labor of love known mostly to sailboat sailors, kayakers, and canoe paddlers and everybody else that has a thing they care for. Unless maybe it's a rock. These kinds of people by way of their disdain for motors and most things technical plus their love of misery and beauty that nears that of falling in love, do somehow find happiness. By sailing or peddling or paddling in a cold rain with a strong sharp wind trying to cut into face, fingers and slipping up your sleeves to create a shiver that drives you to a quiet anchorage or maybe a tent on shore. It's to me the sip of hot coffee, warm food and the smell of fresh salt air that adds to the delight of a radio broadcast of a warm and breezy tomorrow.

After a cold and challenging day, a day to appreciate the eighty degree day when there is a light breeze a warm sun over cool waters. A day when the tiller or paddle seems to rest in and and just go along with the water, silent and soothing. This day that will be tomorrow. Hmm, seems I like anchoring and drinking coffee more than sailing. Maybe I like house boats?

On the Blog, Sailboats Fair and Fine, we talk and write of boat stuff. I'll show some pictures, at times a video. I hope I can be of help to some who may need a little help with boats of all kinds. With over sixty years of playing with boats both big and small I ought to be of at least some help to any who feel they need it.. If not, I'm sure I can send you to someone that can help you.
If you care a whit about sailboats or messing around in the Bahamas, Chesapeake bay, Florida keys, Inland waterway or even building boats join me here for the writing of the story, Wolftrap to the Center of the World and Beyond. This story will be puplished by a print on demand printer when it is complete.