The Boat Notebook

Chicago Boat Show boat thoughts

2012-01-28T20:17:00.000-08:00

This year's Chicago Strictly Sail show was the first one Deb and I attended were we weren't looking for "The Boat". We found Kintala last year while at the show (hard to believe it has been a year) so, this year, we were looking at stuff we think we need (want) to put on "The Boat" before casting off our shore lines. Reading cruising blogs and books and gazing at pictures of cruising boats, our Tartan would appear to be far from ready for big water. Things she lacks include: dink & motor, autopilot, dodger, chart plotter, AIS, RADAR, solar panels, wind generator, stone-reliable furler, (the one we have appears too small for the task) proper anchor chain, (what we have is mis-matched to the windlass) water-maker, AC inverter, sea anchor / drogue, storm trisail & jib, and some kind of stern anchor. That seems like an impossibly long, and expensive, list.

But here is my current list of things I think we must have before going: dink & motor, autopilot, storm trisail & jib, drogue / sea anchor, AIS, and a stone-reliable furler. (Okay, I know there is no such a thing but ours appears undersized and is stone-cold unreliable.)

High on the list of things I would really like to have is a chart plotter, RADAR and dodger. As a long time airplane driver I loves me some GPS moving map. I am also an expert at RADAR and can imagine 100 different scenarios where having one would be a damned good idea. As for a dodger, the companionway on our 1982 Tartan 42 is simply a hatch in the cabin roof. Without a dodger the only two choices are close the the boat up tight or let the rain and spray fall inside.

But I'm pretty sure I can find the Bahamas with a hand held GPS and a paper chart. If hanging out on a limb I am absoluty sure I can find North America from just about anywhere in the Atlantic by looking at the sun, the North Star, and anything even close to being a compass. (One could probably follow the contrails and even hit a major city.) Just sitting at our little lake we have an old Garman chart plotter, two smart phones (complete with GPS and compass aps) an iPad, and two laptops. How much navigation stuff does one boat really need?

As for the other stuff, we can leave home without it...and probably will.

Winterize

2011-12-05T19:14:00.000-08:00

Kintala will stay in the water this winter. We couldn't pull her if we wanted. Not only is the only travel lift big enough to lift her at another marina on the other side of the lake, with the V-drive disaster still unfolding we couldn't get her off the dock on a bet. That being the case we need to try and not do any more damage to her due to freezing temps.

Nomad was easy to winterize; pump some pink stuff through the engine, drain the water and holding tanks, add a little more pink stuff, a splash in the bilge...ready for the cold.

Kintala's engine can't be started. Part of the cooling loop runs through the V-drive, those lines loose, open, and lying in the engine bilge. I think most of the water drained out when I pulled the drive but this last weekend I took the wet-vac to them. Now I'm pretty sure all the water is out of the cooling loop. I did the wet-vac trick on the A/C as well. The manual suggest one "blow the lines out, with compressed air if possible." There are times when sucking and blowing end up with pretty much the same result; I'm hoping this is one of them.

I sucked all the water out of Kintala's bilge last weekend. With the a/c out of service and not needing any ice in the 'fridge (the only two things that empty into the bilge) it seemed reasonable that it would stay pretty dry. Not. It pored down a cold rain for much of last week and this weekend. Apparently water running down the mast, inside and out, is the bane of a dry bilge with any keel stepped mast; I sucked another 10 gallons or so out of it this past weekend. I'll empty it out every chance I get, but a little pick stuff will be added every time we leave the boat for the city. We dump a little down the galley drain when we leave as well.

Nomad had one, 50 gallon, water tank. Kintala has 3; 79, 4, and 20. It takes a little more pink stuff and one must turn a valve or three, but it isn't much of a deal. There is also a deck wash that needs to be drained.

I think that is it. If not we'll know before spring.

Catching up

2011-11-28T19:20:00.000-08:00

I don't post here very often, most of the stuff ends up on The Retirement Project. But Kintala has turned into a maintenance boat, so this would be a good place for the more wrench-orientated ramblings.

Kintala is tied at the dock without a V-drive. It suffered a catastrophic failure and took the transmission with it. Fixing that is going to required a new V-drive, new tranny, new coupling (yet to be defined) new damper plate, 6 new engine mounts (4 under the engine, 2 under the V-drive mounts) and a TON of work.

All 4 main hatches came out of the boat to be powder coated. Epic fail. The cast aluminum parts out-gassed while in the oven, ruining the finish. As a result they will need to be stripped down (again) and painted rather than powder coated. A $500 mistake. I loves me some powder coating, but find a very reputable shop to do cast aluminum parts. We do have new Plexiglas to install in the frames when they come back. After 30 years the old glass was crazed and I was concerned that it was getting pretty brittle. We putting smoked glass back in and I am expecting all of the hassle with the hatches to be worth it...eventually.

Bedding the new hatches in place was something that was probably going to be needed anyway. Kintala leaks like a screen door. Not only were all of the hatches leaking, there is a leak around the companionway (that I haven't found yet), evidence of a leak under one of the handrails (that I haven't found yet), and at least 2 of the 12 portholes are leaking as well. I learned on Nomad that one should only re-bed an item that is already leaking, so that is the approach I am taking on Kintala. If it doesn't leak, don't fix it.

Kintala is a 30 year old boat; all of the running rigging has been or will be replaced before we take to big water. The stuff that was on the boat was down right dangerous in spite of what both the surveyor and rigging inspector suggested.

Surveyors, rigging inspectors, and mechanical inspections are, in my humble opinion, a complete waste of money. Insurance companies usually require a survey, so get a cheap one to keep them happy than inspect, poke, prod and examine everything yourself. Open every panel, look in every hole, take lots of high quality pictures to show experts and ask questions. Don't take any one's word on the shape of the boat...their lives will not depend on it and all they want is their money. If you don't think you know enough about mechanical things to find the bad stuff, at the very least follow the surveyor's every move, question everything that doesn't look perfect to you that he says is okay, and find a boat-knowledgeable friend to take along. Also, if it has been more than 10 years since the engine mounts have been changed, figure that the will have to be replaced sooner rather than later. Get a sample of fluid from every mechanical thing on board; engine, tranny, v-drive, anything that has oil in it, send them to the lab and have them tested. Don't care about the cost, don't care about the time it takes, just do it. If any of the big items come back questionable, WALK AWAY or plan on spending thousands and thousands of dollars to get it fixed. Better yet WALK AWAY.

Logistics and costs made it nearly impossible to do a sea trial on Kintala. I'm not sure what I could have done to fix that, but I would never, ever, consider buying a boat again without a extensive test sail - in the ugliest weather I could talk the buyer into. Take the surveyor along if you can. He will probably prove useless but you might have the fun of watching him puke. Having said that, none of the truly massive problems that turned up on Kintala would have shown up on a sea trial.

Flip every switch, turn on every light, run every pump, run water out of every sink, find out if the water heater works, light the stove, spin the wenches, pull on the halyards, spin the helm, test the autohelm, use the head. If it doesn't work have it fixed before you take delivery of the boat or get an enormous amount of money taken off the asking price. If you don't know how much to take off, get an estimate for fixing each item, double it, total it up, add 10%...there you go. If the buyer flinches WALK AWAY. There will be a better boat along in a week or so.

Anything that stinks, find out why.

Go into any boat purchase with the attitude that you are looking for a good reason to WALK AWAY. If one doesn't present itself then, and only then, allow yourself to be persuaded into buying the boat...maybe. If the broker strikes you as anything less than an upright, professional individual completely dedicated to getting you a good boat at a fair price RUN AWAY, don't walk.

From choosing to chosen

2011-09-21T19:36:00.000-07:00

This blog was started to be the place where we discussed much more technical matters regarding our search for the perfect retirement boat and preparing it for cruising, things that would only interest others serious about the same goal. We haven't posted here for quite a while and when I came here tonight it was kind of funny to see how our original ideas compared to our final decision. Choosing the perfect cruising boat is definitely a process not an event. Some things you thought were important end up not being important at all, but in general, the Tartan ended up being pretty close to what we set out to buy.

Mono-hull after all?

2011-02-02T17:13:00.000-08:00

After two open water trips on monohulls, we had pretty much decided a catamaran was the boat in our live-aboard future. Then we went to the Chicago boat show...all monohulls. And somehow, before the weekend was out, we were talking to a broker (Talking to a Broker!) about a 1982 Tartan 42 he had sitting in his yard. How did that happen?

Deb claims it is my fault, that the gleam in my eye made it clear I wanted a monohull, and I wanted one now. (Somehow she forgets that we already have a monohull that I like very much!) I think a lot of different currents are converging. (And it was Deb who jumped on the Internet Saturday night after seeing a new Tartan 4400, and found the Tartan 42 for sale.)

One is that Deb and I are both, kind of suddenly, thinking we are pretty close to pulling the trigger on this thing. We are blaming John K. and the week aboard Quetzal for that sudden shift. Deb really liked that boat and didn't get sick even with two bumpy Gulf Stream crossing. Even though I did feed the fish for a few hours, I was pretty happy with the boat as well. More importantly we came away from that trip feeling like we can do this, and that out on the ocean is where we want to be. The boat is not as important as the being.

Another is a Daughter and Family moving back to St. Louis and buying a house big enough for Deb and I to share with them. Perfect as an in-between home ownership and boat. In addition we can have the Tartan shipped to Carlyle. With a draft of 4'11" she doesn't draw as much as some, we can even still cove out at Coles Creek. We can learn the boat, live on it like we do Nomad, and finish any work we think required. I'm pretty comfortable with the idea of doing all that while staying in "home water." (Even though I think the lake is going to feel very, very small from the deck of a 42' boat, and I expect some pretty strange looks from people who don't know what we are doing.) We can also draw on the experience of the many friends we have made at the marina and enjoy a little more time in their company.

As always there is the matter of money. The Tartan lists for about twice what I paid for the Z-car. The least expensive Catamaran we have seen, that we think will do the job, was listed at nearly twice that of the monohull. That is nearly 3 years of cruising money. If can buy this boat with a second mortgage, when we sell the house the boat is paid for. With the boat in Carlyle, we can stay at our jobs as long as we want and/or need while getting the boat ready to go and stuffing the kitty.

I do have to admit that the Tartan was always one of the monohulls high on our list of possible boats. It is moderate to heavy in the displacement department, stable, with a modified fin keel that doesn't look like a fin, and skeg hung rudder. An older boat, it doesn't have the beam carried aft like modern boats - but I kind of like that. The cockpit isn't big - but I kind of like that as well. The companionway is different being just a hatch at the top of the ladder. Certainly nothing like modern boats, and nothing at all like the sliding glass door on a Cat. But on a bad day with big waves? My bet is I will not be missing the sliding glass door. This one is cutter rigged with a roller furling, several choices for head sails, a staysail, but no main. (A new sail being one of the things to take care of.) Truth to tell I really like the way the boat looks...at least in the pictures. Actually getting on the boat is next, and that should happen this weekend.

Should all this actualy come together we will finish up the year with The Boat at the lake and paid for, the house sold and the first, (and major) down size completed. At that point the "last things to do" list is reduced to 3 items; 1) Pick date, 2) Ship boat to the Ten-Tom and, 3) Head south.

How about them apples?

More open water lessons

2010-12-30T19:45:00.000-08:00

A 47' monohull, in this case a Kaufman 47, really is more sea-kindly than a 35' Pearson. (And now I know what "sea-kindly means.) Two crossings of a lumpy Gulf Stream were a good lesson in LWL and displacement. But a monohull is still a monohull, it still rolls and yaws and tosses coffee cups around. I read often of those who insist that wisdom lies in buying the smallest boat you think you can stand, not the biggest boat you think you can afford. For me wisdom will lie in buying the smallest boat I think I can stand, as long as it is as close to 50 foot as I can manage to pay for. If circumstances have us leaving in a smaller boat, (it is better short than on shore) I will be very, very conservative about the kind of weather I'll tackle. And I will expect a lot of sleepless nights spent rolling at anchor.

Finding the way into anchorages and ports will take a little practice. Even when closing in on Port Everglades with lots of boats to follow, I would have been hard pressed to locate the entrance without a GPS. Sailing into Hauffman Cay in the Berry Islands, I could see no indication there was an entrance of any kind until we had nearly reached the inlet. By then there were some pretty "interesting" rocks lurking nearby. I'm sure it will get easier with practice, but the first few times I expect to feel a bit exposed. Day time for sure, good or at least passable weather, and have enough stores on board to heave-to several miles away and wait, a couple of days if necessary, for conditions to be acceptable. Entering a harbor really does look like it can be the most hazardous part of the journey.

I expected to be pretty immune to seasickness. A life long pilot and one time acro instructor, my inner ear has had lots of unusual motion training. I have never had a problem on Nomad. No matter. On both open water trips I spent at least a couple of hours blowing chunks. From now on...no drinking and use the patch. I don't know if that will eliminate my "rail time," but it can't hurt.

There is a lot to learn about the rigging and sail controls of any boat. Quetzal had a whisker pole that made a huge difference when sailing downwind, but setting it was a bit complex and it was heavy enough to do some damage if one didn't pay attention. Practice...practice.

Open water lessons

2010-09-14T07:58:00.000-07:00

Though a lot of people are doing it, a 35' or shorter mono hull would not be my choice for a live aboard, open water boat. The motion in anything much more than almost calm seas is just too relentless. When the boat sets up a roll in following seas the only comfortable place to be is at the helm, but the workload is so high that about an hour at a time is all one can reasonably expect to endure. If it can't be a Cat I hope to have more than 40' of LWL under me, and now I am really curious as to what we will learn on the November sail in the 47' mono hull across the Gulf Stream.

Forward heads are as useless in a pitching boat as experienced sailors always suggested.

The inside of the boat must be dry. Leaks are not to be tolerated, the boat needs a dodger, and keep the companionway pulled closed in any sea that may toss water that far.

An autopilot / wind vane is absolutely necessary for a short handed crew. If it breaks consider it an emergency and get to the nearest port as soon as possible for repairs. Constant helming will exhaust a short-handed crew to the point of making possibly fatal mistakes.

Anyone who takes to open water without a GPS and multiple back-ups, thinking that "traditional" navigation will be enough, is out of their freaking mind. If possible have two GPS systems independent all the way back to a split power source, then have a couple of hand-helds with spare batterers. Paper charts are good for pre-departure planning, getting an overall idea of what is around, and a place to plot lat / long points that were read off the the GPS. Make sure there is an operations manual available as well.

More GPS, if there is one system to know on the boat backwards, forwards, every nook and cranny, it is the GPS. Display control, mapping, route planning, waypoint entry and eddit, scale, every bit, every button, every keystroke; know it cold. When the chips are down and good navigation decisions need to be made NOW - that is no time to fumble.

Never take to open water without several thermos bottles on board. Anything hot to drink or eat during a wet / chilly watch is manna from heaven.

Make the sails as easy to handle as possible. Stopping the boat, heaving too, or just slowing it down for a while to catch a meal, a nap, or so the crew can use the head, can turn a difficult, unrelenting bash into an acceptable, slightly adventurous, passage. But if it takes a half hour of hard work to reef the sail or set the jib, the tendancy is to not do it and keep going, and that is usually a bad choice.

You can't spend too much money on good foul weather gear. On a 6 day passage around Long Island, in the summer, we were in our gear more often than not. If there is a hell it is not hot, it is wet and cold.

Have pity on anyone suffering from sea-sickness, do whatever you can to help them get over it. Your turn will come.

Custom work

2010-08-13T08:46:00.000-07:00

We made a new Bimini Cover for Nomad, then added a boom tent / sunshade. Both were "home made," though the Bimini cover came as a kit. Funny how "custom" implies one thing, "home made" just the opposite. And yet, if one is careful and has (or acquires as needed) a necessary level of skill, "home made" can exceed both factory and outsourced "custom" work.

The other interior work we have done on Nomad could also be considered "custom." It to was "home made" as well. And it came out looking at least as good as the factory work in the boat. It seems to me that, unless one has the resources to buy a very high end boat to begin with, the factory work of most boats is pretty pedestrian. Not shoddy exactly, (don't look too deep behind covers, doors, or into bilges) but not what I used to think of when I heard the word "yacht."

Nomad, in fact, is a much better boat now than it was we we first found her up on the hard and covered in blue shrink wrap. Not only are her systems working better, water, engine cooling, and electrical - but she is simply cleaner, dryer and better looking to live in. It has taken, and continues to take, considerable effort. Not only in pure labor but in learning the skills (like sewing and splicing for me) or the mechanics (diesel maintenance was new). But in the end the boat is better than factory, more capable, more comfortable, and to some extent, uniquely "ours."

It is one of the things I like about owning a boat.

Life Jackets

2010-06-22T10:00:00.000-07:00

As a life long swimmer, once-upon-a-time active SCUBA diver, also-once-upon-a-time certified life guard, I have developed a bit of a disdain for life jackets. Its not that I think they are bad, or never useful, anything like that. But I do tend to think that we rely on them too much. The idea that putting a life jacket on a child is somehow better than teaching that child how to swim is, to me, both inane and irresponsible. If one is not comfortable enough with the water to learn how to swim, perhaps one should not venture out on a small boat in the first place? A life jacket should be a secondary aid for someone who likes being in and around the water and has the skills to be comfortable in that environment, without a life jacket. And, given that I sail on a lake it is likely I could swim across on any given day, or at least swim half-way across, I tend to be a bit cavalier about having a life jacket near by. I mean, really, when the weather is so hot that about all anyone is wearing is a swimsuit anyway, there isn't a whole lot of difference between jumping off the boat to go swimming and falling off the boat to end up swimming. I recently watched 4 grown adults toss life vests into the water before they would jump in to paddle the 20 feet or so between our boat and theirs. Are you kidding me?

Last weekend we were coved out when a nice little (well, not so little) TRW rolled the lake in the dark, wee hours of the morning. Wind blew, lightning flashed, covers flogged, our little boat pitched and tossed...and I was out on deck dressed only in a light pair of pants. As I wrestled with the lines and pulled down the covers, it occurred to me that...

1) the water looked black and uninviting,
2) staying on the boat as it rocked and rolled was not a given,
3) being flung off the deck could easily include some kind of injury, (I'm still not sure that stanchions, vertical sharp metal sticks bolted to the deck, somehow add to the safety of a boat.)
4) swimming in a pair of pants would take some effort, (particularly in the waves that came with the storm),
5) finding a shore, even one as close at hand as we had in the cove, might not be easy in the reduced visibly of driving rain,
6) and that maybe I should have grabbed my life vest instead of my pants.

I still think life vests should be regarded as aids to swimmers. But I think I'll be keeping mine a bit closer to hand from now on.

Cats

2010-05-28T07:25:00.000-07:00

I was in Ft. Lauderdale for a day and Brent from the Catamaran Co. showed me a couple of boats they have at the pier. Being Lagoon kind of folks the two bigger boats he showed me were 41 and 38 feet. Both are truly nice boats but I have never sailed on a Lagoon and would certainly want to spend a few days living on one before writing a check.

Then he showed me a Gemini 105Mc. Deb and I had looked at the 105 as a very interesting boat, until we boarded one in Annapolis the first time we were there. It appeared flimsy, lightweight, small and trailer-park like. We got off that thing as quickly as we could and never looked back...until yesterday. I'm not sure why the boat didn't strike me as quite so bad this time, maybe a couple of years of actually learning how to be a sailor? It is still small, but this time small strikes me as not so bad a thing. A 14 foot beam looks pretty proportional on its 33.5 foot water line. (I have to admit that, to my eye, some of the bigger Cats are looking decidedly "square" with beam / length ratios looking a little out of control.) And though 33.5 feet of LWL is shorter than we think would work for a live-a-board monohull, there is plenty of interior room in the Gemini with a nice master cabin that has a good view. (As opposed to the V-birth on a monohull, or the aft cabin on a Center Cockpit boat.)

Also, according to Brent, the Gemini is a fun sail. Its light weight and keel boards make it a fun ride on the water. "Are you a sailor or do you drive a condo," were one of his comments. It has the stability of a cat when on the hook, and (boards and rudders up) it draws 18 inches. All good things for a couple looking to sail where Deb and I want to sail. But...

The bridge deck is low. I mean really low, like 6 inches. Maybe the pounding will be no worse than on a mono with hard turn to the bilge, I just don't have enough experience to know. The sail drive is butt ugly when up out of the water, and it doesn't clear the water by much. Any wave action and that thing is going to be splashing in and out of the water constantly. The inside still has the fit and feel of a trailer, nothing like Nomad. I can't imagine that it can carry much of a load gracefully, though maybe the low bridge deck keeps you from piling on the weight. Seeing the bottom flat on the water would surely discourage you from putting that next box of spare parts on board.

I don't know, a Gemini or a pretty, 40' monohull? Having not yet sailed on a Gemini, I think I would lean to the monohull.

More lessons from Nomad

2010-05-10T09:40:00.000-07:00

Not in the watter yet but getting close, Nomad's off season refit goes on. The aluminum holding tank failed. A new plastic model is in the works. This makes sense. Since buying the boat we have struggled to get the "head smell" under control. I replaced the head to tank hose, we have tried endless different chemicals, but stink can escape from holes too small for liquid to flow through. There is hope a new tank will give our noses a break.

The water heater failed as well. This also makes sense. Nomad's little engine slowly lost coolant but I could never figure out where it was going. While trying to get the water heater working I discovered that insulation blanket inside the metal cover was completely soaked. A new 10 gallon unit has been installed in the place of the old 7 gallon model.

We gave up on the idea of replacing the head sink faucet and shower head with marine units. The cost was out of sight for what appeared to be the cheapest of plastic parts. Home Depot supplied better quality units at 1/10th the cost. All that was needed was a few adapters to splice the dissimilar plumbing together. (Boat plumbing still strikes me as the lowest of low rent solutions. Soft plastic fittings and hose clamps? Really?)

We have gotten pretty bold about tearing things apart. Boats, after all, are pretty low tech. Routine A/C wiring and fiberglass work appear to be as complex as it gets. The rest is bolt, unbolt, or refinish.

Lessons from Nomad

2010-03-21T07:06:00.000-07:00

We have been doing some serious work on Nomad. As a result of having so many parts off I have learned a thing or two about what I want to see on an ocean going boat.

I was surprised to find that Nomad had no backing plates under the bow pulpit mounts or lifeline stanchions. The washers used at the factory had crushed their way into the fiberglass. We put 1/4 inch mica blocks under the bow pulpit mounts and used fender washers under the lifeline supports. On any ocean going boat those items should be mounted as solidly as possible, with big, glassed in backing supports that can take a hell of a load.

Swim ladders must have steps. Round bars of bar steal are just too slippery to be of any use. Even on a calm lake to climb back aboard after a dip is to risk a broken limb. In a rolling sea fully dressed? No chance. Note: swim ladders are made of some hard stuff...punching holes in it will take effort and the best drills available.

Nomad's companionway steps, which hinge up to get to the engine like many boats, has no latch to hold them in place. On the lake it is an item I am likely to leave as is. On a blue-water boat everything that opens or moves or swings should be latched in place.

The hull / deck joint on Nomad is held together with self tapping screws set on about 9 inch centers. Okay for a lake boat, but during this last bit of work I discovered several of the screw heads pulled through the deck flange with some gaping of the joint. Oversize hardware and some new sealer fixed her up. On my next boat I want to see bolts with big washers on each flange, glassed in. That joint needs to be solid.

Once again it seems to me that boats are not assembled with the kind of robust quality I would have expected in an item intended to face some pretty hostile environments. Little things, but Deb and I are going to spend literally hundreds of hours this spring, fixing a list of "little things."

Nomad is a 1986, factory boat that has spent her whole life in fresh water. Given the amount of work needed just to keep her (or get her) in the shape I find acceptable, just how much work would be involved in an early 1980's salt water boat? If we buy such a boat as our home will we spend a year in the yard, spending money like mad, trying to make it into something we feel secure living on? Should we move "age" up near the top of the list of things to consider? Quality of maintenance, not year of manufacture, is what is important when it comes to airplanes, and I am sure the same is true of boats. But I can look at an airplane and its maintenance logs and get a good feel for what shape the machine is in. (A skill that didn't keep me from taking a job flying a Poppa-Oscar-Sierra Citation V!) I'm not as confident I can do so with a sailboat.

Chicago Boat Show

2010-02-01T12:23:00.001-08:00

My thoughts on boats continue to evolve as we get deeper in and closer to the decision to pull the trigger on this thing. (3 years into a 5 year plan.) Catamarans are still my favorite platform but, unless I get a job on the East Coast, I fear they are just too expensive. We could probably afford one if we wait long enough, but therein lies the rub. I'm not sure how much longer I want to wait.

So, with the tide appearing to favor a mono-hull, what are the things what matter, and the things what don't? The first "thing what matters" is size. With an exception or two I think anything much less than 40 feet is just too short to call home, and anything over 46 is unnecessary. Catalina frames the tape measure, with the 375 lying just over the "too short" call and their 445 just short of "unnecessary." With boats in that length draft doesn't seem to be much of a "deal killer."

A modified fin keel with a skeg hung rudder seems the underwater shapes for good passage making when things get rough. Though truth to tell I am having trouble keeping the "modified fins" and "modern full" keels separate. I think one sort of morphs into the next depending on the specific boat / designer. I am not a fan of the racing fins and balanced rudders. I know they mean "performance" but it looks to me like they also mean "easily damaged" and "expensive to repair."

Though Deb and I will spend more time on the hook than we do underway, (just like everyone else)I like the idea of a boat whose design parameters emphasize sea keeping and passage making. I'll give away a little floor space in the V-birth for a boat that doesn't pound or a knot of hull speed for a boat that is stable in the wind and waves. I like a cutter rig but would do away with a bowsprit, though I like the way Nomad looks with hers. Still, one often pays for the length of the bowsprit when at the dock, so why not have that length in the water? And I always wondered as the wisdom of having a rigging load tied to the boat at or near the waterline and right at the bow.

Even though I sill would like a Cat, I often ponder the issues that come with not being able to track well to windward. (Unless you get one with boards.) Deb and I plan on making the East Coast home. Going to windward would seem to be the task at hand at least half the time. Something to consider with various mono-hulls as well.

Cockpit locations no longer matter much, though a completely open transom seems a poor idea on a cruising boat. I have become fond of twin helms.

Separate shower stall (with overhead hatch please) is close to a deal breaker. Water maker, probably. Big fridge, not really but a little ice maker would be nice. And make mine a close to being energy independent as we can get, solar and wind.

And make it sooner rather than later.

Blue Water Class

2009-10-30T15:10:00.001-07:00

I'm sitting in Nomad on a lake full of muddy brown water, so I guess that sparked my "blue water" musings. Deb and I are considering taking a blue water course at Emerald Coast, the same place we did the Catamaran class last year. They treated us so well and their prices are so good that it seems the right choice to take advantage of their combined "Advanced Coastal Cruising" package. We could renew our acquaintance with Lady Marian for the 5 day Gulf of Mexico Sail, (our dance partner from last year's catamaran class) but we are thinking of going to the opposite end of the spectrum. Emerald Coast has a Beneteau 381 available for this course. It is a production boat a bit more than 10 feet longer and two feet wider than Nomad, with another foot of draft. We know we could live on a 38 foot Catamaran and barely notice we have left land. (Not really, the ocean is a pretty big place. Still there is no doubt that living on a 38 foot Cat is living the good life!) I'm kind of curious how 38 feet of production monohull looks and feels after a week on board and a couple of hundred miles of water have passed by the gunnels.

Besides, I haven't sailed a Beneteau before. Why not try something new?

Thoughts on the 09 Annapolis show

2009-10-11T20:29:00.000-07:00

The cat vs mono-hull debate is pretty much settled in favor of cats - depending (of course) on $$. I wonder at the difference between the sea kindliness of a 38' cat vs. a 50' mono but suspect that the stability of the cat, even though shorter, would win. Upwind is still a concern for me, but again, the stability of the cat and the quality of life living aboard would probably make it the preferred choice. I did see a Benetau I really kind of liked, the 43. Deb saw a Hunter she kind of liked (a bit of a surprise that). We both really like the Pacific Seacraft 40, the Caliber 40 LRC and the Gozzard 41. (Deb likes that one a bit more than I do. Interior is fantastic but somehow the exterior of the boat has lost some of its luster to my eye.) I was disappointed to be disappointed by the Dufours, even the 525 left me a bit unmoved. The Island Packet Estero was a disappointment as well. Though the interior (like the Gozzard) has a great living room space in the forward hull, for some reason it just doesn't work as well as the Gozzard's.

Of the cats the new-for-this-year Leopard 38 was a stunner. The flat front windows make its deck salon feel more spacious than the older model 40. It needs some work on the cabinet hinges. They are not mounted well and, given sea conditions where people end up putting some pressure one them, will soon fail. But that was the only complaint I had. I liked the retracting dingy davits and the cockpit seat back that swings so that one can sit facing aft. Sitting and looking out over the ocean at the end of the day, sipping a cold one with an unobstructed view from the world's best back porch...how cool would that be?

The F/P Lapari 41 was another stunner. My only concern was a boat with a 39' LWL and a 22 foot beam. That wide beam made for an interior space in the hulls that was amazing, though I wonder what the additional wetted surface will do to performance. The tub like helm station hanging down into the cockpit was a bit awkward as well. (If the boat was mine I would get Brian to paint something there to cover the "ugh" factor.) A show-goer who has chartered both the Leopards and the F/Ps several times, (though admittedly neither the brand new 38 from Leopard or the Lapari) shared his opinion that the Leopard was a far better sailing boat; which would break the tie for me. (And, truth to tell, I think the Leopard is a prettier boat. I know that shouldn't matter much, but life is too short to own an ugly boat.)

I'm also getting pretty comfortable with the idea that Deb and I could handle a 50 foot boat, cat or mono, with a little practice. Besides, if we had a boat that big I'm thinking we would have a lot of "temporary crew" around to help out.

Big Cat Doors

2009-10-08T07:04:00.000-07:00

A lot of catamarans have these huge sliding glass doors that open the back of the bridge deck onto the aft cockpit area. It is a big selling point; in fact SeaWind folds the doors up completely into a hard top Bimini, effectively removing the wall altogether.

I'm beginning to cool to the whole idea. In the first place it means there is a large portion of inside area that cannot contain any counter space (a chronic shortfall in boats of all kinds). Such a design also means that any supplemental heating / cooling of the interior space is going to be that much more difficult, though of course open ventilation is wonderful. Mostly though, I wonder just how tough those big panes of Plexiglas would be if one was running before the wind in gusts of 40+? How much water, rain and following seas, will they keep out?

I may never be a true "blue water" sailor but my inclinations are moving toward boats that seem to be designed for less than ideal conditions. A big glass wall that opens the entire interior of the boat to whatever the ocean can gin up would not seem to fit that description. That is one of the reasons why I really like the Gunboat and Chris White designed catamarans. (Now if I could just come up with $1,000,000 and change I could buy one.)

More Sail Trim

2009-08-16T19:53:00.000-07:00

The winds were called out to be 10-15 gusting to 25. A year ago we would have put up all the sail we had and charged down the lake, rounding up every 1/4 mile. Today, we headed out of the cove with a single reef to start. We had a very pleasant sail heeled over to 15 with occasional gusts taking us over to 25 degrees. We were making 5-6 knots and doing it a lot more comfortably than we would have with all the sail up. We're learning, slow but sure.

Sail trim

2009-08-03T10:29:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we buried the rail on Nomad, sailing in a nice but not overwhelming wind. When the rail went under we were healed nearly 35 degrees, and a couple of things puzzle me. The first is that we were heeled over that far in winds that were not as strong as we have seen in the past. (When Jeff of Gail Force joined us later, he said that the winds had been around 17 knots, max.) The second is that Nomad held her course without rounding up.

I had moved the jib traveler aft, which allowed us to sheet the jib in much tighter than we have in the past. (The traveler track arc matches the widest part of the beam. The aft end is actually several inches closer to the center of the boat.) In fact the sail was touching the stanchion, and I think that explains the heel. It might also help explain why Nomad held her head down. In addition, when I hoisted the main I didn't get the luff pulled completely tight, allowing a bit of a sag or "bagging" of the main. Maybe, having a bit more power on the jib and a bit less on the main, added to Nomad's ability to heel without rounding up?

Another puzzle; even with all of the heel, we (according to the GPS) were not making hull speed. I would have thought we would hit hull speed first, then start heeling over more and more and the sails worked against the keel.

I'm not sure. Even with my aviation background sail trim is still a bit of a mystery. It was sure fun though.

LATER: According to some internet forums...
I have it backwards; tightening the jib and easing off on the main halyard de-powered the jib and powered up the main. Apparently pulling the jib foot tight spills air off the top of the sail. I had assumed that pulling the sails in tight extracted the maximum amount of energy out of the wind when close hauled, but it seems sheeting them in tight keeps one from overpowering the boat.

But I still haven't figured this out to my satisfaction yet.

LATER STILL: Clearly there is a lot to learn about sail trim. One thing for certain is I need to play with the outhaul more. I think I have adjusted it once since we bought the boat, and that's when I bent the main on the very first time.

Things that make you go hmmmm....

2009-06-01T16:52:00.001-07:00

Nomad has these two huge lazarattes which we kind of like. They open the entire stern for access to equipment, storage and the engine. They even lead into the main cabin through the companionway steps. Except...

I just read a story about a boat that broached too and flopped on its side. Not a good thing but normally not a tragic thing either. But in this case the leeward lazaratte popped open, the sea flooded in, and the boat sank in 700 feet of water. Ouch.

We have been sailing with the lazarattes unlocked and easily opened, but not anymore. Before Nomad leaves the dock again we will have some kind of clip to hold them shut.

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There was a race on the lake last weekend. The wind was blowing pretty hard and a gust caught friend's boat (that was in the lead at that moment and pushing hard) which caused him to round up. Not unusual, but there was another boat to windward that was closing on him. That captain didn't hear the warning call and couldn't see the first boat behind his jib...crunch. Not a lot of damage was done, but the boats didn't come off unscathed either. In MotogGP they would call it a "racing incident" even though it took both boats out of the race. In sailing there is all kinds of debate as to who was at fault. The windward, closing boat would normally be the "give-way" boat, but the lead boat pushed to hard, lost control, and swung directly up and into a boat that was holding its course.

Anyway, it all seems like a good reason for cruisers to be cruisers and not be racers.

Tim's Boat Review Lavezzi 40

2009-05-17T19:10:00.000-07:00

My take on the Lavezzi 40:

Day 1) I really like the way the boat looks from the outside. Space in the main salon doesn't seem to be used very well. The table is awkward to get around, the nav station faces aft / starboard, there are no drawers in the galley area, and there appears to be only one power plug in the whole salon deck. Though all of the "owner" boats we have looked at have a kind of sitting area in the owner's hull, I'm not sure how useful that space is. Sitting on the couch looking out the escape hatch is novel, but that's about it. A full height storage area / bookshelf might be a better use of the limited hull area.

Day 2) First and foremost (and apologies to Fred our instructor) we had too much sail up for 20+ knots of wind with gusts to 30. This was our first day of sailing a big Cat and being over canvased had us working pretty hard. For some reason Fred worked the main sheet without using the traveler much. On my own I would have run the traveler way to leeward and sheeted the main down tight to flatten the sail. That would have also kept the boom under better control during tacks a gybes.

Things I'm not sure I like? The one piece, continuous main sheet which has one jumping back and forth across the cockpit. The lack of a winch for the jib furlur. The gearing on the jib winches - the only way to sheet the jib in tight is to put the boat on the very edge of being in irons. Also, it appears that there is a lot of rigging to foul the sails. Both sails have been damaged by the spreaders. The port side winch with the table up and the Bimini, is really awkward to work around. It is a two speed winch as well, making it even harder to work when the jib sheet gets loaded. I'm sure setting the sails will come easier with practice, but today it was a huge amount of work for Deb and I to tack and jibe the boat without Fred's help.

Day 3 & 4) Pinned against the dock for two days by high winds, so all the experience is just with living on a boat. The port side head has a sharp metal trim strip over the top of the doorway, which is a really bad idea. The front hatches in the main cabin have no supports to hold them open. This boat's dock lines are run in such a way as to make huge amounts of noise as the hull works against the winds. I miss having a chair to sit in. There should be better handholds for going down the steps into the hulls.

Day 5) The anchor roller needs a cap rail of some type. When trying to pull the anchor up the rode can get caught up off the roller if the boat twists. (which it seems to do each time we raise the anchor.) Setting the bridle is pretty straight forward and the electric anchor winch is a must have. It appears a big cat relies on engines pretty often. Get 2 big ones if the wallet can take the hit.

Day 6) The engine RPM gauges are in a weird spot, way too low to see. Not a big deal. The Raymarine electronic chart / radar is a really good unit but this one is mounted down in the salon. A screen up on the helm would make a lot of sense to this airplane driver. I don't see any easy way to mount screens at the salon door / galley window. Bugs have not been a problem here but...

Motoring through 4 - 5 foot swells was a fun ride, but the expanse of the salon was pretty evident when trying to move around the inside of the boat. There are virtually no handholds anywhere in the salon other than the edge of the table.

Any boat with an inside nav station (not this one) needs to have a windshield wiper. In the rain these windows were nearly opaque.

And...Ventilation, ventilation, ventilation.

Last Day: Fred let Deb and I handle the boat by ourselves. The winds were light, the bay calm and blue - a pretty nice day. We made some good decisions working with the traffic and handled the sails easily in the lighter winds. I used the traveler a little more than Fred, running it out wide and easing off the main sheet to let the sail fill a little more in the wind. By the end of the day we were pretty comfortable sailing the boat and putting it on the dock was a blast. Gotta love that twin-engine set up.

Deb's Fontaine Pajot Lavezzi 40 In depth critque

2009-05-17T06:51:00.000-07:00

As we spend 5 days and 6 nights on the Lavezzi 40 I will be taking copious notes. Please refer back to this page frequently during the 5 days and a few after that as I put down random thoughts and experiences.

1. This is more boat than we need. You always hear it - get the smallest boat you think you can stand and then go smaller and they were right. Not that I don't like the space, but the thought of actually cleaning and maintaining this boat is a little overwhelming. Just the thought of washing and waxing it once a year is enough to give one heart failure.

2. The galley is MOSTLY USELESS. Don't get me wrong, I'm a former camper and I can cook in 2sq ft of picnic table and wash a load of dishes in 2 cups of water, but as far as a liveaboard, I'll be looking for a galley I can cook in comfortably. Specific details:

The main food cupboard is behind the stove so you have to reach across hot pans
and live gas flames to access it.

There are no drawers for silverware and cooking utensils

The sinks are double round bowl sinks that you can't fit any cooking pans in, and
while they are nice and deep, they are unfortunately the same size as the dinner
plates so if you happen to get one flat in the bottom of the sink...well you get
the idea.

There is a very nice recessed drainboard for dishes with a plate rack that is
permanently bolted down so the plates don't move around but no cup for silverware
that would be very handy.

The stove is a propane stove that I really like. Slick and easy to use and cooks
very well. Update on day three - the stove gets top points from me. I think I
like it better than my stove at home.

3. The shower is very nice. Lots of hot water on this boat and a nice shower
head. There is a hatch over the shower so the head didn't steam up much with it
open. It's easy to regulate your water usage because the water collects in the
bottom of the shower stall and you have to manually hold the sump pump button for
it to drain. I find I can take a shower with about a gallon and a half of water.
Update on day three - we've been using the water pretty much as we normally would
and after 3 days we've used just under a quarter of a tank which equals about 37
gallons. Ten to twelve gallons a day for the two of us I would imagine would be
luxury and we could do it with a lot less if we needed to.

4. The bed on this boat, at least the one in the owner's stateroom, is more
acomfortable than the one in my home.