Bill's Log

Thursday, April 04, 2013

Photos of Boats I have owned – Part 4

'Micro'

Continuing the series ‘Photographs of Boats I have owned’ here are a few more from 1998 when I joined the Dinghy Cruising Association until I left in 2008. During that time I participated in several rallies and meetings - all but one of them at venues on the South Coast between the Solent and Falmouth. The exception was at Holy Island, Northumbria, which necessitated a long journey there and back by road. That nearly put paid to the engine of my old Ford Sierra because of the hammering it took while towing ‘Micro’. I built the little boat from a Swallow Boats Storm Petrel kit, but I modified her by adding decking and fitting her with keel boards instead of a daggerboard. Equipped with a boom tent and portable galley she was a super micro-sailboat eminently suitable for semi-protected waters.

'Harriott'

Before joining the DCA I discovered that the Roamer dinghy had been specifically designed for cruising, and that several of them were owned by members. From the Association’s quarterly Bulletin I learned that one by the name of ‘Harriott’ was for sale. I didn’t hesitate in contacting the owner and within a couple of days she was mine. I made a few changes to her. The most useful was the addition of a multi-block tackle for raising and lowering the mast.

'Caleb'

Realizing the advantages of small boat cruising - the trailer sailer type of vessel - I looked around for a more portable boat that could be transported on the roof rack of my car. I asked Paul Fisher to design me a 50/50 canoe similar to the type Hugh Horton was experimenting with in the US, but cheaper and easier to build. Paul more or less got it right, but she was a little too heavy and a trifle too beamy. Apart from not being able to paddle her as efficiently as I had hoped, on account of her beam, I was pretty pleased with her. I could sleep aboard when she was secure at a protected anchorage, and likewise she was sturdy enough for me to have a night’s kip when she was hauled up on the beach.

Links

‘Harriott’ - Roamer Interlude – 1999

http://bills-log.blogspot.co.uk/2010/03/roamer-interlude.html

‘Micro’ - 2001

http://bills-log.blogspot.co.uk/2009/12/micro.html

Caleb - 2003

http://bills-log.blogspot.co.uk/2009/12/caleb-5050-canoe.html

Wednesday, April 03, 2013

Photos of Boats I have owned – Part 3

'Lisa'

I can’t remember when I bought ‘Lisa’, a Shipmate Senior Mk 1 trailer sailer, but for sure, I kept her for two years. I trailed her to Plymouth in the first year and to Falmouth in the second. She gave me a lot of fun and she was very cheap to run. She was too large to fit in the garage; therefore during the winter I kept her at friend’s place under cover.

'Trio'

Having owned two junk sloops I was up for another, and I bought a Kingfisher 26 named ‘Trio’. I did several cruises with her, including a trip to Falmouth. I seldom keep a boat for more than two years, and after selling ‘Trio’ I sailed her to Peterhead with her new owner.

'Aziz'

My next yacht was a Pioneer 9 named ‘Aziz’. She had belonged to Nicolette Milnes-Walker who sailed her across the Atlantic non-stop, and in so doing became the first woman to do it without putting into port. She wrote a book telling of her ordeal, for it took her 45 days and much hard work owing to trying weather causing her to make many sail changes. In those days, back in 1971 there were no efficient, reliable furling headsails as we have them today.

Ann Davison sailed across the Atlantic alone in 1953, but en route she put into Brittany, Portugal and the Canary Islands. She too, had a very long voyage.

Links

‘Lisa’, a Shipmate Senior

http://bills-log.blogspot.co.uk/2010/01/lisa-shipmate-senior.html

‘Trio’, Kingfisher 26, Junk Rig - 1994

http://bills-log.blogspot.co.uk/2010/02/kingfisher-26-junk-rig.html

‘Aziz’ – 1995 - 1997

http://bills-log.blogspot.co.uk/2009/11/aziz.html

Cruise of the ‘Aziz’ a Pioneer 9 Part 1 - 1997

http://bills-log.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/cruise-of-aziz-pioneer-9-part-1.html

‘Felicity Ann’ Restoration Project

http://bills-log.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/felicity-ann-restoration-project.html

Tuesday, April 02, 2013

Photos of Boats I have owned – Part 2

After ‘Twinstar’ I bought a Hunter Europa 19 and fitted her out. I had many adventures cruising and racing her, including a cruise to Holland. I named her ‘Zeta’. I also re-rigged her as junk sloop and sailed her to Weymouth.

After selling ‘Zeta’ to the yachting journalist Colin Jarman, I bought a Fairey Fulmar designed by Uffa Fox. She was based on his Atalanta 26, but did not have an aft cabin, and she had one drop keel instead of two. Her name was ‘Petronella’. Unfortunately I do not have any photographs of her.

In 1981 I acquired ‘Apple Charlotte’, a Pandora Mk 1, designed by E.G. Van de Stadt. My brother and I sailed her to Holland.

My thoughts turned to ocean cruising, and to that end I purchased a Folksong hull and deck. I fitted her out as a junk sloop and named her ‘Zeta’. She was fully commissioned for cruising in 1984. From thereon I referred to her as big ‘Zeta’.

Four years later I bought ‘Lady Ashquelon’. She was a Van de Stadt Buccaneer, and I sailed her to the Scilly Islands. She did not have an engine.

Links

Small ‘Zeta’ – Hunter Europa 19 - 1977

http://bills-log.blogspot.co.uk/2011/06/small-zeta-hunter-europa-19.html

‘Apple Charlotte’, part 1 - 1981

http://bills-log.blogspot.co.uk/2010/03/apple-charlotte.html

‘Zeta’ – Folksong - 1984

http://bills-log.blogspot.co.uk/2009/12/zeta-folksong.html

‘Lady Ashquelon’ - 1988

http://bills-log.blogspot.co.uk/2009/12/lady-ashquelon.html

Monday, April 01, 2013

Photos of Boats I have owned – Part 1

'Tyrol'

I do not have photos of every boat I have owned. The earliest was ‘Tyrol’. She was an eleven foot Shortened Scout Kayak built using plans supplied the Boys Scouts in 1947.

Between 1958 and 1960 I owned and raced a Struer ‘Limfjorden’ Kayak when a member of the Exeter Canoe Club.

The Struer

I built and owned two other canoes before buying ‘Phillida’ which was a Torbay Class 11 Racer. I day-sailed her from Exmouth and sailed her to Alderney in the Channel Islands.

‘Phillida'

Later I bought ‘Wanderer’, a Hillyard 2 ½ ton yacht that I kept at Starcross, and with her I explored the South Devon and Cornish coasts.

'Wanderer'

'Shyauk’ was a Wessex One Design that my brother and I raced in the 1974 Round Britain and Ireland Race. Bad weather and misfortune saw us retiring on the second leg between Crosshaven and Castlebay.

'Shyauk'

The only multihull I have owned was ‘Twinstar’, a Wharram Hina catamaran. I sailed her to Boulogne, cruised the Thames Estuary and participated in races organised by the Up River Yacht Club.

'Twinstar'

There are more photos to come in Part 2.

Links

‘Tyrol’

http://bills-log.blogspot.co.uk/2010/03/tyrol-shortened-scout-kayak.html

‘Jenny’ – Struer ‘Limfjorden’ Racing Kayak– 1958/60

http://bills-log.blogspot.co.uk/2010/01/struer-limfjorden-racing-kayak.html

‘Phillida’

http://bills-log.blogspot.co.uk/2010/01/cruise-to-alderney.html

‘Wanderer’

http://bills-log.blogspot.co.uk/2010/03/wanderer.html

‘Shyauk’ – Round Britain and Ireland Race

http://bills-log.blogspot.co.uk/2010/05/round-britain-and-ireland-race.html

Small Fry Part 1 - ‘Shyauk’ – Round Britain and Ireland Race Account

http://bills-log.blogspot.co.uk/2010/02/small-fry-part-1.html

‘Twinstar’

http://bills-log.blogspot.co.uk/2010/03/twinstar.html

Sunday, March 31, 2013

Shadow, Light and Darkness

A shadow is temporary – fleeting - here for a moment, then gone for ever. A shadow cannot exist unless there is light and substance, and yet of itself is the absence of total light. A shadow cannot be sensed unless there is a sensor, and for there to be a sensor there must be intelligence.

Man is like a shadow – here for a moment, then gone for ever. He cannot exist without light and substance, and of himself he has partial light. Unlike a shadow he has intelligence and life. In his brief moment he glimpses the shadow and knows there is light.

Without light there is no life and there are no shadows; there is nothing but darkness and death.

Light is energy and eternal and without light nothing can exist. Light overcomes darkness and brings life.

John 1:1-5 ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.

All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.’

Saturday, March 30, 2013

Gaff Cutters

A gaff cutter is a fore and aft sailing vessel that has one mast, and a gaff that supports the mainsail. She has two or more foresails: typically a staysail, jib and perhaps a flying jib. A good many gaff cutters have bowsprits, particularly older classic yachts.

The photos here are of gaff cutters that I’ve featured in five previous postings. (See links below.) Four more links take you to brokers’ web sites where gaff cutters are for sale.

The main advantage of a gaff cutter is the ease with which she can be made to sail herself, especially to windward. The natural tendency for a boat when sailing to windward is to luff into the wind. By slightly backing the jib and easing the mainsail, the helm can be neutralized so that the boat will steer herself, but it’s a good idea to attach bungees to the tiller to help maintain a course. If she bears off, increased wind pressure on the mainsail will push her stern to leeward, bringing the boat back on course; if she edges too far into the wind, the backed jib will push the bow to leeward; thus the boat will weave to windward. Obviously, this is not the most efficient way to sail, but it does give the helmsman a break. In fact, if the wind is steady and the sea state doesn’t unduly change, the yacht will sail for hundreds of miles in this fashion.

Links

Gaff Cutter seen at Walton

http://bills-log.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/gaff-cutter-seen-at-walton.html

Cape Cutter 19

http://bills-log.blogspot.co.uk/2011/09/cape-cutter-19.html

Maritime Ipswich Festival, part 3

http://bills-log.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/maritime-ipswich-festival-part-3.html

Leigh-on-Sea Bank Holiday Amble Part 3

http://bills-log.blogspot.co.uk/2011/08/leigh-on-sea-bank-holiday-amble-part-3.html

Micro's' Cruises No 7 Chance Made Good Part 2

http://bills-log.blogspot.co.uk/2010/12/micros-cruises-no-7-chance-made-good_02.html

Gaff Cutter Boats for Sale & Charter

http://www.theyachtmarket.com/static/boattype_gaff_cutter_1.html

Cutter (Boat)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cutter_(boat)

William Fife 111 Gaff Cutter - Sold

http://www.sandemanyachtcompany.co.uk/details/?id=79

Classic Gaff Cutter

http://www.western-horizon.co.uk/archive_boat.php?boat_id=132

Thursday, March 28, 2013

Dodge the Potholes

Two 'Standard' potholes

Yesterday morning Ray Clark and his team at BBC Essex, during the Breakfast Show, joked about potholes on the County’s roads. In fact, it’s not really a matter to be taken lightly, because lives could be at risk, particularly those of cyclists who may have to dodge potholes and find themselves in the path of a motor vehicle.

With hilarity and banter to fill in time, the breakfast presenters discussed a real life game they had devised which involved avoiding potholes when driving to work. They couldn’t make up their minds what to call the game, but came up with four possible names: Car Bingo, Tyre Bagatelle, Pothole Bingo and Dodge the Pothole. I got the impression they favoured the last, which is the most descriptive.

A 'wincer' with a grating

The idea of the game is to get to work with an intact score of 10. In other words if ‘players’ manage to avoid every pothole by dodging them, they arrive at work with full marks. If they clip a pothole they lose ½ a point; if they go over a ‘standard’ pothole they have to dock a full point; if they are unfortunate enough to clash with a ‘wincer’ (a large pothole) they forfeit 2 points, and finally if they blunder into a ‘shredder’ (an enormous pothole) they suffer a loss of 3 points!

I’ve got a feeling they will suffer more than that, as I did this morning when driving my car home after shopping. There were twin potholes just before a turning off the main road. Fortunately, I had slowed down on making my approach to the turning; otherwise there could have been damage to the springs of the car. Certainly, I felt judders as my car’s tyres failed to absorb the impacts.

A half-an-hour later when I walked the footpath by the twin potholes I observed a road maintenance man was measuring the depth of the holes. Someone had obvious reported the situation. I can only hope that repairs to the road will speedily be done.

Links

IPlayer Ray Clark BBC Essex 27^th March, 2013

(To listen to Wednesday morning’s banter click this first link and move the curser to position 32.00)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p015pfdb/Ray_Clark_27_03_2013/

Presenter Profile – Ray Clark

http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/essex/hi/tv_and_radio/newsid_8176000/8176750.stm

Potholes UK

http://www.potholes.co.uk/

Pothole

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pothole

Fill that Hole.Org

http://www.fillthathole.org.uk/

Report a Pothole

https://www.gov.uk/report-pothole

Potholes – Make a Claim

http://www.potholes.ie/claiming.html

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Hands Shannon One Design

I was perusing Paul Mullings’s blog, ‘I’ve Been Thinking’ at http://flounderman.blogspot.co.uk/?view=timeslide#!/ when I noticed a link pointing to ‘Shannon One Design’. This took me to a YouTube series of videos about the building of a traditional clinker Shannon One Design racing dinghy. (See the first 3 links below.) The videos show Jimmy Furey building one of these boats. I think you will agree with me that it is a privilege to be invited into his workshop via the videos entirely free of charge. I also think you will admire his craftsmanship, which is a wonder to behold.

Back in 1920 F. Morgan Giles of Teignmouth was commissioned by representatives of three Irish yacht clubs, Loch Ree, Loch Derg and North Shannon, to design a one design racing dinghy suitable for a crew of three. The result was a lively 18 foot open clinker boat with a relatively narrow beam of 4 feet 10 ½ inches, sporting a single gunter-rigged sail with an area of 140 square feet.

Over the years, nearly 170 of these dinghies have been built, and they continue to be built today by local craftsmen such as Jimmy Furey.

Links

Part 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XthOkO-wsK4

Part 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XELPt_x08Os

Part 3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPNePCOZSZo

Shannon One Design

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shannon-One-Design

Shannon One Design Association

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shannon-One-Design

Loch Ree Yacht Club – Shannon One Design

http://www.lryc.ie/Classes/ShannonOneDesign.aspx

Classic Boat – Shannon One Design

http://www.classicboat.co.uk/class-notes/shannon-one-design/

Murrough.org – Shannon One Design

http://murrough.org/pb/wp_3d8be528/wp_3d8be528.html

Ask About Ireland – Shannon One Design

http://www.askaboutireland.ie/reading-room/environment-geography/physical-landscape/lakelands-of-westmeath/lough-ree/lough-ree-yacht-club/the-shannon-one-design/

Sailboat Data – Shannon One Design

http://sailboatdata.com/viewrecord.asp?class_id=6792

Hands – And the Shannon One Design

http://boats.woodenboat.com/?p=3278

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Roger D. Taylor – Voyages of a Simple Sailor

Kindle version

On 3^rd February, 2013 I wrote an article about Roger Taylor’s, ‘Mingming’. I included three links to Amazon.co.uk giving details of three of his books. What I didn’t mention was that they are also available for Kindles. If you don’t have a Kindle, you can download a Kindle App free of charge from Amazon, suitable for your computer or your iPhone or an equivalent smartphone.

Last week I handled a paperback version of Roger’s ‘Voyages of a Simple Sailor’ and immediately I wanted my own. Being a cheapskate I looked at Amazon where I discovered I could get it for less in e-book format for my Kindle - not a lot less I grant you, but it was immediately available for my own gratification.

Now that I have read the Kindle version I wished I had paid the extra for the paperback! Handling a book is so much better than simply seeing words on a computer screen. If you buy your own copy you’ll be getting three books in one, because it is divided into three stories: Shipwreck, Capsize and Calms. I won’t spoil it by making a précis of each story, but if you are into sailing and cruising I thoroughly recommend you treat yourself to a good read.

Here’s a link to Amazon’s readers’ Reviews of the book: http://www.amazon.co.uk/product-reviews/0955803500/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1

Most reviewers gave the book five out of five! Hence, you can be guaranteed you won’t be disappointed.

I was hooked from the moment I started reading the Preface. Having experienced sailing small junk-rigged boats I could readily understand Roger’s enthusiasm for ‘Mingming’.

The Book

ROGER D. TAYLOR VOYAGES OF A SIMPLE SAILOR

ISBN 978-0-9558035-0-5

The FitzRoy Press 2008,

5 Regent Gate Waltham Cross,

Herts.

EN8 7AF

Links

The Simple Sailor

http://www.thesimplesailor.com/

Galleries for Voyages of a Simple Sailor

http://www.thesimplesailor.com/galleries.html