Monique
Active member
Saw your post yesterday pm... now in the dog house with GF...
Well done. Also subscribed to your blog.
Well done. Also subscribed to your blog.
2000 Miles in a Tom Gilmer "Blue Moon" Yawl
- Thread starter UnlikelyBoatbuilder
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UnlikelyBoatbuilder
New member
Building Blink
Here's something I've discovered: It's very difficult to build something for a boat that is a thousand miles away.
Specifically, I needed to laminate up a wedge to put between my outboard motor bracket and my steeply raked transom, so my new outboard wouldn't be tilted so far from vertical (which is both inefficient and not good for oil flow.)
This was my first lamination job, so I had no idea what I was getting into...
Read complete blog post: Building Blind
-- John
Here's something I've discovered: It's very difficult to build something for a boat that is a thousand miles away.
Specifically, I needed to laminate up a wedge to put between my outboard motor bracket and my steeply raked transom, so my new outboard wouldn't be tilted so far from vertical (which is both inefficient and not good for oil flow.)
This was my first lamination job, so I had no idea what I was getting into...
Read complete blog post: Building Blind
-- John
UnlikelyBoatbuilder
New member
Thanks! I'm probably being thick, but what's GF?
DownWest
Well-known member
Ah, the two nations split by a common language. Probably his Girl Friend.
A
Keep at it, it's interesting.
A
Keep at it, it's interesting.
UnlikelyBoatbuilder
New member
Cumberland Island
One of the first places I stopped in Georgia was also one of the nicest.
Cumberland Island is a large barrier island off the coast of GA, about a day's sail north of the Florida border. I wasn't planning on stopping there, but as I was cruising up Cumberland Sound, the current was so strong against me that I decided to pull in to wait for the turn of the tide...
Complete blog post: Cumberland Island
One of the first places I stopped in Georgia was also one of the nicest.
Cumberland Island is a large barrier island off the coast of GA, about a day's sail north of the Florida border. I wasn't planning on stopping there, but as I was cruising up Cumberland Sound, the current was so strong against me that I decided to pull in to wait for the turn of the tide...
Complete blog post: Cumberland Island
UnlikelyBoatbuilder
New member
Bowsprit
On 29 September, I was anchored in Cattlepen Creek. I can't quite figure out how this creek got it's name, because it was just a narrow cut of open water in the middle of the vast Georgia marsh. If there were any cattle around, they were up to their necks in mud.
During the night, the remnants of a tropical storm blew over the anchorage. Not much wind, but torrential rain. I woke up with a tropical stream dripping onto my forehead, and for a few minutes I was dashing around my little cabin, dogging down all 8 port lights, stopping leaks, and mopping up drips. I put my head out into the deluge to see if the anchor was holding, but between lightning strikes, it was black as pitch. I was all alone out there...
Read blog post: Bowsprit
On 29 September, I was anchored in Cattlepen Creek. I can't quite figure out how this creek got it's name, because it was just a narrow cut of open water in the middle of the vast Georgia marsh. If there were any cattle around, they were up to their necks in mud.
During the night, the remnants of a tropical storm blew over the anchorage. Not much wind, but torrential rain. I woke up with a tropical stream dripping onto my forehead, and for a few minutes I was dashing around my little cabin, dogging down all 8 port lights, stopping leaks, and mopping up drips. I put my head out into the deluge to see if the anchor was holding, but between lightning strikes, it was black as pitch. I was all alone out there...
Read blog post: Bowsprit
UnlikelyBoatbuilder
New member
Southport Wooden Boat Show
Sometimes it pays to be lucky...
Last weekend, I sailed into the harbor in Southport, NC, straight into the middle of their 1st Annual Wooden Boat Show. Naturally, I stayed to participate!
Read blog post: Wooden Boat Show
Sometimes it pays to be lucky...
Last weekend, I sailed into the harbor in Southport, NC, straight into the middle of their 1st Annual Wooden Boat Show. Naturally, I stayed to participate!
Read blog post: Wooden Boat Show
Monique
Active member
UnlikelyBoatbuilder
New member
An Yll Wynde
There's an old English proverb that says "An yll wynde blowth no man to good".
Apparently, this was a bit gloomy for Sir Walter Scott, who completely reversed the proverb's meaning (and spelling) with his own version: "It's an ill wind that blaws naebody gude".
Stranded on an isolated river in southern New Jersey in early November by a very 'yll' wind indeed, I wondered which version of the proverb would prove true...
Read complete episode: An Yll Wynde
Fair Wyndes: John
There's an old English proverb that says "An yll wynde blowth no man to good".
Apparently, this was a bit gloomy for Sir Walter Scott, who completely reversed the proverb's meaning (and spelling) with his own version: "It's an ill wind that blaws naebody gude".
Stranded on an isolated river in southern New Jersey in early November by a very 'yll' wind indeed, I wondered which version of the proverb would prove true...
Read complete episode: An Yll Wynde
Fair Wyndes: John
DownWest
Well-known member
Well, there is an expression in Portugal about " There is not a good wind, woman,or horse that comes from the east (Spain). The wind is the levante (actually from Africa) The others are local prejudiced from the occupation a few years back.
UnlikelyBoatbuilder
New member
Home Stretch
In the end, getting down Delaware Bay was a matter of picking the right weather.
That's a phrase you read a lot in cruising guides: "Pick the right weather to cross ______". Fill in your favorite nasty stretch of open water.
But picking the right weather isn't so easy...
Complete blog post: Home Stretch
Fair winds: John
In the end, getting down Delaware Bay was a matter of picking the right weather.
That's a phrase you read a lot in cruising guides: "Pick the right weather to cross ______". Fill in your favorite nasty stretch of open water.
But picking the right weather isn't so easy...
Complete blog post: Home Stretch
Fair winds: John
UnlikelyBoatbuilder
New member
I seem to remember a Dickens book that included a character who was obsessed with the East Wind. Or maybe it was the West Wind. It was a long time ago
Which wind is 'fair' isn't so obvious for the sailor, some times...
UnlikelyBoatbuilder
New member
Going For It
E.F. Knight's "Sailing" is one of my favorite sailing books. It's the book that John Walker consulted when, as a young lad, he had to sail the Goblin across the North Sea to Holland in a gale (in "We Didn't Mean to Go to Sea"), and it's probably the book Arthur Ransome learned to sail with.
Knight says the science of sailing is "practically infinite", and I agree -- particularly when it comes to weather. After many months of studying weather forecasts, and comparing them with the weather that actually showed up, all I can do is quote the ancient weather proverb: "Believe it when you see it."
Oh, and "Take it with a grain of salt."
Complete blog post: Going For It
Fair Winds: John
E.F. Knight's "Sailing" is one of my favorite sailing books. It's the book that John Walker consulted when, as a young lad, he had to sail the Goblin across the North Sea to Holland in a gale (in "We Didn't Mean to Go to Sea"), and it's probably the book Arthur Ransome learned to sail with.
Knight says the science of sailing is "practically infinite", and I agree -- particularly when it comes to weather. After many months of studying weather forecasts, and comparing them with the weather that actually showed up, all I can do is quote the ancient weather proverb: "Believe it when you see it."
Oh, and "Take it with a grain of salt."
Complete blog post: Going For It
Fair Winds: John
UnlikelyBoatbuilder
New member
East River Adventure
At last! The final segment of "Cabin Boy's Big Adventure". Don't miss it!
When you reach the southern end of Governor's Island, you have a choice of either the main channel to the west, or the Buttermilk Channel to the east. I chose the Buttermilk because it took me out of the main traffic and seemed a bit more protected from the northerly breeze.
Governor's Island got it's name when New York was a British colony. The island, being just a mile south of Manhattan, and close to the anchorage for the British fleet, was reserved for the use of the royal governor.
Even back then it was location, location, location...
Read complete blog post: East River Adventure
Fair tides: John
At last! The final segment of "Cabin Boy's Big Adventure". Don't miss it!
When you reach the southern end of Governor's Island, you have a choice of either the main channel to the west, or the Buttermilk Channel to the east. I chose the Buttermilk because it took me out of the main traffic and seemed a bit more protected from the northerly breeze.
Governor's Island got it's name when New York was a British colony. The island, being just a mile south of Manhattan, and close to the anchorage for the British fleet, was reserved for the use of the royal governor.
Even back then it was location, location, location...
Read complete blog post: East River Adventure
Fair tides: John
C
catalac08
Guest
They say you know when your vacation is long enough when you start thinking about work, again. My break away from the Blue Moon voyage must be almost up, because I am definitely thinking about her!
My new engine is on order and should be delivered on or about June 7th. It wasn't easy to choose one. Here's what I was hoping to get:
* at least 15 hp
* 25" shaft
* as high a gear ratio as possible (3:1)
* as big a prop as possible
* as light as possible
* as reliable as possible
* as fuel efficient as possible
* easy to find repair people (on east coast of US)
Dealers call this a 'sailboat' motor, or a 'high thrust' motor. It's designed not for speed, but for power. And since the Blue Moon displaces about 8,000 lbs, power is what's needed.
Unfortunately, no one makes an outboard that meets all these criteria....
Read complete blog post: Missing Her
Enjoy: John
Hi
Love your posts what a good voyage - Tohatsu make a 4 stroke outboard engine 20 or 25 0r 30HP with an utra long shaft of 25". It is a dealer conversion kit (from Tohatsu to convert from 20" to 25") which cost me about £350G for the kit and £100 for the conversion work on a 20HP (2 hrs, you could do yourself but that may affect the 5 year warranty), These small engines also come with power tilt which is good for quickly dropping the leg. Had a 25HP 2 stroke Tohatsu for 8 years now and it has been brilliant but I could do with the better fuel economy of the 4 stroke and the lower noise levels of the 4 stroke. I think Tohatsu in the USA are marketed as Nissan.
Fair winds and good luck
keith