Rat Island

Last weekend the Puget Sound TSCA and the Port Townsend Pocket Yachters co-sponsored a day trip to the unfortunately named Rat Island conservation area at the entrance to Mystery Bay.

Doryman didn't make it, but Marty Loken did and took a few photos for our amusement...

"After Friday's torrential downpour, yesterday was mostly dry and warm--T-shirt
weather at Rat Island for much of the time, in fact. It rained early, but we
stayed dry until later in the afternoon, when the monsoons returned...just as
the last two boats were sailing over from Port Townsend. (Sorry, I didn't get
photos of the late-arriving boats--it was pouring by then and the camera was
stashed in a dry bag.) - Also accidentally erased a few other photos, including
one of Glenn Woodbury's Beach Pea...but yesterday's collection offered a wide
variety of boats, including two Rangers (12 and 20); two Oughtreds (Calendonia
Yawl and Whilly Boat), two Welsfords, a Whitehall, Core Sound 17 and others."

 Nik's Caledonia Yawl, Sutil

 A Caledonia Yawl and a Whilly Boat, each are Iain Oughtred designs.

 Randy's Core Sound 17. This boat is impressive. An all-around design, easy to sail.

 A Whitehall and a Ranger 12.

 Ranger 20. I don't know much about this boat, but she looks very capable.

 





 The line-up

 Whitehall

Scott's Rogue, Lagniappe.
A John Welsford design

 The view from the marsh. Rat Island is a protected area and no camping is allowed. There are marina facilities at nearby Fort Flagler.

 Thanks for the pictures Marty!

Projects on Hold at the Boat Shop

First we'll stop by the Teak Lady, Che Hon. This poor old boat is so dry! We soaked her in a local man made pond for three weeks. The teak planks take-up very slowly. So we've corked the garboard seam at the keel very lightly and will set up a sprinkler inside for a few days.

There is a danger that the wide open seams will close on too much packing cotton and split the planks or crack some frames.

I put a couple coats of varnish on her topsides two days ago and she perked right up!








Next is a double paddle for my good friend Jim Ballou. In the same style as the spooned oars I made last winter. This is the rough shape, which will have to wait until I get back for polish and pretty.













Not the least is the Gloucester Gull Light Dory we're building down at the Boathouse. Rick Johnson, shipwright extraordinaire, will no doubt finish this without me - he's a bit peeved that I get a vacation and he doesn't.




Tomorrow morning DoryMan leaves, and will be back next month.

The initial stop will be the Sucia Rendezvous - three days of camaraderie with other gunkholers, then probably a few days of sailing in company, followed by a couple weeks of solo sailing.

No electronics on this trip. No laptop. No SPOT tracker. In fact, no itinerary.

The San Juan Islands are truly beautiful and the Salish Sea only gets more scenic the further north you go.

Canadian waters are the destination. I'd like to visit friends who live on Savary Island.
Anacortes, Washington is the point of departure.

Hope to see you all when I get back.
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Summer Cruise

What is the most critical detail for a cruise in the Pacific Northwest?

Shelter.

In the northwestern rain forest you will find (surprise!) a lot of rain. Just because it's mid-summer means nothing. If you are cruising in an open boat, you will get wet.

Doryman is preparing for a month long cruise in the Salish Sea starting next Friday. All of the requisite gear is stacked in the boat-shed with charts and tide tables wrapped in plastic.




Saga is a completely open boat, which will afford little comfort if a Pacific storm sets in. So we've been working on converting an old boat cover into a cockpit tent for those rainy nights at anchor. The cover is made of tan canvas, which we cut in half then sewed in a wedge of sail cloth. The white sail cloth is opaque and lets in a lot of ambient light. The whole thing is supported by a frame of PVC water pipe.









A few more adjustments to the tie-downs and it will fit perfectly.

Townsend Tern

News Flash! New Design!

Kees Prins, manager of the boat shop at the Northwest Maritime Center in Port Townsend, Washington has produced a new design and it's gorgeous!
I saw Kees at a recent messabout at Fort Worden a couple weeks ago where the buzz was all about this new boat. He's an understated guy but it's clear he's excited.



The Townsend Tern is a cruising and gunkholing design featuring high performance and comfortable livability in one package. This is no easy task since one almost always precludes the other.

That's Kees and Chelcie putting her through her paces.
(Photos copyright by Laingdon Schmitt.)



The Tern is a 23.5 ft. electric powered, glued-lapstrake, trailerable cat ketch.
She is a custom build for a specific client with well defined needs. With input from Kees the boat turned out perfect for day sailing or extended cruising.

Kees has this to say:

"I designed her with a lot of input from Chelcie and Kathy Liu. They set all the initial parameters and we kept discussing things along the way."

His assessment?

"The Tern sailed well. She was stable, maneuverable, easily handled and we kept up with two T-birds on her trial run."

Wow!

I immediately wrote to Kathy and Chelcie for some background information and I'll pass their observations on to you...


"When we approached Kees we were looking for a trailerable sailboat of modern wood construction with the following specifications:"

* Target length: 24 – 25 feet
* Target beam: 7 feet plus or minus 2 inches so that it would fit into a shipping container.
* Target displacement including motor, anchors, batteries, sail rig, etc. (everything but the crew) 2,300 pounds. (Lighter consistent with strength and stability is better.) Ideally the boat would have 2,300 displacement including crew and gear with 1,700 displacement empty.
* Draft, with shallow keel: 18 inches (maybe up to 2 feet)
* Minimal overhangs: LWL approximately 2.5 feet less than LOA.

"After some preliminary design work and discussions with Tim Nolan and Jim Franken it was decided to give up the container shipping concept and go with a wider, heavier, more stable vessel."

"In addition to the above, we wanted a boat that would be stable and easily single-handed with these additional features:"

* Free-standing carbon fiber masts
* Electric outboard propulsion
* No through-hull fittings
* Contemporary construction
* Sleeping arrangements for two
* Comfortable sitting head-room
* A navigation station
* Hand-held rather than fixed electronics
* Space heater (cook stove optional)
* A composting head
* Easy maintenance
* Minimally intrusive centerboard trunk



"The boat is about the target length (23.5 feet) heavier (about 3,500 pounds, all up), wider (7’10”) and more stable.



Kees was able to weave all of our other requests into the final as-built boat."

We have:
* A cat-ketch with free-standing carbon fiber masts
* A Torqeedo Cruise 2.0L outboard “fueled” by (4) Lifeline AGM 6-Volt, 220 Ah batteries connected in series, that fit under the seats in the cabin
* No through-hull fittings
* Glued lapstrake construction
* Comfortable sleeping arrangements for two
* Comfortable sitting head-room, even for tall people
* A navigation station.
* Hand-held rather than fixed electronics
* A Wallas single-burner, paraffin fuel cook-top with heater option
* An Airhead composting head
* Easy maintenance

"Ballast for the boat includes 850 pounds of lead in the stub keel, 330 pounds of batteries and about 65 pounds of lead at the top-aft end of the centerboard. Additional ballast comes from bronze keel bolts and metal in the lifting brackets. She is outfitted with brackets and sling so that she can be lifted by hooking a single ring and launched using a crane."

"The head slides out from under the bridge deck for use then is slipped back out of the way when not in use."

Very impressive!

Those who have read these pages for a while know that Doryman has been researching just such a boat for some time now. We've explored a few similar design parameters and this one just might be the best so far. Traditional good looks coupled with modern building techniques have created a high performance cruiser. No longer an oxymoron.

Congratulations to Kathy and Chelcie Liu and kudos to Kees Prins on a job well done!

Kathy tells me:

"She is on the hard at Boat Haven [Port Townsend boatyard] awaiting a trailer, proper registration papers and some finishing touches.
Once we have the trailer our plan is to move her back into the Northwest Maritime Center boat shop so they can finish the punch list --- then we'll go sailing!"

(I hope they invite Doryman)

Kees Prins is the builder responsible for the Ed Davis Tropic Bird design know as Sparrow, featured on the header of this blog. Truly a gifted and talented builder/ designer.

The Townsend Tern is a special boat and will be featured in WoodenBoat Magazine's "Small Boat" issue in December. Be sure to look for it there!


Please respect the copyright on the information posted here. Do not reproduce in any way.
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Eider, by Sam Devlin

I recently received a note from my friend "Captain Kirk" Gresham, owner of Eider, a Sam Devlin designed daysailer which Kirk has outfitted for single handed cruising. I'd heard rumors that Kirk had made some upgrades to improve the sailor's comfort on his Eider. Let's face it, a 16.5 foot boat is not capacious, though her sailing qualities are legion. When a small boat can take the weather, the question becomes "can the sailor?".

Anyone who has spent twelve hours in an open cockpit in driving rain knows what I mean.

The Salish Sea, home to Eider borders the coastal rain forest of the western North American continent, and yes, it rains a lot here. Cold rain. And wind.
When we were younger, these things mattered far less than they do now.





Kirk is proud of his accomplishments and wants to share them with you...



"I decided to finally build that pilot house I've been fantasizing about for sometime. A real pilot house would look too hefty on Eider and perhaps a bit difficult to get around, going forward on her tiny side decks, so I simply converted her companionway hatch. It still took a lot of eyeing and awing to create something that gave the headroom desired to be able to sit upright below beside the wood stove and steer from inside. Curving the windows to match the camber of a roof that parallels the sheer did the trick quite nicely. The Plexiglas was free from a window suppliers scrap pile, including an oval tinted skylight just forward so I can watch the sails from below."

"The whole thing slides fore and aft as a hatch and will slide right off the rails if I prefer to stow it below on a sunny day."




"There has been nothing but compliments about her new looks, even from the old salts and she's much brighter, cheerful and more comfortable below."







Also...

"I thought it'd be great fun to be able to allow Eider to run up on a beach or mud bank and let her dry out at low tide so I could walk around, watch the birds, maybe dig some clams. She draws only two feet but I didn't want to be lying on my ear, so a set of "legs" seemed to be the answer. This set is made of some 2x6 mahogany."




"Eider was beached for the first time at this year's Sucia Island Small Boat Rendezvous. It was a bit scary waiting to see if she'd be stable and secure enough for me to move around freely and to be able to get off and on once she was high and dry. The legs are bolted through the sheer with wing nuts that I can reach through her bronze ports. Guy lines run fore and aft to keep them from swinging around the bolt. They're padded to prevent chafe with some deerskin a friend gave me."








"She bumped once or twice as she settled down on the rock and sand flats in Fossil Bay. She has a 2x3 purple-heart shoe on the bottom of her full keel which can take the rocks."
"Her attached rudder is about two inches above the keel so there were no problems there. She managed to miss all the big rocks and an hour later was sitting pretty while we socialized with passers-by strolling with their dogs along the beach!"

"After tip-toeing for awhile, I've now confirmed that she is absolutely rock solid on her beach legs and I am free to move about without wiggle, creak or groan. Eider's deck ends up just about belt height which makes it easy to climb off to explore new surroundings."






"I tested the upgrades on a recent cruise to Queen Charlotte Strait, Blackfish Sound and the Broughton Islands". [Inland passage to Alaska, Vancouver Island, B.C. Canada].
"My cruising partners where Lynn Watson in his modified Drascomb Peterboat, Kate Mae and Jamie Orr with his Chebacco 20, Wayward Lass."




"Several afternoons were spent ghosting down long narrow channels, gliding on three knots of current with thick forests on both banks and no other sounds for hours but the occasional scream of an eagle, a mimicked voice from a raven or the sigh of a breaching whale. We saw porpoise, humpback whales, otters and Stellers Sea Lions. There was prodigious evidence of black bears at Mammalillaculla, an ancient aboriginal site with totem poles laying on their sides among high thickets of black berries. Fortunately the bears weren't interested in wrestling us for the berries."




Eider is a unique Sam Devlin design of limited manufacture. She measures 16.5ft. LOD, 6.5ft. beam, 2ft. draft, and 1400lbs "all up". She is rigged as a as an unstayed spritsail cutter with staysl and flying jib on a short bowsprit, approximately 150 square feet in sail area. She also carries a drifter of about 100 square feet. The main and stays'l are tanbark.
She is a hard chined skiff with a slight "V" bottom and a full keel and poured concrete and steel internal ballast. Her cabin has sitting headroom, a solid fuel cabin stove and berths for two. She carries a 5hp Mariner outboard auxiliary.

Hopefully, sometime in the next year, I will have the pleasure and the privilege of sailing alongside Eider in the Valgerda, Saga. When that happens we'll take you along!

Eider, by Sam Devlin

My good friend, Kirk is back in Port Townsend, from a trip to a monastery in Japan where he climbed 2446 stone steps to a temple that was 1400 years old. While chanting with monks, backed by taiko drums that echoed like thunder and where, among the ancient kanji carved in the mountain rock he found joy and enlightenment.

Kirk is the owner of Eider, a Sam Devlin design from the early 1980's. He loves this sprit rigged cutter and it's easy to see why, from the photos.




Kirk is a sailor's sailor and we can trust his judgment on the fine sailing qualities of this little gunkholer.

After filling me in on his mountain trek, he gave the particulars of Eider:

"Sam built about seven of these sweet little cutters. She is 16.6 ft. on deck with a fixed keel and attached rudder and draws 2ft. She weighs about 1400 lbs. Sam told me that the Eiders were heavily built by eye, with no real plans other than a lines drawing. They became too expensive for their size at about $10,000(US) in those days. That's what lead him to come up with the smaller, simpler and more cost effective Nancy's China and the larger full keel Winter Wren, which is built more like Eider, but is 18ft."

Kirk has been experimenting with traditional Japanese sculling oars called Ro (what the Chinese call Yuloh).

He has a straight shafted sculling oar on Eider now, with which he sculled around the harbor at the Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival this year. Everyone seemed excited about how easily this nonpolluting alternative to the outboard motor worked.



He's working on building a traditional Ro for his Eider this winter and we'll be anxious to see how it works, next summer when we meet again at the Sucia Island Rendezvous.




I have a feeling Kirk would agree that climbing to a mountain top monastery is not the only way to experience joy and enlightenment, when you can sail a boat as sweet as Eider and achieve much the same.

Eider measures 16.5ft. LOD, 6.5ft. beam, 2ft. draft, and 1400lbs. "all up". She is rigged as a as an unstayed spritsail cutter with staysl and flying jib on a short bowsprit, approximately 150 sq.ft. in sail area. She also carries a drifter of about 100 sq.ft. The main and stays'l are tanbark.
She is a hard chined skiff with a slight vee bottom and a full keel and poured concrete and steel internal ballast. Her cabin has sitting headroom, a solid fuel cabin stove and berths for two. She carries a 5hp Mariner outboard auxiliary.
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