July 2012 - Traditional Small Craft Association

Traditional Small Craft Association
A Quarterly Newsletter
Volume 9
Recent Events
New Possibilities
Cinco de Mayo
Row on the Noyo
Pages 1 & 2
Innovative sail system
for canoes and kayaks
Pages 2 & 3
Boat-Builders’
Corner
Number 3
July 2012
Boats for sale
Page 6
Pages 4 & 5
Cinco de Mayo
Row on the Noyo
by Gwen Jacobson
Saturday, the 5th of May, dawned sunny
and windy for our row up the Noyo to
stretch our oars a bit before lunching at
Dolphin Isle. The eager crew of rowers
met at End of the Earth boathouse
around 10 o’clock where Stan, our
handsome (I overheard him use this
word with reference to self while we
were having lunch.) club president was
orchestrating the moving of boats to
water. Jim Blanton’s Gordy Nash
Whitehall was soon launched and he
gently rowed near the dock so as to
leave dock space for the next boat to be
launched. Bill and Gwen Jacobson’s
seldom-used Whitehall was next over
the side and soon was happily sitting in
the water and sopping some of it up.
The Jacobsons, taking the cue from Jim
Blanton, moved away from the dock and
puttered about nearby. Jim McDannold’s
‘Weekend Skiff’ was next to be launched
and after which his mother, Beverly
June, was hoisted into the boat using a
boson’s chair cleverly attached to the
Lost Coast News
same hoist that lowered the boats into
the water. She settled rather regally into
her seat in the boat’s stern and Jim M.
cast away from the dock. As Stan’s boat
was already in the water the only
remaining boats to be launched were Jim
Swallow’s lovely St. Lawrence skiff and
Dusty and Linda’s Gordy Nash
Whitehall. The mess-about was
officially under way. Stan joined Jim
32100 N. Harbor Dr. Fort Bragg, CA
707/964-2612
www.tsca.net/LostCoast
Stan Halvorsen and Jim Swallow
escape up-river.
Jim McDannold with Beverly June
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Swallow in his boat, leaving his own boat
to provide nautical ambience to the
boathouse dock.
While most of us headed up the Noyo,
Stan and Jim had other ideas and headed
out the mouth of the harbor intending to
circle the first buoy before catching up
with us. Those of us taking the direct
route were joined by Steve Curtiss, a
member from San Francisco, who was in
his Hobie kayak for the event (ed.’s note:
see Steve’s article in this issue). The wind
pushed us up the river quite nicely for a
while until it decided that we were
getting off way too easily and stopped
being so helpful. Most of us went up as
far as the old Georgia-Pacific bridge
before turning back to enter the Dolphin
Isle Marina. Dusty and Linda headed
right to lunch at the marina, skipping the
bridge viewing. They must have known
something the rest of us didn’t. Steve
decided to paddle up a bit further for a
‘look-see’ before joining us for lunch.
Meanwhile, Jim and Stan came flying in,
having been thwarted in their attempt to
circle the buoy by fierce waves, winds
The early bird gets to row: Jim Blanton in
his Whitehall.
and swells. Not lacking in valor – but
overcome by a strong sense of survival
and a desire to see another day – they
retreated back to the safety of the harbor
to join the rest of us who were enjoying
our less adventurous row.
Lunch, as usual, was tasty, filled with the
camaraderie that is born of lively
conversations covering a multitude of
subjects. Once the problems of the world
of boats and other timely topics were
hashed out it was time to pay our lunch
bills and cast off for the trip downriver.
The winds were of more help than
expected – or else we were just that
much stronger after lunch – and soon we
were right back where we had started
out. Boats were hauled out, put away or
put on trailers, good-byes were said and
another fun day on the water came to an
end. Life is good.
NEW POSSIBILITIES
by Steve Curtiss
First of all, thanks to all of the Lost Coast
group at the Dolphin Isle Row for
tolerating a modern (plastic &#!) kayak
as a tag-along. The harbor from the water
was fascinating and the Noyo estuary at
high tide was beautiful. Some time I
would like to go farther upriver, or
maybe take the Skunk Train to the
bridge and then kayak back down.
I’ve been working over the last few
years on a new sail system for canoes
and kayaks, and after talking to Dusty a
bit about it, he suggested doing a little
article for the newsletter. As a disclaimer,
I know TSCA is about traditional boat
design, but all boat technology was new
once and the principles used in sail rigs,
even the new articulating wings on the
America’s Cup cats, are still the same
traditional laws of physics.
The motivation behind the twinsail
design is pretty straightforward: the
force of the wind on a sail causes the boat
hull to heel over, and the farther the force
is above the water, the more the heeling
moment. High heeling moment has to be
counter-balanced by something, which
means a wider hull, or weighted keel, or
large outboard hulls (amas), or people
hiking out, or a wider sailor, or
something. But what if the sail area were
divided in half into two small sails—then
the wind force would operate at a little
over half the height, and the boat would
need much less counterbalance and be
smaller and more efficient.
The Hobie Rev 13 kayak modified for sailing as described here.
2
Since a jib and mainsail interact well
close together and get some additional
drive force from the air going through
the slot in between, I decided to play
around with identical sails close together,
connected by a link so they move in
Chris deFirmian Channels Youthful Energy
By Andy Jahn
You may have seen the recent article in The
Ukiah Daily Journal (14 July) about a boatbuilding program at Ukiah High School. In it
were pictured six brightly colored double-end
dories, a.k.a. “six-hour canoes.” The program
was organized by Chris deFirmian, a boatbuilder who brought his skills north from
southern California. The UHS program
involved helping kids learn math skills
(fractions, plane geometry) in a fun, physical
activity. Chris pre-cuts marine plywood panels
and builds frames in his wood shop, and gets
kids involved by assuring the boats take form
quickly. Pictured here are students from
Anderson Valley Elementary School, who built
the same-design dory in an after-school
program. Next up this fall at Ukiah High: sail
boats (12' Bevin skiffs).
tandem. I made various prototypes and
thoroughly tested the patience and sense
of humor of the harbormaster at
Shoreline Lake on SF Bay. After a lot of
hours playing around (sometimes
swimming around) the design is now in
the form pictured.
The hull is a Hobie Rev 13 kayak to
which were added a removable crossbar,
small ama hulls close in, and a solid
centerboard in place of the Hobie fin
drive. The sails are two Ezzy 1.5 meter
kids’ windsurfer sails that have been
shortened a little. Half of each wishbone
boom has been removed, and the two
masts mounted at each end of a turnbar
that can be rotated 180 degrees for
tacking or jibing with a pull-release latch.
A last detail was a short fold-out rod on
each boom to allow me to have solid
control of the sail angle, without lines,
blocks, or traveler. The result is a fun,
lively, and efficient little sailboat:
I hope that describing experiments like
this may encourage someone out there
to try their own traditional/
nontraditional boat ideas. The guy who
modified sails for me, Joe Dihl from
Davenport Surf Sail, once mounted a
windsurf mast foot, sail, and part of a
kitchen chair in his dory and had a great
time sailing around Santa Cruz harbor
relaxed and sitting down, grinning at his
windsurfer friends, so anything is
possible.
Editor’s Note: Having pedaled a Hobie in our
futile attempts to keep up with our super-fit
friends George and Judi, Virginia and I see
the wisdom in Steve’s invention.
On a reach (above)
and coming about.
It’s light and easily transported on my
truck, and can be quickly configured to
be a kayak, a stabilized kayak with amas,
or a sailboat. I carry only 31 square feet of
sail total, but in 10 knots of breeze I’m
getting 5.5 knots on a reach and 4.0 knots
tight upwind measured on my GPS. I
have a standing challenge out to anyone
to race in any kind of sailcraft carrying a
sailor of similar weight (170 lbs) and a
sail of similar size.
3
Lost Coast News
32100 N. Harbor Dr. Fort Bragg, CA
707/964-2612
www.tsca.net/LostCoast
Top: The layup done by Dusty and Bob
Treaster in Dusty's shop Middle: View from the bow smearing
on goo
Bottom: Nearly finished
Building My Peapod
by Bud Burdick
My 12’ Maine Peapod boat, written
about by Dusty Dillion in the April 2012
Lost Coast newsletter, is still being “put
together.” I’ve found that there is a bit
more to the finish work (seats, floors,
trim, etc.) than I realized. And being a
novice at this sort of thing adds to the
time. It is a good thing I have had Dusty
and Bob Treaster to confer with while I’m
“putting” the boat together. Needless to
say I’ve asked lots of questions.
The Peapod has nutmeg seats and floors
and some other nutmeg pieces. The main
strakes are ¼” marine ply. The two tone
gray (dark inside and lighter gray for the
hull) makes the varnished nutmeg stand
out nicely. There remains some sanding
and final painting to do, but it will be
ready for a “test” row shortly. Having
Dusty's boat shop to do the above has
made building this boat enjoyable.
I plan on using the Peapod for fishing
and camping trips on various lakes I’ve
previously canoed in years past. The best
and my most favorite lake being Ross
Lake in the state of Washington, which
extends into Canada. It is surrounded by
beautiful mountains and wildlife
abounds. Check it out on the internet.
Results of the “test” row will perhaps
appear in our newsletter. Someone, I’m
sure, will help me critique its
performance.
Later, Bud 4
Lapstrake Canoe Revisited
by Andy Jahn
Top left: Planing a rolling bevel
Top right: Third strake in place.
Left: Ready for more beveling
Well, the hen house is complete, the
pullets are beginning to lay, the garden is
in glorious mid-summer chaos, and my
canoe is taking form. In fits and starts,
the garboards are sheathed in Dynel,
second strakes are finished, and the third
strake is in place, ready for some fine
shaping and beveling. In Tom Hill's
system, these last two operations are
done right on the jig. The reader may notice some similarities
between this boat and Bud Burdick's
peapod. This is more than coincidence,
as, according to Dusty, the peapod
originated as a coastal canoe. One
difference, besides the dimensions, is
that on this canoe, the ribands are part of
the jig, whereas on the peapod, they stay
with the boat.
The Ongoing Saga of
the Monamoy Surf Boat
by Dusty Dillion
So, there we were, scraping, sanding,
stripping, checking the condition of
the hull, ribs and stem; special thanks
to Sandra Kearney and Bob Treaster
for their ongoing dedication.
I have been able to contact the builder,
Ray Spec, in Port Townsend, WA. He
has confidence in our ability to make
the repairs and our own Chris
Thomas has a long-standing working
relationship with Ray.
With our confidence in hand we are
currently working on determining the
damage, most of which appears to come
from pounding against the dock at Lake
Merit, Oakland over the years. About 18
ribs need to be replaced and sections of
the false stem and stern. Bob Treaster
made templates and the search for
suitable wood is ongoing. We have white
oak and blue gum for the ribs which we
plan to steam bend outside the boat, then
rivet them into place.
Many thanks to our enthusiastic
volunteers for a day here and there to
move things along. It is going to take
some effort; but a worthwhile project.
Come on along!
5
Lost Coast News
32100 N. Harbor Dr. Fort Bragg, CA
707/964-2612
www.tsca.net/LostCoast
12 kits! A big thanks to Bob Treaster, Wayne Beherns,
Ray Arnold, Jim McDannold, Will Beaumont and all the
others that helped when they could.
I was a little worried we wouldn’t get the boats
placed; but, thanks to Will’s marketing skills, a campaign
was launched and 11 of the kits have been placed. I’m
hoping for a great turnout at the Lighted Boat Parade
in December.
Boats
for Sale
People are coming together to get a sailing program
started in the spring at Lake Mendocino. In May Linda
and I attended a convention of aquatic centers to learn
about the grant cycles. Boats and Waterways have a
program that provides up to $47,000.00 per year for
boating programs that several groups in the County
could apply for.
At the Blue Lake row we shared the lake with an
Ukiah scout troupe; our 11th kit goes to them. I also
offered them a Sunfish I have and the International
Fireball that Jurian Blok scored in Grass Valley. Don
Gould, one of the troupe leaders, sails out of Sausalito
and is a prime mover to start a program combining dry
land sailing instruction promoted by Pineapple Sails in
Alameda that involves El Toro sail rigs on shopping
carts! This all feels pretty grass roots to me.
Will Beaumont contacted Richard Butz, co-author
of “Building the Weekend Skiff ”, to see if he could
help launch his Dory model kit project. Emails are flying and the University of Pennsylvania is taking a look
at what they called “a fine project”…way to go Will!
•12 1/2 ft. fiberglass wherry with Barkley Sound spoon
oars and trailer. Asking $2,500, call Dusty, 707/964-2612
•18 ft. MacKenzie Clipper Stern Canoe, flat bottom
freight canoe that holds 1500 lbs. 2hp Honda 4-stroke outboard, 2 formed paddles and backrest. $2,000. Dusty,
707/964-2612
•6 ft. Sailing Pram by Dusty and Bob, asking $1,500.
It can be viewed in Sportsmans Cannery Shop in the
Dusty rowing the Sailing Pram
harbor. Call Dusty 964-2612 for details. Pictured below.
Let’s hear from you
LOST COAST TSCA Traditional Small Craft Association, established
in 1970, is a nonprofit educational organization which works to preserve
and continue the living traditions, skills lore and legends surrounding working and pleasure craft whose origins predate the marine gasoline engine. It
encourages the design, construction and use of these boats, and it
embraces contemporary variants and adaptations of traditional
designs. TSCA is an enjoyable yet practical link among users,
designers, builders, restorers, historians, government, and maritime
institutions. Join the Lost Coast Chapter of the TSCA - Be a
part of this exciting organization. Increase your enjoyment of
traditional boats and meet other community members who share your
interest. Annual dues are $25. Copyright 2008 by the TSCA.
Pres. Stan Halvorsen 707/357-0888 Sec/Treasure Linda Dillon 707/964-2612
Community Outreach Dusty Dillon 707/964-2612
Web Master Jim Swallow 707/937-0828 http://www.tsca.net/LostCoast
NEW 2012 Newsletter Editor
Andy Jahn & Virginia MacIntosh 707.469.7432
Lost Coast News
Page 7
We’d like to hear your ideas.
Send us your thoughts about past,
present or future articles and/or
photos & images you’d like to see
included in the newsletter.
Contact Andy:
andyjahn@mac.com
Revised Schedule
of Remaining 2012
Events
*All events initiate at 10 a.m. unless
otherwise noted.
TBD - Master Mariners Event, Corinthian
YC Tiburon
Aug. 25 – Big River M/A & Potluck BBQ
at Swallows home
13' Whitehall rowboat, (shown
above and at right) carvel planked
construction using oak and cedar. Built
in 1999 by Eric Dow
(dowboats@dowboats.com) of Brooklin,
Maine. Two rowing positions with two
sets of Shaw & Tenney oars
(info@shaw&tenney.com). 1960's trailer
included. $2500. contact Bill Jacobson,
707-937-2432, billj@mcn.org
8’ Rowing Pram by Dusty and
Sep. 14-16 – Blue Lake Rendezvous, *see
info below
Sep. TBD – Lake Mendocino Row and
Camp-out
Oct. 13 – Albion River Redux October Fest
& Potluck
Nov. 17 – Lost Coast TSCA General
Meeting – 32110 N. Harbor Dr.
Dec.TBD – Lighted Boat Parade, Noyo
River @ dusk
Bob $1200. See at World’s End
Boatbuilding Shop, Noyo Harbor. Call
Dusty @ 964-2612.
Dec.TBD – Holiday Lights Parade, 5pm
Fort Bragg (call Dusty for
details and help with decorating)
8’ Sailing Pram by Dusty and Bob
*Blue Lake: If you are interested in
participating and wish to stay over, please
contact Pine Acres Resort which is at the
eastern end of the lake. They have RV,
camping and motel accommodations. The
phone number is 707/275-2711, the web
site is www.bluelakespinesacres.com. Call
Bill Jacobson at 937-2432 for further
details.
$1500. Can be seen at Sportsmans
Cannery Shop in the harbor. Call
Dusty 964-2612.
International Fireball complete
with sails. $2000 donation to Lost
Coast TSCA.
6
Lost Coast TSCA
Traditional Small Craft Association, established in 1970, is a
nonprofit educational organization which works to preserve
and continue the living traditions, skills lore and legends
surrounding working and pleasure craft whose origins
predate the marine gasoline engine. It encourages the design,
construction and use of these boats, and it embraces
contemporary variants and adaptations of traditional designs.
TSCA is an enjoyable yet practical link among users,
designers, builders, restorers, historians, government, and
maritime institutions. Join the Lost Coast Chapter of the
TSCA (membership form below). Be a part of this exciting
organization. Increase your enjoyment of traditional boats and
meet other community members who share your interest.
Annual dues are $25. Copyright 2008 by the TSCA.
President Stan Halvorsen 707/357-0888
Sec/Treasure Linda Dillon 707/964-2612
Newsletter Andy Jahn/Virginia Macintosh 707/468-7432
andyjahn@mac.com
CommunityOutreach Dusty Dillon 707/964-2612
Web Master Jim Swallow 707/937-0828
http://www.tsca.net/LostCoast
Lost Coast TSCA
32100 North Harbor Drive, Fort Bragg, CA. 95437
Join the fun:
Lost Coast TSCA
I wish to:
☐ Join
Boat ownership not a requirement. If you own a boat,
☐ Renew
What kind?__________________________________________
Name _________________________________________________
☐ Change of Address
Address ____________________________________________
I/We desire the following annual membership:
☐ Individual $25.
City________________________________________________
☐ Family $25.
Family memberships qualify all members to participate in Lost
Coast TSCA events.
Don’t own a boat? No problem.. Join and row with a member
that does. Join the fun.
State ______________________ Zip ___________________
Phone ______________________ Email __________________
Enclosed is my check for $ ____________
I am also a member of the__________________________(if any)
Chapter of the TSCA
Checks should be written to Lost Coast TSCA.
I hold the Lost Coast TSCA harmless.
Signature ___________________________________________
7
Lost Coast News
32100 N. Harbor Dr. Fort Bragg, CA
707/964-2612
www.tsca.net/LostCoast
Lost Coast TSCA
32100 North Harbor Drive
Fort Bragg, CA 95437