10/22/07

Search for a new boat

I will remember 2007 as the year of frustration. Work, family illnesses and other priorities took it's toll on my sailing lifestyle. I couldn't seem to find time to sail my beloved Capri 18. Launching it takes a full half an hour after arrival at the ramp, and I just wasn't able to get out for just a couple of hours which is all I was having time for.

I think my wife recognized my frustration, and knows how much I love sailing. She asked my what boat would work for our situation, and I almost thought it didn't exist. Every sailboat I have ever owned had required a commitment to set up of at least a half a hour. I'd always been drawn to those Sea Pearl Ads in Small Craft Advisor. Once back in the days of my beloved Snipe, one of hem passed me, and I remember thinking "what an odd looking boat, that thing is fast.".

I was listening to NPR one time and they had an interview with Richard Petty, the former NASCAR driver. I'm not much of a NASCAR fan, but he said something that made me laugh. The interviewer asked when the first car race was and he said deadpan "When the second car was made". I think sailboats are like that. Every time I've ever been out in a sailboat, and another boat is anywhere near, it's inevitable that the boats will  check each others speed. Having a faster boat was something I desired. Hey...I am a little competitive.

And fast setup in a boat I could fit in my garage seemed like a good idea as well.

So I thought I'd look for a Sea Pearl. A new one was out of the question financially. I joined the Sea Pearl users group on Yahoo to learn a little more about them, and one of the first messages was that there was a Sea Pearl for sale near Hamilton, Ontario for what appeared to be a reasonable price. I went back and read all the archives and learned as much as I could, and I made arrangements to go look at the boat.

My daughter Helen and I went and met the sellers, and not only did I really like the boat, the sellers were really nice, and honest, and for the first time ever in my life, I didn't try to haggle over price, I just bought the boat. I was smitten, or as they say, I was in deep Smit. The picture here is of the Jenkins, great people who claimed were to old for the boat, but I can only hope I'm that spry when I'm there age. Getting the boat across the border was no easy task, but buying a boat in a foreign country is a bad idea, but in the end, it worked out.

I spent last week getting my new to me SP getting ready for my first sail. I concentrated on fixing only the things that I didn’t think were up to snuff from a sailing perspective. Mr. Jenkins had taken great care of the boat, but I might have some slight OCD issues, and also like to work on stuff, so I made new leeboard pendants. Next I took up the play in the rudder pivot by cutting a few "Washers" out of a top of a plastic bin (see picture). I put these along side the rudder and slid it back into the rudder housing and the play was gone. Nice! When I did a test run on furling, I noticed the mast didn't turn very easy. The boat had spent a lot of time in the Sunshine State (a.k.a. the boat torture state....UV, salt water and sand) and the mast tubes had a little sand in the bottom. I removed the sand from the mast seats and sprayed a little McLube in them for easier  rotation.

First Sail

 A friend of mine rigged a canoe for sailing and wanted me to give him some sailing tips, and with a new sailboat myself, I thought it would be a great opportunity to get together for an adventure. When the dates were set, little did I know that last Friday and Saturday would have some serious wind. On Thursday night we met. Joe had driven in from Northern Jersey, and I drove to Geneva NY from Honeoye Falls, about an hour with the trailer on my Pontiac Vibe (It pulls the SP easily).  The destination was my Dad’s cottage on the west side of the lake.

About five o'clock Friday morning, I woke to the gusts that built in the next couple of hours. The wind was from the south, and it was strong. By the time we drove down to Seneca Lake State Park Marina, the lake looked to rough for sailing on a boat I had zero experience on, not to mention a canoe with an untested rig.

We launched the SP anyway, because I wanted to get a feel for what motoring on it was like. It has a Suzuki 2 that looks like I’ll never have to worry about getting it stolen, but it runs well, and I was impressed how it moved the boat at almost 6 knots up the Seneca-Cayuga (part of the Erie Barge Canal system) canal. I hadn’t put the masts up, and I was wishing I had brought fishing poles, but the goal was to sail, and it was just too rough on the lake. So once I was satisfied with the motor, I put the boat back on the trailer, and Joe and I left his car and canoe at the park, and traveled down the east side of the lake, hoping that maybe it would be calmer at Watkins Glen, or less waves anyway.

We got side tracked by a couple of Wineries and lunch, but by 3:30 or so it was with some trepidation we launched the boat at the public launch in Watkins Glen. It’s a really steep ramp with a four dollar fee, so I left a five dollar Canadian bill in the box that was left over from m trip to Canada to buy it. I had filled the water ballast in Geneva for practice (that sure is simple) and so Joe did the same while I parked the car. We motored away from the ramp all rigged. One thing about the little triangle of sail still up when the sails are furled is that little bit of wind-age is significant in 25+ wind. We got out though, and once clear I put the Mizzen out with 2 turns left on the mast, and it’s true, when I sheeted it down, the boat pointed right into the wind. I learned the next day that this seems to work a lot better with less waves, but it really is a nice feature to this boat. Did I mention I could hardly launch without multiple people telling me what a neat boat it was.

 I unfurled the main (with three turns of reef) and let Joe take the helm as I worked the main. The gusts were quite impressive. We saw 30 foot boats with tiny jibs and seriously reefed mains healed right on their ears, and I was wondering if this was such a good idea. But after awhile, it became quite clear that with proper caution, the SP can handle a lot of weather. I eventually kicked Joe out of the helm seat, and took over. I have three small kids, and I wanted to make sure I could handle it myself. Although there were a few moments when gusts would almost overwhelm us, all in all it was a nice ride, not the white knuckle affair I was expecting. We eventually shook one rotation out of the main, and had some serious fun. When it was near dusk, we finally pulled the boat out of the water. A crowd of people gathered around to admire the boat and our sailing skills (apparently they didn't see us swamp the aft cockpit twice totally from inattention), and I was gushing at how user friendly the boat is, as it was my first sail on it.

 We beat it back to Geneva for a late dinner and turned in by 11:00, just beat from the stress and exhilaration from that sail. I had forgotten my GPS and never did get a speed reading, so Saturday we were going to sail again. As it turns out, Saturday we had even more wind, and it was coming from the west. We went to Seneca Lake State Park Marina.

Joe was determined to sail his canoe, so he spent time rigging it while I launched the SP. It took me about 20 minutes, but that was by myself, and I think with a few modifications to some of the trailer gear, it could be even less. The best thing was that it takes very little effort to rig. Normally in other small boats I've owned, I’d be half worn out and stressed just launching. The Suzuki kicker only has start in gear, luckily it starts good, and I was over to Joe at the marina without incident by myself.

I thought he was nuts to launch, but away we went. I towed him over towards Geneva where there was les waves. The picture is of him sailing. There was serious gusts. I was sure that he would swamp it, but he zipped all around. This guy doesn't come across as having brass ones, but here is proof. Eventually we headed back to the marina, and took the canoe out of the water. I took a lot of teasing from some of the sailors that I had only put up the mizzen, but I noticed none of them were out. So Joe and I headed back out on the Wild Cat (more on the name later).

We shot across the lake from the canal to Geneva-on-the-lake. We just couldn't get it to 8 knots on the way back, but we were close.  I think if the lake wasn't so rough, we might have gotten it. I realized loading the car that in the pursuit of luxury or safety in other boats, I had given up a lot of thrills. I think she's a good compromise.

I towed here home tired but happy.

Wild Cat - How she got here name.

My daughter Helen is nine years old, and both smart and beautiful. She reads non-stop. I had read the book Swallows and Amazons when I was a kid, but I couldn't remember the name of it. With a little help from the trailersailors.com folks, I was able to locate the book, and I found out there was a whole series from Arthur Ransome, the Author. These are great books, about the adventures of children back in England in the 30's and 40's. In one of the books, Peter Duck, the kids, Uncle Jim and the old man Peter Duck sail a yacht from England to the Caribbean. The name of the boat is the Wild Cat. Helen suggested it, and it just fit. Hopefully we'll have our own excellent Family adventures in our Wild Cat.