Raced on Persuasion last night in the first race of the first series of the season. Jack drove and did main, Mike and I did the headsail, and I did the foredeck (sort of). It was very, very windy when we went out to the course, so we started out with a reef and a little bit of the jib rolled out.
Even as we paced the start line the wind began to die down. After the start we shook out the reef and rolled out the rest of the jib. With the three of us on the boat, we balanced it out nicely.
As we got closer to 6 the wind picked up again and we had a good sprint back to the Invisible X Mark (it was on the other side of the committee boat). After we went back to 9, and decided not to put up the spinnaker, we tried to pole out the jib. Unfortunately the track came off the mast, at the very top, so using the pole was out of the question. We managed, though, and finished with some dignity, sails full and a bone in our teeth.
Went over to Lewis Circle for some beers with the fellas, checked out Hugh's new Flying Scot, and then returned to the slip.
We came in DFL (Dead F/n Last), which is what I expected. But who cares, we had an excellent time.
Next week is committee duty.
What was really great, though, was how excited everyone was about me getting Redwing. Lots of questions about the damage, my repair plans, and my schedule for bringing it back to the Bay (and the race course). And lots of compliments on how good Persuasion looked, too, which was nice.
I was disappointed that I didn't get a chance to speak with JB, the guy who was/is interested in Persuasion. But a buyer will come, and the boat will go to a good home. And there was a bunch of action on the dock last night, with Hugh's new boat getting rigged and launched, so not so much BSing.
P.S. (Uncle Marty where are you? Come out and play!)
19 May 2006
17 May 2006
Work Weekend 1
I went to the boat twice this weekend, which I consider a major feat considering it was cloudy, stormy weather, and it was Mother's Day.
On Saturday I got a little work crew together to help me move the cabin cushions and sails from John C's mom's house to the boat. I was glad to have the extra car provided by Crumbolst because there was no way all of the stuff was going to fit inside the Jeep. There were 12 sails to be moved (six headsails, three mainsails, and three spinnakers), and they filled up the Jeep all by themselves.
Once we got to the boat I wanted to organize the cabin a bit before we loaded the sails. But first, that "For Sale" sign had to come down!
We were finished with lunch and started cleaning up when Crumbolst, PJ, and I heard the familiar baritones of our own Mustapha Mond, come to check out the new boat with his dad.
We threw a bunch of stuff out and put other stuff away. It was good to see the guys since we are rarely in the same place at the same time these days.
I wanted to put the kitchenette table down, and turn the breakfast nook into a spare bedroom, in order to lay out the sails neatly and by type. Unfortunately the pole that supports the table was welded into the socket by corrosion. I don't think it's coming out, so I have to come up with some kind of solution before I can use the portside double berth.
I also did some more inspecting of the damage and thought about making some lists for tools, parts, work to be done, and a wishlist for gear.
While I was cleaning up I pumped out the bilge. There was quite a bit of water in there, which means the boat is leaking. Which is fine and fixable, and I'm glad the water went to the bilge instead of pooling up in places where it shouldn't (the vee berth, the cushions, under the sink). My worry was that there was oil in the bilge, and a bunch of dirt. I have to do more investigating, and I am hoping the oil is from a spill or leaking hose, rather than something more sinister (like a broken engine/part, etc).
In order to help stop the leaks I put some duct tape over the bow pulpit stanchion hole, and over the toe rail, where the deck to hull protection was compromised. I was also bummed to see that the outboard half of the starboard side, forward scupper plug had been sheared off and that water was now being drained off the deck and into the hull. What a disaster!
Once everything was cleaned up, organized, and closer to satisfactory, I was feeling much better and took a short break.
After Mother's day brunch, I cleaned up the line locker - recoiling all the lines and hanging them up. I organized the two anchors and stashed them, together with the docklines, in the starboard aft locker.
On Saturday I got a little work crew together to help me move the cabin cushions and sails from John C's mom's house to the boat. I was glad to have the extra car provided by Crumbolst because there was no way all of the stuff was going to fit inside the Jeep. There were 12 sails to be moved (six headsails, three mainsails, and three spinnakers), and they filled up the Jeep all by themselves.
Once we got to the boat I wanted to organize the cabin a bit before we loaded the sails. But first, that "For Sale" sign had to come down!
We were finished with lunch and started cleaning up when Crumbolst, PJ, and I heard the familiar baritones of our own Mustapha Mond, come to check out the new boat with his dad.
We threw a bunch of stuff out and put other stuff away. It was good to see the guys since we are rarely in the same place at the same time these days.
I wanted to put the kitchenette table down, and turn the breakfast nook into a spare bedroom, in order to lay out the sails neatly and by type. Unfortunately the pole that supports the table was welded into the socket by corrosion. I don't think it's coming out, so I have to come up with some kind of solution before I can use the portside double berth.
I also did some more inspecting of the damage and thought about making some lists for tools, parts, work to be done, and a wishlist for gear.
While I was cleaning up I pumped out the bilge. There was quite a bit of water in there, which means the boat is leaking. Which is fine and fixable, and I'm glad the water went to the bilge instead of pooling up in places where it shouldn't (the vee berth, the cushions, under the sink). My worry was that there was oil in the bilge, and a bunch of dirt. I have to do more investigating, and I am hoping the oil is from a spill or leaking hose, rather than something more sinister (like a broken engine/part, etc).
In order to help stop the leaks I put some duct tape over the bow pulpit stanchion hole, and over the toe rail, where the deck to hull protection was compromised. I was also bummed to see that the outboard half of the starboard side, forward scupper plug had been sheared off and that water was now being drained off the deck and into the hull. What a disaster!
Once everything was cleaned up, organized, and closer to satisfactory, I was feeling much better and took a short break.
After Mother's day brunch, I cleaned up the line locker - recoiling all the lines and hanging them up. I organized the two anchors and stashed them, together with the docklines, in the starboard aft locker.
16 May 2006
Should I rename the boat?
No:
1. My uncle named the boat.
2. That's the name of the boat.
3. It's bad luck.
4. Everyone knows the boat as Redwing from before it left the Great South Bay.
5. Don't you have enough to do/fix/replace?
Yes:
1. Now it's my boat.
2. The model of the boat is a Redwing, so it's like naming your child, Boy.
3. I don't buy the bad luck superstition.
4. People will learn the new name.
5. Might as well have a new name to match the other new stuff.
1. My uncle named the boat.
2. That's the name of the boat.
3. It's bad luck.
4. Everyone knows the boat as Redwing from before it left the Great South Bay.
5. Don't you have enough to do/fix/replace?
Yes:
1. Now it's my boat.
2. The model of the boat is a Redwing, so it's like naming your child, Boy.
3. I don't buy the bad luck superstition.
4. People will learn the new name.
5. Might as well have a new name to match the other new stuff.
Aim: what is the purpose of the boat blog?
Since high school I have been logging the events of each day, putting into a calendar enough information to jo my memory of that day. When it works I can remember many things like conversations, jokes, places, and people. When it doesn't, I wonder if the event happened at all. I usually find the more information the better. So I write down as much as the box can fit. So far in 2006, I have been not doing a good job with my calendar. And I blame the calendar - the boxes are too small. As John C put it, I'm a compulsive diarist.
They log everything in the Navy as well. Or at least the boring stuff. We kept a deck log on the Topsides watch, logging what the condition of the boat where, and if anything unusual was going on. For example, we logged what the draft of the boat was, or how much of the boat was underwater. If it increased in our 6 hour watch, or during a 12 hour period, we knew something was wrong. Mostly it's pages and pages of "All Conditions Normal." But once a guy wrote in how the sunrise looked from the bow of the submarine, how sad some stray dog looked nosing around the pier, and what he liked and didn't like about his watch-mate, the Roving Watch. It wasn't me, but I wished it was. I wished I had thought of it, and if I did that I would have had the guts to follow through. Even his punishment was worth the crime, I thought. He had to rewrite the whole log book, omitting the poetry.
So this log is going to be much like Persuasion's log, but you, dear reader(s) will be able to respond. I'll add pics of the boat, a work log, track purchases, and a narrative of Redwing's adventures. I am still going to keep up the book blog - logging books and whatnot - so like with Olman, you'll have to check two. But what else are you going to do on the internet?
They log everything in the Navy as well. Or at least the boring stuff. We kept a deck log on the Topsides watch, logging what the condition of the boat where, and if anything unusual was going on. For example, we logged what the draft of the boat was, or how much of the boat was underwater. If it increased in our 6 hour watch, or during a 12 hour period, we knew something was wrong. Mostly it's pages and pages of "All Conditions Normal." But once a guy wrote in how the sunrise looked from the bow of the submarine, how sad some stray dog looked nosing around the pier, and what he liked and didn't like about his watch-mate, the Roving Watch. It wasn't me, but I wished it was. I wished I had thought of it, and if I did that I would have had the guts to follow through. Even his punishment was worth the crime, I thought. He had to rewrite the whole log book, omitting the poetry.
So this log is going to be much like Persuasion's log, but you, dear reader(s) will be able to respond. I'll add pics of the boat, a work log, track purchases, and a narrative of Redwing's adventures. I am still going to keep up the book blog - logging books and whatnot - so like with Olman, you'll have to check two. But what else are you going to do on the internet?
11 May 2006
Redwing Reunion
I learned how to sail while I was in the Navy, when I was stationed in San Diego, around 1990. Mostly it was Lasers, Lightnings, O'Day 14s, a Capri 22 (or maybe 25), and a whole fleet of Catalina 22s. I was very comfortable in the smaller boats, but when I sailed in the "big boats" I never sheeted the main for fear we would tip over, flood the boat, sink it, and I'd be court-martialed or something.
I thought I knew my stuff. But when I got back to NY (1996) and started sailing and racing on Jack's boat, I quickly realized I didn't know as much as I thought. I mean, I knew my sheets from my halyards, but I knew nothing about how to trim the boat out efficiently, how to reef, and how to take care of a boat. My real sailing education began on Jack's new boat, Redwing.
We raced a bunch, the both of us learning new stuff about racing, and about Redwing, every Thursday night. Eventually Jack decided we should move up to spinnaker, where the real action was, and it certainly was more exciting.
As we raced Jack made many, many improvements to the boat.
After Jack won the SBCC Spinnaker Championship he sold the boat to John C, and bought the boat he has now, Ceol na Mara, a Tartan 3000. This was in the spring of 2003.
Fast forward to last week.
On Friday, 5 May (Karl Marx's birthday!) Lukeman sent me a Craig's listing he had seen about a C&C Redwing. It was Jack's old boat for sale, and the ad included pictures. The boat had been in an accident and sustained some damage to the hull, the stanchions, and bow pulpit and stern rail.
I sent a quick email to the seller as soon as I saw Luke's email. I explained my relationship to the boat and to its old owner.
Soon after I got a call from John C. himself, who still had the boat. After Jack sold the boat, Redwing moved from Patchogue, to the Peconic, and then finally to Mt. Sinai Harbor.
While it was at Mt Sinai Harbor another boat broke free of its mooring, drifted down on Redwing and took out all of the starboard side stanchions, pulled up one of the bow pulpit supports right out of the deck, and crushed the stern rail. The toe rail on the starboard side was crushed, splintered, battered, and wrecked. The offending boat also put a few scratches, some of them quite deep, in the hull near the toe rail.
Wanting to sail his Morgan 25 more than he wants to spend countless hours and dollars in the boatyard John C put Redwing up for sale, where Lucas saw the ad. Fortunately, I like the maintenance and rebuilding as much as, if not more than, I like the sailing.
I feel lucky to have seen that the boat was for sale, and lucky that John C was willing to let me make payments right to him for the next 6 months. He could very easily have sold the boat right off, for a lump of cash to one of the willing buyers who also saw the ad. It means a lot to me to have Jack's old boat, to be sailing it on the Great South Bay again, and racing with the club. I'm a pretty happy dude.
Redwing's a great boat. Many of the magazine articles written about Redwings highlight their combination of speed and comfort. It's considered a racer/cruiser - fast enough to be competitive and big enough to overnight on for days in a row. The cabin is nice and big. I feel like I could fit Persuasion inside Redwing, with enough room to make and have a cup of coffee.
It's also got a few classic aesthetic qualities that I love: lots of teak, a nice little overhanging transom, a big foredeck, and a pointy, upsweeping bow.
Many of the things I would want a boat to have, Redwing already has - chief among any sailor's desires are self-tailing winches and Redwing has these for the jib, it has an inboard engine a roller-furling headsail, a great traveler, all the lines are run aft so single-handing is much easier, a built in compass (built into the bulkhead), a fixed-mount GPS, a mounted radio, a couple of spinnakers, and a bunch of sails.
Nobody is as excited as I am!
I thought I knew my stuff. But when I got back to NY (1996) and started sailing and racing on Jack's boat, I quickly realized I didn't know as much as I thought. I mean, I knew my sheets from my halyards, but I knew nothing about how to trim the boat out efficiently, how to reef, and how to take care of a boat. My real sailing education began on Jack's new boat, Redwing.
We raced a bunch, the both of us learning new stuff about racing, and about Redwing, every Thursday night. Eventually Jack decided we should move up to spinnaker, where the real action was, and it certainly was more exciting.
As we raced Jack made many, many improvements to the boat.
After Jack won the SBCC Spinnaker Championship he sold the boat to John C, and bought the boat he has now, Ceol na Mara, a Tartan 3000. This was in the spring of 2003.
Fast forward to last week.
On Friday, 5 May (Karl Marx's birthday!) Lukeman sent me a Craig's listing he had seen about a C&C Redwing. It was Jack's old boat for sale, and the ad included pictures. The boat had been in an accident and sustained some damage to the hull, the stanchions, and bow pulpit and stern rail.
I sent a quick email to the seller as soon as I saw Luke's email. I explained my relationship to the boat and to its old owner.
Soon after I got a call from John C. himself, who still had the boat. After Jack sold the boat, Redwing moved from Patchogue, to the Peconic, and then finally to Mt. Sinai Harbor.
While it was at Mt Sinai Harbor another boat broke free of its mooring, drifted down on Redwing and took out all of the starboard side stanchions, pulled up one of the bow pulpit supports right out of the deck, and crushed the stern rail. The toe rail on the starboard side was crushed, splintered, battered, and wrecked. The offending boat also put a few scratches, some of them quite deep, in the hull near the toe rail.
Wanting to sail his Morgan 25 more than he wants to spend countless hours and dollars in the boatyard John C put Redwing up for sale, where Lucas saw the ad. Fortunately, I like the maintenance and rebuilding as much as, if not more than, I like the sailing.
I feel lucky to have seen that the boat was for sale, and lucky that John C was willing to let me make payments right to him for the next 6 months. He could very easily have sold the boat right off, for a lump of cash to one of the willing buyers who also saw the ad. It means a lot to me to have Jack's old boat, to be sailing it on the Great South Bay again, and racing with the club. I'm a pretty happy dude.
Redwing's a great boat. Many of the magazine articles written about Redwings highlight their combination of speed and comfort. It's considered a racer/cruiser - fast enough to be competitive and big enough to overnight on for days in a row. The cabin is nice and big. I feel like I could fit Persuasion inside Redwing, with enough room to make and have a cup of coffee.
It's also got a few classic aesthetic qualities that I love: lots of teak, a nice little overhanging transom, a big foredeck, and a pointy, upsweeping bow.
Many of the things I would want a boat to have, Redwing already has - chief among any sailor's desires are self-tailing winches and Redwing has these for the jib, it has an inboard engine a roller-furling headsail, a great traveler, all the lines are run aft so single-handing is much easier, a built in compass (built into the bulkhead), a fixed-mount GPS, a mounted radio, a couple of spinnakers, and a bunch of sails.
Nobody is as excited as I am!
09 May 2006
With ships the sea was sprinkled far and nigh
"WITH SHIPS THE SEA WAS SPRINKLED FAR AND NIGH"
WITH Ships the sea was sprinkled far and nigh,
Like stars in heaven, and joyously it showed;
Some lying fast at anchor in the road,
Some veering up and down, one knew not why.
A goodly Vessel did I then espy
Come like a giant from a haven broad;
And lustily along the bay she strode,
Her tackling rich, and of apparel high.
This Ship was nought to me, nor I to her,
Yet I pursued her with a Lover's look; 10
This Ship to all the rest did I prefer:
When will she turn, and whither? She will brook
No tarrying; where She comes the winds must stir:
On went She, and due north her journey took.
William Wordsworth - 1806.
WITH Ships the sea was sprinkled far and nigh,
Like stars in heaven, and joyously it showed;
Some lying fast at anchor in the road,
Some veering up and down, one knew not why.
A goodly Vessel did I then espy
Come like a giant from a haven broad;
And lustily along the bay she strode,
Her tackling rich, and of apparel high.
This Ship was nought to me, nor I to her,
Yet I pursued her with a Lover's look; 10
This Ship to all the rest did I prefer:
When will she turn, and whither? She will brook
No tarrying; where She comes the winds must stir:
On went She, and due north her journey took.
William Wordsworth - 1806.
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