Open Water Rowing in Casco Bay

"I like to get out there sit in the swell and look out" is how I think of a pleasant row in my home waters of Casco Bay, Maine. Along with dreaming of boats, like Cullers Otter, I dream of where to go in the boats. Next years big row is out to Halfway Rock in the middle of Casco Bay, about 15 mile offshore. You can also see a large scale chart of Casco Bay.

Rowing in open water like this scares the hell out of me. When I sit there, in the swell, looking out, the butterflies flutter inside, making it more challenging to assess the situation and peruse the mental checklist of precautions. Weather window, ferry traffic, tidal currents, my energy level, time of day, schedule back on land, amount of food in the dry bag, do I have all the gear I need, what is plan B, plan C....

But I am learning that these butterflies are annoying but good; they keep me alive and ultimately confident. Once I am out there in open water, and I am feeling strong, confident in the boat, and having a blast, I relax and therefore row better. In my open water boat, Drake, I can cover about 4 nm per hour and that is an average. Time slips away and life is good. Christmas has been wonderful, and the weather cold, and now I begin to plan big rows for next year. I am training for long distance rows and hope to make a 20-mile row somewhat routine. Halfway Rock, located below the Not in "Not for Navigational Use" is uncannily "halfway" between the Eastern and western points that define Casco Bay. It is an exposed rocky isle with a lighthouse. Landing there will be difficult, so when I row there next summer, it will be my longest pull yet, at least 25 miles total, depending on the exact route.

Time to dream, be patient as the sun makes its way back north, and time to get in shape!

Read More..

Emerald Bay

We headed over to Catalina Islands Emerald Bay last week, expecting lots of activity for the Fourth of July holiday. This was the Finisterras first voyage to our favorite cove. We left the marina in Long Beach at 1500 and tacked up the harbor toward Angels Gate in light air. The UV cover on the jib let go after four or five tacks at the spot where it rubs on the mast mounted radar antenna, so we looked a bit ragged as we passed through the Gate, with a foot-long tatter trailing off the leach of the jib, but the boat sailed well until we ran out of wind. We motored the rest of the way to the cove, arriving at 1845.

Finisterra moored at Emerald Bay

We picked up a mooring behind Indian Rock and sat back to enjoy the view as the sun set behind the hills. On the trip over from the mainland we used the autopilot and about every twenty minutes it conked out, with "Drive stop" on the display. According to the manual, that message means that the linear drive quit because the force required to turn the rudder is too great for the system. That doesnt sound right to me because the helm was pretty light at all times, so in the next few days Ill be tearing into the system to find out whats really going on there.

The boat is equipped with electric heads that use fresh water to flush. Im not a fan of them and, sure enough, the aft head stopped working. So well swap them out for the tried and true Jabsco manual heads. Aside from that little glitch, the boat and its systems worked well throughout our stay.

Calm weather prevails as we look toward the west end of the Island 

Since this was our first trip aboard the boat, there were lots of little things to fix, and this took some time, but we still had plenty of opportunities to hike and putter around the anchorage in the dinghy. We met some folks from Corsair Yacht Club, John and Judy, who sail a beautiful old Ericson 41. They invited us to a barbeque at their club site, which is located next to the scout camp near the west end of Emerald Bay. It was nice to connect with them. The next day we hiked out toward the west end of the island past Parsons landing, where the views were spectacular and we saw lots of signs of deer, island fox and bison.

Not far from Parsons Landing we encountered this bison on the trail. Notice that his horns have been clipped. For several years the Island conservancy kept them out of the the west end of the Island, but nowadays they roam freely.

The weather stayed cool and overcast until our last day, and we departed the island under beautiful blue skies and sparkling sunshine. The Finisterra sailed under main and raggedy jib, doing seven and a half knots, until we reached the entrance to LA harbor. Passing the lighthouse, we hardened up and reefed the jib in about 20 knots of wind and sailed up the main channel to get a glimpse of the famous old battleship USS Iowa, which recently took a permanent berth near the maritime museum. The ship first deployed in 1943, and participated in bombardments of Japan in WWII. As the war drew to a close, the Iowa was present along with the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay for the official surrender of Japan, marking the end of the World War. It is interesting to note that it was during WWII that the battleship, with its big guns was supplanted by the aircraft carrier as Americas premier seaborne combat weapon. Already obsolete by the end of the war, the USS Missouri was the last US battleship to be built. 

USS Iowa at her permanent home in Los Angeles harbor

The big guns on the Iowa are impressive artifacts of a bygone era

Leaving the Iowa behind, we headed back down LA harbors main channel and bore off for Long Beach, only to be confronted with the sight of a large ship entering the harbor loaded down with several new hammerhead cranes destined for service loading cargo in the Port of Long Beach. It was quite a sight to see the ship with its cranes working its way, with the help of a couple of tugs, through the harbor entrance and into her berth. The cranes were painted with the COSCO/SSA emblem. COSCO, not to be confused with Costco, is short for China Ocean Shipping Company. SSA is an American logistics company that manages marine shipping terminals.

Its hard to imagine this shipload of cranes crossing the Pacific. The weather routing service earned their pay on this project. Shipping companies, like us regular yachties, use routing services to route their ships to avoid weather systems. 

Three tugs guide this unwieldy ship to her berth in Long Beach harbor.

We got back into our slip before sunset after a nice sail down the harbor. I have been pleasantly surprised by the performance of the boat with the small roller furling main sail and look forward to sailing with the new rig. The mast has been shipped from the manufacturer and we expect it to arrive this Friday. 

Read More..

Banderas Bay to Mazatlan

Finisterra finally sailed from La Cruz around 0900 on Sunday, March 30th bound for Mantanchen Bay and then Mazatlan. It was a beautiful morning with a light offshore wind early and the promise of a nice beam reach to Mantanchen in the afternoon. We motored out around Punta de Mita and turned northward in almost no wind, but by noon we had enough wind to sail. We hoisted the main and set the jib and settled down on the reach to Mantanchen in about 10 knots of wind. It was looking like a beautiful day-sail all the way.

Mantanchen Bay sunset

Shortly after we got the sails set and trimmed, I heard a strange creaking noise coming from somewhere down below. This was a new noise, not the typical creaks that I was accustomed to. I searched around the boat in all the likely places that creaks might come from, but couldnt find the source of the noise until I opened the starboard lazarette hatch. When I looked down into the compartment I noticed that the bracket for the autopilot ram was moving back and forth in an unusual manner. Then I realized that the bulkhead was flexing and the joint where I assumed Beneteau had spliced or scarfed together two pieces of plywood to make the aft bulkhead was not a joint at all. It was not lapped or scarffed, or even glued together. Nope, Beneteau apparently saw fit to just butt the two pieces of plywood together without the benefit of any adhesive or mechanical fasteners. Then whoever installed the autopilot ram drilled the mounting holes less than a quarter inch of the edge of this imaginary joint. The bracket was mounted with massive 7/16" bolts and a stainless steel backing plate so it looked like a proper job, but looks can be deceiving.

By mid-afternoon we were gliding into Mantanchen Bay and got the anchor down in about eighteen feet of water three quarters of a mile from the beach, which I hoped was well beyond the range of the no-nos that live around here. Then we had a decision to make: We could go back roughly 50 miles to La Cruz or continue on to Mazatlan, another 130 miles north from here. After looking at the weather forecast we decided to press on to Mazatlan. The wind would be on the nose the entire distance but it would be light most of the way. We would be motoring into it and that would put the least stress on the wobbly bulkhead.

Mountains behind Mazatlan at dawn.

To put this little problem into perspective, we were in no danger and the worst that might have happened to us was that we might have to hand steer if the bulkhead failed completely, which was very unlikely. But it certainly annoyed me as a boatbuilder that the boat was built in this manner. And of course the problem needed to be fixed before we ran into any real weather, which is always a possibility in the Sea of Cortez.

View from the aft side of the bulkhead.  When I replaced the autopilot ram back in 2012 I assumed this joint was lapped but its not.

View from the forward side of the bulkhead.

The repair was easy enough. I went over to Marine Services Mazatlan, which is located in the shipyard next to Marina Mazatlan and had them cut out some plywood reinforcements that I bonded to both sides of the bulkhead with WEST epoxy. Once the epoxy cured it was a simple matter to reinstall the bracket and ram.

Both sides of the bulkhead were sanded and prepped.  

Plywood reinforcements bonded in place. The screws were used to clamp everything together while the epoxy cured.

Bracket and ram reinstalled and ready to go.

With the repair completed, we were able to spend some time around the pool at the marina and wander around the beautiful city of Mazatlan. In a few days well head northwest across the Sea of Cortez to La Paz.

Read More..

Banderas Bay Regatta

We joined the crew of Tivoli for the XIX Regata Internacional (Banderas Bay Regatta). Tivoli is a Beneteau 42s7 that embarked from San Francisco Bay late last year on an extended cruise that will take it south to the Panama Canal, across the Caribbean and eventually to Denmark. Loaded down with cruising gear, the boat was quite a bit heavier than its sistership, Cirque, which won class A for the third time running in this event.
The course for race 1, sailed on Thursday, March 10th, started a mile or so off Nuevo Vallarta, and included a 2.5 mile beat to a weather mark, then a long port tack leg out to Punta de Mita followed by a long run back to the finish. There were few opportunities to pass on this race and it was basically all about boatspeed and waterline length. The wind was light and Tivoli was heavy so we never had a chance to make any moves, and Cirque walked away the win. At the end of the day we were 7th out of 9 in class A. It was a good learning experience though and we used the lessons learned to revise our sail trim, move more weight out of the stern and prepare for a better result in race 2.

Unfortunately race 2 was canceled due to the earthquake in Japan and resulting tsunami, which reached Bahia Banderas about 1330 on Friday. Veterans of the tsunami that hit us last year in Long Beach, we decided to ride this one out in deep water. When the first surge arrived we were safely five miles out where the bay is over 250 feet deep. The water level in the bay rose and fell as much as four feet a dozen times or so during the afternoon, knocking out a couple of docks in La Cruz and causing the local authorities to close all the ports in the bay. Throughout this time the Honcho, along with at least 200 other boats rode these surges in perfect safety, never really feeling anything out of the ordinary.

Around 1800 the local port captain in La Cruz declared that the channel entrance was being reopened and boats were free to enter the harbor. By this time the Honcho was anchored outside, prepared to spend the night there, but when the channel was reopened we decided to head into our old slip on gangway 11. Eager to see what was going on in the harbor, we got the anchor up and headed for the entrance only to have another surge roll through, causing the port captain to close the channel once again. So back we went to the anchorage where we spent the night at anchor in the company of at least a hundred other boats. Throughout the night we were turned around now and then by stronger than normal currents as the tides continued to surge.

The next morning the current in the harbor entrance was still running strong, but we were able to get the Honcho secured back in her slip and head back to Nuevo Vallarta and the regatta. Our gangway was without water or power, and as I mentioned, a couple of the docks at the end of the gangway had broken loose and were floating upside down, lashed to the gangway to prevent them from drifting away. But other than that, the harbor survived the tsunami in good shape.

Race two consisted of three laps around windward-leeward buoys, with a wing mark thrown in after the first weather mark. With the wind up to about 15 knots we had reasonably good boatspeed and were able to hang with the bigger boats in our class. Though we were rated the second slowest boat in our class, we sailed a very good race. Expecting the wind to shift right as the day wore on, we got a good start at the committee boat end of the line and were looking to protect our position on the right side of the course. But it didnt take long for the faster boats to start passing us and we had to take a couple of tacks to stay in clear air and found ourselves bounced to the left more than I wanted to be. Fortunately the right shift never appeared and we rounded the weather mark in 5th place and set a spinnaker for the reach to the wing mark. At the wing mark we executed a flawless jibe and passed another boat that didnt. Throughout the race our crew work and boat handling were excellent, and we made up time at every mark.

The wind remained a steady 14-16 knots. We had done well on the left side on the first beat so I took a chance on the left side again and we continued to make up time on the  boats ahead of us. The third leg was a repeat of the second and when the results were tallied, Tivoli came in second, beating all but Cirque. With the regatta shortened to just two races, Cirque won the event and we ended up fourth in class. I was especially pleased because our crew had never sailed together before, and none except the owners had ever raced a 42s7 before. It was a great example of a crew coming together, learning the new boat quickly and recovering well from a tough first day. Im confident that if we had been able to do a third race, we would have had a spot at the trophy table. Anyway, we had a great time and are looking forward to getting together again for Antigua Race Week next year.
For complete results go to: http://www.vallartayachtclub.org/race/bbr2011.html
For photos of all the action: http://www.flickr.com/photos/strangebird/sets/72157626243821784/

Read More..

A Month in Banderas Bay

Banderas Bay Sunrise

Finisterra has been in Banderas Bay for about a month, and it looks like well be here a few more weeks. Weve decided to spend the season cruising in Mexico instead of hurrying south to Panama this spring. Reasons for this are multiple, but the primary cause is that we had planned to leave California in November but were delayed a couple of months due to health issues. We considered various schedules for getting to Panama before the wet season starts, but they all would leave us without enough time to explore southern Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala and Costa Rica. So instead, well hang out here a bit longer, then head north into the beautiful Sea of Cortez. When hurricane season begins in late spring, Finisterra will be safely tucked into a slip in La Cruz and well go back to the States for a couple of months.

In the meantime, life here could scarcely be more relaxing and tranquil. We loved having guests aboard Finisterra and enjoy the friendly hustle and bustle of life ashore, but out here on the hook we have time to relax. You might think cruising in Mexico is one big vacation, but believe it or not, there is always work to be done, people to see, and places to go. But here in the anchorage on a peaceful morning all of that seems faraway, at least for a while. Here is typical morning aboard Finisterra:

I woke up around 6:00am. Sunrise isnt until well after 7:00. I fix a cup of coffee and go on deck and look around. The first streaks of dawn appear over the mountains to the east and I settle down in the cockpit to watch the show. The boat is gently rocking and the only sound is a few gulls in the distance. A few minutes pass and the sky is brightening, sending streaks of light through the morning clouds that are reflected in the water. I hear what sounds like a sigh and look over to see a couple of dolphins lazily passing by less than 40 feet away. Off in the distance I hear the sound of an outboard motor and see a panga with a couple of fishermen heading out for a day of fishing. By now the sun is about to burst over the mountains and the dinghy traffic begins as people aboard the sixty or so boats in the anchorage head for shore. A few minutes later, Lisa emerges on deck with a plate full of sliced fruit, and the day is in full swing.

Read More..

Caravelle A 14 1 2 foot rowing skiff after the Echo Bay Dory Skiff

 

Well, Spring is springing here on the Maine Coast so it is time to start unveiling some new designs at Clint Chase Boatbuilder. The pictures are of a scale model of a new skiff design by Eric Risch. We have been collaborating for years on the Echo Bay Dory Skiff and when a couple on Marthas Vineyard said, "We want a bigger version of the Echo Bay", I went to Eric and said, "We have a project!". This is the result of a redrawing of his old design, Caravelle. The result will be a stable but slippery rowing skiff with a transom that well clears the water, an immersed stem to prevent slapping/pounding in harbor chop, and space for two to row with their dog. Moreover, shell weight 90 pounds and be easily cartopped with a custom canvas cartopping cover. We plan to start construction on two skiffs May 1 and launch after July 4th.



More to come about Caravelle and the Echo Bay DOry Skiff Kit packages.

Read More..

Teak Lady MaZu San Francisco Bay Racing Class

MaZu was the last Teak Lady built and was completed in February 1958 by Ah King Slipway in Hong Kong. Though she is a production boat, she looks and sails like a thoroughbred and sports the detailing of a petite yacht, built entirely of teak with durable bronze hardware.

The original Teak Lady was designed by Ted Kilkenny for his nephew in the mid-1930s and resembled the 23-foot San Francisco Bay Bear Boat but 6 feet shorter and proportionately heavier, with a deeper full keel and a taller rig.






The Teak Lady proved herself so well against other Bay boats that soon outside orders were placed.
A brightly varnished Teak Lady was displayed at the 1937 World Expo/Fair on Treasure Island, and before the fair closed, fourteen new Teak Ladies were ordered. By 1940 the 17 3" Teak Lady was an official San Francisco Bay racing class.

More fame came to the Teak Lady class in the 1940s. A young couple sailed from Monterey, California to Hawaii, then to the South Pacific, logging 8,000 nautical miles. At that time she was the smallest boat to cross the Pacific Ocean.


David Keenan, a former owner of MaZu sailed her in all kinds of weather in San Francisco and San Pablo Bays. He tells me that in one 55-knot winter gale, there was concern at the Vallejo Yacht Club when they noticed MaZu driving hard to weather with the ports submerged. But after noticing through the yacht club binoculars that both captain and crew were sporting ear to ear grins, they decided the rescue party could be called off.








MaZu is currently moored on the northwest coast of the US, in Toledo, Oregon. She sports her colors at local boat shows where families line up for free sailing lessons.

Read More..

Echo Bay Dory Skiff Kits and Caravelle Commission

The Echo Bay Dory Skiff (EBDS) by Eric Risch is now in the process of being organized into DXF files for CNC cutting. The first 5-7 kits will be released at the WOoden Boat SHow this June in Mystic, CT., where families will build the boats with Clint Chase in 2.5 days, launching on the third day at the show. Caravelle, the EBDSs big sister, will be on display before it goes to customers in Marthas Vineyard will use her for exploratory rowing with their doggy in the stern sheets and for use as a tender to their sailboat on their mooring. They will car-top the boat regularly.

Eric Risch, boat designer, expounds upon the development and merits of his two fine skiffs..........

"One’s first impression of the 11½ foot Echo Bay Dory Skiff and her longer sister, the 14½ foot Caravelle, is that they look quite different from most skiffs their size. If their steeply raked ends with faired sides seem to have the “spring” of a traditional dory yet have the comfortable feel of a skiff, such impressions would be correct. Both designs are a studied effort to marry the best of the flared sided dory and flat bottomed skiff. This involved some very delicate tweaking of proportions from 25 years of experience with my original dory-skiff. The intent was to start with the clean, simple lines of a flat bottomed boat and make it both easily driven and be able to handle a bay chop with more confidence than typical of small boats.

So in the dory-skiff tradition, the Echo Bay and Caravelle’s flared bow and raked transom provide lots of potential buoyancy allowing a drier ride when water gets “bumpy.” Although overhangs do come at the expense of waterline, my original 12½ footer handled a steep bay chop with aplomb and just loved to slide over the waves with minimal fuss.

The flared hull sides offer a wide range of stability while retaining a wide enough bottom for a comfortable feel of initial stability. The idea was to use some of the traditional advantages of a dory’s secondary stability but minimize initial tenderness—assuming one chooses not to carry a full load of fish! In addition, the moderately wide bottom enables both boats to be very easily driven under oar while the ample beam at the sheer provides a good placement for the oar locks.

Some flat bottom skiffs are famous for the tendency to “slap-slap-slap” in the bow region from the water hitting the bottom panel—this can be quite annoying. Consider too that pounding into a chop robs energy from forward motion. The Echo Bay and Caravelle’s bow stems terminate well below the waterline, making a nice quiet row. When coupled to their strong skeg aft for balance, the boats track very securely in a crosswind, providing a more solid feel than is typical of their length.

Both boats can also serve as capable tenders for moderate to larger yachts. I towed my original 12½ footer on cruises and was pleased how well she behaved. In addition, sailing versions will be available. Their compact sprit rigs keep the center of effort low for ease of handling a moderate range of wind. But narrow boats designed for oar tend to be quite spirited—this is a quality that is best appreciated by more experienced and agile sailors.

The Echo Bay Dory skiff is set up for a single rower and for one additional passenger. The Caravelle is essentially a stretch version for tandem rowing. Both boats have an open clean look and are quite light weight for their length to be car-toppable in a practical sense. Neither relies on complicated framing for stiffness and uses instead one ring frame in the single and two ring frames in the double. The hull is 6mm Occume marine plywood that has a reputation for looking beautiful for decades. Both have “screw-and-glue” chines making it boat that will remain tight whether on the water or in your garage."

Read More..