Hove to off Swan Point – Page 23 – and sailing as slow as I can….

Progress on Sjogin

Look’s like she’ll be rigged this week. Yesterday I managed to paint the house, coamings and the long neglected bridgedeck bulkhead with the usual Kirby white semi-gloss. The Kirby family’s been making boat paint in New Bedford since 1846. A Mr. Kirby still answers the phone.

No need to do the boom as it’s still in good shape. Just fixed the blisters and such on the mast, putting the third coat on those spots today.

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Fresh
Decks and house painted. Hope to get the cabin top, trim and handrails done before she’s rigged.

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Beckoning Bay
The Bay beckons. I really need to get the cabin top painted.

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Speedwell waits for her turn after Sjogin’s back in commision.

Victory!

At least in the first race. Sailed with John Haas on his Sandpiper this morning at Seaside Park YC. Somehow we snuck through a weather mark scramble on Port tack. Got around clean (at least two others hit the mark) and never looked back. (Yeah right. It was hard to believe there were no boats in front of us.)

We then reverted to mean, having a third and two fourths for the day. We sailed quick Windward/Leeward courses, back in time for lunch.

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Yesssss!
Getting the thumbs up from Peter, the one man Race Committee.

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Point man, point!
Point John, point. Trying to see off our competition.

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Alomst third
We almost picked up third place in the last race. And barely held off Mr Five.

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Skipper John
Our fearless Skipper, In a groove, going to weather.

Great fun, thanks John.

Duckboat Worlds tomorrow.

Received a call from Peter Kellogg this evening reminding me of the need for our Duckboat to show up for the Worlds. Sadly, another year must go by with Speedwell on the hard. She’s our Clarke Duckboat, built in the early 50’s by Phillip C. Clarke of West Mantoloking. He built the first batch of Duckboats for the local Yacht Clubs. After 14 were built he sold the plans and molds to David Beaton, who’s yard went on to build hundreds of these able little boats. Generation’s of Barnegat Bay sailors learned their craft racing Duckboats with some gone on to Olympic glory.

Though Speedwell’s showed up for the World’s before, she needs attention to the centerboard case and garboards. I’ll do some prep work this fall, with the yard doing most of the work. I’m going to use a lug rig from the Joel White Shellback design in place of the regular leg-o-mutton rig, It’s great for eight year olds but a little low for senior sailors. I’ll keep the standard rig for the annual Duckboat World Championship’s. Didn’t I say this last year? Oh well, making haste as slow as I can.

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Beaton built Duckboats ready to mix it up.

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Here’s Speedwell, dusty from several years in storage.

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Sunset glow
Last light earlier this week. Deck work this weekend and sailing by Labor Day. Bring on September and the start of the Quiet Season.

She swims!

Went down to Beaton’s today to see what progress they made on Sjogin. Before we left for Maine I asked Tom to do a little more painting than usual. Walked into the shed today to see her happily moored in the slip and barely leaking. More importantly, the paint work by the Beaton crew looks great.

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Boat to be named later. The letters still need to be polished and carefully screwed back on. Hope to have her rigged and sailing next week.

Just back

from our all too short visit to Maine and Brother. Different this time as we met Bob in Portland for weekend on Sonny, ending up on Eggomoggin Reach at the Landing.

For the first time, we had a week of sunny days and clear nights. We had lots of quality Milky Way time as well. The only serious fog we encountered was at sea between Boothbay and the Reach.

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Oktusk waiting
Julia and Mary Bauer waiting for Steven and their 50 year old Oktusk, Talisman.

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On Portland harbor
Sailing Talisman in Portland Harbor. The start of our run of good weather last Friday afternoon a week ago. Talisman is an Al Mason design, an original down to her canvas decks.

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O M G
Julia with an OMG moment as Sonny is revealed in all her glory.

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Post racing
Sailing back to the barn after almost racing in the MS Cup last Saturday.

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Julia waving to the folks on a Schooner. We were moored in Boothbay Harbor. We stopped here after motoring from Portland in very light air and quite warm. It was our first time in Boothbay. A little touch of the Jersey Shore town with all the shops. Nice meal at a Tapas restaurant of all things, three flights up, overlooking the harbor.

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Bowling for laughs
We found a Candlestick bowling alley right on the waterfront. A developers wildest fantasy but built and managed for the last half century by the owner who is now 96. I won, narrowly defeating an obviously focused Julia.

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Glowing Julia
Headed back to Sonny in perfect twilight. Or is the glow coming from Julia?

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Elevenses with Bob watching for lobster pots that are thick on the ground in these waters. At one point visibility was down to 50 yards. We heard a few other boats but no sightings. No whales either but a few seals and dolphins to keep thing interesting.

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Reaching up the Reach
Reaching up Eggomoggin Reach. It’s named a Reach as the wind usually blows across this stretch of water from the SW, allowing an easy point of sail in either direction.

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Home
Sonny and BL at the Landing.

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Shelbacking
Julia at ease as we knock around the moorings. Bright warm sun and a steady 4kt breeze makes for an idyllic outing.

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At ease
Res ipsa.

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Evening light
Another beautiful sunset on my beautiful wife. Bella vista.

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OK?
OK? Julia threading her way through the moorings in the Benjamin River. That’s a replica of Joshua Slocum’s Spray on the Starboard bow.

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Spray
And here she is. I believe she’s gone around the world following in Mr. Slocum’s tracks. I’ll check and report further.

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Punt messing
Our seventh straight day of great weather finished with a little messing about in Elegant Punts. I built these Phil Bolger tenders almost twenty years ago for a client of my brothers. Nice to see them lovingly refurbished and given regular use.

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Last sunset on the Reach. We spent last night in Portsmouth. Had a very pleasant dinner at the Library on State Street.

And now home with garden and Sjogin efforts tomorrow.

Recent bits

First off, I heard from the daughter of Sjogin’s second owner. Her note to me from the Contact page spoke of her “many fond memories of sailing on it in 60’s. laying on stomach in bow, with torso leaning over water, ala titanic.” I tried a response but had an e-mail failure. She also spoke of a “swedish captain who got parkinsosn and had to sell.” That would be Mr. Gullberg. When Jon and I bought Sjogin in 1985, the then owner told us she had been built by a Swedish Captain who had sailed Square Riggers ’round the Horn. When he settled in South Jersey he built a small boat in the traditional style to remind him of home.

Melissa, if you read this, please know that I tried to respond to your gracious note but the e-mail address you gave didn’t work. I’d love to hear more about your childhood with Sjogin.

And Mr. Gullberg’s progeny is now hauled, having her Summer refit. She’s almost 50 and still going strong. I hope Mr. Gullberg would approve of her current state.

Regular maintenance this year. The bottom paint just needs a new coat and the deck has a only couple of spots to fix. The Kirby paints are holding up well.

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Evening light
Last week near Sunset. Freshly hauled and ready to have her age spots tended to.

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Gin
Gin! Every year the letters are removed and polished. Makes painting easier.

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My view
The view from the deck looking toward the Bay. The wet slip is where I hope to keep Sjogin for a bit and finish her painting.

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Fresh varnish
Here’s a freshly varnished Silent Maid, ready for the anchor start race at Ocean Gate Yacht Club.

More Maid pics at Flickr.

Sailing with Phil Heffernan

As mentioned below, our now analog friend Phil was down for the weekend. After a blissful evening and longish morning we bestirred our selves and went for a sail on Sjogin. Usual short sail; over to the club and hove to on starboard for half an hour, just yammering away in the steady southwesterly, watching the traffic go by. Wing and wing, we ran home and just managed a one shot landing with some deft boat hook work. Sorry ’bout the MOVE order Phil.

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HTw/Phil
Hove to with Phil a fifty yards off the Mantoloking waterfront. Slight ebb tide so the scenery moved by quite slowly.

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Russ, Phil and Walker
Your host, Phil and Walker, quite the sailor.

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Ready to haul
Sails off, halyards pulled, Sjogin’s ready to be hauled for her late Summer refit.

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Here’s the new Silent Maid, all sanded and ready for a fresh coat of varnish. She’s racing with the A-Cats this Saturday at Ocean Gate. The race is the sixth in the BBYRA season. For this race only, the A-Cats start in a line at anchor with the crew in the cockpit. At the gun the anchors are brought home as fast as possible while the boat falls off (hopefully) on Starboard tack at the last minute. Exciting stuff.

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Our favorite day lilies, drunk with the late afternoon sun. Another iPhone pic.

The weather gods smiled on us Saturday.

We had a dinner party this weekend with scarily perfect weather. The evening was clear, dry and the temperature that Eden must have had. We dined outside on the brick patio accommodating 14 comfortably. And no b-u-g-s. Magic for sure with an almost full moon peeking through the Silver Maple.

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Garden delights
Drinks and such in the garden before hand. Evidence of Bocce on the right.

Our now analog friend Phil is on the left, glass of white Burgundy in hand. He came down for the weekend with a promise of the last sail on Sjogin for the 2008-2009 Season.

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Bocce wars. Tom, Brandon, Daniel and Parker on the battlefield.

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Just fits
Room enough. After dark it was tough enjoying the visual side of our dinner but tres romantic.

Sailing pics tomorrow.

What’s black and white and red

and which one of the three is the co-leader in the A-Cat fleet Championship series? Raven (black) is tied with Witch going into the second half of the season. Hard to see in the video below but Lightning’s the red one. Interesting that the two black boats are tied for first.

Tacked through the moorings yesterday morning and took the following video from where the riddle arises.

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Bow rider
Driving by tiller line, standing by the mast. Useful for maintaining control while using the facilities.

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Quiet
Had a nice beat up to Curtis Point with Sjogin in a groove. Was able to tie off the tiller and keep a nice angle on the wind. Fairly quiet with just a few of the undesirables in evidence. Fell off and reached over to Reedy Creek and hove to for a bit. The above pic was on the broad reach back. One gybe around Swan Point and home. Same as it ever was but it’s different each time.

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Louise
Beaton regular Bill on Louise, his very well kept Sea Sprite.

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Serena
Serena out for day’s adventure, pining for her stable mate Charlotte. Don’t think she’s been sold yet so there’s still time for someone on the upper Bay to bring her home.

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And yet another CoC* weekend

Perfect summer weather, as if the Great Balancer decided to reward us for a far too wet June. Julia got in two good beach days and I went down and gave Sjogin a good scrubbing. And now some mid-week rain. Quite Camelot like.

Also started to take stuff off the boat in preparation for her late summer haul and refit. One of these years I’ll break the cycle and haul Sjogin for the winter with some shop time for new rails and wooding the topsides. She also needs attention paid to her backbone joints. While the planks are copper riveted, her keel and stems are iron fastened. Maybe in time for her 50th anniversary in 2012?

Any way, here are some odds and ends from the last few weeks.

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Pair of Blackjacks
A pair of Hubert Johnson Blackjacks. Classic Jersey skiffs.

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Maid Servant with Dave and Tom
Ready for service. Dave Onley and Tom Beaton about to deliver Maid Servant to Toms River. The Silent Maid was the belle of the Toms River Seaport Society gala this past weekend.