Sjogin – Page 12 – Hove to off Swan Point

Yet more news from France, he finally goes for a sail and more…

Three sails actually; and no coincidence suggested, but went out on Good Friday, Saturday and Easter. Good karma in any event.

The Saturday sail involved heading out to the Winter Flounder grounds with friend Paul. Arduous conditions with a two knot northerly current and a 6kt SSE breeze. Poor Sjogin was sitting over the anchor line and fouling our chum pot and rigs. Still, Paul was able to boat a 15″ beauty. Just enough for appy’s. Sorry, but no pics.

We are getting closer to having Francois Vivier commit to a full design of his Sjogin version, the Norzh 22. He is willing to proceed if a group of people agree to purchase a set of plans and a kit. And an unstated commitment to build a sister-ship for Sjogin. When I determine the final details I’ll let anyone know who’s interested. I’ve heard from a few of you and you’re on the top of the list.

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Hove to off Manyploking
Hove to off a foggy Mantoloking. This was from Easter Sunday. The northerly current and dry NE breeze allowed me to stay pretty much in one place.

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Ready for fog
One of Sjogin’s high tech devices at the ready.

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Knees
Down below on Sunday. Shows some of the construction details for those interested. All this would be replaced by plywood in most modern designs, resulting in more space below.

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Osprey tryouts
Full house at Osprey central.

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Ready to go on a perfect Sunday morning. Ended with a missed landing but no harm done.

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Prime rowboat
Another season of rowboat building at Beaton’s is almost done. Prime cedar put to good use.

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Paul Smith spiling a frame.

Norzh 22 developments

I’ve heard from one of my readers in New South Wales, Australia expressing interest in contributing to a syndicate to fund the completion of Francois Vivier’s interpretation of Sjogin. There have also been a few positive responses on the WoodenBoat Forum Thread. Anyone else interested?

Per the numbers on his website it appears that it will take about $4,000 to fund the full set of plans to build the Norzh 22 in glued ply. I’ll write to Francois to see if a Syndicate approach is a possibility.

As mentioned in an earlier Post, I intent to take off Sjogin’s lines this Summer and try to develop a set of plans so she can be built as is.

More news from France

There’s a new boat on Francois Vivier’s web site. She’s called the Norzh 22 and is based on Sjogin as mentioned below. Details here.

This is the PDF available from the Norzh 22 page:

PDF

Pretty close. As you’ll see in a bit, the Garvey is ready for service. I’ll ask Tom to use it to help take some measurements of Sjogin’s sheer and other reference points so Mr. Vivier can refine his first drafts.

I hope that he can keep her low topsides. It always seems your going fast when the quarter wave is close at hand.

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Busy shop
A full shop at Beaton’s. A Blackjack Skiff awaits attention while a pair of rowboats are nearing completion. Great smell of fresh Atlantic White Cedar. The trimmings make for great kindling.

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Prime Cedar
First class cedar being put to good use. Beaton’s is building three of these this Winter.

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Garvey time
A sure sign of Spring as the Garvey gets a fresh coat of bottom paint. It will be easier to use the Garvey to measure the sheer heights on Sjogin than from a dinghy.

A new/old design!

As mentioned below, there’s interest in having a set of plans made for Sjogin. People have asked for plans showing her just as she is for traditional construction but also re-designed for construction in glued lap plywood.

Rod Brink, the gentlemen from Texas who started the quest on the WoodenBoat Forum, has contacted several designers to see if any were interested in designing a boat similar in appearance to Sjogin but to be built in the modern way. He/we have had positive responses from several and one in particular.

Francois’ Vivier is a noted Naval Architect, designing ships and boats over a long career from Supertankers to the traditional boats of his native Brittany. He played a key role in bringing out the best characteristics of the local fishing boats in designs that helped preserve the area’s marine traditions but allowed modern building techniques. Also see the January/February issue of the new WoodenBoat for a full profile of Mr. Vivier.

Here is the latest sketch Mr. Vivier did in response to Rod’s request.

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Close cousin

Pretty close. I need scrounge up a dinghy to measure her topsides in a few places and take other measurements to pin down her sheer at least and the position of the cabin and such. The above was done from photos and tweaked through CAD magic.

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Evolving
The Nordic design that evolves from Francois’ craft will have modest accommodations and concessions to modern needs. I’ll make an effort to have a traditional set of plans available for those who want to dream of building her just as she is.

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She flies
Photo editing by Rod Blank. Simple lines that will need a lot of work to render in two dimensions.

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Arty
Rod took one of my photos and turned it into the essential lines. Great fun.

A visit from a long absent friend

Our good friend Paul was able to fold his frame into Sjogin today for the first time in a while after having both knees replaced. A sail is allegedly in the cards.

No further signs of ice in the basin or down Bay. The bilge has been ice free as well. This cold weather will continue for a while so I’ll keep the float switch off for now. She only makes a dozen or so strokes a day.

Progress ground to a halt on Speedwell. Paul’s done with his bit and is in the sunny Keys as a reward. When the weather allows I’m going to start a sanding/priming program. Still need to have Tom find some spruce for a Sprit rig.

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Paul
Despite the lack of a smile, Paul enjoyed his visit.

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Ready to refinish
Bring on the 80 grit.

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Mid week pump out
Mid-week visit to pump the bilge. Enjoying the later and later sunsets.

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Last of the sun highlighting the new blocks. The varnish is holding up fine.

The seizing on the main sheet is to prevent the boom from moving back and forth. It also keeps the boom to one side to make getting in and out of the cabin easier.

And still it snows

Time to pull out Mark Helprin’s Winter’s Tale. A classic for a classic Winter. Wouldn’t be surprised to see a few more “Blizzards of the Decade” pass through.

Here are a few pics from the last week or so.

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Windswept decks and the usual cockpit full of snow. Last Sunday after the first “Blizzard of the Decade”.

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Still shiney
The blocks are holding up well. We’ll see how they look next Winter.

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Surprise
As I walked out on the dock last Sunday I rudely interrupted Elevenses for the local Merganser family.

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Progress
Now that Speedwell’s out of the Duckboat room, rowboat building begins.

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And off the jig
Off the jig and in the main shop for finishing while the second one is started.

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And yet it snows
And finally, here’s a scene from today’s Blizzard of the Decade. Our offices were closed today and tomorrow looks iffy as well. Sjogin will need to be bailed in any event.

Sjogin thread on the WoodenBoat Forum

As many of you know I participate in the forum hosted by WoodenBoat Magazine. One of the folks there is a fan of Sjogin and has started a thread looking to record her lines and construction details. Link to the WBF Thread here.

Rod Brink is the forum member and reader of this Blog who started the thread. He’s a professional photographer and as such he took several of my pics and gave them a little TLC. Check out Rod’s efforts on the Forum Thread. Worthy of some Note Cards?

Looks like there may be interest in building a sister or two….. I’ll keep you all posted of course. This may also lead to determining Sjogin’s provenance as word gets around.

The Iceman returneth

The current cold snap has brought ice back to Jones Tide Pond this weekend. Nothing too serious and open from the end of the dock out to the bay. Water down after the fierce Northwesterlies this week.

Very chilly this morning, about 20 on deck and lot’s of frost below. Started reading a new book on designs of traditional Danish sailing craft. It was referenced in a post on 70.8% by Thomas Armstrong. Thomas recently featured Matt Billey’s project that was the subject of a Post here. Matt was inspired by the Haabet boat found in Bornholm.

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Ice!
The ice returns. With February around the corner and longer, warmer days we should be OK this winter.

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New read
New breakfast read. A lot of cousins but nothing that say’s Sjogin

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Paul with small boats
Paul Smith with a shop full of small boats. Speedwell’s been moved out of the Duckboat Room to make way for a new set of rowboats.

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Here’s the Beaton Rowboat jig ready to start building. Dave Beaton would be proud.

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Plank stock
And here are a set of planks cut out from patterns and ready to use.

Keel’s in and the ice is out

Paul installed the new keel and centerboard trunk this week along with a new skeg and sternpost. Speedwell also had the bottom sanded and a bit of filling of the dents. She’ll also need to have a few seams tended to but all in all she looks fine for sixty years old.

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Installed
The keel’s fastened in place along with a new skeg and sternpost. The trunk was fit and fastened to the keel first.

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Trunk's in
The joy of a brand new centerboard trunk. If the light looks odd it’s because the boat’s still upside down.

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Paul replaced the old centerboard hole with a new hole. The original notch allowed the board to jump off the pin when in shallow water. (And when least expected.)

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Pleasant day
Ice free and a nice breeze from the ENE about 6 to 10 with gusts to 12 or so. It’s supposed to lay down later but home for chores and another fire. There might be a window for a sail tomorrow morning.

Getting thinner

The first onshore wind in a long while is starting to thin the ice in the basin and the rain coming with this system will reduce it further. Not to say we can’t get another cold snap that will freeze things up again, but the sun’s getting higher and brighter each day. I’m looking forward to my first sail of the year.

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Grey day
Spitting rain out of the NNE and just above freezing but the usual conditions below.

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Open water getting closer. The gulls seem to be saying “how about some sausage bread scraps?”

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On a serious note, I want to bring your attention to an organization that is and has been doing real good for the fisherman of Haiti. Sails for Sustenance has been collecting used sails from US sailors since 2006 and giving them to the sustenance fisherman of rural Haiti. The locals adapt the sails to their small WOODEN boats and broaden their opportunities. The rig used in the video is nothing more than the traditional sprit sail, used with variation throughout the world. I had such a rig on Puffin, a Hankin’s beach skiff I converted to a sprit rig years ago.

Check this out:

It’s kind of like the sermon about teaching a man to fish. Here a man already know how to fish but we can can give him better wings to feed a community. I have an old main and jib from Sjogin that I’ll send them.

There is a huge need for protein in the aftermath of last Tuesday’s disaster and a better harvest would certainly help. Please contact these folks and see if you can help.

Thanks,

Russ