Sjogin – Page 13 – Hove to off Swan Point

Brrrrr……

We’re still in the grip of a deep freeze and the basin’s finally frozen over. And Sjogin’s bilge is semi-solid as well. The temperatures will be in the mid to upper thirties this week so the ice shouldn’t get too thick. The ice out on the Bay is up to Swan Point but open directly across from Beaton’s.

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Solid water
Iced in but not Shackleton thick yet. About 25 this morning and about 50 below after a few Sardine stokings.

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Closing in
You can make out the ice just past Swan Point and across the Bay. Every once in a while I can manage to sail out of the basin and go exploring along the pack ice. Not today.

The open water around the pilings is from the bubblers.

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Had a visit from Kent Mountford yesterday. Shared a cuppa and talk about the Silent Maid. Kent’s writing a book about her and the lives of all who shared in her stewardship. His family owned the Maid in the 60’s. If any reader has a story about her, let me know and I’ll pass it on to Kent.

Happy New Year and Decade

All my best wishes to you all for this brand new year. It’s also the 25th year Sjogin has been in the family. My friend Jon Walters and I rescued her from the back row at Beaton’s in 1985. Probably worth an anniversary gala this Summer. She’s now 48 years old and looks like she’ll make her 50th birthday party.

No sailing this weekend; ice in the basin (and in the bilge) and high winds from the northwest since then. It’s the season for hand pumping and mid week visits to keep the old girl afloat.

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Ice!
First bit of ice in a while though gone by Sunday. With these westerlies the colder surface water is blown down Bay and replaced by the relatively warmer bottom water. The bubbler system Beaton’s uses to protect the pilings works the same way.

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Ice free!
With all these frigid days and nights I’m amazed that the basin is ice free. Went down after work today to pump her out and pick out what little ice was in the bilge. The bright sunny days have helped I imagine.

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Breakfast's ready
Breakfast’s ready. Last Sunday morning’s visit. Freezing on deck but warmish below.

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Plan ahead!
Illustration from my current read, In Tidal Waters. Details of this neat little book in the post below.

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Beaton's shop model
This is a model of the shop at Beaton’s was made in 1960 by a local craftsman. It was on display when I stopped by for their Christmas party. Detailed down to the tools on the bench and the Lightning being planked. Accurate except that’s its far too neat.

Speedwell update and more

Paul Smith has been making progress on Speedwell. The keel has been beveled and fits just so. There’s a new load of white cedar on the way from Virginia for the centerboard case and the new mast step and floors have been installed. Time to start thinking about a sail rig and spars.

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Beveling the keel
The keel is being beveled in this photo. After picking up the bevels of the garboards, the angle is recorded on a bevel board; really just a scrap of wood with a straight edge.

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The bevel board. When these boats were being built on a regular basis, there were lots of different boards like this that the builder would use to set the correct angle for each piece.

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Big clamp!
It helps to have the right clamp. The keel now fits snugly against the garboards. After fastening, the seam will be caulked with cotton and seam compound.

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New stuff
New mast step and floors installed. Since the frame ends were shot, Paul scarfed and screwed a piece of oak to the good bits. This should keep her tight when bashing to windward.

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Toasty
Last Monday. Note the snow at the base of the mast. The wind found a gap in the mast coat and flake by flake, the snow settled into a mini drift.

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New read
Here’s an illustration from the latest read on Sjogin. The caption reads “There was no alternative but to remove my nether garments.”

The book is “In Tidal Waters” by Francis B. Cooke, a sailor and writer chronicling his misadventures in the waters of the Thames Estuary and costal Essex, England in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. It came from D. N. Goodchild’s Shellback Library, a collection of folio books covering all things nautical. Browse through his collection for some terrific old titles, still available though long out of print. I have a half dozen titles so far with a few of them on Sjogin’s bookshelf.

A belated Merry White Christmas

and the Happiest and let us hope, a more Peaceful New Years to all. Home yesterday for Christmas Dinner with family and friends, old and new. Just cool enough for an all day, all evening fire.

The snow of last weekend still counts as a White Christmas though it’s melting fast. We didn’t finish digging out from a knee deep northeaster till last Monday. Didn’t get down to Sjogin till then and found a cockpit full of snow but otherwise clean decks. “Bailed” her out and had a nice fire below.

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Fully Decorated
And there’s the full extent of Holiday Decorations on Sjogin. Before the snow of course. We’re having a light ice season in the pond so far. (Touch wood!)

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Snow load
The NE wind kept the decks clean with just the cockpit to “bail”.

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Ice beard forming. No serious ice yet. I put the pump back to work after a bit of ice formed in the bilge water. Warmer now.

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Happy Hollies. The morning after the storm.

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Instant Snowman
Ready made Snowman.

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Perfect
Christmas Tree and snow, perfect together. I think the Architect of our home had Christmas in mind when he drew this window.

A close cousin

A reader from Gloucester wrote telling of his boatbuilding project and sending a few pics. When I saw the first picture I had a thrill in seeing the striking similarities with Sjogin. All photos courtesy of Matt B.

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Cousin!
It’s been a seven year project so far for Matt, building this classic in his spare time and working as a professional boatbuilder. Nice pic.

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Trunnels!
And she’s fastened with trunnels; tapered wood dowels that are driven through the planks and frames. A very old technology well used here. Note the sweep of the grain in the floor timber.

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Neat
She’ll have a small cabin with a curved front. Maybe just big enough for a small stove and a berth flat.

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Curvy
This is the framing for the cabin sides and coaming. Looks like there’ll be plenty of sprawling room.

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Forward hatch being fit. Classic details and workmanship.

Nice bit of work Matt. Hope to see more evidence of your progress.

Russ

Signs of Winter

The off season is here with the rigging of the bubbler system at Beaton’s. It’s used to bring up the relatively warmer bottom water when ice forms to keep the pilings ice free. It helps keep the ice around Sjogin thin as well.

It may be a while before the basin freezes as we still have Impatiens blooming.

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Bubbler time
Compressed air is run through the pipes and eventually through small plastic hoses that are weighted and rest on the bottom next to the piles.

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Raw day
Raw day yesterday; wind out of the ENE at 12 to 18, spitting rain, about 35 or so.

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This about sums it up. Nasty on deck……

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Cozy
…but cozy below.

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The Duckboat room at Beaton’s being cleaned out. There are orders for a couple more rowboats that will be built in here. But first Speedwell, our Clarke Duckboat, will be brought in for a minor refit. Note the years of patterns hanging on the walls.

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Glowing marsh
Taken at dawn this past week. (Which arrives at a far too late 7:00 am this time of year.) I try to walk down to the water’s edge each morning to make sure the tide’s on schedule. The Buffleheads are back and in full force. Sorry Julia.

And as always, lots more pics on our Flickr page.

A belated Happy Thanksgiving to all

I’m sure regular readers will have no trouble imagining what I’m thankful for this Thanksgiving season but here are a few clues:

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My Julia
Of course my darling Julia and our life together on the edge of this great country is at the top of the list. Taken a few weeks ago after a northeaster roared by. Surf’s up!

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Kids and Julia
And my two sons as well. Taken in Annapolis where David (on left) teaches sailing. Jeff’s a Web whizz and DJ in SW Oregon.

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Ourhouse, literally at the edge and the source of much joy.

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Sjogin
And of course our dear Sjogin, a vessel into which we have poured so many good times. Taken this morning; no sailing as the recent strong Northwesterlies have chased the water down the Bay.

And thanks to all of you who have reached out to me over the last few years through comments, e-mails or visits to Beaton’s. It’s always a treat to hear from folks, whether from across the Bay or from the other side of this increasingly shrinking planet.

Thanks to all,

Russ

Berth progress

Managed to put in a few hours yesterday and assembled the berth. Still need to make the facing piece. Christened it with my first nap. Works just fine. I’ll have some pics of the completed project next weekend.

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Tools
Nice working on this project with a crackling stove at my elbow.

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Breakfast's ready
And nice working with a hot breakfast at the sizzle.

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Here are some pics from last Sunday’s sail. Very light breeze, thin overcast, temps in the 40s.

Ready
At the ready. Unusually high water for November. Probably due to the Northeaster that lingered for the previous few days, piling up water in the New York Bight.

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Breeze?
Calm in the Pond; a bit of air out on the Bay.

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Just enough breeze to tack back to the dock.

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Winter position. This time of year I turn around Sjogin so the sun warms the cockpit and shines in the cabin when the drop board’s out.

It’s a Northeaster!

Classic northeaster late last week. Three days of high winds with the highest tides in a while. We had a tide line up on the lawn, just short of the roses. Just a matter of time before rising sea levels close the road and the town gives us true waterfront property.

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Ring around the lake
High tide line on Friday. Only another three feet to get to the porch.

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Beach growth
A bit more sand has been added to our beach. Sometimes it comes, sometimes it goes. Such is life at the edge.

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Whitlin'
Picking away at the berth project. This is one of the supports being trimmed to fit. Guess where the cuttings go?

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Breezy
Last of the Northeaster blowing itself it out on Saturday. Still plenty of water. Let’s hope it doesn’t start blowing out of the south too soon. Cool enough for a fire and the usual.

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Randy
Randy taking possession of the Saturday tradition of Joe Leone’s Hot Sausage Bread. Yummmm.

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Finally, here’s a neat photo sent to me by reader Dave Wagner. He’s sailed on the Bay for years and remembers Beaton’s as a kid. Dave’s the blond in the pic, out for a picnic with family. Look’s like it’s from the early 60’s.

A light air sail

Went out Sunday morning and managed a bit of a drift about. Pleasant enough though the first nice day in a while seemed to encourage far too many motorboats and jet skis for the first weekend in October. No worries; my season’s longer than theirs.

The new Hempex running rigging worked fine with no noticeable stretch. We see how it handles in a bit of a breeze. Looks fine and feels like manilla.

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Very light air
Just enough. The breeze filed in to about 5kts with lots of holes.

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Hove to off Sloop Point
Enough breeze to heave to off Sloop Point. That’s one of the new Osprey nests on the Point built by a local Eagle Scout. Be nice to see them all full one of these years.

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Breakfast!
Breakfast on the Bay. Just cool enough for a fire and fixins’.

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Here’s a video of our locally famous Glimmer Glass Bridge. I believe its the only one of it’s type in the country where the balancing mechanism consists of rolling weights. It’s also a local cause celeb’ as the County wants to replace it with a modern bridge meeting current standards. They claim they’ll reuse the lifting system but it’s feared they’ll find some excuse not to do so. We’ll see.