Hove to off Swan Point

A comment from a new reader prompted a walk down memory lane.  Jim S recently commented on the Beaton’s page about growing up at Beaton’s and what it meant to him. Here’s the text of his comment:

“I grew up summering at Beaton’s Boat Yard. I bought my first sailboat, a Snipe, from three school teacher’s who sailed it from Beaton’s for several season’s. I had a friend, John Callahan, who introduced me to Beaton’s. He sailed the Snipe, then purchased a G sloop. We had many fabulous sails from Beaton’s over several year’s. We were given a lightning owned by Mr. Beaton on one occasion in Mid December. We sailed on the calmest bay with a light breeze that day. It was surreal. Not a single other boat on the bay that day as far as I could see. There were very old boats rotting in the weeds which we played skipper on for hours and admired the old brass fittings and large wooden cleats and pulleys. A lot has changed since I last saw Beaton’s 35 or 40 years ago, but I still get the same warm feeling when I saw it again today. Please don’t change it. And thank you for being a part of my growing up.”

While I didn’t find Beaton’s until my mid 30′s, my sons Jeffrey and David had experiences similar to Jim’s.  Many a time I’d go looking for them after a days labor on Caprice, our 24′ Crosby tabloid cruiser, and find them on an abandoned boat in the back row, happily pretending to be guiding the wreck on some imaginary voyage.

There’s less of that today, but the spirit of Beaton’s continues.  Thanks for the walk down memory lane Jim.

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There’s been a few changes in the years since you were here Jim. The major one is the building of the new office/store complete with showers. This is the view from the building’s second floor of the wood shop and Bay looking much like they did years ago.

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And here it is. Give it a few years and it will blend right in.

Any more Beaton’s stories out there readers?

The indefatigable Rod Brink has brought forth another version of Sjogin. After Paul Gartside did a fine job with the building (and dreaming) plans for a replica of Sjogin, Rod convinced him there was a market for a smaller, trailerable version. So here we have Sjogin III, as published in the current issue of Watercraft Magazine. She’s 19′ LOA, with a hefty 8′ Beam. Very shallow draft at 1′ with a Centerboard draft of 4′ 2″. There’s an ingenious outboard bracket tucked away for a clean look under sail. Plans are $50 from the Gartside Sjogin III page.

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Hopefully the new version won’t need a pump.

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Here’s an image of the Sail plan. What joy. Let a thousand Sjogins sail.

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Here’s a pic of your Very Happy Skipper at Brunch on Friday. A nice SE breeze and a northerly current allowed a very slow sail over the bottom off Mantoloking

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The deck work continues on Myth. Paul Smith is doing this exacting job. The seams will be caulked with a decidedly not sticky compound.

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The Maid’s back in and looking especially fine this year. Note the fore hatch that matches the deck crown in both directions.

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Had a chance today for a quick sail and brunch under way. Also discovered the Charlie Nobel is finished. Good excuse to order a new one from the stove’s builder. Copper perhaps.

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Out before the Southerly picks up.

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Still rough but very functional.

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Hove to inside Swan Point.

Another iPad Post.

As promised, here are a few pics from our recent visit to Butterfly Beach on St John. It’s the Fish Bay home of our friends Dave and Cheryl. We spent a very relaxing week and a half unwinding with a daily 5:00PM soak in the hot tub and visits to the local beaches. Paradise indeed.

Here’s a link to the Flicker Page. A selection follows:

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The Gazebo on the beach on Fish Bay. There’s a hammock inside with an over the toes view of the Caribbean.

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The Pool Cottage. There’s a mangrove framed view of Fish Bay from the balcony.

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On the Second Day Tour. Trunk Bay frames Julia, Joe, Annie and Cheryl. Dave is out of view video taping.

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Just before dinner on our last night at Butterfly Beach. Another fine tradition that started with a sunset gun.

Thanks again Dave and Cheryl for another perfect vacation together.

Edited to add the over the toes view referenced above:

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You may have seen this as it’s been making the rounds on the Web. It’a a real-time wind speed map of the continental US using NOAA predictions. Click anywhere on the map to zoom in. Very cool and mesmerizing.

Here’s the Link

Managed to take my first sail of 2012 on Sunday, April Fools Day. The tiller is still rough but enough fitting to work as planned. Still not sure why it took so long but here we are, finally hove to off Swan Point.

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Sails raised for the first time in many months. Let’s hope I make up for lost time. Who wants to go for a sail?

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Brunch under way. A treat a long time coming.

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Lots of shaping to do but it works fine. The aft end needs to be trimmed and faired but the forward end is now high enough to clear the blocks. When I laid out the new rudder I made the tiller slot parallel to the water line. I think the original rudder had the slot angled up slightly so the tiller started out at a bit of an angle, thus the current kink. Oh well, it and the rudder itself works fine.

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Beating into a rising Southwesterly on a mostly empty Bay. It seems I still remember how to sail. I poked around south of Swan Point hoping to catch a glimpse of the lost rudder as the water’s still clear but no luck. By now, if it’s still on the bottom, it’s covered in growth and mud and invisible.

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Pics from St. John later this week.

before we leave for paradise. I’ll try to do one from St John though no sailing this time, just days and days of watching the clouds drift by. And having a great time with our friends Dave and Cheryl.

Here are some pics from the last few weeks to keep Peter happy.

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Progress on the store/office. I tried out the chair on the porch and it works fine.

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New sign at Beaton’s. Glad they kept the Ghost image.

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Calm between showers. Still working on the tiller and will have to postpone our first sail of the season till we return.

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A sure sign of Spring as the yard Garvey gets her makeover.

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Repairs to the rigging ladder. They’ll need it soon as this warm weather will start the sailing juices flowing.

Here you go Peter:

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Here it is all glued up with Tom remembering the dark old days when we basically made a pair of 50′ gutters. Hard, splintery work with a gouge and hollowing plane.

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Here are some off cuts from the last spar.

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And here’s a neat Old Town runabout in for fresh varnish on the hull.

That was pretty quick using the iPad. All the pics are from the iPhone and accessible through iCloud here on the….well, thanks Steve, it all works fine.

Sitting down below with a warm fire and an about to be removed wisdom tooth. Figured I’d chew on a well toasted sausage bread before days of mush.

This is also my first iPad post.

The view yesterday under the dock at Beaton’s. I knew as soon as I shipped the rudder, the sailing conditions would revert to mean.

but the tiller needs a bit of the cut and shim. For now I’ll fit a custom wedge and glue it back to shape later. Looks like we’ll be sailing this week. (Written 02.22.12)

Friend and carpenter Andy helped me with the installation last Saturday. Andy was nourished with the ship’s best before his “stand here; hold this” efforts.

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Andy passes the stand here; hold this test. A few years ago he passed the sit there; hold this test on Charlotte.

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It fits though a bit closer than it needs to be. When very hard over it binds a bit. I’ll fair in the tight spots next haul out. And yes, the cotter pins are in place. I’ll place the lower one when I get a half dozen Beatonites to stand forward.

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The tiller is a work in progress. I need to take a further wedge off the bottom and glue it on top to bring the end of the tiller above the mainsheet blocks. Fun work (as he mutters walking off to the band saw for another slice.)

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Sails bent on and about ready to go. Waiting on a light to moderate dry Northeaster, about 40 degrees, bright sun and fresh sausage bread. The water’s still clear so the first order of business is a cruise of the Rudder Grounds. Hope springs eternal.

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Plenty of water but gusting from the NNW about 20 and building. No thanks.

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The Joys of living at Sea Level. And it is rising. I’ve been driving by this corner for, well forever and you can now see marine growth on the lowest drain and curb. Get used to it.