Category: 219

Our House

Two sails this weekend

along with some hedge trimming. Took off Friday and got underway before 8:00am. Light and variable Westerly but enough for a pleasant four hour sail. Went down to Hankin’s Island Friday and hove to for a bit. Nice to have plenty of room to relax and let Sjogin take care of herself. Long beat back in a rising Northwest wind. Gusty and shifting but not too much velocity. Short sail today in light Southerlies. Managed to cause two speedboats to wait for me to sail across the channel up by the club.

Pics follow:

Hankins
Hankin’s Island, about 2 miles or so south of Beaton’s. Named for the surf boat building family of Lavallette.

Red Sails
Red sails in the sunrise. Just after starting out Friday morning.

Marsh edge
Tacking along the marsh edge. The bottoms just a foot or so under Sjogin’s keel

Mary Ann
One of the original A Cats, Mary Ann. She was completely rebuilt in the late 80’s by Benjamin River Marine in Brooklin, Maine

Ed Lowe
The figure you can just make out on the Sea Sprite is Ed Lowe. He just turned 89 and sails stretched out on the leeward cockpit seat, propped up with cushions.

Osprey
Osprey and young; Great White Egret working the shoreline

”Garden"
The yellow flowers are a plant we thought was Evening Primrose but is probably just an attractive weed.

Julia
Julia, roses, clematis and a glass of Sancerre. A perfect early Summer combination.

A Cat bottoms

Being faired for the coming season. The fleet weigh-in was this past Friday afternoon. All of the boats must meet a minimum weight. The boats that are lighter than the minimum must add lead blocks at designated spots.

A Cat and other pics follow:

Raven aft
Raven, one of the Beaton A Cats. Final fairing is taking place here. The fleet has restrictions on how often the boat can be hauled and scrubbed.

NAME
From the stern. Both the rudder blade and centerboard are ply and carbon fiber. No oak slabs drifted together here.

Ghost
Ghost, waiting for her 605 square foot mainsail.

Raven sailing
Raven leaving on her shake down sail. Son David aboard.

Windago
Windago as seen through the side door of Beaton’s wood shop.

Herb Beds
Here are our herb, salad and tomato beds. The grey plants are lamb’s ears; very happy to self sow to the point of nuisance.

Muriel
Our literally fat cat Muriel finding my fleece vest a comfortable spot for a nap.

The Bay was empty this morning,

absent a few fishermen. Threat of rain and fog kept most sensibly at the dock. I went out anyway, going no further than the yacht club, but mostly to leeward of Swan Point. The northerly current and a S to SSW breeze of 6 to 10 kept Sjogin comfortably hove to on either tack.

Cool and damp enough for a brew up. Had a fire and tea late this past Wednesday afternoon as well. Went out in the fog and sailed the same course, same tacks. It’s like going for a stroll around your block.

Pics, garden and such as well, follow:

Brew up
Cool and damp enough for tea.

Hove to
Beaton’s Osprey Platform out of focus but with apparently with child! Much fussing with the nest today.

tiller line
New tiller lines and blocks. Easier to hold and the blocks help as well. The tiller responds more quickly now when the line’s eased. I’ll add a pad eye inside the toe rail and lash the blocks to them.

Iron Line
Sjogin’s lead (iron actually) line. It’s only 9 feet long; a knot at three and six feet. Sjogin draws three feet or so; if it’s more that that, it’s all I need to know.

Most of my end of Barnegat Bay is about 5′ to 8′ deep, favoring the western shore. Where there are salt marshes you ususally have 4′ of so right up to most of the marsh. When the wind’s out of the SW or W you can sail up to it, jump off and anchor.

Fog
Hove to in the fog this past Wednesday.

Raven and Lightning
Raven and Lightning rigged and ready to go. If there are any tune up races next week, I’ll try to get some pics.

Ghost
Ghost, the Beaton A-Cat I had the privilege to work on in the early 90’s. The Ogee at the end of the coaming, tiller and seats are my work.

Poppy
Stranger Poppy. Six spots instead of the usual four. Hmmmmn, an omen?

Here are some recent photos

taken over the last few weeks in no particular order. Some progress on the new Flatfish at Beatons, some garden pics and whatever. Still haven’t gone for a sail since April 19th.
Also received several e-mails from folks in Finland, Belgium and Washington state. Nice to know someone’s reading this.


Still cool enough for a fire and a cup of hot chocolate. This was from April 30th, blowing about 18 to 20kts from the SE…..


and spitting rain.


Here is a nice pile of Atlantic white cedar getting ready to be used as planking stock for the new Flatfish. The keel and centerboard are in place and the rabate has been cut. The builders have plank patterns taken from the first Flatfish they produced.


The boat on the right is my Son’s C&C 24 Claire. She was just launched and is getting ready for the Spring racing season.


This is how we grow money! The pink plants are Lunaria or Money plant. They are biennial and spread willingly.


Sunrise on May 1st.


Things are starting to fill in. Soon there won’t be a need for mulch.

Russ

Not much to report

and I haven’t gone for a sail since returning. Usual Saturday and Sunday morning visits and still cool enough for a fire and cup of tea. Also started on the perennial beds in earnest. Garden pics next week.
Here are some recent pics:


Nothing like shop dried Jersey White Cedar to start a fire.


Progress on the new Flatfish. Here the pattern for the sheer strake is being fitted. Note the glued on batten that mimics the shape of the molded Herreshoff sheer strake. This is done so the pattern bends in the same fashion as the actual sheer strake.


The Ospreys have returned. You can just make out one on the platform Tom Beaton, myself and other erected about 20 years ago. Although not a high as they prefer, good nesting sites are at a premium so we’ve had nesting pairs for the past few years.


Spring has sprung. Julia collecting Daffodils.

Chilly today,

but warm below. Continued with Tilman’s Mostly Mischief, covering his voyage to Bylot Island from Upernivik, Greenland. It’s a significant chunk of rock and ice next to Baffin Island, at about 74 degrees North. It’s Tilman’s desire to cross the glacier covering most of Bylot. A map of the island and Tilman’s camps follows along with other recent pics:

Bylot Island
A map of Bylot Island showing (trust me) Tilman’s camps across the island.

Tea today
Tea this morning.

Lotus mast
Herreshoff like straping on Lotus’s refinished mast.

Dawn
Dawn at our house last week.

Russ

This is more like it…

…brisk breezes from the NNE about 8 to 10 kts, about 45. Water too low to consider going for a sail.

Also today is my first born’s Birthday. Happy B-day Jeff!

Finished another chapter in Mischief in Patagonia with Tilman and crew sailing from Valpariso to Panama. A soldiers breeze after a refit from the abuses suffered in the channels. Had a fire and tea as usual.

More progress on Lotus with work on her new boom. Pics follow:

Lotus boom
Here is the aft end of the boom showing the solid plug with a slot for the outhaul sheeve. This boom will rectangular in section with walls of 3/4″ Sitka spruce. Note the tapered ends facing forward. This is done to avoid a hard spot.

Lotus boom
Here is the center plug where the forward end of the sheet block bridle is attached.

Lotus boom
And here are the three other sides, ready to be fit. They are scarfed to make up the 29′ length of the A-Cat boom.

Boxing Day

Here are some pics from this Christmas weekend:

Christmas Dinner
We were 10 today for Christmas Dinner.

New seat
Sjogin has a new seat; a Christmas gift from my son, David. Suprisingly comfortable.

Jeff and Sasha
My other son Jeff and his girlfriend, Sasha. We went out this past Friday afternoon, after the Beaton’s Christmas party. Again hove to off Swan Point, stove warding off the chill.

Julia and Muriel
Julia and Muriel, sharing secrets.

Sunday, December 18th

Had a near perfect late Fall/early Winter sail on Sunday. About 30 when I set sail. Bay water level down about a foot or so. Very light SW breeze; 2 to 5 kts at first, later up to 8 to 10. South going current so when hove to on the port tack, Sjogin stayed almost in one spot. Went below for about an hour, read another chapter in Mischief in Patagonia and had a cuppa.

Here’s some boat pics, also one of our Muriel:

Mast swag
Swan Point is visible between the mast and jib.

Reflections
Some sun today, about a low as it gets at noon for the year.

Down below
Down below with the last of the tea warming by the stove.

Muriel
Our very comfortable Muriel. Notice the mouse figures at the end of the arms.