So easy we may have a run of HtoSP exclusive content 

Here’s news:  Bill Fortenbaugh, the gentlemen for whom I helped build Ghost those many years ago, has written a book about building and sailing Ghost.  I’m about half way through and reliving almost every rivet.  I’ll post purchase details soon but here’s the cover:

The cover shows Ghost in a trailing position.   For seven years she was unbeatable. 

Yours truly assisting an over Old Overholted Santa with the last rivet.

The origin of the Lazy Russ.

What joy to have helped bring Ghost to life.  Thanks, Julia.

Still here

And sorry I haven’t updated this Blog since whenever.  I’ve been busy with my life, happy to keep up with most of my duties absent writing HtoSP blog posts.   I hope anyone still reading this is aware of the other ways to follow along.  

Instagram is where most of the good stuff shows up first.  It’s a public account so anyone can see my posts.  It’s at  https://www.instagram.com/sjogin/

I’m also doing a bit of writing that may show up in our favorite magazine.

Let me know if anyone sees this.

Here’s one recent pic:


Best,

Russ

A new record?

For not updating the Log.  As most know I post on Facebook frequently, mostly via Instagram.  You can also see new pics on Twitter.

Here’s a series of photos of the repair to Lightning from a nasty insult this past season.  In reverse order but you get the idea.  Another bit of boat magic from Paul and Beaton’s.

What wound?

Faired and primed.

Sealed and spot filled. 

Almost there. 

Damage revealed. 

Dock rash?
Sjogin stuff soon.  

Happy New Year

Yes, it’s been far too long without a Post.  Sjogin’s now hauled and in the shop at Beaton’s getting a little TLC and attention to a few minor projects.  The plan is to have her back in the water and rigged providing no serious ice.  Seems strange to have a January launching but she needs to go back in and prevent too much drying out.  Especially in the warm and cozy woodshop.

Here are some pics and a video from the last month or so.

One of the main reasons I want her back in the water.  Hard to have a fire and sizzle when she’s on the hard and especially in the shop.  We’ve had little ice so far this winter and I hope that trend continues.

She still weeps a bit due to her iron sick joints.  Note the cedar bilge pump switch.

First ice of the season a few weeks ago.  It was mostly slush and soon gone.

Last sail of 2016 and a fine one at that.  The usual light SW breeze with no one else on the Bay.  Here’s Sjogin showing off her ghosting ability.

It took about five minutes to make her way to the slip.  I had to let her eventually bump up against the piling rather than walking up to the bow and stopping her way.  It was a clear case of sailing as slow as she could.

Here she is waiting her turn in the wood shop.  You can see a very expensive Osprey nest in the upper left and the strongback for building Duckboats at the bottom.

In the shop and ready for the tender ministrations of Paul Smith.

Rails stripped and a few coats of varnish already. Boy they work fast.  Again a mulitple of my speed.

When I renewed the trim pieces twenty years ago I overlapped the ends which have opened up over the years.  This simple solution should keep things tight.

Here’s Paul working on the rudder.  It needs a bit more weight to counteract the tendency flop over.  He’s also adjusting the angle of the tiller slot so the tiller needs less sweep in profile. There’s also a new tiller to be made.  If Paul can find a suitable piece of oak or locust I’ll fashion it myself and make it a bit longer so I can steer comfortably from the new seats.

Happy New Year again Sjogin fans.  For those that need a more regular diet of Sjogin, Beaton’s and such pics, my Instagram account is public and updated more frequently.

Edited to add yet another slow sailing video:

This and that

Here are a few pics from the last month or so.  Some Sjogin stuff, some Speedwell stuff and this and that.  Pics first because it’s so easy now; captions later.

Edited to add: And now the captions are done.

The Classic View.  I’ll count the pics taken from this spot some day.

A quiet morning last week.  Fine weather for creek crawling in Speedwell.

Here she is after our quick adventure.  You can see the deck seams showing.  When the boat was built in the 1950s, Phil Clarke used splines in the deck planks.  Sixty years of sanding and fairing have taken their toll and now the plank edges are curling.

Hers a Prisma effect that works.  This pic goes back to last spring

New neighbor.  Bigger than our usual Ospreys, it’s a Bald Eagle.   I heard that they had been in the area for a few years now. I think there’s a nesting pair out at the Manasquan Reservoir but this is the first time Ive see one here. Just the other day I saw two more males that were twisting and turning in the air over our yard; most amazing sight.


Finall, Sjogin from a different angle.  Out testing the steering or on Speedwell.  Seems OK in light air but a shallow draft rudder would work better in more breeze.  Perhaps an end plate on the rudder per Mr. Bolger.

 

A sail on Aïda

On Fishers Island Sound that is. The skies were certainly operatic. 

But first, a NYC miracle.  Our virtual and actual friend Paul Plessner flew in Monday from Hell before we headed to Mystic for our Aïda adventure.  He lives in Hell, Michigan 48619.  

He asked if we could stop in New York for a slice of real pizza on the way to Mystic.  I checked with my street food expert son (on the left) and managed to park right in front of his building in Soho.  The proper use of the word literally is appropriate here. 

Our magic carpet Aïda, a Nathaniel Greene Herreshoff shallow draft yawl.  She was built at Herreshoff Manufacturing Company in 1926 and lovingly restored by Doug Hyland in 2008.

WoodenBoat Forum member Mike and the Morgan on the way down the Mystic River  Note her position.  

Here she is when we returned.  The Morgan will be hauled out for a bit of bottom work.  That’s the Sabino on the right. 

It was a bit breezy on the Sound.  A solid fifteen with gusts to “whoa”.  Decidedly not my usual sailing conditions.

A cool and lumpy day waiting for a Northeaster to arrive.  We covered a good bit of ground though sailing with just the jib and mizzen.  Certainly a jib and jigger kind of day.  

A smiling Steven Bauer driving while the watch below keeps warm.  Without a wood stove I might add.

Paul driving Aïda to windward.  Skipper Bryan Hammond tends the mizzen.  He’s a very good photographer as well as an accomplished sailor so we may have some better pics soon.

Added treat: Brillant returning home after another trip.  One of Olin Stephens finest designs.

Great trip with fine friends. Next year with sunshine and Sjogin breezes please.

Speedwell work

After years of doodling, I finally came up with a scheme to allow sculling and steering on Speedwell.  The standard Duckboat rudder extends about a foot below the skeg and bottom.  It’s useful to be able to sail in thinner water.  Which certainly applies to Stockton Lake where she may sail soon.  I also screwed down the mast step to take any wobbles out of going downwind. 

We’ll see.

In the steering position more or less.  The line will go through the row lock to set the amount aft and prevent loss by fumble fingered sailors.  (Ask me how I know.)

Cedar off-cuts serve here as a proof of concept.  (We hope.). The finished version will be in teak and wide enough for horns on both sides.  The piece of the left will be fastened to the transom as well as a piece next to the stern post.  Both will have a double taper to hold the row lock by tapping it in place.  And perhaps a bit of leather for protection.  

The deck is fastened to the transom directly. Any standard row lock socket would use some end grain. The wood row lock may be more in keeping with the work boat background. I thought of a folding one, like the ones on the old hunting boats but it would always be there. This way, when it’s out, I can’t see it from where I sit.


Sculling position in deep water.  Useful for working in narrow ditches and such.  Recognize the dinghy in the background?  It’s the Columbia Model that I helped Tom Beaton build many years ago.  

Stay tuned.  News from deep into the Beaton Marshes soon.

A few quick Sjogin pics

Sitting here waiting for a few minutes of my Dentist’s time to look at the piece of me in my pocket.

Here we go:

This is the ad in the new WoodenBoat Store catalogue. 

This is a screenshot of the Sjogin plans for sale.  What a treat.

This is the marconi version similar to Sjogin’s current rig.


Ready for Hermine who had the grace to take her bluster elsewhere. 

That was easy.