Late summer greetings!

We've just returned from a two-week vacation sailing in the wilderness. So while we may be rested, we're also about two weeks behind on mail, phone calls, and general magazine stuff. Are vacations worth it? No question in our minds!

 

Here are a couple of tidbits for subscribers. Our classified ad page has become one of our most-visited Web pages (actually all the pages are getting tremendous traffic: more than 350,000 hits in the month of July). We try to post new listings there about once a month, rather than the usual every other month that most of the pages on our site get. So do stop in there from time to time, if you're in the boat-trading or equipment-shopping mood. Deals happen. And they happen within our "community of sailors."

 

Also we've been telling you for a couple of years that Good Old Boat was too small to accept credit cards, but we're growing up. We are now set up to take credit cards on the Web site and for mail-in orders for subscriptions and books.

We'll see you in Annapolis!

We're packing our bags for Annapolis, Md., and expect to meet many of the sailors and subscribers who have become friends through telephone and e-mail. (Some people want to meet us, it seems, just to see what kind of nuts would start a magazine with their retirement funds when they could have gone cruising instead.) We'll be at the Annapolis Boat Show for the entire run, Oct. 5-9. We won't have a booth, but we will be on the prowl wearing our Good Old Boat hats, shirts, and media badges. We'll put in some time helping at the Chesapeake Region Accessible Boating (CRAB) booth and will drop by there often to see if anyone has left messages for us. That booth will be located near the Pardeys' boat, Taleisin. Their former boat, Seraffyn, will also be on display there. So if you can't find us, leave a message at the CRAB booth, and we'll try to meet up with you somewhere. We'll keep the folks at the CRAB booth posted regarding our general whereabouts.

 

Also, as we have for the past several years, we'll be at the Strictly Sail show in Chicago in early February. We won't have a booth there either, but usually we're on the presentation schedule, although those assignments haven't been made yet. We are preparing a presentation for Strictly Sail sailors on wilderness cruising: sailing away from civilization and doing without ice (Look, Mom! No SPAM and no Dinty Moore either!), pumpout, refueling, replenishing water supplies, trash removal, and so on.

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What's coming in the November issue

The Ericson 36C and a special classic, Seven Bells, are our feature boats.
The Alberg 30 is our review boat.
A Cape Dory Typhoon undergoes a refit.
Ted Brewer tells us what's pretty and what's not in sailboat design.
John Vigor talks about unplanned inversions (OK, call it a capsize, if you will!) and what you can do to prevent this.
Ron Chappell tells how to trailer boats and the advantages of doing so.
Jim Isbell builds a hard-bottom inflatable dinghy for less than $600.
Larry Pardey sings the praises of the cutter rig.
Don Launer tells why he likes and how to sail the club-footed jib.
We discuss nautical instruments (of the musical kind).
We carry on with our piece about nautical photography with an emphasis on composition and how to shoot for publication.
Susan Peterson Gately parts with an old friend, her first sailboat.
Bill Sandifer says it's not so easy getting used to a new boat.
We have more good art by Stan Terryll and another poem by Reese Palley.

Quick Bread for the "now generation"

Seems like everyone we've told about this has heard of Quick Bread, our latest discovery for improved boat living. The following recipe and comments are therefore just for those who haven't tried it yet. On vacations we'll still make the occasional yeast bread with its three risings (doing that sort of thing is therapeutic, after all). This, however, is just the thing for days when you don't have time for a baking extravaganza or for when you've been invited to a potluck, and all you've got is a cooler full of leftovers.

Quick Bread is made from 2 2/3 cups of self-rising flour and 12 ounces of beer (handily just the amount in a can) or 12 ounces of soda water if you'd rather drink the beer. Stir them together, and you wind up with a sticky mess that goes right into a greased bread loaf pan and is baked at 350 degrees (or thereabouts) for 30 to 40 minutes (or thereabouts). Since the oven on our boat isn't all that temperature-sensitive, we just put the bread in as soon as we've got the batter mixed and the oven is beginning to produce heat, and we take it out when it looks a bit brown on top. Temperature and time have no meaning in this situation.

What do you get? A bread that is remarkably good for the little amount of effort. It has a crisp crust, a nice consistency, and a good flavor. It's good warm when it comes out of the oven. It's fine for sandwiches, and it makes great French toast bread the following morning. If you like, add shredded cheddar cheese, herbs, or anything else you think might make a tasty addition to the bread.

Of course we had to understand how and why this works, so we have tried a few experiments of our own. We wondered if only beer did the trick, so we tried it with non-alcoholic beer. That works just fine. Then we learned that soda water works also. We haven't tried that, but are convinced it would be just fine, if perhaps a bit more bland. We tried substituting Bisquick for the self-rising flour. After all, what IS Bisquick anyway? The answer to that one is that Bisquick is NOT self-rising flour. The bread that resulted from that experiment was crumbly and tasted like a Bisquick muffin.

Enjoy your time aboard and still have warm bread when you want it!

-- The editors

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More boat names

I have a friend who recently retired and took up boating. I was a little concerned about his lack of boating experience, but he responded with his standard comeback-line: "Not to worry." So it was no surprise when he named his boat, Knot to Worry; the dingy is named Worry.

Judith A. Deming
Kenosha, Wis.

 

After the last of our three children left the house for college, my wife, Carol, and I purchased our 22-foot Tanzer in what has been a successful attempt to renew our relationship. Unsurprisingly, the name of the boat became M T Nest.

Jan & Carol Pierson
Apalachain, N.Y.

 

We recently spied two interesting boat names: A Kelly-Peterson 44 named Pete with an attached dinghy named Re-Pete; and a Baba 30 named Black Sheep!

Scott Kearney
Bradenton, Fla.

 

Saw a funny combination on the ICW last year, a very large, very fancy motor yacht with all the trimmings of the rich and famous with a small, well-used, traditional-styled dinghy in tow. As the yacht motored by, we noticed her name, Daddy's Money; the dinghy's name was Our Money.

Lisa White
Mechanicsville, Va

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First crossing: a sailing adventure

My first ocean crossing, about 35 years ago, was an event I've never forgotten. My first boat was a Cal 20, which my friend, Mike, and I had bought together. We rented a slip at the recently developed Marina Del Ray, in Southern California, and then we taught ourselves to sail by reading Royce's Art of Sailing, and we joined the Cal 20 club. We raced, went to meetings, and sailed almost every weekend. Both of us had been recently divorced and sailing became our escape and joy. Our first cruise with the club was a sail to Catalina Island, which is 30 miles and 180 degrees from the marina. We were really excited about this sailing adventure, and I wasn't going to miss it for anything.

 

I'm a photographer and after the trip was planned a client called with a shoot that had to be done the Saturday morning we were to set sail for Catalina. Of course I wanted the work, but I really did not want to miss my first ocean crossing. I couldn't do the shoot and sail with the club from the marina, nor was I about to let Mike have all the fun. I had to do something, but what? My client lived in Long Beach so I looked in the phone book and found a water taxi in San Pedro Harbor a few miles from Long Beach. I rented the taxi for Saturday at 11 a.m. Mike left the marina without me but with about 20 other Cal 20s around 9 a.m.

 

The photograph was of a Ferrari, and I had set up the shoot for early in the morning to take advantage of the light at that time of day. After the session, my client drove me to the water taxi in San Pedro. The taxi was a 50-foot open, old Navy boat. We left the dock with one passenger, me. I had a good idea where the club boats would be, a few miles off the coast near Palos Verdes, which is about 10 miles from the marina on a direct course to Catalina. After an hour or so I saw sails on the horizon and my heart raced. Soon we met up with the fleet, and I saw our boat. The taxi pulled along side, bumped our boat, and I jumped on. I was in sailor's heaven. If I remember right, the ride cost me about $50, a bargain, and the crack in the gel coat stayed with our boat until we sold it.

 

Thirty-five years later, I still sail from Marina Del Ray and make the trip to Catalina with my wife, Nancy, in our Islander 30 Mark II, my fourth boat.

Roger Marshutz
Los Angelos, Calif.

1998-2000 Mini index
Good Old Boat: the first two and a half years

Feature boats Cape Dory 30, #1, June 1998 Ericson 35, #2, Sept. 1998 Niagara 35, #3, Nov. 1998 Blackwatch 19, #4, Jan. 1999 Baba 30, #5, Mar. 1999 Pearson Commander/Ariel, #6, May 1999 Block Island 40, #7, July 1999 Nicholson 35, #8, Sept. 1999 Bayfield 40, #9, Nov. 1999 C&C Redwing 30, #10, Jan. 2000 Tanzer 22, #11, Mar. 2000 Morgan 38, #12, May 2000 Classic sailboats (Bermuda 40, Valiant 40, Cherubini 44), #12, May 2000 West Wight Potter, #13, July 2000 Allied Seabreeze, #14, Sept. 2000 Ericson 36C, #15, Nov. 2000 Seven Bells, #15, Nov. 2000 Review boats Albin Vega, #5, March 1999 Bristol Channel Cutter, #6, May 1999 Cal 20, #7, July 1999 Contessa 26, #8, Sept. 1999 Pacific Seacraft Flicka, #9, Nov. 1999 International Folkboat, #10, Jan. 2000 Pacific Seacraft 25, #11, Mar. 2000 Pearson Triton, #12, May 2000 Southern Cross 31, #13, July 2000 Westsail 32, #14, Sept. 2000 Alberg 30, #15, Nov. 2000 Sails Sailbrokers, #2, Sept. 1998 Vang/preventer, #3, Nov. 1998 Roller furling vs. bags on deck, #3, Nov. 1998 New sails for old boats, #7, July 1999 Riding sails, #10, Jan. 2000 Whisker poles, #10, Jan. 2000 Buying new sails, #13, July 2000 Advantages of cutter rigs, #15, Nov. 2000 Joys of club-footed jibs, #15, Nov. 2000 Engines Atomic 4, #1, June 1998 Wet exhaust and other exhausts, #2, Sept. 1998 Repowering (part 1), #9, Nov. 1999 Repowering (part 2), #10, Jan. 2000 Systems Through-hulls, marine metals, #1, June 1998 Tank repair, #4, Jan. 1999 Fuel and water filters, #5, Mar. 1999 Safe shorepower, #5, Mar. 1999 Standing rigging, #6, May 1999 Advantages of tillers, #6, May 1999 New swageless fitting, #11, Mar. 2000 Through-hulls, #14, Sept. 2000 Materials, design, and construction Aluminum and steel yachts, #7, July 1999 Yacht design formulas, #7, July 1999 Helm balance, #9, Nov. 1999 Boat stability, #11, Mar. 2000 Fiberglass production overview, #11, Mar. 2000 Wooden boats: advantage, repair, #12, May 2000 Rating rules shaped designs, #12, May 2000 Keel design, #13, July 2000 Wooden boat construction, #14, Sept. 2000 Holland's Boeier yachts, #14, Sept. 2000 Aesthetics of sailboat design, #15, Nov. 2000 Capsize, #15, Nov. 2000 Maintenance and upgrades Rubrail revival, #1, June 1998 Deck delamination, #3, Nov. 1998 Blister repair (part 1), #5, Mar. 1999 Mildew wars, #6, May 1999 Do-it-yourself rigging, #8, Sept. 1999 Replacing your ports, #8, Sept. 1999 Blister repair (part 2), #8, Sept. 1999 Building holding tanks, #9, Nov. 1999 Bottom paints, #10, Jan. 2000 Heating and cooling your boat, #10, Jan. 2000 Sealants, #11, Mar. 2000 Installing an anchor windlass, #13, July 2000 Companionway hatch screens, #15, Nov. 2000 Companionway hatch renewal, #15, Nov. 2000 Boat buying What to look for when buying, #2, Sept. 1998 Is fiberglass forever?, #3, Nov. 1998 Buying, financing, insuring boats, #3, Nov. 1998 Choosing dinghies, #4, Jan. 1999 Choosing oars, #5, Mar. 1999 Affordable boat: partnerships, basics, careful buying (Tartan 34C), #6, May 1999 Traditional vs inflatable dinghy, #12, May 2000 Are sailboats an investment?, #12, May 2000 Finding used multihulls, #14, Sept. 2000

Refits Bristol 27, #6, May 1999 New mast for an old cat, #7, July 1999 Alberg 30, #10, Jan. 2000 Allied Seabreeze (35), #11, Mar. 2000 Pearson 26, #12, May 2000 San Juan 24, #13, July 2000 Com-Pac 23, #14, Sept. 2000 Cape Dory Typhoon, #15, Nov. 2000 How-to articles Onboard communication, #2, Sept. 1998 Life without a cooler, #4, Jan. 1999 Proper flag etiquette, #4, Jan. 1999 Bahamian-style anchoring, # 5, Mar. 1999 Anodizing, #5, Mar. 1999 Flopper stopper, #6, May 1999 Chip logs and lead lines, #6, May 1999 Medical bag, emergencies at sea, #7, July 1999 How GPS works, #7, July 1999 Renaming your boat, Black Box Theory, #7, July 1999 The poor man's windlass, #7, July 1999 Chafing gear, #8, Sept. 1999 Make a valve-spring compressor, #8, Sept. 1999 Climbing the mast, #8, Sept. 1999 Pushpit seats, #9, Nov. 1999 Pressure cooking, #9, Nov. 1999 Removing immovable objects, #9, Nov. 1999 Stove fuels and stovetop baking, #11, Mar. 2000 Stitch-and-glue dinghy, #11, Mar. 2000 Varnish instructions, #12, May 2000 Transmission in or out of gear, #12, May 2000 Conserving water aboard, #13, July 2000 Quick and easy (windscoop, freshwater engine flush, whisker pole chocks), #13, July 2000 Boat deliveries/transport #14, Sept. 2000 Quick and easy (awning, salvaging an anchor, stowable dining table), #14, Sept. 2000 Nautical photography (part 1), #14, Sept. 2000 Nautical photography (part 2), #15, Nov. 2000 Photos for publication, #15, Nov. 2000 Trailering your boat, #15, Nov. 2000 Inexpensive hard-bottom dinghy, #15, Nov. 2000 History articles Birth of the Valiant, #2, Sept. 1998 History: Allied Boat Company, #4, Jan. 1999 History: Pearson Yachts, #9, Nov. 1999 Tahitiana (a steel classic), #11, Mar. 2000 Birth of fiberglass boats, #13, July 2000 History: Cheoy Lee Company, #13, July 2000 Profiles Ted Brewer, #3, Nov. 1998 Tom Thomas: model builder, #5, March 1999 Two who preserve the classics, #6, May 1999 Sailing women role models, #10, Jan. 2000 Tami Ashcraft, #12, May 2000 Good old vendors Sailrite, #2, Sept. 1998 Moyer Marine, #4, Jan. 1999 The Walker Bay dinghy, #7, July 1999 Classic Sailboat Customer Service, # 8, Sept. 1999 Consignment shops, #10, Jan. 2000 Bristol Bronze, #12, May 2000 Feature articles Nautical photographer, #2, Sept. 1998 Sailing on the 'Net, #2, Sept. 1998 Cruising Rule Number 12, #3, Nov. 1998 Sailors' resources, #3, Nov. 1998 Project from hell, #4, Jan. 1999 Surviving Hurricane Georges, #4, Jan. 1999 Winter aboard in Canada, #4, Jan. 1999 New homes for neglected boats, #4, Jan. 1999 Sailing is shift work, #5, Mar. 1999 Cruising Rule Number 15, #5, Mar. 1999 Love at first "site," #7, July 1999 Ode to summertime, #7, July 1999 Of dogs and boats, #8, Sept. 1999 RVs on the water, #8, Sept. 1999 Ac-cent-tchu-ate the positive, #8, Sept. 1999 Vessel in the fog, #9, Nov. 1999 Why?, #9, Nov. 1999 Christmas Eve on Kinery Rock, #9, Nov. 1999 How we keep time (and why), #10, Jan. 2000 The Git-Rot boat, #10, Jan. 2000 Wooden boat challenge, #10, Jan. 2000 Boat Economics 101, #11, Mar. 2000 Reluctant woman sailor, #12, May 2000 Classics racing in New Zealand, #13, July 2000 Racing Thunderbirds, #14, Sept. 2000 Trailersailing bliss, #14, Sept. 2000 Nautical instruments (musical), #15, Nov. 2000

Mail Buoy

You may qualify as a good old boater if any of the following pertains to you:
1. The total price of the parts for your good old boat is worth more than the car being used to take them to the boatyard.
2. The suit you wear to your niece's wedding is older than your sails.
3. Your idea of a tremendously good afternoon is working on your boat (if the wind isn't blowing).
4. Another good afternoon might be spent scrounging around boatyards.
5. You get anxiety attacks after leaving your good old boat tied up until the next trip.
6. Your good old boat looks a lot sharper and neater than your house.
7. The neighborhood association contacts you by letter about the neglected condition of your home; or
8. The neighbors complain about your backyard (or maybe in some cases, the front yard) starting to resemble a boatyard for neglected derelicts. (Their choice of words! These are perfectly good boats. They just need some attention.)
9. You put on some comfortable clothes, and an observant person can guess the color schemes of your good old boat. Well, maybe they wouldn't have to be THAT observant!
10. During the course of a conversation you suddenly get a vacant look as you remember something you want to get done on the good old boat this weekend.
11. You can remember an article about fixing that broken part on your good old boat that was published in a sailing magazine five years ago, but you can't remember where you left the car keys you had 10 minutes ago.
12. Your car (that cost more than your good old boat) becomes encrusted in ice and snow because your boat now resides under the shelter of where the car used to be.
13. The moment finally arrives when the mailman drops off your copy of Good Old Boat magazine and you announce to everyone that you suddenly do not feel well and disappear to read the magazine from stem to stern.
Contrary to what to what the rest of the world believes, these are not symptoms of a lost cause (I am referring to the person, NOT the boat!), rather these symptoms are typical for those of us who have become affected.
Take hope all ye who despair for there is salvation. It can be found in that final screw being placed or that final loving stroke of the brush finishing off the long list of projects. Then come the rewards as you cast off and hear the wind fill the sails and feel the boat respond as she leans into the wind. But beware! As you settle into that comfortable corner of the cockpit with the tiller in one hand and a refreshing drink in the other, wouldn't it be nice to refit
that . . .

Herb Landes, affected with most of the above!
Sigel, Pa.

There must be more symptoms of being a good old boater. Tell us yours!

Amazing beeswax
I just finished reading the article "Tidewater Marina, this is Mystic -- we have a problem," and it reminded me of why I carry two of one item on my boat.

A long time ago a boating friend of mine who was also a plumber told me never to go sailing without a wax ring, the 99-cent beeswax ring you put around the seal of your land-based head. You can buy them at any hardware store, and they last forever. The beeswax is an amazing thing; it can stop water from entering or exiting just about anything. It can be molded to fit any hole and used with any type of surface, as long as you do not have a heat source close by since the wax will melt.

The wax is also great in that once you have used it, it's easy to clean away once the repair is made. My boat Obsession, a 34-foot Hunter I sail on Lake Ontario, got hit by lightning two years ago. One of the through-hulls developed a leak, but it was sealed in an instant with beeswax. The seal lasted for several hours until I could move the boat to a lift.

Had the captain of Mystic carried along a ring or two as I do, he could have easily sealed the leak and probably saved himself a few gray hairs.

David Urbanski
Lancaster, N.Y

 

No more vanishing prop shafts
Regarding the tale of woe involving Mystic and its vanishing prop shaft: A fairly simple trick to keep the shaft from sliding out of the boat in such cases is to mount a hose clamp on the shaft just forward of the stuffing box. Then if the coupling should work loose, the clamp will at least keep the shaft from sliding out of the boat.

Steve Christensen
Midland, Mich.

Faryman diesels aren't obsolete yet
Last year my buddy and I rebuilt a Faryman 25-hp diesel. Initially we couldn't find replacement parts for it without having them shipped from Europe through a company in New Jersey. However, with an examination of some industrial engines, we found that the exact engine, air cooled, is currently being used in the heavy construction field. Parts are easily available and much cheaper for all the non-marine specific parts. In fact, the only parts we couldn't find were those used for the freshwater cooling unit! Don't throw those Faryman diesels away yet!

By the way, a town bought the rebuilt engine and is using it to power an emergency generator.

Frank C. Soares
Freedom, Maine

 

Dangerous boaters
Last July, a schooner struck my Mariner 31, Spring Moon. My boat was becalmed outside Bud Inlet in Puget Sound when the large steel schooner, motoring at speed with no one on deck, struck us.

By some miracle the only damage was a ruined whisker stay turnbuckle and a chip in the bowsprit. The schooner was set on a course directly toward Spring Moon. I figured the skipper was just going to swing by for a look and to say hello as we both had classic-looking boats.

As the schooner approached, I became more and more concerned as I could not see anyone at the helm. I should have started the engine and gotten out of the way, but I was like a deer caught in headlights, and couldn't believe the boat would just continue steaming toward us. All I could think to do was to jump up and down and yell, "ahoy."

I cannot fully describe the feeling of watching a 14-ton steel boat bearing down with no one on deck. Suffice to say, it still haunts me, and the image of what could have happened gives me shivers.

This was a lesson for me. From now on I will never assume that someone is on the deck of an approaching vessel. I would have thought that after 50,000 miles of sailing I'd have learned my lessons, but apparently this one slipped by me until now. I personally will never again exercise my right of way as I have in the past.

I was foolish and arrogant to believe that being under sail meant that a boat under power and overtaking would stand clear. I put my boat and my crew at risk. I did not think clearly or quickly. I assumed until it was too late that the vessel was under control of a helmsman.

Steve Purcell
Olympia, Wash.

 

Annapolis 25
Annapolis 25 -- Boy, does that bring back memories. From the distant past I think the following is true:
Tidewater Boats was owned (I think) by Jerry Woods, who also owned the Annapolis Sailing School. He had originally purchased the molds for the Rainbow, a 25-foot open cockpit Sparkman & Stephens design that was used by the Naval Academy for sail training. I think he put a small (perhaps this will be published, and someone will remember enough to correct me and give you better information) cabin on the boat, and that became the basic boat for the school. As his one-weekend "Learn to Sail' course and five-day "Cruising Course" became more popular, he needed a slightly larger boat, so he added a riser that increased the freeboard of the Rainbow and had a larger cabin (with 4 berths, if I remember correctly). If this is your boat, you will have the original shear line with the riser above it.

By the time I taught at the school, in the summer of 1970, the fleet in Annapolis was about 1/3 Annapolis 25s and 2/3 Rainbows. He also bought another design near the end of the season that was a full keelboat and about 26 feet -- an Annapolis 26? Just to round things out, I think the school also owned a Newport 28 and a Newport 30, but that is really stretching my memory.

John Graves
Manchester, Mass.

Looking for

These were years out of date. We removed them so they don't get caught in the search engines of yesteryear.

   

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Published September 29, 2000