sailing single-handed

On sailing a Folksong – rudders 3

/ Bill / 1 Comment

I have been gathering information on rudders – see my posts here and here.

The following by J.D.Sleightholme in his ABC for Yachtsmen, is useful.

Published in 1965, original price 21 shillings, and bought in one of my favourite secondhand bookshops –  Books by the Sea, Bude, Cornwall.

The question is what effect Blue Mistress’ rather heavily-built rudder have on her performance?

It’s one of those subjects that has several different answers depending on who you talk to. At the moment I’m gathering information and listening.

Blue Mistress’ heavily-built rudder.

Mr Sleightholme writes:

“A yacht should handle with the minimum use of the rudder (which slows her).

Deep narrow rudders are more effective than wide ones and have less slowing effect. As a rule, deep rudders are broader at the top due to difference in water density.

A steeply raked rudder exerts additional force in pulling the stern down when hard over.

In tacking with good way on, very little rudder is used at first, but more is applied as the speed drops – (never more than 30 degrees). Jamming it hard over may mean missing stays.

Power craft have proportionately smaller rudders because they work in the slipstream of the propeller. May be “balanced” with a small area forward of the rudder post.

Sailing craft may have 12 – 15 per cent of immersed lateral hull area in the rudder, power craft about 5 per cent.” (p.100)

This says more about shape and angles and less about weight, but it takes us in the right direction.

The River Thames at Richmond – inclement weather

/ Bill

River Thames at Richmond, 2nd February 2009, 7.30am

We were in London earlier in the week, returning just before the weather turned for the worse in south Devon yesterday evening.

I am posting these images because the conditions were so unusual thereabouts.

The little red yacht was still carrying its mainsail on the boom.

River Thames at Richmond, 2nd February 2009, 7.30 am

River Thames at Richmond, 2nd February 2009, 11.00 am – canal boat in the foreground

Thus is a frustrating day.

I had planned to move Blue Mistress this  morning because Cattewater Harbour Commission want to work on our moorings and we are in the way.

The plan was “weather permitting” – well, it’s not.

On Steeple Point – “Treachery at Sharpnose”

/ Bill

Steeple Point

Jeremy Seal, in Treachery at Sharpnose, covers a story that I have wondered about since, as a small child, I first saw the figurehead of the Caledonia in Morwenstow churchyard. Somewhat taller than me at the time, holding cutlass and shield, she ignored me, looking blankly towards the sea.

Higher Sharpnose Point, February 2008

Higher Sharpnose Point is two miles north of Steeple Point, which I have written about before – here. I was christened in Morwenstow Church more years ago than I care to remember. This coast has deep meaning for me, just as it does for everyone born in the immediate hinterland.

The Reverend Hawker viewed our forefathers as ‘a mixed multitude of smugglers, wreckers and dissenters of various hue’. A colourful population in those days, obviously, but I wonder if this was the whole story.

Today, I am happy with the label ‘dissenter’, and I have done some casual wrecking in my life – (wrecking: a term used locally for scouring the shoreline for whatever washes shore – in my youth it was wood and various floating objects that had washed overboard from passing ships – nowadays it is plastic junk. Shipwrecks still occur but very rarely).

But ‘smuggler’? No.

~~~

It is strange to read about your own locality. It never quite sounds like the place you think you know so well, and, although it is a pleasure to read about it, (like seeing your name in print), it is a shock to find that someone else sees it in another light.

~~~

Above Hawker’s Hut, February 2008, The rocks that swallowed the Caledonia.

What happened to the nine man crew of the Caledonia, from Arbroath, on 8th September 1842 was truly terrible. The recently restored figurehead in the churchyard is a poignant memorial to those interred there.

The author tells of his research and the journey he took to find the ‘truth’  of what happened. In the end he comes up with definite facts through which he weaves an interesting story. I found the research fascinating; I was disappointed at his apparent dismissal of Hawker, and felt the fictional account of the final voyage to be ‘film-of-the-book’ and tending  to take the edge off it – (a clue to this is in the title):

“He laid a hand upon his brother-in-law’s shoulder. It had been nine months, he briefly realised, since he had laid his hand there, on their departure from Rio. Then the business of the ship was calling and their reconciliation was done.

……. An hour later, somewhere off Boscastle, the storm hit them.”

That’s not my idea of real history. One of the problems I have with the book is that, by interpreting the facts in this way, the author is straying into areas that he has condemned the eccentric parson for entering.

But do read it. It is a good tale. I enjoyed it and read it straight through – beginning to end.

Higher Sharpnose Point, February 2008 – a fraction of the sea met by the crew of the Caledonia.


On sailing a Folksong – Speed formula

/ Bill / 1 Comment

A calculation I have never made before:

The speed that a yacht’s hull can be made to travel through water is related to waterline length.

The formula for an average sea-going yacht of conventional shape is:

Speed in knots = 1.4 x Square root of the L.W.L. in feet

The multiplier is altered according to the type of hull. It may range from 1.25 for a tubby hull to 1.5 for a large racing yacht.

Therefore Blue Mistress’ theoretical maximum speed at L.W.L of 19′ 8″:

= 1.4 x Square root of 19.66 ft

= 1.4 x 4.434

= 6.2 knots (Always remembering that speed through water is not the same as speed over the ground).

We were doing a little less in the clip below

Emergency on the Hudson

/ Bill / 1 Comment

The incredible rescue of the passengers from the emergency landing on the Hudson River is here on the Sea Fever blog  – (thanks to Tugster for pointing it out).

It was not just the landing itself that was so noteable, but the large group of people standing on the wings of an aeroplane on a freezing river being carried swiflty along by the current.

And the skill of the skippers and crews of the vessels that took them off.

Watch the 10 minute film – then watch it again.

On sailing a Folksong – thoughts on expenses

/ Bill

Most posts get written and published relatively swiftly. Some get started then abandoned. This one has hung around for several days and now I realise why: I go sailing to get away from this sort of discussion! The irony is that I can’t go sailing unless I discuss it (Catch 22). So I will finish and publish, and think of  it as a rite of passage.

~~~

This New Year especially some serious financial planning is needed if we are going to enjoy another year’s sailing.

Here are some thoughts on the expenses involved.

~~~

Last spring, I watched Super Yachts in the Adriatic and the Open 60 fleet out of Plymouth. During the summer Blue Mistress wallowed in the wash of luxury Princess yachts. I have just been watching clips of the Sydney-Hobart Race and I am bombarded monthly by journals full of expensive yachts and luxury accessories. As far as sailing is concerned, I know my place when it comes to what I can afford – and it isn’t at that end of the market.

~~~

“Whatever you want, oh discontented man. Step up! Pay the price. and take it.” James Allen

Exciting thought? I am sure you read the first part and the last part. Did you see the bit in the middle about ‘pay the price’?

“If you have to ask the price, you can’t afford it.”

Right? Wrong!

I used to think this was fair comment. It made me reconsider whether I really did need this or that piece of kit!

Now I think differently. At its best, not asking the price is a sign of no-management. More likely it’s a sign of bad-management. And we are all now living with the results of both.

So here is a quote from me: “Good financial management is a basic ingredient of good boat management”.

~~~

In the preface to “Shipmasters Business Companion, including Hints to Young Shipmasters” by J.W Anderson, price 5/6 net, printed in 1920, Captain Anderson writes:

“It is of the greatest importance that a young shipmaster should study his business well and thoroughly, and should endeavour at all times to be prepared for any emergency; the man who is well prepared generally comes out on top.” (For ‘any emergency’ include financial ones, for ‘young shipmaster’ include older boat owners).

It doesn’t matter whether it’s 1920 or 2020, this will always hold true.

That the boat creates no direct financial income is irrelevant. The income in terms of recreational value and spillover benefits is priceless.

Nevertheless, expenses are very real and must be balanced in some way if they are not going to sink the whole project.

~~~

So where does the money come from? ‘Credit’ doesn’t work any more; living ‘hand-to-mouth’ on the water might be great if you had the time and the freedom; and, yes, there are people who will always afford it, directly or through sponsorship. The rest of us have to get out there and earn it – and then spend it wisely (more or less).

Blue Mistress’ expenses break down like this:

  • Initial cost of boat
  • Marine survey
  • Documents/Subscriptions
  • Marine Insurance
  • Mooring/Berth
  • Boatyard Costs
  • Electronics/Software
  • Sails/Rigging
  • Engine/Fuel
  • Safety
  • R&R
  • Courses/Books/DVDs
  • Chandlery
  • Provisions
  • Sundry

To make the dull process of recording the figures easier, I’ve come to thinking of the categories as instruments in a jazz band – some provide the basic rhythm (moorings, subscriptions etc) and the rest get brought in at the right moment to create great music – louder, softer or not at all depending on what I can afford at the time.

For example, I will hang fire on a new rudder this year, but there is some work that needs doing down below that will get done in February and March, and the paintwork, and . . .

Here’s another quote – “it’s not what you say, it’s the music you play”

Maybe there are ways of making the world work without having to be so darned serious all the time – but you’ve got to be serious occasionally and get the basics right.

~~~

And, besides money, the other two major expenses are:

A great deal of Time

and

A whole lot of Energy

Which brings us on to income – more of which later.

For love of a boat – in Messinia, Greece

/ Bill

Aghios Nikolaos, Messinia, Greece 2007

If you are reading this on a blog feed, there is a link on the main site to the series of posts on inshore craft.

Inshore fishing boats are changing  from working boat to leisure craft in ever greater numbers.

Looking through this series of posts, (images taken for the love of the boat rather than for any academic purpose), we can glimpse that change.

To pursue this further, I highly recommend the links in the ‘For love of a boat’ category on the main site, starting with Captain George’s video clip. Thank you again to AA for drawing my attention to it.

For the origin of this series – here