Last sailing season, the Dynamic Duo of Destiny got together for a "small boat" trip (as opposed to breaking out Scout) and did a short but wonderful two day trip around mid-Casco Bay. We huffed out to Whaleboat Island which is managed by the worthy Maine Coast Heritage Trust.
It was two nice days of sailing with a wonderful camp and picnic time. Straightforward. If anything, I remembered how nicely the Goat Island Skiff rows compared to the Sea Pearl 21.
I have included a picture below with my new outhaul scheme for those interested.
Capn Jon and TWO HEARTED cruising on
Sailing in company.
This is my NEW outhaul arrangement for the loosefooted mainsail. I love it! Extra line hangs from the higher reef points to accommodate the shorter foot.
In the harbor on Whaleboat
Meadow camping.
If you dont find a rockwall somewhere in New England, youre doing New England wrong.
Under those clouds on the horizon is Mt Washington and the Presidential Range. No joke. We saw it clearly the next morning. Whaleboat Island has a mountain view.
No comment. If Capn Jon is not camping with you, your camping trip is no good.
We revisited FAMOUS BANGS ISLAND site of many a IAZ,P adventure! This is the North Beach.
Classic Whaleboat
Do you find information about Small Boat Plans And Kits are you looking for? If not, below may help you find more information about the Small Boat Plans And Kits. Thank you for visiting, have a great day.
A 60km rowing race, in a historic style of wooden boat, through beautiful countryside, in the height of summer. On reflection, our hastily-thought-up team name, "Whats Not to Like?", said it all. And to make it totally irresistible, the boats are coxed 14s (and no, the 1 is NOT a typo – I dont mean coxed 4), with bowside and strokeside sitting NEXT to each other. I mean, really, whats not to like?! Although actually, there WAS something that was definitely not to like about some of the boats...
Event: The Sulkava Rowing Race Where: Sulkava, Finland, about 300km NE of Helsinki Distance: 60km Time: 5 hours, 9 seconds (oh, how annoyed we were!) Boat type: Churchboats Number of crews in the event: 50 in our race; 316 overall Event Organiser: http://www.suursoudut.fi/en/
You know the concept of the hub airport? Which people fly to in smallish planes from small places, then get into a massive Boeing 747 at the hub, fly fast and cheaply over a long distance to another hub? Well, churchboats are like Finnish predecessors of the jumbo jets. To get to church each Sunday in rural areas and, lets face it, practically all of Finland is very rural, the residents of isolated farms (not sure that there was another kind) hopped into their dinghies and rowed to wherever the nearest churchboat was based, where they transferred to that, and then rowed fast and efficiently across the big lake to somewhere that was large enough to boast a church. And to make the journey back even quicker, the various chuchboats had a race across the first bit of lake. There are some wonderful videos from 1938 at the bottom of this blog going into this tradition in more detail if youre interested. But back to the modern event. Seating arrangements The "bow side and stroke side next to each other" thing sounded fine, till we tried it in practice, when we discovered that the people in the stroke and bow pairs, where the boat is narrowest, couldnt avoid clashing elbows. However, we did learn about a new piece of rowing "equipment" which none of us had ever used before – a special sleeve, that was on sale, for putting over your blade handle if you wanted to make it fatter to fit the size of your hands better. Our bowside stroke (on the right in this picture) snapped one of these up and found it was great. Our other stroke went for the more budget option of putting a sock over his handle, which was apparently just as effective, though somewhat less hard-wearing
I mentioned earlier that some of these boats had a definitely not likeable feature, and that was the seats. Our boat had perfectly normal sliding seats on wheels, but some of the boats didnt embrace the transportational qualities of the wheel even though the technique involved some sliding which was done on a low-friction plastic surface that I suspect didnt feel very low-friction after the first five minutes. We never identified what sort of shorts were worn for rowing on these, though imagined that by the end of the row, "tattered" would be the most likely adjective to describe them. Blades and pins The boats all had sturdy iron fixed pins, curved towards the stern so that the blade didnt pop off in the event of a crab or clash. The blades had a plastic block bolted to the front of the shaft that was hooked over the pins, which mean you werent actually levering the blade on the pin at all. But it seemed to work, although some of the crew found it hard to stop trying to feather, especially when we hit wash. The final new equipment feature we learned about was that the stroke blades were almost always a different colour from the rest, usually red. This was to mark them out from the others because they were shorter, which they had to be because the boats are narrower boat at that point. Our boat came with what I can only describe as "traditionally-shaped blades" (macons they were not). Some of the other boats, particularly those from clubs, as opposed to being rental craft like ours, had wooden cleavers, although these were all just a rectangular flat bit stuck at an angle on the end of the shaft than anything more shaped. They worked, though!
The course The water we were rowing on was quite unlike anything Ive come across before. Technically, it was a lake, but not in the usual sense of a big patch of open water. Rather the whole area, for hundreds of square kilometers, is a jumble of fairly flat, tree-covered land, and freshwater lakes, that sometimes feel more like rivers in their width. If "archipellagic" is an adjective, then this s exactly the kind of area it describes.
Many Finns have wooden summer cottages in this part of the country, and come here for much of July to chill out in the tranquil scenery, fish or swim from the docks at the lake shore and, for a few days, wave at the passing churchboat rowers. The race took us round the "island" (again, were not talking a clearly-defined shape here) of Partalansaari, starting at the green point and finishing at the red, and the very clear corners we turned were encouraging, real indicators of progress. There were quite a few small rocks emerging from the water along the bottom of the island, which our coxes negotiated skillfully, steering with an interesting design of tiller that curved round them so they could sit centrally in the stern. The race
Bi-stroke rowing: unlikely ever to be an Olympic sport.
The Sulkava Rowing Race is actually a series of races and un-timed tours that take place over four days. We had opted to do the 60km race, but there was also a 70km tour where crews stopped half way and camped overnight, and various 20km races which could also be done in smaller boats including the "bi-stroke" where one person sculls while the other steers a bit and adds a little (which frankly cant help much) propulsive support with a canoe paddle. The start of the race was the most fantastic melée that Ive ever had the good fortune to cox in. With "only" 50 crews in our division, it wasnt quite as seething as the 150-boat start wed watched the day before from a conveniently-placed road-bridge high over the water. Wed all been given starting grid positions, which we largely ignored, and as there hadnt been practise laps the day before, its not like this stopped a massive amount of overtaking, barging sideways, and daredevil holding ones nerve as we ploughed through narrow gaps between crews.
Despite having been warned by other competitors and a helpful spectator who we privately christened "trout hat man" (he had a trout embroidered on his hat: he did not sport a fish as headgear) to start slow, we were soon in 9th position, and going strongly. We noticed that crews we overtook immediately tucked straight in behind our stern, as if they were slipstreaming like cyclists or racing cars. This isnt something youd ever do in a VIII because youd just be slowed down by rowing in the faster crews wash. But with churchboats being more closely related to car ferries than fine racing shells, the rough water wasnt an issue, though Id be interested to hear the views of those who understand these things a lot more than me, on whether you can actually get a slipstreaming effect when youre going at only 12-14km/h. Just before half way, our cox (Id swapped in to row after the first half hour) steered us an impressively daredevil course across the bows of a rather charming chain car ferry (which, fortunately, slowed down) as we watched the crews behind drop further back as they elected to take the longer route round its stern. The course was extremely well marked, and with crews staying reasonably close together the whole way, the whole race was very easy to navigate. And it really didnt seem long before the cox called out that he could see the town bridge that we knew was just beyond the finish, and we powered on through the last 1,000m. As we crossed the line, the announcer made a brave attempt at trying to pronounce all of our names, before delivering the bitter blow that our finish time was 5 hours and 9 seconds. Ooo, we SO could have gone 10 seconds faster. Still we finished in 15th place, 39 minutes behind the winners, and over 2 hours ahead of the last crew. On landing, we were met by a local journalist who asked in tones of awe "Have you EVER rowed 60km before", and seemed slightly disappointed when I explained that, yes, most of us had, and considerably further in fact. However, nothing is like rowing a churchboat, and the reason for her interest in us is that we were not only the only British crew (containing one Dutchman) but also the only one entirely made up of people taking part in the event for the first time. the programme showed the number of participations of each participant, which included one bloke who was on his 43rd time, and large numbers who had done it more than 20 times. Who knew?! This year, about 5,500 people took part, down from its peak in the early Noughties when over 10,000 competed each year. I think its time for more UK crews to start entering, in a 21st century kind of reverse viking pillaging trip. Rowing, but not as we know it As well as the slipstreaming tactic, another thing we observed with surprise, was that quite a lot of crews had coxes who must have had excellent steering and motivational skills, because they sure werent chosen for their petite physiques... And none of us had previously had the experience of overtaking a crew whose cox was puffing away on a cigarette either. But my favourite "youre kidding me!" sight was the rower who appeared to have eschewed the usual selection of energy bars and bananas that most people were stowing by their rowing seats to keep them going on the way round, and had brought a large jar of gherkins with him.
Gherkins on board: completely inexplicable.
Footnote on Finland The race organisers in this delightful, tranquil, and very beautiful part of the world were immensely helpful and they, like every Finn we met, spoke excellent English. However, wanting to make the effort, we quickly learned the Finnish for "Thank you" (kiitos, pronounced KEY-toss"), which the locals seemed amused by us saying at the end of a detailed English conversation. Incidentally, the word "kiitos" is a great example of typical Finnish spelling: as far as we could tell, it seems practically essential that any self-respecting Finnish word contains at least one "k" and a double vowel. The two men from Monmouth Rowing Club in the crew enquired of a barman how to say "Cheers!" and reported back that it was "Get pissed". The rest of us were somewhat dubious about this until we heard some locals... it actually wasnt far off. The historical documentary NB The single ladies in our crew were jolly careful not to leave their knife sheaths lying around: theyd come for a sporting challenge not in search of a husband! (Watch the videos and youll find out.)
Do you find information about Boden Boat Plans Australia are you looking for? If not, below may help you find more information about the Boden Boat Plans Australia. Thank you for visiting, have a great day.
When young Dawn with her rose-red fingers shone once more,
they set sail for the main encampment of Achaea.
The Archer sent them a bracing following wind,
they stepped the mast, spread the white sails wide,
the wind hit full and the canvas bellied out
and a dark blue wave, foaming up at the bow,
sang out loud and strong as the ship made way,
skimming the whitecaps, cutting toward her goal. (Illiad I:569-576, Fagles)
Intrepid readers, welcome. This is the Small Reach Regatta 2012
It has been a year since the last Small Reach, and again we met this year at Lamoine State Park in Maine for several days of sailing, rowing, camaraderie, and all out awesome.
Day 1
This Small Reach was a momentous meet-up for Goat Island Skiffs with a total of three (3) boats sailing together simultaneously. This is the first time this has happened, ever! I am proud that I Am Zinea, Pterodactylus was part of this historic moment. It was a damn cool feeling to be sailing with other boats of the same pedigree.
Moments before launch on Day 1 THREE GOATS From left to right: Bleat, IAZP, Kathleen Marie
Happiness is Goat on water (Courtesy of Capn Jon)
The first day of the SRR was a sail out to Thomas Island, as shown below and marked by an "A". Since this was launching day we spent some time milling around Lamoine (northeast of Thomas, marked in green) until most boats were launched. Then we set off Armada style for Thomas. I ended up leisurely cruising behind Capn Jon in his Pheonix III Two Hearted-- official IAZ,P Partner in Adventure.
This was Capn Jons first SRR and he decided to approach the east beach on Thomas by wrapping around the backside of the island. I thought this was a fine idea since I had never been back there and there appeared to be obstacle strewn shallow waters on the south end. Just as expected we had to beat upwind to the beach in shallow seaweed and rock festooned waters! Several other hapless skippers followed us. Im pretty sure they all had a good time, right? It was a great technical sail complete with the usual rowboat spectators waiting for us on the beach.
Me and my Goat. (Courtesy of Capn Jon)
I got there early and was able to take some pictures of others arriving.
Paul driving Kathleen Marie to Thomas
Kathleen Marie and a Penobscot 14
Bleats first sail! WOOT WOOT
Sea Pearl 21 Velella Velella
Loon, a Devlin Egret This guy isnt afraid to run her right up onto whatever rocks are in the way. Bulletproof.
First boats are pulling up with most of the fleet downwind of the island. Note Bleat
Andrews Ian Oughtred J2
Bleat
Clint Chase gets to put his cool logo on his sail
Kathleen Marie nestled in for lunch
Brand new Core Sound 17 after first sail EVAR
After lunch the wind had picked up considerably and it was time to sail back to Lamoine. At this point I picked up a crewmember (moveable ballast!) and so I decided to forego reefing and see how fast we could get IAZ,P. We made it back to Lamoine and had no one to greet us as everyone was still behind us. So we turned around and beat back to the fleet. Landing on the shore at Lamoine turned exciting since it was a lee shore at that point.
Clint coming in under mizzen alone and Capn Jon in Two Hearted
Scooting along
Clint posing, Ellie shipshaping, and Capn Jon struggling. Its more fun to watch from a distance.
I ended up going back out again with another crewmember. This time we were reefed to the second point. This was a great idea, and the boat performed awesome. Sailing is fun, the wind was up, I couldnt justify not sailing again.
Me storming back to the beach under 2 reefs. Full speed ahead. (Courtesy Capn Jon)
Hand carry parking area. Lots of coolness.
YAY friends!
It was windy enough that Jasmine, a Caledonia Yawl (of which we will see much more of later) ended up blowing out its mast step. At the SRR this is not a problem, because we can wander over to Allens mobile woodshop and fabricate a new one.
Making that new mast step. It doesnt have to be nice, just functional.
Hand carry at dusk
Day 2
On Friday it was off to gorgeous Stave Island, far on the eastern side of Frenchmans Bay. I was able to scoot out relatively quickly in some light air. It was beautiful sailing, though interrupted by some calm. I had some moments of absolute golden sailing in flat glass scooting right along. All in all, a little bit of everything. I was the first sailboat to reach Stave, with the rowboats waiting for me (again... those rowboats).
Three Goats and the Pheonix III
One Goat. Two Goat. Three Goat.
Caledonia Yawl Jasmine on the way to Stave Island with Cadillac Mountain
Beautiful sailing...
...The fleet behind me...
...A nice sail shape...
...BAM! Into a WALL OF CALM. Out came the oars. Row, row, row your boat, fool.
Breeze back up and some nice Maine islands.
The fleet starts to show up. Note Far and Away, a completely unique Nomans Land boatto port of IAZ,P
Nap in the grass
Capn Jon decides to finally show up along with a Bolger Sweet Pea, Better Than Chocolate. This Pea never gave up and always made it.
On the way out of Stave Island, wind is coming back up and Clint and I start to get into it.
Video from Steve B of Clint and I battling it out
Clint and I fighting to windward. This is happiness.
A very cool Washington County Peapod with a Block Island (RI) rig. Out of Chapelles American Small Sailing Craft Nicknamed "stiletto"-- good looking but a pain to use
After a spirited sail out of Stave Island, we ran smack right back into the WALL OF CALM and sat floating in the middle of Frenchman Bay. What to do but rehydrate and while away the hours? And then....
Jasmine gives IAZ,P a tow. This is a GISAmateur first!
Three little ducks all in a row. Look at that sky!
Sam and his CLC Northeaster Dory power-sailing like a champ.
Day 3 and the EPICNESS OF THREE (3) GOATS
The itinerary on the third day was Lamoine to Bean Island, but we did a circumnavigation of Dram Island first off of Sorento since the wind was so so sweet and we were making such great time.
Bean Island lunchtime:
Goats getting cozy
Intrepid reader, I am not going to write much here. I just want you to enjoy what it is like when three Goats get together to terrorize the neighborhood for a bit. All of the below pictures of three Goats are courtesy of Capn Jon. Thank you Capn Jon for turning around and taking notice of this momentous event!
I present to you Goat Island Skiff history:
Clint and myself working west.
Catching up to Paul who slowed up a bit so we could sail together
Terrorizing the Maine coast with smelly Goats! Fast as stink!
Braying loud-mouthed Goats!
Pillaging Goats!
Full on Goat fury!
Capn Jon wisely stayed behind and out of the way of angry Goats!
Well that was fun. I dont think I was able to wipe the smile off my face that day.
Into Lamoine the wind slacked off and I doubled back to do some sailing with Two Hearted.
Shortly after this the wind died off and Capn Jon and I decided to go for a swim. Then Capn Jon got the brilliant idea to pull the boats by ourselves, so we self towed. Jasmine came swinging by like the predator she is and figured she might be able to get salvage rights and gave us yet another tow. Skipper Chris has no fear, and this is why I like him. He sail towed us right into the mooring field. Go Chris, Go!
Swimming. Notice Capn Jon in distance also swimming. We are heroes to the people.
On board and ready to rock! Chris rocked us back and Mary fed us.
Then, it was time to pull the boats. Sadness.
Herreshoff Carpenter
again
Tom Jackons Nomans Land boat, Far and Away
Interior detail of Far and Away
Kathleen Marie at rest with Acadia National Park
Before we knew it, Small Reach Regatta 2012 was over. A giant lobster dinner followed (and I do mean giant-- clams, mussels, sausages, corn, lobsters and more lobsters, etc) along with appropriate after-SRR campfires, story telling, and reminiscing.
And then I woke up the next day.
Do you find information about Boat Plans Bartender are you looking for? If not, below may help you find more information about the Boat Plans Bartender. Thank you for visiting, have a great day.
