Haha I finally got back into my blog!
Sooo frustrating - the blogger account was set up from an email address that I no longer have.
But... there's no way to change the email address of a blogger account - like people never move?
What I've done is to log into it with the old address, and link it to my current gmail address.
I also added me as an additional author of the blog - who knows.
Posting this as a test - hope it works
;o)
Monday, September 23, 2013
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Change of Plans...
Life...
Enough said. You have probably figured out by the lack of posts to this blog that my plate must be pretty full. Understatement.
Skeptic is sitting in the basement in Connecticut as a million unfinished pieces and I am in Florida with no way to put the pieces together.
As impossible as it sounds, it was looking like EC2011 was going to be a bigger bust for me than EC2010 was. Last years boat isn't going to make the scene (and is a subject that I'd rather not discuss). Skeptic isn't going to be ready in time. What to do?
I thought long and hard about my options and kept coming up with nothing. It is in my nature to do something in an over-the-top type of way. Our family motto is Fortuna Favor Audaci, which we take to mean 'Go Big or Go Home'. So I ran through every option that I could think of for each and every class, looking for something that I could put together in next to no time, with next to no money that had a good chance of winning. You might be thinking "Yeah, good luck with that...". You'd be right - not happening.
So I did some serious soul searching and playing against type, decided that rather that trying to win it all, I'd hang back, just finish, and enjoy the ride. You might be tempted to say, "Duh...". But this kind of thinking is somewhat revolutionary for me.
I could take my wife's Hobie Tandem Island and race in that, but, while we have a great time pottering around in it as a family, it wasn't speaking to me as the boat I wanted to race in. Not that there's anything wrong with it, it just wasn't 'me'. Turns out that was a good decision because my daughter Elizabeth aka Ginkgo, has now claimed it for herself to race.
Something simple and cheap - kayak is the obvious choice. I could get one for a reasonable price and they are the boat of choice of many of the EC veterans. My problem is that I can't sit in a kayak for more than 20 minutes before I go out of my mind. It's a very uncomfortable seating position for me. No way was I going to be able to do 300 miles in a kayak. I could do it in a Kruger, but there was no time to have one built (and no money), plus, it isn't really my style either. That put paid to classes 1 and 3.
Class 4 monohull would be too expensive and require a search to find a suitable boat. Most, if not all, of the boats that have competed in the past don't have much appeal to me anyway. The possible exception being Wizards really interesting boats, but then again, no time to have Matt design one to my peculiar sensibilities and no time (or money) to build one. Class 4 - out. Class 5 would be a possibility. I have the A-class cat that I bought to serve as parts for Skeptic and I could put it back together and give it a go. But, it's in CT and there's no way that I could find the time to drive up there and drag it back here. Scratch that idea. Every other Class 5 boat I could think of/find was too expensive or too impractical, or both - naturally. Class 5 - out.
This leaves Class 2. Class 2 has always been the farthest from my mind because I've been a sailor and a rower all my life and not a paddler - canoe paddler, yes - kayak paddler, no. I considered a Huki Dragon Boat which is a sort of surfski with training wheels but I felt that after the bad boat decision I made in 2010 I couldn't afford to commit to a type of boat I'd never even seen, let alone paddled.
The boat that I finally settled on was an OC-1 outrigger canoe. It has a much more upright seating position that a kayak (which is much more comfortable for me), plus, it's a sit-on-top which means that I can move my legs around and stretch them when I get uncomfortable. I did a bunch of internet research and came up with a boat that I thought would work. I contacted the builder and found out the the East coast rep was only a 40 min drive from me. I got in touch with him and he brought three different boats down to the beach and we went out paddling. I tried a Hurricane (which was the winner of my internet search contest), a Pegasis, and a Zephyr. The Hurricane was a very stable boat and the fastest boat on the flat, but it has a small seat (great for a sprint - not so much 300 miles) and the deck design was going to make it next to impossible to stow all of the stuff that is required for the EC. The Pegasis was a more comfortable boat and had a better hull layout for stowage, but it has a very large upsweep to the ama - useful for the big Hawaiian ocean swells, but not so good for for paddling in the flat with a crosswind or paddling upwind. Too much to get caught by the wind and blown around. It also seemed (to me) to be less stable. The Zephyr was sort of in the middle. It wasn't as fast in the flat as a hurricane, but it was really comfortable and has a hull design that would not only accommodate stowing things on deck, I could even place a large hatch under the seat and stow stuff in the hull of the vaka. Plus it was white - SOLD $2500
I've got a new Kialoa bent shaft paddle (carbon) coming via slow boat from Hawaii - should be here next week (I hope). I've ordered a hatch from Defender Marine - due in the 29th. I'm going to build a deck bag for the foredeck, a spray skirt, plus I'm going to rig some netting between the iakos (crossbeams) to hold some stuff as well as maybe even giving me the ability to sleep on the boat - sweet.
The nice thing about the netting is that I can stow enough stuff there to put some weight on the ama. This will make the boat super stable and prevent a huli (capsize) when I'm not concentrating as well as I should be - if you can imagine that ever happening ;o)
I've been out paddling every day and loving it. I have plenty of time before March to get in shape. And plenty of time to make the changes I need to make to the boat.
So, my thought for this years EC is, as long as I don't stop paddling - what could possibly go wrong?
I'll post some pics and a movie or two sometime soon.
See you on the beach,
Komoniwannashoya
Enough said. You have probably figured out by the lack of posts to this blog that my plate must be pretty full. Understatement.
Skeptic is sitting in the basement in Connecticut as a million unfinished pieces and I am in Florida with no way to put the pieces together.
As impossible as it sounds, it was looking like EC2011 was going to be a bigger bust for me than EC2010 was. Last years boat isn't going to make the scene (and is a subject that I'd rather not discuss). Skeptic isn't going to be ready in time. What to do?
I thought long and hard about my options and kept coming up with nothing. It is in my nature to do something in an over-the-top type of way. Our family motto is Fortuna Favor Audaci, which we take to mean 'Go Big or Go Home'. So I ran through every option that I could think of for each and every class, looking for something that I could put together in next to no time, with next to no money that had a good chance of winning. You might be thinking "Yeah, good luck with that...". You'd be right - not happening.
So I did some serious soul searching and playing against type, decided that rather that trying to win it all, I'd hang back, just finish, and enjoy the ride. You might be tempted to say, "Duh...". But this kind of thinking is somewhat revolutionary for me.
I could take my wife's Hobie Tandem Island and race in that, but, while we have a great time pottering around in it as a family, it wasn't speaking to me as the boat I wanted to race in. Not that there's anything wrong with it, it just wasn't 'me'. Turns out that was a good decision because my daughter Elizabeth aka Ginkgo, has now claimed it for herself to race.
Something simple and cheap - kayak is the obvious choice. I could get one for a reasonable price and they are the boat of choice of many of the EC veterans. My problem is that I can't sit in a kayak for more than 20 minutes before I go out of my mind. It's a very uncomfortable seating position for me. No way was I going to be able to do 300 miles in a kayak. I could do it in a Kruger, but there was no time to have one built (and no money), plus, it isn't really my style either. That put paid to classes 1 and 3.
Class 4 monohull would be too expensive and require a search to find a suitable boat. Most, if not all, of the boats that have competed in the past don't have much appeal to me anyway. The possible exception being Wizards really interesting boats, but then again, no time to have Matt design one to my peculiar sensibilities and no time (or money) to build one. Class 4 - out. Class 5 would be a possibility. I have the A-class cat that I bought to serve as parts for Skeptic and I could put it back together and give it a go. But, it's in CT and there's no way that I could find the time to drive up there and drag it back here. Scratch that idea. Every other Class 5 boat I could think of/find was too expensive or too impractical, or both - naturally. Class 5 - out.
This leaves Class 2. Class 2 has always been the farthest from my mind because I've been a sailor and a rower all my life and not a paddler - canoe paddler, yes - kayak paddler, no. I considered a Huki Dragon Boat which is a sort of surfski with training wheels but I felt that after the bad boat decision I made in 2010 I couldn't afford to commit to a type of boat I'd never even seen, let alone paddled.
The boat that I finally settled on was an OC-1 outrigger canoe. It has a much more upright seating position that a kayak (which is much more comfortable for me), plus, it's a sit-on-top which means that I can move my legs around and stretch them when I get uncomfortable. I did a bunch of internet research and came up with a boat that I thought would work. I contacted the builder and found out the the East coast rep was only a 40 min drive from me. I got in touch with him and he brought three different boats down to the beach and we went out paddling. I tried a Hurricane (which was the winner of my internet search contest), a Pegasis, and a Zephyr. The Hurricane was a very stable boat and the fastest boat on the flat, but it has a small seat (great for a sprint - not so much 300 miles) and the deck design was going to make it next to impossible to stow all of the stuff that is required for the EC. The Pegasis was a more comfortable boat and had a better hull layout for stowage, but it has a very large upsweep to the ama - useful for the big Hawaiian ocean swells, but not so good for for paddling in the flat with a crosswind or paddling upwind. Too much to get caught by the wind and blown around. It also seemed (to me) to be less stable. The Zephyr was sort of in the middle. It wasn't as fast in the flat as a hurricane, but it was really comfortable and has a hull design that would not only accommodate stowing things on deck, I could even place a large hatch under the seat and stow stuff in the hull of the vaka. Plus it was white - SOLD $2500
I've got a new Kialoa bent shaft paddle (carbon) coming via slow boat from Hawaii - should be here next week (I hope). I've ordered a hatch from Defender Marine - due in the 29th. I'm going to build a deck bag for the foredeck, a spray skirt, plus I'm going to rig some netting between the iakos (crossbeams) to hold some stuff as well as maybe even giving me the ability to sleep on the boat - sweet.
The nice thing about the netting is that I can stow enough stuff there to put some weight on the ama. This will make the boat super stable and prevent a huli (capsize) when I'm not concentrating as well as I should be - if you can imagine that ever happening ;o)
I've been out paddling every day and loving it. I have plenty of time before March to get in shape. And plenty of time to make the changes I need to make to the boat.
So, my thought for this years EC is, as long as I don't stop paddling - what could possibly go wrong?
I'll post some pics and a movie or two sometime soon.
See you on the beach,
Komoniwannashoya
Monday, April 26, 2010
Skeptic
Well, at long last, we have a semi finished design.
I am please to finally be able to show you Skeptic.
I am please to finally be able to show you Skeptic.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Quick update...
There's a lot of uncertainty about the rules for the upcoming Ultimate Florida Challenge. At this point, I'm not totally sure that the boat that I'm building could negotiate some of the river sections. I'm particularly concerned about the last section of the St Marys River. I've seen some pictures and it seems as though there are sections where the river may be blocked by fallen trees and other sections where it's very shallow and very narrow. I can imagine myself balancing on the bow of the boat while sawing and hatcheting my way through a fallen tree (probably oak or rock maple)! What would be a minor inconvenience to a kayak could turn out to be an exhausting day-long ordeal for me.
The tactical question is whether or not it's possible to get far enough ahead during the open water sections to be able to go really slowly during some of the river sections. Additionally, what if there are other fast boats entering? It would be much better to be the second big boat to navigate the tight river sections than to be the first. Wouldn't it be fun to spend a day or two hacking your way through the forest only to have everybody else blast on through the hole you just made. That would absolutely happen to me!
Boat design proceeds apace with only minor detours to completely landscape the yard, install a new kitchen, ride herd on a two-year-old, long distance fathering with my college girls, and keeping everybody who's still at home happy while doing it. Yeah, it's coming along just fine.
Big news is that I've revamped the boat so that I'm now seated athwartships. The fore/aft seating made it impossible to route the running rigging. An added bonus of the new arrangement is that the steering linkage got a lot simpler.
The thought that I just had while writing this is that I'm going to stop designing this boat for the UFC and concentrate solely on the upcoming NCC and EC. By that time, the UFC rules should have shaken out and either this boat will work or it won't. If it works - fine. If not, I'll build one that will. Emma (my long-suffering wife) will not be pleased.
I have a boat that I started designing based on an International 420 or 470 which just might work if this current boat isn't able to negotiate the UFC course. It looks like a miniature centerboard version of a MiniTransat boat. Basically a skimming dish planing hull with a little cabin top. Water ballast to hold it down, with the option of using the trapeze when the weather is nice and the breeze is up. In some ways it's like a planing, centerboard version of Matt Laydon's Enigma. Not really.
When I get a minute, I'll post a drawing of that design.
The tactical question is whether or not it's possible to get far enough ahead during the open water sections to be able to go really slowly during some of the river sections. Additionally, what if there are other fast boats entering? It would be much better to be the second big boat to navigate the tight river sections than to be the first. Wouldn't it be fun to spend a day or two hacking your way through the forest only to have everybody else blast on through the hole you just made. That would absolutely happen to me!
Boat design proceeds apace with only minor detours to completely landscape the yard, install a new kitchen, ride herd on a two-year-old, long distance fathering with my college girls, and keeping everybody who's still at home happy while doing it. Yeah, it's coming along just fine.
Big news is that I've revamped the boat so that I'm now seated athwartships. The fore/aft seating made it impossible to route the running rigging. An added bonus of the new arrangement is that the steering linkage got a lot simpler.
The thought that I just had while writing this is that I'm going to stop designing this boat for the UFC and concentrate solely on the upcoming NCC and EC. By that time, the UFC rules should have shaken out and either this boat will work or it won't. If it works - fine. If not, I'll build one that will. Emma (my long-suffering wife) will not be pleased.
I have a boat that I started designing based on an International 420 or 470 which just might work if this current boat isn't able to negotiate the UFC course. It looks like a miniature centerboard version of a MiniTransat boat. Basically a skimming dish planing hull with a little cabin top. Water ballast to hold it down, with the option of using the trapeze when the weather is nice and the breeze is up. In some ways it's like a planing, centerboard version of Matt Laydon's Enigma. Not really.
When I get a minute, I'll post a drawing of that design.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Dawn?
They say that it's always darkest before the dawn. The thing that they don't tell you is how long before dawn.
I decided that the starboard hull of the A-cat was a little bit too screwed up to deal with and so I stripped the remaining hardware off of the port hull and started in on that.
First thing I did was plonk it on the bathroom scale - 45 Lbs. FORTY FIVE POUNDS!!!!
Oh my science!
Oh Bruised Purgatory!
Oh the humanity!
That pretty much put paid to any idea I might have had about using the A-cat hulls as amas. I can still salvage this by admitting that I've got to use only one of them as the vaka (where 45 lbs isn't all that bad) and building a pair of amas myself.
I was going to build a plug, pull some molds off of it, and then pull a pair of hulls from the mold. Too expensive (I think - I'm still running the numbers). Right now, I'm planning on carving a pair of blue foam amas and covering them in a light layer of carbon - not too expensive and almost as good.
The plus side of this plan is that I get to build a pair of long wave piercers. I might even move the rudder from the vaka to a pair of smaller rudders on the amas. This way, I could have a little bit more sail area and risk flying the main hull.
The initial design of the ama has about 377 lbs of flotation which is about enough to fly the main hull - if I can lay off the cookies.
More later - got to get some sleep
I decided that the starboard hull of the A-cat was a little bit too screwed up to deal with and so I stripped the remaining hardware off of the port hull and started in on that.
First thing I did was plonk it on the bathroom scale - 45 Lbs. FORTY FIVE POUNDS!!!!
Oh my science!
Oh Bruised Purgatory!
Oh the humanity!
That pretty much put paid to any idea I might have had about using the A-cat hulls as amas. I can still salvage this by admitting that I've got to use only one of them as the vaka (where 45 lbs isn't all that bad) and building a pair of amas myself.
I was going to build a plug, pull some molds off of it, and then pull a pair of hulls from the mold. Too expensive (I think - I'm still running the numbers). Right now, I'm planning on carving a pair of blue foam amas and covering them in a light layer of carbon - not too expensive and almost as good.
The plus side of this plan is that I get to build a pair of long wave piercers. I might even move the rudder from the vaka to a pair of smaller rudders on the amas. This way, I could have a little bit more sail area and risk flying the main hull.
The initial design of the ama has about 377 lbs of flotation which is about enough to fly the main hull - if I can lay off the cookies.
More later - got to get some sleep
Monday, April 5, 2010
A New Day
A new boat.
The design of the new boat has gone through several wide ranging concepts.
The original Lightfoot was a Warren Lightcraft Littlewing 15.5 Sail with some added prototype parts. This boat was too small to compete effectively with the big dogs.
The new Lightfoot's design started out as a trimaran where the akas and amas (crossbeams and outriggers to the non-cognoscenti) were on a carriage and slid from side to side. Using that technique you can have a 11' wide boat that acts like it's 20' wide. I decided that that concept, while really cool, was too complicated for a race of 300 miles. Additionally, I wanted to use this same boat for the Ultimate Florida Challenge which requires a boat that can do a couple of hundred river miles including a 40 mile portage, along with 1000 miles of sailing.
Aside from the sliding carriage, the other design criteria for this new design was for a central enclosed cockpit. I am a firm believer in the idea that a comfortable skipper is going to make better decisions and ultimately be faster than a cold and wet one. Most of the time, to accommodate the "cabin", you need to compromise the design of the boat in terms of weight, windage, and complexity, but I think it's worth it in the long run.
The next design criteria was to have the ability to "motorsail". I think that is a critical aspect that is missing from most, if not all, of the Class 5 boats. I think huge gains can be made in this area.
Next second concept was for a Class 4 boat. I had drawn what I call a Mini-Mini-Transat boat. The idea for this boat was to start with an old 505, 470, or even an International 420. The plan was to deck it over; replace the centerboard with a daggerboard; add water balast; an inside steering station; and pedal drive. I was going to retain one set of trapeze wires (for nice days with lots of breeze) so that I could go out on the wire and helm in the traditional way. The boat looks a lot like a Mini 6.5 that I drew a couple of years ago. It's a concept I really like. Roller furling jib, screacher, and main - all controlled from inside the cabin.
That concept was abandoned for two reasons. First, I couldn't find a suitable boat at a reasonable price and second because SewSew told me that he's planning on doing the UFC. There's no way that that boat could keep up with Sizzor! In truth, I think I need a boat twice as fast as his just to be close to even ;-)
So, the current design is back to a trimaran. Conventional boat of about L 20' x W 20' which will collapse into a river-capable boat of about L 20' x W 3'.
Originally this boat was going to use a Tornado hull as the vaka and the A-cat hulls for amas. I've decided that this setup is too heavy. Tornado hull (with cabin) is about 110 lbs and the A-cat hulls are about 40 each. Add in the boards/rudder(15), mast (20), rigging (10), sails (20), akas (20), food/gear (50), and one chubby skipper (180) and the whole thing starts to crest the 500lb mark! Not good.
The boat (in it's 3rd revision) is now looking like it's going to have an A-class catamaran hull as a vaka (main hull) with some home made amas and some broken A-cat and Tornado mast tubes for akas (maybe). I'm hoping to get the whole shooting match (less chubby skipper) under 200 lbs. A-cat vaka with mods (50), Amas (35 each), boards/rudder (20), mast (20) rigging (10), sails (20), food/gear (40), one (less chubby) skipper (140). Total package - 370. Much better.
Here's the A-cat - fresh from picking it up in PA.
A few hours later and we have the hulls.
But, flip one over and - DISASTER!
The photo doesn't do it justice. This is a 30" x 10" hack-job to the bottom of this hull. It looks like someone troweled marinetex onto the bottom of the hull and let it dry. It was't even sanded at all.
So, we get out the sander and get to work - 60 grit paper didn't make a dent in it.
So, we switch to the grinder with an 80 grit flapper wheel and start to make some progress.
This is pretty ugly - but it gets worse...
This dent/hole is 20" long x 8" wide x almost 1" deep - caveat emptor.
I am so bummed :o(
Plus, to top it all off, what I thought was kevlar seems now to be fiberglass with a kevlar-colored foam core. Just keeps getting better and better.
The plan was to stretch this hull about 3 feet anyway. Initially I was going to go about 2' off the stern and 1' off the bow. Now it looks like I'll add 3' to the middle and deal with this mess then.
Are we having fun yet?
Actually we are!
The design of the new boat has gone through several wide ranging concepts.
The original Lightfoot was a Warren Lightcraft Littlewing 15.5 Sail with some added prototype parts. This boat was too small to compete effectively with the big dogs.
The new Lightfoot's design started out as a trimaran where the akas and amas (crossbeams and outriggers to the non-cognoscenti) were on a carriage and slid from side to side. Using that technique you can have a 11' wide boat that acts like it's 20' wide. I decided that that concept, while really cool, was too complicated for a race of 300 miles. Additionally, I wanted to use this same boat for the Ultimate Florida Challenge which requires a boat that can do a couple of hundred river miles including a 40 mile portage, along with 1000 miles of sailing.
Aside from the sliding carriage, the other design criteria for this new design was for a central enclosed cockpit. I am a firm believer in the idea that a comfortable skipper is going to make better decisions and ultimately be faster than a cold and wet one. Most of the time, to accommodate the "cabin", you need to compromise the design of the boat in terms of weight, windage, and complexity, but I think it's worth it in the long run.
The next design criteria was to have the ability to "motorsail". I think that is a critical aspect that is missing from most, if not all, of the Class 5 boats. I think huge gains can be made in this area.
Next second concept was for a Class 4 boat. I had drawn what I call a Mini-Mini-Transat boat. The idea for this boat was to start with an old 505, 470, or even an International 420. The plan was to deck it over; replace the centerboard with a daggerboard; add water balast; an inside steering station; and pedal drive. I was going to retain one set of trapeze wires (for nice days with lots of breeze) so that I could go out on the wire and helm in the traditional way. The boat looks a lot like a Mini 6.5 that I drew a couple of years ago. It's a concept I really like. Roller furling jib, screacher, and main - all controlled from inside the cabin.
That concept was abandoned for two reasons. First, I couldn't find a suitable boat at a reasonable price and second because SewSew told me that he's planning on doing the UFC. There's no way that that boat could keep up with Sizzor! In truth, I think I need a boat twice as fast as his just to be close to even ;-)
So, the current design is back to a trimaran. Conventional boat of about L 20' x W 20' which will collapse into a river-capable boat of about L 20' x W 3'.
Originally this boat was going to use a Tornado hull as the vaka and the A-cat hulls for amas. I've decided that this setup is too heavy. Tornado hull (with cabin) is about 110 lbs and the A-cat hulls are about 40 each. Add in the boards/rudder(15), mast (20), rigging (10), sails (20), akas (20), food/gear (50), and one chubby skipper (180) and the whole thing starts to crest the 500lb mark! Not good.
The boat (in it's 3rd revision) is now looking like it's going to have an A-class catamaran hull as a vaka (main hull) with some home made amas and some broken A-cat and Tornado mast tubes for akas (maybe). I'm hoping to get the whole shooting match (less chubby skipper) under 200 lbs. A-cat vaka with mods (50), Amas (35 each), boards/rudder (20), mast (20) rigging (10), sails (20), food/gear (40), one (less chubby) skipper (140). Total package - 370. Much better.
Here's the A-cat - fresh from picking it up in PA.
A few hours later and we have the hulls.
But, flip one over and - DISASTER!The photo doesn't do it justice. This is a 30" x 10" hack-job to the bottom of this hull. It looks like someone troweled marinetex onto the bottom of the hull and let it dry. It was't even sanded at all.
So, we get out the sander and get to work - 60 grit paper didn't make a dent in it.
So, we switch to the grinder with an 80 grit flapper wheel and start to make some progress.
This is pretty ugly - but it gets worse...
This dent/hole is 20" long x 8" wide x almost 1" deep - caveat emptor.I am so bummed :o(
Plus, to top it all off, what I thought was kevlar seems now to be fiberglass with a kevlar-colored foam core. Just keeps getting better and better.
The plan was to stretch this hull about 3 feet anyway. Initially I was going to go about 2' off the stern and 1' off the bow. Now it looks like I'll add 3' to the middle and deal with this mess then.
Are we having fun yet?
Actually we are!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
