HAPPY NEW YEAR
Our
sincere wishes to all Albergers for a Happy, Prosperous, Safe and PEACEFUL
2005. Hopefully, 2005 will bring about a mild hurricane
season, fair winds and following seas to all!
2005 WINTER RENDEZVOUS
The annual Alberg 37 Winter Rendezvous will be held on Saturday
evening, 19 March, 2005
(Rescheduled to 12 March, 2005 due to recent scheduling conflict) at Harrison’s Chesapeake House in Tilghman, MD. A cocktail and informal social hour will
begin at 1800, with dinner at 1930.
Please check the A-37 Web Site for additional details,
or contact Tom and Kaye Assenmacher at (804) 472-3853 / Email at a37ioanospamr@sylvaninfo.net (remove “nospamr”).
2005 ALBERG 37 SUMMER RENDEZVOUS
Tentative plans are to have the 2005 Summer Rendezvous
at the Port
Whitby Marina in Whitby, Ontario on June 25-26, 2005 The Rendezvous will be hosted by A37IOA members Wayne and Cindy Milroy (LEEWAY
II) of nearby Oshawa, Ontario. The Port
Whitby Marina is adjacent to the original Whitby Boat Works facility
where most of the Alberg 37s were built.
There will be additional info in the April 2005 newsletter and soon on
the A-37
Web Site. Begin making plans
to attend!
ALBERG 37
BUILDER’S PLATE
Is the builder's
plate on your Alberg 37 faded by time and sunlight until it's no longer
readable? Is it missing? (It should be
mounted just below the companionway, above the bridge deck). You're in
luck. You can order a new one, courtesy of the Alberg 30 Association. The cost per builder's plate is $12 U.S. For details, check the website at:
http://www.alberg37.org/Builder_Plate/A-37WhitbyNameplate.htm
NEW MEMBERS
Ed Dougherty, of Cataumet,
MA, recently purchased the 1967 MK-I sloop,
KUSHKA TOO, which is berthed in Cataumet,
MA.
Cauvier Raymond of Québec
City owns the 1967 MK-I sloop KALAÏS, which is berthed in Bertier-sur-mer, Québec.
Mitch Grieb, of Chestertown,
MD, recently purchased the 1982 MK-II yawl CATRINE (ex TYDINGS) from Bryce
Inman. CATRINE is one of only a few Alberg 37s that has never been fitted
with wheel steering. CATRINE will be berthed at Comegys Bight on the Chester River, MD.
ALBERG 37 PENNANTS NOW AVAILABLE
We now
have A-37 IOA pennants
available for $33.00 U.S. (yes, the price went up) which includes postage
(within the U.S.). This is a very tastefully rendered and
durable pennant. Coffee mugs are also available on individual order, but unfortunately,
the price has also gone up (from $15 U.S. to $18 U.S.). Check the website for ordering details.
CRUISING
THE CHESAPEAKE
By Lou and Jean
Wayne, aboard PIKA
Ok. It has been a
couple of months since we have written of our travels. That's because after 9
months of cruising, we needed a bit of a change. Our good friends and next door neighbors,
Dahni & Susan came to spend a few days sailing on the Bay with us at the
end of June. We made plans to ride home
to Rochester with them at the
beginning of July, leaving PIKA in Kinsale Va.
with our Alberg 37 friends, TJ & Kaye, to keep SHEARWATER, their Alberg 37
yawl company. After a visit with family
& friends, some work on the house, and some appointments of various sorts,
we were ready to head back to the boat to get ready for the ‘party’ (Alberg 37
fall rendezvous). Pack up Old Blue (our
Olds Wagon) and get on the road 0800, 9/21/04. We had a haulout date of 9/23 at Krentz
Marine, Kinsale Va. Must get PIKA spiffed up before the Alberg 37
rendezvous this weekend. Sail into the
haulout slip at high tide with owners Doug & Marion waiting for us with the
travel lift. Marion
pressure washes the bottom of PIKA as we get the first good look at it since
the clear water of the Bahamas. Not too bad, considering. Replace the zincs, wet sand and paint the
bottom, paint the waterline stripe, scrub and wax the hull. Within 49 hours, PIKA is back in the water
and the crew is ready for a rest and a rum punch. We spent the next few days cleaning and
waxing before people began arriving for the party.
There were 4 Alberg 37's at TJ & Kaye's
dock and many owners who had driven in.
After 2 days of wonderful food, great friends, pretty boats, and many a
boat story, the party was concluded.
Monday was cleanup day and Tuesday was the day for SHEARWATER & PIKA
to go cruising.
PIKA
and SHEARWATER Crew Ponder the Cruising Guide
However, the day dawned quite cool and
a strong north east wind so we decided to postpone until Wednesday. At 0800 we cast off our dock lines, shook the
mud daubers out of the mainsail, and sailed out of the Yeocomico
River and down the Potomac
heading for Solomons MD. All was well
until we reached Pt. Lookout at the mouth of the Potomac, the wind was brisk from the north. After a consultation with SHEARWATER crew, it
was agreed that A) this won't be fun and B) we are
gentlemen and everyone knows gentlemen do not sail to weather, so we slacked
the sheets, bore off the wind and made for Reedville,
VA.
PIKA
on the Chesapeake inbound to Reedville
Reedville is a very quiet little fishing town with a very nice,
protected anchorage, as long as the wind is not from the south. Reedville is the home of the menhaden fishing
boats and processing plant. Now for
those of you who are not familiar with them, menhaden are small fish like herring
which are harvested by the ton and processed for their oil. The processing as
you might guess is not a pleasant olfactory experience if you happen to be down
wind from the plant. Fortunately for us
the wind was northwest and we had a delightful stay. Next morning SHEARWATER developed a
transmission problem and PIKA's anchor chain jammed hard in the windlass. We
freed the chain and got the anchor aboard while TJ finally got SHEARWATER into
gear. As we motor sailed north,
SHEARWATER bore off to port up the Potomac and back to
Kinsale where he would further investigate his transmission problem. We pressed
on to Solomons. Light winds today. We motor
sailed most of the way to Solomons MD (approximately a 40 mile trip from Reedville
VA).
This is a major sailing town for cruisers and recreational boaters. Protected anchorages and fine marinas
abound. It is a good place to provision
and fuel up the boat before heading south.
We anchored in Back Creek off of Zahniser's Marina
for the evening. Worked on repairing the windlass in the
morning before a walk into town.
Upon our return to the anchorage, we noticed that our friends from SHEARWATER
had sailed into the harbor to join us.
Their transmission seemed to operate better in the warmer weather we
were experiencing. Enjoyed
happy hour together and a very pleasant evening before sailing across and up the
bay to La Trappe Creek off the Choptank River the
next morning. Another
beautiful protected little bay with a small beach but not much else around.
PIKA
and SHEARWATER at anchor in La Trappe Creek
We dinghied upstream to explore the old
Dickerson Boat Factory and took a long walk on the country roads. Jean and Kaye did a little beach combing and
a dinghy drift to read our books.
Jean
and Kaye on Harbor Patrol
Then
after our power naps, it was happy hour again.
A fellow in a Catalina who was single-handing anchored next to us and
when we saw him having happy hour by himself, we decided that we should invite
him to join us. TJ dinghied over and they both appeared 5 minutes later. A very pleasant fellow. He was alone because his mother-in-law had
hip replacement surgery that day and his wife was staying with her. After dinner, TJ treated us to a slideshow on
his computer of pictures of PIKA as we sailed next to Shearwater. We also have pictures of their boat but are
not yet up to state of the art technology with our cameras. We are still in the age of silver halide.
Sunset
on LaTrappe Creek
Next morning, more transmission trouble for
Shearwater, so they decide to head home to pull the transmission while it is
still under warranty and drop it off to be repaired. PIKA makes plans for a short sail to Oxford
MD, 10 miles or so away. After listening to the weather for the next
couple of days, we change plans and sail the 40 miles to St. Michaels.
St. Michaels, MD, another beautiful bayside town with a
maritime museum, many swanky marinas, a family of swans, and a couple of small
anchorages, each of which can hold approx. 6 boats (that be where we
live). St Michael's also is known for
its beautiful church bells which chime in the evening. We came up Eastern
Bay to St. Michaels on Wednesday
and stayed for several days. Friday night, the trawler CASITA DEL MAR
who followed us to Reedville then Solomons invited us over for happy hour and a
game of Mexican dominos. Kent
& Gloria from San Diego are
very nice folks. We had a pleasant visit
and after 4 games of dominos and several drinks we were ready to head
home. We have had a couple of terrific
storms just before sundown the past two nights with very high winds. Last night the sky was the most unusual color
of gold, it was scary. Luckily, we are
tucked inside the harbor in deep water
(10') with not too many other boats and had no problem with our Bruce anchor
holding. The windless is working very
well after Lou's extensive epoxy repairs back in La Trappe. Have had a little problem with the oven - the
pilot light lights but the burner does not ignite. Ran out of propane last night and after
changing tanks, it seemed to work better. We are very fortunate to have
acquired a force 10 kerosene heater from our friends
Richard & Carole, which Lou has installed.
We have been putting it to good use every day as there has been a chill
in the air. On Sunday, we had hoped to
get fuel & water this morning, and then head out
but the wind is still howling, so maybe tomorrow. Monday was a calm day to motor off to the Wye
River and Dividing Creek. We are not the first sailboat to be anchored
in this beautiful, woodsy little creek with the geese but there is plenty of
room. This is a very quiet anchorage,
popular with cruisers, except most have already left to sail south other than a
few hearty souls. In spite of the cold
and drizzle the next morning we motor further up the Wye
River and anchor off of the
beautiful rolling green lawn at Wye Heights
with its colonial white-pillared mansion and flock of dozens of coal black
sheep, busily mowing the grass. The next
morning we need to move again because we are in danger of turning into
mushrooms from hibernating below in the damp and cold. Also there has not been a spot of sun in a
week for our solar panel to charge the batteries. So, we motor to the other leg of the Wye
River called the Back Wye. We anchored just before Drum Pt. with
hundreds of geese and watched the oystermen pull in their catch.
On Friday, we sailed most of the way to Oxford
with just the jib and on Saturday, the sun came out for the 1st time in over a
week, and Lou's Brother & his wife joined us for the day. It was a beautiful, sunny day as we enjoyed
lunch at Schooner's Landing, then a cocktail watching the sunset from the Pier
St. Marina. Sunday, the
clouds have moved back in and it is raining again so a good day for
projects. Lou decides to put the new
injectors in as Mr. Perkins has taken to smoking again. After several hours of skinned knuckles and
bad words, the job is done however the engine seems to have not noticed as it
is as smoky and hard starting as ever! Must be time get out the Perkins manual
and head back to Kinsale where PIKA will spend the winter. We made another stop to see a cruising friend
in Solomons on the way back then sailed on to Kinsale on Wednesday. We spent the next few days hauling stuff from
the boat and fussing with the engine.
The latter was to no avail so we will have to return with more time to
work on the problem. Right now the
biggest problem we all face is the mess in Washington
and we simply must get home to cast our votes on November 2 for change.
Lou
& Jean.
(Ed. Note: Lou subsequently discovered the problem with his Perkins
4-107 engine – it was slightly out of time – a simple tightening of the timing
plate behind the water pump solved the hard starting and smoking problem. He claims the engine runs better now than it
did since they had the engine overhauled several years ago.)
RACING IN NEW ENGLAND
By Ron Cole (ARTEMIS,
1981 MK-II sloop #216)
Just thought I would check in and
add a few words to the obvious success of MOLLIKETT as seen on the front page
of the website. I would love to hear from other A37 owners who at least occasionally
race their boats. I’m sure we could pick up a few pointers from each other.
In addition to the cruising we do
along the Maine coast, over the
past 2 seasons we have entered 4 races in cruising class (no spinnaker) and
have found that the boat, if sailed reasonably, is very competitive. We carry
an official PHRF rating of 183 cruising class, with our fixed 3-blade prop. In
2003 we won our division (12) boats in the annual MS Regatta in Portland
Harbor. We actually finished faster
than all 47 boats that sailed the same course in our class and 3 others. In the
same race this year, with flukey winds and a couple
of misjudgements by the skipper, we still finished
only 19 seconds out of 2nd place. In the 2004 annual overnight Monhegan Island Race we finished 2nd in class. An extra
highlight of that race was watching 2 whales cross in front of us just at dusk,
well offshore. In the 2004 Handy Boat Midsummer Regatta we finished 3rd in
class. Needless to say, I have been very impressed with the sailing ability of
ARTEMIS and its speed both upwind and down. I attribute part of the success to
two great new sails (Main and 150) from ‘Maine Sailing
Partners”. The only boat modifications of significance which directly relate to
racing include a new Harken traveler and mainsheet
system with vang, and a 40” Edson
wheel. Even this wheel, the largest it is possible to fit, barely allows the
helmsman to get outboard enough to consistently monitor the jib telltales.
(Ed. Note: We have already contacted several other racers within the A37IOA
regarding submission of “Racing Stories” for publication in the Newsletter/Web
Site. All you “racers” out there are invited to contribute narratives of your
racing participation along with good action photos of your boat and crew. If there is enough interest, we could begin
having a regular “Racing Column” in the Newsletter and on the Web Site.)
NEWS FROM MEMBERS
Ralph Turner, of Squamish, BC reports that he is making a few
modifications and additions to his 1979 yawl, MYA.
Alain
Redder, of Ridgefield, CT is selling his 1968 MK-I sloop SPIRIT.
Wayne
and Pat Jobb of Sherwood Park, Alberta, recently sent a photo
of BRANDELARA
II, their 1970 MK-I sloop at anchor in Desolation Sound, BC. “We have
enjoyed a couple of trips on Brandelara II in June and July. She is now in Sidney, B.C. and we are conveniently able to
travel to Victoria Airport and be on board in 15 minutes after
arrival. Sidney is a great port for short travels in Canada's Gulf Islands or the San Juans.
We are enjoying our Alberg!”
Chris
and Ivor Corbett of Collingwood, Ontario continue to enjoy cruising
the North Channel on MOON
CHILD, their 1978 MK-II yawl. They
recently replaced the original Hood Roller Furler – “It did well for
twenty-six years…as did most of the equipment on board.” “We finally had to replace our ‘NATTY’
bimini, but we can’t complain as it was twenty-two years old. We are slowly getting MOON CHILD ready to cruise the eastern seaboard at some future
date.”
Tom and Kaye Assenmacher’s A-37 MK-II yawl , SHEARWATER is spending the winter at Whitby
Boat & Specialty Wood Work Ltd.
She was trucked up there in late November, and we hope to have her back
home in the spring. Alex Magnone is
refurbishing the topsides, cabin top and deck (lots of gel coat cracks). “Kaye and I made quick trip to Whitby
about in mid January to "negotiate" with Alex. He currently has 2 other A-37s in work (POSSESSION and VECTIS). They will look
great when they are finished”. "We spent the Thanksgiving holidays
on Padre Island., TX back in November, and on the drive down to Texas, we took a
short side trip to get our Alberg 37 "Fix" with Ashley Walker (GOOD NEWS)
and Jay Zittrer (SHARED WATCH) aboard their boats which are located in the same
marina near Kemah, TX. Both are very nice yawls - GOOD NEWS is a 1975
MK-II and SHARED WATCH is one of a few MK-III models (rear facing nav station)
and one of the last Alberg 37s built (Hull # 246)."
Papo and Gina Negron of San Juan,
PR, are selling ELUSIVE, their 1968 Alberg 37 MK-I Sloop.
Lois Jacob and Merle Galbraith report that their 1982 yawl
INTERLUDE is in Trinidad,
and survived the hurricanes well. “We’ve
noticed that the insurance companies have moved the hurricane zone down to 9
degrees North – guess there are no hiding places
anymore”. Lois and Merle spent 9 days
this fall at the Annapolis Boat Show, helping their friend, Ann Wallis White
with her boat show tent.
Karen Kinnear and Marcel
Steinz stopped by Kinsale just before Christmas on their way to their home in Oakville,
Ontario.
They report that their 1977 MK-II cutter/sloop SOUTHERN CROSS survived all the hurricanes that passed through Titusville,
FL.
The only damage was extensive mildew throughout the boat while on the
hard caused by the 2 overhead latches which leaked during the torrential rains. Numerous boats in Titusville
were either damaged or destroyed this fall.
Marcel and Karen will be cruising SOUTHERN
CROSS in south Florida this
winter until mid-March.
WANESA
SURVIVES HURRICANE IVAN
Bill Kellett provided the following account of WANESA
/ Hurricane Ivan at the Pirates Cove Marina on the inner side from Gulf Shores,
AL (Western end of Perdido Bay) where Ivan made
landfall on 16 September, 2004: “I was
in Minneapolis when they decided the marina had to be evacuated so they moved WANESA
for me and anchored her with two anchors and tied her off some trees in Stone
Quarry Creek. The anchors were still tight when I got down there after Ivan’s
passing, but the boat had obviously traveled some distance ashore with the
surge. I spoke with another boater who rode out the storm on his boat in a
nearby bayou. Not something I would be willing to try. WANESA sustained very
slight damage including slight gel coat damage, the genoa
on the roller furler was shredded , and one spreader
was broken. They put her back in the water with a crane on a barge. The engine
started without even bleeding and there was no water intrusion. Tough boats!! Unfortunately
the marina will not be rebuilt.” (Photos of WANESA
and the marina have been posted on the Alberg 37 Web Site.)
CHRISTMAS
GREETINGS FROM TUNDRA
By Brian and Kathy Marsh
In mid November we flew back to Puerta La Cruz, Venezuela. Tundra
is back in the water again and gleaming with a new gel coat finish. Eight of we
yachties participated in a dugout canoe expedition to Angel
Falls from Canaima in the Orinoco
delta. The falls are the highest in the world and truly awesome. Before moving
aboard in December we refurbished the interior varnish of Tundra. After
literally varnishing ourselves offboard, a couple of young friends, Josephina
and Luis, drove us around the Golfo de Cariaco and into Araya. Meeting their
fishing friends and staying in a posada close to the beach was a fabulous way
to let the varnish dry. We will be here in Bahia Redonda Marina with the
“yachties” community for Christmas. We wish you all a peaceful Christmas
season, good health and much happiness.
Feliz Navidad,
Brian and Kathy
(Ed. Note: Brian and Kathy have been on an extended cruise
for several years to the Bahamas
and the Caribbean.
They spend their summers at their home in Sarnia,
Ontario. For more detailed information
visit their website “Tundra Travels” at http://www.svtundra.ca)
CHRISTMAS
GREETINGS FROM THE EVERDEN
By Geoff and Bunkey Cunliffe
24 December,
2004, Georgetown,
Exumas
Merry Christmas and a Happy and Prosperous
New Year to you all. We're still in Georgetown.
Had hoped to get out to Long Island and some of the
other out-islands by now, but there's been a series of cold fronts that have
kept us here. We'll try again after Christmas.
Last night joined several other dinghies in a floating
raft-up, drifting through the anchorage singing Christmas Carols. Christmas Day
we're splurging on a full Christmas Dinner with turkey and all the trimmings
over at Peace and
Plenty Beach Inn. But we don't have any snow yet, and doubt if we'll have a
white Christmas.
Not much else to tell. Just
another day in paradise.
Geoff and Bunkey
SINGLE-HANDED TO CANADA (WELL ALMOST!) By Ian Dunn
It has been a little over seven years since
I bought VECTIS, an Alberg 37, built
at the Whitby Boatworks in Whitby, Ontario
(25 miles east of Toronto) in
1967.
VECTIS
During that
seven years I have either repaired, replaced or added equipment or systems,
with the exception of the 1988 Isuzu diesel engine, which continues to give
good service after 3000+ hours. One does
not just own a boat like VECTIS, one
falls in love with her; so I decided the time had arrived to turn my efforts to
cosmetics. (Many of you who saw her
dirty hull in the harbor this summer will say “Not before time”!).
I discovered through the International
Alberg 37 Owners Association that although the Whitby Boatworks went out of
business in the ‘80’s, one of its employees: Alex Magnone, had taken over some
of the space and established a successful business undertaking both interior
and exterior refurbishments, specializing in Alberg 37’s, although doing work
on other classes too. Alex emigrated to Canada
from Italy in
1967 and as a cabinet maker, had spent his whole professional life, prior to
founding his current business, in installing interiors in Alberg 37’s. It sounded like something to check out.
On a business trip to Toronto,
I visited Whitby and spent a couple
of hours with Alex talking about some of the things I had in mind. He also showed me some of the work he had
recently completed and I must say I was impressed not only with the quality of
his work, but that we shared an appreciation for Alberg 37’s. The decision was made. I would take VECTIS to Canada,
have some work done over the Winter and bring her back
in the Spring. What I would save in NYC
area yard bills would pay for a not-insignificant part of the work I was to
have completed.
There seemed to be several choices for
getting VECTIS from Rye
to Whitby: on a truck (boring);
sail east and then down the St Lawrence (to far and too much up-stream); up the
Hudson River, through the Erie
and Oswego Canals
and then across Lake Ontario;
or have someone deliver it. The more I thought about it the only solution
was up the Hudson. How could I let such an adventure slip
by? Now it is quite difficult to line up
a crew for some weekend racing (not to mention a Race Committee!) so the
chances of finding someone willing to spend a week chugging along at 5 knots in
a canal are really slim. So I departed Milton
Harbor at 1400hrs on September 29th,
a beautiful fall day single-handed. I
discovered that if you leave at just before high tide, you arrive at the Battery
in NYC just in time to pick up a favorable flood tide up the Hudson. For those of you going from Rye
to New York harbor beware that
the western passage of the East River is closed to
leisure craft. I was turned around by
the Coast Guard who sent me around the east side of Roosevelt Island. There is a lift bridge linking the island to Queens
and a call on Channel 13 used to result in only a 5 min. delay. Well for some reason they now require a fire
engine present whenever they lift the bridge.
Luckily the Roosevelt Island F.D. is only 5 minutes from the bridge, so
my delay was only 45 minutes!
The flood tide carried me to a mile south
of the Tappan Zee Bridge
where I dropped anchor under the Palisades at approximately
2100 hrs. I decided I was too new to
river navigation to challenge the tortuous bends through the city at
night. I picked up the following flood
tide at first light on Thursday and spent a beautiful sunny day (interspersed
with some rain showers) admiring the mighty Hudson. For those of you who have never seen the Hudson
River Valley from
the water, you have missed a jewel sitting right on your doorstep! I now understand why the Hudson
inspired the many schools of landscape painters over the last century. My goal was to reach Catskill,
NY where I had arranged to have my mast
pulled. In the event I
ran out of daylight and on the recommendation of the Cruising Guide to the
New England Coast, pulled into Saugerties, an original Dutch Settlement in
the 17th Century. A
perfect but small harbor, I was invited to raft with Bill & Vivian Wood
from Charleston, SC
who were completing a “Great Loop” (more on that in a subsequent article?) and
who also invited me for dinner. They are
cruising Long Island Sound next summer and have been invited to AYC so I can
repay their hospitality. On Friday
morning I made the short hop to Catskill where I spent most of the morning
preparing to turn VECTIS into a
motorboat. This was completed by 2pm and I managed a further 3hrs. upstream before darkness again took over. After anchoring near Stuyvesant,
NY (approx. 14 miles south of Albany)
I realized I had no way of displaying an anchor light! I spent an unsettled night waiting to be demolished
by an errant barge and kept awake by the nearby railroad whose trains seemed to
choose Stuyvesant to sound off their whistles every 30 minutes or so.
Saturday saw me at the Albany Y.C. at 10 a.m. to pick up a canal permit. The NY canal system is now run by the New
York Canal Corporation, a subsidiary of the NY Thruway System and they extract
a reasonable fee for a 10 day pass. By noon I had met up with AYC Members, Mike and
Josephine Shea at the Troy Marina, just south of the Federal Lock at Troy. We had an excellent lunch of burgers washed
down with pumpkin beer, brewed on the premises.
There was also a Saturday Farmers’ Market there and I stocked up on
fresh vegetables and milk. Josephine
also presented me with a Dutch Apple Pie, which did not fit my no-carb diet but
made three wonderful breakfasts. A man
has to eat.
The first five locks at the eastern end of
the Erie Canal rise the highest in the shortest distance
of any in the world: 150 feet in three miles.
Having never used a lock before, I found entering one of these 35 ft.
high caverns single-handed somewhat daunting.
Mike and Josephine had kindly agreed to help out until I learnt the
ropes (sorry about that pun) but we then found out that getting a taxi at Lock
6 back to their car at Troy Marina was impossible, so Mike and I did it double-
handed. Josephine and baby William met
us in a heavy downpour at the top of lock 6.
Mike jumped ship and bid me a soggy Bon Voyage! I can not express enough gratitude to both
Mike and Josephine. Thanks to you
both. You are wonderful friends. Actually once you get the hang of it, locking
in and out is not that difficult but you do need to be properly prepared. I suggest extremely large fenders tied one
near the bow and one near the stern, and the use of a fender board amidships
with three or more large fenders. There
are several different ways of attaching yourself to the lock wall and over the
next several days I developed techniques for dealing with different types of
locks. Disposable vinyl or latex gloves
are also sine qua non.
The Erie Canal wends
its way through the Mohawk Valley,
sometimes it is the Mohawk River and sometimes it’s just
the canal. Although this does not match
the majesty of the Hudson, it has
its own beauty and all kinds of wildlife.
Unexpected sightings included a bald eagle, several kingfishers and
ospreys and an otter. I won’t go into
all the details but during the next two days I negotiated 24 more locks, went
15 miles across Lake Oneida
and passed through Amsterdam, Utica,
Rome and the outskirts of Syracuse. Don’t ever stop at Canajoharie,
NY.
The NYCC Terminal there is 50 yds. from the NY
Thruway, 50 yds. from the railroad and adjacent to a
bridge joining this charming (not!) village to the equally exciting village of Palatine
Bridge. Despite advertising two interesting restaurants,
they were both closed by 6pm and I
dined at Mickey D’s. I had a second
disturbed night in which the constant train whistles were augmented by the
sounds of trucks using their engine brakes.
I woke to thick fog and ice on my dodger. Thank goodness for thick sleeping bags and
radar!
Tuesday afternoon brought me to Three
Rivers where the Oneida River
meets the Oswego River. There is a sign there showing Buffalo
192 miles to the left and Oswego 24
miles to the right. I had by now started
downhill (the first 22 locks take you up) and arrived in Fulton,
NY at 4:30
pm. The locks only operate
between 7am.and 5pm so there seemed
little point in proceeding further that day.
Fulton offered both a brew
pub (out of business!) and the Lock III restaurant, where I had a surprisingly
good meal.
An early start on Wednesday (October 6th)
got me to my destination, Oswego Marina, on the shores of Lake
Ontario. By 11 am,
VECTIS was a sailboat again. I spent a couple of hours cleaning up the
boat (and myself: Do you know how good a shower is, after a week?) and was on a
bus to Syracuse where I hooked up
with Amtrak back to the Big Apple.
I will start the Lake
Ontario crossing in a week or so.
PART II SINGLE-HANDED TO CANADA (WELL ALMOST!)
VECTIS
spent two weeks in the Oswego
marina waiting for my return whilst I waited for a weather window. The prevailing winds are from the west, which
can make for a slow and uncomfortable slog up the lake. On Thursday, October 21st I drove
back to Oswego on a dull and chilly
day wondering if the forecast for a bright and sunny Friday, with wind out of
the southeast, would come to pass. Well
for once the weatherman got it right.
The low that had created the drizzle was pushed offshore leaving clear
skies and a 10-15 knot easterly breeze.
I spent most of Friday getting the boat
ready for the crossing. I drove down to Syracuse
and picked up Chris Punter from the train.
Chris is one of the regular “Allegra” Bermuda Race crew and lives in Toronto. He seemed like a perfect choice to join me to
sail across the lake. Not only does he
know Lake Ontario
well, he is an experienced sailor and good company. After a good meal in a local restaurant, we departed
Oswego at 2100 hrs on Friday. It was a perfectly clear night with a ¾ moon. Our course was approximately 300 degrees
magnetic and the GPS showed our destination to be 104 nautical miles. With the wind almost due east we were able to
broad reach almost the whole way. We
tacked down wind to keep the wind a little further forward and were thus able
to keep boat speed above 6 knots most of the time. (VECTIS is only 26 feet on the waterline). Interestingly, we often showed speed over the
ground above 7 knots, indicating that we had a favorable current. As there is no tide in Lake
Ontario, the currents must be
purely wind driven. We agreed to stand
2hr. watches and I promptly hit my bunk at 10pm. I relieved Chris at midnight and then left him to sleep until 4am. I
had managed to get 12hrs the night before (there isn’t much to do in Oswego!)
and the sailing was so perfect, I did not want to disturb the somber tones of
deep-sleep emanating from below. Once
we lost the shoreline lights (8-10 miles out) we had the most spectacular view
of the heavens and watched with awe as the moon set in the west and Venus and
(we think) Mars rose behind Sirius and Orion’s Belt in the east.
We arrived at our destination, Whitby,
Ontario at 14:30
on Saturday afternoon, 17 hours later giving us an average speed of 6.1
knots. By that time the wind had risen
to 20-25 knots and seas had slowly built to 5-6 feet as we moved west down the
lake. Although it was late October, it was surprisingly warm over night. It did not go below 50 F and I attribute this
to the fact that the lake temperature was still in the mid 50’s.
We managed to run aground on entering Whitby
harbor. The Canadian Coast Guard managed
to put the buoys in the wrong place! We
were helped afloat by a passing power boat and after docking at the marina,
invited ourselves to a party that was beginning in the clubhouse. Clearing customs would have been simple (a
mere telephone call) had I not been leaving the boat in Canada
for the winter. I had to go to the customs
office in person and of course it was not open on the weekend! When I did visit, they were very courteous
and helpful and gave me information about how to claim back GST and PST on the
work I was about to have done on the boat.
Tuesday morning saw me on the train from Toronto
to Syracuse, and then bus to Oswego
to pick up my car. I arrived home at
around 1am: exhausted.
Nevertheless I am looking forward to the return trip in the Spring. I am
deliberating whether to go east down the St Lawrence
and return via the Richelieu River/canal and Lake Champlain
into the Hudson River at Troy. I do know I will take some very large fenders
and will not be single-handing again through the locks (with a new paint
job). Anybody want to join me?
PERFORMANCE CALCULATIONS FOR THE A-37
(Excerpts from an article in the January ’05 Cruising
World)
Two common
performance ratios that are commonly used by Naval Architects are sail
area-to-displacement ratio (SA/D)
and the displacement-to-length ratio (D/L). The SA/D
ratio quantifies how much sail area the boat has for the quantity of water the
boat displaces. A high SA/D ratio means the boat will perform
well especially in low to moderate winds whereas a low SA/D means that the boat is probably sluggish and under canvassed. The formula for SA/D is:
SA/D = SA ÷ (D/64)2/3 where
D= displacement in pounds and SA= working sail area (main + mizzen + area of
the fore-triangle). The range of SA/D runs from about 12 (small sail
area) to about 25 (large sail area).
For the Alberg
37 Yawl, the SA/D works out to approximately
16.8 which is sort of in the mid range, indicating that the A-37 is a
moderate performer.
The D/L ratio measures wave making drag by
quantifying how many (long) tons of water are displaced by the boat for each
foot of waterline length. A high value
indicates that the boat must move a lot of water out of its way for its length,
and its speed will be constrained by that length. A low value indicates low wave making
drag. A high D/L corresponds to comfort and load carrying ability and a low D/L corresponds to speed. The formula for D/L is:
D/L = (D/2240) ÷ (.01 x LWL)3 where
D=displacement in pounds and LWL = length of waterline in feet. The range of D/L runs from about 150 (very light) to
450 (very heavy) for the boat’s length.
For the A-37 Yawl,
the D/L works out to approximately 403,
indicating that the A-37 is quite comfortable, and has a high load carrying
ability.
GEAR FOR SALE/WANTED
MK-II cockpit cushions for sale. They are open cell foam inside of vinyl covers with
zippers to get at the foam. They are in good, serviceable condition with no
rips or tears in the vinyl. Five pieces in all for $100.00US
plus shipping costs.
Contact:
Tom McMaster & Rose Hansmeyer
S/V Sojourn
612-825-4022
For Sale – Spintek Model Triumph 2000 Roller Furler
Scandinavian design, California
