The Inner Harbor Boat Basin at Crescent City, CA was extensively damaged by the March 11, 2011 earthquake off Sendai, Japan. Several dozen vessels and many docks were destroyed by wave cycles related to the earthquake-caused tsunami. These exceeded 8 feet (2.4 m). See the video below. May 2014 We visited the Crescent City Harbor District during a road…
Ted Brewer, a designer who did much of his work in my own state of Washington, recently retired and moved back to British Columbia. His training material for amateur builders and beginning yacht designers, now in its 4th edition, portrays the typical hull form used on sailing craft from the 1800s known as the Cod’s…
In light to moderate conditions (when power to carry sail is not an issue), a center boarder or lee boarder has the advantage of more efficient and lower-drag lateral plane. All else being similar, it will point and foot better than a deep keel-ballasted boat” Phil Bolger and Susanne Altenburger Wooden Boats November/December 2000 issue…
John Vigor, a reviewer of “good old boats” in Twenty Small Sailboats to Take You Anywhere (1999 Paradise Cay Publications) lists the Alberg 30, Albin Vega 27, Allied Seawind 32, Bristol 27, Bristol Channel Cutter 28, Cal 20, Cape Dory 25D, Catalina 27, Contessa/J.J Taylor 26, Contessa 32, Dana 24, Falmouth Cutter 22, Flicka 20, Folkboat 25, Frances/Morris 26, Nicholson 31,…
Time to wake up! This happens all the time I’ve seen people discussing liferafts and such, but for me this big issue here is keels. The four crew on Cheeki died because the boat’s keel fell off, probably very suddenly, and this is not, as some have suggested, an unusual occurrence. It is frighteningly common. Modern fin…
Joshua Slocum Joshua Slocum was from Nova Scotia, Canada. He owned several ships as well as commanding many others. After loosing one of his ships, the Aquidneck, on a sandbank in Brazil, he and his family sailed the Liberdade, a canoe of about 35 foot, from the site of the grounding to Washington DC USA,…
It was pretty galling to watch the water-ballasted boats taking the conditions very much in their stride – and with significantly more comfort for their crews. The Cascails fleet exhibited a good representation of current offshore design, and it was interesting to see how they fared. Sitting on the weather rail of a Corel 45…
I’m occasionally asked if I miss the larger, deep draft sailboat. The answer is always no. That type of craft now seems to me like a helpless one-legged seabird soaring above the surface of the sea, never able to safely land or seek shelter. Ron Hoddinott Small Craft Advisor March/April 2006 issue, pg 26 …
Twin keels become more effective with increased angle of heel, while a single keel becomes less effective. “No other nation has put so much faith in bilge (or twin) keels as the British. Other countries have flirted with them, but we became so enamored with the concept that they were the first choice for anything…
The 34th America’s Cup reintroduced catamarans. In 1988 a catamaran raced a mono hull with the result being a fiasco, the mono hull not being at all competitive. But multi hulled was not the only reintroduced innovation in the 34th. Centerboards increase a vessel’s draft and that old innovation was also used. The American built…