Editor's Column
Wanted
First year with Jan; rudders; central winch; South
Coast Rally
Cat-Friendly Places: Part 2, River Somme, France
Netherlands to Norway
Around the World in Thirteen Years
The Adventures of "TWO BEARS" - Summer 1996
Thoughts on Present and Future Power Requirements
Letters
Editor - Phillip Corridan
Style/Size. There were few complaints about the size of the last newsletter so we’ll stay with A4 for this one. To save postage cost I’ve used 2 columns and 9 point text (about magazine size) where possible - in terms of words per page it’s more than twice as efficient as the last newsletter’s correspondence style while remaining (hopefully) readable!
Late again! It’s me once more. The older I get the less I am able to cope with variety ... See first item under Wanted below.
Internet. There is a report that someone scanned(?) the last newsletter and made it available on the Internet. It would have been at least marginally polite if the someone had asked first. I am connected again, partly because Practical Boat Owner magazine is starting to use it for contributors and partly because my doctor wife has convinced herself that it’s worthwhile medically. If e-mail enthusiasts would like to contact me on philip.corridanr@btinternet.com I’ll collate the resulting list and publish it to this sub-group. Members not Internet connected are assured that I have no intention of encouraging a 2-tier membership.
Boat Swaps. Angela Moody’s letter (page 7) raises the topic so perhaps I should mention that I had a successful swap some 15 years ago. In about 1980, I responded to a Yachting Monthly / Cruising World initiative. As a result, in 1981, Californians Eric and Barbara Haugen used my yacht on the Norfolk Broads (inland lakes/rivers - charts of East Coast UK and Netherlands were aboard but they found "sailing past people’s back gardens and mooring at a pub each night" irresistible!) Subsequently, I sailed their yacht from the Marina Del Ray in Los Angeles in 1983. We both had trouble with each other’s elderly vessel but nothing insoluble. We both had a super holiday and remain friends today. So, swapping’s possible but obviously there are things to sort out, insurance cover for example. Interestingly (see Ken’s Thoughts ..., page 19) the August winds in Los Angeles were so predictable and the marina so well designed that I sailed the Haugen’s yacht in and out of her berth with no need for an engine.
Editor for this Newsletter. The increasing number of half finished projects with which I am associated has become depressing for one whose few small successes are probably due to his well-developed tunnel vision. Some things have to go and the editorship is one I can pass on, with probable benefit to the IOA! So, will the next editor please contact me sooner rather than later? Computer literacy is useful but not essential. The job isn’t demanding, expenses are met and you hear of the nice things and bargains before anyone else does. And I promise to contribute on an ad-hoc basis. But in the meantime, things continue so also wanted…..
Contributions to the newsletter. Ideal contributions concern that which makes us unique, MacAlpine-Downie catamarans - modifications, faults, repairs, good places to get ... And please remember that reports of failure (heroic or otherwise) are as useful to members as reports of success! Cruising or racing articles are most welcome too. Send them in whatever form you please - hand written or typed or straight ASCII or MS-DOS text files on 3½" disk, IBM format
Scanner or whatever. Does any member own or have access to a method of getting photos, drawings etc. into a computer graphical format for this newsletter?
I thought you and other IOA members might be interested in our first year of ownership.
We acquired JAN (number 296) in late October 1995. She was in a sorry state and was sold with a vast amount of ‘extras’ which included a Reliant Robin engine and gearbox. We were told by the yard that the crane registered over 4 tons when she was lifted out. She (thankfully) no longer had the helicopter rig but for any of you who had seen her before, she had changed little below decks. We chose to leave her in Plymouth as she was not fit to sail to the Solent. During the early months of '96 we ended up traveling down from Surrey to Plymouth in an attempt to get her seaworthy for a early April launch, with plans to deliver her to the Solent in late April. Our main priorities were to check the rig over, (half the rivets were missing from the spreader mountings) remove, burn, dump, or sell the ‘extras’, replace the wheel steering and replace and fit some basic wiring. The skeg hung rudders in our opinion were too small - the total area for both rudders was not much more than 2 square feet. The wheel steering had to go on the grounds of response, weight, room and aesthetics. I have included the drawings of our replacement rudder stocks which we are very pleased with. We went to dagger-type blades over the original kick-up style because we tend to ‘mud crawl’ and have found on past boats that kicked up blades over-stress the stocks. We fitted a central cockpit winch pedestal (drawing also included) with which we are extremely pleased. With many more hours spent tidying and checking, launch day soon came round.
After much chopping and changing the yard finally found a launch day that suited the tides and the majority of owners, but of course we had to be the minority. Luckily we managed to rope in a certain Michael Ellison to oversee the launch. (Thanks again Michael!) Up until the launch things were going according to plan but like all the best plans things started to slip. Weather seemed to be the main problem but my son Jacob decided that he too would upset daddy's sailing ambitions by delaying his entrance into this world by two weeks’ My Dad manned a test motor-sail in late April but the weather was still not playing the game. Finally the weekend of May 18/19th was looking good, it had been blowing north easterly gales all week but was set to back to the north west 4-5 then south west by Sunday. Dad had to work that weekend so an old friend Shaun was up for the delivery trip. We dashed to the west country on the Saturday morning, stowed water and stores and finally got underway at 16.30. The wind remained in the north east but the weatherman was still saying it would back by late evening. A quick test sail around the Sound and off we went with the aim of calling in at Salcombe for the night if the wind didn’t move round. It soon started to rain but by 20.30 we were just approaching Salcombe. The wind was still just in the north east, about force 5, the rain like stair-rods so the decision to go in was an easy one. High water had been at 19.30 and now with wind and tide against us progress up to the visitor’s buoys was slow with our 5hp outboard. It was about 2l.00hrs and dark. All the visitor’s buoys had boats on so we chose the one with a single unoccupied 45’ monohull. We tied alongside easily but the fun we had trying to get a line to the buoy will be remembered for a long time! Imagine: wind 30-35 knots, rain (lots) and spring tide all going in the same direction. There was no way we were going to take to the dinghy, so we pulled Jan as near to the buoy as the mono’s cleats would allow. With Jan well lashed to the mono the outboard was put in forward and full throttle and the helm lashed ahead. Then with Shaun pulling on the mono’s mooring warp and me laying on Jan’s bow we waited for a lull. After several tantalising misses we finally got a line to the buoy. It howled all night which made our decision to put into Salcombe seem like a very good one and this was further confirmed by reports of gusts to Force 9 in Lyme Bay.
By morning it was still up in the 6-7 range but at least it had moved to the north west Soon after lunch the wind finally dropped to 4-5. We crossed the bar at 17.00 with one reef and full genoa. It soon became apparent that with the unbalanced temporary rudder boards the helm was going to be heavy. By dark we were down to genoa only, we were making good time but would be off Portland Bill a bit too early. We were about five miles off and had to sit almost stationary for quite some time. By 06.00 we had just passed Anvil Point and with the tide now going our way and the sun shining, things were looking up. We soon had the spinnaker up and the speed starting to rise our next land mark the Needles. By 11.00 we were passing Cowes with 10 knots on the GPS and both of us on the helm. It was heavy but great fun! The Solent was looking at its best, lots of spinnakers and sparkling seas and 8 of the BT Challenge boats having what looked like some close racing. We picked up our mooring at Emsworth at 15.30, home at last. I must say I was quite relieved as I hadn’t sailed on a cat for longer than a day in 15 years, sailing trimarans almost exclusively for that time. It was only the second time Shaun had sailed on any kind of multihull!
We had several day sails and weekends on the Island, but our first real sail as a family was not until late July. The plan was to go to Poole and have a potter. Dad sailed with us to Poole and we encountered our first real windward work. I must say I was pleased with how she went. We dropped Dad off at Salterns marina and filled up our water tanks. We spent Sunday to Wednesday pottering in the harbour with a trip up to Wareham on the Monday evening - a bit narrow in places but worth the effort, especially once the day-trippers had gone home. With two pubs on the Quay both serving food and an excellent chippy just up the road we had a very pleasant time watching the sun go down, the boat only 6 feet away a pint in hand and Jacob asleep on board. With two more nights spent in the harbour we then had a short but brisk sail to Studland Bay on Thursday where we settled on the beach for a bit of bottom cleaning. The previous owner had made his own copper epoxy anti-fouling which doesn’t seem to work very well, another winter job. The cockpit has proved to be a great play pit for Jacob when at anchor with a golf umbrella rigged for shade and toys strung from the jib sheets, he spent many hours cooing and gurgling contentedly much to his parents’ delight.
A dawn start on Friday to catch the tide up to Newtown Creek. We soon had the spinnaker set and were making good time with the sun burning off the last of the mist, Jacob still sound asleep, that's my kind of sailing! But like all good things it came to an end. At the Needles the wind vanished, with the motor on we plodded on to our destination. As nominal the wind picked up again as soon as we dropped the hook. We had just finished a leisurely lunch when the harbour master came to collect his dues, the first we paid in 6 days. Neither Jane nor I had been to Newtown before and thought we’d better do some sight seeing. So put the outboard on the inflatable and Jacob in his papoose and headed for Newtown Quay. We walked up to the town hall via the Church with a couple of stops to take in views and it was time to head back to the dinghy before all the water went As normal I had been a bit over optimistic with the time available and as always it took longer to get back to the dinghy, which led to some fairly frantic ‘mud sledding' over the last of the water. For the uninitiated this requires the crew to spread their weight evenly in the dinghy then punt along. The trick is to keep the momentum up and don’t get your oar stuck! With practice two people can make way in little more than 2 inches of water. (This should not be attempted in your best flannels and blazer, although I doubt this warning applies to many of us!). We were soon in deeper water and heading for the wooden pier on the other side of the channel. My pilot book informed us that a 20 minute wa1k would lead us to a pub at the end of the lane. Jacob decided he’d been in his papoose for long enough and wanted to be carried. He soon fell asleep in my arms, and at about 3 months old he only weighed about 16 pounds but it soon felt much heavier. It was a very long 20 minutes, but good for building up a thirst and appetite.
After a very peaceful night's sleep we had another early start on Saturday to catch the tide back to Chichester. As soon as the anchor had been hauled aboard Jacob decided that he’d like to get up early for a change, but then maybe it had something to do with his father stomping around on deck and the engine running. One thing that constantly amazed me was how easy Jan is to handle on your own. We were soon beating our way towards Cowes with several other boats in a light easterly wind. It was the first day of Cowes week and there was soon what appeared to be a solid wall of boats stretching from Southampton to Cowes. By the time we reached Gurnard Ledge the wind, as yesterday, had dropped to just a whisper, so on with the outboard again. We joined a line of boats heading for the east Solent passing close by the Royal Yacht Britannia. By the time we were off Wotton Creek the wind began to fill from the south and soon after passing No Man’s Land fort we hoisted the spinnaker. With Chichester Bar buoy soon in sight we both felt that end of holiday feeling, but agreed that it had been far better than expected and I was extremely pleased with the boat. The space onboard is just incredible: we couldn’t have got all Jacob’s gear on board our last boat, let alone our own.
For Dad and I our next major outing was to the IOA rally in Cowes, Jane chose to stay at home with Jacob as the forecast was for 5-6 possibly 7 South Westerly. It was a wet beat from Chichester on the ebb. We had 25 knots apparent most of the way with many gusts over 30 knots. With one reef in the main we were unable to reef the genoa due to the bolts holding one of the furling drum link plates falling out. (If we had put any rolls in we’d have put undue stress on the remaining link plate.) With one hand on the jib sheet Jan was bowling along quite nicely. We arrived at East Cowes marina to find that it was already full and that we were the only Iroquois, so we carried on down to the Folly Inn where we tied alongside a very tidy Westall folding trimaran. Soon after making things ship-shape Richard and David on Catalina arrived having had a good run down from Poole. After securing Catalina alongside we retired to the pub for a late lunch. The afternoon was spent comparing boats and reattaching the furling drum link plate and it soon became apparent that Jan and Catalina would be the IOA rally ... so off to the pub for the evening.
Sunday morning we were pleased to see Nigel Topham and his family arrive over from Portsmouth increasing the people numbers by 100%. After taking their lines we were all given a wonderful display of power boat handling, which required much lip biting. The skipper tried to slot his 40’+ power boat into a 35’ gap behind his friend’s boat, ignoring his female crew’s attempts to tell him that it would not fit. After several goes and plenty of shouting at the crew he reluctantly moored alongside his friend.
We all retired to the pub for lunch then Dad and I strolled along the river up to Newport. That evening Nigel invited us and Richard and David aboard for drinks. The talk, as you can guess, was mainly about the great boats we sail. Much time was spent discussing the modifications that our previous owners had made to our boats. One in particular was the very nice ply bridge deck floor in Nigel’s boat, both attractive and practical. The only down side seemed to me that it might be slippery when wet. We had come to the rally in the hope that some of the 'old hands’ would turn up as none of us had owned our boats for more than a year and we all had questions to ask.
Monday morning marked the end of the rally and time for us to head to our home ports, Nigel back to Portsmouth and Jan and Catalina back to Chichester. We all had an enjoyable time and hope that some of you old hands will come along next year. (We’ll probably have some different questions for you by then!)
After a short sailing season we have a long list of things to do this winter and Jan was hauled out in early October. Things have got off to a slow start but should speed up again after a trip to the London Boat show. We are planning, amongst other things, to rebuild the galley, paint the interior, re-cover bunk cushions, lower the furling drum and replace some rigging. Currently the furling drum is just above the pulpit rail with the foot of the genoa another 3 inches above that. We should be able to lower it all by about 2 feet if we modify the dolphin striker, which should lower the centre of effort quite considerably. We brought a new extra long shaft Yamaha 9.9 at the Southampton Boat Show and are in the process of making a mould for a new pod type bracket. The whole list is a bit daunting but we’ll get there in the end.
On a different note Jane and I sailed with Mike Butterfield on his Dragonfly 1000 for 2 races in the Royal Southampton Yacht Club’s Winter series which is held on Sunday mornings throughout October and November. Having raced our last boat in the 94 and 95 series and enjoyed it immensely. I wondered if I could drum up some interest amongst fellow owners. The racing starts at 10.00 and being held on Southampton water the courses normally have lots of reaching on flat water. The committee like to have racing finished by 12.00-12.30 so you can get to the club for a very reasonably priced Sunday lunch. It is very well attended by monohulls, (about 50) and has a big following with the micro multihulls plus 4 or 5 cruising multihulls. It is unlikely that we would rate favourably against newer boats like the Dragonfly 920 but if we could get 3 or 4 boats together I would gladly donate a trophy for the best placed Iroquois in the series. MDL do a cheap mooring rate in Ocean Village for the 6-7 weeks the series runs and is only 10 minutes from the start/finish line. It really is great fun, if you are interested give me a call.
We wish you all a quick winter and hope to see some of you on the water in 1997.
Tim Ball,
40 Abbey Road,
Horsell,
Woking,
Surrey,
GU21 4PG
Adapted from an article published in Practical Boat Owner, November 1996 to February 1997 issues (Practical Cruising Guide, Calais to Cherbourg).
The river Somme has 3 ports but the river itself is only navigable within the 4 hours or so around HW. Boats of IOA members can get to all the ports but at LW Le Hourdel dries, Le Crotov has a 60 cms depth pool and only St Valery retains a 2+ metre pool. Iroquois with twin 80hp engines can exit the Canche (last newsletter) and enter the Somme on one HW. The rest of us have lots of time to reach the Bale de Somme N Cardinal buoy (AT-SO) from which the entrance buoys are usually visible.
Entering the Somme 1½ to 2 hours before HW and allowing for the coastal current’s northward pull, follow the channel for 4 miles or so until a small W Cardinal buoy shows the channel dividing into that for Le Crotoy (about 2 miles due east) and that for St Valery (about 4 miles to the south-east). The buoyed Le Crotoy (pronounced Crow-Twa) channel closes the shore then runs parallel to the beach before turning almost 180o at the far end of town into the harbour The buoyed St Valery channel has an offshoot near green no. 21 where boats turn for Le Hourdel. This is unbuoyed and, short of following a local, the only way in is to move parallel to the steeper channel walls before they cover at HW. Continuing in the St Valery channel, this weaves about and in the strong flood you’ll be crabbing heavily across at times (look back frequently). Closing with St Valery there is a lit green beacon near a 20/30o turn to port with, on shore, a nearby car park and isolated chapel on the hill above - you are passing Cap Hornu, can’t wait for the next YC meeting! A tree lined boulevard with small boats on moorings below eventually curves to starboard opposite a port hand pier with light, defining St Valerys harbour.
Le Hourdel has a very small drying harbour with fishing quay and pleasure craft pontoon, neither with room for visitors. However, the tiny boat club (no VHF) gave me permission to anchor (free) over a plateau between 3 buoys opposite the fishing quay. In 1996, one notable local boat was an old Prout Ranger 31' cat, painted (windows and all) a fairground red and yellow. Total facilities comprise 1 crane, 1 bar and 1 hotel with restaurant (3 courses from 60f). The bar had an enormous TV where I watched England v Scotland in Euro ‘96, unworthily gaining a free beer for being able to pronounce team members names - French commentators had no problem with Gascoigne, but McManaman ... Your boat is aground quite a lot of the time so La Hourdel will suit those with well trained bowels/bladders (or buckets).
La Crotoy has a larger harbour and the 2 pleasure craft pontoons have a few spaces for visitors at 50f per night, no extra for catamarans or voyeurs enjoying what seems to be a topless zone. Showers and toilets in the clubhouse. Friendly young HM on duty (VHF Ch9) during daytime HW±2 hours. Le Crotoy is a cheerful, characterful sort of town where turrets and towers sprout haphazardly from otherwise bland walls and the occasional façade straight from Then Bien Phu adds an element of surprise to the back street wanderings of those used to living with planning regulations. As I took photographs a bikers rally came noisily yet unthreateningly to an end around me, it’s that sort of place! If young crew members are pushing for a few days of proper seaside then this could be an inexpensive answer. A supermarket with fuel & gaz is 10 minutes (sign posted) walk from the harbour.
Rated restaurants in La Crotoy include: Chez Didier, one of many at the town end of the harbour, 3 courses from 60f; Les Tourelles, the twin-towered building dominating the skyline, 3 courses from 90f.
St Valery-sur-Somme's marina has 2+ metres depth at LW on the outside pontoons but the innermost dry. YC and HM share a distinctive building with all facilities, including a washing machine. 105f per night for an Iroquois (84f for a 30’ mono). Despite this multihull premium, it’s one of my favourite harbours. I am not alone, a number of British have houses in St Valerv. Thus the Norfolk Broads registered Pegasus and a West Wight Potter named The Old Tart on the permanent moorings here. At the end of the marina is the Canal de La Somrne which runs ESE with Roman straightness giving access to the French inland waterways. Mast lowering/raising cost is unknown as a new crane was being installed during my visit.
The town is lovely, set on a tree-studded hill in this otherwise flat and sandy estuary. It was here that William the Conqueror's fleet put in for stores before finally sailing for England in 1066. Alleda’s lesser needs were met by small shops in the main street and supermarkets 15 minutes walk out of town on both the D3 and D48. Tourist attractions include a steam train with a 54f return service to Le Crotoy - whose station is well away from the town/harbour and as you only get an hour there, it’s not a good way of seeing Le Crotoy. However, the Somme Bay has a network of cycle tracks so if (like me) you remove yet another half a knot from your boat speed by carrying a couple of bikes and associated gear, you'll get your reward here. There’s also a hire shop just inside the old town so, happy pedalling!
To see St Valery on foot, walk back down the harbour to find the Tourist Office facing you where the main shopping street diverges from the quay. At the far end of the main street a road climbs to the old walled town where it is impossible not to be charmed by shuttered windows, cobbled streets and portals casting both welcome shade and an intriguing sense of history. Nearby there’s a panoramic view of the bay so take the binoculars for a LW perspective. At the far end of the old town climb further to the Chapelle des Marins, its soft stone walls scarred with statements of love from every year of this century. There is much more, so for the full cultural effect buy the l0f Visitor’s Guide written in English and explore for a couple of days.
Rated restaurants in St Valery-sur-Sornme include the Hotel du Port et des Bains, quai Blavet, seafood menus from 75f: YC restaurant, starter 16f, main course 46f.
Philip Corridan
While describing my last summer’s sailing experience, especially the race, in a letter to Janet and Doug Mackay, who we met some years ago while they were sailing in Holland, I realised that I could maybe interest more people in this race by publishing a article in our Newsletter. So I'll try.
Last summer I joined the 8th edition of the Colin Archer Memorial Race from Lauwersoog (in North of Netherlands) to Larvik (in South of Norway), on board Aquacat, my MkII Iroquois, sail number 260. Our oldest daughter Ariella and her boyfriend Bart crewed (three on board is minimum for this race). Distance over ground is 360 nm, but we had over 400 on our log (currents and course). We finished in 58 hours and 57 minutes, 49th on arrival out of 105 competitors. Not too bad for one of the smallest craft in the race. Third on corrected time in the multihull division. First to finish overall was C1000, the 23 metre catamaran from Henk de Velde, who single-handedly circumnavigated this boat last year. His true time was 28 hours and 10 minutes (for the Colin Archer Race!).
Start July 13, Saturday afternoon. This is my first race on open seas. We decide for safety and comfort on the first day and not to set the spinnaker. With a nice 5Bf the fleet heads north, gradually spreading. We enter our watch schedule, on-off-standby, 4 hours at night, 6 hours at daytime. Sunday at first daylight only few competitors are left in sight. Later that day the weather forecast announces increasing wind from W to NNW. Hear on VHF of ships planning for refuge in harbour. We decide to pass east of the Jutland Banks, but to stay as far as possible from the Jutland coast. This far North the night is noticeably lighter already, until heavy clouds cut all sight.
In the Skagerrak, all of this second night, we have a real gale (8Bf), sometimes a strong gale, with winds of40+ knots on the meter. Steep waves, some 3 meters according to sea warnings on VHF, but in the night they look higher. Aquacat does great that night, without mainsail, just under genoa, average 60 degrees apparent wind. Maintaining sufficient speed this way I can 'take’ all waves at the right angle. Not much sleep for the off-watch crew however.
After the race Bart admitted that his confidence in an Iroquois had increased considerably. (His parents used to have a Catalac, a somewhat heavier built boat.)
Monday at 8 in the morning, still with hard winds and rough seas, but somewhat sheltered by the Norwegian coast, we change genoa for storm jib. This allows the off-watch crew some rest. Before noon however we have all sails up again. Reefed main and jib first, full main and big genoa later. The rest of this Monday the wind plays with us. Decreasing, increasing, shifting. But always allowing us to head for the Svenner Lighthouse, be it very hard on the wind sometimes. We hope to finish still on Monday, before midnight, but miss this by some 90 minutes. From the finish line another hour sail into the fjord to Larvik harbour. A few drinks and then to bed.
Except for a broken flag staff we had no damage. Since demounting, overhaul and remounting of all windows in 1995 no window leaking any more. But that night in the Skagerrak the water came in through about every other opening. I had forgotten to refresh the sealer under the chain plates last spring. And also air ventilators apparently need maintenance. But the rear berths stayed dry, so what's the problem ….
Having also survived the festivities in Larvik, we sailed Aquacat Friday over night to Skagen, the most Northern point of Denmark. Jopie, my wife, and Jessica, our youngest daughter, had driven up there. Ban and Ariella went home by car. From here on we had 3 more weeks holiday. Jopie, Jessica and I sailed Aquacat to Copenhagen first. Two days sightseeing. Then Jessica went home (by plane) and Jopie and I had a wonderful sail home. Through Denmark, via Nord-Ostsee-Kanal, Elbe, North of the German islands, Dutch East-Waddenzee, Friesland (Lauwersoog-Harlingen), back to Den Oever.
For me this race was the ideal excuse to go that far north in a short time. Jopie doesn’t like overnight crossings. And one needs very long holidays to get that far and back home again in just day trips. This way I had my long trip and we had a relaxed cruising tour back home together. The Colin Archer Memorial Race is every second year, next one in 1998. I'm certainly planning to join again. The race is way well organised and real fun to do. I just hope we can have some more multihull participation. So I suggest you all plan your 1998 holiday around this race. For more information you can contact me.
Ron W Bijl,
Loevestein 15,
2403 JC Alphen a/d Rijn,
Netherlands
BACK HOME: Frankie and Fred Boyd.
The following is reproduced from a newspaper article:-
PROUDLY flying the national flags of a dozen or more countries on their 32ft catamaran ‘Buster’, Frankie and Fred Boyd returned to the Crouch this week.
When they left Rice & Coles boatyard in Burnham in 1983 their only idea was to seek the sunshine in Spain. Thirteen years on the intrepid couple nave completed a circumnavigation of the world, and have explored places of which most travellers can only dream.
By choosing their time and their route they have rarely encountered bad weather, and have made friends with dozens of other nomadic sailors on their way.
The epic voyage started in 1983 when Fred, then 49, took voluntary redundancy from his job as an electrical engineer. With their family grown up there seemed no reason not to take off and enjoy life for a few years.
Needing a boat with a better performance for the trip to Spain they changed their old catamaran for the half-completed shell of a larger design, and set about finishing it off themselves.
"It was the only way we could afford to do it," remembers Frankie, but Fred is a real Jack of all Trades, and he can turn his hand to anything.
At sea they are almost completely self-supporting, making their own power through wind generators and solar panels, mending their own sails, catching fish and living as far as possible on local food wherever they stop.
The first two years were spent in the Western Mediterranean, with five more in Greece and Turkey, over-wintering in Cyprus.
"Everybody comes to Cyprus eventually, and we were brain-washed by people who said we must not stop until we had seen the Caribbean" said Frankie. So in 1990 they took the Trade Winds over to the West Indies, and spent the next two years exploring the American coast as far north as the Canadian border, and back to Venezuela.
Then it was decision time once again. "We couldn’t make up our minds whether to come home or go on, and it was a spot decision," remembered Frankie.
In June 1994 they entered the Panama Canal bound for the Pacific, with a first stop 600 miles out into the ocean to visit the Galapagos Islands. From there they sailed 3,000 miles to the Marquesas Islands, and made their way through the islands of French Polynesia. Tahiti, the Cook Islands, Tonga and Fiji to New Zealand, and by last December they were celebrating Christmas in Thailand.
Then it was on over the Indian Ocean, calling at Oman and Aden before passing through the Red Sea, where they ran into the only major incident of the whole voyage, when they were arrested by the Yemenis along with three other boats on suspicion of being Eritrean spies.
Back home in Cyprus the round trip was complete, but everything else had changed, and Frankie and Fred finally decided it was time to return to the UK.
The last leg of their epic journey could hardly have been more of a contrast to their miles at sea. With mast down they made the 900 mile passage through French canals form Marseilles to Calais.
The boat is now for sale while the Boyd's decide what to do with the rest of their lives but they love Burnham and hope to remain in the town.
So, first an Iroquois, now a Comanche, taking sensibly long. Any Apache owners feeling challenged? - Ed
This is the fifth summer adventure. Now we are to explore the legendary Mediterranean sea, which Terry has spent the last five years dreaming about! I hope it lives up to our expectations.
Our adventure began on Easter Monday when we left Newmarket at 1am in our old Ford Escort.
We were as usual well loaded with the back seat removed to make a little extra room! We crossed the channel on the Fast Lynx Cat to Calais, where we transferred our belongings to a Herzt Hire car for the trip to the South of France. Port St. Louis where "Two Bears" had spent the winter in the Navy Services boat yard. Our son, who had accompanied us to Calais, took our car back home for us, having picked up a few duty free bottles for his troubles!
We had requested a route map to avoid the Toll Roads from the RAC. This worked well except for one occasion on the Paris ring road when we came off one exit too soon. However after several more mistakes a kind coloured chap guided us through a maze of back streets and got us back on course again! This saved us about £60 on tolls. We reached Briare at 6pm and decided to stop for the night at a small hotel. An early start and a spectacular trip through the Massive Central mountains reaching Port St. Louis at 4pm. It was a warm and sunny day which was lucky, we opened up the boat and let the air blow through her, aired the bedding and enjoyed a good nights sleep after our long journey
On Friday the 19th April we were ready once again to go back into the water, the mast was re-erected and we re-rigged her, a sailing boat again! Our little 9.9 Yamaha outboard engine had worked hard and had not let us down on our long river and canal trip of the previous summer.
Our son who works in Hong-Kong had flown down to Marseilles airport, he spent the first two weeks sailing with us. The weather was kind at first but soon the black clouds rolled in from the west and the rain and wind came, it remained very unsettled for a long time, so we made dashes from one sheltered anchorage to the next. One really interesting group of islands to visit are Ilses du Friol, which is about a mile or two off Marseilles which with its many churches and backdrop of mountains is a spectacular view. The islands are craggy high white rocks with an ancient fortress at the top which is a ruin but an interesting place to climb up to, with many seabirds nesting on the ledges. There are sheltered anchorages at every point of the compass, the holding was not too good, deep water and rocky. We did in fact drag our anchor as the wind got strong so we felt it was time to move!
Les Calanques were very beautiful as well as sheltered and were free! This is where our son had to leave us and go home. We headed for Ile de Porquerolles islands enjoying a few days of sunshine to wander around the paths of the nature reserve. We had thought of heading for Corsica from Port Mann but up came the wind so we had a fast sail to Cavalaire. Here we got the weather forecast which didn’t seem too bad for the next 24hrs, so we did a night crossing to Calvi, Corsica.
At about 7am we could see the snow capped mountains and smell the Corsican Pines, but the most wonderful thing of all was the arrival of hundreds of dolphins swimming around and under the boat, they stayed for about 15 minutes - what a wonderful greeting! We had also seen two turtles which we thought at first were deflated footballs floating along in the water.
We anchored in a huge natural harbour overlooked by a castle, there were only two other boats at anchor. The British boat "Rambling Rose" invited us over for coffee joined by the Australians from the other boat We learned from Peter and Rosie that they were heading for home in the west country after nine years out having circumnavigated the world. They had met Clorin and Phill in Australia. We all left at about 5pm, how time flies when we were engrossed in tales of some of their incredible adventures!
Corsica is a very beautiful mountainous island. The rocks at Port Girolata are red and look like a sponge, it is a nature reserve and a rare bird the Bald Headed Buzzard nests here, despite studying the rock with the binoculars we did not have the luck to spot one!
The next stop was a pretty little harbour Carges’e, on the slopes looking over the harbour is an immaculately kept cemetery, the village is high above. We were storm bound here for several days, with trees and spume flying over the harbour wall. When we left the seas were huge with possibly 20ft waves, the wind was light but we had an uncomfortable trip to Ajacio.
Next port of call Bonifacio, spectacular high white cliffs, it is very very hard to spot the entrance to the calanques which form the natural harbours high above are huge fortresses and the town! We of course climbed the steep hill to the medieval town, a popular tourist venue. The headland is a notoriously rough and windy place - it was, with winds gusting force 6/7. We were well reefed heading for Sardinia, Liscia, a huge bay where we anchored the scenery was sandy lowlands. The next day we headed back up the east coast of Corsica, saving the exploration of Sardinia for another time!
The strange experience of catabatic winds force 2 for five minutes then up to force 7 accompanied us to Solenzara, an artificially made harbour at the mouth of a small river, a very friendly welcome from the Captain who spoke to us in English. Also some good food shops nearby where we stocked up. It was a good job we had as in our next stop Campoloro, the shops were a five mile walk up a hill.
This small sleepy place became notorious a few days later when a British yacht was blown up by terrorists, this is to get the French government to allow them independence by upsetting the tourist industry, hopefully no one was injured.
Bastia was our last port of call from there we left for Elba, arriving after dark in a small fishing bay with fishing nets right across the entrance, flashing lights indicated the gap to enter, we sussed it out just in time! As it is still very early in the season we found a lot of dredging and maintenance work was going on at all the harbours we visited, making it rather noisy, so we did not linger long.
Isola del Giglio crowded and uncomfortable, so onward to mainland Italy. Port Ercola.
Once again difficult to find a space so we ended up on the public jetty, with a small German motor cruiser heading for Turkey. We spent four interesting days here where we watched the blessing of the local sculling boats; the ceremony lasted about an hour. Eventually we left in strong following winds for Civitavecchia, averaging 6 knots. We were able to hose all the salt off "Two Bears" as we moored in the club part of this big commercial harbour, £25 a night, we filled the water bags and charged the batteries as there was power on the jetty.
Fiumicino Porto canal, very convenient for visiting Rome, the station is just a l0mins walk from the free canal mooring. The canal is also a favourite wintering place for live-aboard yachties, with the cheapest supermarket we found in the whole of Italy! We took the train to visit the Vatican City, there was plenty to see in the famous Basilica of St. Peters, we just missed seeing the Pope.
We were now into June the weather had settled down it was sunny but not too hot. The Is Ponza was lovely, not too crowded, with some interesting caves to explore. We had made friends with an American couple in Fiumicino, Roy and Jo in their Westerly ‘Elizabeth’ and for the next week or two we spent many happy times together visiting the Pontine Islands. One evening we saw long processions of people singing and walking around the island, later there were some enormous bangs and flashes of fireworks which continued until lam. When it got dark a procession of decorated, lit up fishing and police boats went around the bay making a lot of noise firing flares and fire works. The bells from the three churches on the island had been peeling out too. It was the Island's patron Saints Day!
Fog had not occurred at this time of the year for 50 years, but we had fog so that it was only just possible to see the next boat in the harbour! It hung around for two weeks. We had a gentle sail to Ventotene; this island had a huge disused prison from the times of ‘Mussolini’, there were also some old nuns from Roman times. The old harbour was very small and quaint; a new big harbour used by the ferries is free. We visited the small museum in the village square, the bakery here had delicious pizzas and bread. The bread on the whole in Italy was very heavy rather like shoe leather!
The next stop was Amalfi on the mainland, a really delightful place, with its steep narrow streets bustling with shops and people. To our surprise there were six British flag boats in the attractive small harbour, several of them we were to meet again on our travels south and become good friends!
One of the pleasures of boat life is listening to the BBC world service; on the news we heard that a hydro-foil had sunk in thick fog in the Bay of Naples. We saw the unfortunate vessel almost at the harbour entrance of Isola di Procida, two people were drowned. Another very good sheltered free harbour. An Italian charter boat company operate from here, their staff are very friendly and helpful, we stayed for four days as we were meeting family at Salerno.
It is always difficult to know the best places to pick up crew and leave them as one does not know the local geography, how near the station is to the harbour. Salerno we discovered was not a good choice as it was a huge place with at least three harbours which were very crowded and very expensive! However after a three hour wait at the station with great relief my son Matthew and his girlfriend arrived. The next day we took the train and visited ‘Pompie’, the railways in Italy are excellent, the stations have flowers, fountains, polite helpful staff, regular clean trains, and low fares. We were amazed as on our previous visit to ‘Pompie’ to the sophisticated level of life the Romans had enjoyed 2000 years ago! Next the climb up to Mount Vesuvius, not much activity there, I am sure the exercise did us all good though and the view was magnificent across the Bay of Naples. This area of Italy seems to have many ruins of great historical interest, so from Agripoli we took the bus to see Paestum, the huge pillared ruined temples were very impressive. Terry had stayed on the boat to sort out the toilet, it seems I should not have been putting bleach down it to clean it but vinegar! After fitting a new pump it worked well again.
We were meeting our friends Sue and Mike Bailey at Sapri. They had come the whole way from England by train. The station was 2 miles from the harbour so we hoped they would take a taxi, but they didn’t. The trip had taken several days but they had enjoyed the experience although they were a bit travel weary. Matt and Jenny’s holiday was over so they caught the train for Naples airport to go home, and we continue our voyage south.
This part of the coast has longer legs to the next harbour, some of which are only half completed. Tropea was one such place, it seemed to be the local rubbish dump as well. The town was high above with many steps to climb to reach it, but it was worth the effort as it proved to be an interesting place. Later that night we climbed the steps to go to a musical concert in a church. After almost an hour had elapsed with the audience waiting in eager anticipation a soprano sang some opera with great gusto, at the interval we moved to the back of the church which made it more bearable.
At most harbours the boat people are very friendly and eager to impart information about good places to go for food, fuel, and many other useful snippets. Some of the lone yachtsmen just want a friendly chat!
We had almost reached the Straights of Messina. At the small fishing port of Scilla we saw these strange boats with extremely long bow-sprits. They had a seat where the belmsperson sat at the top of the mast. These are the sword-fishing boats. The swordfish bask in the sun on the surface of the water and so the person at the top of the mast can spot them more easily, steering the boat towards their quarry before they wake up and spear them. There were a lot of these boats but we did not see any which had caught a swordfish.
Down this stretch of the coast about 50 miles to the west lie the active volcanic islands of Lipari we had been able to see Isola Strombi glowing in the distant mist, and we had thought of paying a visit to it. However an overnight stay is not advised as the water is too deep to anchor, and the jetty is reserved for the ferry! The next island which has safe moorings is 40 miles south. The weather was still rather unpredictable so we played safe, maybe we can make it next time.
The wind was southerly 4/5 and of course we were going south through the narrow Straight of Messina. This is such a busy shipping channel with ferries dashing backwards and forwards to Sicily. After four hours tacking we made the busy harbour of Messina. We searched for the yacht harbour but after two hours on a very uncomfortable quay we left heading for Saline Jonich 18 miles on round the toe of Italy. We arrived after dark.. The harbour entrance is half silted up, the harbour itself was planned as a big commercial one but it has never been finished, a white elephant!
The next stop was the same story - Rocella Ionica, miles from the town, just a building site! The town is most attractive overlooked by a ruined castle. We found a really obliging restaurateur who includes driving the yachties the two miles back to the harbour as part of the service at no extra charge, after a delicious meal of swordfish steaks, followed by delicious Italian ice-cream! We found the Italian wine both palatable and cheap, the food was good and cheap as well.
The time had come for Mike and Sue to leave us, but we once again had a magic encounter with some friendly dolphins which Mike eagerly videoed with his cine camera. We had been so hoping to see some, this made the holiday extra special for them and us as now we have got a permanent reminder of the time the dolphins came to play! We once again we found a harbour with a railway station not too far away, but not a good one as the winter storms had broken the harbour walls.
Another projected new harbour not even started, so we moored in the fishing harbour of La Castella, an attractive small holiday place. Next Crotone, a lumpy rough passage so we only stopped for a few hours, making a night passage across Golfo di Taranto (the instep of the boot). An 80 mile trip to Sainte Maria Leucia, which they are actually building at this time into a really nice harbour, rather noisy while they are working. Here we thought we were seeing double as an identical Comanche cat like ours sailed in. Over drinks on ‘Two Bears’ we discovered that they were returning home after 15 years circumnavigating the world! Called ‘Buster’ skippered by Frankie and Fred Boyd from Dagenham, Essex, he had been made redundant so they bought the boat new fitted it out themselves sold their house and set of, leaving three teenagers behind! They will notice a few changes to old blighty when they get back. We stayed for several days as it was very windy, also an interesting place with a huge monument up hundreds of steps which overlooks the harbour, which Mussolini had built.
On 19th July we reached the little Island of Othoni in Greece. We had had a lovely sail averaging 6 knots for the 48 mile trip. The little bay Ormos Ammou was quite crowded, 6 Germans, 2 Italians, 1 Dutch, 1 Latvian, and 2 Brits. Not much on the island three tavernas, one sells a few provisions. The next small island really made us feel we had arrived in Greece. The ferry arrived packed with what turned out to be the bride and guests for a wedding They all went up to the church, afterwards we enjoyed the music and Greek dancing as the reception was held at the taverna on the beach. It was really nice to be so close, we felt almost part of the celebrations.
We were meeting more family at Corfu so after some stops in some beautiful bays we chose the yacht club on the south side of the huge old castle which shelters the harbour. It is very convenient for exploring the town, also only a two kilometre walk from the airport. We spent a week with our young guests, it was a first time on a yacht for the newly weds, first time abroad and also his first flight, so it was quite an adventure for them, we think they enjoyed themselves as they want to come again next year!
We were now into August so everywhere was crowded. Parga was a popular attractive seaside town with a beautiful long sandy beach, very small yacht harbour which had a drinking water tap which was a precious commodity. But it was always possible to find a remote anchorage on the mainland if you wanted to.
We had decided once we got to Greece to slow right down, which is what we did. We went through the Levkas bridge and the canal and enjoyed a few weeks in this sheltered interesting area. This is where we found many Brits, some had been here for many years so it must be good. Our last family visitors of the season joined us. Virginia and Robert they love diving and spent a happy week just doing that in the warm, clear, blue water, they explored some huge caves where the water is too deep to anchor, so we held off on the engine for an hour, it was very calm. As we were not paying for any mooring, we were able to eat out at the many tavernas in the bays where we had anchored, this was most enjoyable for the cook!
If you happen to be in Levkas during the last week of August, make sure that you go to the International Music and Dance festival which is performed in the floodlit ruins of Levkas castle. The enthusiasm, colour and energy of the participants, the colourful, some hand made costumes, make you appreciate each country's individualism, well worth a visit or two!
We had reserved a place for the winter for ‘Two Bears’ at Cleopatra Marina, Preveza, it was still being built, this was its second season, so we were keen to see it and make sure we had a place. We were very pleased with what we saw, she was lifted out on a travel hoist on the 16th September and all went well. Beside us was a British boat ‘Romalena’ - Alan and Bridget from Weymouth we first met at Amalfi in Italy! As it was the Greek general election on the Sunday of the weekend we had planned to go home we had problems. The travel agents with whom we had been negotiating a flight over some weeks had reassured us that a flight would be available, but as they were charter flights with spare seats, they could not be booked until one week before departure. The real situation was very different however, with no chance of a flight until mid October. After trying every possibility it was either bus, then ferry to Italy and the train, taking about three days. Or bus to Athens 6 hours, then a flight with Czech airlines, a six hour wait in the transit lounge at Prague, then a one & half hour flight to Heathrow, the latter was the way we came, it took 28 hours in total. After that experience we are planning to go in the van by road, we shall not rush but enjoy the journey, but that’s another story for next year.
Angela and Terry Moody
Over the years the auxiliary power of our boats has been a recurring theme. It’s high time for another airing as:
Traditionally our auxiliary power has come from outboards - from the antiquated, unreliable, heavy and thirsty early ones to the present day 4-strokes. The latter are a great step forward in that:
However the time is rapidly approaching when we need to re-appraise the form of drive radically, particularly those persons thinking of a hull-up refurbishment. The issues for a change are essentially based on:
There we of course areas of conflict between the five but to discuss them briefly:
A modem lightweight diesel scores well and there is a choice of manufacturers. But in relating propulsion to the water it still has some way to go. A recent Newsletter showed a good installation for accessibility, balance and so on, yet it also illustrates the propulsion problem. In terms of going sideways, a recently constructed cat was fitted with one bow thruster and another cat with a hinged, forward mounted athwartships electric outboard which has the merit of no underwater drag on the tunnel when sailing. My expertise, as ever, precludes me even contemplating a comparative analysis of these but I do hope someone may help in this respect.
The current (oh dear) demand for electrical power is staggering - it seems that anything technologically possible is marketed as an essential. Soon the techies among us will be picking up the GPS signals of others in the vicinity (radar from the sky), heating something (prepared earlier and kept in the onboard freezer) in the microwave, punching 23(%) into the mainsail reefing control, all while the autopilot steers its preplanned route (being connected to the instruments, GPS and chart plotter.) And the few who still anchor must have powered lowering as well as raising. Oh, and water purification too. And surely you don’t still pump out the toilet by hand?!
Modern navigational equipment tends to use far less power than predecessors but this is often offset by continuous use.
Some changes may be forced on us. Health considerations in respect of waste holding tanks, for example. This is not affecting us all yet, but there’s every chance that it will in the future. For some years the caravan and inland waterways hire boat holding-tank-aboard and land-based-pump-out system will doubtless suffice, but there must be a fair power need for ‘each use’ pumping and solids compaction? What a thought!
So, where does all this leave us? I suggest that solar panels and/or wind generators should continue to provide good battery backup while fitting in with the Iroquois concept. Outboard designs are likely to continue to diverge according to use (cruisers with high torque and electrical generation, sports with high bhp). The outboard’s attributes such as ease of maintenance, steering capability etc. will only be eclipsed when increased demands result in a heavier, thirstier, complicated unit which affects balance. Or a new more desirable and affordable drive unit is available for an inboard engine which does not spoil the still excellent Iroquois sailing ability.
Comments please.
Thank you once again for the interesting Newsletter. We found very interesting the various views on hobby horsing as we have always endeavoured to keep as much weight as possible to the stern of the mast. The huge forward lockers we have tried to keep light not wanting her to bury her nose and thus trip! We have never had a flotation chamber at the masthead, rather trusting to be ever vigilant in reducing sail area as the wind increases. This was particularly difficult on this summer's cruise in the Mediterranean, it was early in the season, May down the west coast of Corsica when we had our first experience of catabatic winds. See "Two Bears"Adventures 1997.
We were also very interested in the letter and diagrams for lowering the mast, it had been explained to us by Jeff Barnes the original owner of our Comanche but we have been reluctant to try to do it ourselves. We have now owned the boat for 8 years, and not seen Jeff Barnes since meeting him at Titchmarsh marina 7 years ago, when this chap rowed over to see us in Lakka Bay, Paxos, Greece. and asked us if we knew who he was, we recognised him after a hard think! He has a ten meter Catalac now! It is amazing meeting people in this way!
In our 8 years of owning our Comanche, we have only ever seen one other at Southampton but they were sailing fast in the other direction so we did not meet, however in Italy, at St. Maria Leuca, we could not believe our eyes when we saw another one, "BUSTER" built in 1980. It turns out to be Frankie and Fred Boyd who were just completing a 15 years circumnavigation of the world they arrived back at Burnham on Crouch at the end of September. We were both amazed at the tales they had to tell of their adventures - it makes our voyages look very small indeed! (Enclose a small cutting from their local paper}. We then met another Comanche in Tranquail Bay, Nidris, Greece. They have been living aboard "Comanchie Crystal" for some years. Also in the Bay was a German owned Iroquois, he owns a house overlooking the bay high up in the mountains. We saw about six Iroquois throughout the whole summer, they all seemed to be changing to small fixed keels, which is what we have on ‘TWO BEARS".
We hope that an East Coast branch to the Club will develop, we could get to the winter meetings!
Another little thought entered my head. Has anyone thought of maybe swapping boats for a season. We are now in the Mediterranean and would like to cruise in America. How about an American sailing in the Med in our boat and we sail in America in their boat? This would be in say a few years time! Of course this could apply to anywhere in the world if boat owners would be happy to lend their boats in this way. Australia, New Zealand, the far East , you name it!
I look forward with interest to any comments on this subject!
Wishing all our fellow club members throughout the world good health and happiness. Happy sailing 1997.
Thanking all the club stewards who give up their time so generously to keep the club going.
Yours sincerely
Angela & Terry Moody
COMANCHE "TWO BEARS" SAIL NO.34
50 Ashley Road
Newmarket
Suffolk
CB8 8DA
01638 663019
Thank you for sending me the December 1996 copy of the IOA Newsletter.
To my way of thinking the content is much more important than the presentation. I find each edition provides items of interest as well giving useful information for owners.
We have now owned Double C, a MkII Iroquois, for 8 seasons during which time we have sailed just over 7,000 miles. We normally continue to sail in light airs as long as the boat will make 2 knots, and sometimes even less, if the weather is nice and we are not in a hurry. We like to think we sail the boat conservatively and reef early. We would expect to put the first reef in at the top of Force 4 and the second one at the bottom of Force 6. Even so we have averaged 4.9 knots since we have had the boat. In 1996 we averaged 5.7 knots over 1275nm. Our previous boat, for 7 seasons, was an Aristocat, and we averaged only 3.8 knots in her. I have heard other owners talk of sailing faster than 10 knots consistently. Although we have frequently seen more than 15 knots on the log when surfing whilst sailing downwind in F5 plus, we have rarely topped 8 knots consistently in Double C. Even so, we are well pleased with the boat as she is and wish to keep her for a few more years yet.
Which brings me to the point of this letter.
Although not in my dotage by any means, I would like to make life easier in a number of directions and wonder if you or other IOA members can give me advice.
Firstly, the engine. This is the original, a Johnson 25 with an extra long leg supplied by Oakley Marine. Although it has been well maintained, at 12 years I expect it is probably a little tired. More importantly, the engine, though fine in normal conditions, does not have the power to motor well to windward in a F5 plus, especially, as is often the case where I sail, if I have to get back to my drying mooring in the Thames estuary with the flood tide and the wind is on the nose. In these conditions our normal practice has been to sail, but the beating can get rather tedious. If we motor tack, as we can, it is difficult in these conditions to make good much more than 3 knots, and this is just as trying! I would like to have the option to motor and make good a better speed. Thus I have been looking for a replacement engine.
The one which I first thought would be most suitable was the Johnson 35/3 cylinder. The alternative would be a 50, but I was concerned about the weight - roughly double that of the 25. Also, the 35 has the same brackets etc. as the 25, so would fit on my existing tray without alteration (I had this remade at vast expense last winter, so retention is a benefit). This engine is not supplied in an extra long leg version. However,it has a long leg version, so has the casing extension, and two extensions would make an extra long leg. The local Johnson dealer could also source a longer shaft for about £200, if OMC could not supply directly. Not only could OMC not do this, but they recommend against it, saying an extended shaft on the 35 would be prone to failure. Although the dealer was nevertheless willing to go ahead, this would have to be at my risk. So far, I have not accepted their offer.
The alternative would be to accept the long leg version. This is said to be suitable for transoms 20" above the water line, and the "transom’ on my engine tray is only 15" above. However, as the prop on the existing engine occasionally comes out of the water, I was sceptical.
Further research has suggested that a 4 stroke might be better as an auxiliary engine (develops more of its torque lower down the revs curve than a 2 stroke, I understand). This led me to a Honda 40 4 stroke. Although the brochure talks specifically about the extra long leg version "recommended for sailing catamarans", it appears that this is not available in the UK.
Even more research has failed to identify a suitable engine available in the UK with an extra long leg. So, at the moment, it’s back with the J 25 for a couple more seasons, then, probably, change boats - which I would rather not do. So, I am hoping that the IOA will have some ideas!
Whether or not I change the engine, I would like to get something to assist me with raising the engine. At the moment I do this using a line rove through a set of blocks which pivots the tray and raises the prop out of the water. Even with the advantage this system gives, it is still hard work. I could obviously rig a winch system, but wonder if the IOA knows of anything more specialised for this role?
I would also welcome some advice about the rigging. This is now 12 years old. The boat has sailed about 9,000 miles in that time. It has not been raced but has been out in strong winds at least once each season. Normally the mast stays up all year - it has been down over 3 winters in that time. I am wondering what the life of the rigging is and whether I should be thinking of replacing it soon.
Double C still has the masthead float which it had when I bought it. Because I prefer to keep the float, I have not been able to fit a wind speed direction instrument as I would have liked. In fact I wrote to you about this a few of years ago. Recently, I was in the office of Nasa Marine in Stevenage, which is close to where I live. Actually, I was there about a fault on the echo sounder, but I got talking to them about the wind instrument. They said that there would be minimal distortion if the anemometer was mounted a foot above the float. In fact they said that they had tested their instruments on the roof of a car and established that one foot was enough of a gap. So, I plan to fit a Nasa Marine wind speed and direction instrument to Double C this winter. I will fit this forward of the leading edge of the float and 30cm above it. This way I should get no distortion when the wind is forward of the beam and even if I get a little when it is aft, this is less critical. The masthead unit will be linked to two displays (Nasa said the unit would drive 20 displays!). These will enable me to see a display clearly even when helming from my favourite position (sitting on the sidedeck just forward of the tiller bar!).
One piece of experience I could pass on to other owners is my system for preventing an uncontrolled gybe. I admit to being a bit paranoid about this, but I think that if an accident can be easily prevented it should be. My solution is to permanently rig a line on each side of the boat between blocks attached to the kicking strap ring under the boom (single with becket) and to the shroud plate (double) and then led back to the cockpit for cleating off. This is a simple but effective system of boom prevention which has led to compliments from crew who have sailed with me.
I have seen the letter from Bob Hawkins about an East Coast meet. My base is at Benfleet Creek, Canvey Island, though for the last 3 seasons the boat has had an extended holiday in one of the marinas on the Blackwater or Crouch (which I hope to do again this year). I would certainly be interested in an East Coast meeting, and would attend if the dates fitted in.
Sorry this is such a long letter! I look forward to hearing from you on the questions earlier in this letter.
Yours etc.
Canice O'Regan,
Castlemere,
26 St Ives Close,
Digswell,
Welwyn,
Herts,
AL6 0BB
Dear Canice
Thank you for your letter it is so much what IOA is about, exchanging ideas. Your evaluation of comparative speeds I found particularly interesting. The Aristocrat is, of course, more of a cruising boat and is a good deal more comfortable but not the fun to sail. I have found the rudders start to hum at 7 knots and then she slips up over 10 knots but there is no way of holding a consistent speed between.
My boat when I first got her had a Mercury 40 which was fine if the prop was in the water, so I changed for a Chrysler 20 with a long shaft which would never start, so on to a Penta 252 and so to my present Mariner 15. All the time the inflatable's Evinrude twin 6 has been standby and finally convinced me large two stroke horse power simply sucked air down whilst a steady push was what was wanted.
The Mariner now 10 years old gave steady push and has never cavitated but is inclined about 10 degrees from vertical to drive down. Recently I have been using a 9.9 Yamaha 4 stroke which moves auxiliary power forward a whole decade and has recently been refined and updated in the grey coloured model. There are of course several others but my decision was based on a constant 6 knots at using very little fuel, requiring low quantities for long range which counters the extra weight (46kg). The gear ratio of about 3:1 is particularly apt for the torque power of the engine and 10 amp charging when motor sailing is magic. Finally the engine is so quiet, easily maintained with incredible astern power.
The problems are, it becomes a bit slow against wind and tide in a narrow channel, and I personallv believe it needs to be capable of steering. The 15 models are still the same capacity and the kind of extra power is not the sort you need, so I think the next one up is a 25 and another heavy old lump with the necessary extra fuel load. The whole outboard design is now under review with modern improvements on timing and fuel injection which will no doubt reflect a difference between the sports and auxiliary engine requirements, one using ? power and the other torque.
Your other point on standing rigging is no much to do with the strain it's been subjected to, set up, and standard when re-rigged. Only careful inspection can tell you anything and riggers of course make their money from renewal so an independent opinion is difficult to find.
Finally no doubt someone else will reply on wind transducer and float as I have no experience of this. The anti jibe preventer sounds a good idea and I see from the yachting press there is a new devise called a Scotts Boomlock now on the market so there is a clear need.
Thanks again for the letter, it’s nice to be reminded of Benfleet Creek and the cockle bawlers.
Yours sincerely
Ken
Dear Ken,
Ava from Multihulls forwarded your letter, plus a request for the article on the windmill boat, for which I should receive a couple of hundred dollars. Thanks for your commendation.
We are now living in Brisbane (probably one of the nicest climates available, 10 months of the year) where I am designing and prototyping carbon fittings (winch handles, tracks, blocks, etc.). These are half the weight of conventional fittings and clear finished and glossy, they look very impressive. I am also building carbon masts, booms, rudders etc., although once the moulding techniques are sorted out, this becomes a bit boring. Prior to this, I was the Australasian distributor for System Three epoxy, which was fun.
I am still involved with extreme boats. In April 1 will be launching a 7m long, 5m wide Pacific proa which, ready to sail will weigh 150 kgs. With 27 sq m of Easy Rig (our version of the Aero Rig), it should get along. The plan is to do all the races here and in New Zealand to find out everything there is to know about proas and unstayed rigs. I built a 5m ply version to test everything and I think I have solved all the conventional proa problems. I will send you some photos via my father in law when it is sailing, plus I will be doing an article for Ava at some stage. The 7m is a prototype for a 12m, even more extreme version which I plan to sail to England for OSTAR 2000, if they will let me enter.
Say hello to your wife and Geoff. See you in Plymouth in 3 years time!
Regards
Rob Denney
Carbon Design
8 Carrington Street,
Paddington,
4064,
Queensland,
Australia
PS I can't remember the number of my Iroquois but it was the last one Sailcraft built. Named Jan. Last I heard it was in Mallorca. I would be interested in it's whereabouts if you should know.
Dear Rob
Your letter came like a breath of fresh air - great to hear your news. A light-weight highly buoyant well stressed ping pong ball proa with Aerorig is really innovative. As you say, there will be some nail biting over the Ostar 2000 entry. Strangely our evaluation on the test with ‘Thanks To’ resulted in aproa configuration. I’ll dig it out sometime.
Jan is owned by Fred and Tim Ball (pages 1 to 5) and is now a traditional Mark 2, she was brought up to speed by Mark Tyou in Helston and became Janith. The present owner is continuing the process. Iroquois are coming to the age of needing a major refit and there are some interesting ideas coming forward. Philip Corridan has recently taken his round the world but found when he got back his mast was wobbly!
Unfortunately Geoff is doing battle royal with a cancerous growth but typical of him he’s giving it all hell and there are at last encouraging signs that a deserving win is looming.
Give our regards to the lady behind "Thanks Too".
Yours sincerely
Ken
Dear Ken,
Ref: Doodlesack 2, Iroquois Sail No 121
Many thanks for your earlier letter and enclosures about the Iroquois and its qualities! I was particularly impressed with the guide about sailing one and the instructions to serve tea on a tray and with saucers!
As I sit here this evening with a howling Force 9 around the house, wondering about the mooring at the bottom of our garden on which our 21 ft monohull currently resides, the last thing in my mind is to be out on the water. In reality however I simply cannot wait to get Doodlesack down here and sail in her. We do have to try and sell "Tarragon" however, and have her in PBO this month.
We have been sailing the Snapdragon 21 for some five years now, and are lucky in having our own mooring on the eastern side of Hayling Island in Mill Rythe. We have tended to sail mostly in Chichester harbour, partly due to time and tides and our busy lives, and partly due to Fiona, my wife, not finding the motion on a small monohull very conducive to relaxed enjoyment at sea! We tried a cat some years ago as a more stable base, and have been sailing as many classes as possible this past year. We have sailed Heavenly Twins, Catalac 8m, Prout Sirocco, and most enjoyable of all a day out with Steve and Lorna Bleach in Pen-y-Mor Dau their Iroquois Mark II. Fiona enjoyed it in a moderate chop and with a Force 3/4 for over 5 hours without any anti-seasick aids. Hence the decision to seek an Iroquois.
How lucky we have been to be told by Patrick Boyd about Ken Boswell's wish to sell Doodlesack and then to see her, sail her and purchase her. She is still in Suffolk at the moment and we plan to sail her home in late April / early May. Ken is coming with us and I have a moderately experienced friend who will crew with me. I am taking partial retirement this Easter, and so hope to have much more time to sail and relax!
We are delighted to join the Iroquois Owner’s Association and enclose the form and cheque for £10. We have been attempting to change the name of the boat but wanted to call her "Dreamcatcher "after the Indian legend. Unfortunately, since she is a registered craft, we have been informed that this name is not available and so are currently researching books on Indians and cats! Any helpful suggestions about books etc. welcomed.
We are particularly keen to learn from others about sailing cats and so would like to have details of any rallies or events you are planning this year in our area.
Hoping to see you and sail with you sometime.
Yours etc.
Alan & Fiona
Dear Fiona and Alan
Thank you for your form and cheque and we are delighted to welcome such enthusiasm.
If things ahead look choppy in the Looe Channel make a break at Brighton and we should be delighted to meet you.
Having changed our name from "Idaho" to "Thelken" I am not sure you should be asking me. More recently I have favoured a simple identity in case of emergency. The spectre of a Coast guard asking "how do you spell Doodlesack Sir" when you are desperate for a lifeboat is mind boggling.
Yours etc.
Ken
Thank you for responding to our request for membership. Enclosed you will find membership fee and application.
As I may have previously written, we purchased an Iroquois MkII as a bank repossession. The interior was in total disarray - evidently the previous owner was in the process of remodeling. We’ve done some improvements and plan others. We will be deleting a major portion of the cabin roof to add a large pilot house, thus allowing sufficient headroom in the cabin. We would be interested to hear if others have added a pilot house.
Also, has anyone come up with a better system for the centreboards, such as moving the pivot point above the waterline?
And one more thing, we’ve noted on every other Iroquois we’ve seen that there has been corrosion at the front cross tube where the headstays attach. Is this a common occurrence and has anyone written about how to remedy this?
Looking forward to hearing from the Association.
Yours etc.
Sonia & Gary Odell,
12118,
Suave Ln,
Hudson,
Fl 34669,
USA
Dear Sonia and Gary
I am delighted to welcome you to Iroquois Owners Association. There are lots of boats degenerating into rebuilds that just do not get done, it’s such a shame as they deteriorate faster in that condition than if they are hard used but well maintained. ‘Alcedo’ has sat in this condition for well nigh 20 years.
In answer to your questions. The front cross beam does deteriorate and I enclose an old Newsletter in which Chris Hammond suggests a renewal method. My personal experience is that many years ago I drilled two small drain holes in the underside of the tube. There was a lot of meat left of the metal but the chalky leachate appears to have stopped. The ends of the section are particularly well located and transfer considerable forces from hull to hull and forestay to hull and would recommend oversleaving rather than digging out, but this of course would be subject to inspection.
I have never seen a pilot house on an Iroquois and the windage and weight will of course upset the sailing capability not to mention her sleek lines.
As with every boat the leeboard facility causes problems. I think there is a concensus that ours are un-necessarily large. Misuse of them (e.g. careless grounding or both fully down in heavy seas) can cause strains the hull cannot resist. No one that I am aware of has tried to move the pin location and I imagine for two reasons:
I will ask our Newsletter Editor to send you a copy of the last edition direct.
Yours sincerely
Ken
Dear Ken
Iroquois 104
I would like to confirm that I am willing to assist in producing the Iroquois manual. As far as the magazine is concerned I prefer the A4 layout, it’s a lot easier to see!
I would like some help in tracing spares for the windows, I need to replace the seals on the saloon foredeck ones as a minimum. I also need to replace the glass in the mini portholes (approx 1½" diameter) in the stern of the port and starboard stern berths. I have been unsuccessful in releasing the locating rings in situ and probably need to remove the whole fitting.
I would be glad of any assistance you can give me and would be happy to write up any resultant story.
Yours sincerely,
Elkin Shepley
38 New Road,
Shoreham-bv-Sea,
West Sussex,
BN43 6RA
Dear Elkin
Thank you for your letter and offer of help for the manual. I am hoping to see Philip Corridan at an East Coast meet in the immediate future and will discuss the general framework index and get back to you on this.
Saloon foredeck windows are a running sore on two counts:
The portholes are by Simpson Lawrence, so spares are available from most chandlers. Since the bedding compound is the same as previously it is probably as well to take the porthole out at the same time.
I will give you a ring after our meeting.
Yours sincerely,
Ken
Dear Ken,
First, I’d like to report that our address has changed to:
John & Diane Cummings
15 Reynolds Ave.
Branford, CT 06405
USA.
Second, I’ve noticed that you have a distinct aversion to email and I assume the Internet. The reasons that you’ve given for disliking email are all too common and unfortunately true. However, I think that the Iroquois club needs to look at email and the Internet in a different light.
Here are some facts about the state of our organization. The boats are no longer being built and therefore our base is shrinking over time as boats will inevitably perish. At best we can hope for steady membership. Our group at the same time is truly international and therefore communication is more difficult and expensive. If the group becomes less active and communicative as time goes on, the inevitable "death spiral" will follow. So what’s email and the Internet have to do with this, you ask?
I think that the club should promote direct communication between members through email. It's quick, cheap (assuming you have a service), and promotes members sharing information with one another. The implication here is that the club, read you or someone associated with the club's government, needs to participate in this. Email addresses need to be collected and distributed. The second part is to have the club build a website to supplement and possibly replace the newsletter in the long run. This is not something I advocate happening immediately, but it would provide a common clearing house for Iroquois information at a relatively modest amount. How could you do this? Most service providers offer help to develop a website for small groups or a local high school or college can provide talent that wish to learn on the job.
I guess that my main point is that the club needs to prepare for the day when a "club" as such no longer exists but is just a group of owners scattered around the world and share a love for a particular boat.
Sincerely,
John Cummings
john..cummings@aetna.com
Duetto, #192
Dear John
I couldn’t agree with your letter more but at 74 and a very full life I am not about to take on this new technique, desirable as I am sure it is. From my limited experience it seems monitoring various web sites can be time consuming and unrewarding. Perhaps you would recommend those with the equipment, positions to down load. However, it serves to make the real point that Iroquois Owners deserve a better Chairman.
The point you make is perfectly valid that people who have chosen a marque of boat and therefore share similar interests but do not have the support of a designer or constructor need a strong Association. To illustrate this point I would cite my experience over the winter. In a long running often misguided crusade I have tried to revise the steering system of "Thelken". The latest phase of which was to replace the long tiller arms with wire steering operated by a whipstaff in the gas locker immediately astern of the cabin upstand. The designer correctly provided an Ackerman effect for the rudders which would be complicated to replicate in a one off wire system. From my initial testing the loss of Ackerman affect seems unimportant which is no great breakthrough but may be interesting to another owner who is dealing with some other revision that may be related.
Constant updating of equipment is for most owners an abiding interest and for those who wish to keep the breed pure an association that can locate and exchange information is a great asset. This brings me back to the original project - uprate your Chairman as soon as possible. The Association is in good heart otherwise.
Good sailing for the season.
Yours sincerely
Ken
Those who keep up with the UK yachting press will know of the recent death of Ken and Thelma’s son Geoff Pack, the respected editor of Yachting Monthly. Just before publication of this newsletter Ken added the notice below. This along with my own note on page 1 means that it is now time for the younger generation to take over the running of the IOA.
For some years now, mainly for the sake of IOA members, I have proposed a new Chairman largely because I am aware of a greater potential for the Association. It has been an abiding interest for which I am grateful to you all. It is not too demanding and has a sound organisation, finances and membership. Owing to circumstances and after 7 years I propose to finally retire in September.
Over recent years I have contacted several members to take over but have been kept dangling and have carried on. I am afraid this time if you want the Association to continue beyond September please contact me with a firm intention, which we will of course support, otherwise everyone will leave it to everyone else.