Editors Ramblings
Dairy dates
The Purrfection Story
Fore beam and Outboard tiller Pics
Cowes Meet
Mr Mistoffelees sails away
Trolley and Hatch Pics
Uprating the Iroquois Navigation and Electrical System
Letters
For Sale
Chairman - Position vacant
Treasurer - Thelma Pack
Newsletter Editor & Secretary - Tim Ball
Its a bumper edition with some great stories, and lots of pictures including those that should have been in the last issue and with very little input from me, keep them coming!!.
I am now a proud but busy father of two, Isabelle was born on 2nd June, and mother and baby are doing fine. I find reading articles from Yachting journals helps her to sleep but I hope its not a sign of things to come!!
You should have received the MOCRA year book with this edition, I’m sorry its rather late but I received them a couple of weeks after the Spring newsletter went out. It contains some good articles and lots of useful contacts. If you are MOCRA member and have had a copy already can I suggest you leave your spare in your local Sailing Club.
That’s it from me I hope your season has started well.
Tim
Alan Bartlett has offered to host the Chichester meet at the end of his garden, as you will read later he lives with a rather enviable view (well sometimes) of his boat and the habour. We are hoping the weather will be kind to us to allow a b-b-q on the Saturday evening and a Treasure hunt/Fun race around the harbour on the Sunday morning. The High Water times are round midday so should suit most people.
Would those that are interested in attending the Chichester meet please give Alan a call on the number below.
22nd and 23rd August South coast - Chichester contact - Alan Bartlett 01705-463441
26th and 27th September East Coast - Royal Harwich Yacht Club contact - Bob Hawkins 01480-890376
Chris Nutt tells the story behind his Aeroriged MKII Purrfection.
What kindles our interest in boats? I spent a lot of my summer childhood in Portrush on the North Antrim Coast and loved to go to sleep with the noise of the waves. To stand and look out to the horizon and wonder what was out there always interested me. The real turning point was to read Thor Heyerdaal's book "The Kon Tiki Expedition" To set out on a raft into the ocean seemed a dream I wanted to follow although I have never had the courage to get up and go.
I sailed a Mirror dingy as a teenager and when I got married bought a speed boat to water ski with but did no sailing and was indeed never on a cruising boat.
My sister and brother in law decided to buy a Caprice and do some sailing in Lough Swilly and invited me to go on a sailing weekend with the Ulster Cruising School. Despite being sick within an hour of starting the freedom and casting off had me hooked from the start. I had previously done my shore based theory of my Off shore ticket although I had nowhere to practice it. I imagined myself living by star sights and running fixes and finding myself on Pacific islands. I had read Sir Francis Chichester's autobiography and to this day believe this man was one of the worlds great heroes.
On Sunday 19th May 1985 I left my wife in hospital as she was about to have a baby. I was told to go away for a couple hours and rather than go home headed down to Lough Swilly where my brother in law was going to keep his boat. I drove down to the Yacht Club and there on the notice board was advertised for sale a Wharram Phai 31. Now some people might call me impulsive or maybe it was love at first sight but I knew I would buy that boat.
My beautiful daughter was duly born the next day and I set about thinking how a man with even more responsibilities could suddenly afford a boat. It took a summer of negotiation and the following year I had my Wharram on the water. I believe that by good fortune I purchased a boat designed by a man who has designed some of the greatest cruising catamarans in history. Some day I'll own a 63foot Wharram.
My first journeys never took me away from the Ulster coast but no matter what conditions I encountered I knew this forgiving boat would see me through. It was really a small ship rather than a yacht The accommodation was perfect for two men but not a family boat. Through all this I had been supported by my best friend George Eakin. George is somewhat senior in years to me and had at least built and sailed a Mirror 14. The Wharram had been built to professional standards by a great chap, Roger Boston. One hull had been built in the Wicklow Mountains of Southern Ireland and the other on a pig farm on Donegal but everything had been done to the highest standards.
We had a couple of great seasons on this boat but I foolishly went to the Southampton boat show with friend who had recently acquired a Westerly. There I came across the Canadian built Nonsusch yachts with their unstayed cat rig. This seemed tremendously sensible and influenced me greatly as time went on. Looking round the show I discovered some boats had plumbed in loos, running water and real luxury. This was the start of my downfall and lead to some of my great mistakes in life.
On my return I decided to buy a luxury cruising yacht. I soon did a deal for a Nicholson 35 having looked at new Jeanneaus and Benneteaus. Unfortunately on the morning of the survey of the Nicholson the broker phoned to say that the owner had changed his mind. I agreed to accept back my deposit and look for something else. I finished up buying a Class One racing Jeanneau Selection 37. This was a magic boat if you had nine guerrillas for crew and a bottomless bank balance. I joined the racing scene and the most expensive learning curve of my boating life. We had a great season but never saw my young family and our peak was to do the Round Ireland Race.
On my return from the race we took the boat for a family holiday to the West of Scotland. It would take another article to chronicle the disasters that befell that trip. When we came home I had a gentleman’s cruise with some friends. It was now I realised that I hated racing, loved cruising and loved family sailing.
With this in mind my wife and I set off to Southampton to look for a boat. We did a deal for a Nonsuch with the unstayed rig on condition we could sell our own boat first. It was dispatched to Southampton and by the time we had a customer the demo boat we had been buying had been sold. I then bought a Beneteau 285 for family sailing. Unfortunately after one season I realised that a failing business meant I could no longer afford this and it too was sold. This is end of the downside of this story.
Thankfully my good friend George had taken over my Wharram and although it hadn't been sailed it was lying in a shed at home. With no money and too much time we did up the Wharram and got it re-launched. We had a marvelous season sailing near home and the next year took the boat up the West of Scotland and through the Caledonian Canal in the company of another family. Our return journey was in very poor conditions and I spent 10 hours on one leg by myself exposed on the helm while the children were below in one hull and the long suffering Lyn in the other. This highlighted that the Wharram was not a family cruising boat in Scottish climes. It was wonderfully seaworthy but did not suit our family of six plus George.
On our return home we decided to look around for something more suitable. The first decision was we wanted another "cat" but more family orientated. I talked to Patrick Boyd and he told me of a" new" Iroquois. This boat had been bought as a shell and partly fitted out. There had never been rigging rudders, dagger boards or other fittings. I was also talking to Brian North of Multihull World and I placed the Wharram on brokerage with him. Within a few weeks the boat was sold. I could have sold it twice but the first to get there with the money bought it and sailed it home to Bristol.
This allowed me to complete the deal with Harry Faulkner for his "new" mark 2 Iroquois. The first problem was to get it back to Northern Ireland. I talked to a few boat haulage people who all thought I must have won the lottery by the charges they had in mind. I was talking to a local haulier on other business and mentioned my problem. Within a week I had my boat home for less than a third quoted by local hauliers. It arrived wrapped in a tarpaulin. It was so dirty outside the driver had covered it so to make the load more respectable looking. I unloaded it in my own shed using two forklifts and then sat in it for about two days, thinking.
I am fortunate in having large sheds with good workshop facilities where we run a small civil engineering business.
My original idea had been to finish the boat off as cheaply as possible. I had a new mast tube from my Beneatue and a friend offered me a Selden Boom. We were on a tight budget.
The first thing we did was make a road trailer. I already had one I had built for the Wharram and by narrowing this had a good trailer. It has no suspension or brakes but we are less than twenty miles from where we launch and move the boat with a four wheel drive tractor. We can launch and recover on a slip and put the mast up with a " Cherry picker" I have for other work.
As I examined the boat more and more and fell in love with it I gradually came to the conclusion that to finish the boat on a shoestring was not what it deserved. The joinery work that had been carried out on the boat was superb in every respect and I knew I could build a superb cruising boat. As you will read on I am sure the purist Iroquois owner will cringe at some of the things we have added. It must be remembered it was now my remit to build a family cruising boat that could be handled by myself.
I read a report of the Carbospar's Aerorig and knew this was what I wanted. Really the answer to a subconscious dream. The combination of the Nonsuch rig but on a catamaran.
I booked George and myself to the Southampton Boat Show. When there we attended a meeting of the IOA. We meet Ken and Thelma Pack and David Smith. I began to realise that an Iroquois owner was not one who had a boat kept in its original design forever but a group of developers and thinkers who could progress from where Reg White signed off. Ken and David have both been very helpful and encouraging.
At the show I talked to Damon Roberts of Carbospars and I soon had ordered a rig much more expensive than my hull had been. At first I was worried about Carbospars. Then they were less well known than now and the Aerorig was still pretty radical. I worried they were not doing enough design calcs and were just selling me a rig. Once they had my order I was soon proved wrong. To say I cannot speak highly enough of Carbospars would be an understatement. They did everything they said and more and listened to me patiently for hours with many queries.
The first problem was to modify the hull to take the rig. Drawings and photographs were exchanged. It had already been decided to keep the mast in the same position. We took the existing frame for the mast support and cut it and strengthened it to allow a plate to be fitted at floor level. This was not a difficult operation. Carbospars supplied a bronze plate into which the base of the mast would fit. We bolted this plate in so it could be later adjusted if necessary. This was not needed. We had to cut a hole in the roof and glass in a tube to hold the deck bearing. We measured many times and talked about it long and hard. No one else would accept the responsibility and I had to cut it myself. Carbospars had told us how to laminate it in. I employed a local man who specialises in "Glass" and "plastic" work. He quickly became a friend and joined the team working with us at obscure hours. The tube had to be laminated in to give a 6 degree rake. My calculus had a hasty revision course and once we had figured how to hold it in place while the work was done it was quickly achieved.
We took the opportunity to strengthen the roof. It was not designed to carry the loads the rig would impose on it. I decided to retain the "horns" where the original stays would have been attached. These are part of the ring going down to the mast support. We strengthened out to these on both sides with advice from Carbospars and also strengthened the roof forward down to deck level. We now have an effective ring beam to take the side loads. Obviously these loads are very high with this rig on a cat as the boat should not heel. This was the fitting complete for the mast.
The next thing I decided to change was the windows. The boat came with perspex windows which were very dark. We fitted framed smoked glass windows which although may be heavy look very smart and give us extra ventilation. I have two small hatches looking into the cockpit from the stern cabins which open and two fixed "portholes" looking rearwards either side of the cockpit raised seats. This gives good extra light in the master's cabin and into the galley. We did not divide off the aft starboard cabin from the galley and have fitted a gas fridge in the first locker. All visitors can now have ice in their drinks. I also have a sliding window at the chart table. The forward windows are fixed. For forward ventilation we have a small screw hatches in the forward bulkheads and at anchorage open the forward hatches.
We fabricated stainless steel rudder stocks and fitted them with two original blades I bought. We had these joined with an ackerman linkage of our design using Morris Minor track rod ends and had two tillers. This was not to be a success. I found that the position I stood in to hold the tillers meant I had one foot in the channel around the cockpit and this was not comfortable. The tillers were fine in that the boat tacked well and was light to steer as long as the rudders were fully down.
I fitted a 9.9hp Yamaha fourstroke engine on an aluminium swing down bracket. Initially we made this box too long and did not have a good system to raise and lower it. I fabricated my own pushpit and fitted lifelines which sloped to zero along the cockpit sides to let the tillers swing. We made our own bow rollers. Fitting the rubbing strake was not something we relished. The boat had come with some material for this but I started again and put a new heavy teak rail. I brought in a joiner who was as fussy as myself.
We made our own lee boards using 10 x 5 sheets of marine ply which we sheathed. We fitted a captive bolt in the hole and a stainless U-bolt to swing on. Thank you Ken for that idea. We find we rarely have any need for these boards. Ken thought that using our rig this may have been the case.
I brought in a professional firm to fit the headlining and make cushions. This was to be a cruising boat and was fitted to the highest standards.
We towed the boat with a tractor the 15 miles to the marina. The "Cherry picker" lorry was used to help put up the mast. This was a simple operation and once again Carbospars were proved correct. Apart from an engine which would not start we were soon tied to our berth. Everything felt just right and we tried the boat in the river. It gybed and tacked and it was decided a shake down cruise was in order. It should be noted this cruise was taking place three days after the launch ceremony with a large "to do list" still being written. The mast is supported within its tube by a bearing. Carbospars sent two plastic blocks which were to be screwed in to stop the bearing falling down. The bearing was very tight to get in and I could not imagine it coming out. I resolved to fit it some time during the cruise since it was recommended.
To be continued…
Leo has sent some very good pictures of his full fore beam replacement and a very nice outboard tiller arm. Leo used a tube section of similar proportions to the original but just slightly larger. Looking at the very good quality pictures I could only just make out the gel coat repair. He mentioned as you can probably imagine it was rather a messy and uncomfortable task cutting the old beam out in the forward lockers.
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Please find attached 3 photo's of my RVS-whatchacallit. This RVS thing is permanently connected to my OB. As you can see a wooden tiller is gliding through the RVS thing. The wooden tiller is held up in the middle of the "two-tiller linking bar" and is held by the helms(wo)man in one hand.
If not in use and before tilting the OB, simply pull the wooden tiller out, and turn it around see picture 2.
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It is KISS, no more coupling or uncoupling of wires, no more slack control and I can counter-steer with the OB, for example, in reverse to port with the OB, still going forward with the two-tillers linking bar to starboard. This is frequently used in crowded locks for slowing down and at the same time correction of direction.
A bad back for one and the prospect of a rather rough and wet beat home for another reduced the planned number from 5 boats to the 3 that now met at the Folly Inn over the weekend.
We enjoyed a fresh short beat from Southampton to Cowes onboard Jan and arrived around 13.00, by the time we finished lunch we were joined by Jim and Joyce Munro on Speed Bird of Wight their extended Commanche, and later in the afternoon by Ashley and Jill Strain with family spanning 3 generations on board Cherokee their recently acquired MKII.
We managed to grab a couple of tables next to each other (always a difficult thing in the Folly at the weekend) and as you might expect spent several hours discussing boat things. With a night-cap onboard Cherokee a good day was drawn to a close.
Before going our separate ways I had a good look round Speed Bird of Wight and was very impressed by the layout, Jim designed and completed her him self with the help of a professional boat builder, and in Jim’s words he was the builders lackey. She certainly had me thinking of Greek islands and sandy beaches. She has her diesel engines mounted amidships in each hull and her galley across ways on the bridge deck, this combined with the pilot type coach roof made a very sensible layout.
Don’t forget the Chichester meet in August see elsewhere for details.
Tim
Alan Bartlett tells a tale that will send a shiver down many an owners spine.
We are the proud owners of a Mark 2A Iroquois catamaran which we bought in November 1996 from Ken Boswell. He had owned her, called “Doodlesack 2 “ for about 20 years having bought her in Gibraltar from a toy manufacturer who made a lot of money selling toy bagpipes called Doodlesacks. We felt we wanted to change her name but as a Registered Vessel this meant finding a name which had not already been issued. We tried “Dreamcatcher” from the Indian legend but no go, so we read a lot of books about Indians and N America. Still no inspiration and eventually we settled on a choice of three which were to do with cats and the sea but unfortunately not Iroquois Indians !! Hence our new name “Mr Mistoffelees” the magical cat of T S Eliot fame (and of course the musical) but they say you shouldn’t change the name of a boat so is this the root of the problem that then beset us ????? read on…….
We live on the east side of Hayling Island with a branch of Chichester harbour, called Mill Rythe, at the bottom of the garden. I could not believe my luck when we found this house in 1990, with its own launching slip and bit of beach and owning, yes owning, the mud to the middle of the creek. We therefore can put down a mooring and pay a licence fee for it. When we came in 1990 this was £15 for three years! Inflation has now gone quite mad and we have to pay £11 per year, and then of course on top of that we are charged harbour dues ! Do I hear cries of sympathy, or were they envy ?
The boat is visible on its mooring at all times and so I constantly look out at her to check and enjoy seeing her there. She has a Westerly Konsort as company and in the summer a small dayboat, these belonging to our neighbours who also of course own their bits of mud. So on Saturday January 3rd 1998 I was as usual looking out, particularly that day since it was blowing Force 8 gusting 9 due West and therefore straight down the creek. Ironically I had felt that the trip to the local boatyard on the previous day, as planned, was too risky in a force 6/7 since I was shorthanded. At 2.15pm I had just made a cup of tea and was delivering it to Fiona (my wife and erstwhile sailing partner) who was working upstairs doing some sewing, and in the best vantage point to see the boat. I was watching both boats shearing about on their moorings in the gale and commented to Fiona that Mr Mistoffelees was moving very violently ……….only to realise with horror that she was actually free from the mooring and sailing off down the creek.
Panic set in. Two demented figures dashing down the garden pulling on sailing clothes and launching the rowing boat. No time to get an outboard and so jumped in and tried to row after the cat. First mistake ! Stupid plastic rowlocks I have been meaning to change for five years were impossible when rowing against a force 6/7 wind or even across it. The pair of us were swept down the creek following the catamaran. I don’t know if other owners have experienced this but Mistoffelees sits at 90 degrees to the wind in this situation, she did so once before when I was trying to anchor ( but that’s another story !.) So she quite gently and slowly drifted with the wind and quite substantial waves ( for our creek that is, since it’s only a 300 yard fetch ), down to the end where fortunately the creek turns through 90 degrees and so she landed on a mud/shingle gently shelving beach. We arrived in the dinghy literally minutes later. We were joined by a few interested neighbours who had seen the event, and together we secured her to the shore. The tide was about 30 minutes before high tide. Second mistake, we should have tried to get a kedge anchor out or maybe a rope onto one of the closer moorings in order to stop her going further up the beach with the combined effect of tide, the waves and the wind. This however would have been a tall order and we would have needed a boat with a powerful motor which we did not have immediately to hand !
So there we are on the beach, the tide soon had turned and was dropping but with no immediate danger and looking like no damage done. Thoughts turn to the mooring. Most of it was still attached to the boat ! Earlier in the year we had our local trawlerman check it out. It was a concrete lump in the mud with a ring, short heavy chain and a swivel which he had replaced, then riser of about 10ft of chain to a second swivel and I had put a bridle of 5/16ths chain off that. The boat rode well on this bridle with two buoys, always useful when picking up the mooring if you miss the first one, and each with a loop of chain at the top which slips over the fixed mooring cleats at the front of each hull. We’ve got two convenient fairleads on the inboard side of each bow through which the chain, sheathed in polythene tubing, neatly slots. The gale had caused a fracture right at the very base of the whole system. The major problem however was that we were on a series of reducing tides, and on Sunday January 4th there was a severe storm warning for the afternoon with high tide at 1500hrs. What should we do ??
Mr Mistofelees sailing as intended
We telephoned Marinecall to check the forecast, and changed out of wet clothing. Then phoned Robin, the trawlerman and discussed the problem. We agreed that we had to try and get her off as soon as possible and that the 0300hr tide on Sunday morning was the best option. Within a few minutes of deciding this his wife phoned back to say he was going to come round in his boat and have a go immediately. He arrived in his 27ft boat but was too late for the falling tide and couldn’t get close enough to get a tow rope aboard. Mistoffelees was by this time firmly fixed on the shore. We agreed to try again at 0230hrs !!
Late night TV on a Saturday is never riveting enough and yet I was far too anxious to sleep in the late evening. The weather was improving and by 2200hrs we had a clear sky, good moon and no wind at all ! Unfortunately by 0100hrs we had total cloud cover and a force 4/5 from the West again ! I was on board by 0200hrs and Robin, the trawlerman, arrived at about 0215hrs and stood off in his boat in the creek. The starboard hull was getting near to being covered by water but the port hull was nowhere near this and yet high tide was due at 0250hrs. We waited and shouted against the wind to each other. Third mistake, why didn’t we use the VHF ? By 0230hrs the trawler could get close enough to throw a line on board. I was surprised by the relatively light weight line that Robin used, but I duly made it fast to the starboard bow cleat, and had of course earlier released the lines to the shore. As the starboard hull began to lift on the tide Robin put tension into the tow rope. If this ever happens to you, you need to watch the angle of the towrope since there was a danger that one of the vertical stanchions on the inboard edge of the pulpit could take too much of the strain. I had nasty visions of the front of the starboard hull ripping off since the port hull was still seemingly quite firmly wedged on the beach and the port rudder and skeg ( remember a Mark 11A has twin skeg protected rudders underneath roughly in line with the rear of the cockpit ) were well established in the soft yellow clay which forms Hayling Island. It is excellent for making bricks and also for holding bits of boat very firmly !
The trawler applied more torque and tension and then very slowly at first literally an inch at a time as the wave action lifted the other hull, the boat was pulled around with the port hull scraping across the shingle/mud. We swung around to starboard and were free. I was at the bow and at first in my excitement stayed there ensuring that the tow rope didn’t foul on the pulpit and stayed in the bow roller. The boat tows well with just one rope over the starboard hull, but as we turned across the wind inevitably the windage caused us to shear over to port and accelerate. This was easily countered by my leaving the foredeck, and going back to the cockpit to steer her back behind the trawler and then keep station to port and behind him.
There are no lit buoys in the creek and I was glad of Robin’s night eyes and his knowledge of where the posts marking the channel lie. We made the trip round to Pepe’s boatyard in about 20 minutes in a rising Force 6 wind and I was pleased as we turned head into it to have the reassuring throb of his powerful diesel engine and to feel the constant pull forward. Once in the lee of the yard I started our 9.9 Yamaha and Robin pulled us in to the back of the trawler, put his mate aboard and he helped me to guide Mistoffelees into the yards pontoon and moor up. We didn’t have much room to manoeuvre and so when a bit short but with the wind threatening to blow us off I jumped for it. Could easily have been mistake number four when the next day I saw and felt how slippery the pontoon was ! Fortunately I stayed upright and we secured the boat. We were all back in our kitchen by 0400hrs drinking coffee laced with celebrating liquids !
The next day was the most horrendous we have experienced here. Force 11 storm which not only pushed a moderate neap tide well above EHWSprings but simply blew the tops off the biggest waves we have seen here. The wall of concrete and stone above where Mistoffelees had been 12 hours earlier was totally immersed with waves cascading over it. She would have been pounded against it and probably holed. When several days later she was craned out the only apparent damage is the loss of antifouling from virtually all the centre section of the port hull and some very minor damage to the glassfibre around the base of the two skegs. We were very lucky to have been there and to have such a generous and helpful trawlerman, who has since replaced our mooring, same as before but everything is very much BIGGER !
Alan
As promised last month here are the missing pictures to go with the launching trolley and Hatch articles.
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Just to prove it works
Ken has been giving some thought to power use and supply on the Iroquois and sent the following along with a circuit diagram as potential project for a class or person at the Department of Electrical Engineers at Brighton College of Technology. On Jan we have two 60amp batteries, one for the Outboard and one for Instruments both can be charged via the outboard, but we have so far only done short day trips and weekend sailing. I expect longer trips requiring more than eye-ball navigation and some overnight sailing would soon have us short of juice. A couple of solar panels are planned but these can only be relied upon to keep things topped up. What do you do ?
As a young man I was a keen Navigators Yeoman I found the challenge fascinating. A.F.O.'s meant I constantly uprated charts, becoming very familiar with them. The navigator often put a man forward to swing the lead and I was used to check chart depths and bottom readings, particularly outside Harwich. At cruising stations on the East Coast I was given continual requirements for 'distance off' with sextants, running fixes etc. and checked with range finder together with hourly D.R positions for the log.
All of this was very familiar to me at the time as was my use of semaphore and morse but without practice I do not believe one can remain competent and accurate. Today I do not practice or use skills enough. The electronic equipment used in small boats today makes for vastly improved accuracy that couldn’t have possibly been achieved in yesterday's destroyer. Our initial criticism of the unreliable nature of anything emanating from a mixture of electronics and water have long since been quelled. Sad as I am to see the passing of Norries Tables and the like, it is obvious to all that for all practical purposes only one system can be regularly used. Familiarity with today's technology must be the way to go.
The new system requires an equal familiarity with charts and tides, together with an equally exact log which needs to be by G.P.S positioning including distance from and to waypoint etc. which also provides a check against electronic malfunctioning. The skipper must acquire the ability to know how much electric power he has available and judge the amount he is using etc. Not a skill many of us have at present.
As is usual all this predates the Iroquois design and the electric’s obviously need a radical update by a professional who is unlikely to be interested in such a small project. This leaves me in wonderment at the handheld Garmin G.P.S with 4 AA batteries which it consumes with relish and must be the worst of all worlds. A 30'0" catamaran has limitations in (a) necessity for offshore information and (b) its capability to produce vast power generation. It would be-short sighted to not look at the potential however. The challenge is to up rate the present system without carrying out a complete re-wiring with all that it involves.
Essentially the requirement is to match the usage with the generation capability and for the resultant battery power to be monitored and logged with an amp/hr meter together with a standard voltmeter. This is not as easy as it may at first appear. Overcast and windy conditions will produce different power to that produced by light winds and sunny. The latter may also involve longer passage times and therefore greater power requirement.
There has been a large move, forward in both generation and power usage in equipment which is still proceeding apace. This can be very pertinent, clearly the tendency is toward low consumption equipment and more efficient generators and this will influence the price of either. The equipment used will also influence battery selection. Being conversant with these considerations will also assist when or if more facilities can be supported.
A well balanced, light steering boat will reduce autopilot consumption as will adequate G.P.S information as against a large commercial unit constantly running and so on. Reliance on this system will influence navigation and passage making. For example a day Channel crossing on a lovely day with a prevailing S.W breeze from the Isle of Wight to Guernsey. No doubt the light head wind will have increased the passage time. Sailing head to wind may have shadowed solar panels and a light breeze made low wind generation. Constant G.P.S monitoring and the best lighting round the Casquettes and into the Little Russel Channel will be desirable and the use of engine (best generation) would therefore be judicially planned.
I have owned Mauna Kea since 1972. She is a MKI, she is moored on a drying mooring at Leigh-on-Sea, very close to my home.
Mauna Kea is still very much basically as she was built plus a few improvements, engine 30hp outboard, two 110amp batteries because of the extra demand for power. Instruments, hhf radio, echo sounder, navigation aids, florescence lights over cabin table, fore deck flood light and navigation lights.
We carry a main one 180 genoa, ghoster, working head sail and a storm jib plus 2 spinnakers. We also carry an inflatable with a 2hp outboard.
When I bought her she was very basic. We have put in cabin head liners, bought sails, new engine and last year a new mast.
Mauna Kea was built in 68. Two years ago while racing we pulled her strut knicker off the base of the mast. When the mast was examined during the winter, the first twelve feet was found to be only 1/3 of the original thickness.
Doug Sego the owner of I.Y.E England, a former pupil of mine, advised against sleeving so I ordered a new mast. I could have had a bendy stick immediately but that would have had to have running back stays. I wanted a mast, stiff, ¾ rigged like the one I was replacing. Doug organised the new stick. He still has the MKI one mast drawings in his office. I.Y.E used to build Iroquois MKI masts. I did however decide to run halliards, knicker controls, reefing lines and outhaul controls into the cockpit. This means the crew have 12 cluthchs and four winches to play with. All that lot cost me more than I paid for Mauna Kea in 72!
The members might like to know I am still a member of the RYA Council and Chairman of the International Committee. I enjoyed my term in office as the RYA Chairman 92-96, first multihull owner to become Chairman, but it did limit my sailing (Valeri and I attended 67 events during the last year in office).
Mauna Kea has cruised widely, anywhere between Helgoland and La Rochelle, but Holland is our bread and butter trip from the Thames.
I don’t race seriously now. We join in with the local joint clubs cruiser racing, under Portsmouth handicap. Yes the Iroqoius MKI has a number,984. I call this kind of racing, sailing in company with a competitive edge! We also race in the Nore race and the Southend Town Cup which Mauna Kea has won three times in the late 80s early 90s.
I thank you for undertaking the secretary’s job. I enclose a cheque for my subs and wish all our members good sailing.
Yours sincerely
Peter Cotgrove, Mauna Lea MkI #48
It sounds like you’ve had your money’s worth from Mauna Kea especially the mast, nearly 30 years can’t be bad.
Great Spirit MKIIa #247 (1978)
Details:-
Price £24,500.00
Contact:-
Bob Hawkins (details withheld from website - Webmaster)