Boat Blind Plans | GCBSR Report Back

Boat Blind Plans

As described in my previous post, a big fleet of schooners (35 of them) of all types and styles, sailed from Baltimore at the northern end of Chesapeake Bay to Portsmouth at the southern end. Starting on Thursday lunch time, after a big Wednesday evening dinner party at the Polish Home in Baltimore, most boats were in Portsmouth by early Saturday in time for the big lunch-time oyster, clam and pig roast and prizegiving.

On the Shearwater 45 "Apella", owned and skippered by Dan Hall, we acquitted ourselves quite well with second in Class B behind the 65ft "Tom Bombadil". In a schooner fleet quoted length includes the bowsprit, so our Shearwater 45 is listed at 54ft. Winner in Class C was "Adventure", the Hout Bay 40 gaff schooner (listed at 42ft) on which I sailed this race about 5 years ago. I dont know why she only gains 2ft in her listing, her bowsprit is considerably more than 2ft.

Classes B and C started 10 minutes behind the bigger boats of classes A and AA. The fastest of the first start boats sailed away from us but we had the opportunity to view some of the others as we sailed through the back end of the bigger fleet, with opportunities for good photos.

"Mystic Whaler", out of New London, Connecticut. She is a regular in this race.

A few boats fell out of the race along the way. The weather turned out to be considerably less favourable than the 8-10mph westerly breezes with smooth water that were forecast. We had those conditions for the first 6-8 hours of racing but then the breeze started to head south and continued that trend until it was pretty much on the nose and increased to about 25 knots (about 3x the forecast). With wind against tide most of the time, the seas were short and sharp, rather uncomfortable. This was too much for some crews, who retired from the race.

Hauling in "Lady Maryland"

I succumbed to the uncomfortable seas and donated my dinner to the fish, crabs and clams of Chesapeake Bay for a few hours from about 4am Friday until we reached smoother water south of our finish at Windmill Point. My own fault of course, I believed the forecast and didnt take my usual precautions until after we hit the rough water. By then it was too late to do much good.

Some of our crew. L-R Joe Miller, Dudley, Scott Page. Owner Dan Hall at the helm.

I really enjoy sailing among these boats, particularly the big ones like "Pride of Baltimore", "Mystic Whaler", "Lady Maryland" and others that are dedicated to educating people from all walks of life and of all ages. They do so in the interests of the community, teaching skills that will be lost to humanity without such dedicated people serving as stewards, to look after and pass on the crafts and skills of traditional schooners and the coastal waters in which they operate.

"Pride of Baltimore" docked in Portsmouth, other big schooners in the background.

I have sailed many thousands of miles and sailed most of my life but my skills are insignificant beside these true watermen and women. Some of these boats are skippered and crewed by women and they are well-respected by the men among whom they sail and compete. Being female is no disadvantage in the world of schooners, all must prove themselves on an equal basis.

Overall, this was another memorable Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race. This event was the brainchild of the late Capt. Lane Briggs, who sailed in most of them in his steel gaff schooner "Norfolk Rebel", a sail-assisted tug. The innovative Capt. Briggs was a sturdy pillar of the community in Hampton Roads, initiating many events to support, educate and entertain residents and visitors alike. The many volunteers involved in creating and hosting the Schooner Race every year do a wonderful job of keeping alive the aspirations of Lane Briggs, ensuring that they will continue for a long time into the future.

Dudley Dix


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Boat Plans Building | Didi 950 Ohio Project Update

Boat Plans Building

It has been awhile since I last updated about the Didi 950 amateur builds happening on opposite sides of the world. I was reminded last week by a reader that there are folks out there waiting to see more.

Both boats are progressing at a good rate and both should be launched this year. The boat of Fred Grimminck in Australia, the lifting keel version built from scratch, is nearly complete and should be launched in a few months. Mike Vermeersch in USA hopes to launch his fixed keel version, built from a kit that we supplied, on the Great Lakes in the summer.

Both are building their boats primarily for cruising, so are fitting them out for comfort more than trying to achieve minimum weight. In this post I will include photos of Mikes fixed keel boat and my next post will feature Freds lifting keel boat.

I wrote last year about Mikes keel that was being built by Howdy Bailey. It was in progress at the time so I didnt include pics of the completed keel, which are shown in these photos.
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Pre-formed side plate being plug-welded to the internal tube structure.

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Ballast bulb ready for fitting to keel foil.

Keel and bulb mated, faired and primed, ready to be shipped to the builder.

The keel will be bolted to a substantial steel weldment that is inside the hull and bolted to glass-reinforced eggcrate backbones and bulkheads, with the hull skin (also glass-reinforced) sandwiched between the top of the keel and the internal steelwork. That steel weldment does double-duty, serving also as the engine beds.

Engine beds snug between the longitudinal and transverse structural members.

Engine mounted on beds. The keel bolt holes can be seen under the engine.

The engine of this version is located under the galley central counter. It will have large access panels all round for engine work and for access to the keel bolts. Some people object to this engine location, saying that the motor is too smelly to put in the middle of the accommodation. Not so, all of my personal boats have had the motors in this position and I would not want it anywhere else. It makes the engine easy to work on and to keep clean, giving a boat that always smells fresh. A big reason why under-cockpit motors are smelly is that they are so difficult to work on and clean that they tend to be neglected. This location also places the motor close to the centre of pitching, so is good for performance in lumpy water.

U-shape galley being built. The engine is under the counter on the right, cooker to the left.

Epoxy-coated plywood icebox.

Icebox installed and foam insulation poured, ready for trimming.

The rest of the interior is also progressing.

Saloon, looking forward. As designed the settees are water tanks but Mike is installing plastic tanks elsewhere.

Looking down at the top of a water ballast tank, with watertight access covers.

Mike is doing a very neat build. This is partly due to building from a pre-cut kit but most of it is due to him having very neat working habits. I consider my own woodworking to be neat but Mike makes my work look a bit tatty in comparison. It is always worthwhile to keep the build area free of scraps, shavings, dust, tools etc for the sake of safety but also to make it easier to work with glue, epoxy coatings, paint etc without messing up both the tools and your workmanship.

 

An important aspect that many builders ignore is to round off all salient corners, whether they will be seen or not. It only needs a minute or two to run each timber through a router with 6mm radius bit, leaving soft corners that hold coatings well and wont damage your hands, knees and feet. Neglect this step and you will have an interior that looks amateurish and will also damage you when you fall against it. This small detail will make the world of difference to the final look of your new boat, helping to make it something of which you can justifiable be proud. 

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Watch for my next post in a day or two to see Freds lifting keel Didi 950.

To see our full range of designs, please go to http://dixdesign.com/ on your computer or to http://dixdesign.com/mobile on your mobile.


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