Which boat would you like to hear about?
Sailing
- Thread starter ruel
- Start date
- Replies 160
- Views 10K
Which boat would you like to hear about?
Here is a picture of our schooner the 'Christian Venturer' after we sold it and the new owner changed the stern layout shortened the deckhouse and replaced the wooden booms with aluminium. Bittersweet to see her but still a very pretty hull. Built in Bermuda by my husband in 1976 launched 1977, still going strong
Extremely good in rough seas, cut and slice, no pounding.
Extremely good in rough seas, cut and slice, no pounding.
Mellow
BCMA
She's a beauty! I could live in a house like that.
75' long bowsprit to boomkin, 57' waterline, 11'2" beam, 6' draft. Double ended staysail schooner (although she was originally rigged Chinese Junk)
7 sails, five lowers, two topsails. Five of the sails are self tending, outer jib we converted to roller furling...I took one too many salt water dunkings out on the end of the bowsprit furling in bad weather!
My husband Bobby Doe co-designed it with a friend Bill Nash so she's a one off .Many people mistake her for a Herreshoff 'Marco Polo'...inititally similar at first glance but very different.
Bobby had help from two others to lay up the hull which is Airex foam cored firbreglass. The rest of the build he did by himself, including building the wooden masts.
It took him 18 months from start to heading out on the maiden voyage. It was built in an old Admiralty shed out on Ireland Island in Bermuda.
He single handed it many times and he and I double handed it for all our major voyages.
When we did Tall Ships sail training she had a crew of 14, and everyone had their own berth.
My hubby is a unit!!!
7 sails, five lowers, two topsails. Five of the sails are self tending, outer jib we converted to roller furling...I took one too many salt water dunkings out on the end of the bowsprit furling in bad weather!
My husband Bobby Doe co-designed it with a friend Bill Nash so she's a one off .Many people mistake her for a Herreshoff 'Marco Polo'...inititally similar at first glance but very different.
Bobby had help from two others to lay up the hull which is Airex foam cored firbreglass. The rest of the build he did by himself, including building the wooden masts.
It took him 18 months from start to heading out on the maiden voyage. It was built in an old Admiralty shed out on Ireland Island in Bermuda.
He single handed it many times and he and I double handed it for all our major voyages.
When we did Tall Ships sail training she had a crew of 14, and everyone had their own berth.
My hubby is a unit!!!
pantheraba
More biners!!!
Incredible... And very very cool. Tell your hubby he's got my admiration and respect.
Yes, it's truly impressive, thanks Ruel.
The interior fit out he christened 'orange crate provincial' 😂 basics, staind plywood featured well. We added stuff as the years went by (once I came on the scene)
The narrow hull with sharp double ends made it so she would cut and slice through head seas, and track like an arrow close hauled through to broad reach . With the sail layout, she went faster by tacking downwind than running with wind dead astern. Trying to wing out all the lowers was tricky, so easier and faster to tack. She won a race in the Baltic with that tactic.
She would self steer in 6 different sail combinations...then we got an Aries wind vane, we did 12 knots reaching with just about 4 inches of the servo rudder in the water. The water swishing past the hull would make a certain sound when she hit 9 knots and more...hiss, hiss hisssssss....ssssssssss, YEAH!!!!
The interior fit out he christened 'orange crate provincial' 😂 basics, staind plywood featured well. We added stuff as the years went by (once I came on the scene)
The narrow hull with sharp double ends made it so she would cut and slice through head seas, and track like an arrow close hauled through to broad reach . With the sail layout, she went faster by tacking downwind than running with wind dead astern. Trying to wing out all the lowers was tricky, so easier and faster to tack. She won a race in the Baltic with that tactic.
She would self steer in 6 different sail combinations...then we got an Aries wind vane, we did 12 knots reaching with just about 4 inches of the servo rudder in the water. The water swishing past the hull would make a certain sound when she hit 9 knots and more...hiss, hiss hisssssss....ssssssssss, YEAH!!!!
ruel
TreeHouser
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #88
Was she built for beating up wind, or was that just a happy accident? Do conditions in Bermuda require lots of sailing to weather?
Read Annie Hill's "Voyaging On A Small Income" and she seems to be quite an evangelist for junk rigs and mostly sailing with the wind. What prompted the switch to fore and aft?
Read Annie Hill's "Voyaging On A Small Income" and she seems to be quite an evangelist for junk rigs and mostly sailing with the wind. What prompted the switch to fore and aft?
That will keep you busy!
No accidents, many years on the ocean and two talented minds, as well as allll the history of successful boat design by many others, Herreshof, Hinkley, Frers, Fife schooners, grand banks schooners, researching why boats sank in storms etc etc The design phase happened long before I came on the scene.
No accidents, many years on the ocean and two talented minds, as well as allll the history of successful boat design by many others, Herreshof, Hinkley, Frers, Fife schooners, grand banks schooners, researching why boats sank in storms etc etc The design phase happened long before I came on the scene.
gf beranek
Old Schooler
Thank you, Bermy. You brought back some memories. Until I became employed by Chris VanPeer, owner and number one fabricator of Van Peer Boatworks in Fort Bragg, California, I never appreciated the nuances of boat design, their purpose and the many forms of their construction more. Given my time in the construction of such it was steel first, aluminum second, wood third and concrete type constructions. Today there's carbon fiber and other composites.
At Van Peers I worked building and outfitting all type of fishing vessels from skiffs, dory's to drag boats.
Since those early days in the industry I have never appreciated the design and construction of sea going vessels more.
And by the way, I also learned there's no such thing and the "perfect boat".
At Van Peers I worked building and outfitting all type of fishing vessels from skiffs, dory's to drag boats.
Since those early days in the industry I have never appreciated the design and construction of sea going vessels more.
And by the way, I also learned there's no such thing and the "perfect boat".
Mellow
BCMA
My daughter and me on her boat in Philly. Not actually her boat; she teaches at a sailing club.
The one thing I miss moving to another country is time spent on the water...salt water.
Once you have salt water 'in your blood', it never leaves, there is a definable sense of 'something' when the scent hits your nostrils and the long, long view of a distant horizon hoves into sight.
About the only equal is the wilderness of the bush, miles and miles of nature, no infrastructure to be seen.
Mind you, to be fair, I don't miss bad weather on the ocean, not one bit!
Once you have salt water 'in your blood', it never leaves, there is a definable sense of 'something' when the scent hits your nostrils and the long, long view of a distant horizon hoves into sight.
About the only equal is the wilderness of the bush, miles and miles of nature, no infrastructure to be seen.
Mind you, to be fair, I don't miss bad weather on the ocean, not one bit!
pantheraba
More biners!!!
If you do go get a proper paddle...don't count on a shovel to save the day. 
23 days double handed was my longest non stop on our boat, Gibraltar to Bermuda, forgot to mention the weight of our boat was 26 tons, full keel, that and her hull shape were the reasons she handled the seas so well.
Did a delivery from Turks and Caicos to Puerto Rico on a little 28 footer...it was awful, like bobbing along on a cork. Calling for 'huey'
I was seriously spoiled from our boat for long voyages, how well she handled the sea.
Did a delivery from Turks and Caicos to Puerto Rico on a little 28 footer...it was awful, like bobbing along on a cork. Calling for 'huey'
I was seriously spoiled from our boat for long voyages, how well she handled the sea.
Here is a picture of our schooner "Christian Venturer' under full sail in Hamilton Harbour Bermuda about 1984ish. I'm pretty sure that's me on the helm, and Bob's legs peeking out from under the main staysail on the foredeck.
No Idea who took this picture, it popped up on FB a while back
No Idea who took this picture, it popped up on FB a while back
Burnham
Woods walker
Pretty short rig, to my eyes. Not saying that's a bad thing.
What say you, Fi?
She is mighty pretty.
What say you, Fi?
She is mighty pretty.
