A Speck On the Sea

[BobW]

A friend of mine just loaned me his copy of A Speck on the Sea, Epic Voyages In the Most Improbable Vessels by William H. Longyard. 

I just started reading it, but so far it is very interesting.  It describes the history of small boat voyaging, with virtually all of the boats measuring under 20'. 

Bob

[BobW]

A Speck on the Sea is essentially a chronology of notable long voyages in small boats.  The book pretty much limits its scope to voyages by boats 20' and smaller.  Joshua Slocum merits a mention, but is not a featured story as Spray was 30-something feet long.  The book is an interesting read, not only for the stories of the small boat sailors challenging the oceans in the late 1800s, but because many boat features and issues faced by those skippers are the same as today's small boat skipper faces: boat design (keel vs. centerboard, bowsprit or not, folding boats, etc), new or used boat, type of materials, type of ballast (water, iron, stone, fixed or movable), sail rig, provisions, storage, use of sea anchors, self steering, self sufficiency, use of tethers, waterproofing, lifelines, etc., etc.

I find that reading about small (under 20') boats sailing long distances gives me a greater appreciation for small boats and the people who sail them.  Some of the featured boats are not visually appealing, but I am coming around to the notion that looks are not everything.  Some of the boat designs or modifications featured in the book just do not look "right", or "traditional", or "good".  Yes, if it looks good and does what it is intended to do, that is "good," but something that does what it is designed to do –whether it looks 'good' or not – is also "good." 

I am also seeing my boat, Prelude, in a new light.  I am coming to the realization that with her flush deck design and mid-'60s fiberglass construction, she offers me luxurious accommodations and a higher level of seaworthiness than many of the boats described in the book.  Yes, the design features I've commented on in other posts are still there, but most, if not all, of my concerns can be addressed and if not corrected, at least improved.

I now chuckle at posts asking whether a 20-something trailer-sailor can sail from here to there (pick two points, say, Miami to the Bahamas, or Los Angeles to Catalina).  My guess is the primary thing preventing more such trips is the skipper, certainly not the boat. 

If you get the chance, read A Speck on the Sea.

Sorry for the ramble...

[AdriftAtSea]

I now chuckle at posts asking whether a 20-something trailer-sailor can sail from here to there (pick two points, say, Miami to the Bahamas, or Los Angeles to Catalina).  My guess is the primary thing preventing more such trips is the skipper, certainly not the boat.

Very true... look at many of the more publicized sailing disasters, like Fastnet '79, where many of the boats that were abandoned survived the storms.  The same can be said for several other boats that were abandoned, like Eclipse, the 32' catamaran that was abandoned off the coast of Mexico in January  2006. 

[sailorflo]

Rumor has it that you can cross the ocean in a bath tub if you pick your weather right ::)