wuz happinin?????????????

[marujo_sortudo]

Hey Jim,

I'd be glad to answer any questions you have about the trip south.  It's a fascinating way to see the East Coast and there's tons of great people to meet along the way.  Do it if you can!

As for the Hurley, I try not to presume what purpose another might have for it.  I do love the idea of bilge keelers, though.  The anchorage access is really unparalleled when you get a draft like 2'7" and can even dry out at low.  Heck, if the water was warm enough, I might even try a cruise on such a boat without a dinghy (depending on the grounds.). Seems like it could be a good boat for some trailer based adventures, too.  Mainly I posted it just because it's British and a bilge keeler with a good reputation which is a bit unusual over here.

[marujo_sortudo]

Speaking of the Hurley, here's a link to someone who did a couple of Atlantic crossings in one:  http://endlessdesign.com/noggin/

[CharlieJ]

Motor sailing we were losing about a degree an hour for the channel into North Bimini. At 1800 raised Bimini, but we had been pushed about 8 miles north. Now 8 miles isn't a whole lot, but that meant we had to motor into the Gulf Stream's 2.5 kt current, with  a 5 knot cruise. Takes a LONG time to make up 8 miles, at 2 to 2.5 ts :o
NEVER underestimate that current!! It never stops ;)

Charlie, reading that reminded me of the story of Gene's passage on an Alacrity 19 and was swept 100 miles North. Gave me chills to read it again and imagine what it would be like in a 1500-lb sailboat if the weather had gotten worse, possibly making it impossible to make the Bahamas. Seems like a long way to Virginia, as he writes...or Bermuda. Yikes.  

I know who that is! That's the guy who was so adamant about his daughter  Heather sailing single hand round the world in Flight of Years, the Flicka. Had her start on THE day promised, even though it was storming.  She and I shared some emails.

She's no longer sailing, from what I understand


Yeah, I remember him :P

[Jim_ME]

As for the Hurley, I try not to presume what purpose another might have for it.

I didn't mean to say that they are over rated. I meant that the way the shear line seems to bulge upward in the middle, makes it seem like it was physically over-inflated. It does add to the idea that it is unconventional in style, which is cool. The classic Amphibicon wooden boats also had a similar form. Kinda makes me want to bolt a set of 1959 Cadilac Coupe-de-Ville fins onto the stern rails to complete the package... ;)

I do love the idea of bilge keelers, though.  The anchorage access is really unparalleled when you get a draft like 2'7" and can even dry out at low.  Heck, if the water was warm enough, I might even try a cruise on such a boat without a dinghy (depending on the grounds.). Seems like it could be a good boat for some trailer based adventures, too.  Mainly I posted it just because it's British and a bilge keeler with a good reputation which is a bit unusual over here.

I should confess that last fall I actually picked up an Alacrity 19 that came up for sale locally, for many of the reasons that you describe. Its hull has been repainted a couple times--the last time with a brush. Got some good Van-Goghesque brush-stroke texture style going on there. 1'-10" draft and 480 lbs of ballast in its twin keels.

After the thread about finding and renting or purchasing a small boat already at a cruising destination (such as Europe) as an alternative to sailing over there, and reading a blog about a guy who had sailed over to France from the UK in an Ay19 and cruised through the French canals to the Mediterranean, when a project boat came onto the market here, I got it. Haven't done much with it, and have been having some second thoughts. Needs quite a bit of work. The cabin berth and sole panels are delaminated from moisture. On the plus side...it is a small boat. It is a nice size to bring into a garage for the winter to work on, something that I regrettably don't have.

I do think that it would be a great trailer sailer for gunkholing in. Not sure that it would be my first choice to do a transatlantic in though.  ;D

I'd be glad to answer any questions you have about the trip south.  It's a fascinating way to see the East Coast and there's tons of great people to meet along the way.  Do it if you can!

Thought that I should visit your facebook blog again, read up and gather as much as I could from there before asking too many questions... I'm also especially interested in how you have simplified your land-based life to free up resources and commitments to be able to cruise as you do.

[Jim_ME]

I know who that is! That's the guy who was so adamant about his daughter  Heather sailing single hand round the world in Flight of Years, the Flicka. Had her start on THE day promised, even though it was storming.  She and I shared some emails.

She's no longer sailing, from what I understand

Geez...I didn't hear about that.  :(  Hope that she will find her way back to sailing--on her own terms.

[CharlieJ]

Here's a link to a small write up on it. Happens to have been one of our own who wrote it. (Dan of Adrift at Sea) Note the side long reference to the father, and HIS dreams.

I won't go much into the father, but he posted here for a while. Oh, and when Bruce Bingham, who DESIGNED the Flicka went to see them with some ideas, the father threatened him with a lawsuit if he ever came back. He was a real piece of work, that one.

http://blog.dankim.com/2008/03/14/death-of-a-dream/

[Frank]

Not to beat an already "dead horse"....but her father has a very colorful past. Simply google his name. Scams and jail time. The expression "father, son and holy dollar" comes to mind.

[CharlieJ]

I thought I remembered something. Just did a search here on SailFar and found where he was banned from this forum. He'd also managed to get himself kicked off several others.

[marujo_sortudo]

Jim, if you are garageless, but have space on land, you could build a bow shed.  Very inexpensive and right-sized for most microcruisers and sailfar type budgets.  Work on a project boat with a space to do it in is way more pleasurable and goes faster.  A real season-extender around here, too:

http://www.by-the-sea.com/stimsonmarine/bowroof.html

Oh, and there's certainly lots of good sense in getting a boat that's where you already want to cruise, esp. if small boats are your thing.  Of course, a project boat far from home could be more of a challenge, but it would be easy to find a boat well suited to local cruising in the waters it is already in....

[Jim_ME]

Jim, if you are garageless, but have space on land, you could build a bow shed.  Very inexpensive and right-sized for most microcruisers and sailfar type budgets.  Work on a project boat with a space to do it in is way more pleasurable and goes faster.  A real season-extender around here, too:

Thanks, Colin, a good suggestion. I had seen something about this bow-roofed design...maybe on the wooden boat website or such. I did build a similar shelter maybe 30 years ago over a old wooden boat that I had taken on in a fit of wild optimism about my abilities...  ;D

Oh, and there's certainly lots of good sense in getting a boat that's where you already want to cruise, esp. if small boats are your thing.  Of course, a project boat far from home could be more of a challenge, but it would be easy to find a boat well suited to local cruising in the waters it is already in....

After I had read the blog about the guy cruising around Europe in his Alacrity 19, I was thinking (when a cheap one became available) that it might be good to have one here and to get used to it, and maybe have some good sails and other equipment specific to it that I could even take to and use on a remote sisterboat...
I have got the Ay19 set up on a trailer and it's probably more likely that I'll just use it as a trailer sailer. Would be nice to tow it down and gunkhole around Chesapeake Bay and farther South. Maybe do some camping sailing, where the shallow [<2 ft] draft would allow bringing the boat in close to the shore and campsite.

[lance on cloud nine]

I am landlocked at work in Indiana. May get a little sailing vacation in Florida after Christmas on our O'Day 23.
It is cold and gray here, so see I AM BEGGING YOU!!!! Tell us about your latest fun sailing adventure!!!! Tell us a little or a lot!!!! Tell us about your boat!!!!
Please help.