Flash back....my first cruiser

[Frank]

Finally got around to cleaning out a storage room full of box's and paper.
Quite the fire going tonight!
In the process, came across this pic from July 1981...37yrs ago.
After growing up on the Ottawa river with 12-14ft open boats, I thought I had a true yacht at 17ft with a cabin!
Sailed out of Port Franks on Lake Huron in weather that at times really should not have. Ignorance truly was bliss.
The boat is a 750lb Siren 17. They built a lot of them!
Geez... I had hair colour back then 😄

[Norman]

FRANK, your Siren 17 shares many characteristics with my first cabin yacht, a Neptune 16.  I also sailed in some weather that was on the high side of reasonable, but usually with limited fetch.  We averaged hull speed for an hour on the Patuxent River, beam reach, winds measured by a weather station that we passed at low 20's to low 30's, with gusts higher.  The waves were steep and close, 25% whitecaps, and with judicious steering to pass over them before they broke, no water in the cockpit.

We arrived at Benedict, MD at 8 AM, and our destination was the mouth of the river, but with careful consideration of the wave state to be expected as the river widened and became deeper, we elected to cancel the rest of the trip.  Did I mention that the water was quite cold?  It was early April, and the previous days sailing featured bright sun, gentle breezes, and warm air, but today cloudy, windy, cold, and if anything went wrong, the water was very cold.

We had slept in the lee of a high bluff, with tall trees on top, and when we were getting under way in the morning, the only indication of possible wind was a collection of small limbs and twigs on deck.  We assumed they were from over night.  The tide was just past high, and the downstream current had started, so we pushed out into the channel, hoisted the main, and started drifting.

All our gear had been transferred from the cockpit to the bunks, and since the day seemed so calm, planned to fix breakfast under way.  That was one reason we did not bother raising the jib.  We had to raise the main, as we had no topping lift, so that was the only way to free up space in  the cockpit.

We had been on a southbound turn of the river, and todays wind was from the east.  As the river turned to the west, air flow became confused and lightly gusty, from the west and northwest, the rolling currents from the ridge to windward.  This fit the forecast, northwest wind, light, this morning, following the southwest wind of the day before.  Also seeming correct was the major temperature drop, so all was well.

Suddenly, the main, trimmed for a close reach on a WSW heading, and periodically flopping or luffing, went hard to starboard, the boat heeled, and we were off to the races with a strong, steady wind from ESE!  As we continued further from the protection of the ridge and trees, velocity increased, shifted to directly from the east, and sailing became a very active requirement.  Breakfast would have been a wise choice while still at anchor.  The need to catch the tide for our propulsion had disappeared, and we were flying.

The area around Kings Point Landing is the last of the high bluffs close to the river, and produced the last of the shelter we encountered that day.  The weather information came from the Chalk Point Power Plant control room later that day (that is one of the place that I worked, I have their outside phone numbers).  The river widens rapidly there, and the channel is near the west side, so the waves became a challenge for such a small yacht.

We arrived at the bridge at Benedict, lowered the mast, went under close to shore, and entered the small state launch ramp and pier.  There is a restaurant there, and we elected to have breakfast ashore and update the weather picture, as it was clearly quite different from what we were expecting.

A power boater was launching a 20 foot boat to take his grandson and a friend fishing down river, and we advised him the waves were pretty rough, and would be worse as he proceeded down river.  Quite rightly, he pointed out that his boat was larger than ours, had more than twice the free board, and had plenty of power to deal with wind.  All true, and we wished them well as we went to eat.

Half way through our breakfast, they reappeared, joined us for a cup of coffee, and agreed with our assessment of the likely state of the river.  Not a fun day where the river widened.  I called my buddy to bring the trailer to Benedict, and we relaxed in the warmth of the restaurant until he arrived.

The cruise had shortened from 3 days to 1 1/2, but it is much more memorable for the high wind and challenging sailing of that hour north of Benedict, feet braced on the lee seat and keeping an eagle eye on every approaching wave, to time the turn up into it.  The slides down the backsides were a thrill too.  The main sail was trimmed relatively free, to reduce heel, but the 10 to 20 degree turns into the wind did not luff it, and not much speed was sacrifice for comfort and dry clothes,  We logged 6 NM in 60 minutes in that last stretch of the river before we lowered the mast for the bridge (At that time, the bridge needed repairs, and could not open.  If it had been operational, and we sailed through, we may have kept on for a while, but that may have brought us to an area with out a public ramp, so stopping where we did was a winner. 

We were a couple of young fellows then, about 60.  Unfortunately, he is now gone at 82.  He was one of my favorite high school classmates, and a very active friend for all these years.

Small boats are the most fun, and adventures do not require large bodies of water or far places.

Thanks for your post and picture, Frank

Norman

[Frank]

Norman...See if you can find a picture to post of the Neptune
I simply took a digital picture of the old picture allowing me to post it.

[Frank]

PS....everyone feel free to post a pic here of your first with a few words about the boat and/or your experiences on it

[Norman]

Sorry, Frank, no pictures in the water, let alone under sail.  The Neptune was nearly the same as the Siren, except a foot shorter in the cabin.  4 feet of the berths went under the cockpit seats.

Neat little yacht, swing up the mast, attach and snug up the forestay, hang the rudder, and slide off the trailer.  Alone, from stopped in the lot to in the water, 15 minutes.  With a friend, 10 minutes.

Parked in the driveway, gear went aboard and ready to pull out, usually 30 minutes to an hour for overnight, an hour or 2 for weekend cruises.

Main problem at my present age and agility, any thing in trouble at the stem with wave motion would be a true challenge.  About 7 feet from the front of the cabin hatch to the stem, I would crawl over the cabin top, and tackle whatever needed to be done, prone.  Climbing on up there to address the issue sitting made her very tender, not that she was likely to turn over, it just seemed that was about to happen with any size waves.  Fortunately, I never had to go there away from the pier.

Being round bottom, she was more tippy than a Potter, but most waves could be handled in comfort if the heading was optional.  Large power boat wakes were an exception, never quite got the magic angle for breaking 4 foot tall bow waves.  Head on, I went over the first one fine, but as she dove into the following wave, water came over the cabin top and into the cockpit.  From the stern, similar, up to 45 degrees, and beyond that it SEEMED like we would turn right over.  The big waves were generated by a 30 foot twin engine cruiser with fly bridge, the DC fire boat returning from a run, a Coast Guard boat doing routine buoy maintenance, and a Corps of Engineers tug in a hurry to get back to the pier at the end of the work day.  Here in the Washington DC area, the people in a hurry are often Government.

10 miles down river, most of the wake problems go away, mainly because the channel and river are wider, and I see them coming in time to be far from their course.

With a normal load of gear on board, she could take a 90 degree roll to starboard, with out taking any water to the bilge, but to port, there would have been a few gallons through the port seat hatch, which did not fit tight or have any seal.  Water taken to the cockpit left slowly through the 1 inch keel cable pipe.

Those events were rare, and most trips went very peacefully, and with the 9 inch required water depth to get over sand bars to deeper water closer to shore, nights tended to be very relaxing.  If the shore was leeward, there was no insect issue, and the cabin could be left wide open.  Under such conditions, the anchor was always off the stern, and the seat hatch opened a few inches, to provide good ventilation.  On the lee side of a sand bar, the wind could really get up, and the waves were still mild.  50 feet of nylon and 16 feet of 1/4 inch chain was way more than adequate in the 5 or 6 feet of water.  Even with that small boat, I did put down 2 anchors for a quiet sleep, no worries.  I never had my primary anchor loose hold in the Neptune.

That little boat provided a lot of pleasure!  And I certainly do wish I had pictures of her sailing.

Norman

[Phantom Jim]

The Cal 29 i repaired to locally cruise.  My wife did not want to go out in the heat of summer, said we were too old to "camp out", so I get a bigger boat.  It was fun to get her in shape.  She was the only boat I could afford at the time....I wish I had a realistic view of how much it cost to rebuild a boat.  At least I broke even.  It would have been cheaper not to buy an insurance salvage, but I was young and idealistic then.  Now I am old and idealistic;)