Best DIY inter-island "pocket" sail cruiser for Hawaiian waters?
 

Aloha!

Now that I've posted my first ever question to a Newsgroup, a monster has
been created...

In the spirit of the hypothetical best boat for the Great Lakes, I'd like to
hear some constructive (or cautionary) ideas on the best small homebuilt
sailboat for inter-island cruising in Hawaiian waters... What have you
heard? What's worked for you in similar or even harsher environments? I'm
interested in minimalist thinking, he fairly close to the edge, but not
over... And well back from extreme sports territory. My idea of
inter-island cruising is that it should be much like coastal
cruising--circumnavigating islands in a small, sturdy sailboat, with a dash
across "short" stretches of blue water thrown in as needed.

The anticipated summer trip would be about two weeks long, probably solo,
but possibly with one other person. The longest openwater leg would be the
initial one between Oahu and Molokai--a point-to-point distance of about 28
miles straight into the prevailing tradewinds, so more than twice that with
beating to windward. This would be a minimum of 12 hours of blue-water
sailing at 4 knots or so, and the channel can and does get good sized seas
even in the summer, especially once afternoon winds kick up... Mornings are
typically calm--if it hasn't been storming overnight, that is, and such
stiuations are to be avoided. These weather facts make a pre-dawn departure
necessary.

(Once to Molokai, island hopping in the cluster comprised of Molokai, Maui,
Lanai and Kahoolawe islands is expected to be fairly straight forward, with
easier passages of about 10 miles across relatively sheltered blue-water
channels. The wider and rougher channels separating the Big Island and
especially Kauai from the inner islands put them out of consideration for
now.)

As an example, my latest prospect boat is the Adelie 16 listed on the
Mertens-Gossens website:
http://boatplans-online.com/proddetail.php?prod=AD16. Most safety concerns
about watertightness, rightability, ease of sailing and handling, etc. seem
to be addressed in the stock plans. (The boat is claimed to be capable of
making the crossing to Bermuda, or of the English Channel...) Marginal
increases in capability can be added during construction without
overwhelming the basic simplicity of the design. Being a trailerable
"backyard boat" is important, as is the estimated minimum finished price of
$2,500. Navigation questions need consideration, but all sailing should be
done within sight of land and, as noted above, in good weather.

Any thoughts? Feasible? Realistic? I'd love to hear from anyone who's
built the boat or her sister, the Adelie 14, or anything similar... Or
who's tried anything similar...

Mahalo,
Carson

On Fri, 15 Jul 2005 04:56:54 +0000, CARSON AXTELL wrote:

Aloha!

Now that I've posted my first ever question to a Newsgroup, a monster has
been created...

In the spirit of the hypothetical best boat for the Great Lakes, I'd like to
hear some constructive (or cautionary) ideas on the best small homebuilt
sailboat for inter-island cruising in Hawaiian waters... What have you
heard? What's worked for you in similar or even harsher environments? I'm
snip
The anticipated summer trip would be about two weeks long, probably solo,
but possibly with one other person. The longest openwater leg would be the
initial one between Oahu and Molokai--a point-to-point distance of about 28
miles straight into the prevailing tradewinds, so more than twice that with
beating to windward.

Twice? That's means you expect to get no closer than 60 degrees from
the true wind or do you have a hefty adverse current there?

snip

As an example, my latest prospect boat is the Adelie 16 listed on the
Mertens-Gossens website:
http://boatplans-online.com/proddetail.php?prod=AD16. Most safety concerns

Aha, now I see :-)

snip
overwhelming the basic simplicity of the design. Being a trailerable
"backyard boat" is important, as is the estimated minimum finished price of
$2,500. Navigation questions need consideration, but all sailing should be
done within sight of land and, as noted above, in good weather.

Any thoughts? Feasible? Realistic? I'd love to hear from anyone who's
built the boat or her sister, the Adelie 14, or anything similar... Or
who's tried anything similar...

Well, people have crossed the Atlantic on 'sailboards' and Hobies so
why not? A little more reasonable - I think - would be something
like John Marples' Seaclipper 28:
http://www.boatshop.com.ph/portfolio/SeaCLipper.html
It's a rather basic design with a modest sail plan but it sails
well. You shouldn't expect rocket-ship performance a la racing
multihulls but it also means you get away with much simpler (=cheaper)
gear and more relaxed sailing. I have only sailed one for four
hours out of Marina del rey in L.A. so I can't comment on its
behaviour in rough conditions. I do know, however, that even this
small Seaclipper has been taken considerable distances offshore.

John Marples on internet: http://www.searunner.com/

Cheers,

/Martin

Pogo is actually designed to be trailerable. I spoke with George last
winter about POGO and was wondering about using dimension lumber and he
commented that if trailering it was best to use the ply in the design
although 1X6 stock would be fine as well.

Sam Devlin's boats are really nice but the epoxy requirement is quite high
for them. They do build fairly easily though.

Brian

Take a look at George Buehler's 'Pogo'. Dunno about trailerable, tho,
suspect not, it's really a mini displacement boat and heavy. Others -
Sam Devlin's 'Nancys China' or 'Winter Wren'. Depends on what you're
thinking of. Personally I don't like multihulls but it's just
prejudice, not rationality.

PDW

In article qmHBe.29600$ao6.22739@trnddc05, CARSON AXTELL
wrote:

Aloha!

Now that I've posted my first ever question to a Newsgroup, a monster has
been created...

In the spirit of the hypothetical best boat for the Great Lakes, I'd like to
hear some constructive (or cautionary) ideas on the best small homebuilt
sailboat for inter-island cruising in Hawaiian waters... What have you
heard? What's worked for you in similar or even harsher environments? I'm
interested in minimalist thinking, he fairly close to the edge, but not
over... And well back from extreme sports territory. My idea of
inter-island cruising is that it should be much like coastal
cruising--circumnavigating islands in a small, sturdy sailboat, with a dash
across "short" stretches of blue water thrown in as needed.

The anticipated summer trip would be about two weeks long, probably solo,
but possibly with one other person. The longest openwater leg would be the
initial one between Oahu and Molokai--a point-to-point distance of about 28
miles straight into the prevailing tradewinds, so more than twice that with
beating to windward. This would be a minimum of 12 hours of blue-water
sailing at 4 knots or so, and the channel can and does get good sized seas
even in the summer, especially once afternoon winds kick up... Mornings are
typically calm--if it hasn't been storming overnight, that is, and such
stiuations are to be avoided. These weather facts make a pre-dawn departure
necessary.

(Once to Molokai, island hopping in the cluster comprised of Molokai, Maui,
Lanai and Kahoolawe islands is expected to be fairly straight forward, with
easier passages of about 10 miles across relatively sheltered blue-water
channels. The wider and rougher channels separating the Big Island and
especially Kauai from the inner islands put them out of consideration for
now.)

As an example, my latest prospect boat is the Adelie 16 listed on the
Mertens-Gossens website:
http://boatplans-online.com/proddetail.php?prod=AD16. Most safety concerns
about watertightness, rightability, ease of sailing and handling, etc. seem
to be addressed in the stock plans. (The boat is claimed to be capable of
making the crossing to Bermuda, or of the English Channel...) Marginal
increases in capability can be added during construction without
overwhelming the basic simplicity of the design. Being a trailerable
"backyard boat" is important, as is the estimated minimum finished price of
$2,500. Navigation questions need consideration, but all sailing should be
done within sight of land and, as noted above, in good weather.

Any thoughts? Feasible? Realistic? I'd love to hear from anyone who's
built the boat or her sister, the Adelie 14, or anything similar... Or
who's tried anything similar...

Mahalo,
Carson

In article , Brian
wrote:

Pogo is actually designed to be trailerable. I spoke with George last
winter about POGO and was wondering about using dimension lumber and he
commented that if trailering it was best to use the ply in the design
although 1X6 stock would be fine as well.

Sam Devlin's boats are really nice but the epoxy requirement is quite high
for them. They do build fairly easily though.

I bought plans for Nancy's China and Pogo some time ago. Of the 2 I
think I'll end up building a Pogo. Since I hate epoxy I've been toying
with building out of 5mm aluminium. No butt joints at all. No painting
except for cosmetic purposes. No fairing. About 2X the price of good
marine ply but that's before adding the cost of cloth, resin, sanding
consumables, paint and TIME.

I asked George about stretching Pogo and he said no probs, could
stretch to 20'. I was thinking of a stretch to 18' and fitting a 3 HP
air cooled Yanmar marine diesel I picked up some years ago. That would
make a very nice little boat.

Pogo displaces some 2300 lbs. Trailerable, sure, but no lightweight.

PDW