On Thu, 9 Nov 2006 18:42:57 -0500, "Scotty"
wrote:

charlie morgan is another piece of ****, white trash, scum
sucking troll.

I would prefer you take a more balanced approach and list some of his
bad points as well.

Jeff wrote in
:

Daysailing from City Island does not make you an expert on offshore
cruising in Western Australia.



I've never been offshore of Western Oz, either, but I've heard the
screaming for help on the HF marine band when propagation is right....

I wouldn't want to be in anything but a real HEAVY cruiser out there....


Larry
--
Halloween candy left over.....
Is there a downside?

Wayne.B wrote:
On Thu, 09 Nov 2006 23:37:38 GMT, wrote:


A Canadian Navy frigate is presently on its way to rescue another Canadian
Sailboat at about 650 miles south of Yarmouth Nova Scotia. It is reported
that the winds are very strong and the sea rough enough for the Frigate to
use storm tactics and to proceed with caution.


This is a really lousy time of year to be on the North Atlantic. I
can't understand why people do it. Taking the Chesapeake and ICW to
Beaufort, NC is a much safer route south, but you still need a decent
weather window to leave from there.


Nova Scotia is about equal distance from Bermuda as is the coastline of
the US. Simpliest and fastest way is just to sail due south....assuming
you don't run into heavy weather.

Hi Skip, good to be able to "talk" to you again.

Skip Gundlach wrote:
Dan, please share your technique for re-entry on snorkeling,...

Entering from the water:
First, take your weight belt off if you are wearing one (us fat people
find it easier to snorkel while wearing enough weight to make us
neutrally buoyant) and drop it over the side into the Bote and swim up
to the bow of the boat. Position yourself just to one side or the other
of the bow, not straight on.

Method 1: (I use this one) Reach up and over the side of the boat and
grab the black rail of the far side as far aft as you can reach with the
near hand (I board the stbd side, so facing aft, that is my right hand
grabbing the port rail). Let yourself slip back down into the water and
with a big scissor kick while pulling up, lift your chest up over the
near rail. Readjust your reach so that you are once again grabbing the
opposite rail as far aft as you can and with a little scissor kick and
pulling the far rail, slither further into the boat until you are laying
face down on the seats. Turn over and take your fins off.

Method 2: (my wife uses this one - might have something to do with
having breasts). Take one fin off while still in the water, tie a loop
into the bow line to place your foot into to use as a step and proceed
as in method one.

Note: do not pull on the near rail. This places way too much force on
the pin that holds the forward seat in place.

Do you carry yours assembled..

No, never. We do tow it a lot if we are just doing a day sail to the
next anchorage. Only once did this cause a problem when the wind and
waves got to the point where it started surfing down the waves and
taking on water when it buried its bow into the next wave. Experience
will tell you when to tow and when to recover it onto deck. This photo
shows it with the cover we made for it and how we stored it on the stbd
side of the deck, on the coachroof:
http://dsbestone.home.comcast.net/03-Cruising.jpg This worked really
well for us.

if not, how do you deal with limited flat space for assembly

1 - Remove forward stbd dorade vent cowling (if we don't, things can
catch on it).
2 - Adjust the staysail topping lift so that the top of the staysail as
it sits on the staysail boom with the cover on
(http://dsbestone.home.comcast.net/19-Chute.jpg might help you visualize
this) is at the same height as the lifelines.
3 - Untie the Bote from the strong points that it is secured to.
4 - Tie the end of the spinnaker halyard onto the balance point of the
Porta-Bote and lift it about a foot into the air.
5 - Swing it forward and around and drop it so that the bow hangs over
the port lifeline, the center of the boat sits on the staysail and leave
enough room at the stern of the Bote so that you can get past it.
6 - With one person on each side of the Bote, remove the spin. halyard,
untie the sail tie holding the boat in the folded position and unfold
the bote, placing the center seat into position. This step can be done
alone, but is much easier with two people. It is the only step in the
assembly that is significantly faster with a helper.
7 - Insert the forward and aft seats.
8 - Install the transom.
9 - Slide the bote over the stbd lifeline, aft first into the water.
This usually results in a quart or two of water getting in the boat - no
big deal.
10 - Tie the bote up along side and put the oars, gas tank and bailer
into it.
11 - Get into the boat, extend the center bails of all three seats into
position so the bottom of the hull now has a slight V shape. You can do
this before launching the bote, but it is much easier waiting until it
is in the water.
12 - Take the bote back to the outboard hoist and with one of you
working the hoist and one in the bote, lower the outboard (we use a
Mercury 4-stroke 6HP) into place.

Note that I tried to be as detailed as possible in my description. As a
result, it looks like a complicated procedure. In reality, it is
simplicity itself, requires no heavy musculature effort and about the
3rd time you do it, you find that it only takes a few minutes.

where do you stow seats/transom?

The stern and center seats stow under the bote on the coach roof.
During short passages (up to a week), the transom stows just forward of
the dodger If you look closely in this photo, you can see it up the
http://triciajean192.home.comcast.ne...2-05-04-07.JPG
The forward seat would stow on the port side of the coachroof, opposite
the Bote and just forward of the life raft. On long passages, the
transom and forward seat would be stowed inside in the quarter berth.

How's the black marking from the tubes been?

This was never a problem.

Problems we had:
- As you know, we had to have new seats made when the original ones
failed (I understand that Porta-Bote has redesigned them, but I have
never seen or used the new ones, so I can't comment on them). One was
made from Mahogany in La Paz and the other two from a local wood in El
Salvadore. All were painted white and as far as I am concerned, this is
the only way to go. Those black plastic seats would get real hot in the
tropical sun.

- The flotation foam along the inside rails deteriorated badly in the
sun. Another boat made covers for theirs and I wish we had.

- The oars that came with the boat failed (one blade broke while pulling
through some surf an the other slowly deformed into a cupped shape).
Also, the fittings on the oars rusted badly. We replaced them with
these
(http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs...allpartial/0/0)
and liked them a lot even though the springs in the gizmos that make
them adjustable rusted out to nothing. We replaced the gizmos with SS
bolts and thumbscrews and had no further problems.

- Several of the pop rivets holding the oarlocks and seat brackets
failed. They were replaced with SS bolts and nuts without further problem.

- Our transom is now severely warped and I will be making a new one
before we go out again. I understand that they now ship a foam filled
plastic one. Ours is plywood with flotation foam glued to one side.

I want to stress that the problems we and others experienced are just
the sort of normal stuff that you have to deal with while cruising and
none of them were show stoppers. In our minds, the benefits of the
Porta-Bote far outweigh the problems.

Final note.
We started with a 3.5 hp 2-stroke Nissan. This worked OK, but with both
of in the bote, was kinda slow. While in Zihuatanejo, we bought the
Merc 6HP 4-stroke. At 55 lbs, this outboard is actually a couple of
pounds above the max recommended weight (53 lbs). Coupled with the fact
that I am a big guy meant that when just sitting still in the water, we
didn't have a whole lot of freeboard at the transom (when I remake it, I
think I will be able to get an inch or two more). However, we liked
this outboard so much that when it got stolen in El Salvador, we bought
another identical one the first chance we had (Costa Rica). With just
one of us, it would get up on a full plane and really fly along. With
both of plus stuff in the Bote, it almost planed and went what we felt
was plenty fast for getting around. Fast enough that we would take it
exploring up to about 5 miles away from the boat. BTW, we also added
the Davis Doel wing
(http://www.davisnet.com/marine/produ....asp?grp=m18-2)
which resulted in a noticable performance increase.

On Fri, 10 Nov 2006 04:15:06 GMT, Don White
wrote:

Nova Scotia is about equal distance from Bermuda as is the coastline of
the US. Simpliest and fastest way is just to sail due south....assuming
you don't run into heavy weather.

Bad assumption this time of year. Those cold fronts and low pressure
systems keep rolling out of the north east just like clockwork. No
thanks, there's no where to hide once you're out there.

Dan Best wrote in news:455411f5$0$34580
:

if not, how do you deal with limited flat space for assembly


On Lionheart, we store the Portabote flat against the port rail, out of
the way, upside down so it drains. Lionheart has solid handrails,
though, so this might not work for others.

To assemble, clip a mast halyard to the yoke on the bow of the Bote.
Take a couple of turns around one of the self-tailing mast winches to use
for a brake then around the anchor windlass drum, because I'm lazy and
like electrical power gadgets (Tool Time, Ar, Ar!) Winch the Bote bow up
until the stern is just clear the deck, hanging from the mast. Fold her
out inserting stern/seats and bolt them all down so she looks like a boat
hanging from a mast.

Swing her out over the handrail, right side up, of course, and release
the halyard around the winch to ease her into the water. If you're
docked, you can release the halyard clip as she goes over and switch to
the bow dockline we leave on her so you can walk her around aft to the
boarding ladder to load her up. We keep her motor by the boarding ladder
and use the mizzen boom for a motor lift which drops her motor right onto
her stern so easy...(c; The mizzen boom also makes a great sea painter
to hold her away from the hull if you're anchored out and don't want her
banging the hull, waking you up. Just trail her out behind the boom in
any current/wind, but close enough to board.

By the way, that was MY idea of building her and taking her apart hauled
up the mast....(c; It's so easy to hold her off the rail while bringing
her aboard without straining anything. A piece of tape around the
halyard where it goes around the winch resets the proper length so when
you ease her aboard she ends up stern 6" off the deck so you don't
scratch up the pretty gelcoat while laying her against the forward end of
the mast. One can do it, but it's almost sinfully easy with two. After
all, someone has got to press the UP button on the windlass, right?...(c;



Larry
--
Halloween candy left over.....
Is there a downside?

"Skip Gundlach" wrote:


Dan, please share your technique for re-entry on snorkeling, as I'd
sure love to be able to use ours as our snorkeling vehicle, too, and
not just the sports car of the dinks.

Ditto. When I tried to get in from the water, I swamped it
completely.

Do you carry yours assembled, or, if not, how do you deal with limited
flat space for assembly - and where do you stow it and the
seats/transom? How's the black marking from the tubes been?

We stow ours along the lifelines folded - people think it is a
surfboard. Bob made a Sunbrella bag for the seats and transom, with a
smaller drawstring bag attached for the little screws etc. We just
put the bag on the deck somewhere and tie it down. It doesn't have to
be a flat part of the deck.

We can assemble it on the foredeck (2 of us) without too much problem,
but most of the time we do it on the dock before we are going to use
it.

I thought long and hard about buying the Porta bote and finally got to
try a friends early in the season. Here's what I found compared to my
inflatable:

1) Porta Bote has far more performance per HP. Even a 4HP really moves
it nicely.
2) Far more stable than typical hard dinks.
3) Folds flat, but not easily hidden, even on our 35.5 footer.
4) 10 foot model is fine for 2 people and some gear, but 3 people is
pretty much the limit.
5) Sets up in about half the time it takes to inflate typical
inflatables.
6) More space inside than inflatable

And the inflatable....
1) Our inflatable requires a 9.9 to come near the performance of the
Porta Bote
2) Our inflatable is far more stable than the porta bote and everyone
has an easy time boarding it compared to the Porta bote.
3) Our inflatable carries more than double what the porta bote can.
Carries 4 good sized people with no problem at all.
4) Our inflatable stowes away completely and easily (air deck), which
is a good thing.
5) The inflatable is better looking. Porta Botes are not attractive.
6) Easier to stow on deck assembled. I didn't try towing the porta
bote.

We are sticking with the inflatable, at least for now! I do see buying
a Porta bote down the road....they are cool for faster runs with little
HP, which is good for occasional fishing.

http://members.aol.com/bobsprit/images/dinkedweb.jpg

We traded the 8 HP for a tiny 3.7 hp. No planning, but easier on my
wife.


Robert
Beneteau First 35s5
NY

"Wayne.B" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 9 Nov 2006 18:42:57 -0500, "Scotty"

wrote:

charlie morgan is another piece of ****, white trash,
scum
sucking troll.

I would prefer you take a more balanced approach and list
some of his
bad points as well.


well, he is fair, he not only attacks the poster but also
the poster's wife and Mother as well.


SBV

wrote:
....
A Canadian Navy frigate is presently on its way to rescue another Canadian
Sailboat at about 650 miles south of Yarmouth Nova Scotia. It is reported
that the winds are very strong and the sea rough enough for the Frigate to
use storm tactics and to proceed with caution. One of the tactics used is to
point into the wind with the engine geared at the proper speed until the
worst is over.

I just received this email from close friends who had spent the summer
in Shelburne, and sewed a new dodger for the boat:

News clipping from Canadian Globe and Mail which details the trial of
our friends from Shelburne. Rochelle 4 is the boat we did all the
sewing for.

According to our sources they were rolled and dismasted in winds 40-50
SE and seas to 24 ft. Sheila broke her arm in the rollover. The boat
was a 47 ft Erickson, flush deck, 80's era substantial IOR offshore
racer. All are experienced sailors. They had put a lot of work into
the boat it is sad to see them have to leave it but in the
circumstances I think it the correct decision.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servl.../National/home

We learned of this as the rescue was happening. Very strange to be
enjoying a nice sail down the Chesapeake while our friends were in a
survival situation.

More later.