January 1 - It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...

New Year's Day, 2008. About 48 weeks ago we were on the rocks,
literally and figuratively, due to a wreck which threatened our very
way of life as we'd planned it. About 8 weeks ago, we were on the
rocks figuratively, due to a personal challenge which threatened our
very way of life, at least as I'd envisioned it.

In between, we recovered from the wreck, rebuilding our home and
beginning our voyage. At the end, we rebuilt our lives, to very
positive effect. Like my sig line says, every problem has a gift in
its hands. While I can't take credit for that, we've certainly proven
the theory!

This past year has been one of chaos, joy, anger, frustration,
despair, redemption, adventure and, above all, love.

Love has come from all sides and some of the most unexpected
directions. We've made so many new friends, and found so many more
that we didn't even know knew we existed, let alone that they'd go out
of their way to help us, either in need, or just "because" - usually
as a product of having read about us in this and/or Lydia's log
postings - that it would be difficult to count them. Words fail me; it
suffices, I hope, to say that we are eternally grateful to each and
every one.

In addition, along the way, we've had the occasion to reciprocate (not
directly, necessarily, but sometimes), having just the needed part or
advice or hands or all of them. Being the eldest in the birth order of
5, my natural inclination is to be the helper and fixer, and so I very
much enjoy being able to help others out of jams they're not yet
comfortable solving, or having the experience, the right tool I'll
loan or give them, or spare part that I'll give them, or in other ways
assist their progress.

However, we'd have to say that we've been massively blessed, and are
definitely in the deficit column, despite our lifelong habit of paying
it forward. Cruisers and friends of cruisers, personal friends and
friends of friends, and even support groups born out of those who have
watched us over the internet have come to our aid, again and again.
You know who you are - I'll not name names, not only out of protecting
your charity, but because I'm certain I'd leave some out, because
there's so many! - and we thank you, again.

This year has seen us go around the extremes of Florida, all the way
to New York City, and back down. Later today, we'll go to the last
large metropolitan area in the East Coast of Florida by sailing
overnight to Miami on the coattails of a strong northerly wind. That
will conclude a journey of some thousands of miles in less than a
year. That journey has included long stops in some places, usually to
work on the things that have needed shaking down in this, our
shakedown cruise. Fortunately and blessedly, our breakdowns have
become so infrequent as to be of little note, especially since they're
usually, now, so small.

Yesterday I spent several hours under the boat, connected to my hookah
rig which allows me the same ability to remain under as would be the
case with a SCUBA rig, but no bottle, instead relying on an oil-less
air pump. In my time down there, I did major physical therapy for my
right shoulder, the main reason for having bought the hookah. However,
in the process, I also cleaned the entire starboard side of the very
small accumulation of easy-to-brush-off growth, and also cleaned and
freed up (so they'll rotate, giving us the information as they move
through the water) the impellers for our speed instruments. They'd
grown grass and a few barnacles from our time at the dock in St.
Simons Island. Once we're in reliably warm water, I hope to use the
hookah every day for physical therapy. Once we're in good fishing
waters, I hope to use it for dinner!

As our travels and travails are pretty well documented in prior log
postings, I'll not repeat them here, but just say that it's been a
great adventure, and we've had a blast, after all has been said and
done. That there were terrifying times, angry times, frustrating
times, chaotic times, and many other less-than-"perfect" times doesn't
change the fact that in the end, it was joyful, blissful,
exhilarating, fun, and above all, a great adventure.

Our adventure will take a different turn for the first half of this
year, however, as we're going to Miami in order to close out our
medical insurance afforded under COBRA from Lydia's prior employment.
We'll have some tests and followups as needed while still covered with
insurance.

While we're there, we expect to have guests aboard fairly frequently,
doing as much sailing in the great sailing area, particularly at that
time of year, with usually brisk winds, as possible, and further
shaking down our boat. In particular, we want to get very familiar
with our new sails and sail track system.

We'll also be doing minor boat chores, including lots of sewing, and
installation, repair and replacement of various systems or
instruments, as able, while we're on a friend's mooring off the Miami
Yacht Club.

Then, in mid-March, we'll get off the boat until mid-June to early
July. We'll be doing shoreside family stuff, celebrating ancient
birthdays, new births, and a graduation, among others. We'll put the
boat on the ground, at a place not yet selected, as we're unwilling to
leave it in the water, where and however for that length of time,
while we're ashore. Likely we'll be north of here ("here" being Lake
Worth, a very common staging ground for boats going to the Bahamas,
between Palm Beach and West Palm Beach), as marina and storage prices
here are orders of magnitude higher than elsewhere. Then, when we come
back, we'll resume our waterborne lives.

At this point, we have the luxury of no schedules (other than the need
to be on the ground in mid-March), and no itineraries, so we have not
yet decided where we'll go when we return. One possibility will be to
jump into the Gulf Stream and head as far north as we are comfortable,
likely Maine, and work our way south, chasing (or staying in) the warm
weather and water. If we do that, we'll take advantage of the lack of
schedule to tour some of the countless areas we jumped over on the way
up and down last year.

Another possibility will be to go south (from wherever we put the
boat) again, and make the jump over to the Bahamas and begin our
Eastern Caribbean lives by easing our way down the Bahamas chain,
thence eventually to get to Venezuela. If that's the way we go, likely
we'll not be back in these waters again unless it's to sell the boat...

So, in the darkness of the first morning in the year, I'm looking
ahead. Nearly certainly, this coming year will have many adventures
for us aboard Flying Pig - but our journeying will be delayed until
about the second half of the year.

I'll post again after we reach Miami. The weather forecasts (well, you
know how we feel about the accuracy of those available to us, but
they've been saying essentially the same thing for more than a week,
so it seems reasonable to expect some congruence between the forecast
and the reality) have it as a marvelous, rollicking run from here to
Miami. We'll leave before dark, to get outside the entrance in
daylight, and pull into the Port of Miami, likely, while it's still
dark. From there we'll go to our mooring and commence local sailing!

Stay tuned for the reality of the trip...

L8R

Skip

Morgan 461 #2
SV Flying Pig KI4MPC
See our galleries at www.justpickone.org/skip/gallery !
Follow us at http://groups.google.com/group/flyingpiglog and/or
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheFlyingPigLog

"You are never given a wish without also being given the power to
make it come true. You may have to work for it however."
(and)
"There is no such thing as a problem without a gift for you in its
hands. You seek problems because you need their gifts."
(Richard Bach, in The Reluctant Messiah)

Skip Gundlach wrote:

As our travels and travails are pretty well documented....
..... That there were terrifying times, angry times, frustrating
times, chaotic times, and many other less-than-"perfect" times doesn't
change the fact that in the end, it was joyful, blissful,
exhilarating, fun, and above all, a great adventure.


Things never work out as planned, but it's nice when things work out
about as well or better than you planned, in the end. Glad to hear
that you've recovered from the wrecks and are moving onward. Right now
we're hunkered down for this freeze + nor'easter just a ways south of
you all.

One thing I'm curious about and haven't seen you mention- you had a
molded lapstrake pulling boat (a 12-footer IIRC), are you using that
for a dinghy?

I've seen the hookah style underwater breathing apparatus in use a few
times by fellow cruisers, that seems like a great tool for working
under the boat. We plan to get one in the near future.



I'll post again after we reach Miami. The weather forecasts (well, you
know how we feel about the accuracy of those available to us, but
they've been saying essentially the same thing for more than a week,
so it seems reasonable to expect some congruence between the forecast
and the reality)

Hate to disagree, but usually we get a pretty good forecast... I'd say
that over the past year of daily tallying forecasts with short term
(24 hour) results, the forecasters are pretty close 80% of the time
and right on about 50% of the time. Kind of like the tide
predictions.... they're not perfectly congruent to the real world but
they're close enough to provide a workable tool for day-to-day cruise
planning.

... have it as a marvelous, rollicking run from here to
Miami. We'll leave before dark, to get outside the entrance in
daylight, and pull into the Port of Miami, likely, while it's still
dark. From there we'll go to our mooring and commence local sailing!

Stay tuned for the reality of the trip...


I can understand your wanting to get south away from a hard freeze,
but setting off in front of a predicted 30 knot nor'easter.... which
will be blowing against the Gulf Stream to boot... may be on the hairy
side. We're staying put until probably Thursday or maybe even Friday,
and we're going all the way "inside".

Hope you have a good safe run down the coast!

Fresh Breezes- Doug King

Captain Lydia .. and crewmate Skip,,

You two sure have had a ride.

Since you have until March until you go land bound, why not take a trip to
the Bahama's and back.
From what I read on the net, many of the sailors head over at this time of
year. I guess the trick is
to wait for the right weather window, and then the fleet sails.

I'm not sure where you are right now, but from what I read, Indiantown
Marina is a good spot to
leave a boat out of the water for storage and refit time.

Let's hope 08 keeps you happy, healthy, and interesting.

You are not the only one who ever got depressed, my boat is under the snow,
and that is
really depressing!

Keep posting with all the ups and downs.. it drives that Wilbur character
nuts.

====
"Skip Gundlach" wrote in message
...
January 1 - It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...

New Year's Day, 2008. About 48 weeks ago we were on the rocks,
literally and figuratively, due to a wreck which threatened our very
way of life as we'd planned it. About 8 weeks ago, we were on the
rocks figuratively, due to a personal challenge which threatened our
very way of life, at least as I'd envisioned it.

In between, we recovered from the wreck, rebuilding our home and
beginning our voyage. At the end, we rebuilt our lives, to very
positive effect. Like my sig line says, every problem has a gift in
its hands. While I can't take credit for that, we've certainly proven
the theory!

This past year has been one of chaos, joy, anger, frustration,
despair, redemption, adventure and, above all, love.

Love has come from all sides and some of the most unexpected
directions. We've made so many new friends, and found so many more
that we didn't even know knew we existed, let alone that they'd go out
of their way to help us, either in need, or just "because" - usually
as a product of having read about us in this and/or Lydia's log
postings - that it would be difficult to count them. Words fail me; it
suffices, I hope, to say that we are eternally grateful to each and
every one.

In addition, along the way, we've had the occasion to reciprocate (not
directly, necessarily, but sometimes), having just the needed part or
advice or hands or all of them. Being the eldest in the birth order of
5, my natural inclination is to be the helper and fixer, and so I very
much enjoy being able to help others out of jams they're not yet
comfortable solving, or having the experience, the right tool I'll
loan or give them, or spare part that I'll give them, or in other ways
assist their progress.

However, we'd have to say that we've been massively blessed, and are
definitely in the deficit column, despite our lifelong habit of paying
it forward. Cruisers and friends of cruisers, personal friends and
friends of friends, and even support groups born out of those who have
watched us over the internet have come to our aid, again and again.
You know who you are - I'll not name names, not only out of protecting
your charity, but because I'm certain I'd leave some out, because
there's so many! - and we thank you, again.

This year has seen us go around the extremes of Florida, all the way
to New York City, and back down. Later today, we'll go to the last
large metropolitan area in the East Coast of Florida by sailing
overnight to Miami on the coattails of a strong northerly wind. That
will conclude a journey of some thousands of miles in less than a
year. That journey has included long stops in some places, usually to
work on the things that have needed shaking down in this, our
shakedown cruise. Fortunately and blessedly, our breakdowns have
become so infrequent as to be of little note, especially since they're
usually, now, so small.

Yesterday I spent several hours under the boat, connected to my hookah
rig which allows me the same ability to remain under as would be the
case with a SCUBA rig, but no bottle, instead relying on an oil-less
air pump. In my time down there, I did major physical therapy for my
right shoulder, the main reason for having bought the hookah. However,
in the process, I also cleaned the entire starboard side of the very
small accumulation of easy-to-brush-off growth, and also cleaned and
freed up (so they'll rotate, giving us the information as they move
through the water) the impellers for our speed instruments. They'd
grown grass and a few barnacles from our time at the dock in St.
Simons Island. Once we're in reliably warm water, I hope to use the
hookah every day for physical therapy. Once we're in good fishing
waters, I hope to use it for dinner!

As our travels and travails are pretty well documented in prior log
postings, I'll not repeat them here, but just say that it's been a
great adventure, and we've had a blast, after all has been said and
done. That there were terrifying times, angry times, frustrating
times, chaotic times, and many other less-than-"perfect" times doesn't
change the fact that in the end, it was joyful, blissful,
exhilarating, fun, and above all, a great adventure.

Our adventure will take a different turn for the first half of this
year, however, as we're going to Miami in order to close out our
medical insurance afforded under COBRA from Lydia's prior employment.
We'll have some tests and followups as needed while still covered with
insurance.

While we're there, we expect to have guests aboard fairly frequently,
doing as much sailing in the great sailing area, particularly at that
time of year, with usually brisk winds, as possible, and further
shaking down our boat. In particular, we want to get very familiar
with our new sails and sail track system.

We'll also be doing minor boat chores, including lots of sewing, and
installation, repair and replacement of various systems or
instruments, as able, while we're on a friend's mooring off the Miami
Yacht Club.

Then, in mid-March, we'll get off the boat until mid-June to early
July. We'll be doing shoreside family stuff, celebrating ancient
birthdays, new births, and a graduation, among others. We'll put the
boat on the ground, at a place not yet selected, as we're unwilling to
leave it in the water, where and however for that length of time,
while we're ashore. Likely we'll be north of here ("here" being Lake
Worth, a very common staging ground for boats going to the Bahamas,
between Palm Beach and West Palm Beach), as marina and storage prices
here are orders of magnitude higher than elsewhere. Then, when we come
back, we'll resume our waterborne lives.

At this point, we have the luxury of no schedules (other than the need
to be on the ground in mid-March), and no itineraries, so we have not
yet decided where we'll go when we return. One possibility will be to
jump into the Gulf Stream and head as far north as we are comfortable,
likely Maine, and work our way south, chasing (or staying in) the warm
weather and water. If we do that, we'll take advantage of the lack of
schedule to tour some of the countless areas we jumped over on the way
up and down last year.

Another possibility will be to go south (from wherever we put the
boat) again, and make the jump over to the Bahamas and begin our
Eastern Caribbean lives by easing our way down the Bahamas chain,
thence eventually to get to Venezuela. If that's the way we go, likely
we'll not be back in these waters again unless it's to sell the boat...

So, in the darkness of the first morning in the year, I'm looking
ahead. Nearly certainly, this coming year will have many adventures
for us aboard Flying Pig - but our journeying will be delayed until
about the second half of the year.

I'll post again after we reach Miami. The weather forecasts (well, you
know how we feel about the accuracy of those available to us, but
they've been saying essentially the same thing for more than a week,
so it seems reasonable to expect some congruence between the forecast
and the reality) have it as a marvelous, rollicking run from here to
Miami. We'll leave before dark, to get outside the entrance in
daylight, and pull into the Port of Miami, likely, while it's still
dark. From there we'll go to our mooring and commence local sailing!

Stay tuned for the reality of the trip...

L8R

Skip

Morgan 461 #2
SV Flying Pig KI4MPC
See our galleries at www.justpickone.org/skip/gallery !
Follow us at http://groups.google.com/group/flyingpiglog and/or
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheFlyingPigLog

"You are never given a wish without also being given the power to
make it come true. You may have to work for it however."
(and)
"There is no such thing as a problem without a gift for you in its
hands. You seek problems because you need their gifts."
(Richard Bach, in The Reluctant Messiah)

On Tue, 1 Jan 2008 07:10:36 -0800 (PST), wrote:

I've seen the hookah style underwater breathing apparatus in use a few
times by fellow cruisers, that seems like a great tool for working
under the boat. We plan to get one in the near future.

I built one last year for a fairly reasonable cost and it works well.
Key ingredients a

1. An oil free compressor.
http://www.toolbarn.com/product/thomas/1020-T/

2. A 6 ft high temperature "heater hose" with filter screen and quick
connect. Special order from Brownie's http://www.browniedive.com

3. A 50 ft extension hose with quick connects (any dive shop).

4. An inexpensive 2nd stage (low pressure) regulator (any dive shop).

In addition you'll need a weight belt, mask and an inexpensive wet
suit with hood. A suction cup gripping device is also useful.

The Thomas compressor is 110 volt and can be run from either an
inverter or generator. It has other useful purposes such as
re-inflating fenders and blowing out clogged lines.

Roger ,, one big problem for "us"...

YOu freeze to death before you drown, wet suit or not!

I'd love to see some of these warm weather divers jump into the Gulf of
Maine..


=======


"Roger Long" wrote in message
...
It probably wouldn't hurt to add a few lessons at a Scuba shop to that
list if you aren't already certified. I believe you can damage your lungs
from depths less than the draft of the average cruising boat if you forget
to exhale on the way up.

--
Roger Long

On Tue, 01 Jan 2008 18:12:09 GMT, "Sir Thomas of Cannondale"
wrote:

I'd love to see some of these warm weather divers jump into the Gulf of
Maine..

The problem is with spelling:

"Gulf of Mexico" not "Gulf of Maine".

We hired a diver in Bar Harbor two years ago and he was *not* using an
inexpensive wet suit. In fact it looked suitable (no pun intended)
for an artic expedition.

Wayne :::::;:::::::::::::::::::::::

IT WAS AN ARCTIC EXPEDITION!

IT IS MAINE..

WE HAVE TWO SEASONS; WINTER AND BLACK FLY.

==============================================
"Wayne.B" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 01 Jan 2008 18:12:09 GMT, "Sir Thomas of Cannondale"
wrote:

I'd love to see some of these warm weather divers jump into the Gulf of
Maine..

The problem is with spelling:

"Gulf of Mexico" not "Gulf of Maine".

We hired a diver in Bar Harbor two years ago and he was *not* using an
inexpensive wet suit. In fact it looked suitable (no pun intended)
for an artic expedition.

On Tue, 1 Jan 2008 13:01:45 -0500, "Roger Long"
wrote:

It probably wouldn't hurt to add a few lessons at a Scuba shop to that list
if you aren't already certified. I believe you can damage your lungs from
depths less than the draft of the average cruising boat if you forget to
exhale on the way up.

At my age, forgetting to breathe is not usually a problem. I spent
some time practicing in the swimming pool before taking the big
plunge.

I've heard 6 feet mentioned as a critical depth. Unless I go to the
bottom of the keel for some reason, I'm usually at no more than 2 or 3
feet under - just about the right depth for cutting lobster pot lines
off of the prop shafts. ;-)

I worry more about getting smacked on top of the head by the boat.

Hi, Doug, and list,

On Jan 1, 10:10 am, wrote:
Skip Gundlach wrote:

As our travels and travails are pretty well documented....
..... That there were terrifying times, angry times, frustrating
times, chaotic times, and many other less-than-"perfect" times doesn't
change the fact that in the end, it was joyful, blissful,
exhilarating, fun, and above all, a great adventure.

Things never work out as planned, but it's nice when things work out
about as well or better than you planned, in the end. Glad to hear
that you've recovered from the wrecks and are moving onward. Right now
we're hunkered down for this freeze + nor'easter just a ways south of
you all.

One thing I'm curious about and haven't seen you mention- you had a
molded lapstrake pulling boat (a 12-footer IIRC), are you using that
for a dinghy?

If, by "pulling" boat you mean rower, I don't have one of those.
Memory fails me if it was you who was building a 20 pound carbon fiber
rowing dink, but at that time I'd been considering a Little River
Marine 12' Heritage for a dink. I never owned one...

That it's strictly displacement, and 2HP max, has ruled that out for
our purposes. We have a new 10' PortaBote which I've modified to take
rowing sculls (10' carbon fiber oars, and appropriate rowlocks, but
still floppy sides to the PB) and which uses a 6HP very effectively.
Our day-to-day, davits-slung, dink is a Walker Bay "rib" (same basic
material as their "hard bottom" boats, but with tubes around) with an
ancient 15HP 2-stroke. The oars and its rowing characteristics are
strictly from hunger, but otherwise we're very pleased with it.

All that said, LRM now makes all of their Heritage line (also) in
single hull models, making them very much lighter. For those
preferring a rowing environment, only, they are stellar boats to that
purpose, and the 15 and 18 models are available as doubles (convert to
either one or two people rowing), fixed or sliding seat (cost is an
issue for us; if we were to go to that cost, we'd get the sliding
seat, as it's orders of magnitude more efficient for propulsion and
overall workout; only someone with leg problems wouldn't benefit from
that sort of exercise). I grumble when I row the PB but dealing with
a sliding seat aboard (which didn't live in the - in the case of the
PB - opened boat) wasn't an option.


I've seen the hookah style underwater breathing apparatus in use a few
times by fellow cruisers, that seems like a great tool for working
under the boat. We plan to get one in the near future.

We bought the one which is electric, because it takes up very little
room. It, the two hoses and all the associated hardware, and our dive
gear all fit in a standard dive bag. The power for it is a Honda
EU2000i which we have for "emergency" charging (such as today, when I
discovered I'd left the charger on overnight after taking advantage of
"shore power" to run 110V items in the boat as well as the hookah pump
and the recursive loop in the inverter pulled us down to 65%
overnight) and power tools ashore.

Folks chatted up about them, before my purchase, were usually negative
about any hookah, saying they didn't get used, usually, and therefore
sold. However, those who have and use them are very glad to have
them. That said, there are usually some available on various used
gear forums, craigslist, SSCA and the like



I'll post again after we reach Miami. The weather forecasts (well, you
know how we feel about the accuracy of those available to us, but
they've been saying essentially the same thing for more than a week,
so it seems reasonable to expect some congruence between the forecast
and the reality)

Hate to disagree, but usually we get a pretty good forecast... I'd say
that over the past year of daily tallying forecasts with short term
(24 hour) results, the forecasters are pretty close 80% of the time
and right on about 50% of the time. Kind of like the tide
predictions.... they're not perfectly congruent to the real world but
they're close enough to provide a workable tool for day-to-day cruise
planning.

Heh. We are just very skilled at finding the 20 and 50 percent,
apparently. The downside (not enough in the forecast) got us on the
rocks the first time, and henceforth, it was either way lighter than
forecast, or way stronger in an entirely different direction. Our
frustrations usually lay with the forecasted stronger winds which in
RL were nearly nonexistent...


... have it as a marvelous, rollicking run from here to
Miami. We'll leave before dark, to get outside the entrance in
daylight, and pull into the Port of Miami, likely, while it's still
dark. From there we'll go to our mooring and commence local sailing!

Stay tuned for the reality of the trip...

I can understand your wanting to get south away from a hard freeze,
but setting off in front of a predicted 30 knot nor'easter.... which
will be blowing against the Gulf Stream to boot... may be on the hairy
side. We're staying put until probably Thursday or maybe even Friday,
and we're going all the way "inside".

Hope you have a good safe run down the coast!

Thanks. We're not going near the Stream. It will truly be a mess in
that time - forecasts in the stream call for 15-18 feet after
midnight, with gale gusts. We'll hug the coast where it's forecast for
20K, 3-5', and by late dark-morning/midnight+, potential 40 gusts.

As of this minute, we're considering sailing down the ICW, which will
take longer, of course, but if the wind holds, could be done. I have
less than no enthusiasm for driving this boat to Miami! :{)) - but if
we have consistent 15+ winds in any of the directions forecast, it's
do-able, bridges being a serious nuisance, but not a problem...


Fresh Breezes- Doug King


L8R

Skip

Morgan 461 #2
SV Flying Pig KI4MPC
See our galleries at www.justpickone.org/skip/gallery !
Follow us at http://groups.google.com/group/flyingpiglog and/or
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheFlyingPigLog

"You are never given a wish without also being given the power to
make it come true. You may have to work for it however."
(and)
"There is no such thing as a problem without a gift for you in its
hands. You seek problems because you need their gifts."
(Richard Bach, in The Reluctant Messiah)

We just came back from a chilly walk and watched the boats anchored
out in St. Augustine's harbor bouncing around, can't imagine being
offshore today... actually I can imagine it quite well, and would even
consider it fun in a daysailer or racing class boat, for a few hours,
but not for a long run and especially not in a vessel that was also my
home! I hope that Skip will reply from Miami after a great run, being
already south of us, or that they're snug "inside" somewhere.


One thing I'm curious about and haven't seen you mention- you had a
molded lapstrake pulling boat (a 12-footer IIRC), are you using that
for a dinghy?

Skip Gundlach wrote:
If, by "pulling" boat you mean rower, I don't have one of those.
Memory fails me if it was you who was building a 20 pound carbon fiber
rowing dink, but at that time I'd been considering a Little River
Marine 12' Heritage for a dink. I never owned one...


Ah so, my mistake, thought you did have one. There were a bunch at a
rowing event on the Tennessee River. There are a number of things I
don't like about the boat but apparently they've caught on.


....We have a new 10' PortaBote which I've modified to take
rowing sculls (10' carbon fiber oars, and appropriate rowlocks, but
still floppy sides to the PB) and which uses a 6HP very effectively.
Our day-to-day, davits-slung, dink is a Walker Bay "rib" (same basic
material as their "hard bottom" boats, but with tubes around) with an
ancient 15HP 2-stroke. The oars and its rowing characteristics are
strictly from hunger, but otherwise we're very pleased with it.


Y'know, everybody says "all *serious* cruisers have an RIB with *at
least* a 10hp outboard. When you all have some experience, you'll get
one too." I guess my 40 years of experience isn't enough? I suspect
that my temperament is far different from most "serious cruisers" and
we have done very well with our rowing-only dink.

All that said, LRM now makes all of their Heritage line (also) in
single hull models, making them very much lighter.

They're great at marketing but frankly I am not impressed with their
design or boatbuilding. They could make the boats much lighter &
stiffer if they wanted to. I spoke with them by phone and in person
(at a boat show) about building a semi-custom boat out of their molds
for me, but they really had no interest.

It's nice to see a boat like that become popular, but I also hope that
some of the folks who like them will go a bit further into the sport
and see what a real Whitehall (or any other classic *working* pulling
skiff) is/was like.


.... we'd get the sliding
seat, as it's orders of magnitude more efficient for propulsion and
overall workout; only someone with leg problems wouldn't benefit from
that sort of exercise).

Me too, except that it's not an option for a working tender/dinghy and
wouldn't be practical on a 9' LOA anyway.

It would be awesome if we could have a workaday dinghy, a speedy RIB
for long-distance grocery or snorkeling runs, and a sporty rowing boat
for exploring. Then two Lasers for fun sailing. Let's see, I need
about a 55' cruiser!!


Thanks. We're not going near the Stream. It will truly be a mess in
that time - forecasts in the stream call for 15-18 feet after
midnight, with gale gusts. We'll hug the coast where it's forecast for
20K, 3-5', and by late dark-morning/midnight+, potential 40 gusts.


That sounds ugly enough that it would keep me in port... in fact it
*is* keeping us in port!
Call us wimps

As of this minute, we're considering sailing down the ICW, which will
take longer, of course, but if the wind holds, could be done. I have
less than no enthusiasm for driving this boat to Miami! :{)) - but if
we have consistent 15+ winds in any of the directions forecast, it's
do-able, bridges being a serious nuisance, but not a problem...


Right, the ditch is far less fun for most of this stretch and
troublesome for a boat like yours... we go right under most bridges
and have yet to run aground in the ICW (we have bumped occasionally
when exploring off the chart).

Anyway am looking forward to hearing from you all. Maybe our paths
will cross.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King