jwboatdesigns
09-12-2008, 01:01 PM
Small Boats, Big Adventures.
by
Designer John Welsford, in praise of open boat cruising.
http://www.backyardboatbuilding.org.uk/forums/images/PFyawl.jpgIt was late when we raised the point off the bay where our campsite was to be; a dark smudge almost out of sight in the haze of the hot afternoon. We, that’s my wife Denny, the boat and I, had made about 30 miles that day. We’d stopped off at tiny Maria island for a break about one in the afternoon, a magical place, only a couple of hundred yards long, steep and rocky with the gnarled Pohutukawa trees unique to New Zealand covered in a blaze of red flowers at that time of year. Inaccessible by bigger boats, surrounded by reefs, it has only one beach about a dozen paces long. Perfect for dinghy sailors lunching and skinny-dipping on a day when the sea seemed to be all a glitter with sparkling light on deep blue.
Our course had taken us among islands and along the coast only a couple of hundred yards from the shoreline; apart from when we made the 15 mile jump from our starting point on Slipper Island across Auckland’s Hauraki Gulf to Rangitoto, the big volcanic cone that shelters the inner harbour.
Pathfinder, our borrowed 17ft dinghy of my own design, had given us an unparalleled view of some spectacular scenery. Able to sail in among the reefs and shoals unrestricted because of our manoeuvrability and shallow draft we were able to enjoy a closer view than any of the boats further out and, by hugging the shore out of the tides, we had made a lot faster progress than most would expect.
Good days, good times and good value!
For me, the big cruising yacht went when the family arrived. Like most, there are times when my budget is stretched to pay the utilities, school costs for the kids, groceries, and new tyres for the old car that is the best I can afford. And reading books full of sailing romance and adventure from the local libraries' shelves makes me very discontented with my lot. Being a designer involved in drawing other peoples dream yachts doesn’t help when I’m stuck in the office either!
So we cruise in small boats, as do many of my friends. Little open boats, dinghies by some definitions. The hardened blue water cruiser would view us as a little odd and of no consequence in the real world of cruising. But we have really good fun, and we have adventures that compare in every way with the times had by those on larger craft.
Some of our friends have small boats because of financial considerations, one or two have traded down and prefer the lifestyle and adventure that the open boat offers, some are new to sailing and have, much to their delight, found that they can overnight in what they thought was just something to learn sailing in before they made the big investment in a larger boat. Quite a few have bought or built their open boats specifically as cruisers.
So what is dinghy cruising? More and more people are taking small open boats further than just around the bay, and with good warm sleeping bags, hikers tents and modern camping gear they can be comfortable camping on a beach, or in many cases will rig a tent over the boom and organise the boat for sleeping aboard.
Before even thinking about the boat, there are some decisions to make. Think these ones over --
First, the crew! How many will go with you when you go away for a weekend? A boat suited to a family of five may be very different to a minimum boat for one, even a couples boat will be quite a lot bigger than the chubby little 9 footer that I see my friend Harold cruising and sleeping aboard.
Second, do you want to sleep aboard, or take a tent ashore? The latter makes the choices a lot easier as there is not the need for enough flat space in the boat for the skipper and crew.
Third, how far do you want to go? Range is a function of speed, and the amount of stores and equipment that the boat will carry. Note that Englishman Frank Dye and his paratrooper crew sailed his Wayfarer dinghy from the United Kingdom to Iceland and, on another “outing”, across to Norway. We are not looking at such voyages here but I mention Frank's exploits to show that the small boat cruiser can be much more capable than you’d think.
Fourth, what are your home waters like? The Florida Keys in autumn on a good long range weather forecast will be very different to early March on the north western tip of Vancouver Island, for example. One has shallow warm water, relatively small steep waves, temperatures that make wearing clothes mostly a means to keep from being sunburned whereas the other has deep cold water, potentially BIG swells bursting on a steep rocky shore and can require many layers of clothing to stop someone dying of hypothermia.
http://www.backyardboatbuilding.org.uk/forums/images/PFsloop.jpgThese are extremes of course, but it's well worth considering what kind of boat will be successful in the areas where you will be on the water. Go and ask people who are out there, check out the boats that they sail and what’s popular, look into what local designers do, or look into where a designer lives and what their local environment is like.
Having established what is really a job description for the boat, there are some things that any open boat that is going to be used for more than just knocking around the bay on a nice day will need.
Any boat used out of range of the shore in a sudden increase in wind strength must have the rig set up in such a way that it can be reefed at sea. In some small boats with one sail only, that requires the skipper to move right forward to drop, reef, and rehoist the sail and that might not be practical. Two masts is not a silly idea, and some specialised cruising dinghies are set up with a main and mizzen and sometimes a jib as well giving them a wide choice of sail reduction options.
The boat of your choice should be stable, that means stable enough to cope with inattention during a long stint on the helm, stable enough for crew to swap positions from forward hand to helm, stable enough to stand up and handle sails, and stable enough to cope with being very overpowered when caught by a squall. This may be at the expense of speed, and means that what might be a successful racer might not suit a crew wanting to spend a day on board in fairly open waters.
It should be roomy, each person on board should be able to move about, sit in different positions to stretch and change the pressure points. It should be roomy enough to stow a lot of equipment. Comfort can require that you have a fair pile of gear and provisions on board and there needs to be room to stow this without having to climb all over it to work the ship.
Your ideal boat should be capable, that’s generally a matter of good freeboard, high stability, a strong rig, strong fittings, and a design that is intended to cope with real waves and a “bit of a blow”.
A good choice should be able to cope with the worst disaster that you can think of. Usually, that’s being capsized. Look for a boat with lots of buoyancy built in or buoyancy tanks/bags strapped in securely. That buoyancy needs to be distributed in such a way that it enables the boat to be righted and stable enough when swamped to allow the crew to climb aboard and bail her out. I like to try out a new boat by heaving her over and swamping her just off the beach where I have assistance available if I can’t cope. Finding out that you can't right her or bail her out when you are part way across the mouth of an estuary with the tide running is not a good idea.
http://www.backyardboatbuilding.org.uk/forums/images/PF_Stability1.jpgA boat used for cruising will be carrying a lot more weight, both in the water and out, and that generates much higher loads than normal daysailing will. She needs to be strong enough to cope with the stresses of sailing in heavy weather with a good load on. But one of the real dangers to a boat like this is the likelihood of damage from trailering her to your cruising grounds and in launching and retrieving. Check out the way she is built, how the trailer supports her at her strong points and how any ballast is stowed, especially with regard to when she’s on the trailer with the boat's bottom unsupported by water. Make sure that the trailer is going to be safe at highway speeds, and that all its fittings, including the boat recovery winch, work well.
Even a small cruiser like this needs to carry appropriate safety equipment, flares, waterproof VHF radio, two anchors of a size much larger than you’d think necessary, pfd’s in the form of comfortable lifejackets, and there should be waterproof and warm clothing for all on board. All this should be readily accessible even with the boat upside down and all should be usable after being immersed.
In a boat like this you are really close to nature; the birds don’t scare, the dolphins come over to play, the fish seem more likely to bite when you have a hook over, and the water is both close and involved with your movements. Sure there are no hot showers but, if you need to, a swim followed by a sponge with fresh water freshens the body. Sleeping is easy after a day out that close to the elements and a relatively simple airbed and sleeping bag is as good as anything a five star hotel will offer.
Real comfort comes with peace of mind and a few basics, and with a boat like this there is not any space for worries, so few people bother to bring them along.
Cooking, clothing, bedding, drinks and such are subjects with enough in them to write an entire book about (I’ve started - it will be a while though as it’s a big subject), so I’ll leave them for another time but will say that its possible to live very well aboard a comparatively small boat. Last time out I had an evening meal that included cauliflower au gratin, steak rosemary, onion rings tempura, and bean salad followed by plum pudding in custard with a glass of wine. All cooked on a one burner tramper's stove and stored without the assistance of a refrigerator. Being warm, comfortable, and having a full belly is a very good start to ensuring that the crew are happy.
Some people build themselves new boats designed for the job and, as a designer interested in comfortable cruising, these have been a focus of mine for some years now. But starting in a second hand boat can often clarify the newcomers' views on what they like and what their needs are before making a larger investment of time and money
In general terms, a boat being used for weekending, whether camping on the beach or sleeping aboard, will carry about half her normal daysailing capacity of people. So, a dinghy with space to carry four around the bay will be comfortable with two and stores. If you look among the boats that were popular with your local dinghy racing club in the 60s and 70s you will find lots of cheap boats around, some of which may be well suited to the task of introducing a single or a couple to the pleasures of open boat cruising.
Like I said from the off, small boats ... BIG adventures. :approval:
John Welsford
Designer
Website: www.jwboatdesigns.co.nz (http://www.jwboatdesigns.co.nz)
E-mail: jwboatdesigns@xtra.co.nz (jwboatdesigns@xtra.co.nz)
by
Designer John Welsford, in praise of open boat cruising.
http://www.backyardboatbuilding.org.uk/forums/images/PFyawl.jpgIt was late when we raised the point off the bay where our campsite was to be; a dark smudge almost out of sight in the haze of the hot afternoon. We, that’s my wife Denny, the boat and I, had made about 30 miles that day. We’d stopped off at tiny Maria island for a break about one in the afternoon, a magical place, only a couple of hundred yards long, steep and rocky with the gnarled Pohutukawa trees unique to New Zealand covered in a blaze of red flowers at that time of year. Inaccessible by bigger boats, surrounded by reefs, it has only one beach about a dozen paces long. Perfect for dinghy sailors lunching and skinny-dipping on a day when the sea seemed to be all a glitter with sparkling light on deep blue.
Our course had taken us among islands and along the coast only a couple of hundred yards from the shoreline; apart from when we made the 15 mile jump from our starting point on Slipper Island across Auckland’s Hauraki Gulf to Rangitoto, the big volcanic cone that shelters the inner harbour.
Pathfinder, our borrowed 17ft dinghy of my own design, had given us an unparalleled view of some spectacular scenery. Able to sail in among the reefs and shoals unrestricted because of our manoeuvrability and shallow draft we were able to enjoy a closer view than any of the boats further out and, by hugging the shore out of the tides, we had made a lot faster progress than most would expect.
Good days, good times and good value!
For me, the big cruising yacht went when the family arrived. Like most, there are times when my budget is stretched to pay the utilities, school costs for the kids, groceries, and new tyres for the old car that is the best I can afford. And reading books full of sailing romance and adventure from the local libraries' shelves makes me very discontented with my lot. Being a designer involved in drawing other peoples dream yachts doesn’t help when I’m stuck in the office either!
So we cruise in small boats, as do many of my friends. Little open boats, dinghies by some definitions. The hardened blue water cruiser would view us as a little odd and of no consequence in the real world of cruising. But we have really good fun, and we have adventures that compare in every way with the times had by those on larger craft.
Some of our friends have small boats because of financial considerations, one or two have traded down and prefer the lifestyle and adventure that the open boat offers, some are new to sailing and have, much to their delight, found that they can overnight in what they thought was just something to learn sailing in before they made the big investment in a larger boat. Quite a few have bought or built their open boats specifically as cruisers.
So what is dinghy cruising? More and more people are taking small open boats further than just around the bay, and with good warm sleeping bags, hikers tents and modern camping gear they can be comfortable camping on a beach, or in many cases will rig a tent over the boom and organise the boat for sleeping aboard.
Before even thinking about the boat, there are some decisions to make. Think these ones over --
First, the crew! How many will go with you when you go away for a weekend? A boat suited to a family of five may be very different to a minimum boat for one, even a couples boat will be quite a lot bigger than the chubby little 9 footer that I see my friend Harold cruising and sleeping aboard.
Second, do you want to sleep aboard, or take a tent ashore? The latter makes the choices a lot easier as there is not the need for enough flat space in the boat for the skipper and crew.
Third, how far do you want to go? Range is a function of speed, and the amount of stores and equipment that the boat will carry. Note that Englishman Frank Dye and his paratrooper crew sailed his Wayfarer dinghy from the United Kingdom to Iceland and, on another “outing”, across to Norway. We are not looking at such voyages here but I mention Frank's exploits to show that the small boat cruiser can be much more capable than you’d think.
Fourth, what are your home waters like? The Florida Keys in autumn on a good long range weather forecast will be very different to early March on the north western tip of Vancouver Island, for example. One has shallow warm water, relatively small steep waves, temperatures that make wearing clothes mostly a means to keep from being sunburned whereas the other has deep cold water, potentially BIG swells bursting on a steep rocky shore and can require many layers of clothing to stop someone dying of hypothermia.
http://www.backyardboatbuilding.org.uk/forums/images/PFsloop.jpgThese are extremes of course, but it's well worth considering what kind of boat will be successful in the areas where you will be on the water. Go and ask people who are out there, check out the boats that they sail and what’s popular, look into what local designers do, or look into where a designer lives and what their local environment is like.
Having established what is really a job description for the boat, there are some things that any open boat that is going to be used for more than just knocking around the bay on a nice day will need.
Any boat used out of range of the shore in a sudden increase in wind strength must have the rig set up in such a way that it can be reefed at sea. In some small boats with one sail only, that requires the skipper to move right forward to drop, reef, and rehoist the sail and that might not be practical. Two masts is not a silly idea, and some specialised cruising dinghies are set up with a main and mizzen and sometimes a jib as well giving them a wide choice of sail reduction options.
The boat of your choice should be stable, that means stable enough to cope with inattention during a long stint on the helm, stable enough for crew to swap positions from forward hand to helm, stable enough to stand up and handle sails, and stable enough to cope with being very overpowered when caught by a squall. This may be at the expense of speed, and means that what might be a successful racer might not suit a crew wanting to spend a day on board in fairly open waters.
It should be roomy, each person on board should be able to move about, sit in different positions to stretch and change the pressure points. It should be roomy enough to stow a lot of equipment. Comfort can require that you have a fair pile of gear and provisions on board and there needs to be room to stow this without having to climb all over it to work the ship.
Your ideal boat should be capable, that’s generally a matter of good freeboard, high stability, a strong rig, strong fittings, and a design that is intended to cope with real waves and a “bit of a blow”.
A good choice should be able to cope with the worst disaster that you can think of. Usually, that’s being capsized. Look for a boat with lots of buoyancy built in or buoyancy tanks/bags strapped in securely. That buoyancy needs to be distributed in such a way that it enables the boat to be righted and stable enough when swamped to allow the crew to climb aboard and bail her out. I like to try out a new boat by heaving her over and swamping her just off the beach where I have assistance available if I can’t cope. Finding out that you can't right her or bail her out when you are part way across the mouth of an estuary with the tide running is not a good idea.
http://www.backyardboatbuilding.org.uk/forums/images/PF_Stability1.jpgA boat used for cruising will be carrying a lot more weight, both in the water and out, and that generates much higher loads than normal daysailing will. She needs to be strong enough to cope with the stresses of sailing in heavy weather with a good load on. But one of the real dangers to a boat like this is the likelihood of damage from trailering her to your cruising grounds and in launching and retrieving. Check out the way she is built, how the trailer supports her at her strong points and how any ballast is stowed, especially with regard to when she’s on the trailer with the boat's bottom unsupported by water. Make sure that the trailer is going to be safe at highway speeds, and that all its fittings, including the boat recovery winch, work well.
Even a small cruiser like this needs to carry appropriate safety equipment, flares, waterproof VHF radio, two anchors of a size much larger than you’d think necessary, pfd’s in the form of comfortable lifejackets, and there should be waterproof and warm clothing for all on board. All this should be readily accessible even with the boat upside down and all should be usable after being immersed.
In a boat like this you are really close to nature; the birds don’t scare, the dolphins come over to play, the fish seem more likely to bite when you have a hook over, and the water is both close and involved with your movements. Sure there are no hot showers but, if you need to, a swim followed by a sponge with fresh water freshens the body. Sleeping is easy after a day out that close to the elements and a relatively simple airbed and sleeping bag is as good as anything a five star hotel will offer.
Real comfort comes with peace of mind and a few basics, and with a boat like this there is not any space for worries, so few people bother to bring them along.
Cooking, clothing, bedding, drinks and such are subjects with enough in them to write an entire book about (I’ve started - it will be a while though as it’s a big subject), so I’ll leave them for another time but will say that its possible to live very well aboard a comparatively small boat. Last time out I had an evening meal that included cauliflower au gratin, steak rosemary, onion rings tempura, and bean salad followed by plum pudding in custard with a glass of wine. All cooked on a one burner tramper's stove and stored without the assistance of a refrigerator. Being warm, comfortable, and having a full belly is a very good start to ensuring that the crew are happy.
Some people build themselves new boats designed for the job and, as a designer interested in comfortable cruising, these have been a focus of mine for some years now. But starting in a second hand boat can often clarify the newcomers' views on what they like and what their needs are before making a larger investment of time and money
In general terms, a boat being used for weekending, whether camping on the beach or sleeping aboard, will carry about half her normal daysailing capacity of people. So, a dinghy with space to carry four around the bay will be comfortable with two and stores. If you look among the boats that were popular with your local dinghy racing club in the 60s and 70s you will find lots of cheap boats around, some of which may be well suited to the task of introducing a single or a couple to the pleasures of open boat cruising.
Like I said from the off, small boats ... BIG adventures. :approval:
John Welsford
Designer
Website: www.jwboatdesigns.co.nz (http://www.jwboatdesigns.co.nz)
E-mail: jwboatdesigns@xtra.co.nz (jwboatdesigns@xtra.co.nz)