Two More Boating Events.

If you are going to be in the mid-coast area of Maine the weekend of the 7th 8th and 9th of September, you might want to check out the Atlantic Challenge Classic Boat Show, and the Short Ships Rowing Regatta. The Classic Boat Show will be at the Atlantic Challenge Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. It is a chance to come see some beautiful wooden boats that were built by, restored by, or that are part of, the Atlantic Challenge community. Boats will be on display at the docks and on land. It is also an opportunity to meet some of the staff and volunteers and in some cases chat with boat owners, or builders. I will have our friendship sloop tied up at the docks and intend to be there with the ship’s wolf at least for Saturday and Sunday.
             On Sunday the 9th the Small Ships Rowing Regatta will begin at 10:00. Registration will be from 08:00 to 09:00, skipper’s meeting will be at 09:00. The event is open to human powered craft and will cover, what I believe is a three mile course in Rockland Harbor.
For more information, contact Cullen Teel at 207-594-1800
www.atlanticchallenge.com

Surfer Bear

In the last post, I wrote about the surfer-bear wooden toy, and I pointed out that it had yet to have a thorough testing. Last weekend I had an opportunity to put several prototypes of the surfer-bear toy through its paces and here are the results:

What we tested:
Four boards were tested ranging in length from seven inches long to twelve inches long. All of the boards had been “hot waxed”. That is, painted with melted canning wax and then ironed with a hot ski waxing iron to make them waterproof.

Three versions of the surfer bear were tested, in case the relative size of the bear turned out to effect performance (all three of our bears performed about the same).

A number of fins made from copper, stainless steel, and mild steel of various thicknesses, sizes, and shapes, were tested.

Conditions:
The conditions were near perfect; little to no wind, six to twelve inch surf breaking on a slight diagonal to the beach on long Island sound. We also tested all of the prototypes in a pool as well.

The toy experts:
The toy experts were a six-year-old boy, a ten-year-old girl, and a twelve-year-old boy (two of my nephews and my niece).

Descriptions of trials:
First, we tested all of the board and surfer combinations in the pool without fins to see if any of the surfer-bears made the boards top heavy and to see how well they floated.

  

Next, we went to the beach and the toy experts experimented in surf conditions that ranged from fairly calm to breaking twelve inch surf. Lastly, we returned to the pool to refine technique and to make more subtle comparisons.

What the tests revealed in general:
The surfer bear toy floated extremely well and with the addition of one or more fins tended to be self righting (something that surprised me). When pushed though the water the surfboard and surfer moved very fast and with the addition of fin or fins traveled straight. With the correct technique the surfboard would “plane” on the water for at least three feet, enough distance to catch a wave if one times the push just right. Timing the push into the wave is critical, and attempting to do this became somewhat addictive. When the surfer-toy caught a wave, the ride could be as long a twelve feet. It was not easy to catch a wave just right and sometimes required a second person to watch the sets of waves and call out just when to accelerate the surfer-bear. When a surfer-bear did catch a wave just right, our toy experts described the experience as “awesome”. The rareness of these perfect rides was offset by the fact that major “wipe outs” were also hailed as “awesome”.

 

Specific observations:
Hot waxing the board is critical to prevent the board from becoming waterlogged and may account for how fast the boards are, but the dovetail that holds the surfer-bear to the board must be kept free of wax.

The length of the board was not as important as the shape. Boards with tapered or even pointed aft ends tended to settle the back of the board while lifting the front of the board, causing the board to surf better. Boards that had blunt or wide back ends had a greater tendency to bury the nose of the board and pitch pole.

Having the weight more towards the back of the board made the board surf better. This can be achieved by either adding fins or placing the dovetail for the surfer-bear further aft on the board.

The dovetail that holds the surfer bear in place needs to be a solid connection because it will take abuse. The best technique depends on propelling the board by holding the bear and not the board.

 

Conclusion:
Our toy experts rated the Surfer-bear to be a good toy (good enough so that they wanted to take the prototypes home with them). The short-board (approximately 7″ long) that had three copper fins performed the best of the prototypes we tested, and though it was not as successful, the longest board was also popular. The two mid sized boards worked but did not get as much attention.

I think, as is often the case, I might have gotten as much pleasure out of making the toys and setting up the tests, as the toy experts got out of the actual testing. Oh, and practicing surfer slang was another very popular part of the clinical tests of the surfer-bear.
Gnarlatious dude!

New Wooden Toy

On the last cruise with children on the boat, we developed another version of the paddle-bear toy (see related post). We were on a rare sand beach in Maine and found a few cedar shingles. I was trying to think of what we could make with them. One of the kids was already talking about the paddle bears, and I thought: surfboard, yeah, that would work. One of the kids found a black rock that was curved like an Orca fin and we set that in the back of the board to hold the back down and to stabilize the board. Then I made a surfer bear that locks into the board using a large dovetail like the paddle bear. There is no question that surfer bear is an old fashioned long board kind of guy (if the bear is too big he will just fall over).
             There does need to be a fin of some sort of heavy material on the surf board in order to keep the board upright and to hold the back of the surf board down. We also discovered that the cedar shingle got waterlogged very quickly, which made it difficult to do further testing. The concept is fun, I have limited data on how well the paddle bear may actually surf. The prototype only caught one wave before he got too waterlogged to go on.

             Further testing: I have made four surfboards out of shingles of differing sizes and shapes. The boards have been painted with hot wax, to keep them from getting waterlogged. I have also made three different size surfer-bears, and a collection of fins for the surfboards out of different materials. Three toy experts (my nephews and niece) will do clinical testing of the different combinations of boards, paddlers, and fins, in the breaking surf of long island sound. There will also be some pool testing, in part as a control, and in order to observe the differences between salt water and fresh water surfing.
             I will post the results next week. Cowabunga!

Barn Raising

I had a great experience recently in Vermont. Some good friends have been planning to build a small barn for some time. Since I have built a number of projects, and have experience as a draftsman, I have been involved with the project from the beginning. My friends were able to determine their needs and the function of the building and they settled on timber frame construction.  I was able to draw them what it would look like and how it would go together.

           This is far from being the first timber frame project that I have been involved with,(see the boat shed on the boat page and my friend Peter’s timber frame tree house) but it just might have been the most fun. First of all because my friends really took the time to carefully consider what they wanted as a completed structure and second because they were willing to participate in the construction of the timber frame itself.
           The other element that made this a fun project was the high level of organization. When I arrived in Vermont with my timber framing tools, the concrete slab with appropriate plumbing and wiring run through it was in place, and the lumber was all on site. Even when it started to rain, tents were ready to set up so that we could keep working. In my experience, where most jobs get bogged down is when materials run out, or when there is no “plan B” as things go wrong. What was great for me, was that the two times that we had a problem (two 16 foot timbers unaccounted for, and a broken drill) my friends, a husband and wife team, had the resources to effect a solution by the end of the day.
           We got up each morning, outlined the plan for the day and just worked…it was great. At the end of each day we could stand back and point to what we had accomplished, which is a really rewarding feeling. This was particularly true after the third day of working together because the timbers were coming together into timber bents and the barn was beginning to take shape.

           Another ingredient that made this project fun is its size. Like the tree house, this barn is small, somewhere between garden shed and a typical barn. Four of us could stand up the timber bents by ourselves. Not having to organize a huge crew to put together the pieces of the building made it a pleasure to assemble.

           So rather than write any more, the picture on the Left was taken Monday morning, and the one on the right Friday afternoon.

 

Cruising with Children

This July, the family that co-owns our friendship sloop came for a family cruise in central Maine. We set out to cruise from Rockland to Mount Desert and back. That meant that there were six of us (seven including the ship’s wolf) on a boat that is 35′ on deck, for eight days.
           The success of a cruise with children is to some degree, like all cruises, determined by blind luck. There are ways, however, to stack the proverbial deck in your favor. One way is to be sure that there are ways for children to play a role in shipboard life, whether it is standing a short watch, being in charge of something on board, or just being included in the process of planning the day, kids, like all crew, like to feel that they are contributing.

           That having been said, there are also a number of concessions that need to be made while cruising with children. One of those concessions is distance made good. This is no different from the family car ride, if it is too long then you are going to hear a certain amount of “are we there yet?” Another consideration is that of daily destination, ending up somewhere at the end of the day where there is something to do is key to a successful cruise. A beach, village, or island to explore is much more interesting to younger crew than some harbor that the grown-ups wanted to visit. Our cruise was planned around visiting friends who summer on islands in this region, and on beautiful places to explore. What this agenda allowed was that, every day we sailed part of the day (it might not have been very far), and almost every day we could all get ashore at some point, even if we were all sleeping on board and eating together.

           Yet another key ingredient to a successful cruise with children is the kids themselves. The three children who made up “the Port Watch” this July are siblings who get along tolerably well, they are also very creative, and are good at entertaining themselves. Further, each child has a logbook, and is encouraged to add to it often either with drawings or with written entries. I keep art supplies on board so watercolor expeditions or sketching with colored pencils are always an option.

Thus, we never ran out of things to do (although we did run out of reading material at one point and the navigation exercise one day consisted of finding the closest bookstore we could sail to).  One member of the “Port Watch” had her eighth Birthday while on this cruise and her siblings spent considerable time making Birthday presents, despite a foggy evening, and an inability to produce a Birthday cake we still had quite a celebration with a Birthday blueberry pie.

           The last element that I will comment on is weather. You certainly do not need perfect weather, in fact patchy fog with some visibility can be very exciting, especially as there are additional jobs (I put the eight year old on the manual foghorn and the fourteen year old on bow watch). However, heading out in to no visibility, rough weather, or wet and cold is a recipe for mutiny (actually this can be true for just about any crew). Sitting at anchor, having an extra cup of coffee, yarning, or pointing out what is going on with the weather is a far more comfortable and enjoyable experience from everyone’s point of view. These two pictures were taken after waiting all morning for the fog to lift; it was worth it.

New Maine Coast Resource

In other posts on this site, I have sung the praises of my favorite magazine, Maine Boats, Homes and Harbors. If you are interested in keeping up with what is going on in coastal Maine, the magazine has just started an online version. Great photographs of beautiful boats, a “launchings” feature, architecture, art, and reviews as well as a great calendar feature, are all part of this site. If you are like me, and could look at pictures of beautiful boats all day, check out the featured photographer Jamie Bloomquist, you won’t be disappointed.
Maine Boats, Homes and Harbors -on line

Mom

I have been thinking about my mother a lot recently. When it comes to learning new skills, my mother has always been an inspiration to me. When I was a child, she was always convinced that my brother, sister, and I could do anything we put our minds to, provided we just had the determination to see it through, but she also lived that belief. She was always taking on new projects and developing new skills. Whether it was a sewing project, knitting, wallpapering, house painting, furniture making, and toy making, she was always adding to her creative skills and learning new things. I remember being impressed as a teenager that she decided to take evening courses in physics, just because it interested her. Also, when I was in my teens, she began a long career teaching. For thirty years, she passed her enthusiasm for learning to generations of young children before retiring last year.
        Twenty two years ago she moved to Santa Fe New Mexico. This was in part because the high desert beauty appealed to her on some deep level, and partly to the large number of aviation enthusiasts who live in the area. Mom pursued first an interest in Ballooning, then hang gliding, and about ten years ago a passion for flying propeller driven aircraft. About eight years ago, she started building her own bi-plane. A slow project, which required her to develop new skills, but which allowed her to discover new communities of home-airplane-builders, and flying enthusiasts. She eventually became the president of the local chapter of the EAA (Experimental Aircraft Association), and was instrumental in forming a local chapter of the Ninety-Nines, and international organization of women pilots.

        Mom did not get to finish her plane; she was killed in a car crash at the end of May. She was on her way to a big fly-in, three days of camping out under the wings of classic airplanes that gather for socializing, exchanging information, and sharing an enthusiasm for flying. I had spoken with her a few days before the accident, she was full of excitement for the Fly-in, and was looking forward to meeting up with a friend after the event who is an astronaut.
        Mom was full of enthusiasm and plans for the future. She was 71, far too young, but she also had an incredibly rich life, full of creative energy right until the end. I just hope that wherever she is, they have airplanes.