67 miles in 4 days by sail & oar

[James McMullen]

Last week my brother Chad and I took our two open boats on an adventure out in the San Juan Islands.
http://inlinethumb07.webshots.com/4422/2533558730088484686S425x425Q85.jpg (http://sports.webshots.com/photo/2533558730088484686IzDqIv)

We launched at Gooseberry point on the mainland and went all the way around the entire northern half of the island group.
http://inlinethumb15.webshots.com/5134/2555330770088484686S425x425Q85.jpg (http://sports.webshots.com/photo/2555330770088484686NHnGvz)
First day around the north of Lummi and Orcas to stop at Sucia for the night, second day down President Channel and Harney Passage north of Shaw to Odlin Park on Lopez for the night, third day down Lopez sound through the slot between Decatur and Lopez and then up Rosario Strait and Bellingham Channel to land at Pelican Beach on Cypress Island, and fourth day up Hale Passage on the east side of Lummi and home. That's 67 miles as I walked it off with dividers on the chart.

Dragonfly is the Iain Oughtred Ness Yawl design. . . .
http://inlinethumb10.webshots.com/5129/2920954220088484686S425x425Q85.jpg (http://sports.webshots.com/photo/2920954220088484686ZmvnOo)

and Rowan is another Oughtred design, the Arctic Tern slightly modified by stretching it to the same waterline length as the Ness Yawl so that they would be easily able to cruise in company.
http://inlinethumb22.webshots.com/4053/2475785700088484686S425x425Q85.jpg (http://sports.webshots.com/photo/2475785700088484686LWCItB)

These two boats are perfect companions, very well matched in speed and handling under either oars or sail, and happily carrying us and our gear with plenty of room to spare for days on end.
http://inlinethumb60.webshots.com/7227/2365206130088484686S425x425Q85.jpg (http://sports.webshots.com/photo/2365206130088484686IyCMfL)
http://inlinethumb31.webshots.com/3998/2459232930088484686S425x425Q85.jpg (http://sports.webshots.com/photo/2459232930088484686iyvanb)
http://inlinethumb51.webshots.com/5682/2968773630088484686S425x425Q85.jpg (http://sports.webshots.com/photo/2968773630088484686zyVgyn)

There are more photos with captions on my Webshots page if anyone is interested to see more:
http://sports.webshots.com/album/559924160BZuBCo (http://sports.webshots.com/album/559924160BZuBCo)

We had a lovely trip! Enjoy the pics. . . . . . . . .

[mike hanyi]

looks like you had a great time,
hope I can get a crew up on short notice

67 in four days? 16 miles a day is not that fast. Im trying to rehash my downfall and put together a ballsy trip for my S&O boat, its hard coming up with crew on short notice.
anyone want to go sailing in the wild archipelago of finland with me in my new Riviera talk fast, expenses-split the food costs and share rowing.

mike

my website cover says it all
www.raidfinland.com

[htom]

I'm sure you had a better time than I did looking ... but not much!

[Bobcat]

I grew up in the San Juans and spent a lot of time sailing there in a number of boats. Good to see the great photographs. They bring back a lot of memories:D

[DGentry]

Hey James - Great pics! Sorry I didn't join you. How was the messabout?Your brother's boat looks good, too - did you build it, or he?

[emichaels]

Awesome trip ! and great water for those boats. when I lived there in the 80's I kayaked with a friend in those waters. Cool stuff when the orcas are migrating. You took very nice pictures too.

Eric

[J. Dillon]

Nice set of images and it looks like great fun to sail in company. Hope to see more.:D

JD

[River Sailor]

What an inspiration. Glad you had a great trip. I've heard of the San Juans all my life, of course, but have yet to visit. My step-daughter just moved to Seattle — your pictures make me want to get out there sooner rather than later.

FWIW, James your comments on other posts about rig types have me seriously considering changing the rig I eventually set up on my Penobscot 14 that is in the works.

Thanks for those thoughts and especially for these pics.

John

[Old Sailor]

I've sailed the San Juan's twice on the schooner Zodiac. A great place!!!
Old Sailor

!

[Brian Palmer]

Thank you for sharing. That is great stuff. Very lucky to have such cruising grounds near enough to you.

--Brian

[Pericles]

Found this site today. http://captrichardrodriguez.blogspot.com/

Here is his photo of Zodiac posted in June section.

http://bp1.blogger.com/_74xsaE5pCdo/RmxY7paxzBI/AAAAAAAAAKo/ZwHQzSbEZqM/s1600/Spencer%2BSpit%2B002.jpg

[rbgarr]

My daughter guided a kayak tour in the San Juans a few days ago and sent us these:

http://i11.tinypic.com/6c4s2ki.jpg

http://i9.tinypic.com/5372afa.jpg

[kenjamin]

Goregeous boats, beautiful pics, man, what a trip! It must of been fun with you each having a boat to sail – allowed for great pictures of Dragonfly sailing. Hey, how about more pictures of Rowan sailing next time? Do any fishing on the trip?

How is the Element towing Rowan? I'm in the market for a new tow vechicle and seems like the Element would be a great combination of power and fuel economy. I've test drove them before. I presently tow Xena with my wife's Chevy S-10 but it likes to downshift at every slight hill and gets terrible gas mileage even though its a four cylinder – cast iron block and ancient design. After the experience towing Xena from Florida to Conneticut and back, I'm tempted to get a V-6 but I am very thrifty (cheap) and would prefer the Element for the better gas mileage if its variable valve timing allows it to get the job done without a lot of fuss (downshifting) and decent gas mileage.

What say ye?

[James McMullen]

Thanks for all the kind comments, guys. I'm glad you've enjoyed looking at the pictures.

Dave Gentry, I did build both of those boats--Dragonfly was launched in 1998 and Rowan was launched in 2006. I have built a whole bunch of different boats (Dragonfly is #27, Rowan is #42. . . . . .) in a hobby that has gotten pretty darn close to qualifying as an obsession. Out of all the boats I have built, both of these two are in my top three favorites (a skin-on-frame Aleut baidarka is in there too, though that is a very different kind of boat indeed).

Kenjamin, the reason there are more pics of Dragonfly than Rowan is because we only had one camera between us and it usually was stowed aboard Rowan. Now that I have bought my very own digital camera and no longer have to face the risk of Katie's wrath for dropping her camera overboard or getting epoxy or varnish drips all over it I expect I will have plenty more pictures of Rowan (and other boats. . .) a-coming.

We didn't do any fishing this trip because we were more interested in covering some miles, though Dragonfly has been used quite often in the past for going crabbing.

The Honda Element has been working out quite well as a tow vehicle for the long but lightweight boat. I got it to replace a small pickup truck that got poor mileage and also had no room for more than one passenger. The Element has tons of cargo space when you need it, but can also seat four very comfortably. I have the AWD version, and it has had no problem getting up even steep and sandy ramps so far. (I should point out that Rowan is very light for her size--I don't think the Element would be particularly suitable for towing a heavy, fat-transom bayliner, but skiffs and sailing dinghies are perfect!) The Element works even better as a kayaking support vehicle. I got a Yakima rack with 66" bars that will fit four kayaks stacked side by side effortlessly, and the rubber floors and interior of the element make cleaning out the sand and bits o' seaweed and damp wetsuit booties and such quite easy.

I made that trailer tongue extension out of a 11' piece of square tubing with a standard hitch and a ball bolted to it. It works out pretty good for launching/retrieving at looooooooowwwww tide when the ramp shallows out. I prefer not having to give the tow car a salt-water bath too, if possible.

[kenjamin]

James, any idea of your gas mileage towing Rowan? I like to research things to death before I make a decision and this kind of information is impossible to get from Honda or a dealership. I know the auto trans on the Element is very responsive. Does it downshift a lot on the hills? Even if it does, it's probably a lot better than the S-10 because I believe the Element's auto is a five speed, not four, correct? Thanks in advance for any more light you can shed on the subject.

[Andrew]

James, did you just increase the spacing of the stations for Rowan? How long is she? How do the two boats compare rowing, sailing, weight?
Both are sweet on the eye.

[James McMullen]

Kenjamin, I have the 5-speed manual transmission, not an automatic. I haven't really figured out the exact mileage when towing as I have not yet had to drive far enough anywhere to launch Rowan where I have had to fill up the car with gas while doing it. My best guess is something like 20 MPG (?) while towing.

Andrew, Rowan is a modification of Iain Oughtred's J-II/Arctic Tern design. I stretched the station spacing apart (with Iain's assistance and approval) to have the boat end up at the same waterline length as the Ness Yawl Dragonfly. I had learned over several years and several other false tries that the Ness Yawl had been my absolute favorite boat, and I was very close to just building another Ness Yawl for myself when Iain came out with the J-II design for his own personal boat. I just figured, "Well, if its good enough for Iain. . . . . . . . ."

The problem was that my brother Chad had the Ness Yawl, and Iain's J-II was a full one foot shorter waterline length. Clearly it was completely unacceptable and contrary to the nature of the universe for my little brother to own a boat that had a faster hull speed potential than my own boat--so I lengthened Rowan to be the same size. From the very beginning the idea was to have a couple of boats to cruise in company.

Here are Rowan's complete specs assuming a displacement of 700 lbs, boat and crew:
LOA=19' 9"
LWL=17'1"
beam=5'6"
displacement=700
sailArea=121 sq ft total
Fores'l=102 sq ft
Mizzen=19 sq ft
displacementToLWL=63
hullspeed=5.54
sailAreaToDisplacement=25
LWLToBeam=3.09
motionComfort=8.89
capsizeRatio=2.48
ppi=334

These boats are really very closely matched, a pair of fraternal, if not identical twins. They are built the same way in epoxy-glued lapstrake, though one has four strakes per side and the other has six, and they are built out of the same types of materials. They are almost the same dimensions, though there are some subtle differences in the prismatic coefficient and the distribution of volumes; Dragonfly is sleeker and more slender, Rowan carries her volume out further towards the ends. Rowan can point a little higher and is a bit faster to windward--both are probably artefacts of her newer suit of sails and her more sophisticated centerboard foil shaping. On a beam reach the differences are lessened, and by a broad reach the two boats are almost identical in speed through the water. Under oars. . . .well Chad is younger and less decrepit than his poor, broken-down older brother. He usually is kind enough to coast every now and then to let me catch up with him. He's got fancier spoon-blade oars, too, while I make do with symmetrical straight oars. All in all I do prefer the new boat to the Ness Yawl--though it's like having to make a choice between double chocolate fudge ripple ice cream and triple chocolate fudge ripple--no one could possibly be disappointed either way!

Although Rowan is currently a unique boat, I would be more than happy to share the station spacing and other modifications to anyone who wanted to build one similar to her. You would start by getting the Arctic Tern plans set from Mr. Oughtred. . . . . . .

[pcford]

Looks like a sweet, sweet time.

[JamesCaird]

HI Guys-the boats look fine. Quite fine. I was wondering about the rig, which looks substantial and then about ballast. What do you do about ballast? The famous James Caird (of Shackleton/Worsley)needs about half its weight in ballast to sail with any reasonable life expectancy.....what about you guys? Cheers for now/JC

[James McMullen]

Rowan has 100 lbs of ballast in lead pigs bolted to the garboards on either side of the centerboard trunk underneath the floorboards. Dragonfly is completely unballasted except for gear and crew. The mast is longer and the whole aspect ratio of the sail rig is taller on Rowan than it is on Dragonfly. Both boats are often sailed singlehanded with the skipper sitting hiked out on the rail when trying to go fast, or with a reef or two tucked in when trying to go prudently. With an extra body or three aboard as moveable ballast these boats are fairly docile, though with only one or two aboard they can be quite spirited. I have never felt in imminent danger of an actual capsize in either boat, though I do keep the sheet in my hand, not cleated off, when the wind pipes up.

[Eric Hvalsoe]

James,
Beautiful. What do you with the boats overnight - haul them, roll them up the beach, or do you have a beach anchor system?
Eric

[James McMullen]

Sometimes we haul them up, sometimes we hang them out on a clothesline moor.
Depends on the area, the beach, the expected tidal range, the expected weather. . . . . . .
It is more work to haul them all the way out of the water, but part of the point of this sail & oar type of boat for me is that you can get them all the way out if you need to weather a storm or suchlike. We use our cylindrical dock fenders as rollers to make it easier to drag 'em around on shore.

The clothesline mooring works great, if the weather and the alongshore currents allow. Takes a lot of rope, though.

[Eric Hvalsoe]

James,
How much you figure your boats weigh? By clothesline do you mean loop through pully attached to anchor, loop attached to boat, loop belayed on shore? Your boats look a little bigger and perhaps more 'capable' due to size and volume than my 16, but I will be doing more beach cruising with the 16. How much line do you carry for the beach anchor? Guess it's better to haul them up when possible - that's why we call them beach cruisers, maybe I'll see you out there some time - your trip reports are inspiring!
Cheers,
Eric

[ahp]

Only sixty seven miles in four days! So what. As the Water Rat said, It doesn't make any difference whether you went any place or not. You were messing about in a boat.

I love the pictures and comments. I am very seriously thinking about a Caledonia Yawl.