Trawler Fest 2015

I am happy to announce I will presenting with some great names in the marine industry and cruisers at this year's Trawler Fest in Anacortes, WA. If your in the area stop in and say HI.

Here are the presentations I will presenting in, and they are many more availble so please check them out here:
 http://www.passagemaker.com/events/trawlerfest-anacortes-2015

BOAT BUYER’S SURVIVAL GUIDE

THE ART OF BUYING A METAL BOAT

CRUISER PERSPECTIVES-AUDIENCE Q&A

Interview With Yacht Designer Dudley Dix

My third interview for a series I am doing for the Metal Boat Quarterly was with Yacht Designer Dudley Dix. Dudley is based in Virginia Beach, Virginia. He is originally form Cape Town, South Africa. His designs reflect his experiences of sailing and racing along the coast of South Africa and offshore. They are beautiful and seaworthy. Even though the article was for the Metal Boat Quarterly, the questions were about all of his designs including his plywood designs. Also we discuss his experiences as a sailor and amateur boat builder. As an owner of a Dix designed boat and someone who has worked on building his designs, this was a real treat for me. Visit Dudley's Website at dixdesign.com

Visit the Metal Boat Society at http://www.metalboatsociety.com

Dudley racing on one of his Shearwater designs in the 2014 Great Chesapeake Schooner Race. The schooner won her class.

DB-Dudley, when did you get interested in boats and start sailing?

I sailed with my dad from before I can remember. He was a provincial champion in the Flying Dutchman class and my memories of sailing with him are of high speed, flying spray and lots of laughter. It is no wonder that I am also a speed-freak on a sailboat. We lived on the side of a lake and I sailed my own boat there from my early teens.

DB-You are known as a yacht designer. What some of our members might not know is that you are also an amateur boat builder. Would you tell us about the boats you have built?

I have built 3 big boats and a few small ones. I am a professional designer but an amateur boatbuilder, with all of the passion and peculiarities that go with that title. My first big boat was “Tai-Neam”, a van de Stadt design of 36ft. Next was “Concept Won”, a 34 to my CW975 design. Last was “Black Cat”, prototype of my Didi 38 design and forerunner of my range of designs for radius chine plywood boats.

Of the smaller ones, there are two stand-outs. First was a 15ft tortured plywood beach catamaran in the early 70’s and also the first boat that I designed. The other is the boat that I currently sail and the prototype of my Paper Jet design. This is a high-performance skiff that I sail single-handed on trapeze with main, jib and asymmetrical spinnaker. 

DB-Did building your first boat make you want to be a yacht designer? 

It was building the van de Stadt design that made me want to be a yacht designer. There were some modifications that I needed to the design and van de Stadt did the structural, rig and ballasting changes, while I did the accommodation and deck redesign. That got me interested, so I enrolled with Westlawn and got my diploma through them.

DB-What was your first design?

I never marketed the beach catamaran, so I guess that I shouldn’t count that one. The drawings were hardly more than sketches that only I could use. CW975 was the first complete design that I drew, while not yet half-way through my Westlawn studies. It was for the 1979 Cruising World Design Competition, which it won. At the time we were planning to go cruising on “Tai-Neam”. When I received news that the CW975 had won the design competition my wife told me that no self-respecting designer would own a boat designed by someone else, so “Tai-Neam” immediately went up for sale and I started to build “Concept Won”.

DB-What was your first metal boat design?

I had a friend who built the same van de Stadt design as me but unaltered. A few years later he was planning to build a steel boat to go cruising and I asked if I could design it. He turned me down and planned to build a design from a well-respected designer. A week after I won the design competition he commissioned the new design from me, for a 35ft cruiser that I named the Pratique 35. He later started a professional yard and eventually built over 20 steel boats from 30 to 60ft, all to my designs and most of them new designs that he had commissioned.

DB-How has building your own boats and sailing them influenced your design work?

I was heavily influenced by Ricus van de Stadt, who developed fast lightweight boats and was the pioneer for plywood sailboats. There were many of his boats sailing in South Africa. His standard of detail was very good for amateur builders and I styled my standard of detailing on what I saw on his drawings. Once I got into designing boats I followed my own ideas on hull styling, seakindly hull design, aesthetics etc and soon learned what works and what doesn’t. I sometimes found that I drew details that I thought would be good for others to build, then while building them myself I decided that they were too much effort and figured more efficient methods. In the process I moved away from complicated concepts and ended up at “elegant simplicity”.

How sailing my own boats influenced my design work is more a matter of where I sailed them than the fact that they were my designs. I grew up in Cape Town and that is where I did most of my sailing. Cape Town is known as the Cape of Good Hope but also as the Cape of Storms. Cruising circumnavigators regularly report that the worst winds and seas of their voyaging were experienced rounding the Cape of Good Hope. Sailors from there are well-known for heavy wind ability because we have to learn how to handle the conditions or miss out on much of the sailing. That knowledge and experience affects my designs more than anything else; seaworthiness is a prime factor in what I draw.

DB-You once told me, and I am paraphrasing here, "I suffer from seasickness and I design boats that I would be comfortable on." Could you explain what makes your designs comfortable offshore?

I sailed in the 1993 Cape to Rio Race on a Shearwater 39, a moderate displacement cruiser that is seakindly, quite beamy and very comfortable at sea. During that race I decided to design and build a boat of my own for the next race but it was going to be 50% of the displacement on similar waterline length, so would be a lively boat. Lively motion translates into discomfort in big seas so I had to be careful with hull shaping to make it comfortable. I used a much slimmer hull, shorter overhangs, unbalanced ends and concentrated the major weights in the middle. The result was a very comfortable and light boat that is also very quick.

I can’t claim comfort for all of my designs though. The box-rule boats like the Didi Mini and the Didi 950 are beamy and light, a combination that will produce a lively boat. They will not be as comfortably at sea as boats like the Didi 26 and Didi 38.

DB-Last year you experienced a capsize on a boat you built and designed for the Cape to Rio race. Your articles about this capsize have appeared in Professional Boatbuilder and Cruising World. This must be quite a learning experience for a yacht designer?

Yes, our capsize was a learning experience. Afterwards a few people said that they bet that I wished to have not been there. My response was that, aside from still being in the race to Rio de Janeiro for a good result, there was nowhere else in the world that I would have preferred to have been at that time. There can be few designers currently alive who have been inside a big boat as it is turned over by the forces of nature, to experience the feeling of being mixed up with equipment, cabin soles, stores etc like the flakes of colour inside a kaleidoscope. 

A designer is steered by his experiences on a boat. If I had spent my life sailing in ideal conditions then the boats that I would have drawn would have been very different from those that have grown out of my experiences sailing off the Cape of Good Hope. The experience of what extreme seas can do despite careful preparations is invaluable and will always be in my subconscious when drawing offshore boats in the future.

The experience ratified one of the cornerstones of my design philosophy for offshore boats and that is the need for a healthy stability curve, with high angle of vanishing stability and minimal negative stability if inverted. There are many boats that would not have come back upright if capsized in the way that we experienced or would have taken a long time to do so. We were upright again in well under 10 seconds, yet the boat took in enough water to kill most of the electrics and electronics and left a lot to pump out. Staying capsized for even a few minutes will introduce considerable risk of the boat sinking and some of the crew drowning.

I learned also that just because there is a big wave to turn the boat over there may not be another to turn it back again, so the boat has to be able to do this itself. We were capsized by waves piled on top of each other to form one monster peak that existed only for a few seconds right where we happened to be. After it passed we saw no others even half the height of that monster.

DB-The boat you capsized on was your first radius chine plywood design, a Didi 38. A boat named Black Cat, that just won the Governor’s Cup Race, a race from Simonstown, South Africa, to the South Atlantic Island of St Helena. This is very impressive for a boat and design that are 20 years old. Could you tell us about the design of Black Cat and what influenced you for the design?

All of the boats that I have built have been plywood and that material forms the core of my design range. 

My target when I designed the Didi 38 was to draw a boat that could be built by any amateur with moderate woodworking skills and at moderate cost. It had to be quick to build because I had only two years from start of build to be on the start line for a major trans-ocean race. I wanted it to look like a quality GRP boat, not an amateur-built project. It also needed to have sparkling performance because I don’t like to sail slowly and this was, after all, a race. “Black Cat” has proven that I met every one of those target points. She has always been very competitive and has won some big races in South Africa. Now she has been optimised to the IRC Rule, which has made her even more competitive than before.

The methods that I developed when designing “Black Cat” developed into my most popular design range, with boats from 15ft to 55ft.

DB-You have perfected the radius chine method of boat building (first developed by Ted Brewer) in metal and plywood. Explain why this is a good method for an amateur builder and even the professional.

I don’t believe that I have perfected radius chine boatbuilding, I have just gone about it in my own way. I don’t know who really started the radius chine concept. Certainly, Ted Brewer was one of the first, using a variable radius. Ricus van de Stadt was also working on radius chine methods for steel and plywood designs about the same time but with a tighter constant radius that we called a soft chine. Many others have followed those two innovators and we have each done it in our own way. I learned it through Grahame Shannon, who combined a large radius with developed hull surfaces. I have designed radius chine steel and aluminium boats using my own methods and a large constant radius from bow to stern. 

Whatever method each designer used he had to learn how to shape the rest of the hull to make it work. For the deeper hulls that are needed by metal designs my constant radius forms worked. I learned very fast that those shapes were not practical for the much shallower hulls of lightweight plywood boats. For those I had to use a tight radius in the forefoot and much larger radii further aft. This didn’t matter with plywood because the sections are bent to whatever shape is needed while they are being glued on, in two layers.

Radius chine methods are good for builders because they allow most of the hull to be skinned with flat sheets that fall naturally to the shapes needed. The remaining radiused sections are skinned with plates that, for metal boats, can be pre-formed by most general engineering firms. The result is not true round bilge but is near enough that most people can’t tell the difference.

DB-You have even used this method on two of your catamaran designs. Could you tell us about the designs?

As designers we develop designs as families that are generically similar. We develop one from another and they gradually morph into different boats. The DH550 catamaran hulls were directly developed from the Didi 26 monohull trailer-sailer hull. The method proved to be even better for the long and slim hulls of a catamaran than the more dumpy shapes of monohulls. The Dix 470 developed from the DH550.

DB-Walking around the Annapolis boat show it was hard to not notice how many builders are using hard chines. I have seen them on your new designs. Could you tell how and why hard chines are being used after so many years of being frowned on? 

Chines have been viewed for years as a sign of amateur building and looked down on by production builders, brokers and yachting journalists. A few years ago chines started to appear on box-rule racing boats as a way of creating a more powerful boat that still fitted into the measurement box, giving more speed and a more competitive boat. From there chines started to appear on new class racing boats as a means to promote planing and surfing when power-reaching. Now fashion has taken over and chines are being used on production GRP boats from major manufacturers.

This all happened after I had worked hard to remove the chines from amateur-built boats. I ignored it until I had potential customers asking me to introduce hard chines into my radius chine designs, bringing me full-circle. I did it first with the latest version of my Mini-Transat racer, the Didi Mini Mk3. This is a box-rule design, so it made sense. Since then I have introduced the Didi 950 with a similar hull shape, drawn to the Class 950 box rule. A client asked me to scale down the Didi Mini hull to 15ft, which produced the Didi Sport 15. That will form the start of a series of sportboat designs of similar shape. 

DB-One of your articles in your book, Shaped by Wind and Wave, is titled "Mindset and Goal Setting for Amateur Builders". What would you advise someone wanting to build their own boat?

To just get down and do it. I find that those who think about it too hard will probably never build that boat that they want, whether large or small. When I started building my first big boat, at the age of 25, my friends told me that I would never do it, that I had to wait until I had enough money to complete the project, as they were doing. Twenty years later I launched my third self-built boat and they had not yet started their first, nor will they ever do so.

DB-What knowledge do they need for building a metal boat of one of your designs?

Same question for plywood construction.

For a metal boat, that answer depends on whether they choose to build from steel or aluminium. Steel is a forgiving material to work with, particularly welding. One can start building a steel boat with no prior experience of working with the material, learn as you go and have a good strong boat after a few years, having also gained a bunch of skills along the way. If the choice is aluminium and they are inexperienced in working with it then I recommend that they get formal training at the local community college before they even start on the project. Incorrect preparation and/or welding procedures will destroy the value of the boat and potentially also render it dangerous due to structural problems.

A plywood boat is about the simplest boatbuilding project for most men to take on. Most are accustomed to working with wood and capable of reasonable quality. Traditional wood construction methods need good woodworking skills that will benefit from formal training but modern plywood methods combined with resorcinol or epoxy adhesives and epoxy coatings are pretty tolerant of skill level. I started building my first big boat with no experience of that type of construction and made a good job of it.

DB-Not only are your designs built by amateur builders, you have had boats built in metal and fiberglass by professional yards. What are some of the challenges and differences in designing for the amateur builder compared to the professional builder? 

Professional builders know most of the details that they will use in building a boat. They generally don’t require as much detail on the drawings as the amateur builders do. I still like to show as much detail as possible for two reasons. First, it shows more clearly what I want in the boat when there are different ways that a builder could do it. Second, it opens up the design to use by amateur builders as well. 

Professional builders also have more reference books to answer questions when needed. I recommend in the documents that are supplied with our designs that the builder buys some reference books pertaining to the method of construction, for guidance when needed. 

In the modern world of impatience and instant communications a new problem has developed. It used to be that a builder would ask a question by letter and could not expect an answer for 2-6 weeks, depending on the distance from the designer. Now the same person might ask 3 or 4 questions in one day by email. This has to be kept under control or correspondence smothers us. The builders must take responsibility for reading and absorbing the information in the paperwork provided to them and not just jump onto email to ask a question because that is the easiest thing for them to do. Answering each question takes time and decreases productive creative time for the designer.

DB-You got quite a bit of attention when you designed the training skiff Paper Jet.

What was your inspiration for the design?

I spent a few years in sailing administration in South Africa, at all levels from club through to Chairman of the National Council. A subject of concern to all was the ongoing loss of juniors from sailing, partially because of the old and boring class boats that are used for junior sailing and partially due to the cost of moving up from one class to a bigger and faster boat. At the time I thought that there must be a way to get around these problems with one boat. It took a few years for me to properly apply my mind to it and develop the Paper Jet design. This boat allows one hull to be used with a range of rig configurations, from a simple una rig through to a fully-powered skiff rig with trapeze and asymmetrical spinnaker. It is accomplished with a basic lower mast in combination with two different topmasts and other components to make a modular rig. This allows sailors of different levels of skill to sail the same boat just by swopping some components to power it up or down.

DB-In the Nov issue of Professional Boat Builder you have an article about your latest design the Didi 950. This continues your long line of fast cruisers and racers. Could you talk about some of your new designs?

The Didi 950 is a 31ft plywood boat designed to the Class 950 box rule. This rule is aimed at producing boats that are seaworthy and robust so that they will be suitable for use as fast cruisers as well as racing. I have been commissioned to draw a bigger sister, which will be about 37ft long. That will come onto the drawing board in the 2^nd half of this year.

I am also working on a 32ft gaff cutter, the Cape Charles 32. This is a plywood lapstrake design based on the very successful Cape Cutter 19 and Cape Henry 21 designs. At 32ft it is a good size to be a comfortable coastal or trans-ocean cruiser. With the raised sheer and flush deck, it has very large interior volume.

And in metal boats, I am currently completing an aluminium version of the Shearwater 45. This is a very seaworthy and surprisingly fast cruiser. It has traditional image above the waterline but modern underbody with fin keel and spade rudder. The fibreglass version of this design won the Traditional Cruiser of the Year and overall Boat of the Year Awards in the Cruising World magazine BOTY Awards 2001. 

Dix 56 built by Howdy Bailey

Dix 64 built by Howdy Bailey

Inspecting Marine Hoses

Do you know the condition of your marine hoses? The hoses on our boats live in an inhospitable location and are often forgotten about. Here is my method for inspecting the hoses. Inspect your hoses.

What is the most common marine deficiency on all boats, power and sail? The condition of or incorrect type of hose. Often times on surveying boats I find fuel hose and engine water hose from auto parts stores used on boats. Even the highest quality automotive hose does not hold up well in the marine environment. Automotive water hose is not reinforced like marine hose. It will develop wear spots and can easily crimp. But even good marine hose does not last forever. I find hoses that appear to be in good condition until I grab hold of the hose and bend it, at that time cracks are easier to see in the hose. Squeeze the hose, does it have any soft spots? On other hoses the cracks and wear are easy to see, some of the worst are AC intake hoses where I have bumped into them and had water squirt out. I have found thermal imaging to be helpful in inspecting exhaust hose. The soft worn areas will have a warmer thermal pattern in the image. I confirm the areas by pressing against the the hose after the engine or generator is no longer running. 

The use of Infrared Imaging (IR) is useful in finding worn spots in exhaust hose.

The white area indicates a section of worn hose.

We can see in this IR image a small worn spot in the center of this hose.

By using spot measurements we can indicate the rise of temperature in worn areas of this hose.

When was the last time you inspected your hoses? When I had my yacht management business, every 6 months I would crawl around the engine spaces and bilges inspecting hose clamps for tightness and corrosion. At the same time I would inspect as much of the hoses that were accessible. It is fairly easy to do by running your hands along the hose and using your eyes, giving the hose a bend, (after closing the thru-hull valve) looking for cracking.  A good place to check for wear is where the hose goes over a fitting. These create hard spots in the hose. Closely inspect for anywhere the hoses may rub on an area of the hull or other parts. When in doubt replace the hose. 

Visual inspection is used to spot cracks in this hose. If left alone this hose will start leaking.

The cracks on this hose are visible and by touching the hose I am able to confirm the hose is worn.

This hose is cracked where the hose is connected to the fitting. The use of two hose clamps is doing more harm than good. 

The Garcia-Exploration 45 (Jimmy Cornell's New Boat)

Aluminum Boat Building Is Alive And Well (in France)

Allures and Garcia Yachts http://www.garcia-yachting.com/ were well represented at this year's Annapolis Sailboat Show. With the Allures 39.9 and the Garcia Exploration 45. In this review I will be discussing the Exploration 45 built by Garcia Yachts. Also known as Jimmy Cornell's New Boat.

The Exploration 45 was designed with the input of veteran sailor, voyager, and cruiser Jimmy Cornell. The design comes from the board of Berret Racoupeau Yacht Design.

Even though this is a new design, and something I have not seen before, it does have something in common with other Garcias and the Allures Yachts a centerboard with twin rudders. This design makes for a very efficient sailing design because one rudder is alway vertical under sail. At slow motoring speeds having the twin rudders without the benefit of prop wash can make this type of design difficult to maneuver. The Expedition 45 solves this problem with the installation of a bow thruster. I was impressed with how well the boat maneuvered in the tight confines of the marina. With a draft of 3.44' with the board up and 9.14' board down shallow water cruising opens up a new world not usually visited by monohulls. With the board down windward performance is better than you would think of a centerboard yacht. As with all boats this design is a compromise of shallow draft and windward preference. It is a compromise I can live with! In our sail off of Annapolis, Maryland in 15-20 knots of wind we obtained speeds of 7-9 knots. The Exploration 45 handled well, which was to be expected of the design. In the afternoon the wind continued to increase and we decided to put a reef in the main. The process went with out a hitch. Over all, sailing this boat should be very easy for a couple.

One of the most impressive features of the Exploration 45 is the navigation station. The navigation station is located in the forward saloon. This allows great visibility out of the house windows. I was impressed in the fact I was able to see over the bow from this position. The interior was easy to navigate underway and comfortable. My only complaint is the limited access of the engine which is below the sole at the companion way which could make servicing the engine underway difficult. I found the filters and strainers were easy to access. The cockpit felt safe and comfortable. For the watch there is a safe place to sit behind the house with the chartplotter/radar within easy reach.

Down Below Underway

What about the construction? I took a very close look at the construction of this yacht. I am thankful that the Builder and Swiftsure yachts allowed me access to the bilge and systems areas of the boat.

I was very impressed with what I could see. The metal work stands out on Exploration 45. The hull is fair, the welds are well executed, and the hull to deck edge is beautifully done. The cabin top is made from fiberglass composite. The aluminum decks are covered with cork decking to give the appearance of a teak deck. The footing of this deck is very good and it feels good on the knees.

Hull Framing

I would very much enjoy finding myself hundreds of miles offshore, watching the miles tick by on an Exploration 45.

With Allures and Garcia Yachts being marketed in the USA by Swiftsure Yachts http://swiftsureyachts.com/garcia-exploration-45-2/ 

I hope to see more aluminum boats on the water here in the states. I look forward to when these yachts are on the used boat market and I find myself surveying one.

To view a video of the of the Exploration 45 underway go here:  Exploration 45 from Swiftsure Yachts

Preparing Your Boat to Head South

The following is a list to prepare your boat to head offshore. Even if traveling in the Intracoastal Water Way your boat needs to be prepared for rough weather, groundings, and mechanical breakdowns.

Here is a list of items that I recommend checking and doing before getting underway. This list can be used for power or sail. I am sure there are items I have left out. If you think of other things to add, send me an email. Before I have left on a voyage on my boat or a client's boat I have always performed a full day or two inspection of the boat. It never hurts to hire a professional, such as a marine surveyor, mechanic, and rigger to assist you in ensuring your boat is safe.

All Boats:

• Have the boat surveyed or inspected if you are not comfortable doing yourself.
• When was the last time you hauled out? Do you need to paint the bottom?
• Rudder bearings and seals need to be inspected.
• Steering cables & pulleys need to be inspected and greased. If a hydraulic system: fill system, bleed and inspect for leaks.
• Anodes "Zincs" need to be checked.
• Thu-hull fittings: inspect. Do valves turn freely. Is the valve ball turning along with the handle? 
• Inspect all hoses and hose clamps.
• Engine shaft, propellor, and stuffing box need to be inspected.
• Batteries: inspect, are they holding a charge, are they secured?
• Ship's compass should be checked and adjusted for deviation.
• Have the engines serviced.
• Have generator serviced.
• Polish the fuel.
• Ensure you have plenty of spares for your engines.
• Lifelines: inspect for corrosion. Inspect fittings for cracks.
• Ground Tackle: inspect your anchoring system. Is your anchor large enough and do you have enough anchors? Practice your anchoring before leaving. Secure all anchors before heading offshore.
• Inspect dock-lines and fenders.
• Electronics: ensure all are working and know how to use them.
• Tools: ensure you have what you will need.

Sailboats:

• Go aloft, or hire a rigger to inspect the rig. Use a Scotch Brite pad to clean fittings and a magnifying glass to inspect all fittings.
• Inspect the chainplates, above and below deck for corrosion, cracks and water intrusion.
• All Sails: stitching, reef points should be checked by a sail maker.
• All running rigging, blocks and  inspected and replaced if necessary. Winches should be serviced.
• Have a heavy weather plan and practice it before leaving.
• Carry: spare blocks, line, cotter pins, and seizing wire.

Safety Items to have Aboard:

• VHF radio, fixed and handheld. Have a handheld VHF in your ditch bag and ensure the battery is charged.
• Satellite Phone.
• Barometer.
• A messenger such as SPOT.
• AIS: ensure if you have one it is registered.
• EPIRB: ensure the registration and  battery are up to date.
• Handheld spotlight.
• Handheld compass.
• Binoculars.
• Life jackets & safety harnesses for all crew members.
• Inspect jacklines.
• Whistles for the crew.
• Strobe-lights for the crew.
• Man over board pole with flag and life ring or horse shoe with at least  60' of line.
• Approved fire extinguishers in working order and securely mounted.
• Assorted flares as required by USCG. Remember this is a minimum. Have more on the boat and in your ditch bag.
• Marker dye.
• Hand Held Horn.
• Signal mirror.
• Ensure all running lights, spreader lights, navigation lights and masthead strobe are working.
• Assorted flashlights with spare batteries.
• Knife.
• Soft wood plugs readily available.
• Drinking water.
• Ensure all pumps are operating. Have a manual bilge pump.
• Life Raft: ensure it is inspected.
• Dinghy, with oars.
• Heaving line.
• Boarding ladder.
• First Aid Kit.

Roger Marshall aluminum design built by Howdy Bailey

Interview With Beth & Evans Of Hawk

This is the first of my interview series for the Metal Boat Quarterly.  I posted this on my Metal Boat Surveyor Blog and thought non metal boat owners might want to read it.  Hawk has been recently put on the market and will be at the 2014 Annapolis Sailboat show.  I recommend reading Beth's books, you will not be disappointed.  Click the titles for more information.

http://www.bethandevans.com/

DB: Beth Leonard and Evans Starzinger sailed their Shannon 37, Silk on their first circumnavigation in 1992 for three years and 40,000 miles. For their second circumnavigation, they sailed Hawk, a 47-foot aluminum Van de Stadt Samoa design from 1999-2009 through the high latitudes by way of the Great Capes. They have sailed Hawk 75,000 miles.

The first circumnavigation is documented in Beth's book, Following Seas. 

Stories from their travels on Hawk are in the book, Blue Horizons.

And in my opinion, the best book on outfitting a cruising boat is the Voyager's Handbook, written by Beth Leonard.

You both a very well known in the cruising community, thank you for taking the time to talk to MBQ.

After a circumnavigation on a fiberglass boat why did you chose aluminum for Hawk?

B&E: Most people guess we chose metal for strength, as we planned to go to the high latitudes.  But in fact we picked it because we could make the decks absolutely leak proof.  Our experience with fiberglass decks was that after two or so ocean crossings the boat had worked enough that at least a few of the fasteners through the deck would start leaking. There are zero fastener holes through Hawk's deck. Everything is either welded on, or machine screwed to blind tapped plates that are welded on.

We picked aluminum over steel both because it is less maintenance, and because it can produce a better performing/sailing boat.  You just don't have to keep after rust the way you do on a steel boat.

We have members building their own boats, you chose to have a hull built for you by Topper Hermanson and to finish the boat yourself. At what point of construction did you take delivery? 

From the outside the boat looked complete - deck hardware and mast all installed.  Inside it was close to a bare hull.  The foam was sprayed in, and the major bulkheads were in and the engine was installed, and I installed a head and two sea bunks, but otherwise it was just a bare foam cave.  We had an igloo cooler for food and I strung up some lines as hand grips to get to the head and sea bunks. And we sailed it like that offshore from Florida up to Annapolis.  She sailed very, very well, and Evans tried to talk Beth into just adding a couple beanbag chairs and going like that, but Beth insisted on a galley and settees and nav deck and proper storage, etc.

How long did it take to complete?

Evans had done some furniture building in school, so he knew what was involved to do a really fancy interior. He told Beth that we could take five years to do a really fancy interior with dovetails and hidden joints, or we could put a practical, easy-to-clean and easy-to-maintain interior in in less than a year. We both decided we preferred sailing to boatbuilding – which is not always the case. We have met many people who took years to build a boat, and when they got out there they discovered they really did not like cruising. We knew we loved cruising and wanted to get back to it as soon as possible.

In the end, the hull took two years, and then it took us about nine months to do the interior. Then we untied the docklines and sailed up to Newfoundland.

Beth I remember you saying this was your first experience with using power tools?

Yes. I had no experience using power tools, and was more than a little intimidated when Evans got sent off on a three-month trip to Russia leaving me to put in the ceilings. But instead of even getting to work on the ceilings, I spent most of the summer with an electric bread knife in 90 degree heat and 90 percent humidity in the Chesapeake carving off the excess foam insulation. By the time we were finished, I was pretty comfortable with more than just bread knives – I got used to handling radial arm saws, band saws, and drills.

What did you use for insulation on Hawk?

Three inches of sprayed-on fire resistant closed cell foam, with a paint barrier over it to prevent moisture getting to it.  It has worked perfectly and is still perfect today.  It does not seem to have absorbed any significant/noticeable amount of water.  The only thing we would differently is to try to get a contractor who could have sprayed it on more smoothly.

Evans could you tell us about your choice of bulk head material?

The whole boat interior is made of cored panels.  There are various cores (honeycomb and foam) and various skins (Mahogany and fiberglass) used in different applications.  These panels were about 3x the cost of plywood, but made the boat lighter, and are totally rot resistant, and are much easier to handle during construction.

How did you isolate the dissimilar metals on deck?

Mostly we used Phenolic pads and bushings.  Where we screwed into blind tapped holes we used helicoils set in red loctite.  

The topsides of Hawk are not painted., which can be a benefit of aluminum hulls. Have you been happy with this choice?

Absolutely, one of the two best things about the boat (the other is the hard dodger).  Bare topsides takes absolutely all the stress out of docking along pilings and rough fuel docks.  You just don't have to worry about dinging them up.  We often come alongside docks with no fenders down and just put them in place after we are tied up. One of Evans’ few regrets is that we did paint the coachroof and dodger. But Beth preferred that, even in retrospect, since she doesn’t do the maintenance. Bare aluminum is blisteringly hot in the tropics.

What was your paint system for the bottom and deck paint?

The boat was sand blasted and then a couple coats of a Devoe epoxy metal primer, and then the bottom paint (we were originally using a tin based paint when it was still legal, but are now using Pacifica Plus), and the deck paint is a factory floor coating (Durabek) which is a very nice and durable non-skid but does not look very 'yachty'.

You have a Van De Stadt Somoa design, what are some of your favorite things about this design?

The hard dodger is the design's single best feature. It looks nice and offers excellent protection. That is a surprisingly rare combination.  Other than that, the boat sails really well, almost at race boat performance levels and much better than the vast majority of cruising boats.

Is there anything you would change about the design?

We would have gotten a slightly smaller boat, perhaps 42', if we could have but this was the smallest design that had the 'perfect' hard dodger.

Do you have any advice for maintaining an aluminum boat or a cruising boat in general?

That is a huge topic. Generally we made a fundamental decision to keep the boat extremely simple.  This vastly reduced both the initial cost and the ongoing maintenance work load and we have never missed any of the 'conveniences' we left off.  That goes double with an aluminum boat, where the single best thing you can do is keep the electrical system extremely simple, especially with minimal AC current.  This avoids the potential problems aluminum can have with bad electrical systems.

Just to give you an idea, we don’t have a watermaker, refrigeration, pressure water, A/C, SSB, powered winches, or an installed generator. Since most of our sailing has been in cold water, we use the bilge to keep food cold most of the time. We use  hand and foot pumps for water, and we have a Refleks drip diesel heater that gravity feeds out of its own tank. All of that means that we have minimal electrical draw which allows us to have a very simple electrical installation but with lots of battery capacity.

Do you have any suggestions about outfitting a boat for cruising, and anything in particular related to an aluminum boat?

Keep it simple is our best advice. Beyond that, keep it affordable. We see way too many people who end up with more boat than they can afford and not enough money to go cruising. Far better to downsize the boat at the start than to end up having to sell it because you can’t afford to keep and maintain it.

You two are not cruising full time now and Hawk is moored near Annapolis Maryland. Could you tell us about what you two are up now, and what plans you might have?

We have four parents all alive, between 75 and 85, and we want to stay close by where we can help them until they all pass away.  So, Beth is working as Director of Technical Services at BoatUS, and Evans has been CEO of two start-ups, and has been sailing up to Newfoundland for the summers.

Winterizing Your Boat

For the boaters who are not heading south, it is, or will soon be time to haul your boat and winterize. This is also a good time of year for boaters in areas that do not need to winterize to do an inspection of their boats.  Boat US has provided some great information this month on winterizing your boat.

Here is the link: http://www.boatus.com/seaworthy/winter/

Thanks Ocean Navigator!

About once a month I get around to reading the boating magazine blogs. One of the ones I read is the Ocean Navigator blog. I nearly fell out of my chair when I saw my name mentioned in a post titled "Thermal imaging for corrosion detection". http://www.oceannavigator.com/Web-Exclusives-2014/Thermal-imaging-for-corrosion-detection/ I thank the folks at Ocean Navigator for picking up on my my use of IR for inspecting embedded/glassed in chainplates.

In the early 90s, we at Marine Metals built a Peterson designed schooner for Ocean Navigator Magazine named Ocean Star. It was one of my favorite boats we built. Everyone from the magazine was wonderful to work with. For a few years after the schooner was launched she would sail into Little Creek inlet in Norfolk, VA. It was like having a child come home for a visit. She always had a great crew aboard and I cherish that time in my life. Ocean Star is now a Seamester at Sea Boat.

From http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocean_Star_(schooner)#/search

In Praise of the Amateur Boat Builder

Building a boat can be a daunting task. Whether one wants a small project such as a dinghy or a large yacht, it takes careful planing and determination. Building a boat can also be one of the most rewarding achievements for anyone to do. You will be challenged, your body will hurt, some days you might be frustrated, but the rewards are great.  For example, taking your child for a row or sail in a dinghy you built to setting sail on your first cruise in your cruising boat. Or maybe you will be setting off on a race campaign in that go fast sailboat you built. 

I have seen a quite a few projects end unfinished. The causes are many; money, 

health,  lack of desire.  Building a boat should not be taken lightly. It is a big commitment. 

I am happy to say I have seen many projects end in success.  Some of them have been funky character boats, well found cruising boats, to works of art wood boats.

I have seen amateur built boats where the builder has made serious mistakes in construction and design changes or not applying ABYC and other professional standards. But I want to concentrate on the positive side of amateur building and how, if done correctly, an amateur can achieve a boat of professional quality. 

My father Howdy Bailey, was an amateur builder in 1970 when he built his first boat, a 50' ferro cement ketch. He cruised on this boat for ten years and over 70,000 miles. He sold the boat in 1984 and is still owned by that buyer and is in very good condition. In 1984 my father, an experienced pipe fitter and metal worker,started building boats professionally after building a few metal boats to fund the cruising kitty.

Yacht designer Dudley Dix refers to himself as an amateur builder even though he has quite a few boats under his belt now. One of my favorite designs of Dudley's is his Didi 38,  Black Cat, that he built and has raced in the Cape To Rio race. Reuel Parker, like my father, built a ferro cement sailboat that he cruised from the west coast to the east coast and through the Caribbean. Reuel later became a professional yacht designer and builder. Reuel has built many cold molded boats inspired by traditional designs built with modern materials. Metal boat designers Tom Colvin and Merritt Walters have built their own boats. Merritt Walters later went on to build charter boats of his designs professionally.  Multihull designers Jim Brown and John Marples, both have built boats for themselves. 

My father was contacted by someone interested in building his first boat. The design was one that we were getting ready to build at the yard. A 55' sailboat designed by William Frank. The builder had never built a boat before and was wanting to hire my father and some of our crew to mentor him.  The builder and a friend built the boat with the interior and wood deck houses being constructed by his father. The result is Camaraderie was one of the  beautiful boats I have ever seen constructed by an amateur. To see a video of Camaraderie's sister ship Pasha built by Howdy Bailey click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKLxYSPkulI

 Camaraderie 

Pasha

I recently surveyed a steel sailboat, a Dudley Dix designed, Vickers 46. The boat was built in South Africa on a farm miles away from water. The boat was built by an experienced metal worker and his wife. They knew little about boats or how to build a one. Even though he knew about working with metal, he had to teach himself about wood working to build the interior. The result is a boat that appears was built at a professional's yard. Occasionally I do come across boats like this and it makes me smile. Are we seeing the start of a new carrier for this builder now that he has sold his beloved cruising boat?

I know of another amateur builder I met at the Metal Boat Festival and then again at IBEX. He is a black smith by trade. He is building a Dix 43 aluminum pilot house design in Tennessee. He has approached this project on a professional level. I look forward to seeing it in person one day. Here is a link to his  blog: http://www.odysseyyachts.com

 Last winter I  surveyed a Marples designed trimaran. The boat was built by amateurs with the input of the designer, John Marples. I could not see any signs that this boat was an amateur build. I have seen other multihull projects like this one and I applaud the builders.

Every spring I conduct the haul out on a Crocker 38 cutter skippered by a friend of mine. Every year I sand and paint the hull topsides and marvel at the construction of this yacht. I have been told she was built by a custom home builder in a shop on his property. I have been told this was not his first boat, I wonder is he still continuing with this hobby?

These are examples of amateur builders who have gone beyond just building a boat and have achieved boats of professional quality and . There are plenty of boats that been built and are being built that are attractive and well built. There are great boats built by the members of the metal boat society, and other boat building groups. Two that come to mind are have been built by the previous  president and the current president of the Metal Boat Society. There are plenty of projects being built out there by families. Like a Robert's Spray of ply and epoxy construction being built by a father and son. The father is in his 90s. Now that is inspirational!

No matter what level of finish or what size of boat you building. Follow the designers plans, if wanting to make changes, give them a call. I would like to end this with some suggestions. Learn all you can about the type of construction you will be using.  Hire a professional to mentor you. Hire a marine surveyor to inspect the construction and systems. It helps if the surveyor has a back ground in boat building.

Most of all, have fun!

  

DBYS Newsletter Issue 2

Here is issue 2 of my newsletter I sent out in June. If wanting to sign up for the news letter you can do so on my website: dbyachtsurvey.com

Dylan Bailey's Yacht Surveying And Consulting

In This Issue IR Chainplate Inspections Boating Safety  Metal Boat Festival And More Website Refresh Check out our new look at:  http://dbyachtsurvey.com About Dylan:  http://www.dbyachtsurvey.com/experience/

Chainplate Inspections In the last newsletter I reported on my use of thermal imaging for the inspection of embedded/glassed in chainplates. I have conducted more inspections over the past two months with good results. To read more about these inspections, go to my blog: http://dbmarinesurveyor.blogspot.com/2014/05/more-glassed-inembedded-chainplates.html Boating Safety One of the busiest boating weekends has passed  and the summer boating season has started throughout the country.  All boaters should not only pay close attention to the condition of their boat's systems when commissioning their boat in the spring, but all summer long.  This does not only include maintaing your  engine/engines, but all of your hoses, thru-hull valves, electrical connections, lifelines, rigging, and ensuring all of your safety gear is up to date. Here is a link for the USCG requirements:  http://www.uscgboating.org/assets/1/workflow_staging/Publications/420.PDF   Capsize! This was the title of one of the best articles I have read in Professional Boat Builder Magazine. The article was written by yacht designer Dudley Dix.  I have built and sailed on Dudley's boats and own one.  Not only is he a very talented designer, he is also a  amateur builder, and experienced racer.  If you are in the industry you can get a subscription to Pro Boat here: http://www.proboat.com/table-of-contents-149 To read Dudley's account of the capsize on his blog go here: http://dudleydix.blogspot.com/2014_01_01_archive.html Metal Boat Festival 2014   The metal boat festival: The board members have been busy planning this year's Metal Boat Festival. We have a good line up of speakers for this year. My talk this year will be on paint systems for metal boats. More info on the speakers and topics can be found here: http://metalboatsurveyor.blogspot.com/2014/05/metal-boat-festival-2014-program.html http://www.metalboatsociety.com/festivalInfo.htm If interested in metal boats, this is the place to be. I can not think of a better place to be in August than Annacortes, Washington, the home of the Metal Boat Festival. A scenic ferry ride will take you to the San Juan Islands.  If you are coming to the Festival plan on a trip to the San Juan Islands, you will not be disappointed. Spring Metal Boat Quarterly Interview   My first interview for a series I am doing for the  Metal Boat Quarterly was with writers/cruising sailors, Beth Leonard and Evans Starzinger. I will be posting my interviews on my Metal Boat Blog after they are released in the Metal Boat Quarterly.  http://metalboatsurveyor.blogspot.com/2014/05/interview-with-beth-leonard-and-evans.html Applying Infrared Thermography To Marine Surveying   Recently I attended a two day seminar on Applying Infrared Thermography To Marine Surveying hosted by ARIS INC. It was a very rewarding two days of hands on field work and class room instruction.