A "Simple" Boat

[troppo1]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

Heater on a boat is an oxymoron to me, my idea is if it starts to get cold, move. I equate cold to pain, and I have an allergy to pain

My wife is 11 years younger than me and my boat is 36 old, that means that I will retire a lot sooner than my wife and when I retire my boat is going to be very old. This will be my retirement, playing on the boat waiting till the wife retires.. Her job and her family keep her here in Holland and our boat is not meant to go to sea,,, So,, moving in the winter is not really an option, we hunker down and still spend weekends on the boat until it only gets to 5 degs during the day, the heater keeps us warm but going outside to shower becomes rather a painful affair. So we strip the boat out, make her ready for winter and walk away for 5 mths every year, let the ice build up around the hull and dont go back on board until the ice has melted, then we recomission her for another 7mths of weekends and usually 2 x 2wks holidays before the next winter comes.
After a life at sea floating around, moving from place to place getting jobs along the way, going sth for summer, nth for winter, east for the reef and west to go home, I am happy to stay in one place and use the heater when needed. I used to fly planes or gliders on the weekends, now in winter on the weekends we travel the countryside in the car going to marina's and checking out places to visit next year, Holland is huge at 4.5kn so we wont run out of any new places to visit just yet.

[onestepcsy37]

tropp1 -

although i've only spent a week in holland i really loved the place. we only saw amsterdam (van gogh museum, riksmuesem), the waterland north of amsterdam (little villages, windmills, canals, cheese shops) and the high point of our tour, the kroller-mueller museum. please excuse my misspellings.

now i'd like to ask you to remind me of something. while i was there i saw a 'bumper sticker' that i should have bought but didn't. the english translation was

"God made the world, but the Dutch made Holland"

what is that in dutch?

[robert sailor]

Laika...where there is a will there is a way. There are not a lot of Vancouver 27's out there but it is one of the best 27 offshore boats made....if not the best! 30 years ago I was so close to buying one as I had the go cheap go simple thing really working on my head. Now there is a boat you can sail absolutely anywhere as long as you do your part and you can do it on a real tight budget. Living a minimalist lifestyle is nothing but fun and you really appreciate all the little things in life that really mean something. These days we are overtaken by big complex and expensive sailboats, so we are dragging all our problems with us rather than living cheap and simple and leaving all the complexities of life back where we came from. We'll keep an eye out for you somewhere along the way....

[gtunison]

Originally Posted by smj

I appreciate what the Pardeys have done but I don't place them upon a pedestal or worship them as you do.
To cruise without an engine was their choice, not a choice I would make as I consider an engine to be a piece of equipment that helps to make a seaworthy boat. But they did do most of their cruising in an earlier time so maybe an engine wasn't needed back then?
I think the point is if your known to preach self sufficiency then practice it. And to me this would mean don't bother other people by asking for a tow into an anchorage when it was your choice to do without an engine.

Asking for something is a request. A request does not require a response. What is the rule about helping other mariners in danger? What if there is only percieved danger or no danger?

[troppo1]

Originally Posted by gtunison

Originally Posted by smj

I appreciate what the Pardeys have done but I don't place them upon a pedestal or worship them as you do.
To cruise without an engine was their choice, not a choice I would make as I consider an engine to be a piece of equipment that helps to make a seaworthy boat. But they did do most of their cruising in an earlier time so maybe an engine wasn't needed back then?
I think the point is if your known to preach self sufficiency then practice it. And to me this would mean don't bother other people by asking for a tow into an anchorage when it was your choice to do without an engine.

In my 6 years singlehanded liveaboard on a 28ft Pelin Cat I had a 20hp outboard that was only used when I couldnt get 4 knots boat speed from the wind. I raised the main and let it hunt up on the anchor rode and raised the anchor by hand, then raced back to the cockpit and threw the helm over, unfurled the jib and sailed out of the anchorage. I taught myself to sail into a marina or anchorage, luffup and drop the pick or jump the railing and tie up in the marina. that experience enabled me to get a ticket for boats up to 25mtrs and make a good living. I have singlehanded 12 to 14mtr bareboats with busted motors from the island anchorage pickup after loading the tourists onto the boat I bought with me, back to the marina and onto a mooring in the middle of Shute harbour in Airlie bch. I wouldnt sail without a motor by choice and admire anyone that does. But, You dont know what you've got till it's gone. Learn how to sail the boat without the engine while you still have it, then when you dont have it, you dont really need it.

[Therapy]

Originally Posted by downunder

Check out the presentations on this thread. Aft mast & simple sail.

I have been all over that in the past.

I do know of the difficulty of controlling the tremendous forces involved. Significantly higher than a standard Marconi rig.

I then have seen some A-frame rigs. I think those offer much more than the Aft-mast rig with the same advantages of large head sails that are really the driving force (and lifting) of the Marconi.

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by troppo1

In my 6 years singlehanded liveaboard on a 28ft Pelin Cat I had a 20hp outboard that was only used when I couldnt get 4 knots boat speed from the wind. I raised the main and let it hunt up on the anchor rode and raised the anchor by hand, then raced back to the cockpit and threw the helm over, unfurled the jib and sailed out of the anchorage. I taught myself to sail into a marina or anchorage, luffup and drop the pick or jump the railing and tie up in the marina. that experience enabled me to get a ticket for boats up to 25mtrs and make a good living. I have singlehanded 12 to 14mtr bareboats with busted motors from the island anchorage pickup after loading the tourists onto the boat I bought with me, back to the marina and onto a mooring in the middle of Shute harbour in Airlie bch. I wouldnt sail without a motor by choice and admire anyone that does. But, You dont know what you've got till it's gone. Learn how to sail the boat without the engine while you still have it, then when you dont have it, you dont really need it.

+A1...

[troppo1]

Originally Posted by onestepcsy37

tropp1 -

although i've only spent a week in holland i really loved the place. we only saw amsterdam (van gogh museum, riksmuesem), the waterland north of amsterdam (little villages, windmills, canals, cheese shops) and the high point of our tour, the kroller-mueller museum. please excuse my misspellings.

now i'd like to ask you to remind me of something. while i was there i saw a 'bumper sticker' that i should have bought but didn't. the english translation was

"God made the world, but the Dutch made Holland"

what is that in dutch?

A direct translation is: God heeft de wereld gemaakt, maar, Nederlanders hebben Nederland gemaakt..

I have never seen this in Dutch it has always been in english and it is very true. You can drive your boat through tunnels and under bridges in the middle of most city's and then moor up and walk through the city centre to do the shopping, then you can go through Rotterdam Habour next to some of the biggest ships in the world. My 9 mtr boat is low enough to get under most bridges and big enough to cross the busyest tanker/containership lanes. We are not restricted in any way expect when the water is less than 2ft deep.
I came here for 6 weeks holiday after a very long 3mth surfing charter through the indonesion islands on the way from the Whitsundays to Bali. I am still here after 15 years and gave up delivering boats and playing skipper on other peoples boats to stay here. This place is heaven for a boaty, anything from the nth sea to gigantic locks to cleaning the sides with the weeds in a narrow canal with only 2 inches under the keel.

[troppo1]

Originally Posted by troppo1

A direct translation is: God heeft de wereld gemaakt, maar, Nederlanders hebben Nederland gemaakt..
This place is heaven for a boaty, anything from the nth sea to gigantic locks to cleaning the sides with the weeds in a narrow canal with only 2 inches under the keel.

A couple of foto's with a lock full of boats, sometimes up to 25 rafted up side by side or even sideways at the back to get as many through in 1 go, wait time can be an hr or more in summer.

Rotterdam harbour and cleaning the sides the natural way.


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