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Hey Phillip, sailboat question.

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tslex

tslex

Lifer
Jun 23, 2011
1,482
15
What are you doing for electric? Genset on the engine? Separate genny? Wind? Solar?
I understand you don't spend much time tied up to a dock. (What make of boat are you on again?)
Years ago I used to cruise a little Columbia 24 -- great little pocket cruiser. I simply did without electric, for the most part. Had two hi-capacity 12V batteries I'd charge with occasional engine runs. Kept one isolated for starting, used the other for running lights and a tiny light in the binnacle. My anchor light was kersosene; I read until the sun set. Cooked on a butane canister stove and a small hibachi on the rail. Split food into three smaller coolers (that way the second two didn't have to be opened until the first was empty, etc). I could carry a week of food this way.
BUT there was no internet then. If I were back on Kanata now, I'd need ELECTRIC.

 
tslex

tslex

Lifer
Jun 23, 2011
1,482
15
Have me shot, Bulldog. Thought others here might be interested as we have all followed Phillip's adventures.
And you know what? I'll bet I'm right.
But hey, thanks for being on the board less than a month and telling me how to behave here. Excellent work.

 
mick

mick

Can't Leave
Aug 13, 2012
343
0
No probs, glad to be of assistance giving you thread bumps. :clap:

 
philip

philip

Lifer
Oct 13, 2011
1,705
6
Puget Sound
I have a Westsail 32.
I have two deep cycle 12 volt batteries for the house system and a separate battery for starting. Solar panels on deck supply almost all my needs. I'm something of an electricity miser and live a bare-bones life style when not at the marina. The engine also charges batteries when running, which around here is about half the time with our fickle Puget Sound winds.
Have you ever seen a movie called "The Perfect Storm"? The sailboat Satori the end of the movie was also a Westsail 32.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEuVV8cYJls
As I understand it, that boat was found washed ashore sometime later relatively unharmed. They are tough boats. I hope I never have to see conditions like that.
For any new members who might be interested you can see pictures of my boat in these two threads:
Home Sweet Home

http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/home-sweet-home-1

Sailing Around the Sound

http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/sailing-around-the-sound-1
Edit: Sorry Phillip, I tried; I just couldn't get the links to display properly; L.

 
tslex

tslex

Lifer
Jun 23, 2011
1,482
15
I know the Westsail very well! Cutter-rigged, full keel, canoe stern, bowsprit like a downtown sidewalk. A FINE passage-maker and very much my style of boat. Outstanding, salty little ship. There was one that lived on the bayou on my way out to the bay when I kept my boat off of Choctawhatchee Bay in NW Florida. Fellow kept her up beautifully. I never did wrangle a ride, though.
Yours is lovely -- I like the red/brown coaming -- really makes her lines pop. I see you have roller furling nd a good stout windlass -- well set for single-handing.
I really favor a cutter rig for a serious sailboat -- drop the jib and run under staysail and the main with a single reef -- perfect balance for a good blow.
What solar are you running?

 
philip

philip

Lifer
Oct 13, 2011
1,705
6
Puget Sound
What solar are you running?
Click to expand...

I'm not even sure what make they are as they were on the boat when I bought it. There are two panels just bigger than four feet by one foot. They do a good job of keeping the batteries at full charge. When full a charger device switches to a trickle charge. I'm learning, but electrical systems are not my strong suit.
Home Sweet Home

 
bentmike

bentmike

Lifer
Jan 25, 2012
2,422
37
Thought others here might be interested as we have all followed Phillip's adventures.
Click to expand...
Right On! I love sailing lore. I read as much about it as I can but I find it quite a treat to hear it right from guys who live it. One of my all time favorites is Kon-Tiki by Thor Heyerdahl.
The only watercraft I ever owned was a 15' sea kayak. Paddled in two of the Great Lakes and surfed 4 footers in open water on Lake Erie. Never mastered the eskimo roll but had a lot of fun anyway. I could intentionally capsize, pull the spray skirt swim out and then crawl back in even in open water with swells. Farthest I ever paddled was 12 miles -took about 8 hours.

 
tslex

tslex

Lifer
Jun 23, 2011
1,482
15
I'm learning, but electrical systems are not my strong suit.
Click to expand...
You and me both, brother. Never much good with engines either, to be honest. Always made sure any substantial passages included someone in the crew who had a better relationship with internal combustion than I had.
But oh I do love to sail.
Visiting friends in Fort Walton next week -- have to go up to take a deposition -- I've jiggered the trip so I'll be in town for two races aboard their big Farr sloop. Always enjoyed racing, but nothing is finer than making a line across a chart and waking up in the morning to drink coffee in the cockpit someplace you haven't been before. My little Columbia went farther than a boat that size had any right to go.
Line drawing of a C24 if you are interested: Columbia 24
One of the first production GRP sailboats. Mine was built in 1967.
Good winds to you, Phillip.

 
philip

philip

Lifer
Oct 13, 2011
1,705
6
Puget Sound
My little Columbia went farther than a boat that size had any right to go.
Click to expand...

People around here take boats like your C24 accross the Straight of Jaun de Fuca often. And it can get wild. They are braver than I.

Never much good with engines either...
Click to expand...

There is a steep learning curve. I only single-hand my boat and when I started I was as green as could be. The first night I went out and anchored on my own there were gale force winds. I didn't sleep much that night.
That was nearly three years ago. I'm still learning which is good because there is still much to learn.

 
fnord

fnord

Lifer
Dec 28, 2011
2,746
8
Topeka, KS
Tslex and Philip:
I've been out on a sailboat twice in my entire life, but one of the best novels I ever read had a strong sailing motif and was written by one of my favorite actors, Sterling Hayden.
The name of the book is "Voyage" and it details the ammonium nitrate trade in the 1890's - and that's bat shit from Chile to us lay people. Given Hayden's personal and political past, "Voyage" ranks right up there alongside John Dos Passos' "USA" trilogy in required quasi-Socialist reading from our fellow travelers at "The Daily Worker."
Most of us know Hayden as the dirty cop, Captain McCluskey, who cuffed Michael around in the original "The Godfather," but Sterling Hayden was also a member of the OSS - the precursor of the CIA - during WWII and he made his bones sailing through Yugoslavia's Dalmatian coastline supplying Marshall Josip Broz Tito's rebels fighting the Nazis.
Being terrified of dark blue water, I've always admired they that go down to the sea in ships and I think "Voyage" might be an entertaining read for you two.
Fair winds.
Fnord

 
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