Good Old Boat

James and Martha Knowlton’s 1982 Wild Wind 20, Sour Dough, above. The Wild Wind 20 was also known as the Gale Force 20, the Rinker 20, and the Rinkerbuilt 20. Issue 36 : May/Jun 2004 Back in the 1930s, a couple of teenage brothers enjoyed being out on Lake Wawasee, located near their hometown of Syracuse, Indiana. Their enjoyment was made even more special since the boats they used were ones they had built themselves.

Issue 36 : May/Jun 2004 Most sailors don’t miss the motor after they part with their first auxiliary-powered sailboat. But it’s been seven years since I bid farewell to my 23-foot homebuilt woodie, and I still wish I’d kept her engine. It was a solid, all-American, 300-pound chunk of iron that took form in a heartland foundry perhaps a decade before my own 1951 birth.

A properly cleated line, top. Bowlines, above, used to tie genoa sheets to the sail’s clew. A clove hitch used to secure lifelines to the stanchions on a gangplank, at left. Issue 36 : May/Jun 2004 During my two-plus decades of Boy Scouting (as a Scout during my youth and then as a Scoutmaster), knots and knot-tying played an integral role in the program. Without them how could the lashings of a signal tower be begun or ended? Or how could the lines of a tent be properly secured and made taut?

Gerry and Marolyn McGowan sail their 1978 Nor’West 33, above, in the Pacific Northwest. From the looks of Marolyn’s smile, Sailor’s Joy could have just as easily been named Marolyn’s Joy. The removal of the long, narrow, and deep fuel tank, at left, was not as simple as expected. It had been foamed and fiberglassed in place with tabbing around the periphery. The original teak-and-holly sole wound up being replaced in the end.

Issue 36 : May/Jun 2004 We were on the Intracoastal Waterway a few miles south of Fernandina Beach, Florida, when the distinct tang of an electrical fire filled the air. We shut off the engine and coasted to a stop, throwing down the hook just outside the channel. When we opened the engine access hatch, smoke billowed out. One of the heavy cables to our alternator had vibrated loose, and the resulting short circuit set fire to the alternator regulator.

Issue 36 : May/Jun 2004 When it comes to steering a sailboat, even die-hard wheel enthusiasts agree there is no steering system that is simpler, more affordable, or offers better “rudder feel” than the tiller. Wheel systems, on the other hand, provide power equal to or exceeding that of a tiller and usually take up less cockpit space. Loads imposed on all steering systems can be extreme, and fittings and fastenings should be commensurate. Wheels can be mounted on bulkheads, consoles, or pedestals.

Measure your companionway opening at the top and bottom and also from the forward face of the wood strip installed on the top of the companionway slide. Issue 36 : May/Jun 2004 When the winter chill comes on board or when you want to keep that cool air-conditioned air inside your cabin, sew yourself an insulated companionway door flap. Sunbrella or other water-resistant fabric. 1 x 1-inch teak strip, as long as the width of your companionway sliding hatch.

Issue 36 : May/Jun 2004 Usually, inviting friends to share a holiday on your boat is fine. If you are lucky, they will conserve water, turn off the lights, eat appreciatively, pitch in to help, and not break stuff. But most people, nice as they may be, are pretty clueless about what to do and what not to do while cruising.

Issue 36 : May/Jun 2004 Oof the many steering systems available to the small ship, none is easier to make, simpler to use, or more sensitive to the person at the helm than the tiller. For this reason, the tiller becomes the logical emergency steering device when a wheel — with its hydraulics, cables, or gears — breaks down.

You had to use your imagination in the early stages of the refit. Zephyr, a 1938 Alden Malabar Jr., was going downhill fast until she was rescued by Tom Garber. Issue 36 : May/Jun 2004 When I went for a sail last August on Zephyr, my 1938 Malabar Jr., designed by John Alden, it was so much more than a typical day on the water. It was the culmination of a dream set in motion three years earlier and a reminder to be careful what you dream for.