A rainy day in the Low Country. Solid overcast with intermittent downpours and gusts. A small craft advisory is posted for coastal waters, which happens here much more frequently than I expected. So I have a day in the condo. After writing this, a little housework. Reading EXTRAORDINARY LIVES: The Art and Craft of American Biography. Listening to music. Weight workout. Watching some soccer and the wind in the live oaks and the rain on Skull Creek.
After Saturday’s talk Joe forwarded a few questions to me that had not been asked at the time. Thinking they might be of interest to others I post them and my responses.
From Matt:
Do you enjoy sailing out of Safe Harbor on the Atlantic for fun?
How does the sailing on the East coast compare with sailing in the Bay Area?
Generally I don’t daysail much. I don’t like to go out and have to turn around and come back and I find that it is almost as much effort to go for a daysail as to start an ocean passage. However, having said that Hilton Head is decidedly different from sailing in San Diego, mainly because there are many places to anchor here and few regulations, so I can sail for an afternoon and then anchor overnight. My last video was shot at anchor on Election Day.
They call this the Low Country and another significant difference from California is that a lot of the water is shallow and shoals extend far offshore. To get completely clear of them I have to sail several miles beyond the shoreline.
In Skull Creek itself, the Intracoastal channel has buoys and is 20+’ deep, but outside that you can quickly run aground, even in GANNET. I have yet to do so and hope to keep that record.
Another difference is that there is no prevailing wind here as there is from NW along the California coast. The wind can come from any direction. And the water temperature varies considerably, from above 80 in the summer—good for hurricanes—to around 50 in winter.
From Scott:
What was the most challenging aspect of sailing a Moore 24 around the world? What was the best aspect of the boat?
In your books you have commented that your prefer boats without lifelines? Why? What safety gear did you have on Gannett and how often did you wear a life harness? Did you ever fall or get washed overboard?
The most challenging aspect of sailing GANNET around the world was dealing with the water that made its way below deck even with the hatches closed. GANNET was of course not as wet as CHIDIOCK TICHBORNE, my open boat, but everything in her is subject to getting wet, including me, and if it can be damaged by water has to be in watertight cases. It wasn’t until I reached Durban, South Africa, that I came up with a spray hood around the companionway that partially solved the problem of the water coming in there. Actually I did not solve it, a reader who sails a small boat out of the Netherlands sent me photos of a simple spray hood he devised for his boat. On GANNET it is necessary that any such hood be easily and quickly raised and lowered because I often sail the boat standing in the companionway.
The best thing about GANNET is her sailing performance. She is so responsive, so quickly accelerates catching a wave or a bit more wind, runs so true. She is a joy.
Of lifelines, I only didn’t have them on EGREGIOUS and CHIDIOCK TICHBORNE. CHIDIOCK was an open boat and lifelines were never intended. I have had them on all subsequent boats and am very glad to on GANNET. Generally I felt that lifelines don’t really keep you on a boat and they cause a lot of holes to be drilled in the deck which can and often do leak. On EGREGIOUS I wore a safety harness whenever I left the cockpit. I had a long line attached to an eyebolt inside the cabin so I could put it on before going on deck and a shorter line to clip into the toe rail when I was at the bow. EGREGIOUS did not have jib furling gear, which back then was new and untested.
I have never fallen overboard. If I had I would not be writing to you today. Sailing a boat alone across an ocean there are simple mistakes that you can’t make even once.
From Topher:
You mentioned, that while adrift, your “great pleasure” was having a bit of jam. While sailing Gannet, I wonder, what is your greatest pleasure?
Standing in the companionway or sitting on deck listening to music, sipping something, while GANNET sails perfectly balanced toward the setting sun.
From Eric comes an opinion about my legacy, assuming I have one. I thank him for taking the time to express it.
I understood at one point that you were wondering what legacy Webb Chiles would leave behind, I think that beyond the shadow of a doubt Webb Chiles will have definitively proved that it is not necessary in order to cross the oceans to own or build sailboats with battle tank architecture as popular culture or some offshore sailors have always claimed, but as you have often proven a light and fast sailboat well built weighing only half or a third of the weight of the old sailboats can not only be safe but more affordable and available to many. Your contribution to the world of sailing has been not only to change the perception of what is, but also of what must be. In addition to democratizing an activity that is no longer reserved for the richest or the most do-it-yourselfers of this world.
You change an archaic conception of oceanic sailing to become a modern reality by changing paradigms largely outdated.
Last evening my shoulders ached. I waxed GANNET’s starboard topsides and was glad that she is not bigger. I calculate her topsides are less than half the area of THE HAWKE OF TUONELA’s, another reason to like small boats.
I had previously done the transom.
Although while I was working, the line between what I had waxed and had not was clear and GANNET definitely looks better than she did, I am uncertain if waxing will be enough. As I walked away her starboard side seemed to pass the ‘viewed at a boat length distance test’, but that may be easy for one half blind. So I have emailed Audrey of the Armada to get on her horse and ride up here and gallop by to give the definitive decision. Audrey lives near Pensacola, Florida, five hundred miles away. I don’t know how long it will take her to get here and am a little concerned about a horse galloping down the dock, but I will let you know the results.
I was going to turn GANNET around today so I can do the port side and even considered going sailing. The rain has intervened.
William Butler Yeats:
2 comments:
do you know if the video of the talk you gave will be posted anywhere?
I do not know for certain, but it may be. Joe made a recording and is going to send a copy to me. I believe he also intends to upload it to the Singlehanded Sailors Society site.
When/if I know more I will note it in a journal post.
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