Monday, March 22nd, 2010
....
| Subject: Jim & Linda Heffernan enjoy Florida Islands as a
Midwinters side trip in W2458 -----
Original Message -----
From:
james Heffernan W2458
To:
'Al Schonborn'
Cc:
Linda Heffernan
Sent:
Friday, March 19, 2010 9:50 AM
Subject:
W2458 visits Florida
Islands after Midwinters
Here is a little write-up about our sailing adventures in Southern Florida showing the flexibility of the Wayfarer. MORNING
STAR VISITS CAYO COSTA AND
BIG PINE KEY
With a two week span between the 2010 Wayfarer Midwinters and the George Washington Regatta at the Lake Eustis Sailing Club, Linda and I decided to take W2458 to some warmer parts of Florida. We soon found out there were no warm spots, comparatively speaking, as Florida was smitten with cold and high winds. We drove to Pineland Island which has a good ramp and secure parking for $15 a day at the Pineland Marina, where we launched for the six mile sail to Cayo Costa State Park.  Cayo Costa is a separate island at the southwest end of Charlotte Harbor equipped with great camping and docking facilities. We however, elected to rent a six bunk cabin which we would share with our kayaking friends who set out from Pineland an hour ahead of us. We had planned for a two hour sail which would get us to the island well ahead of sunset and in time for transport to the cabin area.  The following east wind soon died and we began to paddle. When the light wind reappeared, it was on our nose and we were still a long way from the park. As we approached what we thought was the entrance canal Linda once again paddled into the setting sun.  A feeling of dread began to creep into my head as I realized we might be at the wrong place. Soon we confirmed that this was the resident part of the island and not for visitors. With only 20 minutes to sunset we furiously paddled out toward the Intracoastal Waterway looking for the entrance cove. As we came around a point marked with a “Watch out for Manatees” sign, we could see anchored vessels and the far off docks of the State Park. Well after sunset, we sailed up to the docks and tied Morningstar into a snug slip. Knowing we had missed the last shuttle, we took only what we needed for the night and prepared to hike the .7 miles to the cabin area. Fortunately we found a ranger to give us a lift on his ATV. Our cabin mates welcomed us with a bottle of vino and a camp stove meal.  The cabins are sturdy and basic with six bunks , no electricity and a picnic table inside and out for $30 a night. There are separate bathroom buildings with flush toilets and cold water showers. Without ambient light, the night sky viewing is fantastic. This is primitive unspoiled Florida as the natives would have lived. Being remote, the day tourists are not as much in evidence and there is an abundance of peace and quiet, except for the Osprey living behind our cabin.  There are miles of pristine beaches with an abundance of shells. One visitor collected a beautiful arrangement in one day and then displayed them on her cabin porch.  Within the State Park there are twelve miles of primitive hiking and biking trails. Bike rentals are available with a selection of worn out and rusty beach and mountain bikes. This may be the end of the road for old bikes. We mostly had the beach to ourselves except for the shore birds and the Ospreys hunting near the surf.  After three nights, the return sail to the mainland was quick and cool as a strong north wind sent us skipping over the shallows and past the curious porpoises.  With Morningstar safely on her trailer we made the seven hour drive to Big Pine Key where we had rented a cabin at the Old Wooden Bridge fish camp.  This key is the home to the endangered Key Deer, a small species that look like tiny relatives of the Whitetail deer. Of course being protected, they are everywhere, eating anything they want including your lunch if you are careless. Big Pine Key is also the spot where you can find the elusive No Name Pub, hidden on a back road near No Name Key. This pub features good grub and thousands of autographed dollar bills hanging from every surface.  The sailing in this area is a little restricted due to low bridges and many shallows. We mostly sailed near No Name Key, when the wind eased enough to get on the water.  The marina had
kayaks for hire allowing us to explore the shallows and mangroves when
the wind was too strong for W2458. The cold weather greatly affected
the marine life in the Keys and also in the interior lakes. The
buzzards were happy as they consumed many of the decaying fresh and
saltwater fish that could not handle the cold. Even the Moray
eels
suffered. As we kayaked and sailed, we did not see the usual
small
sharks and sting rays in the shallows. Let’s hope they recover with
warmer conditions.
-----
Original Message -----
From:
Al Schonborn
To:
james Heffernan
Sent:
Saturday, March 20, 2010 8:17 PM
Hi, Jim and Linda:
Lovely!! I have posted
you with a front-page billing as well. Sounds like an enticing trip -
part or all of which I could contemplate emulating soon! Your report is
also the first part of Monday's Weekly
Whiffle.
Thanks for the
brightness your report added to my day!!
Best regards,
Uncle Al (W3854)
|
| Subject: Groen
sisters to join us
for Killbear Rally in W6090 -----
Original Message -----
From:
Annelies Groen W6090
Sent:
Friday, March 19, 2010 4:04 PM
Subject:
Killbear Cruising
Hi
Alan,
I wanted to let you know I just reserved a site for the 8th to the 14th of August at Killbear Park and will be joining the group of cruisers with my Wayfarer KC 6090 and my sister, Monica Groen, in tow as crew. Please keep us posted. Annelies Original
Message -----
From:
Al Schonborn
Cc:
Monica Groen ; Ted Rosen (W8231) ; Al Schonborn W3854 ; Alan Asselstine
W7346 ; André et Monique Girard (W3098) ; Andrew Haill W9657 ;
Andy Douma W9913 ; Bill Harkins W2526 ; Dick Harrington W887 ; Don
Palac
; Ivan Pedersen W7350 ; Jim Fletcher W453 ; Joe Trepal ; Ron and Lori
Baker W7356 ; Alastair Ryder-T W10137 ; Barry Hitchcock W7575 ; Bill
Wallace W3130 ; Bridget Balint W4098 ; Chuck & Ginny Jordan W767 ;
Chuck Smith W10245 ; Dave & Carol Hansman W282 ; Dennis Figley
W7477
; Frank Goulay W648 ; Frank Pedersen W8705 ; Fred Black W7379 ; Jason
Whitlow W1492 ; Jim & Linda Heffernan W2458 ; Kit Wallace W1037 ;
Lisa and David Nelson W10246 ; Lori Beehler W3140 ; Mary Abel ; Richard
Johnson W10139 ; Richard Watterson W10423 ; Robert Mosher W3445 ; Scott
and Darcy Sanders ; Sean and Elise Ring W907 ; Tim & Rosemary
France
; Tom Erickson W275 ; Tom Graefe W9668 ; Tony Krauss W4105/276 ; Gary
Hirsch W1321 ; Annelies at home W6090
Sent:
Saturday, March 20, 2010 9:51 PM
Hey, Annelies:
That is indeed lovely
news!! You will love the event!! I have added you to our list
and will be happy to add you to our "Rally Slaves" gallery
page if you'd care to provide mug shots. I can probably find one of
you, Annelies, but it would be less work to have you send me something
of your choice. Oh, and you are W6090 not 6030 - just to nitpick.
I have added you to our
complete Rally mailing list and copied all of them for their and your
reference.
Best regards,
Uncle Al (W3854)
|
| Subject: Sean Ring
(W907) tells
tales from the land of Oz Original
Message -----
From:
Sean
Ring
Sent:
Saturday, March 20, 2010 6:43 AM
Subject:
Tales of the Wayfarer from the land of OZ
  Hi Al, Attached are the only pictures I have managed to get so far. It is not so easy to stop and shoot when trying to catch a ride for an afternoon. Anyway, there are 2 Jolly Boats pictured and as far as I can gather this is the largest or possibly the only active fleet in the world. Similar to the Wayfarer history, the were designed in England in 1954. Below is info from Port Melbourne Yacht Club (PMYC) - my home away from home, our kind of people by far. Last week was my first experience on a JB, and also on trapeze. Today I crewed on a Flying Dutchman, and embarrassingly pulled off another first - I fell out of the boat approaching the finish of the last race of the day. It was a rectangle course, and we rounded the last mark, tightened up, unfurled the genoa and swung the spinnaker over to a reach - As I pushed out to trapeze trusting that I was clipped in, I rolled right out of the boat and of course like an idiot I let the spinnaker sheet go and watched as Colin (my captain for the day) went into evasive action to prevent a capsize - He executed perfect emergency measures, let out the main, furled the genoa, dropped and stowed the shoot, and came around to pick me up...comfortingly I was later told over a beer by Sid (one of the life members of PMYC) that if you haven't fallen out of a boat, you haven't been sailing long enough. The saga will continue next week as I will keep showing up until I have either ruined or elevated the chances of success for the year of anyone that lets me on their boat. Fair Winds, Sean W907 "The Jollyboat is an Uffa Fox designed fast 18foot (5.5m) fast planing monohull that is sailed with a crew of 3. Jollyboats exist in the UK, Ireland, USA, Canada and France. The Jollyboats have spread to other Australian clubs but PMYC is the only Club in Australia that has a large Jollyboat fleet. The PMYC Jollyboats are sailed competitively by both males and females of all ages (one skipper is 74). The Jollyboat was introduced to the PMYC in 1958 in an effort to regenerate flagging club membership. After several years of investigating suitable 18 to 20-foot 3-man dinghies available at that time, the Club decided on sponsoring the Jollyboat over other alternatives available at the time. A completely rigged prototype Jollyboat Fairey Gesture was imported from the UK by the Club in 1958 and was trialed. Two more boats were built in 1960 and demonstrated to other clubs their abilities, including a circumnavigation of Port Phillip Bay by six intrepid club members. The Club then embarked on an ambitious program and built 31 plywood hulls (laminated 5 ply, vacuum-moulded using formaldehyde glue). 25 hulls were built for club members and 6 hulls were built to on-sell to other clubs. Most of the spare hulls were purchased at that time by members of Beaumaris Yacht Club. Several Jollyboats still exist around Australia sailed by dedicated sailors. The Jollyboat hulls were built in the front room of the old PMYC clubhouse that was originally situated south of the shore end of Lagoon Pier and were completed within 6 months by a dedicated team of members. The Jollyboat fleet was launched at Port Melbourne in the Spring of 1962. The introduction of the Jollyboat did indeed attract new members to the Club and was the catalyst for the Club’s growth as one of Melbourne’s leading off-the-beach sailing clubs. This large number of boats needed a new home as the straightening of the Beach Road S bend at HMAS Lonsdale meant that our clubrooms and boatshed were to be demolished. With the same co-operative spirit shown in building the JB’s, the club - under the leadership of Commodore Langlands - went on to build the boatshed now located opposite Bay Street and renovate the old lifeboat shed on the remnants of the town pier to become our new clubrooms. These major projects were again delivered by volunteer labor in just 18 months. Little did the club know that it would lose the clubrooms in a fire in 1996 and rebuild to give us the wonderful clubrooms we have today. The Club currently has 16 Jollyboats of which approx 10 to 13 are sailed at the weekly summer season races. The current Jollyboat racing fleet consists of a mixture of the original plywood hull boats, which are lovingly maintained, in racing condition, and newer fiberglass hulled boats. The Australian Jollyboat Association has participated in three World Championships – Toronto in 1967, North Carolina in 1969 and PMYC hosted the 1970 series in Melbourne. In these Championships, PMYC Jollyboats crews won the World title twice - Volley II (1969) and Ramrod II (1970). The “Ashes” series was created some years ago to attract past members back to the Club. It is held bi-annually involving past Jollyboat sailors who return to race the Jollyboats in a 2-short-race contest. The crew / Jollyboat combinations are changed for the second race based on the results of the first race, being adjusted such that the winning crew of the 1st race sail the last boat home from the 1st race, in the 2nd race. The last crew home of the 1st race sail the winning boat from the 1st race, in the 2nd race. All other crew / Jollyboat combinations are adjusted similarly. The trophy “The Ashes” includes an evening dinner to be held on the Sat March 1st. A BBQ lunch will follow two races on the Sunday morning where the perpetual trophy containing the “Ashes” of the first PMYC World Champion Jollyboat Volley II will be presented to the overall winning crew. March 1st and 2nd will indeed be an active weekend for PMYC which as well as conducting normal Club yacht racing, the start of the Australian Jollyboat Championship’s and the “Ashes”, is also hosting the 2 day State Sabot Championship which is expected to be contested by up to 30 boats. We hope to see you there …The PMYC invites all past Club members and anyone with an interest in off-the-beach sailing to visit our Club during the Ashes weekend and participate in our Anniversary celebrations. The PMYC has a new Clubhouse located over the water at the end of Bay Street Port Melbourne and welcomes both active sailing members as well as social members. Everyone is welcome to visit our Club and view the events from the balcony overlooking the water. The Club’s café / canteen and bar will be open for patron enjoyment." -----
Original Message -----
From:
Al Schonborn
To:
Sean Ring W907
Sent:
Saturday, March 20, 2010 9:33 PM
Fine stuff,
Sean! Congrats on your impromptu swim!! I like the comments from Sid,
and I couldn't agree more - having fallen out of the boat a few times
myself!! Thanks for the nice pics, too... Look forward to more
reports!!
Best regards,
Uncle Al
(W3854)
|
| Subject: Jim Heffernan (W2458) shares the results of his floorboard replacement research -----
Original Message -----
From:
james Heffernan W2458
To:
'Al Schonborn'
Sent:
Wednesday, March 17, 2010 8:25 PM
Subject:
floorboard finishing
Hi Al, Saw some discussion regarding floorboards and thought I would throw in my comments. Am currently building some new floorboards since my 40-year-old ones are delaminating badly and absorbing water, thus weighing in at nearly 50 lbs. I am using 3/8 marine Okouma plywood which I obtained from a Beaufort, NC mill outlet. I sought advice on the finish, and got ideas from John DeBoer, the NC Maritime Museum, B&B Boat Designs, the Antique Classic Boat Company in Cincinnati and the Wayfarer kit building manual. The Wayfarer kit recommends using Deks Olje on the floorboards. This is a penetrating oil rather than a sealer. Since this product is no longer available in the US, (due to VOC’s?), I sought out some advice from an old boat builder at the Maritime Museum boatbuilding center. He had some familiarity with a product made by Land Ark NW that is a penetrating oil used for exposed timbers in house building. This is a product that is made up of tung oil, aged linseed oil, beeswax, pine rosin, pure citrus oil and zinc oxide for UV protection. I have decided to use this since I want a good feel for my bare feet and do not want to slide on varnish or epoxy. It is also environmentally good, using all natural ingredients. The website has a lot of info on the exterior oil and the method of application at www.landarknw.com. The owner of the company recommends 3 coats initially, wet on wet, followed in 3 months with a final coat. Cost is around $70 a gallon. Hope this helps, Jim Heffernan |
| Subject: 2008 Canadian champs, Mark and Paul Taylor
(W7673) to represent us at 2010 Wayfarer Worlds -----
Original Message -----
From:
Mark Taylor W7673
To:
Al Schonborn
Sent:
Thursday, March 18, 2010 5:18 PM
Subject:
Worlds
Mark  Mark Taylor (l) and brother, Paul -----
Original Message -----
From:
Al Schonborn
To:
Mark W7673
Cc:
Michael McKechnie W10377
Sent:
Sunday, March 21, 2010 4:17 PM
Great, Mark. How lovely
it would be to have Canada (well) represented at the Worlds. I'm sure
Mike McKechnie (copied) will ensure that you won't get a repeat of your
1998 Yellow Submarine experience where the boat promptly
lived up to its name. As you two are recent Canadian champions, I am
sure that the organizers will do their best to get you a boat you'll be
happy with.
Do keep me and everyone
else posted.
Best regards,
Uncle Al (W3854)
|
