Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2020 i Soundings

Constant calm seas exist only in our dreams. Sometimes, we’re stuck out there in reality when the wind and seas really kick up. If you are on a day trip and able to make safe haven before the weather turns nasty, then by all means do so. But on a passage, we have to take what’s coming. As the weather deteriorates, it may no longer be possible to safely and comfortably maintain speed or steer the required course. Easing the motion of the boat by slowing down or altering course might be the best solution. Beyond that, suspending a voyage plan is not being chickenhearted; it’s prudent. Experienced mariners have learned the hard way to employ good common sense as conditions demand. “Calm seas never made a good seaman.” I…

Life rafts are the thing you need when almost everything else fails. With the exception of a fierce and unexpected holing of the boat from some external force, or a fast-building fire you can’t contain, if you find yourself boarding a life raft, then you know that mistakes were made, opportunities were missed and—in most cases—you waited too long. Leaving something built to float for something built to float “just in case” is not the way to end a trip on the ocean. You would think that boaters would know more about this equipment. Recently, however, I was reminded that even boaters with long experience might know little about the last-ditch tool of choice. While we were filming the life raft module for an online course, the raft failed to…

What “flyover country” is to the United States, the Connecticut coastline has long been to Northeast boaters. Stuck between bustling New York Harbor and Rhode Island’s marine mecca of Newport, the Nutmeg State is a place that a lot of boaters simply cruise past on their way to somewhere else. Nice view. Pretty waterfront homes. Ho hum. Developer Robert Christoph Jr. is working to change that, and to make Bridgeport, Connecticut, the next great boating destination in the region. The city is about 60 miles from Manhattan and about 120 miles from Newport, making it a natural waypoint for many boaters in terms of distance. It’s also a natural waypoint in terms of marine topography: The approach depth at mean low water is 12 feet, and there are no bridges…

In the early hours of August 20, 1989, the River Thames party boat Marchioness was boarded by a large group of revelers. The evening was warm and still—ideal conditions for the happy Londoners gathered for a birthday celebration. With everyone aboard, a staff of two opened the bar and got the music started, while the ship’s crew got the boat off the dock for what promised to be a wonderful night out on the water. Within half an hour, though, the Marchioness was overtaken by the dredger Bowbelle and struck near the stern. She turned hard to port and Bowbelle struck her a second time, tipping the party boat on her side and riding directly over her. A nearby vessel came to the assistance of passengers in the water, and…

Sailors throughout the ages have answered to wind and weather. Theirs is a harsh and unforgiving environment, as evidenced by the saying that they have but a 2-inch plank between them and eternity. (The thickness of the plank varies with the speaker of the words.) And though the far-flung mariner could be superstitious, many were Godfearing, as well. A church service was a comfort as they assembled before the captain, surrounded by a seeming infinity of ocean both beautiful and fearful. In his 24” x 36” oil on canvas painting “Sabbath at Sea,” marine artist Charles Peterson puts us on the pitching deck of a Grand Banks fishing schooner just in time for a Sunday observance. She’s on her way home, with stacked dories on deck and a hold full…

HEAVY METAL I thoroughly enjoyed the article on the David B and its nearly 100-year-old diesel engine (“Time Machine,” February). It took me back over 40 years when a longtime diving friend owned the Peterson-built, gill net tug, Ann B. Built in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, in the mid-1930s, it was powered by a two-cylinder, 60-hp Kahlenberg Brothers diesel engine. To start it you fired up the cylinder head blow torches until they were close to red hot and opened the air pressure valve. Because it was located on top and in dead center, it would turn over and the engine would begin running. Perhaps a future article could explore the history of what is now Kahlenberg Industries from Two Rivers, Wisconsin. The company doesn’t produce engines anymore, but it is…

Years ago, I was invited to help deliver a schooner to Key West, Florida, only to be faced with an uncomfortable situation before we ever left the dock. It was late fall when my brother and I arrived in Beaufort, North Carolina, to replace two crewmembers who had helped sail the schooner south from New York. The owner was eager to get to Key West to charter out his boat. The plan was for us to depart early the next morning, but that afternoon, the crew gathered in the salon for a phone call with a private weather service provider. In addition to the owner, his wife, my brother and me, the crew consisted of two licensed captains—one of whom served as skipper, and the other as first mate and…

In its 30-plus years, Wesmac Custom Boats has built more than 600 watercraft at its yard in Surry, Maine. Customers include commercial fishermen, law enforcement officials, research labs and hardcore recreational boaters. The business started on the telephone. It was 1987, and fisherman and boatbuilder Steve Wessel and his partner Mac Pettegrow were finishing hulls for a Maine builder. They got a call. It was from a retired engineer who happened to be a Chesapeake Bay boater. He wanted Wessel and Pettegrow to come up with a new design, one that incorporated the hard chines of the fast, skeg-built (with keels bolted onto flat bottoms) Chesapeake Bay deadrise hulls, but that also had the stability and efficiency of Down East “built-down” hulls (with keels integral to a rounded bottom). The…

One of the advantages of buying a boat far from home is that you get to drive it back to its new home waters. For Dave and Ann Roman, that meant a 16-day voyage from Michigan to coastal New Hampshire. “We had a wonderful cruise on Lake Erie and the entire Erie Canal,” says Dave Roman, 53, an engineer from Raymond, New Hampshire. “Then it was down the Hudson River, through New York Harbor to Long Island Sound, on to Buzzards Bay and the Cape Cod Canal, and around Cape Ann to Hampton Beach and home. When we arrived at the marina, one of our neighbors asked where we had come from. When I told him, he exclaimed, ‘Who are you, Christopher Columbus?’” It was a boating experience to add…

A charming and pristine community, Mystic was founded in 1654 and quickly became known as a prominent shipbuilding village during the clipper ship era. Today, Mystic maintains its ties to maritime history, and recreational boating. Located near some of the best cruising areas in southern New England, this port provides residents and visitors with access to deep-water marinas, boatyards and fishing grounds. Nestled on the banks of the Mystic River and spanned by the Mystic River Bascule Bridge, the village is contained by the towns of Groton and Stonington. Mystic is conveniently located between Boston and New York, and it provides easy access to other coastal towns and harbors in the Northeast. By boat or ferry, Mystic is a short distance from Fishers Island, New York, as well as Sandy…

When a St. Petersburg, Florida, marine officer recently retired after 30 years on the job, Heather Judd, who works in the office of the city attorney, asked him what he would change in the region if he could change absolutely anything. The officer told her he wished that derelict boats would be removed from the area’s waterways. He also expressed a desire for boaters to slow down when they see emergency vessels near these derelict boats—in the same way that drivers of motor vehicles have to slow down on the nation’s roadways. Now, those wishes and more could become law throughout the state of Florida. On January 3, state Senator Darryl Rouson, a Democrat from District 19, introduced Senate bill 1378. It would require boaters to slow down to minimum…

SAILING ALONE AROUND THE WORLD Born in Nova Scotia, Joshua Slocum had made dozens of open sea voyages on trader and merchant ships before he built Spray, the gaff-rigged oyster sloop he’d sail around the world alone. He set sail from Fairhaven, Massachusetts, on April 24, 1895, following a 46,000-mile westward route that landed him in Newport, Rhode Island, on June 27, 1898. Sailing Alone Around the World was first published in 1899 in a series of pieces in The Century Magazine. The book has been widely available in print for over 100 years. ($7, Independently Published) DOVE American sailor Robin Lee Graham was 16 years old when he set sail from California in the 24-foot Lapworth sloop Dove. After a shakedown cruise from California, he left Hawaii on September…

In 2010, Beneteau introduced its first Swift Trawler, the 34, in the U.S. At the time, the French builder was mostly known in the United States for its sailboats, but the trawler design quickly garnered a reputation for speed, space and comfort among powerboaters. Ten years and 1,500 Swift Trawlers later, Groupe Beneteau now offers five trawler hulls between 30 and 50 feet. The company’s latest model, the 41, was released last year as a sedan to complement the flybridge version and will replace the 44. Despite the nomenclature, the 41 has a length overall of 44 feet, 1 inch. Beam is 13 feet, 9 inches. Even though she is shorter than the 44, the 41 feels big. The windows are huge and make the boat look even larger. Visibility…

1 EVERGLADES 365CC At 35 feet, 4 inches length overall, the Ever-glades 365 replaces the 355 as the model between the 335 and 395 in the builder’s center console lineup. Reaching the fish shouldn’t take long with a pair of 425-hp Yamaha XF425 4-stroke outboards strapped to the transom, good for a top end of 46 knots with a cruise in the mid-20-knot range, according to Everglades. Among the fishing features are in-deck, insulated fish boxes, livewells, rod stowage, a bait-prep area, an optional upper helm and outriggers. Seating is convertible from the bow lounge to the transom. Beneath the console is a wood-trimmed cabin with a head, sink (with a pullout shower faucet), stowage locker, berth and more stowage. 2 HATTERAS GT65 Rigged with twin 1,600-hp Caterpillar C32 diesels,…

WILLY LEWIS Brewer South Freeport Marine, ME The injection pump on a diesel engine is great for pumping fuel, but when air gets into the fuel system—from changing fuel filters, for example—you have to bleed it out. Fill the primary fuel filters with clean diesel. You can also draw fuel into them using the hand pump, but that will take at least five minutes of pumping. Better to prime them. Find the bleeders, crack them open, use the hand pump until solid fuel comes out, and then close them. If the engine hasn’t been run dry, it will probably start. If the engine ran out of fuel, then on an old-fashioned diesel, you’ll have to bleed the injectors, too. Using an open-end wrench, crack the fuel supply lines at each…