Old Westerly Nomad

With summer guests and visitors gone, a good load of logs cut and stored for the winter and plenty of

produce from the vegetable garden, I was able to make real progress on the restoration of this little vessel. I was quite frustrated a few weeks ago because all my efforts had been focussed on the cockpit. I had obtained good results but as the boat is on a trailer no-one could see or appreciate the fruits of my labour. I have been working to the early advice given by my good friend John (the unlikely Boat Builder). His advice was to concentrate on those things that would get her launched – interior comforts and decoration could wait. It’s a logical argument supported by the fact that working on the outside of the boat when the days are dry and inside when they are wet means that I have no excuse for failing to do something most days.

While we had guests and visitors I was able to work on bits of the boat I could detach and bring home.

To date however, in the boatyard I had little obvious to show and, perhaps even worse, the beautiful painted hull was beginning to look as bad as the rest of the boat due to my sanding efforts above it.

So, last week I embarked on a slight deviation in strategy without compromising the over-riding philosophy. I took a long hard look at the boat and decided the single biggest effort I could make that would make a noticeable change would be to clean up the cabin sides and polish the green hull. For the cabin sides, it took five days of full time effort. Starting with a wash and degrease then a P50 sanding disks, followed by a P120, then a P190 attached to a Bosch detail sander, then hand sanding with P340 and finally a P600 grade paper. Some advice suggested that I should continue down to P1000 and then P2000 (wet). I couldn’t source these final two grades and so I can only hope I have gone far enough. Following the sanding I used a heavy and then a light grade rubbing compound. At this stage I washed the hull paintwork and then applied two coats of marine polish (with Tefal in it!). The overall effect was outstanding and the result was well within the standard 100ft test. In fact she even looked good from 10ft away - a real boost to my morale.

The disc and detail sanders ran off my Honda suitcase generator – an item I would not be without (thanks Peter for selling it to me at such a reasonable price!) When it came to compounding and polishing however, I found the electric polisher to be far too heavy to work with especially on the cabin sides which were above my head. Instead I used rechargeable drills fitted with wool bonnets. The first is a Black and Decker which has proved to be remarkably good. The second is a recent purchase from my local builder’s merchant (the 'Man Shop' as Susan calls it) It’s an 'Energer' and it came with a set of screwdriver tips and drill bits of assorted sizes all for 29 Euros – best of all it has two batteries. It’s not as fast as the Black and Decker but for compounding and polishing it's fine. The advice is never to use a mains driven drill for polishing unless it is variable speed because they turn too fast and can burn the gel-coat. So two rechargeable drills and three batteries, charged overnight, provided all the power I needed to complete the job.

Seaward

July! What happened to April May and June?

Well, I’ll tell you. April and May were almost the wettest, coldest months of spring in living memory. We had snow in May. For much of those months Susan and I were planting crops and seedlings only to see our hopes dashed by yet more frost, sleet hail and occasionally – snow. The store of logs which we expected to see us through the warmer days became completely exhausted and we had to find and chop many more to keep the fires burning. Fortunately a log warms you twice, once when you cut it and again when you burn it.

We also picked up a flu bug which laid us both low for several weeks. Lots of people in the village had it too and I can’t remember ever feeling so ill before. The flu didn’t last forever but the recovery was a long process. Neither of us had any energy except for meeting the basic requirements of staying alive.

Then we had to go to the UK to check on family and make sure all remains well with them following our voluntary exile to France.

Then to cap it all, dear old Google withdrew advertising from the blog because I hadn’t completed an on-line form. It took a month to sort that out. The income is tiny but it’s enough to pay for a pot of boat paint now and again so it did have an impact. All this is a roundabout way of apologising to regular readers for my prolonged absence.

Now for the good news – well despite my lack of postings I seem to be enjoying a larger than ever readership. Almost 4000 readers last month (June) 30,000 readers over all and anywhere between 80 and 150 readers daily. Maybe it’s better if I don’t write so much.

As for the boat, well I managed to get back on board a few times in June and have decided to try and tackle the worst parts of the boat first. The cockpit is the dirtiest, most tired, scuffed and scraped area on the whole boat and so that’s where I have decided to concentrate effort. She’s been painted in this area before so that’s where to begin.

Reading up on the subject tells me that 80% of a professional painter’s time is devoted to preparing for painting. He only actually spends 20% of his time with a paint brush or roller in his hand. The advice is that for an amateur boat renovator, he should invest 90% of his effort on preparation if he wants to get a finish remotely as good as that of a professional. So, with regard to the cockpit it’s washing and degreasing, followed by sanding to start with.

Recommendations regarding sandpaper are – use nothing more course than 80 grade and aim to use 125 grade to finish if you want to paint. If you hope to restore without paint you have to move to finer and finer grades – down towards 400 – and then smooth even more using a rubbing compound. I think the cockpit will need painting but hope to get away with re-polishing the rest of the topsides. More detail as I get into the job.

Finally, take a look at this pic. Its the piece of string which holds the lifeline to the pushpit. Obviously there are several of these on the boat but only one tied in this way. I love it but can't find any reference to is in the standard and classic books on sailing knots or hitches. So, if you have any idea what it is, and where it is described I'd love to hear from you. 

Seaward

Non Slip Companion-Way Steps

 So, just as I was beginning to think that the worst of winter is over, the temperatures fall and we find ourselves in the coldest of cold snaps experienced to date. We have had a week of severe frosts and there is more to come.

This isn’t a time for cleaning or painting the exterior of the boat, so work has migrated to some of the smaller improvements that can be done, sitting by the warmth of a wood burning stove.

There are some things on and about this old boat that are very practical but also very ugly. Having sanded and oiled the companionway steps into the cabin I’m very pleased with the dark orange colour of the Iroko wood. I’m less pleased however with the grey trackmark treads that had originally been glued to each step to provide a non-slip surface and, having stripped them off, I can’t bear the thought of recovering the wood with a similar replacement.

So, last week it was back to the books looking for alternative ideas. I eventually came across something in a long out-of-date work – ‘The Marlinspike Sailor’ written by Hervey Garrett Smith (David & Charles 1972). In this book he describes a number of rope mats that were made up out of old used rope to serve a variety of purposes on the old nineteenth century square-riggers. Some were known as ‘thump mats’ laid on deck around blocks to protect the wood when tension came off the rope and the block would clatter onto the deck. Others were used to protect decks in port when landsmen would come aboard bringing grit on the soles of their shoes. Some were made to provide non-slip surfaces for crew in key areas.

So, here is my solution – one of these mats for each of the steps. The first one took several attempts to make but once you get the hang of it, the pattern is remarkably easy to follow. I’m now sure yet quite how to secure the mat to the step – Hervey Garrett Smith suggests escutcheon pins (whatever they are!).

Seaward  

Out in La Passagere

Out in La Passagere

I mentioned before that a good friend of mine has bought an old open two masted lugger, previously used as a ferry, to renovate and use as a pleasure boat for tourists who want to get a taste of the sea (or the estuary) on a traditional vessel. The boat is called La Passegere and his name is Allain. Well, by the time the purchase was completed and the vessel had been brought up to his exacting standards, the tourist season was  all but over. Still she’ll be ready for next season and there is still a chance that one or two late season tourists might take the bait. Allain is offering morning, afternoon or evening cruises to suit requirements and the tourist group can be as small as three and as large as six. Guests on board can help work the boat or simply enjoy the ride. The evening cruises are known as appero-cruises, in that aperitifs and wine are included in the experience.

Anyway, by way of turning a threat (lack of bookings) into an opportunity (a bit of marketing) Allain decided to use downtime to encourage the local mayor and regional representatives to support his new business venture by inviting them for a sail last weekend. So, with the local dignitaries on board Allain explained the concept of the venture while Jean Luc and I acted as crew. Who had most fun, Jean Luc and I or the passengers? Probably Jean Luc and I.

We began the voyage in bright sunshine with the outgoing tide and a light north westerly wind and reached five or six miles down the estuary to a village on the left bank, Langrolay. From there we tacked back across the estuary to Port St Hubert where we anchored for coffee and took stock of the morning. There had been significant rain during the pervious night and so the air was remarkably clear and polished, also, being a Sunday, there were lots of other boats to see and quite a bit of fishing activity along the shoreline. One or two guys were actually involved using a traditional net which seems to be spread across a giant pair of wooden scissors which fit around the waist. The trick seems to be to walk along the shoreline with the net in the water to scoop up prawns and shrimps.

Towards mid-day, the wine bottle was opened and we moored up by the village of Mondriec (an ancient settlement reputed to have been a place of druids). This is a particularly beautiful village which looks out across the water to a beautiful old chateau ‘La Chene Vert’ (the green oak).  Le Chene Vert is still inhabited and it often provokes a somewhat philosophical discussion between Susan and me as to who is the most fortunate, the obviously rich owner of the castle with his view of the boats, but with all the responsibility that such a building must place or him, or the freer spirited sailors, with less responsibility and probably less money who get to look at his castle for free? I think I know where my inclinations lie.

Mondreic also has one more claim to fame. There is a seal that has lived alone in these waters for the past five years. He’s well fed and healthy and he seems to genuinely enjoy human contact. He can be quite elusive, but when the mood takes him, he’ll pop out of the water and put on a display for passing boaters. True to form, and right on schedule, he put on such a display for La Passagere, her crew and guests as we left the port and headed for Plouer Sur Rance our home port. Sometimes sailing just doesn’t get any better.

OK, so I've finlly managed to hook up with my new internet provider and haver broadband again. Wuthin the next few days I'll be updating Susan's view from the galley and the quizz page. Also, I'll be reporting on why the offer of a Westerly Nomad is drawing my attention AND, I'll be listing reviews of a few books I've been reading - so after a lull - watch out of a lot more activity in this corner of webspace.

Seaward

Sailing The Old Fashioned Way

Reasons to be cheerful, a thought on how to ensure low cost cruising. Can you sail without radar, GPS, electronic plotters, electronic compasses, wind-speed indicators, fish finders, computers and weather stations? Yes you can! Twenty or thirty years ago most of this technology hadn't been invented but we still put out to sea in small boats. Did we enjoy our sailing? You bet! Did we get to our destinations safely? Certainly, in fact you could argue that safety has been compromised since we became ever more reliant upon new technology. So,those old guys who taught me to sail  knew a thing or two.  One thing is for sure, we’d all be a lot better off if every pound, euro or dollar spent on electronic gizmos stayed in our pockets. 

A guy I know recently jumped on board his powerboat in St Helier harbour, opened a can of coke, turned on his electronic plotter and selected the route for St Peter Port Guernsey, another Island 25 miles distant. Ten minutes later he was outside the harbour, in clear water and the automatic pilot was engaged. He didn’t touch the wheel again until he was ten minutes from his destination. An effortless cruise he called it, but if that is his idea of sailing, why didn’t he just take the regular ferry? He has never plotted the course on paper and wouldn’t know what to do if the electronics went down. Boat owner he may be – sailor certainly not! The basic elements of seamanship are missing, along with the romance and the satisfaction of voyaging under your own steam, reading the tides, the weather, the wind and the waves. Not only does he lose all that but he also pays big money for a rack of electronic equipment and a boat he barely understands.

Perhaps at this point I should explain that I am not a Luddite and I am not looking back on the past with spectacles of a certain rosy hue. Some technological aids are a godsend. I won’t put to sea outside the bay without a VHF radio. In fact on my previous boat I carried two, the second one being a small handheld for use ‘just in case’, likewise, an echo sounder. As for the rest, well I have GPS but I use it as a back-up to traditional navigation – and quite frankly I don’t feel the need to upgrade. So on this simple sailing low cost cruising project I’ll consider how the old timers did it and think twice before buying that ‘all singing all dancing’ piece of electronic kit.

Paper charts used to be the key to all navigation. They were valued, cared for and always updated. Compasses were checked for accuracy and all seamen knew about deviation and variation. They understood the difference between true north and magnetic north and they knew how to apply the arithmetic. The only other bits of kit needed were a couple of pencils, a plotter and an eraser.

Pilotage and coastal navigation was done by eye using ‘marks’ to constantly update the position. On the east coast of Jersey, for example, you can sail a straight course along the coast between some horrendous rocks and sandbars to or from Gorey harbour for about two and a half miles in perfect safety, providing you keep a particular house on top of the hill directly over the pier head as you sail towards or away from it. Breast marks (two conspicuous objects in line off to port or starboard) can often be used to indicate places on a route where a change of course should be made.

Buoys can be used as sea marks and ‘buoy hopping’ is a legitimate way of making the voyage. Tide tables can often be obtained from local chandlers free of charge and the old ‘rule of twelfths’ to calculate the depth of water and strength of tide for any given time between high and low is still a valid procedure.

The old guys knew how to calculate speed and for them it was a fairly simple affair. If you knew your boat well you’d make a fairly reasonable estimate but if you were unsure then it was simply a matter of putting a crew member in the bows of the boat to throw a piece of wood well ahead. He would then call out as the stem of the boat passed it. Another crew member called out as it passed the stern. Armed with this information, the boat speed can be obtained by thinking of the length of the boat in meters, doubling it, and then dividing this number by the number of seconds it took the boat to pass the piece of wood. There you had the boat’s speed through the water! In truth though, with a boat which has a maximum hull speed of 5 knots, how wrong can you get? Will an error of one knot of speed through the water make a huge difference to your calculations?

Leeway? An estimation of the number of degrees the wake is curving away from the boat indicates how much compensation you need to give the helm.

Ah, but what about fog, how do you handle that without radar? Well, you try to avoid it but if you are caught out it is often possible to ‘feel your way’ to a place of relative safety by using the echo sounder to run along an underwater contour line marked on the chart.

Navigation in the old way was not an exact science but the more you sailed the better refined your skills became. We always used to ‘aim’ a little up-tide or up-wind of our intended destination so that if adjustments had to be made as we closed the coast, it was a relatively easy matter to fall down onto the target.

Despite its apparent lack of precision though, there are some who would say it was safer. In the pre-electronic days, you had to watch the elements and know your boat. Chart work had to be done carefully and the log had to be maintained. You made your own plans and ploughed your own furrow. Two incidents in recent years make me question the wisdom of an over reliance on electronics. The first one involved a skipper who hit a large buoy he had used as a waypoint. The electronics were a bit too accurate and he was concentrating on the electronic screen rather than keeping a good lookout. The second was a comment made by a skipper only a few weeks ago on his return from Cherbourg.  ‘Everyone wants to get from A to B by the shortest most logical route. They all use the same waypoints and plot the same course there and back. Every vessel is running along the same line at different speeds often in opposite directions. There’s a lot of water out there but for most of the time we’re all trying to use the same bit!’

If you're interested in Marlinspike sailing as its is sometimes known. Here is a good book on the subject
The Marlinspike Sailor  (USA Readers)
The Marlinspike Sailor (UK Readers)

Seaward

It Takes a Thief to Catch a Thief

Discovered an old book of knots today in a thrift store. I didn’t expect to find anything new and actually I‘m of the opinion that there are probably only eight crucial knots that a sailor needs to know. The trick is to use them correctly.

Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised to learn something interesting from the book which made the 50 pence I gave for it worthwhile.

So, here is the interesting snippet.

We all know the reef knot. It is the most well know sailor’s knot but frequently tied wrongly. Here’s how it should look. You’ll see it’s perfectly symmetrical. Both ends of the rope leave the knot at the top of the loop. You’ll know if you’ve got it right because it lays flat. There aren’t many uses for a reef knot other than the obvious one of tying in a reef on a sailing boat. It works best if it remains under tension. If it’s allowed to go slack or if it’s shaken too much it can unravel. These illustrations use different shades and types of rope for clarity but if you decide to use a reef knot for any reason, it’s only good for tying ropes of the same size and weave. Never use it for joining two mooring ropes or tow ropes together, its just not reliable enough.

Now here is the granny knot, usually tied as a reef knot by mistake. It’s a notorious knot which is good for nothing on a boat. It’s completely asymmetrical, it won’t lay flat like a correctly tied reef and it has the capacity both to jam and to shake itself loose – Avoid it like the plague.

So, what you may ask – where is the interesting bit promised above? 

 

Well. Take a look at this picture. It’s called a ‘thief’ knot. Sailors used to tie this around their personal lockers. At first glance, it looks like a reef – but note how the ends of the ropes exit – one at the top, one at the bottom. The theory was that any thief untying the knot to get into a locker would retie it as a reef or worse a granny, either way you’d know someone had been into your stuff! As the saying goes ‘It takes a thief to catch a thief’

Seaward

Knot, Bend or Hitch, What’s The Difference?

I posted a couple of pieces about rope recently which led me to wonder about the terms used for rope work – in particular the differences between a Knot, a Bend and a Hitch. Am I becoming an ‘anorak’ or some kind of ‘geek’?  I mean, does it really matter – so long as you know what to do with the blessed thing? Ok, well yes, maybe I am becoming a bit of a nerd, a bit academic maybe. And, this distraction certainly isn’t moving me towards finding that elusive low cost ideal cruising boat that I’m seeking. Still, when questions like this spring to mind, I usually reach for the most thumbed pages of any book in my library the 'Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea'. As usual, it didn’t let me down. If you’re interested here is the answer.

In truth the terms are pretty much interchangeable. These days the word ‘knot’ is often the preferred word. Some argue that in days gone by the terms had much more defined usage but this may not be true either because many of the names originally given to methods of fastening ropes were technically inaccurate. A reef 'knot', for example might be better described as a Bend or a Hitch.

Strictly speaking a Knot only refers to a ‘tucking knot’ in which the strands of a rope are unravelled and then tucked over and under each other to form a ‘stopper knot’, a knob or enlargement in the rope so that the end of a rope could not be pulled through an eye. The most common stopper knot in use today would be the ‘Figure of Eight Knot’ used by sailing boat crews to stop the end of the jib sheets flying free, but even this doesn’t meet the strict definition because the ends of the rope are not unravelled to create it. The most famous true knot therefore is probably the Matthew Walker knot, in which unravelled rope ends are used to put an elaborate knob on the end.

Figure of Eight

Another important aspect of the term however, relates to whether the fastening is regarded as permanent or temporary. A Knot implies a permanent fastening whereas a Bend or a Hitch is used as a temporary measure.

A Bend, is a term originally used to join one rope to another or to an object. When sails were fastened by ropes they were ‘bent to’ masts, yards and booms. The anchor cable is said to be ‘bent’ to the anchor.

Now this is where it becomes really complicated because according to the Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea a ‘Hitch’ has an identical definition ‘the name given to a series of fastenings by which a rope is joined to another rope or object’.

So Hitches are the saitches areme as Bends? Well yes, they come within the overall genus of Bends but they are Hitch’s if the name says so – as in ‘half-hitch’, ‘rolling hitch’, ‘clove-hitch’.

Confusing? You bet!

Seaward

Palm and Needle Whipping.

Yesterday, I posted up notes on how to whip a rope.  I mentioned though that common whipping has its limitations, basically it can come undone and if it frays, through usage and friction, the whole whipping can unravel. To make a more permanent job you’ll need a fairly large sail maker’s needle. They’re cheap enough and you can purchase them from most chandleries. They are triangular in section and thicker closer to the point. Professional sail markers drive them through rope and canvass using a ‘palm’ a sort of thimble which sits on the palm of your hand. For whipping small ropes you can probably get away without needing to purchase the palm.

Begin this whipping by threading the needle with a doubled length of twine and then driving the needle and twine clear through the centre of the rope. Then add the whipping turns around the rope making sure to capture and bury the loose ends of the twine under the whipping turns.

Work the turns along the rope until your whipping is long enough. 

Then drive the needle through one strand of the rope making sure the point emerges in the ‘contline’ between the strands. Getting technical here, the best way to understand the contline is to imagine a three stranded rope. The contline is the groove between each of the strands.

 

Now pass the twine up and over the whipping diagonally in line with the contline and stitch back through the next strand emerging in the next contline.

Continue working your way right around the rope. Technically speaking this part of the process is known as ‘worming’. If you want a Rolls Royce product, go around a second time. To secure the end, drive the needle straight through the rope and cut the twine as close to the rope as you can get.

The end result should look like this. 

This whipping is probably the best there is. It won’t shake loose or come off even if a number of the whipping strands are cut or chaffed through. Whip your rope ends in this way and you’ll be looking after your ship in a proper fashion and although it may seem rather subtle you’ll be amazed by the number of people who notice and admire your handiwork. I once sold a boat on the strength of my whipping. The purchaser took the view that such care and attention to detail with ropes was probably reflected in the way I had looked after the rest of the boat so he bought her without haggling.

Seaward

Dealing with Frayed Ropes

Well I haven’t found my boat yet but there are practical things I can be getting on with. One of these is to make up some mooring lines. I don’t know how long they’ll need to be but at least I can get the rope and start preparing it.

‘By his ropes you shall know the measure of a seaman....’ Basically, you can spend thousands of pounds on your boat, lavish her with care and keep her spotlessly clean, but all your efforts will let you down if you don’t look after your ropes. Frayed or unravelled ends just won’t do.

Any kind of rope will unravel or fray once it has been cut, so whenever you purchase rope you have a problem to deal with. There are several options. Synthetic ropes are often cut for you at the chandlery using a hot knife. It melts the rope as it is cut and it offers some protection against the rope unravelling but it shouldn’t be considered to be a permanent solution. The application of a little more heat at home can ensure that the end of the rope is sealed but the resulting unsightly black blob of melted plastic at the end of each of your lines doesn’t make a positive statement about your ability as a seaman. If you want to earn the respect of real seamen you have to do something better than that. Some people bind their rope ends with black tape. It can be effective, but it doesn’t look good either, so why not try good old-fashioned whipping. It isn’t hard to do and it’ll impress those who know about boats, ropes and the ways of the sea. Here is the easiest option.

COMMON WHIPPING

This method has its limitations but you don’t need any special equipment other than a knife. Once you’ve mastered the technique you’ll soon be able to apply the more sophisticated technique of palm and needle whipping which I’ll describe in a later post.

Common whipping begins with a loop of twine laid alongside the end of the rope or close to the location where the rope is to be cut).

A number of turns are then taken about the rope working up towards the end of the loop. Each turn covers more and more of the loop until the whipping is long enough and then the free end of the twine is passed through the loop.

 

Pull on the other end of the twine and the loop is pulled out of sight under the whipping, taking some of the end of your whipping twine with it.

This leaves you with a loose end of the twine at either end of the whipping. Cut these away as close to the whipping as you can and the job is done.

If you’re working with new rope, apply the whipping before you cut the rope. If you’re unsure about how many turns the whipping should have, the general rule is that the whipping should be at least as long as the diameter of the rope. One other thing to remember is that you should always work ‘against’ the lay of the rope. There are lots different types of whipping twine, and the one you use for common whipping will probably depend on the thickness of the rope you are working with and what you have laying about on the boat. I prefer to use a thin waxed sail maker’s twine.

So common whipping is easy to make, follow the illustrations above and you should have no problem. 

Seaward