Christian Williams' Hawaii Video 2021

[Christian Williams]

This one is 90 minutes long, so pretty hard to watch on a cell phone while standing in a take-out line. Best streamed to a TV screen using the YouTube app. Of subjects often discussed on the forum, it covers the complications of the Cape Horn gear, the threat posed by the inaccessible anchor locker drain, the issue of line buildup in a roller furler drum, the suitability of carbon fiber for whisker poles, and the testing of the Ericson hull form and sail plans in "storm trade winds," which on this voyage often blew above 30 knots for days, and of gale-force wind on the return voyage.

Overall a more rigorous voyage than in the past, but the boat came through well.

Select "Watch on YouTube" to get high resolution.

 

[Bepi]

Great video Captain. I learned a lot.

 

[patrscoe]

Christian,
As always, great job in capturing your adventure. You are a inspiration to us, or at least to me.

 

[MMLOGAN]

The most enjoyable 90 mins on YouTube. I want to be you when I grow up...

 

[goldenstate]

I'm glad you gave yourself permission to make a longer video.

The Lebowski-esque "Isn't that just an opinion?" is a classic.

Many subtle charms throughout.

Funny, educational, and inspiring. My 77-year-old father recently made a very similar observation of the persistence of one's being: "I feel the same way I felt when I was 22. There's no change. We are simply always who we are."

Great work and congratulations on completing a third lap to Hawaii.

Cheers,

Tom

 

[Sean Engle]

We just watched it tonight - excellent. I was surprised at the breakdowns in your steering system though and was wondering how much variation you can employ on shackle sizes, etc.? I mean, that system seems to take a lot of beating on a run like that...can you beef them up or would that not be workable?

//sse

 

[Christian Williams]

The Cape Horn integral system is just too complicated when installed on an E38. It works fine now but a high price to pay for elegance.

 

[Loren Beach]

The Cape Horn integral system is just too complicated when installed on an E38. It works fine now but a high price to pay for elegance.

I had kind of wondered about that, from observing your installation details. I do like the relative simplicity of your prior SailOMat vane, and must confess that the "jungle gym" of tubing on the Monitor bugs me (even tho the only multi day delivery I have done did use that brand and it worked fine) .
Thanks again for posting up your experiences!

 

[Willboy22]

New Ericson owner here... I learn something (or several things) every time I watch one of your videos! Appreciate you sharing - and your sense of humor!

 

[Sean Engle]

The Cape Horn integral system is just too complicated when installed on an E38. It works fine now but a high price to pay for elegance.

Huh, that's interesting. I guess it all goes back to application-application-application... What the system is, what's its capacity is and how it's deployed and employed... I'm looking at wall assemblies and HVAC systems right now for a new house and see lots of application in this lesson... =)

//sse

 

[bigd14]

Excellent video! I especially enjoyed your ruminations on aging. Thank you for sharing your journey.

 

[Rick R.]

Another great adventure. Thank you for sharing.

I imagine the installation of the vane was complicated seeing your view in the locker.

Question, when you covered up the drain hole in the bow, where did the water go that accumulated in the anchor locker go…into the bildge?

 

[Christian Williams]

I also sealed the drain in the chain locker. Under the most splashy conditions, it turns out, the chain locker is never more than half full, because water is thrust out by the motion of the bow. Given that the locker is half full of chain and line, the actual max water in there is probably no more than 10 gallons. Under anything approaching normal sailing conditions, no water enters the locker, since our boats are quite dry and the bow doesn't bury.

So, overall, the drain is for rain. In gale conditions I pumped mine out with a hand pump a few times, and then just shrugged. Having some water in there has no ill effect at all.

I have now completed the R&R of the locker and replaced the rotted-out copper stem tube with stainless and a new hose, and rebedded the locker pan with Life-Calk. Not that big a job even to do alone, although awkward.

 

[Bepi]

Based on the early minor bilge pump usage do you think the drain was broken before, or soon after you departed MDR, only becoming apparent in high seas encountered on the return attempt?

 

[Christian Williams]

I have a hunch the problem existed all along, but was not significant until windward work in heavy conditions.

The bilge pump would run for a few minutes a day on the outbound voyage, cause unknown. But most of that was running, when the drain hole in the stem is seldom submerged.

To windward, this issue would sink the boat if not identified. The offshore fix would be easy enough--just stick something into the hole in the stem. But you can't reach the hole from the deck, so it would mean using the dinghy or maybe lowering on a bosun's chair from a halyard. Easier for me to head back and do it right. But not absolutely necessary. And the decision was easier because of the wild immediate conditions. After returning to Oahu I waited five days for the trades to return to normal 18-20 knots.

 

[Joliba]

Christian,
I watched your video this evening. It inspired me to resume work on some (non-sailing) videos I started to edit but have recently languished incomplete in my computer.
Your video also brought me right back to some Pacific passages in my past. The constant motion, the stranded flying fish, the visiting shore bird, the pelagic bird flirting with the impossible masthead perch, the errant spherical fishing float, the squalls, rainbows, and sunsets were all common threads captured in your video.
Though only 67, I too look at the world through the same eyes as I did at 18 and can’t escape my lifelong loves and dreams.
(Just curious—Have you gotten to my book yet?)
Mike

 

[Christian Williams]

Mike,

"Taken by the Wind" by Mike Jacker, ("Joliba")

Here's a marvelous book by a fellow forum member so advanced in age as to remember with entire recall his voyages to the south seas in the mid 1970s aboard a Cal 2-30. Mike Jacker is a natural storyteller with the (now) extraordinary attributes of attention to detail, research and confirmation...

ericsonyachts.org

 

[Loren Beach]

Thanks much for the video!

There must be days/weeks of editing invested in it, and the music choices are wonderful.
Rough trip, indeed. I am reminded of learning long ago that during my shorter offshore trips the *only* place to set anything down and have it stay was on a gimbaled galley range. Next best place is inside the galley sink...
Regards,
Loren

 

[Christian Williams]

250 hours of editing and post--not counting filming, setups and clip labeling. 420 gigabytes of raw footage.

I do everything myself, marveling that for once there is no studio executive or business affairs suit hovering, and no notes or deadlines. After 25 years in television that's a glorious setting-free. These videos, apart from some felt necessity to record experience, also sell books. "Alone Together," my first sailboat book, was to be published by International Marine, the McGraw Hill subsidiary/Adlard Coles that has lined our bookshelves with select nautical offerings for decades. They went clean out of business as I was typing page 175 ten years ago. Amazon stepped in, with worldwide distribution and a better pay rate than trad publishing. The world changes, and writers have always expected an unpredictable outcome, but YouTube and Amazon, whatever else may be said about them, have increased the reach of experience beyond measure. Also, YouTube knows how to fix a toilet, teach jazz guitar, and present a Noam Chomsky interview on demand. Much is wrong in the world but more than ever in history is individual impulse so effortlessly gratified.

 

[Loren Beach]

Electrical Storage (and generation) question.
After XX number of days of battery usage, how did you replenish the house bank? Thank you.