• Untitled Document

    Join us on March 29rd, 7pm EST

    for the CBEC Virtual Meeting

    All EYO members and followers are welcome to join the fun and get to know the guest speaker!

    See the link below for login credentials and join us!

    March Meeting Info

    (dismiss this notice by hitting 'X', upper right)

Chubby Girl Cruising

goldenstate

Sustaining Member
Blogs Author
I know, I know. Heckuva subject line. Borrowed.

Versions 1.0 and 2.0 seem to have ended in predictable ways.

I wonder if there will in fact be a version 3.0? The Coast Guard must be rolling their eyes and/or wincing.


Disclaimer: Not an Ericson subject, but still sailing.
 

Milagros

Member II
I watched that whole train wreck unfold in real time. Seemed like they guy didn't do any real sort of sea trials since just about everything broke very quickly. Guess the advantage is that he didn't find himself farther out to sea and stranded.
 

G Kiba

Sustaining Member
Why would anyone want to spend so much time in a small space! It would be cheaper and likely safer to spend time in jail. It may even be more comfortable!
 

goldenstate

Sustaining Member
Blogs Author
Why would anyone want to spend so much time in a small space! It would be cheaper and likely safer to spend time in jail. It may even be more comfortable!

Way more comfortable, with better food.

I would take the odds on being assaulted vs. spending 2-3 months in a 9 foot fiberglass coffin getting tumbled. I really don't get the appeal, though it brings to mind Jeff Daniels and Jim Carrey riding a motor scooter together.
 

Christian Williams

E381 - Los Angeles
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
I can see the charm of crossing oceans in a small boat. One of my early heroes was Patrick Elam and Sopranino, about 19 feet and designed for the Christopher Columbus transAtlantic route at a time when midget sailboats were a novel idea. He and his crew slept in shifts, as there was only one bunk. I was impressed too by Tinkerbelle, Robert Manry's converted Old Town Whitecap, although since my family owned one I shuddered at the idea of crossing an ocean in it.

This particular guy is nuts and a menace to navigation. Stunt is what it is.
 

Sailingfun

Member III
With half of the money and effort, he could get a decent E27 and do that passage in a more safe way.
I'm not a very big fan of small boats.
 

Loren Beach

O34 - Portland, OR
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author

Kenneth K

1985 32-3, Puget Sound
Blogs Author
Funny that he talks about a hullspeed increase as the "boat"when from 8 to 9 feet.

I'm guessing hull speed only applies to marine displacement hulls which actually produce a displacement wave as they move at sea.

Bathtubs, bowling balls, and mushroom anchors don't have a length-dependent "hull speed."
 

Sailingfun

Member III
Yep, I know the history. There was a gentleman about 8 years ago trying to do the same on a very weird trimaran called "Thin can". He spends literally years building that thing at Napa Marina. I saw him from time to time, welding and building. The adventure took if I remember well... less than 100 miles before the trimaran collapse under tide pressure.
You can have any dream you want it but you cannot ignore the law of physics and well know marine building design and practice.
Who brought to my memory Eugene, that Russian captain who build his 20" on his balcony and cruise mostly all around the world...
 

Milagros

Member II
Speaking of crossing an ocean in a "small" boat....
About a decade ago, while visiting the Bay area we viewed his boat. It was on display, and under cover, at the Museum.
His bio is interesting. Confidence plus Planning, plus Determination. And at an age where I thought that driving a couple hundred miles to go skiing was a "big adventure"... :)
I hadn't been aware of this story before I saw the boat on display last year. I grabbed the docent and made sure I understood correctly that someone had crossed the PACIFIC in THAT?!?! Very impressive.
 

cowlum

Member I
The desire to cruise long distance on a budget boat is alluring for me. Going small for the sake of small not so much.
John Guzwell, Johnny Wray, Tania Aebi and Shane Acton are all authors I enjoyed reading and their adventures appeal to me.

When at a Maritime Museum in Brisbane I came upon this little boat that crossed the Pacific but didn't make it round the world.
I also saw this thing in the flesh and thought it looked pretty sea worthy.
 

goldenstate

Sustaining Member
Blogs Author
I recently finished Sopranino. Patrick Ellam is the uncle of one of my buddies from college and he had recommended the book to me some time ago. Great young-men-on-an-adventure reading. Bumping around the post WWII Atlantic. Having their boat hauled by a British Naval ship and re-painted by British sailors, sweet talking their way into yacht clubs, having their anchor stolen. A great read. Like Robin Lee Graham without the cringeworthy teenage romance. I recommend the book.
 

goldenstate

Sustaining Member
Blogs Author
Was the weather he was experiencing out there abnormal?
Winds 30 knots. There were big waves in San Francisco on Saturday and Sunday. After a brief google, I did not find historic wave height maps.

I think the primary issue is related to kayaking to Hawaii being an almost incomprehensibly bad idea.

"As night had just fallen, it was clear that the situation was not sustainable: Inability to eat, drink, sleep, communicate easily with my team ashore,"

In other words, pretty much exactly what a rational person would expect from trying to kayak to Hawaii.
 

Christian Williams

E381 - Los Angeles
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
Lots of people have rowed across oceans with similar accommodation. I (and everybody else) took one look at his kayak-like hull design and thought, wait--for stability it relies on forward motion through the water. Yet he needs to sleep. Hmmmm.

It would seem he didn't have the usual 300-mile sea trial to see if stuff actually works. There's a reason why that's traditional.
 

Loren Beach

O34 - Portland, OR
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
Lots of people have rowed across oceans with similar accommodation. I (and everybody else) took one look at his kayak-like hull design and thought, wait--for stability it relies on forward motion through the water. Yet he needs to sleep. Hmmmm.

It would seem he didn't have the usual 300-mile sea trial to see if stuff actually works. There's a reason why that's traditional.
Back around 1991 or so, our YC hosted a speaker who had recently rowed across the Pacific - coming ashore at Ilwaco, WA. It was a larger craft with floatation. He was an engaging speaker with a wry sense of humor. I recall that he said it was like a job-- wake up, have breakfast, row til noon, eat, row until evening. Then put out a sea anchor and try to sleep. He said it was pretty much like "going to work" every day! Asked about food, he commented that as the days went on, he would cut off the moldy crust of the hard bread he ate, and towards the end, there was little of the loaf left after cutting away so much! :(
 
Top