Cabin for the Schooner.

 Our little schooner is our light wind boat. She sails best with wind that is about 8 to 10 knots, 10 knots being the upper end for a easy sail.  Above that you have to work and think too much. I made a second set of sails with booms and gaff booms for those sails that reduced the square footage by about 1/3. Changing sails and booms as a unit is fast and easier then removing and attaching sails to the booms each time. A reefed sail or a small sail on a long boom is also not pleasing to look at. Different sail sets lets us take her out more often, and the boat still looks good on the water. When there is no wind and you cannot get a shadow from the sails, you bake in the sun because there is no shade on the boat.

Last summer I had the grand idea that it would be fun to take the schooner on an overnight trip. Wendy was not overly thrilled about it. I figured we could make a tent over the front cockpit and sleep there. Her logical reasons for not doing it was: 1. No cabin

                                                                 2. No running lights

                                                                 3. No porta potty

                                                                 4.  Limited battery for trolling motor and lights

                                                                 5. Limited storage

                                                                 6. What about the Dog?

She did have some good points.  I said we would have to "ruff" it a little, and that the Dog would love it as long as he was with us. He was on my side. His tail was wagging. I lost the first round.

I started first with the No Cabin point. I made a cabin that would just fit over the front cockpit. It just nested over the lip of the cockpit so it would not move and could be easily secured to the boat, and still be removed when not wanted.

The running lights were easy. I had a pair of brass lantern oil lamps that I mounted on the new cabin. To light them I used a pair of solar powered LED yard lights from the garden center that cost only $4.00 each. Thus no oil needed, and no batteries needed. That was two down from the list and 4 to go.

The porta potty was now no problem now that there was a privacy cabin. That was one more from the list gone. I figured the Dog would always be on my side so I counted that one off also.

Now that there was a cabin, I had a place for a pair of solar panels on the cabin roof. The solar panels could help keep the batteries charged. There was space for extra batteries on each side of the trolling motor as well. Add another AGM battery, and that was good to go.

With the new cabin over the front cockpit, the fore sail was too big. No problem, I just made another little sail and boom set. Now storage of all the different boom and sail sets was getting to be a problem. Almost all the space I could hang things from on the happy hour porch was used. OK…I could just double a few of them up. Wendy would not notice.

    

I increased the usable storage area for a trip by making two sea chests. They could be filled with what was needed, be used as seats, and could be moved from one cockpit to the other as needed. A traditional sea chest is made with the bottom bigger than the top, so that they nest together when stacked, and they will not tip over as easily. The storage problem was now addressed.

I put drop down mosquito netting in the new cabin to address that problem before it came up. The feed store had Big Dog Beds on sale. Cheap padding for the front cockpit, and the Dog could use them also. 8-) 

 

The looks of the schooner had changed in a strange way. The sailing characteristic’s changed big time. Tacking now required motor assist to turn smoothly.  My wife was almost speechless when she saw the transformed boat. I think “oh my” was what she said and just looked over the boat. She can be very good at understatement at times.

We sailed the boat in cabin mode a few times, have taken it on dusk motor runs on nice evenings now that there were running lights, and we can fish from it now that there is a cabin where you can have some shade. We have not done an overnight on it.  The dog likes his two new beds just fine. 8-) Some ideas don’t work out.

The front cabin just lifts off to return the schooner to the original configuration. It is nice to have both setups though. In cabin mode it makes a unique motor launch. One thing about that boat, it always draws people’s attention. It is still more pleasing to the eye in schooner mode. In either mode it is a fun boat. 8-) The dog is still on my side...he likes it either way if he gets to go.

In Our schooner anything over 6 knots is a gale

I built a schooner rig day sailor. It is one good looking boat on the water, and with all 3 sails up, it takes very little wind to move her. A 3 to 5 knot breeze is about right for a nice sail. At about 6 knots the boat's sailing characteristics start to change and she becomes much more tipsy. It is a flat bottom boat and has a 4' dagger board. A little heel is needed so you have a water cutting edge formed by the bottom of the boat and the side of the boat. As the wind picks up, it becomes harder to maintain or keep the heel angle so the boat sails well. Changing the sail set on the main sail or foresail changes your balance as well as where you sit and how you sit. You do not have time to untangle your legs to change your position when a big gust hits.

A 10 knot gusty wind can be wicked in the boat. You really have to keep alert, think and plan what you are doing. Things like tacking can start to be unique. The schooner dislikes passing through the eye of the wind. As you turn into the wind, the boat wants to stop and then sail backwards. At the same time, the heel shifts from one side to the other. With the loss of head way and then going backwards, your tiller shifts the boat back to the eye of the wind. All the sails are now flapping uselessly and you now have lost the last 20' or so you had gained just before you started to tack.  In order to tack, you must first release the foresail, next, pull in the mainsail, and smartly push the tiller to leeward.  Further, you must back-wind the jib (to help the bow swing through the eye of the wind) and lastly  re-establish a good heel, so that the cut of the boat's chine will cause it to track nicely.  This method of tacking can be done without too much loss of headway. Two people can do it but it is easier with three people.

We have decided that if the wind is above 6 knots, it is Gale force winds for the boat and we take our sloop instead. You want to enjoy yourself on a sail, not come back with your blood pressure higher then when you went out. It still is a fun boat but best in a light wind.    

Pirate hats

In Pirates of the Caribbean Captain Jack Sparrow and Captain Barbossa have there own hats that gave them or showed rank. The more flamboyant the higher the rank. Barbossa's hat was larger with a big feather.

Here in Florida, October has a number of Pirate festivals and week ends. I have my Jack Sparrow hat, my wife has her Barbossa hat (she is the Admiral). We load the schooner up with rum rations, pirate flags, deck cannon, swords and the like and head for the sea.

On a provision run to the Quick Mart / Gas station / Snack food / Beverage center/ Etc. Shop to get a few essentials for a day on the water, there was a little old black woman shopping. She was no more then 4' 8" tall, in a nice dress, neat as a pin, and on her head was the BEST EVER PIRATE HAT. My wife did not come in the store with me...she thinks the place is creepy. I had to go get her to show her the woman with the pirate hat. She was as impressed with the hat as I was.

This hat was wide brimmed, black and red, with shinny decorations and 3 BIG feathers. As I have said, the women was dressed sharp and neat as a pin, and the hat did not look wrong on her. She was as impressive as an Admiral of a fleet looking over her ships. She made our day.

My wife and I left with big smiles and both of us wondered where she could have gotten such a fine Pirate hat. We figured she must have made it.

We now call the Quickie store the Admiral's Mart.

You can tell its and old boat!

When I told my wife I wanted to build a schooner I was totally taken aback when she did not object. She did put a cap on what I could spend on the project per month. I think she thought it would keep me out of trouble.

The building of the boat went more smoothly than I thought it would. It did keep me out of trouble for the most part. She was launched and we were off with the wind in our sails.

On the water and in a almost noiseless sail boat you can here people talking on shore. We sailed past our local boat launch site on the river and over heard 3 OLD GUYS sitting on the dock just passing the time talk about our boat. One said that you seldom see sailboats on the river sailing...today they just motor up and down the river. They really like to see young folks sailing these days, not just zooming on those little jet things. Then one said that " you can tell its an old boat...they don't make them like that anymore.

My wife, dog and I all had grins on our faces. I could not tell them that the boat was first launched the week before. My goal had been to make it look classic old. I felt the " old boat " comment was a complement and I still do. Being called young folks also was nice.

We have found that sailing our schooner was not as easy as we thought it would be for the two young old folks that we are. More on this at another time.