Re: [bolger] Martha Jane #510
In a message dated 6/18/00 8:06:22 PM Central Daylight Time,
jpope@...writes:
<< Hope these comments are useful,
Jim >>
No, Jim:
Tell me stories of romance and adventure! I am an armchair sailor
(mostly) with no present intention of building such a boat. Why did you
acquire the boat and how? What were your expectations and your prior
experience? Where did you sail it? Did you have the sails re-cut? Did you
ever sail down the Rappahannock even faster than whoever was sailing it in
the picture in "30 Odd Boats" with the luffed main? What adventures did you
have? Did it capsize on you and terrify your significant other and make you
fear for the lives of your offspring? How long did you keep it? How and why
did you relinquish ownership? I'm sure you have a host of interesting stories
you could share if you'd just be willing to do so! This site is a bit
fixated on construction details and performance minutiae, but the Master
Himself (Sr. Bolger) did not fear to stoop to a little (semi-)libidinous
fiction to promote the virtues of "Micro" in "BWAOM". What is the point of
building the boats if not to sail them? What is the point of sailing them if
not for the lessons expensively learned by doing so? Please spin us a yarn or
two about "Black Skimmer - herself" - invent if you must - the photograph
calls out for a yarn or two, at least.
Bill in MN
jpope@...writes:
<< Hope these comments are useful,
Jim >>
No, Jim:
Tell me stories of romance and adventure! I am an armchair sailor
(mostly) with no present intention of building such a boat. Why did you
acquire the boat and how? What were your expectations and your prior
experience? Where did you sail it? Did you have the sails re-cut? Did you
ever sail down the Rappahannock even faster than whoever was sailing it in
the picture in "30 Odd Boats" with the luffed main? What adventures did you
have? Did it capsize on you and terrify your significant other and make you
fear for the lives of your offspring? How long did you keep it? How and why
did you relinquish ownership? I'm sure you have a host of interesting stories
you could share if you'd just be willing to do so! This site is a bit
fixated on construction details and performance minutiae, but the Master
Himself (Sr. Bolger) did not fear to stoop to a little (semi-)libidinous
fiction to promote the virtues of "Micro" in "BWAOM". What is the point of
building the boats if not to sail them? What is the point of sailing them if
not for the lessons expensively learned by doing so? Please spin us a yarn or
two about "Black Skimmer - herself" - invent if you must - the photograph
calls out for a yarn or two, at least.
Bill in MN
Dear Harry & Bill in MN
As I wrote to tell the forum a few months back, the original Black Skimmer,
the one in the photo, is sitting on the hard beside Broad Creek near the
mouth of the Rappahannock, looking neglected and forlorn, but apparently in
fine shape. Inquiries a few years ago lead me to suspect she needs a new
owner.
ED
Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail athttp://www.hotmail.com
As I wrote to tell the forum a few months back, the original Black Skimmer,
the one in the photo, is sitting on the hard beside Broad Creek near the
mouth of the Rappahannock, looking neglected and forlorn, but apparently in
fine shape. Inquiries a few years ago lead me to suspect she needs a new
owner.
ED
>From: "Harry W. James" <welshman@...>________________________________________________________________________
>Reply-To:bolger@egroups.com
>To:bolger@egroups.com
>Subject: Re: [bolger] Martha Jane #510
>Date: Fri, 16 Jun 2000 19:05:16 -0800
>
>Black Skimmer was in The Folding Schooner, design 11, page 60.
>
>HJ in Juneau
>
>
> > It is clear from the text that Bolger has written
> > about "Black Skimmer" somewhere else, but I don't know where. My
>impression
> > is that this is a design that Bolger was quite proud of - in his case, I
> > think, the absence of criticism must amount to the equivalent of praise.
> > Anyway, I'll hope you will post how you came by "Black Skimmer", what
>use, if
> > any, you were able to make of her, etc.
>
>--
>
>_ _ _ _ _
>% Harrywelshman@...
>
>
Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail athttp://www.hotmail.com
wmrpage@...wrote:
Hi Jim!
Welcome to the group. I would sure like to hear about your experiences
with "Black Skimmer".
Bill in MN (50 degrees Fahrenheit in mid-June - and I was worried about
global warming a few months ago!! :)
Hi Bill,
Don't let them ride you about the 50 deg. weather. Up until two days ago here in
Cambridge, Mass., it hung at about 45-50 at night and then for two days hit 90
and now its going right back down into the 50s.
Re: The Black Skimmer. A neat boat. She sailed well. A bit sensitive to having a
well cut suit of sails. Most boats are. She never hung me in irons. I often had
to beat home up a curving narrow channel.
The design doesn't call for any furniture below but I found it convenient to make
a shelf for about four feet along the starboard cabin side for the stove and as a
place for galley etc. stowage under.
I found the leeboards heavy and a little difficult to lift up into their stowed
positions, but as Phil Bolger pointed out in his write-up, they can both be left
down no matter which tack you are on.
I believe, based on comments in other write-ups, that Bolger may have modified
his thinking on leeboards recently. He still actively advocates their use, but
seems now to fasten them differently. In the Martha Jane, for example, he now
uses both an up haul and a down haul for their management leaving out the heavy
ballast built into each board.
I can't tell you whether or not she was self righting, I never capsized her. She
had some inside ballast so I assumed that she would pull herself back up.
One feature of his design that I found I liked a lot was the well forward. It
allowed for the safe handling of ground tackle, etc. I think it should be copied
on a whole lot of other boats including the ubiquitous clorox bottles being sold
a cruising sailboats.
Also, unstayed mats are the way to go. If they are well specified and engineered,
as his are, they truly reduce the complexity and expense of sailboat ownership.
Hope these comments are useful,
Jim
Hi Jim!
Welcome to the group. I would sure like to hear about your experiences
with "Black Skimmer".
Bill in MN (50 degrees Fahrenheit in mid-June - and I was worried about
global warming a few months ago!! :)
Hi Bill,
Don't let them ride you about the 50 deg. weather. Up until two days ago here in
Cambridge, Mass., it hung at about 45-50 at night and then for two days hit 90
and now its going right back down into the 50s.
Re: The Black Skimmer. A neat boat. She sailed well. A bit sensitive to having a
well cut suit of sails. Most boats are. She never hung me in irons. I often had
to beat home up a curving narrow channel.
The design doesn't call for any furniture below but I found it convenient to make
a shelf for about four feet along the starboard cabin side for the stove and as a
place for galley etc. stowage under.
I found the leeboards heavy and a little difficult to lift up into their stowed
positions, but as Phil Bolger pointed out in his write-up, they can both be left
down no matter which tack you are on.
I believe, based on comments in other write-ups, that Bolger may have modified
his thinking on leeboards recently. He still actively advocates their use, but
seems now to fasten them differently. In the Martha Jane, for example, he now
uses both an up haul and a down haul for their management leaving out the heavy
ballast built into each board.
I can't tell you whether or not she was self righting, I never capsized her. She
had some inside ballast so I assumed that she would pull herself back up.
One feature of his design that I found I liked a lot was the well forward. It
allowed for the safe handling of ground tackle, etc. I think it should be copied
on a whole lot of other boats including the ubiquitous clorox bottles being sold
a cruising sailboats.
Also, unstayed mats are the way to go. If they are well specified and engineered,
as his are, they truly reduce the complexity and expense of sailboat ownership.
Hope these comments are useful,
Jim
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Turn your EGROUP into a GROUP BUYING GROUP! Join beMANY! today.
>http://click.egroups.com/1/4124/10/_/3457/_/961205068/
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Bolger rules:
> - no cursing
> - stay on topic
> - use punctuation
> - add your comments at the TOP and SIGN your posts
> - add content: send "thanks!" and "ditto!" posts off-list.
Can anyone out there tell me how to receive MAIB? I'm following the
Martha Jane modifications with great interest and heard it was
discussed in the latest issue. Is that the newsletter that used to be
published on the old CSD homepage? Also, can anyone give me an
address either E Mail or otherwise where I can send away for the
revised plans.
Thanks
Col Mooney
Martha Jane modifications with great interest and heard it was
discussed in the latest issue. Is that the newsletter that used to be
published on the old CSD homepage? Also, can anyone give me an
address either E Mail or otherwise where I can send away for the
revised plans.
Thanks
Col Mooney
Black Skimmer was in The Folding Schooner, design 11, page 60.
HJ in Juneau
_ _ _ _ _
% Harrywelshman@...
HJ in Juneau
> It is clear from the text that Bolger has written--
> about "Black Skimmer" somewhere else, but I don't know where. My impression
> is that this is a design that Bolger was quite proud of - in his case, I
> think, the absence of criticism must amount to the equivalent of praise.
> Anyway, I'll hope you will post how you came by "Black Skimmer", what use, if
> any, you were able to make of her, etc.
_ _ _ _ _
% Harrywelshman@...
In a message dated 6/14/00 8:37:05 PM Central Daylight Time,
jpope@...writes:
<< Hi Group,
I'm a brand new newbie having just joined the group yesterday. I have
owned a Black Skimmer >>
Hi Jim!
Welcome to the group. I would sure like to hear about your experiences
with "Black Skimmer". Although this is a very small group (330 participants,
according to a recent posting) I'm sure that others would be interested as
well. Bolger's "30 Odd Boats", Design #13, "Skillygalee", has a plate
captioned "Black Skimmer herself flying down the Rappahannock, about 1973".
This is, I think, the only reference I've ever seen about this boat. I've
been kind of haunted by the picture for quite a while. The mainsail appears
to be luffed a bit, but the boat (towing a dinghy (dory?)) appears to be
going at a great clip. It is clear from the text that Bolger has written
about "Black Skimmer" somewhere else, but I don't know where. My impression
is that this is a design that Bolger was quite proud of - in his case, I
think, the absence of criticism must amount to the equivalent of praise.
Anyway, I'll hope you will post how you came by "Black Skimmer", what use, if
any, you were able to make of her, etc.
Bill in MN (50 degrees Fahrenheit in mid-June - and I was worried about
global warming a few months ago!! :)
jpope@...writes:
<< Hi Group,
I'm a brand new newbie having just joined the group yesterday. I have
owned a Black Skimmer >>
Hi Jim!
Welcome to the group. I would sure like to hear about your experiences
with "Black Skimmer". Although this is a very small group (330 participants,
according to a recent posting) I'm sure that others would be interested as
well. Bolger's "30 Odd Boats", Design #13, "Skillygalee", has a plate
captioned "Black Skimmer herself flying down the Rappahannock, about 1973".
This is, I think, the only reference I've ever seen about this boat. I've
been kind of haunted by the picture for quite a while. The mainsail appears
to be luffed a bit, but the boat (towing a dinghy (dory?)) appears to be
going at a great clip. It is clear from the text that Bolger has written
about "Black Skimmer" somewhere else, but I don't know where. My impression
is that this is a design that Bolger was quite proud of - in his case, I
think, the absence of criticism must amount to the equivalent of praise.
Anyway, I'll hope you will post how you came by "Black Skimmer", what use, if
any, you were able to make of her, etc.
Bill in MN (50 degrees Fahrenheit in mid-June - and I was worried about
global warming a few months ago!! :)
In a message dated 6/14/2000 9:37:08 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
jpope@...writes:
<< In the current issue of Messing About in Boats, Phil Bolger & Friends
monthly feature article discusses the Martha Jane. It presents several
improvements recently made to the design which make the boat self
righting and greatly increase the steering system's authority. >>
So the MAIB issue is finally out! I'm shortly to be leaving on vacation and
will be away from my computer - I was hoping that this issue would make it
out before I left so I could participate in at least some of the discussion -
I've ordered the updated plans and will be building in some of the new
features later this summer. I thought the stability curves were most
interesting. I haven't received my MAIB yet - were the graphs included in
the article? Steve Anderson ( Landroval)
jpope@...writes:
<< In the current issue of Messing About in Boats, Phil Bolger & Friends
monthly feature article discusses the Martha Jane. It presents several
improvements recently made to the design which make the boat self
righting and greatly increase the steering system's authority. >>
So the MAIB issue is finally out! I'm shortly to be leaving on vacation and
will be away from my computer - I was hoping that this issue would make it
out before I left so I could participate in at least some of the discussion -
I've ordered the updated plans and will be building in some of the new
features later this summer. I thought the stability curves were most
interesting. I haven't received my MAIB yet - were the graphs included in
the article? Steve Anderson ( Landroval)