The adventures of Adagio - A tempo having slow movement; restful at ease.

[jthatcher]

thanks salty..   it sure will be nice to see her afloat again.   i wish that we could get an earlier start, but school life is just too hectic in April and may..    staying aboard gave us a bit of a preview of what it would be like with the mast shipped if we ever bring her through the Erie canal..  ( one of a number of dreams)   - it was a bit too crowded.   one suggestion i heard was to simply have the mast shipped to the other end.. that would make the trip a whole lot more enjoyable..   
  and the other option.    well that would involve building redwing.. an 18 and a half foot camp cruiser with similar, though smaller, accommodations..  ok. so i mentioned it -   building that boat is a dream that i have had for a long time..  just may happen in the next three years  

[Bob23]

JT:
  I agree that with the mast down, there are some restrictions. Next time, don't put the mast down in the cabin!!!! haha (see laugh sign). On the contrary, a simple crutch system could be made to allow the mast to be a ridgepole for a large tent giving standing headroom in the cockpit thus enlarging your living space.
  I like the Redwing; always have. There was one for sale in Messing About a while back. And there are similiar camp cruisers around...here is one that comes to mind:
http://www.skiffamerica20.com/
  In related news, I have a friend who has been building a Norwalk Island Sharpie 21' for about 10 years and has lost interest in the project. I believe the hull is complete and glassed. That would make a great camp cruiser under power alone. I don't think he has the mast yet. He's talked about selling her or cutting her up (horrors!)
He lives in Manahawkin, about 10 minutes from Albert Hall. If you're serious about building a camp cruiser, this could probably be acquired for el cheapo. I can arrange a meeting. 
  See you on the water!
Bob23

[cfelle2]

About the Norwalk Island Sharpie.  Let me know if he wants to get rid of it.  I know a lot of people in the boat building community that would be happy to take it off his hands me included.  There is no reason he should have to cut it up.  I have often given away home built boats.  In fact I just gave away my Michalak AF4 last Friday.  They are just hard to sell but easy to give away.   

Chris

[jthatcher]

well Bob - there is the guy who needs to end up with the sharpie!    i actually just ordered a new set of plans for redwing..   before i moved to PA from NH 12 years ago, i had the plans lofted in my garage, and i was ready to go..  then the move... no garage..  no boat...lost the plans...     i am really sold on the idea of a very small  4 stroke motor  hidden in a sound deadening well  pushing a small boat at slow speeds  at very low cost...     kind of like sailing!   

so..  i have reserved the first week of june for a sailing trip with my son, but he has a job interview this thursday..   what to do!   if he gets the job - no sailing but one step closer to independence..       if he does not get the job.. we get to spend some quality time on the boat     i guess it is a win win situation!   there will be other times for sailing, i am sure.     And, a real job now means that we may be able to get to work on some other goals that we have for the future.   

on Saturday night of this past weekend, my wife suggested that we might get back to PA on sunday in time for a bike ride..  as it turns out, that did not happen.  We went for a short walk last evening and admitted to each other that there was no way we could have gone for a ride on sunday evening, even if we had the time.   we were wiped out!  two days in the sun, rubbing wax.   up and down the ladder...  etc..   i guess that we are getting old!   in our younger days, we would have fit in a few sets of tennis each day as well!        

I need to buy a new sheet to go along with the new head sail.  it looks like i need 3/8  , and i am guessing that i need a little longer one than the specs indicate because of the roller furling.    would 70 feet do?   

[Bob23]

Sheet length:
   I dunno...mine is not here or I'd measure it. All the lines are still fast asleep after their annual wash-out last fall. It's getting depressing seeing my boat in the driveway. Hopefully this weekend I'll make some progress with the projects. One is a larger slide out table for the 2 burner Origo stove that came with the boat. I'll be the same size as the chart table which is on the starboard side:

See ya! bob23

[Greene]

There has been a nearly completed Sharpie 20 for sale in Madison on CL.  The guy is giving it away with an asking price of just $600.

http://madison.craigslist.org/boa/2976978570.html

Beautiful looking craft.

Mike

[jthatcher]

Well,  what a nice trip we had to jersey.. a few highlights..   pizza at Frankies upon arrival, waiting for the storm to pass...  and it did, just in time to allow us to walk out to ocean gate and get back before nightfall..   then we were able to get organized and snuggled in for a quiet night in the marina.. not a whole lot of action there just yet.. 

woke up friday morning very early - enjoyed our hot tea and cereal with freshly picked strawberries for breakfast..   met our new neighbor Greg, a former educator,  who has an oday 25 right across from us.   set up the bimini which i had stored at home over the winter..   reset it when i realized that it was backward       next, i tackled the brand new jib. .   looked at the foil on the roller reefing system..  looked at the set up on my neighbor's boat..   studied both for a long time..  looked around to see if there was anyone  i could ask who had done this before..   no luck there..  looked at my neighbors set up once more.. and then finally figured out which lines were meant to be part of the system and which ones were there as a means of holding things in place till i got around to bending the sail on!    a little while later, the sail was in place, and i was feeling pretty good about figuring it all out..   and just when i was finished, the previous owner showed up!    he gave me a thumbs up..  went to mill creek park for a picnic lunch and then shoved off for our first sail of the season..    there were a few challenges along the way..  i had to work on the motor to get the fuel line to stay connected..  luckily, our neighbor, Ed, had a pliers that i borrowed - just the tool for the job..   then, i found that the motor was not locked in place, so when i put it in reverse, it kicked up..  i should have seen that one coming since it was left in the raised position by the guys at the marina..  finally found the lever to lock it in place..     

we motored out to the mouth of Tom's River and then set the sails..  did a lot of tacking at first..  it took a few to help my wife recall the drill, but we had reasonable success... there were only a few boats out so we had all kinds of maneuvering room on the bay.   we saw an oprey on its nest - we were probably a little closer to the shore than we should have been, but we get away with a lot with a draft of 2'-3      A beam reach on the way back in - my wife took the tiller and we had a pretty quick return to the marina..  the whole way back on the same tack..  could not ask for much more than that!

i was feeling pretty good about returning to the slip, until i realized that i could not depend on reverse (  figured that all out after we got back to the dock)  so, i took it really slowly and got the bow around and headed in the right direction - but only after a quick panic attack, wondering if the bow was going to clear the piling!   we tied up the boat, ending our first venture of the season.. 

a quick trip to the hardware store for some items and then we borrowed the previous owner's kayaks (  he leaves them on our dock with the understanding that we can borrow them any time )   and headed out on the river..  paddled up to ocean gate for an ice cream..  we were pushing it on the way back in terms of daylight.  i probably should have thought to take a flashlight with us.   when we returned to the boat we realized that, unlike last year, there were mosquitoes  all over the place..  one of the selling points of the marina was " no mosquitoes"  but that was last year,  and now, i was thinking about all of the postings that i have read about screens for the ports!    my wife went on a mission to eradicate every mosquito from inside the boat..  she did a great job!  it was a little stuffy, but it was not a particularly hot night,  and, in fact, it cooled off quite a bit soon after we turned in,  so we had a good night's sleep.

awoke this morning with one goal in mind.. to meet bob23 for breakfast!   Bob graciously gave up some of his valuable time that would otherwise be spent working on his beloved boat  and met us at the Forked River Diner for breakfast..   we had a delightful time - makes me look forward to the celebrated rendezvous later this summer even more!     of course we talked about boats, but Bob is a renaissance man who is knowledgeable about so many things so the conversation touched on many different intellectually stimulating topics..     it was particularly nice for my wife to get to meet bob.. afterward, she gave him her stamp of approval, so i guess that it is ok to continue to hang out with him!

we had to get back to PA today, so, although it was tempting to take the boat out again today, we decided to get some chores done instead.   I put a coat of sickens on most of the interior of the boat.. figuring that it should  be dry and and fume free by our next visit.   and then, we headed to ocean grove where we walked the board walk and then stopped by Day's for an ice cream.  they happened to be hosting a cool car show on main street so we checked out the cars before getting in our own car and heading back to the poconos..    All in all,  it was a great trip.    And tomorrow, we are headed off to Maine with six students for our 4th annual community service trip to Camp Chewonki..   we will have a great time, but i am already looking forward to the next trip to jersey..     tally for the season - 3 nights on the boat..  my goal for the summer is 24..  jt

[brackish]

set up the bimini which i had stored at home over the winter..   reset it when i realized that it was backward

I can never remember how it goes from year to year.  Got so tired of putting mine up backwards and trying to get the placement of the track cars right I took pictures after I had the installation perfect and added them to my manual. 

[Bob23]

Wonderful writing, Jt.
  I really enjoyed seeing JT again and meeting his sailing wife, Janet. Maybe if her and my Admiral Linda get to be friends, some of her love of sailing may rub off. It was a great way to start the day, which was all work on the boat. I hope we can get together at Shut Up and Eat sometime and I'm looking forward to the BBB 2012!
  One of the perks of hanging around on this site is meeting, in person, some of you gents and ladies. So far, no one has quit after meeting me so that's a good sign.
 Glad you got to go sailing!
Bob23
Renaissance man? Sometimes I feel like I was born during the Renaissance. I'm not sure what this means but I'll take it as a compliment.

[jthatcher]

hey brack, thanks for sharing your thoughts on the bimini!    maybe i should not feel so bad.. 

well,  we just returned from maine..   had a wonderful trip with 6 students from our school..   during the trip, i told my wife that this is the kind of thing that i envisioned when i was a young idealist, contemplating a career in education..    we worked long and hard during the day at a camp, and then played hard in the evenings..  visiting sites like  Pemaquid Point, Boothbay Harbor,   and such..  and spending yesterday in Camden after stopping for breakfast at Moody's diner.. ( highly recommended if any of you happen to be contemplating a trip to maine)  now, one might think that this post belongs in "unrelated topics" but not so.. in fact,  I am quite sure that Adagio will call maine her home waters at some point    after a hike up Mt. Battie which rewarded us with a great view of  Camden harbor,  we had lunch at a small park on the harbor and then set sail on the schooner Surprise..    the clouds retreated just in time for a late afternoon sail.   and we had a wonderful two hours on the water..    the kids appreciated every new experience that we exposed them to during the trip, and the time spent on board Surprise ranked pretty high on their list of great moments from the trip. 

there are't too many 23 foot boats in camden harbor.. but i think that adagio would look just great riding at a mooring there..  if i can afford it    -  probably one on the outer fringe!   ..  but how cool would it be to row into the harbor in the morning in my  gloucestor dory..   tie up at the float and walk up to cappy's bakery for two large cups of tea and a bag of goodies, and the morning paper.. and then rowing back and enjoying a leisurely morning with my wife,  drinking tea, eating baked goods and reading the paper..   of course, too many mornings like this in a row would not be totally healthy..  we will have to include some bike rides and hikes on the local trails!       enough dreaming for one night!     back to reality..   and.. looking forward to the barnegat bash this summer!   -  thanks for those kind words bob..   can't wait to get back down to the boat!   jt

[jthatcher]

ok.. can't afford camden      i did a little research the past few days..   there is a reason that there are not too many 23 foot boats in camden..  simple - people who own this size boat generally can't afford to keep them there!   i checked out the major marina in the harbor.  they stress that they are not a diy  yard..  so..  the cool alternative is rockland..  a few miles south..  a little more of a "working man's" town, but with a nice touch - lots of things to do in Rockland and a great restaurant called the brown bag..   the apprentice shop is located there..  lots of boat building going on there..   and, we can put the boat on a mooring for a month and store it the rest of the year for at least a third less than i am spending in jersey..      my wife seems particularly interested in this idea.. she really does not like the heat.   i don't know what we would do if we lived in virginia or further south! 

so..  the coolest part about this is getting the boat up to Rockland next year.. do we buy a trailer and borrow a truck that will pull it?   no way!   i have been dreaming of this sort of thing since i was a kid.. we will make next summer the transition summer - taking a month or so to sail up the coast to Adagio's new home..  and i have a whole year to plan the trip .. that should make for a very exciting year.     we really want to enjoy this..  maybe moving  25 to 30 miles a day..   visiting as many quaint harbor towns as possible..  not pushing the envelope in any way..   

so..  any thoughts or advice are certainly welcome.    i have been reading numerous blogs over the past few years about trips along the coast..  making it through nyc.  hell's gate..   the cape cod canal..    but, reading about them and actually embarking on our own trip are two different things.....

of course, this does not take away from the excitement of sailing barnagat bay this summer.. in fact, i am headed down to the boat this coming week.   I think that I need to spend some time motoring through the norther part of the bay..   transiting draw bridges..  etc..   getting a good sense for fuel consumption ..     and, i am going to have to come to a decision about a dingy..  the boats that i have are too large..    my son works for newfound woodworks  in  NH  and wants to build me a lawton tender..     http://www.newfound.com/tender.htm    quite the boat..   sure wish that we were closer because it would be a great project to work on together..     maybe we will have to figure something out! 

we spent the last two really hot days camping on lake wallenpaupack  - what a great way to escape some of the heat..   one of the high lights was canoeing last evening..   we took a lot of wakes from the lingering powerboats ( waited till evening so it was safe to venture out)   but jan is getting very comfortable on the water..   how wonderful is that!    there was quite a breeze both days that we were there, but i saw only one sailboat underway the whole time that we were there.   there are a number of boats at the marina at the campground, but no compacs      apparently, they have a race series with races every other weekend..   i just can't imagine how fun that is , however, because the lake was rather busy yesterday and that was a weekday early in the season!  from what i understand, the lake is crazy on weekends..   but maybe the sails have carved out an area of their own.. 

well,  it is raining, and the heat seems to be dissipating _       in the span of half an hour.. i burned my fingers on the lawn mower,  slammed another finger in a door, and  dropped a metal pole on my toe..   maybe i should  just pick up a book and spend the rest of the day in a chair    anxious to get on the water again next week!   jt




 

[Bob23]

Great tale, JT:
  Where do I start? Sailing to Maine would be a dream trip and totally do-able in your 23. Buy a copy of Eldridges Tide and Pilot book and study it. It's fun! Even though I don't sail in those waters, I buy a copy every year...helps to keep the dream alive and there's lots of info in tides, etc.
  It would be the fatherly thing to do to let your son build you that tender. I was looking at that boat on thier website a few months ago- very pretty and I bet it's fun to row.
  I'd meet up with you this weekend but guess where I'll be? Yup. In the driveway putting the finishing touches on my boat. She goes in Tuesday, come hell or high water. Speaking of high water, we've had crazy rain today starting at about 12:45, just when I got done work. My raingauge reads 4.3 inches but I think it's actually much more.
  I'm going for a Force 5 sail or a row tomorrow to clear out my brain- spent too much time in the heat this week. Have a great weekend. I'm looking forward to sailing with you and Janet on the Bay!
bob23

[MKBLK]

jt - You're living the dream! I too am anxious for our get-together at the BBB-2012. Only a couple of weeks to go!

See ya then...

Marty K.

[Shawn]

"  making it through nyc.  hell's gate..   the cape cod canal..    but, reading about them and actually embarking on our own trip are two different things....."

It is always fun to watch boats try the canal when they don't time the tide. Get to hull speed with the tide and you should see double digits on your GPS.

If you do make that trip be sure to stop in Narragansett Bay. Wickford is a beautiful old harbor town, would be cool to see another 23 there.

Shawn

[jthatcher]

hi shawn,   I will have to start a notebook with all of the things to do along the way!   a stop in Wickford would be cool.  I will have to look that up!