Three vehicles, one day

[TC Chris]

So today when the wind finally picked up, I hopped in the red truck to drive to the boat (first leg). On the way, it turned over 200K miles, a first for me. My vehicles have always rusted away, crashed. or become obsolete before hitting that many miles. The little 4-cyl. Ranger is my favorite vehicle ever, one that has been my daily driver for 17 years now, another record for me. It's just a treat to drive.

I drove the truck to the garage where the Chevy summers. Switched vehicles and drove the Chevy to the boatyard. There I got out of the '61 car and onto a '61 sailboat. It was a good day for sailing--a steady wind at about probably 12-16 knots from the NE, sun shining.

The boat, apart from being old and pretty, is about as unfashionable as the Ranger. At 26 feet, she's way too small. This morning I was reading a boating magazine and saw a 45 foot sailboat described as "set up for single-handing." Pul-eeeze. The only way you can easily single-hand a 45 foot boat is with massive reliance on electric devices and hydraulics (and money, big piles of it, for keeping those going). But nobody makes 26 foot sailboats any more, just like nobody makes little pickups with two doors and long beds and manual transmissions. The world is, indeed, going to "deleted" in a handbasket.

Chris Campbell

[Firedome]

Actually there are a few new 26s left, last few years was thinking about possibly a new and bigger blow-boat before I get too old, but resolved to restore our much smaller Vanguard and also save a ton of dough in the bargain.

As a kid my Dad's friend had an Alberg 30 (pic) that we sailed on the Chesapeake, a fantastic craft. Storms can come up fast and furious on the Bay, but she could handle them. and those 4 extra feet make a big difference. Carl Alberg also designed a 26 sadly no longer made, I would have loved one. Anyhow here are some new 26ish ones we've looked at, even the classic Hunter 27 is still available new:
https://www.colgate26.com
https://swallowyachts.com/range/bay-cruiser-25/
https://www.marlow-hunter.com/mid-size- ... l-crusier/
https://www.jeanneauamerica.com/en/boat ... odyssey-26 (actually slightly under 25').

So there's still a few options... none of them cheap though! lol

This might be the summer we might finally splash the Vanguard after 10 years, she needs a good bit of work and a trailer rebuild first.

[TC Chris]

A Pearson Vanguard (Phil Rhodes) or a Vanguard dinghy? We sailed Vanguard 470s at the U-M sailing club in the early '70s. Fun boats.

Phil Rhodes never designed an ugly sheerline, nor Carl Alberg an unsafe vessel. They were part of a golden age when the new material of fiberglass met naval architects who retained the old preference for safety at sea. I have never sailed on one of the modern sailing yachts with twin rudders and twin wheels and the beam carried all the way aft to allow for owner's suites, etc. But I'm pretty sure that if I were caught at sea in Force 10, I'd prefer to be in something drawn by Alberg or Rhodes.

I was out sailing in 15 knots single handed yesterday, just a lovely day. The only problem with single handing as the wind picks up is the difficulty of being in two place at once. My boat doesn't have a tiller securing device or an autopilot. I needed to tighten a rigging turnbuckle yesterday and couldn't do it. My other boat has a Davis Tiller Tamer, one of the best boat things ever invented. But this boat isn't configured very well for such a device. Yesterday I had time to ponder ways to make one work.

Chris Campbell

[Firedome]

Ours is a Vanguard 420, (420 cm, about 14' with 5 1/2' beam), an International Class w daggerboard and spinnaker called by some a dinghy, though they're never used as tenders. She need gel-coat and rigging work. the mast + sails are fine.

My first boat, a Hagerty Sea Shell centerboard pram, is what I think of as a dinghy, all of 8" long! When I was in 3rd grade Dad (a Navy Lieutenant in the S Pacific from April '43 to June '46 on an Escort Carrier, the USS Coral Sea, later re-named USS Anzio when the new "Coral Sea" was built) thought I should learn to sail so he bought her well used from a friend for about $15 including the optional "sailing kit". I gave her a paint job and she was "launched" (carried and dropped lol) in Lake Champlain in July '58. She carried a lot of sail for her size and weight and was a fun but somewhat tricky craft to learn to sail on. The daggerboard was really too small in a good blow and I capsized her more than once, all part of the fun. I later saved up $$ lawn mowing and bought an old Elgin 2 hp with rope start, a cantankerous heap that I later called The "deleted"-gin. So she was both a "stink-pot" and a "blow-boat"... lol

When my cousins got a Sunfish that seemed like a piece of cake comparatively! The fun-est one though was the Hobie-Cat my brother had, that thing would fly! But no way you'd stay dry, just like a SF or my pram. The 420 can go well too and really heel with that beam and the Spinnaker up. I've gotten lazy with age and she's been on the hard for 10 yrs as we tend to just jump on the pontoon or previously ProSport 23 WA fishing boat and range afar. Champlain is one of the best fishing lakes in the country and we love to drown worms, as well as a beautiful body of water with mountains visible both West and East.

[Firedome]

Our boating world: Lake Champlain with Adirondacks to the West.

[William]

Roger, is that you riding the bike?

Bill

[TC Chris]

The boats in the photo... the nearest is a Cal 25, cousin of my Cal 20, and the one farther out with the red sheer stripe and sail cover appears to be a Cal of some dimension, possibly a sibling of my 20. They are all products of Bill Lapworth, who drew good boats. His Cal 40 was a game-changer that challenged conventional wisdom successfully, and all of them were well-mannered vessels that sail capably and that were offered at "Chevrolet" prices (i.e., prices ordinary people could afford).

The second year I owned my Cal 20 she was launched at the marina where she had wintered. They had no dockage for temporary storage so it was in the water and goodbye. My crew for the 30-mile sail to the south to her mooring backed out at the least moment. And then the wind picked up from the south, meaning it was howling right on the nose for my southward course. And raining. I put on my foul-weather gear and sailed off. Way too much wind for close-hauled sailing. The little boat was on her ear or luffing up all the time. Remember the old saying, if you're thinking about reefing you should have done it 30 minutes ago? Yes, except I had never reefed this boat, and certainly not under sail. But I did, and she was much happier and handled all the big waves on her nose with aplomb, and I came away with great respect for Mr. Lapworth and his fine boat. In my collection of boat quotes there's one about how when you row away from your boat on her mooring, you should look back and smile. I always do. Tonight I went out, finished rigging the boat, and went for the first sail. It was a lovely summer evening and I smiled as I rowed away.

There is much to be said for competent products. Prestige has never seemed important to me. Let's face it, old 20-foot sailboats, old Chevy convertibles, and old Ranger pickups aren't going to win the prestige sweepstakes. But honest products, functional and effective and well-designed, those are worth celebrating.

Chris Campbell

[Firedome]

"Roger, is that you riding the bike? " No, I"m bigger, heavier, and have more hair! lol

The various Cals are very popular on Champlain as perhaps you've noticed when visiting, Chris.
Our camp is right around the corner from the biggest all-sailing club/marina on the lake.
Very active with lots of races on the schedule (see website). One of our camp neighbors
has a boat there.

https://www.google.com/search?gs_ssp=eJ ... 5tSE8wU0VG

[TC Chris]

My brother is SW of you in Apple Tree Point, Burlington.

Chris Campbell

[Firedome]

Know that area, we're in Outer Malletts Bay in Colchester, around the point from Marble Island.
Heading back there the end of next week... weather depending.