Tai Mo Shan

Thanks to Patrick for providing details of what might be one of the most recognisable yachts around.

The oldest star in the Hollywood film version of “Mamma Mia!” was a beautiful yacht, already in her 70s at the time of filming. And it has to be said that, unlike Pierce Brosnan whose singing was questionable, she never put a foot wrong in the part.




Tai Mo Shan was built in Hong Kong for a group of 5 young Royal Navy officers who had the idea of sailing all the way home to the UK. Her designer H.S. Rouse was the Vice-Commodore of the local sailing club and an enthusiastic amateur naval architect. Only a few yachts are known to have been built to his designs, one of the others being the even more famous “Tzu Hang” in which Miles and Beryl Smeeton sailed around the world.

To save money Tai Mo Shans first owners economised on a couple of items that would these days be considered indispensable – a motor and a heads. However, they did not stint on quality materials and the Whampoa Dock builders used the finest they could get; teak planking, frames of rare Ipil wood, a yacal keelson, a camphor wood stem, steel floors and a lead keel made her both tough and beautiful. When surveyed many years later she was described as having being built to twice the normal Lloyds yacht scantlings.

Although keen to save on unnecesary items, naturally these officers wanted to be properly outfitted for a long ocean voyage, and so all of them made sure to take their dinner jackets with them. These turned out to be useful as they were entertained lavishly in many of the ports where they stopped en-route, including in Japan, where, with encouragement of the Admiralty, they attempted to spy on the Japanese navy.

Tai Mo Shan made it back to Britain and has had a succession of caring owners over the past 75 years. Her first owners went on to have distinguished careers, between them winning many wartime medals and honours, including a VC.

Follow the links below to read much more about this great yachts history and see lots of interior and exterior photos.

http://classicboatindex.com/boat_details.php?textfield2=9

http://lintonsview.blogspot.com/2009/11/abbasubmariners-and-spying.html

http://www.coburgbrokers.com/tai2.html

http://www.coburgbrokers.com/tai3.html

For information on the service careers and later lives of the original owners see http://lintonsview.blogspot.com/2009/11/abba-submarinersand-spying-2.html

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In the buyer beware department

Some hardcore Dazzle, cleaning up trash in Patagonia, and its funny how when I read this I found myself thinking of current trends in yacht design, boat building, and the cruising community...

Yesterday I came across someone who was selling a mounting bracket for a self-steering gear and asking $1000 for it as it was "new" and if you were to buy it from the company who made it youd be out of pocket for nearly $1600.

I found the quoted retail price to be doubtful so trundled over to the companies site and lo and behold the part in question cost $1593... OUCH!

I then check my various materials catalogs and price lists to see what the actual cost of said bracket amounted to and came up with a number of around $150 for materials and labor so with a 100% markup lets say a fair price would be somewhere around $300. Of course, those figures are based with me going out and building one bracket and we really should factor in that a company building many gears would have the added advantage of bulk buying materials, labor saving tooling, and systematic production so the cost should really be a whole lot less...

Which tells me theyre either inept, greedy, or a combination of the two. Pretty normal for a marine business in the year 2015.

I hear a lot of excuses on why marine businesses have to price stuff at silly prices... small market, niche market, and so on but every time I look at silly expensive products I still find that theres a certain aroma akin to five-day old mackerel festering in the sun somewhere in the mix...

That said, the fault is really not with the builders and providers of said gear because faced with consumers who will blindly pay silly money for gear simply because its for a boat, even the most honorable person will be hard pressed not to take advantage and price their products accordingly.

Just something to think about while youre catching your breath from your Black Friday adventures,,,

Listening to the Battlefield

So it goes...

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Website Being filled with More Content At Last!

Have been working too hard in the workshop, and blog entries have suffered. However, paid building jobs are almost finished, and the website is being populated with several design page entries, and an increasing number of items on the "Shop" page.

After mid-September, I will be working predominantly on designs, website content, small video production, and more regular blog entries. Ive got a stack of material from workshop jobs over the last year or so - have just been lacking time to edit photos, write copy, and publish material.

Much more to come very soon.

http://www.baysidewoodenboats.com.au/

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Los Cabos to Ensenada

We waited patiently for that weather window and it finally materialized on June 19th. We departed San Jose del Cabo at 0830, motoring into a 3 or 4 knot headwind under a gloriously sunny sky. Its about 17 miles from San Jose to San Lucas, and during that time the wind increased to about 17 knots and the sea temperature plummeted from 82 to 70 degrees.

We rounded the point at San Lucas around noon in a building breeze. By the time we reached Cabo Falso, about 4 miles further on, the wind was a steady 27 knots on the nose, with gusts to something over 30. Staying close inshore, we rounded Falso and headed northward along the coast and by 1500 the breeze had dropped to about 12 knots and the rough seas were replaced by easy westerly swells.  Late in the afternoon the breeze dropped even further, and we motored for the next twenty four hours over glassy swells and almost calm wind.

Route from Los Cabos to Turtle Bay.

We arrived at Bahia Santa Maria, about 200 miles from San Jose in the early afternoon of June 20th and anchored about half a mile off the beach in the northwest corner of the bay. We were hoping to go ashore here and explore the beaches and nearby sand dunes, but there was enough of a southerly swell running to make a dinghy landing untenable.  Instead, we got the anchor up and headed out of the bay and into a favorable wind. We sailed all afternoon and into the night until the wind shut off completely around 2100. We arrived at Turtle Bay at dawn on June 22nd. It was a pleasant, quiet day and we spent it catching up on sleep while we waited for Enrique to deliver some fuel, which he did in the late afternoon.

The favorable conditions we had been enjoying were forecast to end soon, so we got underway just after sunrise on June 23rd. Choosing to go up the east side of Isla Cedros, we motored into a very light headwind and flat seas as far as the Dewey Channel, which lies between Isla Natividad and the mainland. There we encountered rough, confused seas until we reached the southern tip of Cedros which provided protection from the northwest wind and seas. The easy conditions lasted until we reached the northern tip of the island. Once beyond the lee of the island we had 20-25 knots of wind on the nose and 5 foot seas for a couple of hours, then the wind moderated but the swells remained big and steep. We slowed to 4 - 5 knots for the next 50 miles to keep the boat from pounding in the unfriendly seas. Throughout the passage from Cedros to Sacramento reef we were bucking a current that sometimes reached a knot and a half.

On the morning of June 24th we passed about 10 miles west of Sacramento reef and found the counter current here to be around half a knot. The rest of the passage to Punta Banda consisted of motoring into 3 to 8 foot seas and overcast skies. We rounded the point around noon on June 25th. With a fair wind, we doused the engine and sailed the last ten miles to Ensenada where we took a berth on gangway A in the Cruiseport Marina. The plan is to stay here until after the Fourth of July holiday, then head north to San Diego for a few days.

Turtle Bay to Ensenada

A few miles south of Punta Banda we were joined for a few minutes by a pod of Orcas. I was so fascinated looking at them, I didnt get many photos.

These are females. Males have taller, more vertical dorsal fins.

While here in Ensenada we were immediately among friends and have been spending our time socializing and cleaning up the boat after the long bash from Los Cabos. A couple of days ago I decided to put a couple of coats of varnish on the cap rails. The first coat went on the starboard rail perfectly, but today, about an hour after I finished putting the second coat on, a squall passed through, dropping a sprinkling of rain. I thought my varnish job was ruined but luckily it survived intact.

Ensenada is our last destination in Mexico, so Ive been taking some time to reflect on all we learned about this beautiful country on this voyage. We saw so many beautiful sights and enjoyed the company of lots of friends, both Mexicans and foreigners, its hard to name one specific thing that stands out as special. I guess the main impression that Im taking with me is that Mexico is getting better. The people seem to have a continuously improving standard of living. The roads, schools, cities and infrastructure all seem to be getting better. Economic activity and industry are vastly better than they were when we cruised here aboard Honcho five years ago. But one thing that hasnt changed is the wonderfully friendly people of Mexico. In my opinion they are among the nicest in the world.

When we arrived here in Ensenada we learned of the recent supreme court decisions in the USA regarding health care and gay marriage. Good health care available to everyone, and tolerance for diversity among our people are worthy goals, so its a nice feeling to know that we are returning to a better USA.

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S45 Construction John Fisher keel tubes

Photo sequence showing how John Fisher made his keel tubes. He was mounting a keel from CPM (David Ramos) with longer keel bolts so they will go through the deck when finished. He coated the brass rod with carnuba wax as a mold release.

To align the keel tubes John drills the holes in the center of the boat, this is easy to find since it is simply the middle of the king plank and the middle of the two keel planks. Then to align them so they are straight he placed a metal ruler along the two keel bolts or if a flat plate along the plate. Then look at where the end meets the transom. It should be off center by half the amount as the bolts/keel are thick. John does this on both sides to make sure it is centered. Once the bottom is aligned he tacks it in place with CA, then verify the alignment at the deck the same way.

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Cruising the Costa Alegre

Finisterra departed from La Cruz on Thursday, January 8th, bound for beautiful Barra de Navidad. Our course took us in a southwesterly direction from La Cruz toward Cabo Corrientes, or Cape of Currents. After rounding the cape, we turned southeast along what is known as the Costa Alegre, or Happy Coast, so named because of the many beautiful coves and beaches along this coast all the way to Manzanillo.

After we left La Cruz the wind filled in nicely, about 12 knots out of the northwest. I hoisted the mainsail with a single reef and unrolled the jib. I put the reef in the main with the expectation that wed find plenty of wind around the Cape, as it often blows pretty hard there. We rounded the Cape around sunset with about 18 knots of wind on the beam, a bit lighter than expected, so it was a very pleasant sail. As night fell we bore off on a southeasterly course and the wind dropped to about 5 knots, still out of the northwest, so we started the engine and motored with the jib furled and main sheeted in tight. Its about 130 miles from La Cruz to Barra and we averaged about 6.5 knots over that distance and arrived early the next morning. We took a berth in the marina at the Grand Bay hotel and spent the next few days relaxing and exploring.

Grand Bay Hotel in Barra de Navidad

The marina is across a shallow channel from the town of Barra. To get there we took the dinghy and landed at a concrete sea wall adjacent to the old Sands Hotel.  To keep the wall from damaging the dinghy we put out a stern anchor.

Its not yet the tourist season in Barra so the town was pretty quiet, and this policeman was relaxing on a very pleasant morning. Notice his hat at lower right. 

Even in La Cruz, the marina was guarded by sub-machine gun toting policia. They are always friendly once they get to know you.

We had lunch at a waterfront restaurant. While their parents enjoyed lunch, local kids had a blast jumping off the railing.

We left Barra on January 13th and motored in no wind a few miles to Bahia Santiago and anchored in the northwest corner of the bay. The water temperature hovered around 83 degrees so it could have been very pleasant swimming, but it was too murky to see much. We spent a day walking along the beach and then took Finisterra around Punta Santiago and anchored off the Las Hadas resort for the next five days. Its a nice anchorage and we had a lot of fun hanging out with friends from S/V Unleashed. Unfortunately the cost to land a dinghy in the marina is now 200 Pesos per day (about $14 USD). There were half a dozen other boats in the anchorage and everyone grumbled about the cost of landing here. We have noticed a lot of price increases in everything, including food, fuel, slip rents, etc. everywhere weve been in Mexico compared to last year. While it is still possible to live more cheaply here than the US, things are changing quickly.

The beach in Bahia Santiago

Finisterra departed Las Hadas the morning of January 19th. This part of the Mexican coast, from Bahia Banderas all the way to Huatulco is known for its light air and for the next 185 miles we motored over a flat sea and no more than three or four knots of wind, with the exception of a few occasional puffs out of the northeast. The water temperature rose to 84 degrees and humidity hovered in the 80% range. With these conditions the air is always a bit hazy. We spent a good part of the day dodging long lines but eventually got far enough out to sea to avoid them. Of course that put is out in the shipping lane, where there is a lot of traffic. Fortunately we are able to spot ships with our AIS system and we had no trouble avoiding them.

Finding Internet access is always an interesting, or frustrating, experience in Mexico. At the Paradise restaurant overlooking the anchorage we found a well stocked bar, free wifi, and a big screen TV where we watched Seattles improbable win over the Packers.

Finisterra anchored off Las Hadas

We anchored on the northeast side of Isla Grande, Ixtapa around 1700 on January 20th and immediately jumped overboard for a refreshing swim. While at anchor there we scrubbed Finisterras bottom, which had developed a fair amount of growth since it was last cleaned in La Cruz. The next day we came into Marina Ixtapa, where well stay a few days before heading south to Acapulco.

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Getting a Consistent Taper when Shaping Spars

Mike has attached a comment to my last posting, which I will answer very briefly. He is Mikes comment: -

Thanks for sharing these insights into boat building Ross.

Something Im having trouble with is getting a consistent taper on a small diameter spar perhaps you could share some gems with us.

Cheers
Mike

Now, I could write a very long answer to this, as it goes right back to the marking and cutting process if making a hollow spar, or to the lamination and marking process if building a solid stick. That is something for a proper book, so for the moment, Ill give just a quick run-down on my normal method - this applies to all sorts of spars, and to oars and paddles.

Here is a hollow mast glued-up. Despite the apparent disarray, the mast has been very carefully straightened and chocked on the bench so that the blank will be straight when the glue cures

Rough planing of the mast is done with the longest plane I have on hand. This one is a Record No.5 Jack Plane - If I had a longer one Id use it. It is important to support the spar well, and to use little pressure, otherwise the spar will bow while the plane passes.

Marking a square-sectioned, tapered blank for 8-siding using a home-made spar guage (the previous photos were of a Birds Mouth spar which comes out octagonal anyway - although you do have to plane off a few spurs)

Once the spar has been brought to an octagonal shape I mark it as shown using a dark pencil, scribbling into a wide, visible line. This is not my original idea - it has been use for years and years by knowledgable builders. I place the pencil marks about one cubit apart i.e. the length of my forearm!

The purpose of the series of pencil marks is so that one can visualise the widths of the facets when planing to sixteen sides. This is very difficult to judge without a visual guide, and I actually monitor my progress by measuring the pencil marked portions and the planed gaps with vernier calipers. You wont get it perfect, but aiming for perfection will give a better job overall.

After planing to sixteen sides, I re-draw the pencil marks to make an unbroken ring once again, and then plane to produce a 32-sided spar - still working with the No.5 Jack Plane, although if the timber is soft and well-behaved, I sometimes move to a low-angle block plane for its better feel

From there on, I use a flexible long-board. I havent got any photos of doing this on a spar, but this gives you the idea. Sometimes I make a concave long-board using a heavy cardboard (or PVC) with the paper glued in with spray adhesive. On my normal flat long-boards, I wrap the paper up around each end of the board as seen in this picture, and glue the ends down with hot-melt glue.

I know that some people use the inside-out sanding belt driven by a drill to attempt to get a nicely rounded spar with minimal effort. Well, I did it once, and will NEVER do it again. Because of human frailty, and the varying hardness of the timber as you move from areas of vertical grain to flat grain, it is virtually impossible to get a fair and even taper, and the spar will end up out-of-round (unless, possibly, it is a very carefully made stave mast with the grain of each stave aligned) - for my money, it is a good way to ruin a spar.

If you plane carefully to the 32-sided stage, the long-board (flat and/or concave) with give you a beautifully rounded spar in a very short time. Better still, you could leave it octagonal (with edges rounded a bit) - far less labor, and the mast ends up significantly stronger, as the eight corners of the octagon are at the greatest possible distance from the neutral axis of the mast - very efficient, and it looks ok as well!

Despite what I said in the last paragraph about leaving spars octagonal, you can see from this photo that I dont often follow my own advice! I made all of these by hand using just planes and sandpaper. The boat is an Aber I built for Dr. Paul Truscott

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