Small Craft Advisor Nov/Dec 2010 : Mail

Reader Mail WORTH THE PRICE Just wanted to tell you that I have now used advice offered in your magazine to make two helpful instruments for my boat. One was a “Dutchman’s Log” to help determine the speed of the boat, and the other was a portable bilge pump. Both very simple devices, but both worth the subscription cost of your great magazine. If I had any complaint it would be that I had to wait too long between issues! I am not asking you to publish monthly, understand, I’m asking weekly! Really good job and I’m pleased that I discovered you. BTW, when are you guys going to do something on the AMF Sunbird? It was such a popular boat! (I think I have one of the only three left in existence) Norman J. Stringfield Del Rio, TN Captain of the Lusty Slogger Thanks for the kind words, Norman. Noth-ing planned yet for the Sunbird, but we’ll get to it.—Eds BLUE MIST IN MAINE Enjoyed Richard Harrington’s article about sailing Blue Mist on Penobscot Bay. As East Coast sailors who thoroughly appreciate your magazine, it’s nice to see an article describing our side of the continent. Coincidentally, my wife and I were sail-ing Penobscot Bay aboard our Bolger designed, Richard Zaph built 25-foot cat yawl, Red Zinger, during the same two weeks that Mr. Harrington writes about. There was a remarkable string of cloudless, beautiful weather. I’m sorry we didn’t see him. I hope there is a second part to his story. Keep up the good work. Paul and Debbie Follansbee Winterport, Maine Thanks guys. There is indeed a second article from that cruise that will appear in a future issue.—Eds 4 Small Craft Advisor seeks letters from our readers. Comments and questions are welcomed. PO Box 1343 Port Townsend, WA 98368 or smallcraftadvisor@earthlink.net PAPER VS. ELECTRONIC Great mag. I find it very helpful and en-joy reading all of your articles with paper in my hands. I can tell all your writers went past the twelfth grade! Keep up the great articles and information—on paper in bold ink! P.S. There are a lot of paper mill workers in the South! James Quinton, AL While understanding Mr. Larsen’s idea of an electronic version of your excellent publication, I vote for continued hard copy. I know that mass storage is infinite and inexpensive, but it is also very fragile and can be “lost” for a variety of reasons. Carefully kept publications are not lost to a hard disk crash or a system error and CDs have a limited useful lifespan. Even with well protected CDs and “thumb drives” there is the format problem. I be-lieve I have one of the few computers in my area of Florida that has a 5.5-inch and a 3.5-inch disk drive. I can still read the “old stuff” while most of my friends are stuck with a CD read/writer and a place for a flash drive. C. Henry Depew Tallahassee, FL I will be renewing my subscription to Small Craft Advisor as I consider the use of paper as being environmentally responsible. Let me be the first to state that I am a big user of computers, e-mail, cell phones, Internet, and all new technology for that matter. My one major concern is the po-tential misinformation of print hurting the environment. Why for example do people say, save a tree don’t print this? Let me just offer some interesting quick facts to think about: Reading a newspaper online for 30 min-utes or more is harder on the environ-ment than reading a printed newspaper for 30 minutes. Remember all computers, cell phones, and electronic devices need to get powered somehow; where does all of that energy come from? Google consumes more energy in one day than all of Las Vegas. Remember that for every tree cut down, three to four trees are replanted in its place—print is an absolutely sustainable, renewable resource! The bottom line is that we all have a lot of work to do to help our environment long term. There is no reason for print to be considered environmentally bad. Please read the attachment as it will give you a realistic view on the use of paper. As it can be a very emotional subject, we must be careful to make accurate state-ments and draw appropriate conclusions. Craig, Joshua and all the team at SCA— I suggest that you do not need to be apolo-getic about SCA being printed on paper. And I don’t think your readers should be made to feel bad because they enjoy the paper version of SCA magazine. Dave Wagner Powder Springs, GA Skipper / builder of Nancy’s China, Suzy Q We appreciate everyone’s comments. We’ve absolutely no intention of ceasing produc-tion of a print magazine—even in the long term—but because it’s relatively simple to do, we have added a digital subscription option. We expect this will appeal especially to some of our foreign readers who presently pay a premium for subscriptions because of international postal rates.—Eds WINTER AND HIS BOSUM BOXES Is it possible to obtain plans (or at least a better picture) of Dylan Winter’s Bosum Box? My Dovekie, Sundowner, could use one. You publish a terrific magazine that I always save for a special trip. Keep up the superb work. John Gustafson Ojai, CA The interview with Dylan Winter in the Sep/Oct issue is one of the funniest you have published. After reading it and re-reading it again, I am still at loss as to SMALL CRAFT ADVISOR

Reader Mail

WORTH THE PRICE Just wanted to tell you that I have now used advice offered in your magazine to make two helpful instruments for my boat. One was a “Dutchman’s Log” to help determine the speed of the boat, and the other was a portable bilge pump. Both very simple devices, but both worth the subscription cost of your great magazine. If I had any complaint it would be that I had to wait too long between issues! I am not asking you to publish monthly, understand, I’m asking weekly! Really good job and I’m pleased that I discovered you. BTW, when are you guys going to do something on the AMF Sunbird? It was such a popular boat! (I think I have one of the only three left in existence) Norman J. Stringfield Del Rio, TN Captain of the Lusty Slogger Thanks for the kind words, Norman. Nothing planned yet for the Sunbird, but we’ll get to it.—Eds BLUE MIST IN MAINE Enjoyed Richard Harrington’s article about sailing Blue Mist on Penobscot Bay. As East Coast sailors who thoroughly appreciate your magazine, it’s nice to see an article describing our side of the continent. Coincidentally, my wife and I were sailing Penobscot Bay aboard our Bolger designed, Richard Zaph built 25-foot cat yawl, Red Zinger, during the same two weeks that Mr. Harrington writes about. There was a remarkable string of cloudless, beautiful weather. I’m sorry we didn’t see him. I hope there is a second part to his story. Keep up the good work. Paul and Debbie Follansbee Winterport, Maine Thanks guys. There is indeed a second article from that cruise that will appear in a future issue.—Eds PAPER VS. ELECTRONIC Great mag. I find it very helpful and enjoy reading all of your articles with paper in my hands. I can tell all your writers went past the twelfth grade! Keep up the great articles and information—on paper in bold ink! P. S. There are a lot of paper mill workers in the South! James Quinton, AL While understanding Mr. Larsen’s idea of an electronic version of your excellent publication, I vote for continued hard copy. I know that mass storage is infinite and inexpensive, but it is also very fragile and can be “lost” for a variety of reasons. Carefully kept publications are not lost to a hard disk crash or a system error and Cds have a limited useful lifespan. Even with well protected Cds and “thumb drives” there is the format problem. I believe I have one of the few computers in my area of Florida that has a 5.5-inch and a 3.5-inch disk drive. I can still read the “old stuff ” while most of my friends are stuck with a CD read/writer and a place for a flash drive. C. Henry Depew Tallahassee, FL I will be renewing my subscription to Small Craft Advisor as I consider the use of paper as being environmentally responsible. Let me be the first to state that I am a big user of computers, e-mail, cell phones, Internet, and all new technology for that matter. My one major concern is the potential misinformation of print hurting the environment. Why for example do people say, save a tree don’t print this? Let me just offer some interesting quick facts to think about: Reading a newspaper online for 30 minutes or more is harder on the environment than reading a printed newspaper for 30 minutes. Remember all computers, cell phones, and electronic devices need to get powered somehow; where does all of that energy come from? Google consumes more energy in one day than all of Las Vegas. Remember that for every tree cut down, three to four trees are replanted in its place—print is an absolutely sustainable, renewable resource! The bottom line is that we all have a lot of work to do to help our environment long term. There is no reason for print to be considered environmentally bad. Please read the attachment as it will give you a realistic view on the use of paper. As it can be a very emotional subject, we must be careful to make accurate statements and draw appropriate conclusions. Craig, Joshua and all the team at SCA— I suggest that you do not need to be apologetic about SCA being printed on paper. And I don’t think your readers should be made to feel bad because they enjoy the paper version of SCA magazine. Dave Wagner Powder Springs, GA Skipper / builder of Nancy’s China, Suzy Q We appreciate everyone’s comments. We’ve absolutely no intention of ceasing production of a print magazine—even in the long term—but because it’s relatively simple to do, we have added a digital subscription option. We expect this will appeal especially to some of our foreign readers who presently pay a premium for subscriptions because of international postal rates.—Eds WINTER AND HIS BOSUM BOXES Is it possible to obtain plans (or at least a better picture) of Dylan Winter’s Bosum Box? My Dovekie, Sundowner, could use one. You publish a terrific magazine that I always save for a special trip. Keep up the superb work. John Gustafson Ojai, CA The interview with Dylan Winter in the Sep/Oct issue is one of the funniest you have published. After reading it and re-reading it again, I am still at loss as to What sort of boat he sailed, other than it was built by the Dutch and the price was “skinty.” Do invite more commentary from Dylan. Great spice for your publication. Glenn Woodbury’s article Crossing the Strait was fascinating. I wish I had read it two weeks earlier when I crossed the Strait in my Montgomery 17. I would like to share two things free to all boaters in the Puget Sound area: West Marine in Port Townsend, provides free talks by Roger Slade. One of his presentations is on crossing the Strait. He recommends crossing from Port Townsend to Whidbey Island, just north of Keystone and then steer north and then cross east of Smith Island. Stay east of Partridge Bank. This keeps small boats out of the rips off Wilson Point, and Partridge Bank, and avoids the problems that Glenn encountered. Glenn mentioned the Washburn Tables with Canadian Chart Atlas for the currents. These are invaluable. Another source that is useful for trip planning is a free website called DEEPZOOM. It provides animated currents as you move the clock or calendar to the time you plan to be in the area. Lon Zimmerman Port Townsend M17 – Selkie Good news, Lon: Dylan is coming aboard as a columnist beginning next issue! His boat is a Mirror Offshore, by the way. We’ll see if we can get him to tell us more about those boxes.—Eds MORE ROWING I know you all aspire to keeping the magazine aimed at small sailboats, but I do think some additional rowing content would be appreciated by many readers. I know I’d be delighted to see it. Steve Cushman Madison, WI JACK DE CROW ADVENTURE I just read the book The Unlikely Voyage of Jack de Crow, which you have featured In your book section. SCA has some pretty fascinating articles about small craft challenges like the Everglades Challenge, etc. It seems the participants are always resourceful in what turns out to be an amazing number of close calls and “challenges.” This voyage by A.J. MacKinnon tops them all for being unprepared and yet resilient. This guy was crazy. But, what a story. If you haven’t read it, it is a page-turner. Also, for a digital touch, I followed his route on Google Earth and could literally see every mile of canal he sailed/rowed throughout Europe. It took me more than a week, a couple of hours every evening, to follow his route after having read the book. It was at once a thoroughly engaging adventure and a geography/history/geo-political lesson. If you get a chance I would urge you to try it. John Marchi, Nashville, TN BIRDWATCHER I’m a regular reader though I don’t have a subscription, and I wonder if you are going to do an article on Bolger’s Birdwatcher design. I bought the plans; I don’t have a good place to build, but I think it’s a remarkable design and I’d love to read of owner’s comments on the design. Richard Rose Prince Rupert, BC Canada We’ve got a couple of Birdwatcher things in the works. —Eds ENJOY MAGAZINE I don’t know whether Small Craft Advisor is any good or not, but in the couple of years I’ve been reading it, I’ve never failed to be happy with each copy. Congratulations and thank you for doing all the hard work. Stu Simpkins Parma, OH Just a quick note to let you know how wonderful the latest edition is. I just sat here at lunch dipping into it with deLight. Your subscription is the best value money can buy. Keep going. Rob Blackburn Australia TOW VEHICLE I enjoy reading the articles of all the sailing expeditions your magazine prints. I am learning to sail on other people’s boats and will one day soon purchase a small sailboat. My question is: What should one consider when looking for a tow vehicle? I know that will depend on the size and displacement of the boat, but there must be some general guidelines (rear drive, 4WD, all wheel drive, etc.) for one to follow. Lindsay Parker Hi Lindsay. Your question could easily serve as the basis for a 4000-word article—one we may consider for a future issue. Some of the basics to keep in mind when matching a boat and trailer to a tow vehicle are: All recent vehicles are rated for how much weight they can safely tow. And it’s not difficult to find out the weight of most popular boats and their trailers. Unfortunately it’s not quite as easy as simply matching them up. Boat manufacturers have a tendency to be somewhat optimistic about the weight of their products, sometimes understating it by a considerable margin. Add an outboard motor, fuel, oars or paddles, PFDs, anchors, chains and lines, camping supplies, food, drinks, clothing and other personal effects, and the towing weight can mount up surprisingly fast. Be sure to leave an adequate “cushion” for safety. Personally, I don’t believe there’s any such thing as too much tow vehicle or too much power. Some might disagree because of the price paid in fuel consumption, but I contend you get it back in confidence and peace of mind on the road. And given a choice for boat-ramp duties, I’d always opt for all-wheel or four-wheel drive, even though it hurts mileage and is seldom essential.—CW

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