Small Craft Advisor Nov/Dec 2010 : Mail
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 pub-lication. 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 cur-rents. 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 SMALL CRAFT ADVISOR in your book section. SCA has some pretty fascinating articles about small craft challenges like the Everglades Chal-lenge, 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. MacK-innon 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 Bird-watcher 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 do-ing 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 de-light. Your subscription is the best value money can buy. Keep going. Rob Blackburn Australia TOW VEHICLE I enjoy reading the articles of all the sail-ing 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 con-sider 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 ve-hicle 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. Un-fortunately 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 sur-prisingly 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 con-tend 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 5
Publication List
Using a screen reader? Click Here