Isle of Palms to Georgetown (Tuggers Vol. 63)

Roger Lee & Martha Burke, Fram 37VT71

Excerpted from Blog: http://www.framcruisinglog.blogspot.com

We got underway at 9 am, after spending the morning greasing and lubricating the infamous pillow block bearing, which made some scary noises as we pulled into the dock at Isle of Palms Marina on Tuesday evening.  A metal scraping metal sound could be heard every so often.  The grease did the trick, and we got underway. 

Georgetown is about 48 miles from Isles of Palms, and it took us 8-1/2 hours.  We ran at 1600 rpm, but were slowed by tidal currents more than  usual.  We danced around low spots along the way, and even had to plow mud briefly just south of marker G37, one of the worst shoaled areas along the Southern Carolina stretch of the ICW.

Georgetown, itself, is nice. It has a new boardwalk -- actually a pier that extends over the water along a path that runs parallel to shore.   Its central commercial area has several clothing stores, and even a sidewalk poster reminding passerbys that "Friends don't let friends shop in department stores."  

FairWind Reunites Past and Present Lord Nelson Owners (Tuggers Vol. 63)

By Mike Wiens, FairWind 41LN10 

mikewiens@careheatingandcooling.com

Yesterday Linda and I hosted the reunion of Peter Nordlie [the only individual to have owned both a Lord Nelson sailboat and later a Victory Tug 37VT47 - ed.] and his former boat, FairWind.  There must have been some dust in the air because as Peter first spied FairWind through our back door his eyes began to water.  Skipping the idle chit chat we went directly to the boat. Through Peter's eyes, actions and words his fondness for FairWind was obvious. We started at the stern and worked our way forward while I pointed out some of the maintenance items I had done to keep her Bristol.  Remarkably, many of the items Peter had added for his Atlantic voyages were still in place.  Below deck he started to reminisce about his time at sea aboard FairWind, the security he felt throughout the seven gales he encountered at sea and how well FairWind accommodated him and his crew.  I think Peter was appreciative of the care FairWind has received the past several years. 

Peter also brought with him a photo album he made of FairWind, himself, his crew and their adventures on their Atlantic crossing.  As he reviewed the pictures with us the joy he experienced on his voyages was obvious.  The ports he visited, the people he met, his crew and FairWind were all special to him. 

After lunch Peter answered many questions we had as to how he handled the sails offshore and other aspects of life on FairWind.  Our visit ended with Peter taking several photos of his beloved FairWind and along with a sage bit of advice, "Mike and Linda, you've spent a great deal of time working on FairWind, now go out and sail and enjoy her." 

That we intend to do. 

From the Bridge (Tuggers Vol. 63)

Hurray, it's finally Spring--never mind that it snowed a few weeks ago from Ohio to Maine!  I'm happy to report that the weather isn't dampening the Tugger spirit as Spring commissioning reports are pouring in.   Bruce Griffiths, whose Tess II 37VT22 is in Skagway, Alaska, gets the "Most Determined" award.  Since it's still way too cold and wet to work outside he's moving Tess II into a heated shed.  Some of the bigger jobs being tackled in the fleet are: painting the hull; new fuel tanks; installing new windows; re-bedding existing windows; new steering quadrants; adding solar panels; and new Bomar hatches.   

Not all tugs were laid up this past winter.  Fram 37VT71 made it as far south as Savannah, Georgia and is currently underway, heading home to Belfast, Maine, and finishing a 2800nm round trip.  In January Nellie D. 37VT63 took a leisurely three months to do the 400 mile Florida mini-loop (Naples, Key West, Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, across to Ft. Myers via Lake Okeechobee, then back to Naples).   John William 37VT68 just started a three month cruise of the Bahamas.  After a Gulf Stream crossing to Grand Bahama Island they cruised to Green Turtle Cay.  Windy weather has them pinned down but once it abates they'll continue through the southern Abacos, Eleuthera, and the Exumas.  John and Sue Mackie's goal is to make it all the way to George Town.  Go John William!

Three tugs went up for sale this past quarter: Lady Hamilton 37VT12; Mocko Jumbie 37VT49; and Mary K. 49VT02 (Ed and Kathy Smith are original owners).  One tug sold; Talapus 37VT36, purchased by Ralph Hagler of Seattle, Washington.  

Tommy Chen built the tug that Jim Backus designed--with a few field changes.  One such change involves the location of the ballast.  Jim wanted it to be as far outboard as possible on each side of the engine room.  Tommy put all the ballast in the keel.  Understanding why highlights a problem as old as the pyramids; the difference between theory and practice, architect and builder.  Using engineering principles, Jim wanted to make his boat's motion more comfortable.  Using time-tested manufacturing practices, Tommy wanted to make his boat safer.  

Keeping it simple and having fun. 

A Thermostat for the Cummins (Tuggers Vol. 63)

We received quite a few comments regarding Tom Bauer's, Simpler Fidelis 37VT59 article.  Most of the discussion centered on how a thermostat functions and questioned whether operating the Cummins engine without a thermostat would indeed cause the engine to overheat.  Further research on the issue uncovered a warning in the Cummins Operations Manual (provided below) which hopefully helps clarify the issue.      

Wedding Bells (Tuggers Vol. 63)

This past weekend Dr Key Stage and Clara Mincey, Titan 37VT31, tied the knot. Five other Tuggers were there to help in the celebrations.

Congratulations to the happy couple.

[Photos taken and provided by Allan Seymour]

Books Every Galley Should Have (Tuggers Vol. 63)

Martha Burke, Fram 37VT71

marthaburke131@gmail.com

Cruising Chef Cookbook 

By Michael Greenwald

Discusses preparing for a voyage and resupplying in native markets.  Provides recipes for pressure cooking, stir frying and grilling, particularly useful techniques for the galley chef.

http://www.amazon.com/Cruising-Chef-Cookbook-Michael-Greenwald-ebook/dp/B00422LGVE/ref=pd_ybh_5

The Boat Galley Cookbook

By Carolyn Shearlock and Jan Irons.

800 everyday recipes and essential tips for cooking aboard with recipes made from readily-obtainable ingredients and tips on how to do things more easily in a tiny, moving kitchen.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Boat-Galley-Cookbook-Essential-ebook/dp/B009F98ADG/ref=pd_sim_kstore_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=1Z6P7PGB74NH3ZHWB3E5

John William 37VT68 in the Abacos

We got word from the crew of the John William 37VT68 that they made it safely across to the Abacos.  They are 'stuck' in Green Turtle, Black Sound due to the weather.  What a terrible place to be 'stuck' indeed :-).  Once the weather improves, they intend to continue south to the Exumas before crossing back to their home port in Florida.  Sounds like a fabulous cruising plan.

They sent a few photos which we also are publishing.  The pup in the last photo is Lucy and she is trying out her life jacket for the first time.  Looks like she too is enjoying the warm waters of the Bahamas.  We wish them safe travels and we hope to hear more from them soon.

John William's pilot house navigation

Even the threat of rain is pretty

The perfect sunset

Add caption

Fram's Wine Cabinet Drawers (Tuggers Vol. 63)

Fram 37VT71 modified the bottom of their wine cabinet to include two drawers.

Keel and Rudder: Design vs. As-built

Jim Backus designed the 37' LNVT with 3000lbs of ballast to be located just below the waterline and as far outboard as possible.

However, the tug was built with the ballast in the keel.  Did the ballast's relocation result in changes to the keel?  To find out let's compare the tug described in the blueprints to the tug we own, i.e. the as-built tug.

The LNVT's 'Revised Hull Line Drawing', dated 19 June 1981, calls for a 4-3/4" wide keel. This thickness is to be consistent from top to bottom and from stem to stern.

Here's a shot of Thistle 37VT47's keel. Looking at the root (where the keel attaches to the hull) the light makes clear the keel's fore-aft and top-to-bottom tappers. At the aft end of the keel the root is 6" wide while at the bottom it's 5" wide.   Moving along the root towards the bow, the keel's width increases to ~8".  But the bottom of the keel remains 5" wide.

The bottom line: the as-built root is thicker than designed but tapers quickly to almost the specified thickness--5" vs. 4-3/4". There's also some taper along the keel's longitudinal direction which wasn't specified in the plans.

In the above picture the as-built measurements (in red) were made by Allan Seymour, Sally W. 37VT42, the numbers in black are takeoffs from the blue print.  The height of the keel was measured from points 3', 6' and 9' forward from the end of the shoe.  The fillet between the hull and keel makes it difficult to get an exact measurement. While there are differences between the designed and as-built keel, they appear to be minor.   Since there are known differences between the designed and as-built shoe, perhaps basing all measurements from the rudder post's center-line would make more sense.

Most glaring, in these preliminary measurements, is the difference between the designed and as-built rudder. The blueprint calls for an approximate 32"w x 32"h rudder; the as-built is 30"w x 30"h.  The rudderpost's center line was designed to be 6-5/8" aft of the rudder's leading edge; it is actually 3-3/4" aft.

Dave Howell, Nellie D. 37VT63

Yard Productivity and Market Competitivness

According to Daniel Spurr's Heart of Glass, U.S. based Endeavour Yachts more than tripled their productivity between 1984 and 1988.  In 1984 they built 200 sailboats with 308 employees (2/3 boat per employee). In 1988 they built 100 boats with 50 employees (2 boats per employee).  

Contrast this to OEY's peak year, 1986, when 33 boats were built with 250 employees (that's about 1/8 boat per employee).  

If the above is representative of the world boat building industry, several generalizations can be made:

To be competitive a mid 1980's Taiwanese boatyard worker made about 1/5 of their U.S. based counterpart. 

By the late 1980's, and without major productivity increases, OEY could remain in business by paying their employees 1/15 of the U.S. yard worker or by tripling the price of their boats.  Clearly, neither solution by itself is feasible. 

Dave Howell, Nellie D. 37VT63

2015 NE Rendezvous

The NE Rendezvous is now scheduled and we hope you'll be joining us.  It will be in Camden Maine 24-26 July.  You can find all the details at: http://tugin-east-2015.wikidot.com/schedule-of-events. Hope we will be seeing you there!  If you have any questions about the event, please contact the organizer, Sally Seymour at sallyvt@me.com.

LNVT History: "No one really needs a boat."

Lord Nelson Ltd. and Ocean Eagle Yachts went out of business in 1989.  U.S. based Pearson Yachts, the largest recreational boat maker up to that time--at their peak they had nine production lines and sold one new boat per day--went bankrupt in 1991.  Their deeper pockets allowed them to hold on a little longer than Lord Nelson but they too were done in by the same tidal wave of events.  According to Daniel Spurr's Heart of Glass those events included the institution of the 10% luxury tax on new boats, anxiety over the Persian Gulf War, high oil prices, fear of recession, and the flood of good used boats on the market.  William Shaw, Pearson's CEO, reflecting on why his company, along with much of the boat building industry had recently gone under, succinctly said, "No one really needs a boat."  

  Pearson is where Jim Backus got his start designing boats. In fact, in 1982 he'd just left Pearson to hang up his own shingle when he won the 37 Victory Tug commission.  

Dave Howell, Nellie D. 37VT63

  

Thistle 37LN47's Bigger Rudder

Thistle's rudder has had been extended by about 4 inches.  The weld is a very good one but you can see the seam when you look closely.  As a comparison the picture above shows a standard LNVT rudder (the darker image) overlaid on Thistle's rudder.  Thistle tracks through the water like she is on a rail. 

Ed McChain, Thistle 37LN47

Annie's Makeover

Submitted by Craig Kurath, Annie #38

 

We applied a second coat of high build primer on the sheer stripe, sanded that out and applied gray sanding primer.  We are currently sanding out the gray sanding primer. 

 

Victory 37VT02 gets a new mast (Tuggers Vol. 63)

Submitted by Bob Allnutt, Victory 37VT02

It is wonderful to be getting warmer weather; yesterday I painted the aluminum mast that I made for Victory. I applied Interlux Primekote and will apply Interlux Perfection for a top coat. My compressor is not big enough to paint with so I am using a HVLP spraying system that does a fair job. The first coat has some orange peal; I may not have thinned it enough. As the weather permits, I'll apply an additional prime coat and top with Perfection.