Great Reads to Get Through the Doldrums

There is a bug in every sailor to fight new developments in technology. Seamanship is such an old tradition that it makes sense to a degree - there are many times that the development of the new just for the sake of development falls flat in it’s face in abject failure, but it is also important to recognize new strategies for their worth when the time comes - and do they ever, at what seems to be an unimaginable rate of new technology that is not only rapidly changing our interactions, but also rapidly developing itself. For simple sailors such as ourselves, it can feel as though it is a wave that is simply passing under us, beyond our control. 

    One way we like to escape these tempestuous developments is to break away from the screen and commune with a good book. The Captain has wanted to share a reading list with you all for some time, and now that spring is approaching he thought it high time to whet your sailing whistles with a taste of his 3 favorite books to read while at sea (ok, 4…).

Website link to the Thor Heyderahl Musuem:  https://www.kon-tiki.no/expeditions/tigris-expedition/

Thor Heyerdahl - “Back to Nature/ Fati-Hiva, (1974)” “the Tigris Expedition (1979)”

    For the addicted traveler, there is almost no modern equal to that of Cultural Anthropologist, ancient vessel expert/ designer/ builder, and  global expedition leader Thor Heyerdahl. Many know his most famous work, “Kon-Tiki,” memorialized in both his book, original documentary and subsequent Hollywood film. A massive rebellious intellect and Oxford Graduate, Thor Heyerdahl spent nearly his entire life proving the importance of sail to the development of modern society not simply through archeological digs and theories, but by constructing ancient vessels described in texts and proving possible discovery and trade routes around the world. These two books that examplify both the beginning and end of his “field-work,” messing about on boats of dubious construction and achieving goals that would curdle the blood of even the worlds most adventurous sailors. The stories take you right along with him and are completely addictive - so set aside some time,  and of course some space in your permanent ships’ library. You’ll want to keep them around for a spell.

Richard Henry Dana II - “2 Years before the Mast” (1840)

     Something of a “bible” for tall-ship enthusiasts, this is the true story of a young man intended to graduate Harvard, but in poor health, who decides to take on a 2 year adventure as crew aboard a Merchant ship bound for California via Cape Horn. It’s a beautifully written masterpiece, rife with locations and sailing terms that will keep your google search bar full for hours and hours. Even though written in an older style, it is quite easy to follow, picturesque and exciting as you follow Mr. Dana from Boston around the most treacherous route of the time, Cape Horn, then up and down the coast of a much older and unpopulated California Coast in search of cow hides and back again. The experiences of Santa Barbara, San Fransisco and Los Angeles are so stark in their differences of todays’ major cities to startle the senses. 

Erskine Childers - “Riddle of the Sands” 

     This one I discovered by happenstance years ago when a friend gave me a well-used copy in the Mediterranean while delivering a Cigal 16 from Inverness, Scotland into the Med. It was the perfect trip for this story, an early espionage tale set just after the turn of the 20th century in the Baltic and North Seas, specifically focused on the German coast and Frisian islands as a possible staging ground for A future German invasion of the UK. The plot discovery, made by English Yachtsmen “Davies” and “Carruthers” while on a sailing holiday is full of twists and turns, tides, canals and sluices only accessible by a small centerboard sloop regularly finding itself on the ground at low water. The two end up in the position of unconsripted yet willing spies, deciphering a web of suspicious clues and characters around the islands of Norderny, Juist and Memert in the Frisian chain on the North Sea, a possible jumping off point for the German Navy with the plans in their infancy. They take it upon themselves to unravel the details and report back to the Admirality and stave off the scheme. Simply a must have for those of us who love nothing more than to mess about on boats…

   In the age of burying our faces in our phones, of constant gratuitous imagery at every turn, I often find that taking the time to sit and reading allows one’s mind to breathe and exercise it’s own rights to create its own imagery. If we stop the influx of internet junkery for a moment, we quickly find what Artificial Intelligence is being modeled after, a tool being used less and less that sits just atop our shoulders. Let these volumes take you out to sea, far away from your current station and tech, raising a sail or two and following the wind and waves along the way. 

Happy Spring! Enjoy these reads and we look forward to seeing you on the water real soon!

  Cpt Jarad and Christel Astin

Nautical Terms

Schooner Deliverance sailing “wing on wing.”

A

Abeam – At right angles to, or beside, the boat 
Aboard – On or in the boat 
Adrift - Afloat and unattached in any way to the shore or seabed. It may also imply that a vessel is not anchored and not under control, therefore goes where the wind and current take her, (loose from moorings, or out of place). Also refers to any gear not fastened down or put away properly. It can also be used to mean “absent without leave”.
Aft – towards the stern of the boat; to move aft is to move back 
Aground – When the hull or keel is against the ground 
Anchor – An object designed to grip the ground, under a body of water, to hold the boat in a selected area 
Anchorage - a place for anchoring 
Anchor light- White light displayed by a ship at anchor. Two such lights are displayed by a ship over 150 feet (46 m) in length.
Apparent wind - The perceived wind direction experienced on a moving boat. 
Astern – in the direction of, or behind, the stern
As the crow flies - A direct line between two points (which might cross land) which is the way crows travel rather than ships which must go around land.

B

Backstay - A wire support for the mast, usually running from the stern to the head of the mast. 
Backwinded - when the wind hits the leeward side of the sails 
Bail - to remove water from the boat 
Ballast - weight in the lower portion of a boat, used to add stability (In a multihull – useless crew on other boats.) 
Bareboat - sailing a yacht on your own. Then you either love sailing or not!
Barber Hauler - A line attached to the jib or jib sheet, used to adjust the angle of sheeting by pulling the sheet toward the centerline of the boat. 
Batten - A thin wooden or plastic strip inserted into a pocket on the back part (leech) of a sail, to assist in keeping its form 
Beam - the greatest width of the boat, usually in the middle. 
Beam reach - a point of sail where the boat is sailing at a right angle to the apparent wind. 
Bearing - a compass direction from one point to another 
Beating (Close Hauled, On the Wind) - Sailing toward the wind source, or against the wind, with the sails pulled in all the way, tacking as you go, to reach a destination upwind. 
Berth - sleeping bunk aboard the boat 
Bight - a loop in a rope -or- a bend in the shoreline 
Bilge - the lowest part of a boat, designed to collect water that enters the boat 
Binnacle - compass stand 
Bitter End - the final inboard end of chain or line 
Blanketing - a tactical maneuver whereby a boat uses its sails to blanket the competitor’s wind, slowing him down. 
Block - a pulley 
Bluewater Sailing - open ocean sailing, as opposed to being in a lake or sound 
Boat Hook - a device designed to catch a line when coming alongside a pier or mooring. 
Bobstay -  Wire stay underneath the bowsprit; helps to counteract the upward pull exerted by the forestay. 
Boom - the horizontal spar to which the foot of a sail is attached. 
Boom Gallows -  Piece of nice teak that is made into a board about the width of the cockpit of a sailboat that supports a boom when the sail is lowered.
Boom Vang - A system used to hold the boom down, particularly when boat is sailing downwind, so that the mainsail area facing the wind is kept to a maximum. Frequently extends from the boom to a location near the base of the mast. Usually tackle- or lever-operated. 
Boom - the horizontal spar on the bottom of the mainsail behind the mast. 
Boot Stripe - a different color strip of paint at the waterline 
Boot top - A stripe near the waterline. 
Bow - forward end of a boat 
Bowsprit - A short spar extending forward from the bow. Normally used to anchor the forestay. 
Breast line – a docking line going at approximately a right angle from the boat to the dock 
Bridge deck - The transverse partition between the cockpit and the cabin. 
Bridle - A short length of wire with a line attached at the midpoint. A bridle is used to distribute the load of the attached line. Often used as boom travelers and for spinnaker down hauls. 
Bright Work - varnished woodwork or polished metal 
Broach - a turning or swinging of the boat that puts the beam against the waves, creating a danger of swamping or capsize 
Broad Reach - a point of sail where the boat is sailing away from the wind, but not directly downwind 
Bulkhead - An interior partition commonly used to stiffen the hull that separates one part of the vessel from another. May be watertight. 
Bulwark - A vertical extension above the deck designed to keep water out and to assist in keeping people in. 
Bulwarks - ail around the deck 
Bunk - Sleeping accommodation
Buoy - An anchored float marking a position or for use as a mooring 
By the Lee -  Sailing downwind with the wind blowing over the leeward side of the boat, increasing the possibility of an unexpected jibe.

c

Cabin - Bedroom on a yacht
Cape Horn fever - The name of the fake illness a malingerer is pretending to suffer from.
Capsize - When a ship or boat lists too far and rolls over, exposing the keel. On large vessels, this often results in the sinking of the ship
Catamaran - A boat with two hulls
Chart -  The map on which you check your position and plan your next voyage
Cleat - A stationary device used to secure a rope aboard a vessel.
Crow’s Nest - A shelter or platform fixed at the masthead of a vessel as a place for a lookout to stand.
Cut of his jib - The “cut” of a sail refers to its shape. Since this would vary between ships, it could be used both to identify a familiar vessel at a distance, and to judge the possible sailing qualities of an unknown one.
Cutter - A single-masted boat, with two or more head sails.

D

Decks - the structures forming the approximately horizontal surfaces in the ship’s general structure. Unlike flats, they are a structural part of the ship.
Deck hand - A person whose job involves aiding the deck supervisor in (un)mooring, anchoring, maintenance, and general evolutions on deck.
Dinghy -  Designed for quick trips between ship and shore. The small inflatable boat attached to the yacht
Dog watch - A short watch period, generally half the usual time (e.g. a two hour watch between two four hour ones). Such a watch might be included in order to slowly rotate the system over several days for fairness, or to allow both watches to eat their meals at approximately normal times.
Draft - The minimum depth of water needed to float your boat.

E

Earings - Ropes used to fasten the corners of the heads of sails to the yards, by the cringles. The upper corners of sails are frequently termed earings.

Ears of a bolt - The lugs or upper projections of a bolt with a score in it, into which another part is fitted and held by a through pin so as to form a joint like that of a gooseneck.

Ease (away) - To let out a line while under full control; gradually releasing a line for a sheet or docking line.

Eating a vessel out of the wind - When two vessels are sailing in company, and if one soaks or settles out to windward of the other she is said to eat her out of the wind. In reality, to make less leeway.

Eating to windward - A vessel is said to eat to windward when she, apparently, soaks out to windward of her wake.

Ebb - A tidal current that flows towards the sea, usually from a river or narrow inlet.

Eddy - Water or currents of air apparently moving in circles. This can indicate underwater obstacles.

Edge away - To gradually keep a vessel more off a wind after sailing close hauled.

End for end - To shift a spar, rope, etc., by reversing the direction of the ends.

End on - Said of vessel when she has an object bearing in a line with the keel, directly ahead of the bow. On approaching a mark or buoy it is said to be end on if it is directly ahead of the vessel, the bowsprit will then point to the object, hence it is sometimes said that an object is "right on for the bowsprit end."

Ensign - The national flag; the flag of an organization, such as the Coast Guard Auxiliary.

Equipment - The complete outfit of a vessel including everything used in her handling, working, and accommodation. The inventory comprises the equipment.

Esnecca - A kind of yacht of the twelfth century known as "a sharp prowed ship."

Estimated position - Less precise than a "fix", it is a navigational point based on vessel speed, course run and other factors, such as wind & current drifts.

ETA (Estimated Time of Arrival) - The time of day of your arrival at a destination, based on your present speed and track (course).

ETE (Estimated Time Enroute) - The time left to your destination based on your present speed amd tracl.

Even keel - Said of a vessel when she is not heeled either to port or starboard, also when her keel is horizontal, that is when she is so trimmed that her draught forward is the same as aft.

Eyelet holes - Small holes worked in sails for lacings, etc., to be rove through.

Eye splice - A fixed loop in the end of a line.

F

Fathom - A unit of length equal to 6 feet (1.8 m), roughly measured as the distance between a man’s outstretched hands.
Fender - An air or foam filled bumper used in boating to keep boats from banging into docks or each other.
First Mate - The Second in command of a ship.
Fly by night - A large sail used only for sailing downwind, requiring little attention.
Following sea - Wave or tidal movement going in the same direction as a ship.
Foot - The bottom of a sail.
Footloose - If the foot of a sail is not secured properly, it is footloose, blowing around in the wind.
Foredeck - The deck at the forward part of the vessel. (see photo below “fore”)
Forestays - Long lines or cables, reaching from the front of the vessel to the mast heads, used to support the mast.
Foul-Weather Gear(aka foulies) - Protective garment that is intended to keep the sailor dry and warm in bad weather.
Furl - To roll or wrap a sail around the mast or spar to which it is attached.

G

Genoa - a large headsail in various sizes, which overlaps the mainsail and is hoisted in light to fresh winds on all points of sailing.

Gimbals - two concentric rings, pivoted at right angles which keeps objects horizontal despite the boats motion.

Global Positioning System (GPS) - A satellite based radio navigation system providing continuous worldwide coverage. It provides navigation, position, and timing information to air, marine, and land users.

GMDSS - Global Maritime Distress and Safety System.

GNSS - Global Navigation Satellite System.

Go about - to turn the boat through the eye of the wind to change tack.

Gooseneck - the fitting attaching the boom to the mast, allowing it to move in all directions.

Goosewing - to boom out the headsail to windward on a run by using a whisker pole to hold the sail on the opposite side to the mainsail.

GPS - Global Positioning System

Guard rail - a metal rail fitted around the boat to prevent the crew from falling overboard.

Guy - a steadying rope for a spar a spinnaker guy controls the fore-and-aft position of the spinnaker pole; the foreguy holds the spinnaker pole forward.

Gybe - to change from one tack to another by turning the stern through the wind.

H

Halyard - rope used to hoist and lower sails.

Hand over fist - To climb steadily upwards, from the motion of a sailor climbing shrouds on a sailing ship (originally “hand over hand”).

Hank - fitting used to attach the luff of a sail to a stay.

Harbor - A harbor or harbour, or haven, is a place where ships may shelter from the weather or are stored. Harbours can be man-made or natural.

HAT - Highest Astronomical Tide.

Hatch - an opening in the deck giving access to the interior.

Head-to-wind - when the bows are pointing right into the wind.

Headfoil - a streamlined surround to a forestay, with a groove into which a headsail luff slides.

Heads - toilets.

Headway - the forward movement of a boat through the water.

Heave-to - to back the jib and lash the tiller to leeward used in heavy weather to encourage the boat to lie quietly and to reduce headway.

Heel - to - lean over to one side.

Helmsman - A person who steers a ship.

Hogging or hog - the distortion of the hull where the ends of the keel are lower than the center.

Holiday - A gap in the coverage of newly applied paint, slush, tar, or other preservative.

Holystone - A piece of soft sandstone used for scouring the wooden decks of ships, usually with sand and seawater.

Hull - The shell and framework of the basic floatation oriented part of a ship.

I

Icing - A serious hazard where cold temperatures (below about -10°C) combined with high wind speed (typically force 8 or above on the Beaufort scale) result in spray blown off the sea freezing immediately on contact with the ship.

Idlers - Members of a ship's company not required to serve watches. These were in general specialist tradesmen such as the carpenter and the sailmaker.

In Irons - When the bow of a sailboat is headed into the wind and the boat has stalled and is unable to maneuver.

In the offing - In the water visible from on board a ship, now used to mean something imminent.

J

Jack - Either a flag, or a sailor. Typically the flag was talked about as if it were a member of the crew. Strictly speaking, a flag is only a "jack" if it is worn at the jackstaff at the bow of a ship.

Jacklines - Lines, often steel wire with a plastic jacket, from the bow to the stern on both port and starboard. The Jack Lines are used to clip on the safety harness to secure the crew to the vessel while giving them the freedom to walk on the deck.

Jack Tar - A sailor dressed in 'square rig' with square collar. Formerly with a tarred pigtail.

Jib - A triangular staysail at the front of a ship.

Jigger-mast - The fourth mast, although ships with four or more masts were uncommon, or the aft most mast where it is smallest on vessels of less than four masts.

Jollies - Traditional Royal Navy nickname for the Royal Marines.

Junk - Old cordage past its useful service life as lines aboard ship. The strands of old junk were teased apart in the process called picking oakum.

K

Killick - A small anchor. A fouled killick is the substantive badge of non-commissioned officers in the RN. Seamen promoted to the first step in the promotion ladder are called "Killick". The badge signifies that here is an Able Seaman skilled to cope with the awkward job of dealing with a fouled anchor.

Keel - The central structural basis of the hull.

Keelhauling - Maritime punishment: to punish by dragging under the keel of a ship.

Kelson - The timber immediately above the keel of a wooden ship.

Kissing the gunner's daughter - bend over the barrel of a gun for punitive spanking with a cane or cat.

Know the ropes - A sailor who 'knows the ropes' is familiar with the miles of cordage and ropes involved in running a ship.

L

Ladder - On board a ship, all "stairs" are called ladders, except for literal staircases aboard passenger ships. Most "stairs" on a ship are narrow and nearly vertical, hence the name. Believed to be from the Anglo-Saxon word hiaeder, meaning ladder.

Laker - Great Lakes slang for a vessel who spends all its time on the 5 Great Lakes.

Land lubber - A person unfamiliar with being on the sea.

Lanyard - A rope that ties something off.

Larboard - The left side of the ship (archaic, see port). cf. starboard. Derived from the old 'lay-board' providing access between a ship and a quay.

Lateral System - A system of aids to navigation in which characteristics of buoys and beacons indicate the sides of the channel or route relative to a conventional direction of buoyage (usually upstream).

Lay - To come and go, used in giving orders to the crew, such as "lay forward" or "lay aloft". To direct the course of vessel. Also, to twist the strands of a rope together.

Lay down - To lay a ship down is to begin construction in a shipyard.

League - A unit of length, normally equal to three nautical miles.

Leech - The aft or trailing edge of a fore-and-aft sail; the leeward edge of a spinnaker; a vertical edge of a square sail. The leech is susceptible to twist, which is controlled by the boom vang and mainsheet.

Leehelm - If the helm was centered, the boat would turn away from the wind (to the lee). Consequently, the tiller must be pushed to the lee side of the boat in order to make the boat sail in a straight line. See weatherhelm.

Lee side - The side of a ship sheltered from the wind (opposite the weather side or windward side).

Lee shore - A shore downwind of a ship. A ship which cannot sail well to windward risks being blown onto a lee shore and grounded.

Leeway - The angle that a ship is blown leeward by the wind.

Leeward - In the direction that the wind is blowing towards.

Let go and haul - An order indicating that the ship is in line with the wind.

Letter of marque and reprisal - A warrant granted to a privateer condoning specific acts of piracy against a target as a redress for grievances.

Lifeboat - A small steel or wood boat located near the stern of a vessel. Used to get the crew to safety if something happens to the mothership.

Line - The correct nautical term for the majority of the cordage or "ropes" used on a vessel. A line will always have a more specific name, such as mizzen topsail halyard, which describes its use.

Liner - Ship of The Line: a major warship capable of taking its place in the main (battle) line of fighting ships. Hence modern term for most prestigious passenger vessel: Liner.

List - The vessel's angle of lean or tilt to one side, in the direction called roll.

Loaded to the gunwales - Literally, having cargo loaded as high as the ship's rail; also means extremely drunk.

Loggerhead - An iron ball attached to a long handle, used for driving caulking into seams and (occasionally) in a fight. Hence: "at loggerheads".

Lubber's line - A vertical line inside a compass case indicating the direction of the ship's head.

Luff - The forward edge of a sail; to head a sailing vessel towards the direction of the wind.

Luffing - When a sailing vessel is steered far enough to windward that the sail is no longer completely filled with wind (the luff of the sail is usually where this first becomes evident).

Lying ahull - Waiting out a storm by dousing all sails and simply letting the boat drift.

M

Mainbrace - The brace attached to the mainmast.

Mainmast (or Main) - The tallest mast on a ship.

Mainsheet - Sail control line that allows the most obvious effect on mainsail trim. Primarily used to control the angle of the boom, and thereby the mainsail, this control can also increase or decrease downward tension on the boom while sailing upwind, significantly affecting sail shape. For more control over downward tension on the boom, use a boom vang.

Man of war - A warship from the age of sail.

Man overboard! - A cry let out when a seaman has gone overboard.

Marina - A docking facility for small ships and yachts.

Mast - A vertical pole on a ship which supports sails or rigging.

Masthead - A small platform partway up the mast, just above the height of the mast's main yard. A lookout is stationed here, and men who are working on the main yard will embark from here ; Also called “crows nest.”

Master - Either the commander of commercial vessel, or a senior officer of a naval sailing ship in charge of routine seamanship and navigation but not in command during combat.

Master-at-Arms - A non-commissioned officer responsible for discipline on a naval ship. Standing between the officers and the crew, commonly known in the Royal Navy as "the Buffer".

Matelot - A traditional Royal Navy term for an ordinary sailor.

Mess - An eating place aboard ship. A group of crew who live and feed together.

Mess deck catering - A system of catering in which a standard ration is issued to a mess supplemented by a money allowance which may be used by the mess to buy additional victuals from the pusser's stores or elsewhere. Each mess was autonomous and self-regulating. Seaman cooks, often members of the mess, prepared the meals and took them, in a tin canteen, to the galley to be cooked by the ship's cooks. As distinct from "cafeteria messing" where food is issued to the individual hand, which now the general practice.

Midshipman - A non-commissioned officer below the rank of Lieutenant. Usually regarded as being "in training" to some degree. Also known as "Snotty". 'The lowest form of animal life in the Royal Navy' where he has authority over and responsibility for more junior ranks, yet, at the same time, relying on their experience and learning his trade from them.

Mizzenmast (or Mizzen) - The third mast on a ship.

Mizzen staysail - Sail on a ketch or yawl, usually lightweight, set from, and forward of, the mizzen mast while reaching in light to moderate air.

Monkey fist - A ball woven out of line used to provide heft to heave the line to another location. The monkey fist and other heaving-line knots were sometimes weighted with lead (easily available in the form of foil used to seal e.g. tea chests from dampness) although Clifford W. Ashley notes that there was a "definite sporting limit" to the weight thus added.

Moor - To attach a boat to a mooring buoy or post. Also, to a dock a ship.

N

Navigation rules - Rules of the road that provide guidance on how to avoid collision and also used to assign blame when a collision does occur.

Nipper - Short rope used to bind a cable to the "messenger" (a moving line propelled by the capstan) so that the cable is dragged along too (Used because the cable is too large to be wrapped round the capstan itself). During the raising of an anchor the nippers were attached and detached from the (endless) messenger by the ship's boys. Hence the term for small boys: "nippers".

No room to swing a cat - The entire ship's company was expected to witness floggings, assembled on deck. If it was very crowded, the bosun might not have room to swing the "cat o' nine tails" (the whip).

O

Oilskin - Foul-weather gear worn by sailors.

Oreboat - Great Lakes Term for a vessel primarily used in the transport of iron ore.

Orlop deck - The lowest deck of a ship of the line. The deck covering in the hold.

Outhaul - A line used to control the shape of a sail.

Outward bound - To leave the safety of port, heading for the open ocean.

Overbear - To sail downwind directly at another ship, stealing the wind from its sails.

Overfall - Dangerously steep and breaking seas due to opposing currents and wind in a shallow area.

Overhaul - Hauling the buntline ropes over the sails to prevent them from chaffing.

Overhead - The "ceiling," or, essentially, the bottom of the deck above you.

Overreach - When tacking, to hold a course too long.

Over the barrel - Adult sailors were flogged on the back or shoulders while tied to a grating, but boys were beaten instead on the posterior (often bared), with a cane or cat, while bending, often tied down, over the barrel of a gun, known as (kissing) the gunner's daughter.

Overwhelmed - Capsized or foundered.

Ox-Eye - A cloud or other weather phenomenon that may be indicative of an upcoming storm.

P

Parrel - A movable loop, used to fasten the yard to its respective mast.

Part brass rags - Fall out with a friend. From the days when cleaning materials were shared between sailors.

Pay - Fill a seam (with caulking or pitch), or to lubricate the running rigging; pay with slush (q.v.), or protect from the weather by covering with slush.

Paymaster - The officer responsible for all money matters in RN ships including the paying and provisioning of the crew, all stores, tools and spare parts.

Pilot - Navigator. A specially knowledgeable person qualified to navigate a vessel through difficult waters, e.g. harbour pilot etc.

Pipe (Bos'n's) - A whistle used by Boatswains (bosuns or bos'ns) to issue commands. Consisting of a metal tube which directs the breath over an aperture on the top of a hollow ball to produce high pitched notes. The pitch of the notes can be changed by partly covering the aperture with the finger of the hand in which the pipe is held. The shape of the instrument is similar to that of a smoking pipe.

Pipe down - A signal on the bosun's pipe to signal the end of the day, requiring lights (and smoking pipes) to be extinguished and silence from the crew.

Piping the side - A salute on the bos'n's pipe(s) performed in the company of the deck watch on the starboard side of the quarterdeck or at the head of the gangway, to welcome or bid farewell to the ship's Captain, senior officers and honoured visitors.

Pitch - A vessel's motion, rotating about the beam axis, so the bow pitches up and down.

Pitchpole - To capsize a boat end over end, rather than by rolling over.

Pontoon - A flat-bottomed vessel used as a ferry or a barge or float moored alongside a jetty or a ship to facilitate boarding.

Poop deck - A high deck on the aft superstructure of a ship.

Pooped - exhausted by high following sea.

Port - Towards the left-hand side of the ship facing forward (formerly Larboard). Denoted with a red light at night.

Press gang - Formed body of personnel from a ship of the Royal Navy (either a ship seeking personnel for its own crew or from a "press tender" seeking men for a number of ships) that would identify and force (press) men, usually merchant sailors into service on naval ships usually against their will.

Preventer - A sail control line originating at some point on the boom leading to a fixed point on the boat's deck or rail (usually a cleat or pad eye) used to prevent or moderate the effects of an accidental jibe.

Privateer - A privately-owned ship authorised by a national power (by means of a Letter of Marque) to conduct hostilities against an enemy. Also called a private man of war.

prop walk - Tendency for a propeller to push the stern sideways. In theory a right hand propeller in reverse will walk the stern to port.

Prow - A poetical alternative term for bows.

Pusser - Purser, the one who is buys, stores and sells all stores on board ships, including victuals, rum and tobacco. Originally a private merchant, latterly a warrant officer. Also, in modern use, a term for the Navy in general (pussers) or a sailor in particular (a pusser).

Q

Quarterdeck - The aftermost deck of a warship. In the age of sail, the quarterdeck was the preserve of the ship's officers.

Quayside - Refers to the dock or platform used to fasten a vessel to.

R

Radar - An electronic system designed to transmit radio signals and receive reflected images of those signals from a "target" in order to determine the bearing and distance to the "target".

Radar reflector - A special fixture fitted to a vessel or incorporated into the design of certain aids to navigation to enhance their ability to reflect radar energy. In general, these fixtures will materially improve the visibility for use by vessels with radar.

Range lights - Two lights associated to form a range (a line formed by the extension of a line connecting two charted points) which often, but not necessarily, indicates the channel centerline. The front range light is the lower of the two, and nearer to the mariner using the range. The rear light is higher and further from the mariner.

Ratlines - Rope ladders permanently rigged from bulwarks and tops to the mast to enable access to top masts and yards. Also serve to provide lateral stability to the masts.

Reach - A point of sail from about 60° to about 160° off the wind. Reaching consists of "close reaching" (about 60° to 80°), "beam reaching" (about 90°) and "broad reaching" (about 120° to 160°).

Reef - to temporarily reduce the area of a sail exposed to the wind, usually to guard against the effects of a strong wind and/or to slow the vessel.

Reef points - Small lengths of cord attached to a sail, used to secure the excess fabric after reefing.

Reef-bands - Long pieces of rough canvas sewed across the sails to give them additional strength.

Reef-tackles - Ropes employed in the operation of reefing.

Rigging - The system of masts and lines on ships and other sailing vessels.

Righting couple - The force which tends to restore a ship to equilibrium once a heel has altered the relationship between her centre of buoyancy and her centre of gravity.

Rigol - The rim or 'eyebrow' above a port-hole or scuttle.

Roll - A vessel's motion rotating from side to side, about the fore-aft axis. List (qv) is a lasting tilt in the roll direction.

Rolling-tackle - A number of pulleys, engaged to confine the yard to the weather side of the mast; this tackle is much used in a rough sea.

The Ropes - Refers to the lines in the rigging.

Rope's end - A summary punishment device.

Rummage sale - A sale of damaged cargo (from French arrimage).

Running rigging - Rigging used to manipulate sails, spars, etc. in order to control the movement of the ship.

S

Sagging - When a trough of a wave is amidship.

Sail-plan - A set of drawings showing various sail combinations recommended for use in various situations.

Sampson post - A strong vertical post used to support a ship's windlass and the heel of a ship's bowsprit.

Scandalize - To reduce the area of a sail by expedient means (slacking the peak and tricing up the tack) without properly reefing it.

Schooner - A sailing ship with two or more masts, typically with the foremast smaller than the mainmast.

Scud - A name given by sailors to the lowest clouds, which are mostly observed in squally weather.

Scuppers - An opening on the side rail that allows water to run off the deck.

Scuttle - A small opening, or lid thereof, in a ship's deck or hull. To cut a hole in, or sink something.

Scuttlebutt - A barrel with a hole in used to hold water that sailors would drink from.

Sea anchor - A stabilizer deployed in the water for heaving to in heavy weather. It acts as a brake and keeps the hull in line with the wind and perpendicular to waves.

Sea chest - A valve on the hull of the ship to allow water in for ballast purposes.

Seaworthy - Certified for, and capable of, safely sailing at sea.

Shakes - Pieces of barrels or casks broken down to save space. They are worth very little, leading to the phrase "no great shakes".

Sheer - The upward curve of a vessel's longitudinal lines as viewed from the side.

Sheet - A rope used to control the setting of a sail in relation to the direction of the wind.

Ship - strictly, a three-masted vessel square-rigged on all three masts, though generally used to describe most medium or large vessels.

Ship's bell - Striking the ship's bell is the traditional method of marking time and regulating the crew's watches.

Ship's company - The crew of a ship.

Shoal - Shallow water that is a hazard to navigation.

Shrouds - Standing rigging running from a mast to the sides of a ships.

Sick bay - The compartment reserved for medical purposes.

Skipper - The captain of a ship.

Skysail - A sail set very high, above the royals. Only carried by a few ships.

Skyscraper - A small, triangular sail, above the skysail. Used in light winds on a few ships.

Slop chest - ship's store of merchandise, such as clothing, tobacco, etc., maintained aboard merchant ships for sale to the crew.

Slush - Greasy substance obtained by boiling or scraping the fat from empty salted meat storage barrels, or the floating fat residue after boiling the crew's meal. In the Royal Navy the perquisite of the cook who could sell it or exchange it (usually for alcohol) with other members of the crew. Used for greasing parts of the running rigging of the ship and therefore valuable to the master and bosun.

Slush fund - The money obtained by the cook selling slush ashore. Used for the benefit of the crew (or the cook).

Sonar - A sound-based device used to detect and range underwater targets and obstacles. Formerly known as ASDIC.

Spanker - A fore-and-aft or gaff-rigged sail on the aft-most mast of a square-rigged vessel and the main fore-and-aft sail (spanker sail) on the aft-most mast of a (partially) fore-and-aft rigged vessel such as a schooner, a barquentine, and a barque.

Spanker-mast - The aft-most mast of a fore-and-aft or gaff-rigged vessel such as schooners, barquentines, and barques. A full-rigged ship has a spanker sail but not a spanker-mast (see Jigger-mast).

Spar - A wooden, in later years also iron or steel pole used to support various pieces of rigging and sails. The big five-masted full-rigged tall ship Preussen (German spelling: Preußen) had crossed 30 steel yards, but only one wooden spar - the little gaff of its spanker sail.

Spindrift - Finely-divided water swept from crest of waves by strong winds.

Spinnaker - A large sail flown in front of the vessel while heading downwind.

Spinnaker pole - A spar used to help control a spinnaker or other headsail.

Splice - To join lines (ropes, cables etc.) by unravelling their ends and intertwining them to form a continuous line. To form an eye or a knot by splicing.

Standing rigging - Rigging which is used to support masts and spars, and is not normally manipulated during normal operations.

Starboard - Towards the right-hand side of a vessel facing forward. Denoted with a green light at night. Derived from the old steering oar or 'steerboard' which preceded the invention of the rudder.

Stay - Rigging running fore (forestay) and aft (backstay) from a mast to the hull.

Staysail - A sail whose luff is attached to a forestay.

Stem - The extension of keel at the forward of a ship.

Stern - The rear part of a ship.

Stern tube - The tube under the hull to bear the tailshaft for propulsion (usually at stern).

Surge - vessel's transient motion in a fore and aft direction.

Sway - A vessel's motion from side to side. Also used as a verb meaning to hoist.

Swigging - To take up the last bit of slack on a line such as a halyard, anchor line or dockline by taking a single turn round a cleat and alternately heaving on the rope above and below the cleat while keeping the tension on the tail.

Swinging the compass - Measuring the accuracy in a ship's magnetic compass so its readings can be adjusted – often by turning the ship and taking bearings on reference points.

Swinging the lamp - Telling sea stories. Referring to lamps slung from the deckhead which swing while at sea. Often used to indicate that the story teller is exaggerating.

Swinging the lead - Measuring the depth of water beneath a ship using a lead-weighted sounding line. A sailor who was feigning illness etc to avoid a hard job was said to be "swinging the lead".

T

Tack (verb) - a maneuver where the boat is turned so that the bow of the boat passes through an imaginary line to where the wind comes from. At some point during the turn, the boat will be pointing directly into the wind. Tacking is the act of perfoming a tack.

Tack (noun) - the lower forward corner of a sail.

Tack - a starboard tack or a port tack - The term "starboard tack" refers to sailboat sailing where the wind is coming from the starboard (right) side of the boat. The term "port tack" refers to sailboat sailing where the wind is coming from the port (left) side of the boat.

Taking the wind out of his sails - To sail in a way that steals the wind from another ship.

Tally - The operation of hauling aft the sheets, or drawing them in the direction of the ship's stern.

Three sheets to the wind - On a three-masted ship, having the sheets of the three lower courses loose will result in the ship meandering aimlessly downwind. Also, a sailor who has drunk strong spirits beyond his capacity.

Togey - A rope used as a punitive device.

Topmast - The second section of the mast above the deck; formerly the upper mast, later surmounted by the topgallant mast; carrying the topsails.

Topgallant - The mast or sails above the tops.

Topsail - The second sail (counting from the bottom) up a mast. These may be either square sails or fore-and-aft ones, in which case they often "fill in" between the mast and the gaff of the sail below.

Topsides - The part of the hull between the waterline and the deck. Also, Above-water hull.

Touch and go - The bottom of the ship touching the bottom, but not grounding.

Towing - The operation of drawing a vessel forward by means of long lines.

Travellers - Small fittings that slide on a rod or line. The most common use is for the inboard end of the mainsheet; a more esoteric form of traveller consists of "slight iron rings, encircling the backstays, which are used for hoisting the top-gallant yards, and confining them to the backstays".

Transom - A more or less flat surface across the stern of a vessel.

Trick - A period of time spent at the wheel ("my trick's over").

Trim - Relationship of ship's hull to waterline.

Turtling - When a sailboat (in particular a dinghy) capsizes to a point where the mast is pointed straight down and the hull is on the surface resembling a turtle shell.

U

Under the weather - Serving a watch on the weather side of the ship, exposed to wind and spray.

Under way - A vessel that is not at anchor, or made fast to the shore, or aground.

Underwater hull or underwater ship - The underwater section of a vessel beneath the waterline, normally not visible except when in drydock.

Upper-yardmen - Specially selected personnel destined for high office.

V

Vanishing angle - The maximum degree of heel after which a vessel becomes unable to return to an upright position.

W

Wake - Turbulence behind a ship.

Wales - A number of strong and thick planks running length-wise along the ship, covering the lower part of the ship's side.

Watch - A period of time during which a part of the crew is on duty. Changes of watch are marked by strokes on the ship's bell.

Watercraft - Water transport vessels. Ships, boats, personal water craft.

Weather gage - Favorable position over another sailing vessel to with respect to the wind.

Weather deck - Whichever deck is that exposed to the weather – usually either the main deck or, in larger vessels, the upper deck.

Weather side - The weather side of a ship is the side exposed to the wind.

Weatherly - A ship that is easily sailed and maneuvered; makes little leeway when sailing to windward.

Weigh anchor - To heave up (an anchor) preparatory to sailing.

Wells - Places in the ship's hold for the pumps.

White Horses - Waves in wind strong enough to produce foam or spray on the wave tops.

Wheelhouse - Location on a ship where the steering wheel is located, often interchanged with pilothouse and bridge. -

Wide berth - To leave room between two ships moored (berthed) to allow space for maneuver.

Windage - Wind resistance of the boat.

Windbound - A condition wherein the ship is detained in one particular station by contrary winds.

Windward - In the direction that the wind is coming from.

Windlass - A winch mechanism, usually with a horizontal axis. Used where mechanical advantage greater than that obtainable by block and tackle was needed (such as raising the anchor on small ships). Modern sailboats use an electric "Windlass" to raise the anchor.

Y

Yard - The horizontal spar from which a square sail is suspended.

Yardarm - The very end of a yard. Often mistaken for a "yard", which refers to the entire spar. As in to hang "from the yardarm" and the sun being "over the yardarm" (late enough to have a drink).

Yarr - Acknowledgement of an order, or agreement.

Yaw - A vessel's motion rotating about the vertical axis, so the bow yaws from side to side.

Jamaica Bay and it’s ever -changing history through a mariners lens

Look familiar? Small pilot schooners such as our “Deliverance” were once commonplace sights on Jamaica Bay

Air temps are rising, less days of that frigid Northern blast as there were in January and February. Small sightings of buds on trees, the slightest green tinge on the marsh grasses of Jamaica Bay. The first sightings of the Trumpeter swans, American Oyster Catchers, the elusive Red Knot. The Cherry blossoms have opened up around the museums and parks, the sure sign that winter is indeed over - regardless of whatever curveballs Mother Nature is throwing at us. 

Springs excitement is always about shedding - shedding all those sweaters and coats, possibly a few pounds gained with all that “winter storage…” Shedding old paint to make room for the new coat of the year. Even in the great city of NY, it’s about making attempts to get outside more, commune with nature in whatever manner you can. One of the greatest things about NY is how many ways you can make this happen - the myriad of the city’s parks in conjunction with its hundreds of miles of shoreline gives residents and visitors alike an absolute cornucopia of choices - much like we have when grabbing a bite on the street.

Arden shedding that old paint…

The Captain debarks and planes a raw piece of cedar for a new spar

Things really shaping up for that bowsprit!

The weeks of toil pay off - rigged and easy for sea!

For us sailors it’s time to think about “commissioning” our boats for the season, bringing them out of their winter slumber. Mother Nature plays no part in this, it’s all toil. Scraping, painting, welding, varnishing, maintenance on the motors and electrical systems. Countless hours and expenditure just to plop their hulls in the water with the hopes we didn’t forget anything serious. “Boat sinkers,” we call them. No matter how many times you’ve done it, the first drop in the “well” always brings some excitement and happiness…mostly that your work in the shipyard is over! Time to play, now - and with our Caribbean season coming to a close, our eyes are shifting North once again. 

An American Oystercatcher enjoying Caribbean vibes on the shores of St. Croix, USVI in Salt River

American Oystercatchers congregate on the West end of Ruffle Bar, Jamaica Bay

We follow the birds - our good friends the oystercatchers have just begun to head off. We’ll see them soon, as they breed on Ruffle bar and we get to watch their young grow throughout the summer season, until they direct us South again in fall. Humans always seem to follow animal behavior, whether we like it or not, just like Rockaway Beach’s shores slowly start filling up with sunbathers, the wildlife of the Bay Area are one step ahead. From the almost 300 species of migratory bird to porpoises, dolphins, seals, whales, Weakfish and Striped Bass and hundreds more, critters of all types from all over the hemisphere will be passing through her shores at some point from spring to fall.

Imagery of the Sea Side House, on the bay side of Rockaway Beach in the late 1800’s.

Goose Creek, now the northern section of Broad Channel, 1913

Many of us complain about how busy things can get at the beaches in high season, but we who do a lot on the water in NY are quite lucky in 2023. A day on the sea now is quite different than it would have been 100 years ago - not just easier with all the technological advances man has come up with since, either. Back in the early days of Rockaway, the bay especially was the place to be for those who enjoyed boating, fishing, and general life on the water. From the many stilt-shack communities like Ramblersville, Goose Creek Station and Valentine’s Point to the more than 1,000 foot-long New Colossal Hotel, the bay and Rockaway were completely different entities prior to humans nearly destroying this precious place. 

The Colossal Rockaway Beach Hotel at over 1,000 feet long, late 1800’s

Early sights from Broad Channel, 1910

On any given weekend day in high season, the bay’s boat liveries (rentals for small rowboats, small sailing boats, etc) would collectively have as many as 1500 hulls on the water. Boats so dense that when they all anchored at fishing “hotspots” you could jump from boat to boat for hours without ever seeing the same face twice. The hauls from fishing even for inexperienced hook and line fisherman were so stout it makes todays hardcore angler’s mouth water - dozens of flounder, bass, weakfish caught in just a couple of hours. Jamaica bay was absolutely brimming with life, and was then considered to be the wild escape from Brooklyn and Manhattan where one could be free of society’s “less than desirable” confines. $3 of the days’ currency and a visit to your local bloodworm-digger and you’re off.

A page from the Brooklyn Daily Eagle presenting Jamaica Bay as a retreat for hook and line fisherman, August 1895

NY Tribune from 1903 giving just a small glimpse of the number of boats that one could see on the bay any given day. At the peak of Boat Liveries, were as many as 1500 small vessels available for rent.

But as man could not stop his thirst for development in search of tax revenue, even the swamps of Canarsie and Rambersville began to entice their denizens. Channels were dredged, marshland filled in. Sewerage run off became so intense that even the millions of hectacres of water in the bay with its 4 tidal turns per day could not flush itself. Once the declaration came that eating shellfish from the bay was so unhealthy as to be considered a contributor to the spread of typhoid, man’s relationship with the bay changed so drastically it makes one’s head spin. On top of the sewerage came the dumping of a diverse range of wastes so toxic it’s incredible the bay was able to survive by the thread it did for so many decades. Even into the 1990’s, local bay men will tell you there were no fish. No sightings of marine mammals. Definitely no swimming. To them, the bay was dead, and would never return. 

Oystering in NY was an enormous part of the city’s food supply in these days - it is said that NY as a city got as much as 30% of its protein intake from shellfish.

Man’s thirst for tax revenue caused massive mistreatment of this incredible resource throughout the years - once shell fishing was determined to be unhealthy throughout Jamaica Bay, that attitude increased exponentially.

A drawing from the NY Health Dept depicting shellfish consumption as a major contributor to the spread of Typhoid. The ecology of the bay was under such immense pressure it was thought to have totally collapsed, making the entirety a dead zone.

When we think about that being only 30 years ago, and how such simple changes in man’s behavior have had such an enormous impact on the state of things in Jamaica Bay, the hope for a better future is palpable. We have had days on the water being surrounded by the feeding frenzy of thousands of birds of various species, dropping in the water one after the other, feasting on the leavings of bluefish, weakfish and striped bass as they consume massive schools of mummuchauge, silverside and menhaden. We’re graced with excellent sailing conditions as we wave hello to Otis the seal at the sandbar nearly every day. Regularly do we encounter the massive, barnacle encrusted shells of loggerhead turtles in Yankee channel. We watch as plovers and sanderlings raise their young on the sands of the many islands within the bay - staring off as mere cotton balls with toothpicks for legs. 30 years ago these things were simply not possible. 

Scene from Ruffle Bar in Jamaica Bay as viewed from the schooner “Deliverance.” Cormorants, gulls, oystercatchers, Godwits, and numerous other species of seabird are always found amongst the salt grasses in Jamaica Bay’s ecological revival.

Our friend “Otis” the seal can be seen daily at low tide sunning on his favorite haunt, the Beach Channel bridge sandbar.

Just offshore Rockaway and in the bay proper, Dolphins and

So as we think on the excitement of spring, and as we are bombarded with the many doom-and-gloom stories that our news media can’t seem to get enough of, let’s mull on about how lucky we are to have a place like Jamaica Bay. No longer bombarded with thousands of boats taking its resources, but thousands of species of flora and fauna, all within sight of the whole skyline of Manhattan but feeling thousands of miles away. We are witness to the slow process of rejuvenation that is the spring of the bay’s long, cold winter of mistreatment and neglect. Every time we get on the water, we are witness to the real-world effects that positive change can have. We see some good news, for a change. 

Welcome 2023 Summer Season!

Greetings and salutations to all, wishing you the happiest and most fruitful new year from the deck of our winter vessel, “Catherine.”  So far we’ve had an excellent winter in the Northern Caribbean, and have been based out of St. Martin engaging solely in our other passion - performing music, bringing joy and happiness to folks from all over the world. It has been quite busy, which is wonderful - kicking off the season with a 50th anniversary show with our friends at Company O & Co. for La Samana, the finest hotel on St. Martin. Since then its been 4+ performances per week with our duo “Stell & Snuggs,” our 7 piece funky-soul outfit the “Boogaloo Mutineers,” jazz gigs, tours to the islands of St. Barths and Saba - many at our “home base” venue in Cole Bay, Lagoonies…it feels as though life has finally gotten back to normal since Hurricanes Irma and Maria were followed up with the pandemic. If you’d like some samples of what we are up to down here, just click this link and check out the many videos there! The musicians on St. Martin are really the best in the Caribbean, and we’ve been able to inundate ourselves in the many styles we’ve worked so hard at for our professional careers. 

  But alas - another summer season in Rockaway awaits us and is fast approaching! Coming into our 5th year sailing in the bay, we will have some SUPER EXCITING news to share with you all very soon. In the meantime wanted to make sure you all knew our sailing schedule for the season is live at www.yachtrockcharters.com. We always try to give some advance heads up to our returning clients, without whom our little family business would not be possible. As such, we are extending a $75 discount to all of our returning clients this season applicable to any booking, anytime if used before May 26 (the code will be sent out in our Newsletter).

Make sure to take advantage of it to grab the specific dates your looking for - the July 4th Fireworks cruise, sails on Memorial Day and Labor Day, overnights, the sandbar…our way of saying a huge thank you for all of your support over these last few years!

  We’ll be in the water ready to go at least one week before Memorial Day as usual. So keep your eyes peeled for the schooner “Deliverance” and her little buddy the skiff “Turtle” showing up at our fave place on the water in all NYC, The Bungalow Bar! You might even get to catch a glimpse of the Captain diving on the mooring for its annual inspection! We hope you all are enjoying your winter, and look forward to having you all aboard once again this summer! 

   Fair Winds, 

Yacht Rock Charters Cpt. and Crew

   Jarad, Christel, Riley, Ca’tain Jackson, First Mate’s  Alexis and Gabriel

Caribbean Sailing Vacation? Yes please!

Good day to you! With the holidays and cold weather approaching fast, we wanted to share some fantastic news from the bridge - Yacht Rock Charters is currently offering stays aboard the sailing vessel, Catherine at one of our favorite destination of Saint Martin, French West Indies through April 2022.

Catherine is a well-equipped 43 foot sloop - available accommodations are a private state room with a full berth and private head, as well as a single. This is a fantastic opportunity for couples or small families to get their feet wet with some of the finest sailing in the world ‘ around the island of Saint Martin and Saint Barts.’ Both of these wonderful destinations offer everything you could imagine: from the cosmopolitan to the remote.

Flights to this region from the New York area are quite plentiful, inexpensive, and often direct. Pack a duffel and let us do the rest - don’t hesitate to drop us a line and set up your winter getaway! Captain Jarad and first meet Christel eagerly await to hear from you.

DeTails:

• One week a board for two: $3000

• One week a board for family of three: $3500

• private state room and washroom

• onboard food and beverage

• stand up shower on board

• snorkel gear

• access to uninhabited beaches

• local connections for off board excursions (diving, parasailing, hiking, etc.)

please send us an email at yachtrockcharters@gmail.com. Will then arrange a time to set up a phone or video call to work out all the pertinent details to make your stay with us one that you’ll never forget.

happy holidays, from our family to yours!

Cpt. Jarad Astin

Skipper Christel Astin

A Labor of Love

Labor of Love

Laying a boat up out of the water is always a chore - one thing vessels do not like to do is stop sailing. Traditionally, sailing vessels are named after women and referred to as “she,” a mother or goddess guiding the vessel safely upon the sea. There are times when we “lay her up” that she is unhappy with the prospect, and re-commissioning her becomes a chore. 

      The schooner “Deliverance” was no different this season - after an extended layup due to the pandemic, she expressed disdain at having been out of operation, and laid a long list of chores to accomplish in the yard prior to launch. She knows we love her, though, and that we would put our noses to the grindstone. 
We started with the necessities - her bowsprit, the spar that juts from her bow and holds her jib, had some damage when she came to us. When we unshipped the spar in 2019, it had a fatal crack, and a new spar would need to be built from scratch, in the old way, by hand. We secured a timber of Atlantic White Cedar from Medford Cedar Products in Southern NJ, which is close to Thompson Marine and Engine - the yard where Deliverance had been at rest. 

       Unfortunately, the only available timber was a bit larger than required and needed to be resized. After choosing the spar for straightness and clarity (lack of branches and knots), it needed to be squared off. After de-barking the timber with a draw blade and oiling to avoid checking and cracking, guidelines for squaring were drawn, and a chainsaw carefully used to square the spar to the appropriate size. The next step was to cut the square to an octagon - we built a spar gauge to draw the lines for this. It is a simple tool that continues a ratio of 1:1.4:1 down the length of any timber. As we had cut the spar along with the chosen timber, she narrowed from the base to the tip. This gauge draws lines down the spar keeping that ratio along the way. 

      Once the lines were drawn, a skill saw set at a 45 degree angle was used to lop off the corners to create our octagon. One step closer to a rounded spar! The next step is to make that a 16 sided shape using hand and power plants, a sander with 60 grit paper, and from there continuing on with rounding - a process that is lengthy and not without toil using sanders and stepping up the sandpaper grit for smoothness. We left a block at the tip of the spar for fitting the cranse iron - this is a metal fitting that attaches the bowsprit to her rigging, and “stays” the spar in for directions: the forestry to the top of the foremast, the bob stay to the stem of the keel, and the whisker stays to the sides of the hull. At the base of the spar, a square mortise would need to be cut to fit it into the bit that is her main attachment to the vessel. 

      As all of these fittings are custom fit to the vessel, great care needs to be taken to fit the joints as snuggly as possible, allowing for some added thickness for when the spar is varnished. Cedar is a wonderful material - locally sourced, lightweight, and straight as an arrow, it is truly a joy to work with. Its downfall in this case, though, is its lack of “crushing” strength. The cranse iron will be constantly pulling the spar back into the bit at its base, into the end-grain of the cedar. To strengthen this part of the spar, mahogany “cheeks” were added to the tip of the bowsprit. Not only functional, it really added a lovely aesthetic feature. 

    Once her bowsprit was shaped and properly fit the cranse iron and bit, it needed to be varnished for protection. One of the great benefits of cedar is its near imperviousness to water damage, but spars should still be varnished for longevity. This is not a process one wants to repeat often! We chose to give her spar 4 coats of an oil-based traditional varnish, then top it off with 2 clear coats of epoxy. As you can see, each added layer brings out the beauty and grain of the wood even more, with the end result a gorgeous crown to her rigging!

     That’s all just a small part of the adventure, and the process took several days. In addition to a new bowsprit, Deliverance received a new paint job on the hull, a new presentation of her name, a new cap rail custom-milled from Trex decking, copious work on her hull (painting everything from bow to stern, above and below the waterline) to say the least. There were 5 of us, including our 10-year-old, and we worked every day for 15 days straight, spending 8-12 hours per day in the yard. Beauty doesn’t come without toil…

    Our many thanks to Thompson’s Marine and Engine in Egg Harbor Township, NJ; Kirby Paint Co. in New Bedford, MA; Medford Cedar Products in Sewell, NJ; and most of all to Christel, Jarad, Arden, Riley,  Mark, John, Dave, Mark, Bob, Don, and all the residents of Thompson Lane for your undying friendship and support of our venture. Without you, none of this would be possible! 

Now let’s go sailing!

Yacht Rock Charters Crew

Mission Possible

So we did it. We set out for 6 days in Greenport, Long Island and we successfully completed all the lofty goals we set for freshening up the schooner, Deliverance. Of course it rained! Of course we missed the bowls of clam chowder in Greenport Proper, but a warm shower was a hot commodity through out the course of getting her back in the water. So let’s just give a shout out all the staff at Brewer Yacht Sales and Safe Harbor for their kindness and generosity. It is a sweet place to get the job done, even when you are not looking so sweet yourself.

We painted the decks, cockpit, and interior cabin for starters, and I won’t go into every minute detail, but splash day was fast approaching and we needed to move. On Friday, May 31st she went in the water (jumping up and down). We performed a sea trial an hour later, docked her on E dock, then drove 2 1/2 hours back to Rockaway, NY to play a Stell & Snuggs show at Rockaway Brewing Company that night. The owner of the brewery, Marcus had just bought a sloop a couple of weeks ago and was anxious to do some ocean sailing, so we took him and his partner, Rebecca back with us that night (toothpicks keeping eyes open) to Greenport to deliver the schooner to Jamaica Bay, Rockaway NY. CREW SCORE!

Saturday, May 1: We switched on the diesel motor at about 4am and set sail for Rockaway, and at approximately 8 a.m a dense fog rolled in and the visibility was SQUAT. Thankfully, it cleared partially whilst sailing around Montauk Point, as there were loads of local fisherman landing stripers onto their boats for their “catch of the day.” We were pea green with envy. We didn’t even think about fishing gear through the course of painting, sanding, scraping, taping…. On our other vessel, Catherine, (which we live on, in the Caribbean) we always have a line out for mahi or wahoo or whatever will bite the line for dinner while sailing offshore. No matter though, because our crew mates, Marcus and Rebecca had brought some slamming curry leftovers that they heated up in the galley to warm our bones. You guys rock, thank you.

Through the course of the night while on passage, we alternated watches every two hours, and periodically blew the “Caribbean cell phone” aka conch shell to alert other mariners of our position amongst “pea soup.” All in all, it was 24 hours of something that resembled a Whistler painting, still epic none the less.

But how was the sail? We had 5 knots coming from the NE for most of the time. We raised 4 sails maybe 5 times?… Just not enough, but we had to get to Rockaway for our upcoming charter the next day! Sure enough, we made port into Jamaica Bay at 8am on Sunday. Crew mate, Rebecca was at the helm and brought us in, and seeing her face grinning ear to ear was priceless. Gotta love getting the job done. Who-hoot!!!

Lofty goals? Yes. But did we do it, you bet we did. Our first charter on Jamaica Bay went smooth like butter, and we actually got some wind which made it even sweeter. You know that word “doubt” that can shake at your head from time to time? Well, stop doing that, because you actually can.

Happy sailing and enjoy your life,

Christel Astin