The Allure of Sailing

I knew I wanted to sail. When my wife and I took a trip to Florida I tried in vain to find a sailboat to rent. The only one I could find though was a monster of a catamaran and I was pretty sure I wasn't up to that for a first sail particularly with the warning about an extra charge for overturning the boat. When we got back home though, I thought about buying a boat. Unfortunately, the small boats like the Lasers and Sunfish were a bit too small. With my wife and I in one of these boat I believe it would have been overloaded by at least 50 lbs. So, I kept looking but still couldn't find what I wanted. Then I came across a website that talked about building a sailboat. It didn't sound that difficult. I checked the Stevenson website and they had three designs. I found however that I was not attracted to the most popular design, the Weekender or its larger version, the Vacationer. I liked a third design, the Pocket Cruiser which was less graceful looking but had more room inside and seemed more practical. I purchased the plans and then the fun began.

I discovered that unlike the most popular design which had plans neatly gathered into a binder, the plans for the less popular design were mostly rough sketches all scattered out on two giant sheets of paper printed on both sides along with columns of text. Diagrams and illustrations were placed in every nook and cranny so order was hard to judge. The text instructions were mostly good but matching them to the diagrams was sometimes a challenge. However, it quickly became clear to me that the boat was simply not large enough. So, I scaled the plans up by a modest 12.5%. However, for anyone who understands scaling this is 1.125 x 1.125 x 1.125 because it increases in length, width, and height. This makes the final boat about 40% larger. This change caused a lot of other changes in the plans. I changed the structure and bracing and even moved the cabin bulkhead forward to give more room in the cockpit.

I assume few other people would choose to build a boat from scratch and certainly not scale the plans and make other structural changes as a first effort. In all honesty not only was this my first boat building effort but I actually started building it before I had ever been sailing. I'm still pretty happy with the design as the boat has an older style charm about it and is light enough to move in the gentlest breeze. The scaled boat is roughly similar to a West Wight Potter 15 in size and weight. At 16' and 7 ½' wide it is a bit larger but does not have ballast like a Potter 15. Also, while one very determined individual actually sailed a Potter 15 from Mexico to Hawaii, that is something I would never consider doing with my sailboat. However, I have seen these boats handle well in 4' waves on Lake Ontario.

My interest in sailing has also led me to buy a very badly damaged 20' fiberglass boat. I'll give a how-to in fixing this damage in another article. Sailing attracts me in a way that speedboats and jetski's never have. Sailing is quiet, slow, and requires skill to make the boat go where you want it to. This is in complete contrast to typical speedboats and jetski's which are loud, fast, and can be operated with very little skill. There is something very satisfying about seeing pieces of wood come together into something greater, something capable of using the wind to move. Although I see the same attitude about skill and patience as working well with both sailing and building, I still hope that this Spring and Summer I'll be able to spend more time sailing than building. I plan to sail in nearby Lake Monroe and probably Brookville. I've also thought about sailing from Dunes State Park on Lake Michigan to Chicago and back. I've even considered sailing from Florida to the Bahamas or crossing one of the Great Lakes to Canada and back. For me, sailing has an allure all its own.