I want to share this PT Spear with you. Built in Texas and transported to the East Coast, the builder has done a great job and customized the boat to hang just right on the mother ship's davits. The custom cover they had made is also very attractive and functional. See the photos below.
And..of course... the following comment was very happily received! 😉 "...We have been using the dinghy for nearly two weeks to get to and from the boat and the beach/dinghy dock. So far, we have not splashed so much as a drop of water onto the crew or passenger (other than what I splash up with the oars - I’m still learning to use these long babies), despite rowing ashore and back in up to 20 knot winds and fairly choppy conditions. It rows like a dream and I get an upper body workout for no extra charge. We could not be happier with the finished product."
Creating protected holes for a bridle.Mock up of lifting the boat to create the bridle.Swallow in place on the 'mother ship'..Rain cover for Swallow, a PT Spear
Construction pictures of PT Spear, "Swallow", and current adventures can be seen on the owner's blog HERE>
Google recently announced that if your website is not 'mobile friendly' then you are going to the back of the line. Essentially, they will not show your website in the search results unless someone types in your specific website address. I have known for some time that my website, ptwatercraft.com, is not mobile friendly as they say. Thus when I got a call from a company promising a solution for a good price, I begrudgingly accepted. I will say that it took a very persistent salesman to wear me down. I was told they would use my own text from my website and I could request changes at any time. I already knew my site had issues and thought I would save some time...what was I thinking? (I wasn't, apparently)
The snap shot of boatkitsinseattle.com below is a site created by a third party and not my creation. I am working now to have it removed from the web.
This is a snap shot of the repaired site but even repaired it feels alien.
When I saw the site I cried. They did not have a clue what they were talking about and had taken way too many liberties in re writing my text to sound like a used car salesman...in the worst way. I spent hours on the phone with them for changes only to have them tell me to 'agree' that my changes might adversely affect the visibility of my site on the web and effectively negating their responsibility to get top search results. Not agreeing to that, I had to tone down my changes and in the "end" (of my patience) I asked them to terminate the service. This fabricated persona was not worth a penny and in fact feels damaging.
I am learning something real here.. If it feels wrong in your belly, DO NOT let a salesperson change your mind. HANG UP THE PHONE! As I write this, I am disputing my 'contract' with this company, called Local Lighthouse, in S. California, and have sadly discovered that they are totally insensitive to their customers' satisfaction. They do not hear the word, terminate. They want their money in full, point stop. I do not know what the outcome will be but I have been seriously upset about it. I have had to re-write almost everything but within their parameters that I don't like, and I am still expected to pay them. (They should pay me for the stress and time I have wasted.) (May the final outcome be happier....?)
Bottom line: If anyone saw or sees the site pictured above, I apologize. I may not be able to create as visible a site that the search engines especially like, but I would rather our name, Port Townsend Watercraft, is spread through referral from happy customers. We are clearly not selling used cars.
A mobile friendly interim site of my own making will be forth coming before the year is finished and it will represent the PT Watercraft that many have come to appreciate and respect. I send out warm thanks to all of my customers for their feedback, support, and the pride and joy they have taken in the boats they have built. Ashlyn E. Brown
As an update, I finally did manage to persuade them to cancel the agreement. Yay...it took many many tries.
There is a good reason we have a business based on boating. We love sailing! But what good is it if you only get to hear about others going on voyages? We have been pretty good about getting away from time to time but generally we keep those trips short. For 2015, we have been planning something bigger.
A sailing trip to the Queen Charlottes (HAIDA GWAII) has been on our radar for years and this Summer we know a few friends that are making the trip. After a year in the planning, we are going too, for what might be our last real trip on our sailboat Jzerro. (raising the FOR SALE flag)
This means PORT TOWNSEND WATERCRAFT will be closed from early June through late July. I will have someone shipping out books during our absence. {UPDATE: for more immediate print book ordering, please see the links below}
I am bringing this up now because we do get some orders, primarily from the southern hemisphere, during the summer months. Besides that, it is a slow time for us
Jzerro in Port Townsend
since most folks who get this newsletter in our hemisphere are on the water playing. So here is the plan; -We will be shipping kits through May but the sooner we know about your order, the better.{All done here.}
-Some orders will go out in August. Again, the sooner we know about them, the better. {some are already on order. Yours can be too. See below for quick deposit instructions}
-We will be participating in the Port Townsend Annual Wooden Boat Festival in September and will be taking orders for shipping from October on. We hope to see you there!
Visitors study the PT 11 nesting dinghy
How can you secure a kit quickly? There is a quick deposit link (green box on the right hand side bar under the form links) on our ordering page. A hull number is assigned to names in the order deposits are received. Kits will ship in that order.
Upon our return we will go through all mail and reply in detail so please do email us! We apologize in advance if this timing inconveniences anyone.
The reality about this trip is that we do not expect to have access to internet or mobile phone coverage except on rare occasion. Yes, that is still possible. I am so excited! (AEB)
Our print books are on AMAZON: But, beware of crazy prices in the "used" section. Our books new are priced under $20. There are likely to be delays getting builder's manuals shipped. Our apologies for this. Please use the BUY NOW buttons (not the order-form) on the manuals page and our trusty caretaker will get them shipped.
I know ...it took forever! I will just say that I am a MAC person and if I never have to use a certain MS word processor again, I will be happy. After a lot of tutorials and finally formatting the book, the version I used did not allow active links even for the table of contents. I scratched it and went back to my free word processing program. It took a while to get over the lost time.So now you can get the DIGITAL version of SCARFING BASICS HERE.
I have also just published a children's book.
I created this book when I was cruising with my daughter many years ago. Sailor Sai Aboard Big Blue is a little tour of life living aboard a sailboat from the eyes of a child. The book hosts rhyming verse, a colorful illustrations and colorable line drawings. Each page is a sampling of living on a boat and the nature seen while cruising. The story was inspired by the real life of a little girl named Sailla who sailed many of the worlds oceans before her 10th birthday. Best suited for ages 2 to 10.
I have it priced at $12.95 (26 full color pages) and can send it postage included for that price anywhere in the USA. You can also buy it from AMAZON.com HERE. Amazon.com likes to play with numbers and they offer the book at a range of prices. Thank you! (Ashlyn)
As introduction, Sandy Goodall designed the PT 11 sail. Working with Sean Rankins of NW Sails and Canvas, and Russell, they prototyped and modified the sail to its current size and shape. Sandy is a friend and great to work with but I realized that I knew very little about his career as a sail designer. So I asked. (I have to say, that Sandy is pretty humble.)
Sandy in the PT 11
Ashlyn: How did you get into sailing and sail making? Sandy: I was very interested in sailing from a fairly early age (my mother was an avid sailor from the Canadian maritimes), and I knew that I wanted to get a job working with sailboats.
So it was either yacht design, boat building or sail making. I ended up choosing sail making, thinking that it involved the least math. (wrong!)
Ashlyn: When, where and how did you learn sail making, and how long have you been doing it?
Sandy: My family was living in Toronto in the late sixties, and the famous Danish sailmaker Hans Fogh (who trained under Paul Elvstrom) had emigrated to Canada, and lived in Toronto.
His loft was not far from my parents’ house, and I visited him and nagged him until he agreed to take me on as his apprentice, after I completed university in 1974. So, it has been 40 years now!
Ashlyn: What types of boats do you deal with?
Sandy: Almost all kinds. My first real responsibility as a young sailmaker was cutting the Laser sails for the newly introduced Laser class dinghy.
But since then, I have sailed, and made sails for everything from Optimist dinghies to square riggers, high tech mono and multi hull racers, and Arab Dhows.
So all kinds of boats, really, and I appreciate all of them for different reasons.
Ashlyn: What type of design tools do you use?
Sandy: When I started sail making back in 1974, it was all still pretty traditional. The master sailmaker kept all his design notes and secrets in a "little black book", and we apprentices were not necessarily privy to all the tricks of the trade. But we were in search of ways to increase the repeatability of a good design, so we gradually started to reverse engineer the traditional methods, at first using very simple programs written for HP programmable calculators.
Surprisingly, as a non–math person (I studied philosophy at university), I was very interested in this process, which ended up directing my career in sailmaking.
I continued along this path, becoming involved in the ongoing development of sail design software. I ended up selling my share of the Elvstrom Sails loft in Denmark, and focused on sail design software (“SmSw6” and “Azure Project”), and sail design, working free-lance, designing sails for other sailmakers. These days, sail design software is quite sophisticated, and we can do both structural and aerodynamic analysis on proposed sail designs, all on a lap top computer.
Ashlyn: Do you manufacture sails?
Sandy: Not any more. I was directly involved with manufacturing sails (Elvstrom Sails Denmark) until 1990, but I have specialized in computer sail design since then.
The digital recipe that is the result of the sail design process is then sent by E mail, and cut on some computer driven machine, to be assembled "somewhere in the world".
I collaborate with quite a number of sailmakers, where I do the design work, and they build the sails. I also coach other sailmakers in the use of the sail design software.
Ashlyn: "Do you think custom sail makers (in the USA for example) still have an impact in a world of factory made sails?"
Sandy: "Yes! It's hard to dispute the fact that the big offshore sail manufacturers offer very attractive prices, due to the economies of scale.
But there will always be an important place for local lofts, producing excellent sails and providing on-the-spot personal service to their clients. I'm happy to be in a position where I can collaborate with these local lofts (like Northwest Sails and Port Townsend Sails). The personal contact, the creative discussions, the boat measuring, prototyping etc. that this close collaboration allows, certainly represents added value for the end user."
Ashlyn: Do you have any favorite boat types, or types of design work?
Sandy: I like all kinds of sail boats, large and small, fast and slow, modern and traditional. But I suppose that I prefer smaller boats, and the projects that involve working with people I know and like.
Ashlyn: Can you predict anything concerning the future of sails and sail making?
Sandy: New high tech materials are constantly being developed at an increasing rate, and we can build sails that are lighter, and less stretchy, than ever before. But these (racing) sails are not necessarily a pleasure to use, for the leisure sailor. So there is still a place for traditional dacron and nylon sails, and there are still many people who appreciate and prefer them.
I think we will see more kites and “thick sails”, and lots more work on hydro foils, and various other drag reducing inventions! The "foiling moth" class is a good example of one of the many interesting directions things are going!
Ashlyn: How can people best contact you?
Sandy: Via E mail, at sgoodall@telus.net
Ashlyn: What information should people have on hand to begin a new "design" conversation?
Sandy: To begin with, just the size and type of boat they have, and where they sail, and whether it's racing or cruising. Then we can take it further from there.
Ashlyn: Thank you Sandy! Russell and I feel very fortunate to work with you. Sandy: You're welcome! I really enjoy working with you and Russell!
February 28 2015 was a beautiful sunny and breezy Saturday, and it was the occasion of the annual Shipwrights Regatta in Port Townsend. Russell and I are not racers but this seemed like a good excuse to get out on the water. We entered the PT 11 thinking there would be a host of dinghies in the fleet as is often the case in Port Townsend. Well, we turned out to be the only actual dinghy! Our 11 footer was the most “water-line challenged” in the fleet. Next up in size were 505 Olympic class racing dinghies, then 6 Thunderbirds, and lots of racing and cruising yachts of a wide variety.
LIL B ON THE STARTING LINE, FAR LEFT (click to see larger)
When the horn sounded for the start, we were first across the 'line', together with the 'cruising class'. We made the course around the bay twice and crossed the finish line just over 2 minutes behind the last large boat. Yes, we finished last which, after-all, was pretty much a given at the start! It was a lot of fun and nobody was ever left far behind as even we were able to stay close to the fleet and boats with 10 times our sail area and 3 or more times our waterline.
LIL B FAR RIGHT (click to see larger)
A great thing about this town and this sailing community and regattas like this one is the fun loving spirit and a trophy of some kind for almost everyone. We won the Boat Hook, as the boat that 'could have used a little pull'... or one less crew, perhaps.. but we were tickled with our “win” and had a blast out on the water. I was having so much fun, cold as I was, that a childish grin was frozen on my face.
Lil B at the finish line
My fingers were too cold and stiff to work the Gopro camera very well but what I got is HERE, wet lens and all.
Other pictures of the day can be seen on the Port Townsend Sailing Association website. We are seen under the results and Annual Awards as "Lil B".
In another lifetime, I lived on a large sailboat. I wrote a little book for children highlighting moments of living aboard with small children for small children.
You can see it on Amazon Here: Thank you! 😉 Ashlyn
I am including this post because I think it is interesting and...
Suzanne Snadecki paints her dream into reality..
it involves my family doing something pretty amazing. My mother, who lives in France, woke up one morning and decided she wanted to travel around the country in a horse drawn gypsy wagon. A long time sailor herself, this will be her 'boat ashore'. Not one to do anything half way in spite of a shoe string budget, she has made major progress toward realizing her dream from scratch in little over a year.
BSD-Batwing (™) sail creator and founder of Balogh Sail Design, MARK BALOGH,
Suzanne has been raising the money for the project in small doses, with her paintings and donations from inspired friends. Her blog is rich with humanity, color, and the unfolding story of the project happening in the scenic country side of France. The project has also become a statement about slowing down in a world that seems to have forgotten how to look up and see the beauty around us.
Those who are familiar with The Gougeon Brothers on Boat Construction (link leads to a free digital version of the book) may have read the chapter on a type of boat building called; "compounded plywood construction" also known as "tortured" plywood. It is the method used to create the famed Tornado catamaran hulls. Russell has recently been exploring this method. Click HERE to see a 6 page pdf as just a taste of what he has learned so far.
Speaking of the Gougeon Brothers, the current issue of Woodenboat Magazine has a feature article about Meade Gougeon.
The buzz continues... in fact, the buzz, bang, humm, crank, tweak....of shop machines and brain gears, can be heard behind closed doors!
Bieker designed proa in progress.
Boats are being built! Locally, team Turnpoint Design is working on a catamaran. A Bieker designed proa is in the works, and Edensaw Woods is sponsoring a team, also building a catamaran. Sail, peddle drives, rowing stations, and combinations there-of are being carefully considered and applied to these boats. What is most exciting about this race is that, given the prevailing conditions on the course, designers and athletes are challenged to make the most of their 'sail/human powered' boats. A creative force has been awakened and the fact that there are so few rules and filters on what types of boats can enter, we are likely to see all from kayaks to large racing yachts.
Small Craft Advisor Magazine, has an interesting feature discussion in the current issue. They asked the opinions of a number of respected characters about specific pros and cons regarding the Race to Alaska. As a sponsor, they also host a forum for the Race to Alaska, among several others on several websites.
rowing in Desolation Sound"Patos" in Desolation Sound. photo by owner
