sailing aeolus - 1966 caravelle yawl

[jon hansen]

then we have that Ascow, we prefer to keep that on the ready for a strong west in in the bay. benz 280, 85 cj7, and a bmw r1150 roadster. summers and falls are a non stop carnival in door county. BUT, that old alden is my first love. for me it trumps everything.

 

[jon hansen]

call me crazy, i am, cause i'm addicted to this sailing game

 

[jon hansen]

then for day launches i have a 1948 shell lake 14' cedar strip fish boat with the original kiahaefer mercury rocket enjine, green head with the silver bottom, and a formula deep V with a 'rat block' stroker in it. red

 

[jon hansen]

so, all those posts are just to give you a little color.

 

[jon hansen]

last summer we did a crew change and the new crew , my brother, younger daughter, her husband, and a old local racer that is also a ships carpenter. boats with lots of wood need carpenter sailors. trading works. these people want to sail. anchor or dock, where ever is fine. day, night, its about the wind opportunities. we like campaigning aeolus, parade all over. we have well over a hundred and fifty years experience on board. green bay, northern lake michigan, beaver island, mac island, les cheneaux islands. garden island, high island, we sailed around all those places looking for some runs.
with just two days left with this crew we put in to fayette michigan. snail harbor. state park with brand new docks put in that spring. fayette is a ghost town. was an 1880 pig iron smelting company town. now a park. we were the only vessel there. giant bluffs that are the leading edge of the niagara escarpment on the garden peninsula , big bay de noc are the local waters. we spent the night. got up and made wisconsin blueberry pancakes with wisconsin butter and wisconsin maple syrup. possibly the best in north america.

 

[jon hansen]

its calculated choices as to what sails we take on any one adventure.

 

[jon hansen]

fed, dressed, we cast off. the wind is nw. coming right down the mouth of the entrance. we throw up the mizzen and main while the winds on the nose departing the harbor. we hanked on a 155 deck sweeper up front. we guessed we would have a 90d beam reach. the forecast was nw 20 to 25 high 70's, 70% chance rain. phone radar showed rain squalls, like 40, coming off superior, across the u.p. then all the way down green bay.
as we cleared the harbor we raised the genny and bore off. bub-kiss, out in the open the wind was due north, not nw. there were these beautiful 5 to 7 ft swells. on course to roll to sturge my jib was half blocked from the main. the apparent wind right at the line between run or reach. the waves are pushing on us harder than we are pushing back. and me with that long overhanging stern.

 

[jon hansen]

we all know, there is only one thing you can do, "more sail"! on aeolus it came with a 1966 hood loft 1 1/2 oz spinnaker. "big blue". everyone was excited at the opportunity. the crew rigged the pole, rigged the sail and up she went. wow. this heavy weight old alden put on a show. we dropped the mizzen. effort went forward. and away we went. more sq. ft and all of it pulling. we were now in a nice reach. we were now pushing back at the seaway with authority. rail very low. the crew , energized started really tickling the sails while i got to drive. wow

 

[jon hansen]

70% rain. all around there were 8, 10 rain clouds. the all look like they were coming at us. when they would pass, the wind went to 35 true.
when you drop down out of big bay de noc it widens out on green bay. you pass islands to the east with 2 big passes out to lake mich. the wind was backing and filling over a 25 min period. cool. while crossing the passes the wind would go up 5 with the rain cloud inhancements too. the rail would bee 5" above the water for periods or 5" below the water for periods. we were kids again.

 

[jon hansen]

on the bigger puffs the foot of the spinnaker was on the water

 

[jon hansen]

st martin's isl. rock isl pass, rock isl, washington isl, death's door passage, deaths door, ellison bay, sister bay, little sister bay, ephraim, eagle bluff, horseshoe island the strawberry isl, adventure isl, eagle bluff light, fish creek , pirate isl, chambers isl, hat isl, rock-a-wash, egg harbor, monument shoals, little harbor, then sturge. 87 miles. 9hrs 45min. not one drop of rain hit us.
i'm thinking that's a once in a fifty year run. wow wow wow!

...... but there's always next year.

 

[jon hansen]

the last 19 posts are all part of a cold, mid winters tale. i am curious if any else has found the joys of a bean bag chair on a sailboat.

 

[TomY]

the last 19 posts are all part of a cold, mid winters tale. i am curious if any else has found the joys of a bean bag chair on a sailboat.

I enjoyed your tale, and your unique forum writing style, Jon.

We have not enjoyed bean bags afloat. I'm not sure I will for fear my family might like them, and I'd have to find a few cubic yard of locker space,...for them.

We do appreciate the deck space on our old boat.

 

[jon hansen]

http://sailboatdata.com/viewrecord.asp?class_id=1984

 

[jon hansen]

 

[jon hansen]

 

[jon hansen]

i'm thinking this is the slowest day yet on SBO

 

[kappykaplan]

Naahh!

 

[TomY]

Quite a crew you have, Jon. Are they all family? They know how to make the boat go!

 

[Will Gilmore]

Jon,
That is a beautiful boat and Tom is right, so is your family.
If you have read many of my posts, you know I lived aboard a 56' 3 masted schooner in the mid 70s, of course we had a bean bag chair. Lime green.

- Will ("Sunflower Power", Dragonfly)