sailing aeolus - 1966 caravelle yawl

[jon hansen]

there have been many fine sailing days up here on the lakes over the last three weeks and i have sail them all, but when the wind would stop i would get my daily needs met on my 24 ft formula 'cherrybomb'. runing the shore at 40 knts is fun also.

back to real boating: yesteday the wind here was sw 25 with an air temp of 86., no.3 and a full main, sailing out of down town, down the channel, out to green bay, to play in the 45 mile fetch with 5 ft rollers. running along at 7 1/2 o 8 on a tight reach,putting a little in the bank so to speak. ran acoss green bay to pestigo reef light, tacked thru and deep reached back to sturgeon bay.

not one other boat out, sail or motor. one of the best sailing days of the season and no one came out to play. i guess that if you don't have an alden it is all to much.

happy sailing guys, jon

 

[jon hansen]

so september is here and the winds should increase day to day. an old captain on the freighters told me once that his observations were that in september u'll get one gail and in october u'll get three and the in november all hell breaks loose. so here comes fall sailing.

after a number of years of being frustrated with a 6 ish yr old spetra main i have finaly found happyness. i could not get the shape that i wanted but long story short i have reached nervana. so it was blowing 24 to 28 and we reached out the bay and down the coast and then spun around for the beat back home. omg! reaching in big air is alwas easy what with all the horse power available, but hard beat to weather in a great breeze and the game is on. the shape was awsome with a extra large roach and with the spectra cloth there is no stretching as with dacron. the buffs hit home and i grabbed it all , what fun.no 3 jib, high clue, so out of the waves driving up the bay with only a 4 mi fetch with maybe 2 footers. the slot between the jib and main was open for a beat and away we went. my daughter was in town for three days (including her birthday) and was doing my trimming. so the rail was maybe three inches out of the water and the speed, yeah baby, 7.8 to 8.0 in a hard beat all the way to town. it was true happiness! the shape of the main in a beat is so critical to drive into it with speed. very touchy to be able to grab it all. i am thinking that this may well be one of the best perforances to weather ever for me on aeolus. i am still grinning! happy sailing all. enjoy the fall breezes, game on, jon

 

[jon hansen]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOZ89bHz ... zLu&index=

 

[jon hansen]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMT_FMW ... XlF-sqCzLu

 

[jon hansen]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvC3UYf ... XlF-sqCzLu

this is the correct video i think

 

[jon hansen]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIzDk2Z ... Lu&index=2

this was the 168th year my family has been on this property. g.g.grandfather was a ships carpenter on tea clippers out of england in the 1840's. decided to go adventuring as the midwest was opening up. he hand built this house finishing it in 1870. on the original house everything came off the property but the glass in the windows. first furnace and indoor plumbing added in 1932. captain robert laurie built schooners and sailed them on the great lakes. also ran a quarry operation to have stone to haul. front door is on the old indian path that followed the shore. he had first dib's on the bay. my grandmother was his grand daughter was born in 1882 and died in 1980. good well water. her father was a wooden ship's captain as well. she went from wooden ships to lear jets. she often talked of sailing with her father. she rode on aeolus at age 94.

 

[jon hansen]

a very close friend, capt greg jones has been doing the winter work on serena. many photos with alot of blue tape and very shiny wood. he is a master a proper maintenance. she is looking beautiful.

just sharing a caravelle update, jon

 

[jon hansen]

had aeolus in the water for 35 days, went sailing 30 of those days all over green bay. some of the best wind patters i've ever enjoyed. 20 to 25 over the shoulder day after day. been fun chatting with you all

 

[jon hansen]

strapped the kevlar racing sails to the booms for the whole run. they out preform all other of my oppertunities. i'll never race again. always prefered just playing the wind and going where it took me. plus, im not a docker, its all about the sailing

 

[jon hansen]

who's going to be the last poster? im going to miss toms photos alot he always gave me the sense / or feel of the book the complete cruiser be herreshoff. that book was great. always kept a dozen 2' to 3' boats in the lazzarette for the kids of all ages to tow

 

[jon hansen]

im in sturgeon bay now. blowing 25 out of the sse and steady rain. noisey listening to the wind and the surf comimg in here at the house

 

[jon hansen]

the bay here has been frozen for two weeks now. very rough set up. bad for ice boating. need a thaw and refreeze if there is to be winter sailing

 

[jon hansen]

if a perkins 107 quits dripping oil you can be assured it's 5 quarts low

 

[jon hansen]

minus 7 here last night, ice a foot thick now in the bay, local cg ice breaker left yesterday, most lake ships still out there making money, very rough ice set this year, no ice boating here without a huge thaw and refreeze, grandkids caught over 50 perch last week one day, ice shanty with heater, yummy

 

[CaravelaofExe]

Jon, when we move to the new forum - info coming soon - I'm hoping there will be a facility to "like" posts in the social media kind of way - so you'll get some feedback that we really like what you post - even if you don't always receive replies!

Hopefully we'll also be able to attract more participants.

Stay warm, Iain

 

[jon hansen]

 

[jon hansen]

i cut my teeth on one of these. dad had # 21 back in 50's and s
60's. when we got aeolus i thought how nice to have such a low maintenence boat. no ribs or planks or canvas deck cover

 

[jon hansen]

black hull, light grey decks. was a little wet in a chop no electronic. no self bailing cockpit, no engine

 

[jon hansen]

my father's only hobby was sailing. he built his first boat when he was 18. a 19' centerboarder. it was heavy. the mast was a cedar trunk from up in the woods of his parents property. Egyptian cotton sails. still have the mast and a mainsail. as a family mostly we sailed. dad was a good seat of the pants sailor, had a good feel for a boat. all us kids crewed. i loved it. he was a very nice man. he bought a 1936 lightning when i was 7. leaked alot around the centerboard box. then at age 9 he bought on the cheep a 1922 star that had just sunk in wilmette harbor. the new to him owner was unaware of the need to soak up a wood boat. 100.00, sold. he rebuilt it, bimini blue hull, white canvas decks. the spar was solid. hand spliced stays. then when i was 11 he bought the US one design. by the time i was 14 i was allowed to take the boat out myself with my child hood friends. he had trained us well. was not aloud past toledo harbour light. had to stay north of turtle island and no father north then the outer buoy of the monroe entance. he said there is so much deep water dont ever play in the shallows. he also said if i was ever in trouble to drive her straight up on the beach and swim ashore. he said it would be cheeper to salvage from the beach. these boats were sports cars, all of them.
we did not know about reefing a sail. we were kids. put up the sails and hold on to whatever the day offered. we sailed a ton when we were kids. wood boats, lots of work, the rule was i could borrow the boat

 

[jon hansen]

if i worked on the boat. mostly helping dad.