sailing aeolus - 1966 caravelle yawl

[jon hansen]

we kids sailed the snot out of that boat, never took down sail. pumped alot. no self bailing cockpit on those boats. wood boats flex in a special way that seems to inhance how a hull goes though the water. there were maybe 20 dragons in a nice racing fleet at the club. i was a teenager, those boats were slow. passed them all. that boat was the fastest boat on western lake erie at that time. Copperhead had been sold by then. we would tease the men as we went on by.

 

[jon hansen]

when i was 21 dad bought the alden caravelle aeolus. 3rd owner. in better than new shape. dad could not get the time off. i quit a job and brought aeolus home from stanford conn. to ncyc lasalle mich. took a month. now come season 44 that aeolus has been in the family. i'm still learning the boat, but i know it pretty well.

 

[jon hansen]

good sailor, fair round of speed, very very strong, comfortable in a seaway, never had blue water over the bow. big cockpit. 14 different sails came with it, all the extras. aeolus has always been maintained to sail it's best. clean decks. clear sight. it's an alden. great design, great sailing.

 

[jon hansen]

aeolus is what is called a one tree boat, all the lumber came out of one teak tree so the grains would all match through out, very cool. old growth teak trees are maybe 30 ft wide. the don't exist any more.

 

[TomY]

aeolus is what is called a one tree boat, all the lumber came out of one teak tree so the grains would all match through out, very cool. old growth teak trees are maybe 30 ft wide. the don't exist any more.

The old growth lumber is a treasure to preserve. I hope you get some fresh photos posted of AEOLUS, Jon. I went through some of the old thumbs. She's a beautiful Caravelle and looks all original.

You have a video posted a while back taken from the cockpit with some of your kids sailing the boat. It's fantastic! I noticed you have some sort of line along the bottom of the boom that holds 2 fairleads. The mainsheet runs through those fairleads. I like the idea. My mainsheet runs the same and without something to hold the mainsheet up when it's slack, it can catch on the dodger (or whatever). I used some strops to prevent that. But your arrangement looks interesting. Can you tell me about it?

 

[jon hansen]

the cable has an eye on each end. it uses a shackle to attach to the collar that is outboard on our roller booms. at the gooseneck i tie the cable as tight as i possibly can to the special downhaul shackle found on our boats. the wood blocks are donut shaped with a concave groove carved into the outside circumfrence. with rigging twine the blocks are figure 8 attached to the cable in two spots. one spot keeps the sheet off the main winch and or a corner of the cabin entrance, the forward feeder block keeps the sheet off the anchor. works great. it comes off for winter storage. the boys at the yard never reattach each spring cause they don't know what it is. modern Kids, what can you do.

 

[jon hansen]

please note, every newbie has to be trained to feed the sail ties between the boom and the cable so that the cable doesn't get ground into the spruce. unless there is a storm, then just strap that sail down as best you can and we'll touch up the varnish next winter.

 

[jon hansen]

fairleads? feeder blocks? i don't know the proper name to those wood, donut shaped peaces of carved wood. they just do the job.

i was always bad with terms, i made up a lot names to fill in the blanks.

 

[jon hansen]

finally back in ohio. brought back 5 sails to take to my sailmaker in st. clair shores, mich. he built them so he can fix then. the next three days will be very cold here as you all know. so i figure i can tell more sea stories and hear more sea stories. over a very long lunch. i missed the fall discount, oh well. but still plenty of time to get them ready by spring. sails are always on the top of my list for winter work. like any foil, i want them perfect. well, as close as i can get them. i keep my sails in top shape. hull paint is a little past its prime, but heh, i can't see it from the helm chair. my under water paint is racing perfect.

 

[jon hansen]

late summer and into the fall we got some really fun sailing in. found lots of good winds. aeolus was preforming really well. had great tunes on both the rigs. the tension on the steering/rudder cables was just the way i prefere it. the touch at the helm was delightful. had good crews join us for different times of the season. what fun we had.

 

[jon hansen]

oh yeah, another alden showed up in sturgeon bay. 1930 ish, black steal hull, 45ft ish , in top condition for its age. did not meet the owner yet. he lives down state. saw him sailing on wonderfully windy days in late fall from the house. now of course the big question is, who's faster?

 

[jon hansen]

now have sailed aeolus for 44 seasons

 

[jon hansen]

day sailing or running long distance i carry bean bag chairs. on deck, on the cabin, in the cockpit, i love those things. i never see others doing such. even on the mac races we took them. the crew loves them. i love them. the kids will steal them from you if your not paying attention.

any of you guys sail with bean bag chairs?

 

[jon hansen]

I have five siblings, three kids, twelve nieces and nephews, five grand kids, and dozens of sailing friends that will always crew as they all have for the last forty years. they are all great sailors and crew. well, ted and his cousin olivia are just one yrs old. they've been out looking around. i sail aeolus the way she came in 66' mostly. aeolus is intended to always have a crew on board. no slackers new friends, first time out, we put them to work.

 

[jon hansen]

my alden cabin trunk makes a great bench seat. that's where the main seating for the crew is. i took the main salon table out. decades ago. lots of seating down below. those alden ports make it very light and airy below.

 

[jon hansen]

i have five foresails (jibs) three spinnakers, two tall boys, one short boy, three mains, three mizzens, two mizzen stay sails. and flags, we love to fly flags.

i sail with crew. i'm not a duet or solo act, i sail with a band on board and i'm the conductor.
' a band of characters ' for sure.

 

[jon hansen]

aeolus is a blue blazer yacht with a bunch of hooligans riding out the bay on it

 

[jon hansen]

we like to sail every day. local or long distance, sail every day. just like on an extended ski trip out in the rockies, on the great lakes once the season starts sailing is our main focus

 

[jon hansen]

on those days that there will be no wind. i fly radio controlled airplanes. which it turns out is best with no wind. been doing model planes my whole life. for many years my son would fly as wel. but then this cute blond came along. i fly with a club. he married that nice young lady. one child and a dog

 

[jon hansen]

my options for crew are large and they all know the vessel intimately. just like all the band members can surely play their instrument. they all know the boat. it's a hoot