sailing aeolus - 1966 caravelle yawl

May 25, 2012
4,333
john alden caravelle 42 sturgeon bay, wis
12:04 am tonight here in wisconson summer starts.i love the bonfires,chanting, stomping, loin clothes, drums, sacrafices, blood letting,............. oh, well maybe some of you aren't presbyterians. happy summer all! may you all have fair winds this season, jon
 
May 25, 2012
4,333
john alden caravelle 42 sturgeon bay, wis
went sailing on the forth with my daughter and 4 nieces and nephews. flew the tape drive 155% genoa as it was blowing ten to twelve from the sw. deep reached out the bay and then reached back and forth the mouth of the bay and the wind piped up to twenty, twenty five.had the rail at the waters edge sliding along at 7 1/2 to 8 1/2 knts. with that much sail i was at the edge of being overpowered but hanging with it. then the beat up the bay. three legs, two tacks, way overpowered. luffed the main huge and drove into it anyway. had the youngsters muscling the sheets and they did quite well. rounded up with two people dumping the genny and two dropping the main. they made me look good. 2200 rpm and the 107 drove us at 6 knts up to the bridge, arrived one min early. all the crew have sailed on aeolus every summer of their lives. the teak on the deck seems to be tight now as i saw no sign of leaking after we returned to the dock. these are the days we all dream of! jon
 
May 25, 2012
4,333
john alden caravelle 42 sturgeon bay, wis
yesterday, the tenth of july was my siblings birthday. they are triplets now 56. took two of them, boys and there families for a morning sail. blowing 20 from the nnw coming right in the mouth of the bay. had the #3 jib up and beat out the bay to the open waters of green bay. it was the modern style approach to to life. nephew laying on the high side bunk two hands firmly gripping a slippery notebook. he got launched head first into the side of the low side bunk and the computer slid to the back of the lower bunk falling into the bildge. he had been asked many time to leave such things at home but of course knew better. another nephew decided that while holding the shrouds it would be fun to us the upsurge of each wave to see how high he could jump creating a strong thump with each landing, we captains worry about thumps and i told him that i could not wait till he bought his first car so that i could enjoy returning the favor on it's hood. oh , and then the wives. now 56 and plump they started the trip sitting on the fantail and when the sails were set. aeolus drove off on a delightful 20 degree heel putting the girls in a awkward position and so started the butt scooch attemt to he cockpit. they got stuck at the quarter locker with feet higher then they'r butt while holding the fence rail trying to look 22 again. i don't understand why today everyone declined another morning sail and oppted to drive north to a tourest trap resturant for swedish pancakes. it must be part of thier new fitness program. today looks like a great day for a sail. i'll be heading out in twenty minutes without them.
 
May 25, 2012
4,333
john alden caravelle 42 sturgeon bay, wis
just got in from todays mid day sail. blue skys, north wind, 14 to 17 mph, beat out, reach back, wing on wing into town, myself and two others aboard. now is the first day the cherries are ripe on our trees, still looking for a pitter to volunteer.
 

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May 25, 2012
4,333
john alden caravelle 42 sturgeon bay, wis
got out today by 11:00 with a light 6 to 7 blowing out of the ssw. half hour into the sail it was 7 to 9 and we were slipping along on deep reaches working out the bay with the 155% flying up front. when we reached the mouth of the bay we beam reached back and forth as the wind increased to 10 to 12 with those pretty little white caps. tightened up the sheets and beat back up the bay and were home by three. picked two quarts of cherries here at the house and my pie is in the oven while i type. no clouds seen today air temp 77 and that hot july sun. dreamy days!
 
May 25, 2012
4,333
john alden caravelle 42 sturgeon bay, wis
the chicago mac race is underway right now and having done 9 of these on aeolus i do enjoy paying attention to it. this year the winds are absolutley perfect for a cca yawl to win it all. broad reaching in 10 to 14 knts of wind with two staysails up under a spiniker our boats will win every time on rating. if you google chicago mac you can follow every boat in real time.

myself, i will be sailing on the bay within the next hour. looks to be blowing 10 from the south this morning.

july on the great lakes :)
 
May 25, 2012
4,333
john alden caravelle 42 sturgeon bay, wis
so when i made my first pie i forgot the almond extract. today i picked 6 qrts of cherries and made three pies and added all the ingrediants this time. it is always a rush to enjoy the fruits we grow before the birds enjoy them. i'm a city kid that enjoys trying to be a little bit country while here in sturgeon bay for the summer. none of the women up here have figuired out country cooking so i'll do it myself. we have apples cherries plums pears grapes ruhbarb rasberries. i can catch perch northen pike and sammon. i can clean then smoke or cook them and i now the way to the local fish house for smoked chubs and white fish. now i'm learning pies. the women know the way to all the resturants. but i have the best view in the state and like to eat here.


todays sail started with a soft 6 and built to 14 over 3 hrs with the heat of the day thermal excitation. the wind are an interesting play between lake michigan and green bay with the lake winning out by mid afternoon on most summer days. air temp went to 84 so we dumped the sails on deck and swam for 20 mins. we carry a very nice boarding ladder on the aft part of the track on the toe rail. we swim often mid summer while having our sail.


pies still cooling, jon
 
May 25, 2012
4,333
john alden caravelle 42 sturgeon bay, wis
well the mac race hit a wind hole and the whole fleet stopped for some time. during that time the bitting black flys that live in the middle of the lakes found them. it is nice not to be out there today.


there is no wind here today so i opted not to go out on aeolus. others in the family took the boat out mostly to us it as a swim platform in the middle of the bay. it is sunny and 84 degrees out with just a wisp of wind.


summer time on the great lakes, jon
 
May 25, 2012
4,333
john alden caravelle 42 sturgeon bay, wis
there are still alot of mac racers stuck under a huge summer high pressure dome with july sun high temps high humidity and black biting flys.


nice here at the house, jon
 
May 25, 2012
4,333
john alden caravelle 42 sturgeon bay, wis
this past week we had the heat arrive here wis. for two days we had strong, hot winds straight out of the west. with this west wind i can reach out and then back in to town.
so we depart the dock with seven min to go for the bridge to open to go out to the bay, we dock this year between the two downtown bridges that are 1200 ft apart. a couple of other sailboats were waiting, all under power. my crew however threw up the main so that we started sailing while readying for the bridge. one of the other boats was a c&c 38 with a tall rig but a dodger and bimini and large roller genny and lazy jacks and doyle sail bag on the boom thing. (all the sail slow add on's we see so much). as we sailed through the bridge now reaching the boys through up the no. 3 jib on the fly. lots of fun! we rolled out the channel doing an easy 8 knts while the wind guage was hovering around 28 mph. when we got to the open bay we were a half a mile ahead of the c&c and with the temp in the ninties i hove to without touching a single sheet and it was over the side for a cool down dip in the bay while we waited for the faster c&c to catch up. as she approached i jibed around and it was off to the races. certainly in a light wind he should walk on by but with that strong wind, a cooled down crew and the ideal headsail................................................that c&c chased us out sturgeon bay and two thirds of the way across green bay. he never had a chance! when we we finally spun around to head towards home we crossed with the c&c, waved, and said cheese as they took our picture. we all say cheese a lot owning these boats.
 
May 25, 2012
4,333
john alden caravelle 42 sturgeon bay, wis
sitting here at the house looking at the bay it is 76 dg. mostly sunny blowing 22 from the ssw. i going to get some of that. 5:00 bridge heading out.
 
May 25, 2012
4,333
john alden caravelle 42 sturgeon bay, wis
well i am back from my sail and it is dusk now. we were the only boat out on the bay this evening. as we were departing the dock a neighbor a few docks over walk up. said his wife said she heard a boat call for the bridge and that she couldn't imagine wanting to go out in this blow and he replied that it must be aeolus heading out. so he came to watch.
the wind can funnel through the bay and it sure did tonight. saw wind meter hit 34 mph. sailed with the jib and jigger. reached around doing 7 1/2 to 8. great two hour sail!
 

TomY

Alden Forum Moderator
Jun 22, 2004
2,758
Alden 38' Challenger yawl Rockport Harbor
Great to read these, Jon. Thanks!
 
May 25, 2012
4,333
john alden caravelle 42 sturgeon bay, wis
yesterday the temp started at 47 and soared to 55 and around 10:00 a steady rain started and and finished around 7:00. so still needing a boat fix i cleaned and serviced the engine,cleaned the drip pan area under it, sanded down varnish build up on the hatch boards that had made them sticky, cleaned some electrical issues with the auto pilot, adjusted the latch to the chart box, took. out the main cabin steps and laid some epoxy on a couple of areas that were worn that in those places that hold it secure, and made a list of touch up spot on the bright work.

calling for 10 to 15 with sunny skys and a temp of 74 today. you know what i'm doing.