The TEXAS 200 sailing event is on again. A 200 mile sail and camping trip up the Texas coast that runs every year.
I am going to be in town, so would be crazy not to attend. This is a call for all interested storerboats to consider attending.
Michael Storer will be attending the 2011 Woodenboat Show in Mystic Seaport. He will be running a workshop for families building the Quick Canoe – choice of either the electric or the paddling versions along with Duckworks and J.O. Woodworking.
Cameras, digicams, video cameras are fun on boats, but it is hard to get good pics of yourselves sailing the boat or the boat doing its stuff nicely.
John Goodman and Family built their Goat Island Skiff GIR and sailed it in the Texas 200 event as well as some solo river cruising.
They used a camera boom to great advantage – to move the camera away from the boat. Another alternative is a wide angle lens which can produce dramatic effects for marine photography but the toom seems much more useful. It works well with the steadying of anti-shake electronics.
First detailed sailing report of the Goose 12ft sailboat.
The Oz Goose is a 12ft sailboat derived from the smaller OzRacer/PDRacer/Brick line. It uses all the same running gear as the OzRacer.
John Owen Woodworks in the USA is now producing kits for the Quick Canoe 155.
This boat is designed to be a real alternative to a basic fibreglass canoe, but will be lighter and usually much cheaper.
Some have built one in very few hours.
Jim Post in the USA sent me a USB drive crammed full of building and launch pics of the OZ Goose design – the Big Brother to the OZ Racer (formerly the OZ PDRacer).
Looking forward to some sailing reports!
Sailing on Lake Eufala, Oklahoma
The wonderful Sail OK event with hosts Jackie and Michael Monies
All wooden boats welcome! Or friends!
John Goodman who recently spent 5 days semi racing a Goat Island Skiff in the Texas200 event got back to me with some observations and even some pictures of aspects of the boat and the sailing.
I have responded with suggestions to make some further improvements. Between John and me there are some useful tips about setting up a boat for more speed.
However the standard setup of the Goat is fine for most – it is still pretty quick in standard form.
There is advice for both lug and sprit traditional rigs here.
Sailing the Goat Island Skiff in the Texas 200 for the first time. The Goodman family boat is now a regular in this 200 mile quite difficult sailing event in often extreme conditions.
Exciting News, John and David Goodman finished the Texas200 event in their lime green Goat Island skiff.
Five days and 200 miles up the Texas coast dodging huge barges and commercial traffic.
They had a great time and are very happy with the performance of the Goat
John in Texas built his Goat Island Skiff from a kit made by Clinton Chase. They are experimenting with a yawl version of the Goat.
They had a launch and a capsize by the dock.
The boat is a great lime green. I used to have a lime green NS14 dinghy that I enjoyed so much some of the design input went into the goat.
Bobwes has been using his Goat Island Skiff over the last weeks.
It is brightly coloured and looks pretty great.
Christophe has launched his Goat Island Skiff in New Hampshire. A very nice looking boat.
Jim Post has built the hull of his PD Goose – a 12ft version of the OZ PDRacer.
He has done a nice job with a couple of nice additions. A seat in the middle and a stylishly angular splashboard on the foredeck. I am dying to hear how it sails!
Clint Chase in Maine is about to make a batch of oars that are suitable for Storerboats. They are nicely balanced with the right amount of spring.
He needs to do a batch to make it cost effective, so if you are interested in some handcrafted oars contact him to see which sizes he will be making first.
Winter has been really harsh in North America.
It has even been snowing in Texas – and not just a little bit.
Kenny and family (more north than Texas) are really active on the PDRacer front but like many others are getting cabin fever from being icebound inside their houses.
So during one of the better days … there was boating to be done – but not boating as we know it, Jim.
I was sitting in Chuck’s car as we were driving to the Lake Conroe Messabout. I knew that he had some plans for the Texas 200 event – to extend the concept and starting a new small boat festival on the Texas coast in a couple of years.
This is a podcast of that interview.
This is the second of my talks in the USA. It focuses a bit more on construction and some of the methods that can be used to keep a boat light and simple, but very strong and stiff.
It also discusses how there is a “creep” in boatbuilding and design that increases the weight of boats way over what is really needed for a strong structure.
This talk is the first hour of my exposition on boat building and design. There are two more parts to come. This covers some of the background and design issues. The second is more on the building side and the last is a bit more about why the Australian (and New Zealand) wooden boat tradition is different from the Northern Hemisphere.
You can stream the talks over your internet connection or download them as a podcast.
