Two weeks ago I towed my Paper Jet to Cape Hatteras for a few days, for my annual Iguana Surf Club Fathers Day Weekend of surfing/camping/sailing and general soul revival after a very hectic year. We camp next to the water at Frisco Woods Campground, on the shores of Pamlico Sound. When there is surf I spend much time at the beach. When the surf is not good I spend more time sailing.
This year the surf conditions werent great and I only spent half a day surfing when the wind swung into the right direction and there was a good combination of offshore breeze and swell for a few hours. That gave me time to take my Paper Jet on a few outings on the Sound. There were thunder storms in the area part of the weekend, giving some spectacular light shows and heavy downpours, with accompanying gales that arrived very swiftly and dramatically.
The storms gave some dramatic backdrops when I was sailing one evening and Dave Keegan took full advantage to take some interesting photos.
Rigging my Paper Jet on the shore of Pamlico Sound, North Carolina.
Beam-reaching away from the camera in a patch of sunlight.
Very threatening clouds but they were miles away.
Sailing on chocolate wrapper silver paper.
About an hour after these photos were taken a violent storm arrived. I anticipated it and felt it likely to be strong enough to pick up my 50kg boat and cause serious damage. I put her onto her trailer and hitched that to my car both for anchorage and shelter from the expected storm. When it came it had 40-50 knots of wind in it and later in the night there were gusts of 60+ knots recorded. Being anchored to the trailer likely saved her from being cart-wheeled along the shore.
The next evening was much more pleasant and Curtis Watson took these beautiful photos of her in the very pretty sunset.
This is a very photogenic boat.
Relaxed end to a strenuous day.
Please visit our website at http://dixdesign.com/ to see more about this and our other designs.
I started to design the Cape Charles 32 a few years ago, commissioned by a client in Maryland. He passed away without having built the boat and it slid to the back shelf, with other designs having higher priority. There it stayed, waiting for a new client to take it on.
Word did get out about this incomplete design and I occasionally received enquiries about when it would be complete or when they could start building. Somehow there was always too much pressure from other designs on my board. Earlier this year the Cape Charles 32 found a spot on my board and is moving forward again and two will start construction when I have the necessary drawings ready.
In the process it has gone through a metamorphosis, prompted by the change of primary client who helps to steer the direction of the design. Eventually the concept of the original client, of a gaff rigged coastal cruiser with simple traditional layout, will be available alongside the version on which I am now working, as shown here.
Preliminary Marconi rig for Cape Charles 32
The square-top mainsail has been described as the modern equivalent of a gaff rig. It behaves differently from a gaff rig but has some of the same advantages and it is prettier than a leg o mutton mainsail. I think that it will work well on this cruiser. As seen here it is preliminary and it may change in some way before completion.
The new client for the Cape Charles 32 likes the interior layout of the Didi 950 and asked if something similar will work for the CC32. When I looked at this possibility I realised that the two boats are almost identical in overall dimensions. The concepts and hull shapes are very different, of course, but in some ways the Cape Charles 32 is the Didi 950 taken back a few steps in time.
Cape Charles 32 Accommodation
The layout will be very comfortable and offers good privacy for two couples or a small family. Full standing headroom extends over all standing areas of this boat because of the horizontal cabin crown. The U-shape galley is very secure at sea, with enough counter area for entertaining in harbour.
Profile and Underbody of the Cape Charles 32
Hull shape and construction is very much as for the smaller sisters in this design range. They are the Cape Cutter 19, the Cape Henry 21 and the Cape May 25. The family is growing.
With a draft of 1.2m (3 11"), the Cape Charles 32 will be a good boat for thin water cruising. If you do run her aground, you can hop over the side to push her off again. That will get you into private anchorages that are out of bounds to deep keel cruisers.
To see our full range of designs, please visit http://dixdesign.com/.
Saturday October 15 was Small Boat Saturday at Cama Beach State Park on Camano Island, WA. This free end-of-season gathering had small boats on display both on land and in the water plus skills demonstrations and talks led by professionals. The event was hosted by Seattles Center for Wooden Boats and the Puget Sound chapter of the Traditional Small Craft Association.
We launched our boats at Camano Island State Park at 11:00 and had a terrific, but short, two mile sail North to Cama beach. The 10 mph winds and the tide were against us, but the sun was pleasantly warm for a mid October day. So enjoyable that I began to wish the sail was much longer than only two miles!
I arrived at Cama Beach less than an hour later set anchor.
Lately, on the jwbuilders forum, there has been some discussion about how to do a clothesline anchoring system. There are several ways to do it. I do it the simple way, which goes like this: 1) Tie one end of the anchor line to the bow cleat. 2) Run the anchor line through a ring on the end of the anchor chain. 3) Tie the other end of the anchor line to the stern cleat. 4) Drop the anchor a bit offshore. 5) Move the boat closer to shore, to knee deep water. 6) Step out, grab the shore anchor and the anchor line loop and wade ashore. 7) Place the shore anchor on the beach and tie the anchor line to it as shown below. 8) To reel the boat in and out, untie, pull one side of the anchor line loop or the other, and retie.
Clothesline Anchor Caught on Tape!
Notes: Tie the anchor line to your shore anchor. That way, if your other anchor were to slip or the anchor line were to break, you would not lose the boat because it would still be attached to the shore anchor. Also, you need plenty of anchor line, at least twice as much since were forming a loop.
Long term subscribers to Small Craft Advisor magazine may recall a series of articles in 2007 and 2008 (issues 47, 49, 51 - 53) written by Jan Nicolaisen as he built a Core Sound 17. This Core Sound was later purchased by Randy Jones, president of the Puget Sound chapter of the TSCA. Here you can see glimpse of Randys excellent seamanship skills. Randy recently returned from a weeklong trip to the San Juan islands. He sails his Core Sound everywhere without the aid of a motor - something I wish I could do. Well done Randy!
Off to look at the boats! First to catch my eye was this adorable little lapstrake dinghy, traditionally built by the NW School of Wooden Boat Building. Well done!
The Center for Wooden Boats did a beautiful job on this Babson Island 14
Cama Beach was a 1930s era salmon fishing resort. The historic fishing resort was a favorite summer getaway for families for more than 50 years. A fleet of 40 or so boats was stored in the large boathouse after the building was completed around 1950, available for rental starting at $1.50/day. Cama Beach had the largest boat livery of the many resorts on Camano Island. There were 8 different boat designs, built by a local shipwright who created simple functional lines, cedar planking with iron fittings and galvanized steel nails. By 1955, 14 rowboats, 24 kicker boats, and 4 inboards were available for recreation and fishing.
Under construction were these cedar strip canoes, built using a technique I had never seen before.
Many other boats on display, including some ever popular pelicans.
After the show, the run back to the boat launch was even quicker than the trip up. After retrieving the boats, we all headed out for pizza and beers. What better way to end such a wonderful day?
OkoumeFest is an annual event held by Chesapeake Light Craft in the Annapolis area of Chesapeake Bay. It mixes an Open Day at the Chesapeake Light Craft business premises on the Friday demonstrating products, building procedures etc and a day of opportunities to test a wide range of boats on sheltered water.
CLC recently started cutting our kits in USA and have invited us to bring our Paper Jet prototype to the Saturday part of the 2013 event. This happens on May 18th at the beach of the Matapeake State Park on Kent Island, south of the eastern end of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge on US Route 50.
Read more about this event and how to participate on the CLC OkoumeFest page .
Paper Jet sailing in light conditions
We will be there, weather permitting. If you want to see it or if you would like to test sail her then please come along. I think that we will have the Standard rig on her, same as in the photo above. That will give more people the opportunity to sail her than if we use the more demanding Turbo rig.
CLC have cut and shipped three Paper Jet kits since taking over cutting. One of them went to South Carolina and two to the Pacific Northwest. This brings the total of these boats in USA to 30, out of 70 world-wide.
To see sailing and build photos for the Paper Jet, go to http://dixdesign.com/paperjet.htm and to see our other designs go to http://dixdesign.com/.
The Wooden Boat Show is to be held at Mystic Seaport in Connecticut again this year. This is the 22nd running of this annual show, which has settled comfortably into this beautiful location as an apparent permanent venue. Mystic Seaport is a wonderful place for a family day filled with a mixture of boats and maritime history. If you have not been there before, this is your opportunity to experience boats of today as well as how they were built and operated hundreds of years ago. Mystic Seaport is a living museum of the sea, so much of the shoreside support infrastructure and industry that went along with boatbuilding, trading, fishing etc. is represented there for visitors to experience.
Our inside exhibit at the 2012 Wooden Boat Show
We will be there again this year. We have exhibited out Paper Jet prototype (Sail #001) on this show every year since 2007. We have booth 4B in Tent A on the Village Green, where you can see a display of a selection of our designs and buy plans or a copy of my book "Shaped by Wind & Wave". We can also take your order for a pre-cut plywood kit for many of our plywood designs. The first time that we exhibited the Paper Jet it received the "Outstanding Innovation Award" on the Concourse Delegance. Paper Jet will be on the lawn outside Tent A and will occasionally be out sailing. ?
Outstanding Innovation Award 2007
Come to Mystic Seaport to see a wide range of wooden boats, ranging from my modern little skiff to beautifully built modern classics or even to take a ride on an old steam-driven ferry. You wont be sorry that you took the time out to visit this place of yesteryear.
P.S. I hoped that we would have the prototype of the DS15 at the show as well but it will not happen this year. The builder is not yet ready to show his boat.
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