[Rhodes22-list] ANOTHER first sail on my R22

[Stephen Staum]

That’s a great club. Several former Squantum YC members are there & I am
actually on the waiting list for next year although I will probably stay at
the Hingham Shipyard Marina. I will be floating into November so let me
know if you want to get out this year or if you need a hand with bringing
yours in.

Stephen

On Mon, Oct 21, 2019 at 12:46 PM Mark Whipple <mark at whipplefamily.com>
wrote:

> Hi Stephen,
>
> It's great to have another R22 owner close by! I belong to Savin Hill YC in
> Dorchester and that's where my mooring is located. SHYC is fortunate to
> have a yard where I can store the boat over the winter. Unfortunately I'll
> be paying storage for two boats until I sell my 30' Nimble yawl.
>
> My boat is currently in the water although I really hope to haul it out
> this weekend. Engine troubles have caused some delays, but I hope to
> install a new starter relay and carburetor this week. I've made a few short
> sails between the SHYC docks and my mooring. For me it's a little like
> sailing a dinghy again! That's a good thing.
>
> I'm sure I'll be in touch. It would be great to take a look at your boat to
> compare.
>
> Thanks again,
>
> Mark Whipple
> S/V Tiny Dancer
> Milton, MA
>
> On Mon, Oct 14, 2019 at 8:47 AM Stephen Staum <snstaum at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Hey Mark. I know your boat.  When my friend Ed was looking to buy a
> > sailboat a few years back we looked at a Rhodes 22 at a club in Everett,
> > MA. It had wheel steering, an inboard w sail drive & a self tending jib.
> It
> > was above his budget so he passed on it. A couple of years later, the
> same
> > boat showed up on a neighboring mooring where I was based at Squantum
> Yacht
> > Club in Quincy (off Wollaston Beach). We were neighbors for several years
> > but I never got to sail on this unique boat. Maybe now I get another
> > chance. This year I moved my Rhodes to Hingham Shipyard Marina due to the
> > low tide delays at Squantum Yacht club. Where are you sailing out of?
> >
> > I have owned a Rhodes 22 since 2003 so can help you with anything you
> need
> > assistance with. I will be floating until November if you want to get out
> > on a Rhodes before next season.
> >
> > Stephen Staum
> > s/v Carol Lee 2
> > Needham, MA
> > 781-704-1037 (cell)
> >
> > On Wed, Oct 9, 2019 at 10:40 PM Mark Whipple <mark at whipplefamily.com>
> > wrote:
> >
> > > Hi folks,
> > >
> > > I'm jumping on the bandwagon to tell you about my first sail on my R22!
> > > This is a long post so only read it if you have the time to be
> > (hopefully!)
> > > entertained for a bit.
> > >
> > > I purchased this boat at the beginning of July in a town in central
> > > Massachusetts. For a variety of reasons I did not launch this boat
> until
> > > 10/1. I a some fun stories about raising the mast for the first time
> but
> > > I'll save that for another time.
> > >
> > > I currently own three sailboats, as long as you don't count the two
> > > dinghies that can also sail. My largest boat, a Nimble 30 yawl designed
> > by
> > > Ted Brewer, is currently for sale. I really love the boat but I wanted
> to
> > > downsize as I approach retirement. I did not launch the Nimble this
> year
> > > although she was in the water last year. My third boat is a Com-pac 16
> > that
> > > lives most of the time on Cape Cod. This year I was granted a mooring
> in
> > > Pleasant Bay on the Chatham/Harwich/Orleans border.
> > >
> > > I wanted to downsize from the Nimble 30 to sailboat on a trailer and
> > after
> > > some research it seemed the Rhodes 22 was a good fit for me. I came
> close
> > > to purchasing a Seaward 25' but I'm very glad I ended up with the R22
> > > instead. Currently I own a RAV4 Ltd with towing package, and I will be
> > > using that vehicle to launch and haul Tiny Dancer at my boat club on
> > Boston
> > > Harbor. The long term plan is to replace the RAV 4 with Highlander that
> > can
> > > tow the R22 on the highway. BTW this R22 is a little unique: she has
> > wheel
> > > steering, a self-tending jib with a Hoyt jib boom and an internal 15
> hp.
> > > gas engine with a Saildrive underneath. She will soon receive the name
> > > "Tiny Dancer."
> > >
> > > After hauling the Compac 16 on 9/14 I then set my sights on launching
> the
> > > R22. I at least wanted to have a test run before the winter. I'm a
> middle
> > > school technology teacher and I had two days off from school on 9/30
> and
> > > 10/1. I first tried to launch the boat on Mon. 9/30 (we had raised the
> > mast
> > > a couple of weeks earlier). Unfortunately we ran out of time. It was a
> > plus
> > > tide so the boat yard became partially flooded at high tide. Getting
> the
> > > tongue extension to come out took  quite a bit of time and effort and
> was
> > > the main cause for our delay in launching.
> > >
> > > The next day a friend and I went down closer to low tide and tried to
> > > launch the boat. We were on the boat club's main ramp which is long and
> > > fairly flat. Unfortunately it was too flat. It didn't look like we were
> > > going to get deep enough to launch until I backed up just a bit more
> and
> > > the trailer seemed to fall into a hole on one side. Then the boat
> floated
> > > off. Later analysis suggests that I either backed into a big hole in
> the
> > > ram or I actually went off the end of the paved ramp.
> > >
> > > Once the boat was floating I started the engine. It ran but didn't idle
> > and
> > > would stall when I put the boat in gear. I decided I would just haul
> the
> > > boat back out and be done with it until next year. However by this
> point
> > I
> > > couldn't get the trailer in deep enough because now the water was much
> > > higher. Boston Harbor typically has tides around 9 - 10 ft., but this
> > tide
> > > was close to 12 ft. It even flooded the main artery road next to the
> boat
> > > club. I knew even if I could, I shouldn't put the trailer back in as
> far
> > as
> > > I did when launching. There was a good chance of causing damage to the
> > > trailer if I tried to pull it past some kind of obstruction with a 3100
> > lb
> > > boat on it.
> > >
> > > The boat sat on the floating dock near the launch ramp overnight. I
> came
> > > back the next day and the direction of the wind was now much more
> > favorable
> > > for sailing to the club dock or even my mooring. The forecast said NNE
> > > winds 10-15 kts gusts to 20 kts. I don't think I saw whitecaps but it
> was
> > > pretty breezy.
> > >
> > > My first sail was getting the boat from the launch doc to the leeward
> > side
> > > of the club doc. After that it got too dark to get out to my mooring -
> > > especially because I wasn't certain where the mooring had been dropped
> > this
> > > year. When heading to the main dock had just the bare minimum of jib
> and
> > > main out, in part because I was sailing almost dead downwind. I reached
> > the
> > > dock and immediately realized my boat would be much better off on the
> > > leeward side (the dock was essentially perpendicular to the wind).
> > >
> > > I got the boat around to the other side of the dock but had trouble
> > tacking
> > > (because now the dock was upwind) so I turned the boat by gybing.
> > > Eventually I realized I needed to roll out more main, but by that time
> I
> > > had got the boat on a good tack which let me land it on the dock. A bow
> > > line, stern line, springer lead from the bow cleat and a couple big
> > fenders
> > > secured her until I could get back to move her to the mooring. Of
> course
> > I
> > > never found my mooring but picked up another that wasn't in use.
> > >
> > > I hope to haul Tiny Dancer on the trailer this coming Monday (Columbus
> > > Day/Indigenous Peoples' Day). I've been told there's a second ramp at
> my
> > > boat club that is twice the slope of the main ramp. The secondary ramp
> > has
> > > no dock, so the logistics promise to get interesting, especially if I
> > can't
> > > rely on the engine. Updates to follow!
> > >
> > > Looking forward to learning much more about this boat!
> > >
> > > Take care,
> > >
> > > Mark Whipple
> > > S/V Tiny Dancer
> > > Boston, MA
> > >
> > --
> > Stephen Staum
> > Pariser Industries, Inc.
> >
>
-- 
Stephen Staum
Pariser Industries, Inc.