I have been meaning to thank, individually, each one of you who wrote back to me. Thank you so much for all the encouragement. Alas, tiredness got the better of me and I am only now managing to, briefly, send something.
We’ve been in Tasmania for just over five months. They were the toughest ones of my life. Following this ordeal I asked Pete to write me an ode – whatever that means. He is agonising over it. So you might wish to give him a helping hand! I am still recovering. And so is our relationship which was put through quite some strain.
I will not dwell on this hardship, suffice to say: no more boat work for me and no more new boats. I am adamant, I am done with it. I mean it. Hold me to it.
In a state of shock I could not bring myself to take any pictures of the neglected China Moon we found. Then I had no desire or time to photograph yet more boat work. So like by some magic, four months on the China Moon was transformed into a cheerful pink boat. We are sailing again!
One enduring memory I will hold of Tasmania are the gutsy and gusty winds that seemed to blow incessantly, with fury, by surprise, like from nowhere, in an instant and so too they would vanish. Add to that the wilderness of its imposing coastal cliffs and you get the gist of it. Our cruising of mere three weeks was short but not without its excitement. I am getting used to a totally different boat from Kokachin. More on that at some other point.
We are both very much looking forward to our Tasman Sea crossing to Nelson, New Zealand. Setting off in 12 hours!
The sea with its infinite cleansing powers should wash away all that earth life brings. The simple, pure, essential existence will enable our rebirth / reunion to Neptune & Venus with only beautiful memories to cherish.
First and foremost. I hope that you had a wonderful Christmas and that the New Year brings you joy! Happy 2025!
What fools would buy a boat without receiving at least one picture of it? Then abandon the most beautiful boat they spent so much time working on, and pack up everything to start a new life somewhere else again. And if that was not enough of a challenge, fly off to the other side of the world (literally). Add to that the insanity of a hope that all will be plain sailing upon landing.
You get it, it is US TWO! You would have thought that by now we should have known better and have some wits and sense about us, but no such luck. We are Incorrigibly Foolish (ad)Venturers! Definitely.
In the 8 years we’ve been together we owned: 5 boats. We spent years working on them and sailed 10s of thousands of miles on different oceans visiting various continents. This is our new chapter or maybe only a paragraph! Wish us luck.
A while ago when I was about to set off seafaring I ‘renamed’ myself to ‘Gypsy Venus’. I loved the sea so much, believing that I was born from the seawaves like Venus. And Gypsy because of my wandering spirits. It seems I am following my path.
In one of our getting to know conversations a long time ago, I posed a question to Neptune: “What is your life’s mission?” He responded: ”To build and sail junk rig boats.” Little did I know how truthful he will remain to his words, and that I will take a big part in this journey.
You might recall from my previous message that something was brewing.
So where are we now?
What’s going on?
We have been in Tasmania (Australia) for just over two months. Yet again, working hard on getting the new boat “China Moon” (catamaran) ready for cruising in the Pacific. We are as surprised as you may be.
China Moon, Neptune’s ‘new’ boat, just landed in our lap. It was not planned. But unlike Kokachin, which we decided to buy on a spur of the moment, to try something new, “China Moon” was a temptation that we contemplated for about 9 months, thinking carefully about all complex logistics and implications. One thing we were adamant about, we did not want to do any more major refitting work. We decided to buy her, to pack up Kokachin and fly to “China Moon” in Tasmania. That’s what we did.
I was attracted to “China Moon” and understood Neptune’s draw to her. Having designed and built her he single handedly sailed her to Antarctica and South Georgia, fulfilling one of his life’s ambitions. Eventually selling her to Simon, with whom he jointly delivered her to Tasmania (in 2005), via the Southern Indian Ocean, taking 72 days.
On our very last day at anchor just before hauling out Kokachin in Southdown (UK), we ran aground. She got well stuck in the mud, immovable for a few hours during low water. She did not want to be back. I felt so sorry for such a beautiful young princess and her fate, to be wrapped up again, leaving the joys of sailing for a while.
Once in Tasmania, so much was behind us, not only in terms of the miles. Kokachin was stored inside the most sturdy tent we could find. In perfect condition, immaculately maintained and spotlessly clean, she was “mothballed” holding most of our possessions, awaiting us to hopefully get back to her, in years to come.
We were getting ever more excited about the momentous occasion of stepping on board “China Moon”, marking the beginning of our ‘new life’. Alas, our elation pretty soon turned into despair once we boarded her. Speechless, we walk along her extensive decks; black mould everywhere, slimy green ropes and sheets hanging off the rigging, utter neglect in evidence everywhere. Insurmountable amount of work to be done on her, if anyone was fool enough to undertake it. Not a word was said. We could not take her anywhere the way she looked. Simon sat there crestfallen, so did we, utterly shocked, devastated, ashamed and angry of what we let ourselves in for. Terrified of what is to come. Serves us right, fools; to trust, to assume and to believe that all will be right! What next? Where do we go from here? We were well stuck. Turning back and walking away looked like the best solution.
Alas. After a long walk and on a deeper reflection, we concluded that we were committed and decided to give it a go, if we could find a workable solution. The boat was on a swinging mooring miles away from any shop or facility. There was no way that any work could be done on her there and then. Nor we had budgeted for extensive renovation wherever that might take place. Not to mention the time it will take……
Here we are now, working our guts out, living with dust, noise, heat, discomfort, pain, exhaustion again. All for those precious days of freedom and utter immersion into nature while sailing the seas. But it feels as if this was meant to be. Our new location is, and probably never will be again, perfect. Launceston, where the boat now is, is an incredibly charming little town, around which I joyfully scoot, discovering many of its little gems, theatres, museums and shops included. Everything is at hand, green spaces, parks and huge old trees. I marvel at them. They are like my new friends.
Caroline and Simon (the previous owners) could not have been more helpful and utterly hospitable. I am amazed by how, with nothing much said, but everything being understood, they wholeheartedly and fully threw themselves in assisting us to bring “China Moon” to life again. Their beautiful house, with sweeping views across the valley, is open to us any time. We often stay there, enjoying en-suite luxury and their silver service with tea, wine, food provided. What could have turned into a very nasty situation and ended a long friendship for Neptune has become a much enriched relationship. How wonderful. We look forward to sailing with Simon again and for China Moon to spread her wings.
This project is a straw that nearly broke the camel’s back and my straw is hanging onto its last strand. I have had enough but I am still hanging on here. It demonstrates my deep bond with Neptune and our common desire to sail high seas once again. Were it not for his ever present loving care and utmost support during these difficult times, I would be gone. Mentally, physically and emotionally I am utterly exhausted. It will take us a few more months to get the boat into shape, then we will be off sailing again, with all hard work in our wake.
Here is Neptune’s take:
I designed and built China Moon in South Africa at the turn of the century and of the many boats I have owned she is the best. I sailed her again some years after selling her and was pleasantly reassured that my memories did not play me false.
We had had a survey done, which found the boat to be structurally sound and were led to believe that China Moon would need a little work, but would be in a ‘tidy’ state, so we were shocked to find her so run down and our first reaction was to walk away.
After due consideration we decided to continue with the purchase after easily agreeing to a renegotiated deal. The first thing was to find a place to do the work as China Moon’s mooring was very remote, probably the main reason for her state. We are now in an excellent location, a floating pontoon at the Tamar Y.C., a short walk from town and all supplies. Simon has given us much help and the arrangements continue to work well. He frequently drives us to his house to make use of his extensive selection of power tools in the workshop. The last thing we both wanted was a big refit job, but that is the way it has turned out and we are working very hard to get back to cruising under sail on a lovely boat..
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Dear Friends, please drop me a line so that I hear how you are doing and what is going on. I really appreciate it. Although this is a ‘mass communication’ I opened my heart to each one of you because you count in my life.
What one friend sent, gave us comfort:
That must have been pretty devastating on several levels, and I’m glad you managed to find a workable solution – but what an unexpected drag to have to start doing unplanned refurbishment! Hopefully you’ll be finished soon and able to take some advantage of the southern summer.
At anchor, in balmy evening sunshine, with calm seas and her sweet lulling, red sunset while dining – with nothing on our mind but to enjoy it. The sense of blissful existence was indescribable. The three years of (hard) toil seemed to be forgotten already and definitely worth it!
In preparation for a little party for our local friends the night before the launch, Kokachin was cleaned inside out. So were we. With relief I threw away a bagful of scruffy working clothes and donned the most colourful outfit I could find. We all, Neptune included, looked transformed. That moment my new life started.
As for the pictures – below one, with congratulations, was sent to us by a pilot friend who I have not seen for a while. When asked where he was and how he took the picture of Kokachin at anchor he replied:
“I am currently flying in Kazakhstan. It was on Facebook …”
Someone unknown has captured that blissful existence for us and it reached the other side of the world to come back to us. Serendipity or not!? Heartfelt thanks to you all for years of support and encouragement. Ahoy Linda & Neptune !
Your heartfelt messages that poured into my inbox from all over the world each minute were like fireworks, creating magic to which the universe responded to by regaling us with the most glorious day we could have hoped for.
Kokachin was launched without a glitch in the scorching sunshine and a gentle breeze on Wednesday 22 June 2022. Taittinger champagne exploded in her cockpit and we rushed to pour it over her bows too, delivering the launching speech together:
We name this sailing junk "Kokachin" We wish she carries us and all who sail in her with ease and in safety Sailing joyfully to many wonderful destinations May the seas be beautiful and the winds favourable & kind.
After leaving the narrows and shallows around the marina she sailed off, gracefully to Plymouth Sound, sailing and tacking to windward with ease. She is comfortable, her decks are wide and secure, cockpit clean and spacious, motion gentle. Pete said she feels Stately.
Looks like we are going to make it, despite last month’s trials and tribulations with insurance, which caused a last minute delay. A story better not to be told, at least for now.
Preparations are in earnest for the ship shape ship. We are excited and so should Kokachin be. She is ready, looking splendid, unlike us!
The yard just moved us, in preparation for the launch. We can already see the sea through our windows. Sundowners in the cockpit gave us a taste of life to come.
Ring your bells, spread your arms, sharpen your voices, warm your hearts, open your minds, clap your hands, raise your glasses to give Kokachin and us the most amazing send off to the sea.
Wednesday 22 June, middayish UK BST (high tide 1.15pm)
Over optimistically, I thought we could finish Kokachin in about a year, it took us three years with the two of us working full time (weekends included).
Very soon, as we started working on her, we realised that Le Forestiere’s Jonque de Plaisance are complicated boats! Also if she was to meet our needs and wants many things would have to be altered and finished differently. All of this was going to take time. It was not a quick job any more, as it looked at the time of infatuation, read – decision to buy her. Both of us wanted to spend time sailing instead of boat building. But does one ever learn.
Daily hard and long hours of work was followed by household chores and researching / ordering the material. Covid worked in our favour, we had a committing project to complete. Just before the lockdown Pete spent three whole days ordering everything we would need for the boat building. All the material had to be stored either inside or outside the boat on which we were now living. The biggest nightmare was finding a place to store things, and having to move them around all the time. I spent frustrating hours searching for something which had been moved (who knows where) but we needed it there and then. After the first year Blossom was sold and we moved onboard. While this sounds like a living hell (and probably was), it was much better than living on Blossom, for many practical reasons. Kokachin was warm and cosy, although cramped. Often we asked ourselves: “Why on earth did we embark on this madness yet again?” While laughing at her bizarre shape I dreamt of the day when I would sail her. Most of this hard work would be forgotten by then.
It took three years from the boat arriving in Southdown until launch day, working 7 days a week, 10 hours a day, two of us for over two years. On the last year we allowed ourselves Sundays off. For the original build Mr Fabrice took 7 years, but part time. Our workshop was a shed constructed over the cockpit, and to everyone’s amazement, not least ours, it survived for three winters of gales. The materials were stored under the boat, inside it or in the shed.
We are often asked: Has she met our expectations? Actually when we bought her we had no expectations or dreams. We wanted to try something different and she has definitely surprised us – by how well she sails and how comfortable she is at sea in rough conditions down below, we never strap up in the galley and we don’t have lee cloths. While she can roll a bit when sailing down wind or in a rolly anchorage, she heels little and does not slam. She is fun to sail and is surprisingly manoeuvrable despite her long keel and 13 tons displacement. However Linda struggles with the big, heavy rig on her own and finds that the lovely spacious cockpit in harbour becomes very exposed at sea when the going gets rough.
To see more about her sails and spars see other Kokachin’s pages on her webisite and the rest of the blog post that followed.
Finally Kokachin was launched. She sails well, easily driven and fast. Sailing to windward she tacks through 90 degrees in flat waters and goes about easily, especially when centreboard is down, even in big seas she tacks very well. It is often difficult to assess sailing performance, especially to windward, as there is not another boat to compare against, Recently we sailed in company with friends on a Nicholson 32. They sailed the boat well and had a nice suit of sails. The course was dead to windward for 11 miles, wind 20 to 25 knots and a very rough sea. We were pointing equally well, tacking through about 100 degrees, and making 10 degrees of leeway. The Nicholson was a bit faster, but not by much. We were impressed and so were they. Kokachin is very stiff and even driving to windward she heels no more than 15 degrees. She is spectacularly dry in the cockpit, while we only had a couple of small splashes on the above sail, our friends were drenched. Sailing downwind she doesn’t roll until the wind and seas build up, but by then the foresail will have been reefed and sheeted flat, which dampens the rolling to a certain extent. Because of our vulnerable self steering gybing requires sheeting the main in and then out on the other side and in strong wind this may include dropping a few reefs first.
On the downside we found that the tiller steered rudder was very heavy work especially as the wind got up. As Kevin Cardiff said: “Not a problem, but a design characteristic”. So far we have tried to tame the heavy steering with a three part handy billy, using the trim-tab to dial out any weather helm and finally steering with the trim-tab. We now cut a chunk at the lower part of the rudder. We need to wait for sea trials to see how effective that is going to be to reduce a heavy helm. These are only partial solutions and we may well have to resort to wheel steering, which would be a disappointment. But at times, in rough seas the tiller becomes almost uncontrollable.
Self steering is a very important consideration on long passages. From the outset the self steering was going to be a challenge! Self steering is with Bill Belcher OTG II wind-vane driving a 20% trim tab on the trailing edge of the rudder. We also found that in lighter winds the wind-vane (3′ x 1′ / 90cm x 30cm) was not powerful enough to turn a trim-tab. This was a major setback. Kokachin’s rig extends the whole length of the hull and the main sail is sheeted to the aft end of the davits. The wind-vane is placed on the stern rail, inside the main sheet. There was no room to make the windvane bigger so the only solution seemed to be to make the trim-tab balanced. This necessitated a quick haul out and moving the trim-tab somewhere behind the rudder with 20% balance. This solved the self-steering problem and it now works very well. However the wind-vane is very vulnerable to being swept away by the main sheet (which has happened on our Channel and Atlantic crossing, resulting in a broken wind-vane). We now have installed a strong hoop over the stern rail to give it more protection. We need to see how this will work.
The main sail is 50 sq metres and the fore 30 sq metres, built with Weathermax 80 cloth using Arne’s camber sail design. It has taken a while to get the sails to set properly without too much friction on the mast, also because we had so many other things to focus on – and she sailed well anyway. Originally we were against Hong Kong parrels as we wanted to keep the rig as simple as possible, and they do have a bad press. However, Arne persuaded us to give them a try. So we did. They do work well and do not seem to cause any problems. The sails are set up with a four part halyard, a yard hauling parrel and a fixed throat parrel. There are also batten parrels. Still trying to work out the compromise between creases in the sail and too much tension on the Hong Kong parrels.
The yards are 4 ½ inch X 3mm alloy tubes and the battens are all 50mm x 2mm alloy tubes. During our transatlantic passage the top sheeted batten on the main bent after a couple of involuntary gybes in strong winds, and then broke, otherwise they seemed strong enough.
We are often asked: Has she met our expectations? Actually when we bought her we had no expectations or dreams. We wanted to try something different and she has definitely surprised us – by how well she sails and how comfortable she is at sea in rough conditions down below, we never strap up in the galley and we don’t have lee cloths. While she can roll a bit when sailing down wind or in a rolly anchorage, she heels little and does not slam. She is fun to sail and is surprisingly manoeuvrable despite her long keel and 13 tons displacement. However Linda struggles with the big, heavy rig on her own and finds that the lovely spacious cockpit in harbour becomes very exposed at sea when the going gets rough.
Pete Hill
PS:
Kokachin website has not been updated with the latest modifications to the rig and trim tab yet.
We bought Kokachin as an unfinished project in France. The hull, cabin and decks were completed, along with some rudimentary accommodation and part finished mast and rudder.
Over optimistically, I thought we could finish her in about a year, it took us three years with the two of us working full time (weekends included).
Very soon, as we started working on her, we realised that Le Forestiere’s Jonque de Plaisance are complicated boats! Also if she was to meet our needs and wants many things would have to be altered and finished differently. All of this was going to take time. It was not a quick job any more, as it looked at the time of infatuation, read – decision to buy her. Both of us wanted to spend time sailing instead of boat building. But does one ever learn.
To see a more detailed description about building her see Kokachin’s pages on her site. This is just a brief overview.
Exterior
The main requirement was to protect the exterior as much as possible to minimise maintenance and cost in the future. Below is a short summary on some highlights. For a detailed overview with pictures check the website.
The boat had been painted (inside and out) but that was a few years before. So we needed to put several coats of epoxy primer and then the top coats.
The cabin sides were made of edge glued planks of maritime pine wood which we covered with 6mm marine plywood and then epoxied.
The bottom was given a DIY copper coat with 5 layers of epoxy and copper.
Plans called for a steel shoe on the bottom of the keel. Quite apart from having someone to fabricate this long piece of steel, we felt it would be a corrosion problem in future and instead scarfed together 1 inch plywood that was heavily fiberglassed. If nothing else this would form a sacrificial piece at the bottom of the keel.
As a finishing touch we laid a douglas fir deck in the cockpit and on the cockpit seats, using 5 mm veneers and the Gougeon system.
The side decks and foredeck were covered in fibreglass / epoxy and the cabin top was epoxied. We used Kiwi Grip for the non slip coating
Centreboard was made with three layers of plywood. The middle layer had cut outs for steel plates to be inserted to give negative buoyancy. The whole thing is covered with glass epoxy and copper coated.
Rudder came with the boat but it was not finished. It needed fibreglassing etc as well as adding the rudder head for the tiller and making the trim tab. The trim tab was hinged on the trailing edge of the rudder. Subsequently it had to be changed to work properly as the wind-vane was not powerful enough. We subcontracted the stainless steel rudder fittings.
Self-Steering A wind-vane to control the trim-tab was made of plywood to Bill Belcher’s OTG II plans (modified).
Masts – The masts were made according to the drawings but they seemed to be a little on the light side. We fibreglass them with several layers of heavy unidirectional glass fibre and a layer of fibreglass cloth on the top. It also required constructing the masthead fittings.
Mast Steps – Two mast steps had to be constructed. The forward one was extremely complicated to accommodate the 11 degree rake of the mast, as was cutting the hole through the 3 inch thick deck at an angle. The main mast one was not much simpler either.
Mast Collar – When the masts were installed a thick fibreglass collar was constructed which is held by 12 10mm bolts screwed into sockets glued into the deck. This was instead of having wedges and their accompanied squeak.
Cuddy – A plywood sliding cuddy was built over the entrance hatch.
Sails – One Christmas we rented a Scout hut to make the two sails. It took us only a week to make the sails and then another week later on to finish off the details.
Engine
The hole through the deadwood for the engine shaft was drilled for us by our shipwright friend with a special long cutting bar. Once this was done the engine beds could be made and eventually the engine was lowered in through the hatch (only just fitted) and bolted down. Bronze stern tube and shaft was made for us which we installed, everything lined up. Fuel lines, electrical wiring and engine controls were also installed
Ballast & Bilges
Ballast was 18 kg cast iron ingots (we even had to recover a ton of those that were stolen from us!) All (3300 kg) had to be carried up on board and fitted into the bilges on top of a layer of rubber. Gaps were then filled with steel punchings before the floorboards were securely fastened on top.
Interior
We needed a comfortable and warm boat that met our liveaboard cruising needs. With the exception of the main bulkheads, the two bunks, and the spiral staircase, which came with the boat, everything else was built new.
Insulation
Cabin, decks & hull (down to the stringers) was insulated. It was like building another hull inside the outer one. Patterns between the frames and the deck beams had to be taken for insulation cutting. Framing around the insulation for the finished layer plus the pattern for those had to be made. The insulation was covered with either tang & groove, thin plywood or cork / carpet.
Installations
Installing heaters, cooker, wiring, lighting was all extremely complicated which is not easy to explain in a few words – best forgotten!
Carpentry – At times doing the carpentry felt like three dimensional chess, just mind boggling complexities. As well as the job of constructing and fitting all the furniture (which Pete did) , insulating, finishing and painting everything was an equally mammoth task (done by Linda).
Time & Space
It took three years from the boat arriving in Southdown until launch day, working 7 days a week, 10 hours a day, two of us for over two years. On the last year we allowed ourselves Sundays off. For the original build Mr Fabrice took 7 years, but part time.
Our workshop was a shed constructed over the cockpit, and to everyone’s amazement, not least ours, it survived for three winters of gales. The materials were stored under the boat, inside it or in the shed.
Kokachin, originally named Matahina, started her life on a farm in Bussieres, a little village 70km NE from Paris. Her hull and deck and some of the interior were built by Mr Jossete, a professional carpenter. He started building her in 2009 and spent two years building the hull alone plus many more on the rest of the boat. Last work he did was in 2016 . He moved away from the area, realising that he would not be able to complete her. Via a grapevine we heard about her being for sale on LeBonCoin in France.
In no time we booked flights, hired a car and went to see her. Our first encounter with this bizarre looking structure surrounded with a vast expanse of French countryside was filled with intense excitement. Having previously decided to build a catamaran, here we were signing a contract for her purchase over glasses of champagne! What one does during infatuation. But why not!?
The drive back to the airport, surrounded by monstrously big fast approaching lorries on busy airport roundabouts, was more terrifying than being in a gale.
Organising her transport was a feat in itself and it cost a fortune. Coordinating the transport, crane and paperwork was critical, our nerves in the UK were frail. Miraculously everything fell into place: Mr Josset drove in time from Dieppe, the Bour crane made it to the little village and so did the Southern Transport lorry from the UK, not to mention our paperwork arrived at the very last minute.
She made it safely to Southdown and champagne flew once again in August 2019. We were elated and are in anticipation of another celebration soon.
A Google search of her original name listed a power station in New Zealand. A new name was needed also because of SSR documents and customs forms. Having just recently named “Blossom” our pool of names was exhausted. I flippantly suggested to Pete: “How about Marko Polo’s mistress, he must have had one!?”. Because it is common knowledge on Korcula that Marko Polo comes from there, my birthplace too. I liked the idea of my boat being likened to him. To my surprise, shortly Pete exclaimed: “Kokachin”! How funny, who would have thought that google could find Marko Polo’s “mistress”. Probably those watching Netflix would have not been so surprised as were we.
Apparently Kokachin was a Mongolian princess who was betrothed to the Persian prince Arghun by Kublai Khan who entrusted Marko Polo to take her to Persia. During their 9 year journey to get there (why so long?) something must have happened…. We hope not to take as long a time to get anywhere/somewhere. It’s not surprising that Kokachin’s dinghy is “Marko” – an appropriate hierarchy.
It seems her name might be translated as “Dark Complexion” and by sheer coincidence (and a lot of persuasion) “Kokachin’s” hull is dark too.
As well as giving us the photographs and permission to use them this is what Mr Josset sent us when asked to comment :
“At the age of 43, I decided to build a boat a bit off the beaten track and as a carpenter to do a different kind of work. During her construction, I met several extraordinary people in the world of the boat building. Although life does not always grant us success, I am delighted to have sold it to Linda and Peter because in their hands Kokachin will be able to live. While waiting for her to be launched, I can’t wait to be able to walk up her deck, no doubt, filled with real emotions.”
When I was going to become boatless (read ‘homeless’), Linda and I compiled a list of requirements that we were looking for in a future boat. The boat had to be suitable for short-handed ocean passages, large enough for two to live on board, but small enough for me to be able to handle on my own. This also meant roomy accommodation, sizeable tanks, insulation, heating and ample storage area. We also wanted good sailing performance, shallow draught, moderate displacement, junk rig (ideally), a reasonable price and for the boat to be conveniently located for our current location and future sailing plans. Needless to say it was not easy to find a boat to meet this specification, and we needed it quickly, here and now! At the time we were in New Zealand and Linda was flying back to Croatia for a short while. Once reunited, the plan was to sail to some cold and desolate destination.
Oryx was up for sale and my New Zealand visa was about to expire so the pressure increased to find a new home. An internet search for junk rigged boats for sale, brought up Raggedy Edge, a Pearson 367 lying in Florida. She appeared to be in good condition, was a suitable size, had lots of equipment, and was very reasonably priced. I bought her sight unseen and booked my ticket to Florida.
The boat had been converted to junk rig by the previous owners. She had a nice, hollow wooden mast and a well-made flat sail, which was really too tall for the length of the mast; and the battens looked far too light. I spent two weeks sorting the boat out, strengthening the battens and buying extra wood for repairs, amid much rain and thunderstorms, as the first tropical storm passed by, in the Gulf of Mexico. I renamed her Blossom.
My original plan was to sail Blossom up to the Chesapeake Bay, out of the hurricane belt, and make some modifications there. Instead I decided to sail back to the UK to do the work there. To avoid the hurricane season, I needed to get moving quickly.
After a long and eventful Atlantic crossing, during which Blossom looked after me well, I arrived in Falmouth at the end of July. Moving on to Millbrook, East Cornwall, I hauled her out at Southdown Marina to start the repairs necessitated by the voyage, and commenced converting the rig to turn her into a fine cruising boat.
Jury rig on arrivalAshore in Southdown
1 Mast
The mast was put in to suit the accommodation – which means that the rig needs a lot of balance forward. To achieve this, the obvious choices were aero junk or split junk. As I had a good experience of aero junk I decided to go with that. I also wanted to try using extruded fibreglass battens instead of wooden ones. We chose this option because of its apparent simplicity, but it was more work than we would have hoped, because we could not get sufficiently long battens, which meant that they had to be joined. This took quite some time and effort: making the battens was a lot of work and in retrospect, a split junk might have been a better choice.
The beautifully-made, bird’s-mouth, douglas fir mast was too short for the boat and it hadn’t been fibreglassed. I extended it by 3 feet, fibreglassed it with unidirectional glass and cloth, then epoxied and finished it. The halyard block is held at the masthead with a thick dyneema strop.
2 Sails
The sails were made on Linda’s houseboat in London, over the Christmas period. They were easy to make as all panels (except the top one) are squares of the same size. Making the sail catcher took more time, but I really wanted to make one, because they keep the sails tidy and protect the sail cloth from UV damage. The sail cloth was 6¼ ounces, tan Clipper Canvas.
3 Battens/Wishbone
I bought 5m pultruded square tubes, which as I mentioned, had to be extended. I did this by putting a 10 cm long wooden plug inside the tube to strengthen the joint and covered it with glass/ epoxy. The cross beams for the wishbone were made of round fibreglass tubing. To join the wishbones at the after end, I made a plywood wedge with a recessed tube. I stretched dyneema across the wishbone, for the horse, for the jiblets and added a small block acting as a traveller. The front of the wishbone had another round tube joining the two ends. There is a need for steadying the wishbone/sail bundle when the sail is down, with restraining ropes at the top of the cuddy, which works well and is simple and quick to do.
4 Cuddy
I made a new cuddy (12mm plywood side and 6mm top, epoxy finished with 5mm polycarbonate windows). The involved 3D puzzle was complex to make on the top of the rounded, sloping cabin and decks, with nothing to provide support while designing it – not to mention the wind knocking it off as I was working on it. It gives much appreciated shelter and does a very good job. This, plus the many compliments we received from passers by made it worth the effort put into building it.
5 Engine choice
The boat had had its engine removed and replaced with an outboard. After much deliberation about electric, diesel or combination of two I decided to go for Beta 25, saildrive diesel engine. I felt that electric or hybrid technology and the batteries have not reached their optimum development and either is still quite an expensive choice. While I use the engine very seldom, it is nice to know that there is the potential to motor for quite a few hours if needed and I felt the electric engine would not yet deliver this. The old engine beds had to be removed and that was far from easy and working in a confined space, with fibreglass dust like flour covering me was very unpleasant. At that time I did not use an air fed mask and an allergic reaction caused me to come out in a rash all over my face, hands and legs!
Cutting the hole for a saildrive, through thick fibreglass, was another unpleasant task to deal with, but once the engine was in it all looked good and I am happy with it. The two bladed folding propeller works well with minimal drag.
6 Sailing
The pressure was on to launch Blossom in early May, so that we could do some sailing trials before the JRA AGM in Brixham at the end of that month. As it turns out we only launched her 7 days before the event. Our first sail was to Cawsand, then to Dartmouth (Dittisham) and Brixham, where we met David Tyler sailing on Weaverbird. Needless to say, there was no time to properly test the rig.
After the AGM in Brixham, we cruised west, back to Plymouth and then on to Falmouth and the Isles of Scilly. Blossom sails very well and is well balanced. She seems to be quick and tacks like a dinghy, keeping her speed up through the tack and not falling off, before picking up on the new tack. The main does set with some creases at the top and It appears that while the battens and yard are strong enough they are not quite as stiff horizontally as they should be.
She has a very roomy cockpit and although she has wheel steering, there is room to pass by the helm. We fitted two 2 inch draining tubes astern (above the water line) to add to two existing cockpit drains with seacocks. Her side decks are wide.
7 Interior
Once we started living on Blossom, her shortcomings became more apparent, especially to Linda. Everything was either too high or too big for her to feel comfortable, especially after Francis (which is a gem of minimalism and functionality). As for me, who has mainly lived on his home-built/own design/modified design boats, not being able to alter things was quite frustrating: she has an inner moulding. For me, Blossom worked OK and I said that I could sail on almost anything and be happy. Making changes to her accommodation would have meant destroying most of the interior, and we really didn’t feel up to it.
We made some limited improvements to her interior setup: moved the dining table and the stove; removed the double bunks in the saloon; removed all the pressurised water system; blocked seacocks below the waterline and numerous draining holes in the cabin, which were part of a water collection system. Importantly, we insulated the hull with three layers of aluminium bubble wrap, finished off with carpet. This is our second winter living on her and the insulation has proved to work very well.
New Project
Quite unexpectedly on returning to Plymouth, we heard about a partially completed Forestier 12.5 junk for sale near Paris. This seemed too good an opportunity to miss: while we were looking forward to cruising again the Forestier would be a much more suitable cruising home for us both. We flew over to take a look, bought her and then arranged her transport back to Cornwall. It sounds simple, but entailed a few nail biting weeks while Linda coordinated English transport, a French crane and lastminute document delivery to France. After that was organised we had a few weeks to wait and so sailed in Blossom to Falmouth and then on to the Scilly Isles, having a delightful holiday. Once back in Millbrook we hauled Blossom out at Southdown Marina and when our new boat, Kokachin, arrived, she was placed alongside Blossom. As work progresses on Kokachin we can live on Blossom, a three step commute away. When we finally move aboard our new boat, Blossom will be for sale.
The most difficult part was designing the rig to fit the boat. There are some controversies around how much lead junk rig needs on a monohull. With a multihull it is easy as they don’t heel and therefore a Centre of Effort (CE) of the rig can be placed over the Centre of Lateral Resistance (CLR) of the Hull.
Once the lead has been decided one of the next major considerations is where the mast is going to go. We used PJR and the designer’s original sail plan to determine an appropriate lead. Time will tell whether or not this was decided correctly.
How did we determine the lead? We used the original boat plan but then noticed that the boat’s actual dimensions differed. She was stretched during the build. All calculations had to be based on the current photograph of the hull with the rudder included.
Where to place the mast?
Francis has a very shallow forefoot with a narrow keel/stem timber. This made placing the unstayed mast any further forward than the original bermudan mast position difficult, due to structural problems with the mast step and getting enough bury for it.
Having decided to keep the mast in its original position, this dictated a larger than usual balance in the sail. The available rig designs were a Hasler / McLeod sail (with or without camber), a split junk rig or an aero junk.
The most suitable rigs are either Slieve McGalliard’s split junk sail or Paul McKay’s aero junk. Linda liked the aero junk rig the best, especially the sexy curved wishbone battens. Having sailed on Oryx for 900 miles in all sorts of conditions she was impressed with the way the rig worked, its ease of handling and how it responded to the sudden wind changes. And nothing broke!
Using the formulas in PJR, I worked out the CLR and gave the rig a 7% lead (not taking the rudder into account)!
Mast
Getting a mast in New Zealand is not easy. Good spar timber is very expensive and there seem to be no suitable grown sticks available. In the end Linda had decided to go for the aluminium tube (125mm x 3mm 6063 T6). After much searching we found a suitable Douglas Fir (Oregon Pine) roof truss (demolition wood from the earthquake in Christchurch). This was 150mm square, 4m length beautiful close grain with only a couple of small tight knots. When planed down it looked like new timber and it smelled beautiful.
The top of the topmast has a 25mm thick plywood disc glued and fibreglassed to it with three stainless steel 8mm U bolts for the halyard and topping lifts. The topmast has 300mm of bury and extends the mast to 7.5 metres. The topmast was coated with a layer of 300g glassfibre cloth and epoxy before painting.
Mast Fitting / Stepping
Fortunately there was not too much to do to strengthen the deck/cabin because the cabin had a substantial hanging knee as had the deck beneath it. Two layers of 6mm plywood were glued up under the deck between the deck beams and a 18mm oval plate glued on top of the deck, together with a plywood collar for the mast boot. The mast step consists of a 40mm plywood plug that fits into the base of the aluminium tube. This is glued to a plywood base with a timber wedge underneath to make it level. Two 10mm x 120mm galvanised coach screws through the plug connect the mast step to the inner keel (over the old mast base).
Building the Battens
We could have used aluminium for the battens but it is quite expensive here and also I prefer wood anyway since my boat is wooden. Not to mention how they look alive when in action! The timber for the yard and battens is clear pine (yard: 40mm x 20mm, battens: 30mm x 20mm). The most economical way to buy the timber dictated that we had to saw each plank in half to form the two halves of the wishbone. You need to remember to keep the two cuts to use as a pair for a wishbone to ensure that each bends at the same rate. See the drawing and photos for the construction details. The triangular piece supporting the main cross member was a design failure because – it was fiddly and not very strong. We added the rebate and probably the triangular piece serves no purpose. The yard is only a variation on the batten. With these shapes Francis definitely looks very feminine.
Sail Design and Making
The sail material is 300g/sq.m PVC on nylon, a bit too heavy but the price was right!
I set to making the sails. I used Pete’s Sailrite sewing machine on Rob and Maren Prince’s garage floor. Sewing it together was straight forward because the sail is flat. Measuring extremely carefully was important and it was essential to put the jib over the mainsail to make sure that the battens lined up perfectly. This meant laying the jib on the top of the main, luff to luff.
The sail has small battenlets (4mm fibreglass rods – as used for carnival costumes!). This is to stop excessive flogging of the sails when head to wind. These fit into pockets on the sail at every batten position. Each batten let end was protected with heavy sailcloth padding to stop them poking through.
Rather than have metal rings to attach the sails to the battens, webbing tabs were used instead.
The main and jiblet each have a sail-catcher/sailcover sewn to the bottom of each sail. They are not working perfectly and will need some fine tuning with more rigid supports at the top of each sail catcher.
Stitching up the sails was quick and easy. To do all the finishing work took at least as long again. This was because of all the detailed work required instead of just long runs when stitching the panels together.
Rigging
Of course putting this all together took much longer than planned but eventually the mast was finished, the battens and yard built and painted and the sail sewn up. Francis came alongside Oryx and using Oryx ’s port mast to lift it, the mast was lowered into place. The mast hole in the deck gave a 12mm gap all around, a strip of 6mm conveyer belt rubber was placed around the mast and then a couple of turns of 8mm bungee cord was driven into the remaining gap giving a nice tight fit, then the mast boot was pulled down over the collar giving, for the moment at least, a watertight seal.
The sails are hoisted with a two part purchase using the latest low friction, hard-anodised “rings” instead of more normal blocks. The main sheet is a single part from the yard through the end of each batten and down to the horse at the stern.
The original sheeting was a multi part to sheetlets. This proved to have too much friction and miles of rope in the small cockpit was mayhem. The new system is yet to be tried properly and we will have to wait until next summer.
Originally I used 10mm rope (the price was right!) for the halyard and the sheet but it proved it had too much friction for the size of the rings. I now changed it to 8mm rope which seemed to solve the problem. Also the original halyard was 3 part and it was extremely difficult to raise and lower the sail. The halyard seems to work well with 8mm rope (I bought the largest size of ring available) but maybe traditional blocks would work better. However I did not want to have metal clanking on top of the mast. The rings are attached to the U-bolts with Dyneema line.
Sail Testing
The winds were light but there was sufficient to see how the rig worked. You would expect a Francis Herreshoff design to sail well and Francis with her new rig performed even better than expected. The rig was almost perfectly balanced with just a touch of weather helm and steering was fingertip light. She seemed fast in the light winds, pointed high and tacked on a sixpence. There were a lot of big smiles all round on that day. Much more testing will need to be done in varying conditions to evaluate the rig properly.
Unfortunately we had no time to test the new sheeting and halyard arrangement fully nor to take a single photograph! Francis needed to be put to bed on her winter mooring – and this required some mud digging and pontoon adjustments, which took priority.
Technical details:
Sail area 16.72 sq. metres, with the jiblet being 26
