The Voyage of Southern Cross blog

The place to discuss SCAMP (Small Craft Advisor Magazine Project), our 11' 11" micro minicruiser.

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pocketyacht
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Re: The Voyage of Southern Cross blog

Post by pocketyacht »

Your Welcome Timo.
Northern most SCAMP sounds great. I hope the boat ends up the right fit for you after you compare and consider other choices.

There is a short video clip on utube showing how nimbly she maneuvers titled SCAMP Dance. It was not rehearsed or staged and was shot by Dave Nichols who is producing the film Below 40 South.
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Timo
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Re: The Voyage of Southern Cross blog

Post by Timo »

Thanks for the hint, Howard. I watched the video and liked how Scamp maneuvers under sails in a narrow space. Maybe I'm bit a purist about that. She holds her speed through tacks so well.
Sailing Wayfarer #8188 Sarastus and building Scamp #371 Merisirri in Finland
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Re: The Voyage of Southern Cross blog

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Hi Timo
Good observation. I believe one of the hallmarks of a good design is the ability to sail what I think of as "speed to speed" through tacks and SCAMP does this very well and in the case of the video she is being sailed with an old fluttering sail.

Its funny but on one of the boating forums recently a few folks (even a SCAMP owner) were adamantly going after SCAMP as slow and not a boat anyone would want to race or race in a one design event. I thought that very funny as in one design all boats are the same and the criteria is not necessarily top speed (after all SCAMP has a short waterline) but parity amongst boats.

In the same chuckle I recalled racing a SCAMP in a large (2 race) sailing regatta at Lake Havasu a few years ago, SCAMP was by far the shortest, smallest boat entered in a field of almost 200 boats some as large as 30 feet.

We won both starts because she was so nimble and could tack and gybe "speed to speed." We finished high up in the standings at 35th place in spite of an erroneous rating (the organizers didn't know how to rate the tiny boat) putting her rating with longer boats. If the rating had been right I believe we would have won the regatta. This said she is no speed machine when looked at against bigger boats but other boats would be in the same situation. If SCAMP was not a sparkling sailor I wouldn't be interested. In a cruising fleet you may not be the first boat in port but you will likely never be the last one either.
Timo8188 wrote:Thanks for the hint, Howard. I watched the video and liked how Scamp maneuvers under sails in a narrow space. Maybe I'm bit a purist about that. She holds her speed through tacks so well.
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Re: The Voyage of Southern Cross blog

Post by Timo »

Hi Howard,

The tacking efficiency of Scamp looks so strikingly different from many other boats. Recently Youtube recommended a video of Nacra F18 that I watched. She practically stopped at every singly tack even if she is one of those "speed machines"!

Scamp truly seems to be a very capable boat despite of its length. For some reason some people overlook sailing dinghies. My wooden Wayfarer, which is bit longer than Scamp but still small compared to the keelboats, gathers admirers everywhere, whether you are rigging, launching, beaching, beached or just visiting a gas station on the road between home and the slipway. Many of those admirers are older than I and with shining eyes sharing golden memories of their dinghy sailing years. It's not unheard of them almost apologising that they are mostly motoring in their 40 foot sailing yachts. I think they should consider cruising dinghies. A small boat amplifies the beauty of sailing.

Your story about the race of 200 boats is pretty impressive and makes Scamp really sound like a relatively fast boat. I'm just curious to ask, what was your raw standing before the rating was applied?

For me racing performance doesn't matter that much as I'm more into cruising and exploring new waters. Still, it's nice to get to the destination before the sunset.
Sailing Wayfarer #8188 Sarastus and building Scamp #371 Merisirri in Finland
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Re: The Voyage of Southern Cross blog

Post by pocketyacht »

Hi Timo
SCAMP (like any boat with such a short waterline length) could hardly be called fast but relatively speaking she does well. She has very low wetted surface, lots of rocker and a big centerboard that really helps her turn.

In the case of racing in the regatta I mentioned I simply sailed her to the center of the start line in both races put the helm down and held it enabling her to turn a continuos tight circle locking in our place on the line and creating room to speed off at the gun. I could hardly believe it worked in the first race so did it again in the second.

Sorry I can't recall our raw score before the rating was applied. I can say we were slowly passed by many larger boats simply due to her major constraint, waterline length. Although this said we were in the top five boats rounding the weather mark in the first race and in the top ten in the second.
During the racing we passed many larger boats in spite of many passing us, great fun.
Your Wayfarer is a great boat! I have a wood Enterprise in my boat quiver and so can appreciate your boat. I look forward to hearing your build choice decision. This forum is a great resource for build advice and tips, there are some very talented folks building here. I continually learn new things.
Best,
howard
Timo8188 wrote:Hi Howard,

The tacking efficiency of Scamp looks so strikingly different from many other boats. Recently Youtube recommended a video of Nacra F18 that I watched. She practically stopped at every singly tack even if she is one of those "speed machines"!

Scamp truly seems to be a very capable boat despite of its length. For some reason some people overlook sailing dinghies. My wooden Wayfarer, which is bit longer than Scamp but still small compared to the keelboats, gathers admirers everywhere, whether you are rigging, launching, beaching, beached or just visiting a gas station on the road between home and the slipway. Many of those admirers are older than I and with shining eyes sharing golden memories of their dinghy sailing years. It's not unheard of them almost apologising that they are mostly motoring in their 40 foot sailing yachts. I think they should consider cruising dinghies. A small boat amplifies the beauty of sailing.

Your story about the race of 200 boats is pretty impressive and makes Scamp really sound like a relatively fast boat. I'm just curious to ask, what was your raw standing before the rating was applied?

For me racing performance doesn't matter that much as I'm more into cruising and exploring new waters. Still, it's nice to get to the destination before the sunset.
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Re: The Voyage of Southern Cross blog

Post by pocketyacht »

The Voyage of Southern Cross blog has been updated. Todays topic: Provisioning
Dirk Visser 166
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Re: The Voyage of Southern Cross blog

Post by Dirk Visser 166 »

Hi Howard,

I am really enjoying the richness of your adventure as it unfolds.
Just the dietary and provisioning advances are brilliantly simple and groundbreakingly healthy and practical. We have really learned some powerful ways to support our bodies and sustain our expeditions in these days and times!

The boatbuilding family, the markets, the architectural details, the Chilean Navy guys, the rugged environment.... there are many kinds of worlds, and people in the world, and you might be at a perfect age and experience level to recognize the beauty of this simple truth and still have the authority to embed it in an inspiring context many of us can relate to; that of the small boat adventurer..

Being out there is cool, but bringing it back home is the other half of experience. The chance to tell the story, the psychic side, the purpose of the reality, really.

And what did you think of it all, what did it make you feel like..? ...these are key questions you will be undeniably earning the right to answer.

Isn't that, in the end, the real reason you are going for it anyway?
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Re: The Voyage of Southern Cross blog

Post by pocketyacht »

Hi Dirk
Thanks for the thoughtful post. I am a bit involved at the moment and will make some time to respond. Just wanted to let you know, I owe Gene L a response to, time for cloning!
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Re: The Voyage of Southern Cross blog

Post by pocketyacht »

Dirk
embeds below***
Best,
howard
Dirk Visser 166 wrote:Hi Howard,

I am really enjoying the richness of your adventure as it unfolds.
Just the dietary and provisioning advances are brilliantly simple and groundbreakingly healthy and practical. We have really learned some powerful ways to support our bodies and sustain our expeditions in these days and times!

***True. The grain/vegetable based diet is smart for small boat voyaging because it offers simplicity, high nutritional value, easy to prepare and in my view healthy. Carrying meats, etc is just not practice and canned meats are far to unhealthy in my view.

The boatbuilding family, the markets, the architectural details, the Chilean Navy guys, the rugged environment.... there are many kinds of worlds, and people in the world, and you might be at a perfect age and experience level to recognize the beauty of this simple truth and still have the authority to embed it in an inspiring context many of us can relate to; that of the small boat adventurer..

***I hope so. Maturing has helped me see far more deeply into and appreciate the beauty and richness of the lives of those around me. I may be sailing solo but I do so on the shoulders of others in so many ways. I am excited to write about my coming experiences in Chile, the run up to setting off and the many other quiet small boat and land adventures I have had throughout a highly unorthodox life. Hasn't always been the easy road but it has been an incredibly rich road of few regrets.

Being out there is cool, but bringing it back home is the other half of experience. The chance to tell the story, the psychic side, the purpose of the reality, really.

***True

And what did you think of it all, what did it make you feel like..? ...these are key questions you will be undeniably earning the right to answer.

***I think about the process of getting to the actual voyage every day. Planning, creating, solving have become the grist by which I keep my head straight about the complex modern world I have re-entered after so long in the simple world of life on a number of tiny islands. I will be sad to have passed through the planning stage yet ready to let what happens happen during the voyaging stage. Exciting. I feel so fortunate to be here, to be healthy at my age, to still be able to touch my toes and ride a bike 30 miles at a crack without issue, to hike out and sail fast. I am glad to have sacrificed certain aspects of my life enabling me to set out into the unknown, after all what else is there?

Isn't that, in the end, the real reason you are going for it anyway?

***Yes
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Re: The Voyage of Southern Cross blog

Post by Dirk Visser 166 »

Hello Howard,
I know you are busy guys, and am very impressed with the " due diligence" and creative energy both you and John W. pay in crafting contributions to the various small boat forums and publications.

As I read your current SCA column ("Out There"), and recent posts, http://thepocketyacht.blogspot.com, I see that you are consistently going deep and long with the wide-ranging backstory and prep details of the upcoming Southern Cross expedition.

Let me just affirm what you are hearing from many others: This is a world class work in progress, reportage befitting a timeless adventure, and loaded with meaning for all small boat sailors, and truth be told, ordinary people with imagination, everywhere.

While you say that the microdetails of all the planning and strategy might keep you yourself orientated in this complex on-the-grid world we share, rest assured there is inspirational soothing, grounding, and enlightening power here for your empathetic and enthusiastic readership as well..!

Hopes are that your dedication won't waver in this beautiful and risky endeavor ...but know personally that howsomayever it ultimately plays out, the success is profound simply by the positive audacity of your vision, attention to experience-based detail, realistic expectations, excellent narrative, and has already been made real for many of us...!

****

"The world is nature, and in the long run inevitably wild, because
the wild, as the process and essence of nature, is also an ordering
of impermanence."

Gary Snyder, "The Practice of the Wild" (1990)
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