From Mark in Australia, who sails a boat even smaller than GANNET, comes this lovely photo of gannets, for which I thank him. 

        These are presumably Kiwi gannets, which is not a contradiction in terms.  Some of you may recall that I wrote about New Zealand born gannets spending two or three of their adolescent years in Australia before returning home.  They are, of course, not the only New Zealanders who fly to Australia for a while to make a living.

        In the NEW YORK TIMES is an interesting article about how birds not only survived the recent storms that ravaged the Northeast, but even  sometimes used them to their advantage.

        A gannet tagged with a tracking device approaching the New Jersey shore as Hurricane Sandy neared, turned and flew back out to sea where he skirted the storm, before flying to New Jersey.

        The comparison with some allegedly more intelligent members of our species is inevitable.

       

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        I have these last few days been paring words from a couple of magazine articles. This has not been as difficult as I expected, though some style and grace are lost.  When I add new pieces to the articles page after they are published, they will be the uncut versions which may differ substantially from the published.

        For true brevity perhaps nothing can match the extraordinary video linked to this date’s NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day site, which relates the history of  human existence in I minute and 29 seconds, from Big Bang to the present. 

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        Last evening I had a telephone conversation with David Hodges of Santa Cruz Sails, who is well known as an offshore Moore 24 sailor and was kind enough to share his experience with me.

        As to increasing the size of the standing rigging as I have on past boats, David said perhaps the lowers, but not the uppers because you are then just going to be transmitting loads elsewhere.

        I also have been thinking that GANNET is so light and gives way so quickly to the wind, that the stresses on her will be much less than on heavier boats.

        David reaffirmed that Ballinger Spars is the place to go for a new mast and that I should specify the stiffer of their two options.

        He also noted that the mast step is an area where problems often develop with age.  He has removed the block of wood beneath the step and filled the space with resin.  Many owners have used Phenolic G10.

        Of rudders, he said the shaft is stainless steel--as did Ronnie Simpson in a recent email he sent me--and the bearings have never been a problem.  He has, however, bent two rudder shafts.  On both occasions while trying to prevent the boat from rounding up while planing.  He has decided that it may be better just to let the boat round up; but has also had the top of the rudder shaft removed, the shaft filled with epoxy, and then the top welded back on.  Since doing that, he has no more problems.

        I will certainly drop the rudder and check it and the bearings next year; and filling the shaft with epoxy, which I would not have thought of myself, seems a very good idea.

        Of the mast step, I am not concerned.

        One of GANNET’s strengths is the job Steve, her last owner, did recoring her deck.  I’ve drilled many more holes than I like into it and found the core perfectly dry every time.

        I did email him this morning asking if he had any observations about the mast step.  He quickly replied that the step is solid G-10 with extensive new balsa core around it.

        Thank you, Steve, both for the information and your excellent work.

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        I have updated the GANNET page under “The Boats.”

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        I neglected to mention in my previous post that my birthday evening ended not just with Laphroaig but music.

        Deliberately the very last track I listened to with my last sip of Laphroaig, before turning off the fireplace and going to bed, was from Michael Nyman’s soundtrack to THE PIANO:  “To The Edge of The Earth.”