Tag Archives: Traditional Boats

Can You Scull an 18,000lb boat? Yes You Can.

13 Tuesday Aug 2019

Posted by in Engineless Sailing, Modifications, Sculling oar, Techniques, Tactics, Tips

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Sculling the Far Reach out of her slip on 25 Nov 2018 at the beginning of my singlehanded voyage from North Carolina to the Virgin Islands.

During the six year rebuild of the Far Reach I decided to remove and sell the original Perkins 4-108 50 hp diesel engine (you can read more about the decision process to ditch the engine here). We initially relied on a sculling oar to propel and maneuver the boat for the first year after the launch which included 3,500nm of sailing and a voyage to the Virgin Islands and back to North Carolina.

 

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Stepping It Up

28 Saturday Apr 2018

Posted by in Equipment, Modifications, Uncategorized, Upgrades

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The removable dinghy step is about 24” long x 9” wide.  The sub frame is iroko and the treads are teak.

We have found getting from the dinghy up to the Far Reach is not always so easy. It’s a little over 40” from the waterline to the top of  the bulwarks.  It’s not just us.  I think many cruisers find climbing from the dinghy to the mothership a challenge, especially as we get older.  And, the traditional stern on the Far Reach means the best way to embark or debark is along-side vice over the stern.  Many modern sailboat designs include the now ubiquitous “sugar-scoop” transom, which greatly simplifies the task of getting from the dinghy to the sailboat.  The disadvantage of a sugar-transom is that it makes the boat less secure.   It’s easy for an  unwanted visitor to get aboard the boat by clandestinely swimming up to the stern and crawling up and over the sugar-scoop.  And sugar scoops, generally, detract from the aesthetics of the boat. But I digress.

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