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I found this Flicka 20 and Pacific Seacraft 25 bowsprit and bow platform diagram in my boat papers and realized I had never posted it. It came with Sampaguita when I purchased her. I believe it to be accurate. A previous owner replaced Sampaguita‘s bowsprit. They opted to use a solid piece of teak. I believe the factory sprit was laminated Douglas Fir (or Spruce.) The teak has proven rot-resistant and strong… Read More
Thank you Latitude 38 and ‘Lectronic Latitude editor, Monica Grant, for publishing the latest installment of The Resourceful Sailor with a rare hard copy appearance in the August 2024 edition of the magazine. In this piece I give experiential insight on Sampaguita’s solar energy solution while voyaging. I wrote this while at anchor in La Paz, Mexico waiting for the season to head for Marquesas.
This is pretty much what it is, except when it isn’t. The boat goes tick-tock from side to side as the following sea rolls under it. A soundtrack to fall asleep to. A motion to hypnotize you. It just goes on and on. The grey skies make it chilly and moist. Everything salty sucks up the moisture. Foulies keep you dry and warm. And a hot cup of tea……
Beam on and reefed down, charging across the trades. Beam on is wetter, but faster. Also, I was pinned down on the starboard tack, which made the ride more comfortable. Downwind sailing in the trades is a very rolly experience which makes for less predictable motion. I spilled more things going downwind in the trades than I did beam on. Just sayin’.
This is a pretty rare occurrence:
The thing about amateur video is that you don’t see anything really exciting. Because then the equipment would get ruined from salt water exposure. And if it’s amateur, who can afford that? So what you get is boring video like this.
This video is from the Southeast trades, headed north. My goal was to make as much easting as I could in the more easterly blowing SE trades. The further I could get, the better set-up for getting across the Northeast trades, which are truly NE, to Hawaii. I made about 120 NM easting over the SE trades. This proved to be enough.
Sampaguita had a couple Fin whales(I think) swimming with her for about a half an hour a few hundred miles west of Washington State. They clearly knew what they were doing and would get very close. In this instance I didn’t worry. No tails came up and they were clearly swimming WITH Sampaguita and fully aware of her. Unfortunately it was dusk, so no video. You’ll have to take my word for… Read More
I decided to climb the mast in the North Pacific Ocean. There were light seas and wind. I was under full sail. Here is some video and the lessons learned. It was harder than I expected. I’d done it in a rolly anchorage, but this was a whole other level of sway and swing. (It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing, right?)
People ask what I eat on a Flicka 20 with no refrigeration. This is a Sampaguita classic. Thanks to ‘Lectronic Latitude for publishing this on June 17, 2024. Thanks Monica. Click here for the full article.
sailingwithjosh
Sailing With Josh 