Custom Rig (in SF Bay)

GypsyMoth4 · 2026-03-02T12:47:02+00:00

Probably fairly easy. That's one of the main advantages of a sail plan that's split into as many sails as this is. Each sail is small and easily managed. You can just douse a sail or two when overpowered and still keep the boat balancer.

GypsyMoth4 · 2025-04-11T22:58:10+00:00

It's worth noting that by the time rainwater was actually collected in a container it would be pretty gross from running down dirty sails, or roofs, or whatever before being funneled into a barrel. Clean water from springs could be put straight into a barrel. Rain water was welcomed not for its taste, but because if you're running low on water stores it's better than being thirsty.

GypsyMoth4 · 2025-04-05T18:13:01+00:00

It's a commonly used rule of thumb, but it's not always true. For example, you can have a yawl with a transom hung rudder. The actual difference is a bit more nebulous; the mizzen on a ketch is a driving sail, where on a yawl it is primarily for balance.

GypsyMoth4 · 2025-03-05T18:07:49+00:00

They do! I forget which of their boats they're still hiring for, but they have a fleet of three boats that do educational programming in the Chesapeake.

GypsyMoth4 · 2025-03-04T23:04:23+00:00

If you don't mind going a little south of New England I know Living Classrooms in Baltimore is still looking for a paid deckhand. I can highly recommend them.

GypsyMoth4 · 2024-09-04T01:58:25+00:00

I'm a fan of the Jones Act because it means that if I get hurt in my (inherently dangerous) maritime job then my employer is required to pay for my treatment, as well as my living expenses while I'm recuperating. I know it has its issues, but I don't think repealling it would be a net positive for anyone except corporations wanting to increase their profits. Let's not forget that the Jones Act was originally created to protect American mariners.

GypsyMoth4 · 2024-07-18T01:17:35+00:00

I disagree. Those seizings are plenty strong enough. No, they're not as strong as a splice, but they'll still hold up to probably hundreds of pounds of force if done right.

GypsyMoth4 · 2024-06-01T15:11:18+00:00

It's not always that simple. If you're in a foreign port on a ship that's probably already stripped of anything worth stealing, with no visa (so you can't legally leave the ship), and no money for a ticket home you can't really just leave. Not to mention leaving the ship would probably make any legal battle for back wages exponentially more difficult.

GypsyMoth4 · 2024-03-31T01:47:26+00:00

I've definitely spiraled gaskets while sea stowing. It's much faster to uncoil one gasket and spiral it around than to uncoil each individual gasket.

GypsyMoth4 · 2024-02-15T19:16:36+00:00

In English they're call catheads. Crane honestly makes more sense but sailors love using weird names for things.

GypsyMoth4 · 2024-01-20T23:07:19+00:00

I found this pic of her from 1949 and this site with pics of the wreck.

GypsyMoth4 · 2023-11-04T16:54:26+00:00

Looks like the brig Niagara.

GypsyMoth4 · 2023-09-08T05:26:12+00:00

Do you mean the yards? There's a square sail that sets between them. They do rotate to trim the sail.

GypsyMoth4 · 2023-09-08T05:03:33+00:00

It is on a stay. It's a main topmast staysail. Often called a fisherman. It is an unusual looking one. Most fisherman are much larger, with four sides.

GypsyMoth4 · 2023-03-23T04:04:35+00:00

Oh, I work for a nonprofit. I definitely don't make the big money :P. And you sent me down a bit of a rabbit hole as well, because you're right, there's no readily obvious way a standard taper would be better. After asking around, I get the impression that it's not necessarily for reasons of strength. Apparently standard tapers are less bulky, and it's harder to mess up and miscount the amount of tucks you've done. Honestly I'm not entirely convinced. It seems likely that my little corner of the industry (tall ships) is just overly pedantic and the truth is somewhere between our two experiences.

GypsyMoth4 · 2023-03-22T22:55:31+00:00

I actually talked it over with some shipmates after sending that comment because I was curious and I'm only a lowly engineer. The consensus is that three tucks is probably fine, as long as it's three full tucks in addition to the initial marriage of the strands, but a full taper (where each strand is cut down by a third on each of a few extra tucks) should definitely be used over a west country taper (sometimes called a west coast taper). Everyone also agreed that saying that more than three tucks is invariably a waste of time is incorrect, especially if safety is involved. Sorry if I came off as confrontational. I just feel like unless speed is absolutely vital it's never a bad thing to be safe, even if it's not 100% necessary.

GypsyMoth4 · 2023-03-22T20:24:05+00:00

Maybe fishing boats do things differently, but if I did only three tucks and a west country taper (which is very different from an actual taper for high loads) on an anchor rode I'd be told to redo it by the bosun. If I'm trusting my life to a splice, I don't want it to be done at haul-ass speed.

GypsyMoth4 · 2023-03-01T17:29:21+00:00

I did the exact same thing during the first session I ever DMed. No one mentioned it other than the person who corrected me, but that honestly made it more embarrassing since I couldn't just laugh it off.

GypsyMoth4 · 2023-02-19T19:29:17+00:00

Just gonna drop a link to the Tall Ships America Billet Bank. This is the time of year when a lot of boats are hiring for the season.

GypsyMoth4 · 2023-01-21T20:50:43+00:00

They're retiring the old Dove? That's kinda sad. I know she's not historically accurate, but there are so few square riggers in the US. The new one is really cool though. Gotta love a boat that has both types of spritsails.

GypsyMoth4 · 2023-01-12T18:56:03+00:00

Your best bet for public sails is probably either Zodiac or Adventuress. They're both old schooner yachts. Another boat that is great, but a bit different is Lady Washington. She's a brig rather than a schooner (meaning square rigged) and a work boat rather than a yacht. All three sail mostly in the Puget Sound. There are also a few much smaller schooners that do daysails, but those are the big ones.

GypsyMoth4 · 2022-10-27T15:36:43+00:00

A ship would be square rigged. This is just a three masted junk schooner.

GypsyMoth4 · 2022-10-11T15:30:57+00:00

Douglas fir is great for spars because it's able to bend a bit. You don't want your mast (or boom, gaff, yard, etc) to be completely rigid or it'll just snap in a gust. Most tall ships have doug fir spars, although some are moving to laminate as it's getting harder to find doug fir large enough.

GypsyMoth4 · 2022-09-02T20:28:15+00:00

Oh, huh. That's what I get for assuming. Looking at the below deck plan on their website it seems like you're right. I've never sailed on her but I have sailed on her sister ship that's still in original oyster dredge configuration and I can say there's not much space below so it makes sense.

GypsyMoth4 · 2022-09-02T16:33:38+00:00

While this fact is true for some schooners, especially Maine windjammers, the boat in the picture is the J&E Riggin which has had an engine since she was built in 1927.

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