Monsoon Dervish

<< First  < Prev   1   2   3   4   Next >  Last >> 
  • 16 Jun 2011 04:14
    Reply # 622663 on 622306
    Deleted user
    Annie Hill wrote:

    - He used cheap rope or whatever he found in the garbage.
    Bernard Moitessier would be proud of him. 

    What an interesting bloke.  I shall save up my pennies and get hold of a copy, if only so he can keep on sailing!
    The guy, justifiably, skimped on everything in his fit out. But I dont think it served him well in the halyard department. Each time that rope parted he was basically stuffed, until he climbed the mast & reaved in another wholly suspect poly rope (which was all he could find in Madagascar)...  and full apart again not long after..
    It was the only component on the boat that would have paid if he chosen quality to begin with. Sail material didnt matter, he still made port with it ripped to shreds, not bad those junks.
  • 15 Jun 2011 23:59
    Reply # 622306 on 577931
    - Cut flat
    - He could point high enough to stay off a lee shore in a blow
    Well, more than a few people would agree with that one.  There are sufficient junk rigged boats sailing around without engines and with flat sails that this point must have been proved.  Of course, eventually the blow may be too strong, there may be an onshore current, the sea maybe exceptionally disturbed, etc, etc.
    - He advocates a hefty boom, so that "when" all the battens are broken, the boom and masthead still allow sail to be spread. He cautions that this stresses the mast more than usual.
    My own approach would be to carry more spare battens :-)
    - He survived knockdowns and a rollover without breaking his solid timber mast.
    Now that is really interesting.  I know someone who is very anti-junk rig and one of the arguments he puts forward, which I have until now never been able to refute, is that a junk rig will lose her sticks in a complete rollover.  It's almost worth buying the book to be able to quote it.  But on second thoughts, he'd just say the guy is lying!  
    - He managed to make the boat self-steer by tying-off the tiller with the wind forward of the beam,
    Should be possible on most boats, and particularly with junk rig.and eventually with the wind dead astern, but I don't think he ever managed it (without his often-broken windvane) with the wind anywhere between a dead run and a beam reach.
    With larger yachts, this is an argument for two sails - much easier to balance the boat.
    - He didn't find Dacron worthwhile to use as a sail material, since it wore out in 2 years and cost 10x the price of cotton.
    :-)
    - He says the worst sailing conditions were in a sloppy calm.
    :-)
    - He used cheap rope or whatever he found in the garbage.
    Bernard Moitessier would be proud of him. 

    What an interesting bloke.  I shall save up my pennies and get hold of a copy, if only so he can keep on sailing!
  • 15 Jun 2011 13:11
    Reply # 621891 on 577931
    Deleted user
    Here's an interesting interview with Kris Larson while he was in Madagascar.

    Last modified: 15 Jun 2011 13:18 | Deleted user
  • 13 Jun 2011 22:38
    Reply # 620459 on 577931
    From memory, here's what he says about his junk rig:

    - Made after he read Practical Junk Rig
    - Cut flat
    - He could point high enough to stay off a lee shore in a blow
    - He advocates a hefty boom, so that "when" all the battens are broken, the boom and masthead still allow sail to be spread. He cautions that this stresses the mast more than usual.
    - He survived knockdowns and a rollover without breaking his solid timber mast.
    - He managed to make the boat self-steer by tying-off the tiller with the wind forward of the beam, and eventually with the wind dead astern, but I don't think he ever managed it (without his often-broken windvane) with the wind anywhere between a dead run and a beam reach.
    - He didn't find Dacron worthwhile to use as a sail material, since it wore out in 2 years and cost 10x the price of cotton.
    - He says the worst sailing conditions were in a sloppy calm.
    - He used cheap rope or whatever he found in the garbage.

    I'm sure I'm forgetting some stuff. I should have written this down while I was reading the book...
  • 13 Jun 2011 03:20
    Reply # 619842 on 577931
    I just finished reading Monsoon Dervish today. Like someone said earlier, it's a nice departure from usual cruising books. I liked it. 
  • 12 May 2011 21:33
    Reply # 590005 on 589273
    Deleted user
    Slieve McGalliard wrote:Going back to Erik the Red, what is the real value of such a book? I have 2 good copies sitting on the bookshelf behind me in the study, and when I asked Warsash Nautical Books what they were worth they offered me serious money for a copy without seeing what it looked like. Maybe I should leave them to the grandchildren.
    Cheers
    Slieve

    Amazon UK says three used, from 50GBP to 216GBP

    Amazon US says 1 Used-Good $150 and 1 Collectible-Very Good $160

    Amazon Japan says ??????... 28,335 Yen

    Canada, France, Germany, Italy no gots.


  • 11 May 2011 23:49
    Reply # 589273 on 577931
    Going back to Erik the Red, what is the real value of such a book? I have 2 good copies sitting on the bookshelf behind me in the study, and when I asked Warsash Nautical Books what they were worth they offered me serious money for a copy without seeing what it looked like. Maybe I should leave them to the grandchildren.
    Cheers
    Slieve
  • 11 May 2011 16:04
    Reply # 588864 on 588670
    Deleted user
    Alan "Maddog!" MacBride wrote: "A book that has been read at sea has a near claim on our friendship, and is a thing one is loth to part with, or change, even for a better book." - J. Slocum, Voyage of the Liberdade
    That one's on Kindle :)

    Asmat:  exchange thumb drives (?)
  • 11 May 2011 13:08
    Reply # 588670 on 577931
    Deleted user
    "A book that has been read at sea has a near claim on our friendship, and is a thing one is loth to part with, or change, even for a better book." - J. Slocum, Voyage of the Liberdade
  • 11 May 2011 12:06
    Reply # 588619 on 577931
    Don't buy a Kindle! One of the chief joys of cruising is meeting fellow sailors for a yarn, a glass of wine and a BOOK SWAPPING SESSION. How the hell will we do that once everybody's kindled their paper books?
<< First  < Prev   1   2   3   4   Next >  Last >> 
       " ...there is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as simply messing about in junk-rigged boats" 
                                                               - the Chinese Water Rat

                                                              Site contents © the Junk Rig Association and/or individual authors

Powered by Wild Apricot Membership Software