Angel Island Cruise by B.J. Blackburn

Our voyage to Angel Island from San Rafael was to be our first extended sail aboard Music Maker since taking delivery. It began ominously with transmission problems. It was turning out to be near impossible to get into forward gear without minutes of fiddling with the shifter, leaving us drifting backwards out of our slip. After several near collisions we were able to move again, deciding to risk it and go to the Island anyway, after all, we were carrying the barbecue ingredients.

The sail down took longer than we'd planned due to a strong flood and contrary winds. Still the trip was exhilarating. We had to pull multiple tacks in tight quarters to beat our way past the Richmond bridge amongst all the construction barges and buoys. It was excellent exercise to get used to our boat, which has very nice sailing characteristics. Once past the bridge, the winds rotated a bit and gave us a close reach all the way to Angel Island.

More problems getting the transmission into forward upon reaching Ayala cove, but we got it working and got the sails down. Pulling into the cove was like a home-coming, and I couldn't help but smile from ear-to-ear. The place was packed with boats and we motored past Dave and Roberta Johnson while looking for our own spot. We then proceeded to the end farthest from the docks where we passed Hugh and Joanne Linn. We found a spot and Amy made quick work of acquiring a buoy for the bow. Then Hugh and Joanne appeared in their dinghy to take our stern line. Given the skittish transmission, I couldn't have been more grateful - Thanks again, Hugh and Joanne! Soon we were resting easy between the two buoys, all without providing hardly any entertainment to the other boat's crews.

I inflated our able shore-craft and piled the whole family in. Lauren and Matthew couldn't wait to hit the beach. We rowed in and let the kids play while the Linns and Johnsons rested aboard.

As the evening rolled around and most of the tourists left the island, we rowed back to the boat to pack up the evenings victuals and getashore to start the party. Upon our return to shore, I laid out the barbecue and had a celebratory beer, while Amy took the kids to thebeach for one last frolic. Soon Dave and Roberta appeared and Dave immediately commenced to preparing his world-renown Painkillers. Hugh and Joanne arrived shortly thereafter and got the party into full swing. It was a small group, but we had a blast chatting, eating and drinking more than one of Dave's infamous con-coctions.

All too soon the party was over. We invited everyone to make a quick stop by Music Maker to give them the tour. Afterwards it was time to retire.

It's hard to describe this next part without seeming like I'm bragging, so I'll be brief. Thanks to the miracle of a well-insulated hotwater heater and the Ericson 35's separate shower stall, there was still hot water aboard for everyone to take e brief shower! After getting the kids into bed, I took a minute to let the hot water pour over me and thought to myself - it simply does not get any better!

The next morning dawned clear and glorious, though it had been a chilly night. Amy hadn't slept well, so after breakfast, I took the kids to the beach while she had a nap. While rowing over I noticed that the Linns had left early, as they said they would the previous evening. The kids had a good hour with the beach all to themselves before the first ferries started arriving with the days visitors. I waved I saw the Johnsons head out. A little later, after prying the kids off the beach with promises of future Angel Island trips soon, we returned to make good our own departure.

We cast off the lines and......Couldn't get the transmission in forward. Luckily the currents and wind were light, and we were staying put pretty well. I started thinking about how I could reverse out into the bay, raise sail, then later, lower sail and reverse into our slip. Then it happened, I made one last try to engage forward gear, there was a loud CLUNK, and the shifter went limp in my hand, the cable had broken or become disconnected! My unhappiness at yet another mechanical failure was exceeded only by my rapidly growing sense of panic at being adrift so close to shore and other boats. Then I noticed we were moving forward. The transmission had engaged one last time! We were saved, if only we could get all the way back to San Rafael without stopping for anything! And so that is what we did.

As of this writing, we are still struggling to get a mechanic to come out for a look. Turns out these folks are kept pretty busy in the bay area, and everyone we've contacted is at least two weeks out from being available. I have high hopes that we'll have this glitch resolved soon, and though it did dampen my spirits a bit, the whole family still had a wonderful time on the cruise.

Follow-up Note - Aug 2004: I am happy to report that Music Maker is fully operational again! See you on the water.

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Regatta Report by Bill Lewis

An E-27 Fleet One member again was in the top three boats in the now annual "Round the Rock" race. Homus, skippered by Josh Dvorson took second place overall while Charette and Ericka took 6th and 7th place respectively out of a fleet of 10.

There was ample wind at the starting gun and the fleet was closely packed.The weather report had predicted 10-25 knots with gusts and I had actually considered reefing, but decided to wait for the actual wind to show up. Ericka was fitted with her new boom and a freshly scrubbed bottom. Homus had called in and said that they hoped to make the start, but weren't sure they would. Well-they did. I saw them briefly positioning for the start and didn't see them again once the gun went off.

We followed the fleet on starboard tack, but there were tankers around and I was wary of getting in their wind shadow, so I went on Port tack. Soon, we got a lift and we were pointed directly at Alcatraz. Hoohah! We were in good shape. About 15 minutes later, the wind started petering out for everyone. I felt good as there is usually an offshore breeze generated by land thermals and we actually were creeping along, albeit slowly. But soon, we stopped and were slatting along with everyone else.

After a whike, the boats out in the middle were starting to move, but we weren't. We were doing lazy circles waiting for the wind to get to us. It took a while and we would go a ways and then stop-then go a ways more -then stop, We finally got a continuous breeze, but we had lost ground and never caught up. The breeze kept building and we were rail-in-the-water from the city front to Alcatraz. We also had to tack more than once around Alcatraz as the flood was pushing us into the shoal. We did finally get around and headed for the East side of the channel where we felt the city buildings wouldn't block our wind. We were on a flood now and got pushed through the Bay Bridge-even when there was no wind. Strangely, the boats closer to the city front were moving better-against all logic. we were making headway, but there was this little Gaff-rigged catboat slipping along making unbelievable time downwind. Since they were the only boat in sight, we were trying vainly to come in ahead of them. Sadly, they finished about 90 seconds ahead of us (and took 3rd overall on corected time). We were downcast, but at least we had beat the "Marley" boat. They were a 32-foot yacht who were playing Reggae music really loud.

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Tides and Currents...

Since we now have at least 4 members with Ericsons larger than 27 feet. It has been suggested the Fleet name be changed to a more generic one. This might also open the membership to a larger group. Of course, we don't have manuals on all the Ericsons, but we could still have a fun cruising group.

Name suggestion with the most appeal is Ericson Fleet One however, the membership needs to voice an opinion. You can email your editor or send a postcard to register your opinion. Results will be published in the next newsletter.

Rememer the Lundbergs?

Maurie & Joy Lundberg were very active members in the Fleet when I joined in 1982. Maurie raced Skol in our annual regattas and was essentially unbeatable every year. About 5 or 6 years ago, The Lundbergs sold Skol and moved to Santa Rosa.In May, Chris and I were in Santa Rosa for a dog show and we called the Lundbergs on the chance we would catch them.

They are doing fine. Maurie, now 80, enjoys table tennis. They are both enjoying an active life. They send their regards to the Fleet members.

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Boom Story

When my boom snapped under the Golden Gate on Mother’s Day, I was annoyed, but I had no idea what it would take to get a new boom back on Ericka. I spent a few days searching the internet for a replacement for the teardrop section that had broken, but had no luck. The owner’s manual identified the section as a Forespar brand. They didn’t show up on the internet and I finally ended up at the Rig-Rite/Kenyon site. They didn’t have the section in question. I was beginning to believe I would not be able to find the identical section, so I ordered a Kenyon “E” section boom extrusion ($169 plus $150 shipping) which is used on many 28'yachts. At the time, I also ordered bails, an end cap and a gooseneck fitting ($189) for the for-ward end of the boom. The hardware arrived well in advance of the boom extrusion. I looked at the gooseneck fitting and, not only was it 4-5 inches longer than my existing fitting, but, it only had two horizontally opposed ears for gooseneck attachment, This would only allow two axes of rotation for the boom; sideways and up and down. It would not allow twist.

I recalled that Eric Quamen had written me about a boom built for him which did not have a twist feature and that a hard jibe had done major damage to the gooseneck fitting. He had then modified his gooseneck fitting and that had allowed the required rotation. I pondered how I might adapt the Kenyon-supplied end piece to allow rotation, but could not come up with a satisfactory solution. Besides, the forward end of the boom would be sitting 5 inches away from the mast.

I decided to try and duplicate Ericka’s existing boom cap and have it machined. Since I had the end cap for the new boom, I could trace the portion that fit into the boom fairly closely. Then, I attempted to approximate the conical front end with an 8-sided pyramid. It was ugly, plus I couldn’t get a machine shop to bid it. Another idea struck me. I could design the exact part I wanted using a computer design tool have at work called SolidWorks. Once designed in 3-D (see page 7) I mailed the file to a rapid prototyping facility to make a real part in plastic using a process called stereolithography. This plastic part is then used as a pattern to make an aluminum sand casting which would be the final piece that goes into the boom end.

It took me 3 or 4 evenings to complete the design. It was necessary to incorporate “draft” (vertical walls sloping at 3 degrees) to have a good casting and a reusable pattern. In about 10 days from when I started, I was holding the aluminum piece in my hand. Total price for the finished part was $410. Future castings from this pattern would be about $250. Meanwhile, the boom had arrived and the fit was good, although a bit loose. A few properly placed shims, glued in place created a snug fit and I was able to bolt the end cap on with (4) 1/4-20 cap screws. I had also transferred all the cleats, and blocks from my old boom to the new one. I used ring bails instead of collar-type bails for the main sheet so I would not repeat the corrosion-entrapment scenario. It was tedious work grinding down the heads of the frozen screws to remove hardware from the old boom. So, when installing new hardware, I used an anti-siezing compound called “Lancote” on all the screws to prevent them from becoming “frozen” in the boom.

About a week before the regatta, I installed the new boom on Ericka and it dropped right in, thanks to the preparation. If I had used the Kenyon-supplied fitting, my sail cover would not have fit , so that was an additional plus. The total for the replacement boom was about $1100, but I got what I wanted - a stronger boom with no compromise in functionality.

- Bill Lewis -

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August Cruise...

The August cruise was scheduled for Point Richmond on the 28-29. I received a call from Al Gates with regrets that he would not be able to host the Fleet this year as he has encountered rot on his dock and back porch. He will be having a lot of work done to fix it up. He left the door open for a future cruise.

I have been trying to secure the Oakland Yacht Club for the same date and have not received a confirmation, however, it looks hopeful. If you have an alternate in mind, please check it out and let us know.

We are still looking at Coyote Point for September.

Follow-up Note - Aug 2004: Oakland is confirmed.

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The E-27 Fleet One Newsletter is published monthly during the cruising season. You are invited to contribute articles, comments, recipes, or just about anything of general interest to the membership. Please review our content submission guidelines for details.