Jeese, this is all boaters need - another reason to drink. The shots shown in the picture look a little girly, where’s the amber colored rum? Regardless, whoever created this, I like the cut of their jib.

An ode to Jason.

Not to poo on their engineering feat, but doesn’t it look like it should spin the other way?

Ellodine (her intended name) actually started off with a bang, but dwindled as house chores, other boats and life came along. Once I get going, I enjoy every minute of the work. I love it - probably the best thing a guy stuck behind a keyboard can do - legally. Last night I began fitting the next plank to the hull I finished framing over 3 years ago. I figure once I knock out this planking and flip the boat right-side-up at the very least I’ll have a life raft in the event of a major hurricane. If it’s not done, and a big flood hits - oh man, I’ll never hear the end of that one. Call me Noah.

Some pics from last night.

The entire Penobscot 14 Gallery is here.

More pics here: Construction, Gallery

Based on a true story.

This sweltering nightmare of V-berth barbecue took place about 2:00 a.m. at Beer Can Island in Tampa Bay, Saturday June 20th. Along for this adventure was CannonBall and JackKnife, my devoted crew. They had both fallen asleep earlier in the cockpit watching a Rambo DVD JackKife smuggled aboard. I had gone below and figured the V-berth would be the most painful sleeping area, hoping to leave the more choice berths for the boys to divvy up. I was right about the painful part. Mariola was astonishingly hot down below, even though it was actually quite comfortable up on deck. I tried to sweat it out but couldn’t do it. Around 2:00 a.m. I grabbed my soggy pillow and headed topside, determined to sleep on any flat part of the deck. On my way I noticed JackKnife on the starboard settee so I was looking forward to a vacant cockpit seat. There was one! It was much cooler, but the unjustifiably named “cushions” are hard as a rock - not meant for a long-term prone position. The sleep process was: roll on side, sleep until numb, roll to other side, repeat. It’s amazing how long it takes the sun to come up when you are praying (weeping) for it.

Now, all this suffering could most likely have been avoided. About a month ago I bought a really nice 12v Endless Breeze Fan and have used it - the fan moves a lot of air and will run all night on Mariola’s dual batt bank. Problem is, it needs to be setup (taken out of the locker and plugged in) and it’s difficult to aim it on everybody. Mariola also came equipped with a windscoop. This, I had never attempted to setup until this night - not even unrolled it. Both of these anti-heat measures may have made it bearable down below - unfortunately there was no way to use them. The captain had been posioned. I’m not exactly sure who the evildoer was - it may have been both of them.  I felt disoriented, staggering around, having trouble with my hand-eye coordination - those bastards. My margaritas were in no-way “virgin”. Double-crossed again. The sight of me and CannonBall on the bow, trying to stay on our feet, half-tangled up in an upside-down, inside-out windscoop must have given the other Beer Can overnighters a good laugh.

Beer Can Island (actual name is Pine Key) is an o.k. little drinking destination up near the Big Bend Power Plant in Tampa Bay. It was about a 5 hour sail from our homeport of Gulfport. The water was not the nice turquoise color you find out at Egmont and the crowd seemed a little more power-boat, power-drink oriented.  Partner that with the every-10-minute-cargo-ship and you don’t feel as detached from the mainland as you hoped. I will probably not go back here, but it was still a fun exploration. Something that had to be experienced. Even though the forecast for the weekend was extreme heat, the air was breezy and comfortable out on Tampa Bay. We just need to figure out how to pump it down below - or make deck sleeping more comfortable. The best part on the way to Beer Can, sailing across the bay. We deployed Patches and drug behind the boat. The water was great and there was only one minor incident.

Live and learn, I’ll be more prepared next time, and more diligent when it comes to lime flavoured refreshments.

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I saw this story in Sea History, a quality quarterly magazine produced by The National Maritime Historical Society. The article says that after recent tests, the ship’s hull strength is 92% of original condition from when she was built in 1950. The building of the SS United States was a joint partnership between the U.S. government and United States Lines as a passenger ship built to Navy specifications so that she could easily be converted to a troop transport ship. Technically, I guess she belongs to all of us. Hopefully the story will have a happy ending.

Another good article on the SS United States in Popular Mechanics .