SPRING 1998

Hello to 1998 hopes, dreams, ambitions and targeted goals. For many 1998 will see fulfillment of long ago dreams and future planning. For others, yet the dawn of their YEAR 2000 conviction. The common denominator for so many is the dedication to 'Relax & Enjoy' by sailing to warmer climes, leaving the 'work a day world' behind. Nothing really new here except the shear number who seem to be making this happen. My prediction is that there is going to be one Hell of a Party at anchorages throughout the cruising grounds of the world. What a time to own a pair of those ITT Night Vision glasses

Kurt Hansen, builder of the Whitby 42 and Whitby 55 as well as Alberg 30s and 37s, and a few thousand other boats in his life, passed away December 6, 1997 in Florida. He built a fine yacht and because of his skills and ingenuity and high standards of 'doing it right', many have enjoyed the spirit of yachting safely, in the knowledge that their vessel was well found and would take them when & where needed. I have sailed thousands of Ocean miles with Kurt in both the racing and cruising modes. Recently I have shared the condolences many of you have asked to be expressed to Doris, who shared their life since they were teens..........May he rest in peace.

The British Columbia Rendezvous was a first time event for me. Jack Cooper organized that I shared the weekend with Barb Clark and Gord Mullin on board Mirth as their guest.. In fact I boarded in Vancouver and sailed with them for the entire weekend attending not only the Whitby Get Together but also the Blue Water Cruising Association Picnic. I must mention here that their yacht has a port side main cabin change that I found very appealing. It is set up like a bench seat/breakfast nook athwartship and has more function and comfort than the conventional layout. Also a big thanks to Barb for enduring both the flu and me at the same time. The Whitby Event was well attended and included a bit of an informal workshop/info-sharing meeting chaired by the designer, Ted Brewer and myself. Ted provided insight as to the origin of the Whitby concept and its development along with vignettes of wisdom as challenged.

Copy-sets of original Whitby drawings were available for $100. U.S. from Ted. For anyone undertaking repairs and or wanting the cutting edge of understanding the Whitby, the drawings are priceless. And besides they are something you JUST NEED. They included the Brewer 12.8 and 44 changes in hull configuration and the centreboard version. If interested contact Ted directly. His address is: P.O. Box 187, Lyman, Washington, 98263. By the way, you can link directly to Ted Brewers' WEBSITE from mine. However he doesn't do 'e-mail"

The entire weekend was one of great weather and relaxed camaraderie. I have been talking with Ted about attending again this year and while he is planning to attend, I need to make some final arrangements. I thank the association for the stainless cup appropriately engraved and hope I get there this year with more input to share. I must mention that on rather short notice we arrived at Maple Bay Yacht Club in the Gulf Islands and the hospitality and warmth of reception made our stay most enjoyable. I see from this year's invitation the event will be there again and what a place to do it.

During my visit I met Sarah & Darrell Dunagan, who had just purchased Hull #200 and did a refit including enlargement of the rudder. After a sail from Oregon to Mexico they found they had some rudder problems. Haul out & inspection showed that they had a break in the weldments inside the rudder. As shared before when making this change, consider the whole project. Primary in my mind is always the integrity of the hydraulic lines themselves. What Sarah & Darrell have done seems to make sense and I wish them well on there journey to the millennium. A full account of their experience was published in the regular Whitby and Brewer association newsletter.

If you are not a member, it is $10. per year and published by Bernie Boykin, 1919 Ruxton Road, Baltimore, MD 21204-3510........Ph. 410 828 5690.
Just before publishing this, Bernie shared with me that he has now heard of two more rudder failures. It is not evident at release time if these also were enlarged rudders. Bernie will report on them in his next Newsletter. 1998 British Columbia Rendezvous will once again be held on the May long weekend of the 16th.

A summer of sailing on Andrew Skerlec's Whitby "Toberua ll"provided some of that much needed experience to evaluate all the ways to enjoy these wonderful vessels. She is now at my new office for a REFIT being done by Nautical Masters Inc. but more about that later. She'll look like she has been just built. And then, as though I hadn't spent enough time with Whitbys yet, I went off to the East Coast to enjoy and share even more.

The Annapolis Whitby 42 Rendezvous, at the homes of Pat and Alice Drenning and next door neighbour, Bruce Rankin, all of whom are not only owners of Whitby 42s, but have been and are very Alberg 30 experienced and association active.. The Alberg 30 Association rendezvous was held the same weekend and only a few doors away. Alice was well organized in the party perspective with all the ingredients of great hospitality organized while guests had little to do but to enjoy. Two days of Dock Chat and Cocktails, with evening and morning meal time get togethers and an informal workshop on medical practise & procedure. Chaired by Richard Falk M.D,owner of Nocturne a Brewer 44, who, with a great sense of humor, walked us through the responsibility & technical issues of preventative care and the limitations of our expertise. I found his concepts refreshing, competent and realistic. Essence of the conversation, aside from all the technical medical knowledge he imparted, was that prior planning and preparation are primary. Know your crews' physical state of health and that it is compatable with the challenges that lie ahead. Surprises in the middle of a bad situation are something no skipper enjoys.

I was invited to Bruce Rankins secret Cave where his workshop and his systems-centre are located. He has all the essence of a full manufacturing base down there from fine dry woods to lathes, articulate tools, epoxy and FRP fabrication area to a finishing station. WOW! All the right tools and equipment to do that little job properly. Thank you for sharing.

1998 Annapolis Rendezvous will again be the weekend prior to the Boat Show and at the same super place.

Visiting Brewers proves to be a very new and positive experience. Being aboard a 12.8, "19th GREEN" at the Annapolis Rendezvous with her new owners Ed Plotts and Nina Daddario was one such occasion. By general consensus it is apparent that many innovative ideas were executed on the Fort Myers vessels and are easy to include in the revitalizing of some of the tired Whitbys . Also, Charles & Sharon Vassallo on "PROVIDENZA", a Brewer, Hull #275, on the way up the ICW in December provided an unexpected opportunity. They graciously allowed me to inspect her. I was astounded at many of the changes and their execution. Seeing well done and much improved standard concepts, the visits were an eye-opener. I look forward to seeing more of these boats in the future.. It will be good to hear from more of the Fort Myers built vessels and include them in the info share circle.

Major Refitting seems to be the new focus of several owners as it becomes apparent that a Whitby refreshed is a better love than many yachts available in the new yacht category. Since I have decided to get more involved in this area, I am intensely interested in the innovation and expertise many owners have shown in this endeavour. The following week I went north to Maine to visit Joel & Becky Gratwick, owners of 'Sarah G' and reviewed his refit changes and improvements since purchasing her in 1992. She's a real beauty and a complement to the Whitby fleet and her owners standard of care.

Also doing a major refit is Jean-Pierre and Sylvie Delage, owners of a 1980 Whitby.'Fracas' in Quebec City. Lines are to be lead back and the boat made cosmetically and technically ready for a long sail with their young family. The project will have this yacht up to current standards and like new condition. They'll likely be on the Northeast Coast this year. Jean-Pierre is and has been involved with the computer software architecture of one of the navigation charting programs and provides some interesting insights to this fascinating area.

Maintenance & Inspection to prevent passive deterioration is a must. One culprit is Engine metal fatigue especially where there are dissimilar metals involved. Remember your zincs including the pencil anode(s) in your engine cooling system. An oil analysis of your crankcase & transmission fluid is tantamount to 'inner' knowledge. Cleaning and Improvement of ground systems and bus bars that are not generally a marine standard item can decrease your hunting time when looking for that electrical fault.

Brushes on your Grunnert refrigeration are another favorite demon to fail when most needed. They have been specially located in one of the hardest if not near impossible places to service them. I have never replaced them on the Crosby system but they are worth checking also. So start early!

"Seacox" thru-hulls are on a majority of Whitbys. These can be readily maintained in the water if they are kept in operating order through disassembly and cleaning . As ongoing in the water maintenance, there is a threaded square-headed plug on each one. This can be temporarily replaced with a grease gun firkin (nipple) making service a snap. If the "seacox" is frozen and you are in the water, disassembly is not impossible. Simply filling the thru-hull with a rag while you clean the oxidization or marine life from the rotary gate is all it takes if undertaken with caution.

Fuel -Scrubbing or fine filtering when preparing for a long trip on a vessel that has sat dormant for a long while is a worthwhile project. I have fabricated from parts purchased at the local diesel supply office, a 75 gph 12v pump with a couple of 2 micron filters in line and a pair of long hoses. On the Canadian Whitby 42s there is a fuel sender on each inspection plate of the fuel tanks. By removing them and inserting both hoses, a few hours of filtering really cleans up a tank. Mine is set up so I can reverse the flow which agitates the tank contents and does a pretty thorough job.

Precautions such as a standby large capacity Bilge Pump wired with clamps ready to go to the best battery supply provides a high comfort feeling if you ever experience this need. Recently I did hear of such an event where this would have been of help. Certainly at 55, I can say that the number of hours I could endure hand cranking a gusher whale pump are somewhat less than they used to be. Given that you have adequate amp-hours of power from fresh sources, the 3700 gph pump on stand-by is a real confidence builder. I know of one Whitby owner,the McGowans, who actually have two of these hooked up in the standard way.

The Stem-ball Eye fittings,at the top of the main mast is a problem nearly behind us. A few of Whitby owners have yet to communicate about their remedy So while about 2/3 of them are now aware, I hope the others are alerted prior to any problems. These were hull numbers in the 190 to 200 and 301 to 32?. It can also apply to othe makes of yachts carrying the same brand and size of spar.

L.E.D. indicator lights at the helm to keep the helms-person aware of the ships water transfer systems.are an easy & inexpensive addition.. The bilge pump is a logical choice for which one should be curious, especially when motoring. The other, of course, could be a dripping tap for your precious fresh water. Taking a yacht to sea with less than a 100 hours of total time with her as I recently did, the bilge light on the binnacle added that special knowlege that I find comforting.

The emergency tiller has been the source of some inquiries. The Canadian boats came equipped with a two piece aluminum structure which is designed to slip onto the rudder shaft and come through the aft deck in between the lazarettes. Many boat owners have probably never checked the lubrication of that insert on that fitting on deck and may have found it frozen with the elements adding their factor. On the boat we just brought back it was found intact but the nut was missing for holding it together. Not the kind of situation you like to encounter in the heat of an emergency. The 'tiller' portion can be fit so as to steer from below decks or on the aft deck. In an organized procedure dropping the clevis pin from the ram also reduces the load on the operator under some circumstances. Have you tried it? If you find it missing, don't give up too soon. Because it is all high grade aluminum with a s/s bolt it can be stored in the sneakiest of places. A little 'Emergency Tiller Drill' might be 15 minutes well spent dockside.

Recent rudder failures that entail breakage of the shaft, even the emergency tiller would be of no value. There are some safety precautions that could be taken but a perfect answer I haven't seen or heard of yet. Most of the answers require a line attachment led port/starboard from the upper/outer edge of the rudder. At least the hole with a reinforced grommet would be a start. Let's hear from anyone who has found a solution that is sound for this one, day or night, good weather or bad!!

Bottom condition is another issue that keeps rearing its ugly head. After careless or over attentive care of the bottom that results in removal of the protective gelcoat in whole or in part, a large number of yachts never see more than a few days per year out of the water. Even the more expensive paints were never designed to be a moisture barrier between the sea and your laminates. Never mind all that magazine selling technical blah-blah about pox and osmosis, the simple truth is the laminate becomes saturated and bonding deteriorates. We get to see dissolving gel, softening laminate and general integrity problems. This is nothing to do with Whitbys or Brewers. All yachts suffer this unprotected saturation over the years. The solution is to allow the bottom to dry, repair any deteriorated areas and resurface the bottom with any one of the current technology coverings available in a range of prices and procedures. Remember, the yard operators need to make a profit too! DON'T get fast talked into an expensive repair due to an explanation with some industry buzz words that cause your blood pressure to rise and your bank account to diminish. A second opinion from a competent surveyor with the right sounding techniques ,electronic measuring tools and the experience of seeing a wide variation of the same problem can often save you a lot of money. Whitbys have never shared in the mass degradation of some builders procedures that produced yachts with horrendous headaches for themselves and their customers. Don't be too quick to think that you have the boat built by Whitby that is the exception to their realized standard. Of all the Alberg 30s and 37s, Whitby 42s, 45s and 55s as well as Continental 25s and Folksboats, BB10s and over a 1000 Albacores, many of which are still in-service at summer camps and junior programs more than 35 years after they were built, I have known of only a few that have problems that even closely resemble the classic definition. So far most problems stem from examples as mentioned above.

My new address for my WEBSITE: http://www.yachtsls.com and
my new 'email' address: yachts@yachtsls.com

I have now added hidden pages, so if you want a copy of the original sales brochure or the technical brochure, it's yours for the asking. My listings, in detail, are also in this system, so if I have your yacht listed, I put up its own site including a colour pictorial and descriptive inventory available to customers everywhere once they have contacted me for the page code. The Whitby 55, Dushka Vll, two Whitby 42s ,Largo Bay & Lion's Paw, a Niagara 42, "Niagara" and an Alberg 37, Pact l are currently on line. Basic details are available on the regular site but there is more behind the curtains!!!. And for those without computeritis, we can still send information the old fashioned way..A phone call or fax will do it!!!

Incidentally, while I love my Whitbys, Ted Brewer designs were evident in 1997 sales and listings several times. Some of these included a Hullmaster 27, Douglas 31, Aloha 34, Goderich 35 & 37, and a Seastar 46.

A maunal /book that would incorporate technical specifications of product systems that were used to build the WHITBYS along with a great pictorial support is my current pet project. Paul & Debbie McGowan of Lion's Paw have been most helpful to this end. Allen Rogers, familiar to many Whitby owners and now pursuing a professional career in the photography business in Cambridge, Ontario has also helped to get the ball rolling. And of course, there is the whole Fort Myers operation for which I have no documentation..

"HELP, PLEASE" accumulating as many pictures and information as possible of the building process. The pictures of the early stages, showing tanks, pan, liner, deck and hull in their separate component parts, even before the hull parts are bonded, would much be appreciated. I would promise to be diligent in their return. Even slides would be OK. All I need is to make selections and scan them. All input will be greatly appreciated by both current and future owners. I know these serious yachts are going to be with us for a long time and I would like to library as much as possible while some of the owners who had theirs built are still able to find some of these wonderful records of the building of their dream yacht.

NEW EXPERIENCES are fun to share too!, Who has had a super sail recently? Documented passages telling of great turns of sustained performance for both crew and yacht are always welcome.Or additions of some new after-market product? I got a note from Chris Grimes, owner of "Ar n-inin"- a 1986 Whitby, who has installed the new Forespar add on Roller Furling on his main. At last contact was very happy with it. We'll await word of his experiences and see if he has an improved technology that really does the job under all conditions.

BALTIC HERITAGE last contact was before Christmas. I sent a card to them in Thailand from the BVIs and faxed them at the Marina Christmas day. I send my wishes that their circumnavigation continues in good health and yacht wellness.

Beau Jeu was last heard of from Singapore, with the Domvilles well into a few years of a circumnavigation. They had just done some refitting including a new dark blue awlgrip. Hope all is proceeding well.

Rovinkind ll's new owners, Debbie & Jim Milne, soon to be FROM Ottawa, Canada as they depart for places and destinations to be determined. They purchased one of those rare fresh-water used only 1984 Whitbys, from Brad & Gail Guest. Days after closing they traveled to the Annapolis Rendezvous by car. This year hopefully we'll hopefully see them there with their new home afloat.

I look forward to meeting many of you again this year and welcome the opportunity to meet some new owners as well. Remember, that whether you bought your yacht from me or elsewhere matters not. If you have some queries about your boat, I'm always willing to try to be informative. And conversely, any constructive criteria that may help us all is also welcome.

MAY SUPER SAILING ,GOOD HEALTH AND THE WILL TO ENJOY THEM BE YOURS.

DOUGLAS

E-mail: yachts@yachtsls.com

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