Alberg 37 International Owners Association

ALBERG 37 INTERNATIONAL OWNERS ASSOCIATION Tom and Kaye Assenmacher [email protected] P.O. Box 32 Kinsale, VA 22488 (Please Remove 'nospam' Before Sending) www.alberg37.org VOL 19, NO. 2 (SPRING -2009) 6 May, 2009 FORMER ALBERG 37 OWNER Richard (Dick) Wilke PASSES

Richard John Wilke was born in Schenectady, NY on October 14, 1929. He passed away on February 11, 2009. Husband of 57 years of Joan Louise Wilke, Father of Linda Wilke of Grand Rapids, MI; Steven (Claudia) Wilke of Orlando, FL; Sharon Wilke of Portland ME; brother of Lawrence (Sally) Wilke of North River, NY and brother-in-law of Katherine Saether of Juneau, WI. Dick Wilke was an Engineering Graduate of Iowa State University. He loved flying, sailing, skiing, riflery, hunting and canoeing. He enjoyed classical music and opera as well as jazz. Truly a Renaissance man and a friend to all. A celebration of his life was held on February 18th, 2009 at 1:30pm at Westminster Presbyterian Church, 3011 19th Ave West, Bradenton, FL. A second celebration of his life will be held on June 6th, 2009 at 1:30 PM, Plymouth Congregational Church, 2001 E Grand River Ave, Lansing, MI 48912

Dick Aboard IOLANTHE Dick and His ‘New Love’!

Dick and Joan previously owned the 1984 Alberg 37 MK-II yawl IOLANTHE. For several years, Dick and Joan 'wintered' in Bradenton, FL and spent the summers in East Lansing, MI. Dick sailed for years out of the Sarnia (Ontario) Yacht Club. He had in recent years built and flew an Experimental Airplane. He will be greatly missed!

1 New Members Randy Cole, of Denver, CO recently joined the A-37 IOA. Although Randy has not yet acquired an Alberg 37, he joined because he was “Wanting to enhance my knowledge and experience with the Alberg 37 sailboat”. Robin Phillips, of Gillies Bay, BC, who recently (2008) purchased MK-I Sloop COYOTE ANGEL recently wrote: “The COYOTE ANGEL is currently on the hard on the west coast. I have stripped the yellow Durathane paint off her and am in the process of re- painting with Interlux Perfection (Fighting Lady Yellow).

COYOTE ANGEL She is in primer right now. Rain and then going away to work for the winter has slowed things down. I plan to go for it full bore in the spring, but everyone knows how boat projects go. Coyote Angel is just suffering from need of a polish and cleaning. The brightwork is faded and there are a lot of small projects that need doing. Regular maintenance is way behind schedule, even before I purchased her. Here is a picture of her as she sits. She will be in the water by the summer. Robin “ (Ed. Note: COYOTE ANGEL is a 1967MK-I Sloop (Hull #1), the first Alberg 37 built. Robin recently purchased the boat from John Yankovich.)

David and Renee Sullins, of Seabrook, TX, recently purchased the 1987 MK-II Yawl (#246) HARMONIOUS RAPPORT (ex SHARED WATCH) from Jay Zittrer. David recently wrote: “I live a few houses down from Jay Zittrer and although I knew about the boat, I had not seen her till returning home from Hurricane Ike. We had more time than normal since there was no power and basically nothing to do but fend for food and try to get our houses back in order. I went to the marina to help Jay get to his boat for the first time after the storm. I was very im- pressed with the classic lines of the boat kind of reminded me of the Bermuda 40. I was instantly hooked he told me she was for sale! I knew I wanted to buy the boat! I owned a Pearson 303 in the mid 80s and I actually broker boats part time I have seen many boats but very few that I like (there is a silver lining in every storm). In Ike, I received the opportunity to acquire this beautiful vessel and Jay was able to step to the next level and buy a beautiful boat and part with SHARED WATCH and pass her on to someone that under- stands what she is capable of. I am excited about the boat and the adventures she will provide my family and equally as excited to be part of the Alberg family. RA Receives A Bow Thruster Kurt Osterhoff, who owns the 1969 MK-I Sloop RA, recently sent the following: “After reading an archived article in Sailing Maga- zine about a guy who installed his own thruster I've decided to give this a try myself -- attached are some photos of my progress thus far.” Here is a link to a brief photo documentary of a bow thruster installation: http://oya.com/others/thruster.php Here is a link to an installation video by Lewmar: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsJoL1YNVes Photos of Kurt’s actual installation will be posted under the “Projects” section of the Alberg 37 Web Site (www.alberg37.org).

News From Members We received the following in an email (via WINLINK) in late January (09) from Ruedi and Jocelyne Von Allman who were crossing the Atlantic Ocean from Las Palmas to Martinique aboard their 1975 MK-II (ketch?) GLOBITOU: “Hi there, here goes with the good, the bad and the ugly... by the way, today is January 14, in case this email doesn't get out today. We are having trouble with connections so some days nothing works, sorry, but the boat is really not comfy today and I’m going to write only one email, OK? The last 3 days have been quite active, lots of wind from the east, which brings high following seas which makes Globitou rolly and jerk around a lot. Yesterday was worse and the waves were huge: some over 25 feet. They carry us up to the top and then we surf down, reaching speeds of 9 and 10 knots on the way down. It calmed down a bit overnight and we actually saw stars 2 for the first time in 3 nights. It was always so overcast with a thick covering of clouds. Today it is sunny but the wind is still at least 20-25 knots and the waves are there also. Ruedi was listening to Herb last night (he gives weather reports and advice to sailors on the ham radio: 12,359 every evening at 1930 UTC to 2030) and he said that this weather system will last until Saturday. Well, I guess we can live with that, we are tough, yeah??? The days are not warm and the nights are actually cold so we have to wear lots of clothes and our foul weather gear as we sometimes get splashed by a bigger wave that breaks into the cockpit. luckily, not too often. The good is that we have great speed and we are averaging 122.5 miles a day. That is something to be smiling about. only 1724 NM left... Also yesterday pm, we threw our fishing line in as we were out of fish since the last little mahi-mahi we had caught. The first bite we got was a swordfish, about 2 or 3 feet long. Our first swordfish ever and we were really excited but bummer, as we got him closer to the boat he broke off and he was gone. Oh, well, in goes the line again and a few moments later, we have another bite: a small mahi-mahi but we lost this one also: the wire actually broke and he left with our lure and our hook. OK, time to get serious... we changed our fishing line to a new one Ruedi bought in Las Palmas, very high-tech, multi-colored so the fish can't see it, etc. New hook, bigger this time and in goes the line again.... we caught a mahi-mahi of 4 1/2 feet long and brought him aboard with no trouble after having left him to fight for awhile. Yeah!!!! we have excellent food for many days now. This is our favorite fish....MMMMmmmmmmm so you see, life goes on, and we are happy, even though we do swear from time to time when we get thrown around or the food in our plate ends up on the cockpit floor. We also would like a chance to shower but for now, we have to be happy with quick little clean-ups. Won't even tell you of the smells. We hope next week is calmer but we still want wind. well, that's it for now. hope you are all well. Pierre, if you want to speak with Ruedi on the ham radio, email us a time and frequency that would be good for you. remember we keep UTC time on board. maybe after Herb is done would be good? Today, January 16, no good connection and propagation until now. we'll keep on trying. it is very bad out there, wind 30 knots or more, huge waves - hope this is soon over. January 18: sorry, still couldn't get this email off, but will keep on trying. This weather is still with us but winds should ease off by to - morrow night (says Herb, but he said that before....). we are making good speed: only 1130 miles to go. January 19: same same but different... no luck yesterday with connection. still very rough out here but we are ok. only 985 miles to go. January 22: this is really bad the worse we have ever had with Winlink. we are still sailing well even if a bit rough at times. getting closer every day: only 635 miles left. we hope to arrive Monday night or Tuesday morning. all's well aboard, thinking of you and hop - ing you are not worrying about us. we'll keep on trying. January 23, still no luck yesterday with connection. caught another mahi-mahi , so eating well is no problem. it is getting warmer also. January 26: we are flying towards Martinique: it is 1600 UTC and we only have 95.3 NM left. YEAH!!!! We have seen 2 ships yesterday, but none today. Still haven't heard anything from "Marigold", a 37 ft sailboat that is missing for 5 days. The guy, a single-hander, had a small heart-attack on the 9th but was communicating with Herb and it seemed he was getting better. He was heading for Barba - dos or Martinique, but no one has heard from him for a while now. We are keeping a look-out for him and also trying to reach him by VHF. We hope he is OK. will email you all tomorrow from "Marin", south west of Martinique. January 27:::::: We made it!!!!@!! got in this morning after 21 days at sea.... now are safely anchored and having a rum and coke.... Yeah!!! we have circumnavigated the globe!!!!! Ruedi and Jocelyne” We recently received the following Email from Mark and Debbie Crowe (currently cruising the Caribbean aboard their 1973 MK-II Yawl SEA CYCLE: “Hi Everybody hope all is well. We are just leaving Venezuela for the ABCs (Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao) via Los Roques and Los Aves. We will be out of touch for a few weeks. We have just posted ten logs and new pictures on the blog since the last notice (April to December logs). Pictures are accessed on the Picasa link on the side bar. Blog address is www.seacycle.blogspot.- com. Cheers Mark and Deb on S/V SeaCycle.”

First Time Jumping The Atlantic A March '82 article in Cruising World magazine speaks of how the Fowle family sailed their 1970 Alberg 37 MK-I Sloop ARION, from Massachusetts to Ireland, weathering the famed Fastnet gale. They described the usual thrills and chills of a first-time ocean crossing with mandatory descriptions of towering seas and their fright as they watched the anemometer register gusts of 76 knots. To view this CW about the MK-I Sloop ARION, go to http://www.cruisingworld.com/alberg37. ( Ed. Note: ARION is now owned by Chris Nichols of Mashpee, MA. We recently received the following from Chris: “She is very beautiful. When I found her she was in a boat yard in Gloucester Massachusetts in the middle of the winter more than ten years ago. She had been painted white and was in original condition. She still has a 37 hp Westerbeke diesel, diesel cabin heater, Paul Luke stainless gas stove. I had her painted white again and updated all the systems and wiring. The deck is original and in good shape. I recently replaced the rigging, it had been stressed or maybe just over-tightened. I wonder if that was from Fastnet. The roving on the forward water tank had been cracked and I always wondered if that also had been from Fastnet. I grinded that back and re-glassed it. I have all the documentation on the boat and a copy of the article you are referring to. I can tell by the picture she is my boat. The pre - vious owners cut a small port "ruff cut" on the port side next to the companion way. I replaced it with a nice port. Chris.)

3 The following was received from Greg Vandenberg of Grand Rapids, MI who owns the 1967 MK-I Sloop FALCON: “Hi Folks... We have owned FALCON our 1967 hull ( no number) and her Westerbeke 4-107 power plant for 7 years now and have invested much time and money into bring her up to her potential. We have had over heating problems from the point of taking posses- sion and have tried many tried and true remedies to solve the problem. Along the way we have learned much about the boat and the power plant that might be of interest to other owners of this combination of hull and power plant that I want to pass along to the group data base. If this is common knowledge to others then please disregard. 1) External water heater installation: Ours was plumbed forcing the hot engine water to be restricted from 1' down to1/2" prior to passing through the water heater and then to the motors heat exchanger reducing the effective cooling capacity. This on FALCON looked to be done years ago as the original water heater was under the cockpit floor behind the motor and was thought by me to be the correct fit. Not so. The attachment is from Westerbeke and is the correct procedure. 2) Something I just leaned was that the Paragon SA-1D (alloy casing) was originally designed for a gas motor and when coupled with the diesel 4-107 can tend to wear them out sooner rather than later as did FALCON's last summer. Apparently the rough and tumble Westerbeke with its vibration and torque can be too much for the transmission over time. Also pointed out to me was that because of this propensity, the combination was intended to be used as an auxiliary to get you off the mooring or out of the slip and not in the mode that we use a power plant today to motor or motor sail long distances. The mechanic that did the repairs and gave me the back- ground also pointed out that if he did not have the parts, I would have to seriously consider re-powering. $2000 later and one fabricat- ed drive gear later we are ready to go again. Kindest Regards, Greg Vandenberg A-37s For Sale (Please check the Alberg 37 web site (A37's For Sale/Wanted) for the latest postings.) (Ed. Note: Several Alberg 37s have recently changed hands – so there are people out there looking for these great boats.) Current offerings include: FOR SALE - MARIGOT, ALBERG SLOOP $65,000 Cdn. 1968 Alberg 37 Mark 1 Sloop, Sail Number 26, Canadian Registry # 817942, located in St. Catharines, Ontario. MARIGOT (ex BRIGHTLINGSEA II) has spent the last eight years in freshwater Lake Ontario following a two year cruise south by her previous owners. She has had many updates over the years and could soon be ready to go cruising again. Complete specifications and inventory available. Please contact Susan Payette at [email protected] or Dan Oswald at [email protected] for additional information about this wonderful classic. FOR SALE - ISLANDTIME - 1971 Alberg 37 MK-II Yawl, currently sailing as a sloop, but available as a yawl (yawl rig included). New engine installed in 2007; Radar with Questus Mount; Windvane; Roller Furling; MAC PAC; Auto Pilot; GPS; Spinnaker; Hard dinghy with outboard (New); Refrigeration. Located in Maine. $49,000 USD. Contact Scott at: 207.326.9498 - Cell 978.549.0507 FOR SALE – STORNOWAY- After 20 years of owning her, John Volk is offering "STORNOWAY" for sale. She is a MK-II, Hull #182, built in 1979. Originally built as a sloop, she was professionally converted to a yawl. Details can be found at http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/volc/S1/Stornoway.html . Boat located in Halifax, NS. Price is $65,000 CDN. FOR SALE: GLOBITOU, Alberg 37, MK-II, cutter-rig, built in 1975 ( Hull # 151). Her current owners have lovingly cared for her and she has undergone numerous upgrades. She is currently sailing in the Med, slowly completing a wonderful circumnavigation, having left her homeport in the 1000 Islands in 2002. Her ETA back home in Ontario is June 2009. For info and pictures, please go to http://www.reliance44.com/globitou/ . On the bottom of the website, you will find our contact e-mail addresses. Gear For Sale Wayne Milroy of Oshawa, Ontario has a mainsail, and 2 mizzen sails from his 1984 MK-II Yawl LEEWAY II for sale. “They have been used on our boat (Leeway II) for several years in fresh water and all are in good shape. We replaced them with new ones with the Dutchman system and a Strong track system. So these are now redundant for us. We’ll entertain any reasonable offer for them. We rather see them used than wasted if anyone needs them. And, because we leaving for the south in the spring of 2010 when need to jettison them.” Contact Wayne 905-718-0226

MK-I Interior Cushions - "As a result of re-jigging the interior of my 1967 MK-I (# 18) VECTIS, I had to have a whole new set of interior cushions made. Bad planning as I had only replaced the covers on the existing cushions, 2 years prior. So I have a complete set of cushions for sale which are like new, 2 years old in Sunbrella, a blue and white stripe. The new cushions cost me $3500! so I figure the older ones have got to be worth $1000. Any offers? VECTIS is a Mark I and the cushions are for the original MK-I config- uration (although I believe configurations varied slightly). Buyer will need to pick them up in CT. Contact Ian Dunn Email: [email protected] For sale - Zodiac, 4 man offshore valise liferaft. Never deployed, purchased new in 2000. Always stored inside and is in great condition.. Buyer responsible for shipping and repackaging, however if it cannot be repackaged for any reason send back and we will re- 4 fund the purchase price (shipping not included). Asking $800 USD. Contact Bill and Debbie Horne: serenade2ATsbcglobal.net (re- place AT with @). For photos of the liferaft, go to http://www.alberg37.org/gear4sale.htm

Dodger Frame For Sale, Geoff Cunliffe of Mississauga, Ontario, the former owner of the 1979 MK-II Sloop, THE EVERDEN, now cruises aboard a Lagoon 410 Catamaran, PARTY OF TWO. As part of his re-outfitting PARTY OF TWO, Geoff had a new hard dodger built for his boat. He has a very heavy duty dodger frame for sale, which could be adapted to a large catamaran, or a wide beam monohull. The frame is built of 1-1/4” heavy wall Stainless Steel. The Frame is approximately 12’ wide. Good for use 'as is' OR could be parted out for davits, or other uses. Geoff is asking $200 (USD) for the unit. Check the Gear For Sale/Gear Wanted page on the Website for photos. The frame is located in Kinsale, VA Contact Tom Assenmacher at: [email protected] (remove 'NoSpam'). NOTE: This dodger frame is NOT for an Alberg 37

Gear Wanted Peter McIntosh is looking for a spray dodger for "KUMA" my 1971 MK-II A37 Yawl, any colour will do, or even just the frame. ALSO, I am looking for a used dinghy, preferably a small RIB, but not too fussy, any inflatable will do. The idea is to have it stowed upside down, to fit with the transom at the forward side of my mainmast, and the bow on the foredeck, so, approximately 9.5ft to 11.5ft will fit. Thanks! Peter D McIntosh RYA/DOT Yachtmaster (Ocean) captpetermacATfastmail.fm (remove AT and substitute @ before emailing)

Web Sites of Interest PassageWeather.com is a free website that specializes in World Wide Sailing Weather Forecasts, and was developed out of the need for reliable, easy to use weather information... The site provides 7-day Wind, Wave and Weather Graphic Forecasts to help sailors with their passage planning and weather routing. We’ve used this site in the Bahamas, and find it a valuable weather resource! http://www.passageweather.com/

MAD MARINER is a world-class on-line boating magazine, filled with fantastic journeys, dream boats, expert advice and honest re- views. But this journal arrives on your desktop, not your doorstep - and it shows up every single day. http://madmariner.com/

BoatU.S. Foundation for Boating Safety and Clean Water recently tested a range of handheld signaling devices on the water in both day and night conditions and put the entire video series of real-world tests at BoatUS.com/foundation. "Everyone has these great safety devices aboard, but it's a challenge to learn how to use them to improve your chances of a swift rescue," said BoatU.S. Founda- tion Vice President Chris Edmonston. "The videos will also help boaters make the right purchasing decision by showing them what to expect on the water," he added. The tests included SOLAS approved handheld flares, USCG approved gun-style flare launchers, para- chute and meteor flares, smoke canisters, and pocket rockets as well some non-pyrotechnic visual distress signals such as the newest battery-powered laser signaling devices and distress signal flags. Accompanying the videos is an online feature article, Foundation Findings #45, Flare Tests Enlightening , which provides an overview of the tests and results.

5 Spindrift By the Editor Kaye and I recently returned from a two month stay (as “Dirt Dwellers”) in a rental cottage on Man O’ War Cay, in the Aba- cos, Bahamas. As previously mentioned in an earlier newsletter, we had intended to spend the winter (Winter 08/09) in the Bahamas aboard our 1975 Yawl SHEARWATER, however, we hadn’t paid the proper respects to the ‘mechanical gods’ (we had another – the third) transmission failure and had to ‘abort the mission’ several days out of Kinsale last November. Need- less to say, we enjoyed spending February and March, 2009 in the ‘Islands’ where the only ‘white stuff’ was white sand on the beach. ( Take A Tour Of Man O' War Cay with us!) While in the Bahamas, we had great WIFI, and were able to keep tabs on our Email, web site updates etc. However, near the end of March, we experienced problems accessing the Alberg 37 IOA Website. We could still view the website via a web browser (i.e., Microsoft Explorer or FireFox), however, we couldn’t access the Web to make changes, update files, etc. Nu- merous calls to the web host (where all the files reside out in the ‘Ethernet’) did not cure the problem (the problem resided on their ‘server’. They were basically ‘unresponsive’. To make a long story short, we have changed ‘web hosts’, and have finally got the web site back in operation (more or less). There are still a few ‘bugs’ but we are working on these issues. Your patience is appreciated, and if you notice something that doesn’t work correctly, please send us an email (but be gentle please!).

We are always looking for articles (cruising, racing, maintenance, etc.) and photos of your boat for inclusion on the website and newsletter. Send the articles via email attachment in MS WORD and the photos in .JPG format if possible. We are still on a ‘Dial Up Modem” here on Virginia’s Northern Neck – if at all possible, please don’t send large files, especially high reso- lution photos. Photos should be 100 kilobytes or smaller if at all possible. We’ve had some emails with attachments which take HOURS to download. We hope to be getting high speed Internet Service in our area (we aren’t holding our breath!) – we’ll let you know if/when this happens. The A-37 IOA participates as a cooperating group with BOAT U.S., and members receive BOAT U.S. membership for half price ($12.50 vice $25.00). Just mention you are a member of the Alberg 37 Owners Group and include the Cooperating Group number GA 83253 S when you join Boat U.S. or send in your annual renewal of membership.

Have a great Alberg 37 SPRING! Tom and Kaye Assenmacher