Voyage of a Pocket Battleship
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Summer 1998 Vol. 4, No. 1 Voyage of a Pocket Battleship By Anthony Steward After 260 days of exposure to the elements in a 19 foot open boat, you would think that I would have chosen the easy life. Every man has a right to choose his own oppressor, for me it would be the open ocean. Less than six months after circum-navigating, I was planning my next voyage. There weren’t many options as most records had already been set. I wanted to stay in a small boat as the challenge was greater. I was well aware that Kenichi Horie held the non-stop record in the smallest yacht, a 30 foot sloop. This was always on my mind and now with the advent of reliable watermakers, any size was possible. The only criteria that had to be met was that the yacht would have to be able to carry one ton of supplies and withstand Cape Horn weather. I Anthony Steward leaving Durban Harbor for a initially estimated that a 26 foot yacht circumnavigation aboard SELECTED RISKS. was the minimum length one could go. That was until I saw a Flicka sailing in Force Six on the South African Coast. the end of January 1994. One startling our size. After SELECTED RISKS’ On close inspection of this unique difference between the building of my first performance, the Knudsen Family little boat, I quickly came to realize a open boat and the fitting out of the were overwhelmed with enquiries for Flicka was equivalent to a 26 foot Flicka for a non-stop voyage was that Flickas; a big pity they had already yacht. My mind was made up, a Flicka there were very few sceptics. Once decided to return to Norway. it would be. It took less than a month people had viewed SELECTED to convince my poor wife that this is RISKS and the preparation we had The key issue on a non-stop voyage is what I needed to do as well as find a done, virtually all believed it was water, with two watermakers installed builder. possible. (each capable of producing 5 liter an hour on three 75 watt solar panels, The Knudsen family in Durban agreed SELECTED RISKS’ first sea trial with a petrol generator as back up) to build a Flicka for me. I took was entering the Wednesday Night fresh water would be no problem. The delivery of the hull and deck in Race in Durban Harbour. The little wonders of dehydrated and irradiated November 1993 and with the help of Flicka's speed was unbelievable and food still fascinates me. I will never my long suffering Suzie and friends, certainly unex-plainable; we easily forget my first rounding of Cape Horn we launched SELECTED RISKS at held off challenges from yachts twice (Continued on page 4) Flicka Friends is four years old! Flicka Friends - Summer 1998 About Flicka From the Guest Editor Friends By Tom Davison forwarding it with a caption. Looking ahead, the 1999 Summer Flicka Friends is a subscription With several issues of Flicka Friends Issue will mark five years of Flicka newsletter written specifically for the behind me, I have learned quite a bit Friends. I’d like to publish a twelve people who own, crew aboard, or are about publishing a newsletter. More page Flicka Friends issue that contains interested in the Flicka, a Bruce P. importantly, I’ve realized that Flicka a number of articles about sailing our Bingham design. owners are the reason for the success favorite little ship. of this newsletter. Based on the Newport boats of Block The goal is to cover the spectrum of Island Sound, this little ship has been My thanks again to all of the people sailing — from inland lakes to coastal built from various materials since the who have provided a photo or an cruising and off-shore sailing. The 1960’s until the present day. article. This includes Anthony format will be a one page vertical Steward, Rod Bruckdorfer, Bill Strop, format just like page six of this issue. Hulls have been completed by home Jim Iseminger, Hunter Davis, Steve A vertical 3 1/2 x 5 inch photo will be builders using plans supplied by Fisher, Pete & Doris Wakeland, Terry placed on each page. The text should Bruce Bingham. More than 400 plans & Connie McCauley, Jan Allen & total three hundred words. Please were sold and according to Bruce John Wolstenholme and Kristy Lugert forward your article and photo to Bingham, many Flickas can be found & Scott Tuma. Dennis in Illinois or to me in Montana: in New Zealand, Australia and Sweden. The Flicka photo issue is getting Tom Davison closer to reality, but another ten 1576 Lancelot Place, # 6 Commercial builders of the Flicka photos are needed to fill every page. Billings, MT 59105 include Nor’Star, Westerly Marine If you have a photo from an outing (406) 248-8240 and Pacific Seacraft Corporation. last summer, please consider [email protected] Pacific Seacraft (Fullerton, California) has built nearly 450 hulls. The Flicka is a current production It is a Small World model. By Tom Davison Club was listed. My next e-mail was Flicka Friends is published sent to the Royal Cape Yacht Club in In May, I decided to locate Anthony quarterly. Articles, photographs and Capetown, South Africa. A short Steward. He was mentioned in the letters are welcome and encouraged. message asked if they knew of him. Passage Notes section of the August As it turned out, Anthony Steward is 1994 issue of Cruising World Please note the date next to your the Yacht Club’s General Manager. Magazine. name, it indicates when your subscription needs to be renewed. An e-mail was sent describing Flicka My first e-mail was to Cruising The cost of a subscription is $10.00 Friends and asking if Mr. Steward if World. They responded, stating that US and can be mailed directly to the he might be interested in writing an Mr. Steward's trip into the Atlantic editor: article about his experiences about Ocean aboard his Durbin built Flicka SELECTED RISKS. ended with a boat fire. They had no © Copyright 1998 other infor-mation. Next, I tried an e- I was pleased to receive an e-mail mail to a South African based sailing several days later. Anthony expressed Dennis Pratt magazine. They didn’t have any an interest in owning a Flicka again Flicka Friends knowledge of Mr. Steward. Looking and hoped to forward an article. Just as on the internet for search engines 3775 Gregory Drive the last issue was going to the printer, produced several in South Africa. An Northbrook, IL 60062-7103 Anthony forwarded an article via e- inquiry was made to one and four (847) 299-5744 mail about his trip into the Atlantic . responses were listed. Three had to do The photos for the article arrived in with Mr. Steward’s trip around the [email protected] mid-August. With the Internet, the world in an open boat. The last was world is getting smaller every day. Just vague, but a South African Yacht one more reason to sail a Flicka. Page 2 Vol. 4, No 1 BRISTOL BOATS Flicka Trailer By Bill Strop Early on I decided to replace the For Sale marginal Johnson 9.9 Sail-master By Jan Allen & John Wolstenholme Pity we "puddle sailors". Tides don't with a Yamaha 9.9 four stroke (a breast us. Currents don't set us. We "necked down" 18 hp torquey kicker) After recently selling CORSAIR, our don't heave to swells nor count the so that I could more readily back Pacific Seacraft Flicka, we were left rollers. The only rogue waves we down and back up. We needed that to with the trailer since the new owner encounter are one finger salutes from back out of the slip and pull her head didn’t want it. power boaters. Clawing off a lee shore thru the wind. I had replaced the is in our lexicon but not in our marginal stern cleats and bow cleats It is a 1989 EZ-Loader 8TSR trailer that experience. Getting "pooped" is only a with meatier bronze staghorns used is set up for a Flicka, galvanized with hazard at the pumpout station. So what on the PS 37s and added another set tandem axles, spare tire, surge brakes is the point of maintaining our craft in amidships-all with large 316ti and an EZ Lift weight distributing hitch. "Bristol fashion"? Are we merely stainless backplates. Places to attach "Walter Mittying"? Why Not! warps and lines. A large bronze $3,000 OBO bollard for towing and anchoring was Consider a Saturday at Smithville fitted, similarly backplated. We could If anyone is interested in purchasing it, Lake, Paradise, Missouri early last get there, tie off and tow! please contact us at: month. A deep low had scuttled in After some dicey moments the fools early on bringing winds at 30 knots in the water were ashore and the Jan Allen & John Wolstenholme gusting 40. Hardly promising but I had casualty boats rescued. No big deal in 121 N. Heliotrope Avenue agreed to take an MC scower out on warm water with shore nearby. But Monrovia, CA 91016 "Baby Grand". I was frankly a little still... “Could have been worse in (626) 303-1817 sorry that I had touted her to him as a frigid waters with shoaling and rocky "go anywhere — take anything" lee shore.”' Point is your boat should vessel. Still she had two reefpoints be prepared to rescue itself from your available on the main and I had a 100 bad judgment and, hopefully, aid on the bow with two reefpoints others.