Jump to content

A Summer On Rosie


Kennneee

Recommended Posts

Hi Guys- Some of you have followed my build of Rosie, an Outer Banks 26.  After all of the time and effort put into her creation it has been such a pleasure to spend lots of time aboard this Summer. Luanne and I would head out for 2-4 nights most weeks exploring the wonderful cruising grounds in our own back yard,  the Gulf Islands. Some of the places we would anchor in were less than 10 miles from our home. We recently decided to go further afield and head up to Desolation Sound for a couple of weeks. In normal years the beautiful anchorages up there are crowded with large yachts coming from south of the border (US, that is). With the border being closed and the high season over it was the ideal time to provision and head north. 

Rosie was a bit lower in the water when we took off with lots of water, fuel and food aboard. This was to be a 2 week trip that morphed into 18 days. We didn’t want it to end! Towards the end of the second week out the smoke from fires hundreds of miles south of us was making visibility difficult. I added radar this year and was very glad to have it when motoring through the smokey veil. We hunkered down in a beautiful anchorage on West Rodona Island for a few more days then planned and skipped a few other spots since there was nothing to see at this point anyway. With the poor visibility and the beautiful weather forecasted to change we headed south. Our passages across the Straight of Georgia and through Dodd Narrows, two possible places for some excitement were pussycats. Careful monitoring of weather and tides as well as a boat that has some speed really reduces possible exposure to conditions that make for good stories. 

As we motored along we talked about how we would improve Rosie. There wasn’t much to say. Seeing all of huge logs in the water I think I would go up a size in the bottom planking. I will make a minor change to the head. Next season we will have a couple of kayaks or surfskis along, an electric outboard and a solar panel. Rosebud, our modified Spindrift 9 is a great tender. Light weight, spacious and rows beautifully. I like “picking up my toys” every night to avoid a midnight fire drill should conditions deteriorate. The “Kencrane” that Graham designed made hoisting the dinghy aboard a near effortless procedure. The layout, performance and aesthetic are spot on. The Wallas stove/heater is one of the best decisions we made as far as equipment goes. The Sarca Excell Anchor I added this season made for restful nights. I have come out of the dark ages and have become a believer in electronic navigation and radar. In every anchorage we had people making me blush with compliments on her. Can’t say I minded that much:).

We have been back a week and we are both looking forward to heading out again tomorrow or the next day for a few more days. Winter closes in fast here and every weather window needs to be taken advantage of now. Here are some pics of our summer aboard.

 

https://photos.app.goo.gl/cjr3XpU9jhhJXdzW8

Cheers,

Ken

  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites


Thanks for the report Ken.  Glad you are enjoying Rosie!  When you get time, could you provide some feedback on how she performed in different sea states.  I'm still pondering my upcoming build, and I'd like to know how she cruises.  Also, wondering how she handles heavier seas and slop you might have encountered.  Did you feel the 90hp was the right choice?

 

Great pictures,

Bret

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Doug- I remember your brother in his Nordic Tug snapping some pics. Thanks for posting them.

Bret- So far Rosie seems to perform well in everything we have encountered. That said, we have not been in any really nasty stuff. What I will say is that she rides quite well in any chop we have had her in. I occasionally look for large ferry wakes and take them at different angles and she does nicely.  She has quite a lot of waterline beam and I think that explains why she is resistant to rolling in anything we have come across.  She is also relatively unaffected by weight. By that I mean passengers moving around do not change her trim that much. That might also be a function of her moderate deadrise. If I recall her PPII (pounds per inch of immersion) is around 400lbs. The large waterplane area helps to  explain that attribute. That trait is not to be minimized even when at anchor or a dock. Makes for more comfortable cooking, sleeping etc. When someone blast through an anchorage with a large wake, Rosie stands up pretty well. Better than some larger boats I have been on. The Carolina bow is quite pretty but has some notable function. The deck is almost always dry in anything we have encountered. I think Graham found a sweet spot on her entry. She has no tendency to pound. Again, nothing really big but I have surfed her down some decent size ferry wakes and she handled well with no tendency to bow steer or otherwise misbehave. I added trim tabs this year which was an inexpensive way to improve performance. Nice to be able to dial in trim. How a boat performs at anchor is also an overlooked trait. In reality that is how you spend most of your time when cruising. She is light weight and I  have 30’ of chain and the rest of my rode is nylon. She will dance more at anchor than a heavier boat anchored on all chain. Loaded up with fuel, water and etc she behaves much better. That is a tradeoff that comes with a light weight, fuel efficient boat. Graham once mentioned that he could have made her lighter but didn’t want her to be to “corky”.  Again, I think he got it right given that every design plus has a negative.

In some ways I am glad not to have more to report. Big water will come  at some point. I am pretty confident she will do at least as well as I do.

Have you decided which boat you are going to build? Keep us posted.

Cheers,

Ken

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh, 90hp is enough for me. Almost  never go top speed and hole shot is of little importance to me. We like to cruise around 15 -18 knots and there is plenty of power for that. A 115hp is about the same weight if you want more juice.

Ken

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...


×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.