Category Archives: Microcruising

October 22, 2010 · 9:48 am

Minimalist PDR Cruiser

Any regular reader of this blog knows I have a real soft spot in my heart for the Puddle Duck Racer.  Naturally it was only a matter of time before someone expanded on the concept and turned one into a minimalist cruising reality. Probably the first to do it was Jason Nabors, who built the Tenacious Turtle which he entered in the epic Texas 200. Not really a race but more of a “cruise” up through the semi-protected waters along the Texas coast.

A bit crude in its execution and jarring to the eyes of anyone who loves classic boat lines as I do, I still thought it was one of the neatest things I’d ever seen.

Of course the Aussies couldn’t leave the simple PDR well enough alone and came up with the OZ PDR which is a bit flashier than the original. Now,Perttu Korhonen, in collaboration with Michael Storer who came up with the OZ design, has come up with the Ocean Explorer. No offense, Jim, but this one really has a chance of taking off.

Plans for building this wonderful little boat are available at Duckworks for $40 US. The set which is downloadable in PDF form from the above link consist of around 95 pages of drawings, photos and text which should provide you snow-bound dreamers with plenty to ponder this winter and hopefully kick-start you to build one yourself. You can get more photos here: www.woodworkforums.com/f169/ultimate-cruising-pdr-120306/

Personally I think I’d want to use these plans as an inspiration for modifying the  PDR Goose, the expanded 12′ version of the original 8-footer. It would allow you more room for supplies and, possibly, a companion.

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January 23, 2010 · 9:01 am

New Dylan Winter Web Site

As readers of this blog know, I have featured quite a few of Dylan Winter’s videos of his trip around England in his 19 foot boat. I have also been fortunate to have been in sporadic email correspondence with Mr. Winter who has not only done his bit on the water, but once bought a couple of horses and trekked across much of the western part of the United States with them.

Recently he sent me an email telling me he had a new web site: www.keepturningleft.co.uk. and asked me for my opinion on how it worked. Well, as with everything I’ve seen from this gentleman, it’s superb, and well worth the time for any of my readers to spend their time on clicking and viewing his work.

I especially like the videos that feature the different boats found over there. So many of them reflect the long nautical tradition of England and are either restored working craft of boats patterned after long-established designs.

This is a great place to spend a cold wintry afternoon or an evening when those three hundred channels on the telly have absolutely nothing worth watching. Dylan Winter’s videos certainly are worth the time.

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Filed under boats, Classic Boats, cruising, Microcruising, Sail, sailboats, sailing, Small boat cruising

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December 10, 2009 · 7:29 am

Another Dylan Winter Video

It’s been too long since I’ve posted anything nautical here. I get caught up so easily in the music I love. It’s appropriate that I go back to Dylan Winter and his trip around England in a 19′ sailboat.  Here he is taking off for another leg of his trip early on what looks to be a chilly morning. Getting underway is always one of the delightful parts of boating. Cutting loose from the land. Getting the boat back into its natural element and original purpose. The anticipation of the adventures to come, and those adventures don’t have to be high winds and heavy seas.  Adventure can come simply and quietly exploring quiet secluded gunkholes and those moments are often the most memorable.

You might notice that as he’s departing the port he’s leaving the red markers to starboard. The Brits don’t use the “red right returning” rule of the U.S. but then again those buggers drive on the wrong side of the road, too.

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November 9, 2009 · 11:49 am

Small Boat Blog

Interested in small boat sailing as I am? Here’s a good site I stumbled upon today:

http://bills-log.blogspot.com/

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Filed under boats, Classic Boats, cruising, homemade boats, Microcruising, Minimalist Cruising, Sail, sailboats, sailing, Small boat cruising

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October 7, 2009 · 9:48 am

Home Made Sea Swing Stove

One of the pieces of gear that I really loved on my Nancy Dawson was the gimbaled Sea Swing stove.

Force+10+SeaCook+Stove

It was great for cooking while bouncing around underway. I always cooked things in my small pressure cooker without the weight. With the cover locked on even if dinner got flung across the cabin you weren’t cleaning up the food all over the bunks and cabin sole. I also used it at anchor and in port when I needed a third burner to supplement my usual stove top.

They go for about a hundred bucks a pop at West Marine.

I recently subscribed to a Yahoo Group called LowCostVoyaging and someone calling themselves Ken V came up with this home made version which is really clever. His post read, “I have a non-gimballed stove in my galley, and needed a stove that would work on passage. I put together a low cost gimballed stove out
of a propane camping stove and a galvanized steel pail. To make the stove, take apart the camp stove and find a way to fit it through a hole in the bottom of the pail, then hang the pail where it can swing. I had no spillage even close hauled into 6 ft breakers.”

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There are few people as resourceful as cruisers on a budget.

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July 3, 2009 · 11:27 am

Another Dylan Winter Episode

This is the sixth posting of Dylan Winter’s single-handed trip around England in a 19′ sailboat but it’s his seventh episode. I thought the sixth was rather boring and there weren’t enough shots of other boats in it. Since one of the themes of this blog is boats and sailing I’ve decided that if there aren’t a lot of boats in Dylan’s scene I’m not going to post it. Hey! My blog, my decision. Anyway, if a YouTube post here sparks your interest I hope you’ll have enough initiative on your own to go to YouTube and check things out.

Anyway, here is this week’s contribution.

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June 26, 2009 · 10:41 am

Keep Turning Left Part 5

Well, it’s Friday and time for another Dylan Winters episode. I actually thought about skipping this jump of his as it’s not exceptionally interesting except for his observation at the end about a large apartment complex on the water, not unlike how developers have managed to screw up a great deal of the coast line of the eastern US and the Gulf Coast so I opted to include it here.

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