Sail Far Live Free

Just thought I'd add a quick post to let you know about a video slide show I put together recapping the first year with our Helms 25, Hannabel. You can view the video on YouTube here: YouTube Slideshow of Hannabel's 2008 Season Enjoy!

Now that I've spent a season sailing our Helms 25 and have had time to reflect on the experience since having her hauled out in October, I thought it would be appropriate to post my review of the boat. So here it is... There are many small sailboat builders who had passion, good designs and quality craftsmanship that are no longer in business. The sailboat market can be fickle. Demand ebbs and flows. Niches grow and shrink. Fortunately, many sailboats from years ago survive the market conditions, unlike some of their respective builders. Today we're left with a few choices in the pre-owned market for small, trailerable weekend cruisers. If you're shopping, don't overlook some of the smaller builders like Helms Yachts. Helms Yachts were built in Irmo, South Carolina during the 1970s and early 1980s by Jack Helms. To the best of my knowledge, only 600-800 total boats were built throughout the Helms line. Jack supposedly personally delivered most of the boats. The c...

I should have listened to my dad when he warned that purchasing a boat would only make the summer go by more quickly and the winter more slowly. I now sit at the edge of a very long winter reflecting back over a very fast, yet enormously memorable summer. Maybe somehow putting it all down on paper will make the sailing from this past summer last just a bit longer. Let's start at the beginning. Before this summer, I was first a young boy spoken to by the sweeping sheerline of a Maine lobster boat, an adolescent teen enjoying the wind in my hair from the bow of mom and dad's boat, and more recently a novice sailor seeking wisdom from the wind and waves aboard a Laser on Lake Charlevoix. In fact, just one summer ago I was a mere armchair sailor, reading all I could about sailing adventures in far off places. The internet was my virtual showroom allowing me to step aboard the thousands of sailboats listed for sale and drift just a little further into my South Pacific f...

On what turned out to be a rather spontaneous decision, we threw off the docklines and headed south towards Port Sheldon and Pigeon Lake. The crew consisted of Erin, Hannah, Isabel, Shasta and I. The weather forecast was perfect...10-15 knot winds out of the north with waves 1 foot or less. We rounded the south pier head of Grand Haven at about 11:30am and enjoyed a perfect broad reach for 8 nautical miles to Port Sheldon. The wind and waves were so very right that day that we did not even once take a tack or pull on the jib sheet. Just awesome sailing! Port Sheldon is listed in the chart books as simply a "port of refuge" with no services or marinas. Fair enough, we were looking for a bit of relaxation and quiet before the busy holiday weekend that lay ahead. The channel into Pigeon Lake is a bit narrow and sometimes shallow, but well worth navigating because of the clear blue water and narrow sandy beaches on the shorelines. We motored down the channel and into Pigeon L...

On Wednesday, July 16, 2008, we embarked on our first overnight cruise from our homeport. We had originally planned to sail from Grand Haven to Saugatuck (~24 nautical miles) to meet up with some friends who have a boat there. The voyage from Grand Haven to Saugatuck affords a couple of ports in between for weathering a storm, provisioning, etc. The ports are evenly spaced with Port Sheldon/Pigeon Lake being a short hop at 9.5nm and Holland being an additional 8nm. The forecast for Wednesday, our departure day, called for winds out of the south from 5-15 knots. This meant a tough, slow beat upwind. Luckily the seas were only 1-2 foot and the sky was clear. We stayed on Hannabel the night prior to the trip and both Erin and I woke early Wednesday morning (6:00am) with excitement, ready to begin our journey. We rounded the Grand Haven pier and headed south at about 9:00am. The girls both played for the first few hours. Our dog, a golden retriever named Shasta, slept. Then af...

The Grand River Sailing Club graciously invited Erin and I to participate in their annual "8+8 Sailing Rally" and we happily accepted. The 8+8 Rally is a laid back "race" that uses a handicapped start so all boats finish relatively close together. The course is set so the race has one turning mark 8 miles out on a beam reach. I know many of the regular GRSC members don't really consider the 8+8 to be a race, but believe me, Erin and I were racing! This was our first organized sailing event together with Hannabel and we're happy to report she did great! The race started with dark storm clouds looming overhead and 15 mph winds bustling about. But the conditions quickly mellowed out and all participants were sitting still in the water with little to nowind for about an hour. At that point the race committee decided to shorten the 8+8 to a 6+6 (6 miles out, 6 miles back) race. Because of our PHRF handicap starting place, we were the first boa...

It's been a while since I've updated the blog, so I thought I'd take the time to make a few posts. I was blessed with the good fortune of being asked to crew on 37 foot sailboat for the 2008 Queen's Cup race. For those unfamiliar, the Queens Cup ( http://www.ssyc.org/queenscup/default.asp ) is one of the oldest cups in world-yachting still being offered for competition every year. The race begins on the western shore of Lake Michigan in Milwaukee and finishes on the eastern shore in Grand Haven. Our boat and crew crossed on Wednesday morning from Grand Haven to Milwaukee (approximately 72 nautical miles) in near perfect sailing conditions. We had 15-25 mph winds on our beam nearly the entire way and averaged about 6.8 knots for an 11 hour crossing. The race back home was even better. We started in a thunderstorm and tacked around the starting area with a double reefed main. Eventually the storm passed and we shook out the reefs and enjoyed an all n...

This is a brief but important post I should've made long ago. We decided very early this year that the name of our sailboat is to be "Hannabel", which comes from simply combining the first four letters from our daughter Hannah's name and the last four letters from our daughter Isabel's name. Tricky, huh? In any case, our beautiful little boat is hence forth to be known as the sailing vessel Hannabel!

This past Sunday marked the first trip on Hannabel that was more than a mere daysail. Erin, Hannah, Isabel, my mom, dad and I all shoved off from the docks at North Shore Marina at about 11:00am and headed north to Muskegon for lunch. The weather called for light air (5-10kts) out of the north, so we knew might be in for a long, slow trip of only 24 total miles. Still, we were eager to get some mileage beneath our keel so we worked our way windward...for about 3 hours. The trip to Muskegon was uneventful, as we munched on my mom's almond bars and basked in the sunny (but cool!) 1st day of June. Just west of Grand Haven we observed a couple of the USCG boats practicing towing drills as we sailed by at a very leisurely pace. We pulled into the Muskegon breakwater and channel around 2:30pm and motored our way to Dockers. The food was good, even if they did take the very memorable calamari off the menu. There was also a live blues band and plenty of activities for the girls. The ...

Our first sail on our "new to us" boat was short but ever so sweet! We tried our sails and running rigging at the slip before departing for the lake. Everything seemed like it was working as it should, so we shoved off for Lake Michigan. Once reaching the big lake, we motored out about a half mile before shutting down the outboard and preparing to hoist the sails. Erin took the helm as I scurried about the deck and cockpit setting the sails and sheets. Once the jib went up, we were off! The conditions were light (wind to 10 knots from the North), but we made headway and enjoyed every minute of the first sail. We practiced making a couple of tacks and alternated between beam and broach reaching. On the way in we encountered engine problems, as the pull cord for our outboard broke, the choke stuck open and caused the engine to run poorly and to top it all off, it wouldn't stay in gear! Luckily we had my mom and dad nearby with the mothership (their Carver motoryacht) fo...

The big days for our little boat keep rolling in. Today we splashed her at her new summer home, North Shore Marina in Grand Haven. The marina staff used a modified fork lift that is typically used for their "in and out" service to lift the boat off the trailer and set her gently down in the water. Even though the staff knew exactly what they were doing, I was still quite nervous as I watched the boat lift from the trailer and be set into the water. I was also nervous after the hull hit the water. Would it keep the water on the outside where it belongs? Or did I miss some hidden spot on the hull where water could get inside? Will the swingbolt for the centerboard be water tight? Time will tell. Anyway, here are a few pictures (courtesy of my mom): And finally, resting peacefully in her slip:

Finally...the day I've been anxiously awaiting since last fall has arrived. Today we stepped the mast. Obviously, this is a big day since it moves us that much closer to actually sailing our "good old boat". But despite my excitement, I was also very anxious because of the unknown. I've never stepped a mast or rigged any sailboat larger than a Laser. Luckily, I received a lot of great advice from forums members at Sailnet and a few other trusted Helms owners. Based on this advice, I constructed a gin pole from Home Depot materials (10' 2"x6", 4 eye bolts, ratchet strap) that made the job very manageable. I cut the gin pole to fit around the base of the mast and used the ratched strap to hold it in place. We then attached the forestay to the opposite end of the gin pole and ran a line from the same end through a block on the bow and back to the sheet winch in the cockpit. One person stood holding an extension ladder which supported one e...

Today was a big day for our sailboat. Most of the hard restoration work has been completed and she's moving to her new home in Grand Haven on Lake Michigan. We loaded her up with all of our crusing gear and towed her west. Recently completed projects include: -New compainionway hatchboards installed -New teak handrails installed -Refinished teak railslides installed -Transom boarding ladder installed -Fishing rod holder installed -New dinette table built and installed

It's been a while since I've made a blog post, but I have a legitimate excuse: I've been busy with spring boat projects! Over the last three weeks, I finally finished up the new paint job.  We painted everything above the waterline on the boat (hull sides, boot stripe, cove stripe, deck, non-skid, cockpit). As with many projects, the preparatory work was the hardest part. In preparation for painting, I sanded the entire boat first with an orbital sander, than by hand. Next, I washed over the sanding residue with warm water and a bit of soap. I then applied one coat of Interlux Pre-Kote. This, of course, was followed up with another round of sanding. Then the next coat of Pre-Kote primer was applied. Followed by more sanding. Needless to say, my forearms are now Popeye-esque from all the sanding. After priming, my dad (thanks dad!) helped me roll and tip two coats of Interlux Brightsides polyuerethene onto the hull. We were both very impressed by the ease of applicatio...

Today I picked up a of Lewmar #7 single speed winches from a fellow sailor who was scrapping one of his sailboats. The winches are in excellent condition and should make good spares or upgrades for both my halyard and jibsheet winches. My starboard side jibsheet winch is currently dismantled in my garage and in need of a tune-up. I may replace it with one of the Lewmars. Anyway, I took the two Lewmar winches apart for cleaning and oiling. As soon as the weather gets warm enough to apply adhesives (3M 5200), I'll look into installing them.

So the calendar says there's only one week to go until spring. Today I got anxious and decided to take a drive out to the big lake and see how she's doing. As you can see from my pictures below, we here in Michigan still have a fair bit of thawing to do before we can declare the boating season open.

As spring draws closer, we're getting more and more excited about the upcoming sailing season and "splash day" for our sailboat. We now have our slip reserved at North Shore Marina in Grand Haven, Michigan. We can't wait to enjoy the summer breezes coming off of Lake Michigan while we rock away the days on the boat. We're also very excited to be able to have a spot at the same marina where Kevin's parents keep their boat. Bring on summer!

As you may recall from some posts late last summer, most of the teak on our sailboat's deck was severly rotted. Perhaps the most rotted of all were the teak railslides for the sliding companionway hatch. I was fortuntate enough to come acrossed a fellow Helms 25 owner who happened to have a spare set of used railslides for that fit my boat perfectly (Thanks Wayne!). I continue to be amazed at the level of support and information provided by other sailors whom I've met online at places like Sailnet and the Yahoo Helms forums. The railslides I received from Wayne were dirty and definately in need of some cosmetic work, but the teak wood was solid. I begin restoring the old railslides by sanding them. Next, I washed them in our shower much to the chagrin of my wife with a mixture of dish detergent, TSP and bleach. Then I carefully applied three coats of Minwax Helmsman Spar Urethane over the course of four days. I also used more epoxy to patch a couple of spots on the bottom of ...

This post will briefly highlight the cosmetic enhancements we made to our auxillary outboard. As previously mentioned, the motor cowling fell off on the highway while the previous owner was towing his boat. During the tumble down the highway, the cowling sustained cracks, scrapes and broken corners. I start the repairs by filling in the hollow spaces between the fiberglass outer-cowling and the foam insulation with styrofoam. Then I used hand moldable "metal" epoxy putty from PC Products (similar to the PC-11 marine epoxy used on the hull) to pactch the cracks and holes in the cowling. The epoxy sets really fast, so you need to be quick with shaping it. Unfortunately, this epoxy doesn't sand down very nicely, so you're mostly stuck with whatever shape the epoxy sets in. Next, I cleaned the cowling and sanded it with fine grit sanding sponges to remove grime and painted decals. I then used 3 coats of an exterior latex paint with ceramic additives to finish the job....

After a lot of research and much debate about how much of the overall restoration budget should be spent on an outboard motor, we finally made a purchase. We ended up spending well below our targeted price of $600 and picked up this little Johnson for $240. There are some old salts that will tell you a sailor doesn't need a motor at all. After all, sailing is about coming to balance with the forces of nature (wind, currents, waves, etc.) through a sailboat. However, we feel having auxillary power will be a huge blessing on those days when the wind doesn't blow. We also anticipate using the motor to move to and from our mooring as well as helping us navigate through busy channels and marinas without having to use our sails. And of course there's an argument that a motor on a sailboat can provide a bit of safety if your rigging gets damaged. Whatever the ultimate reason, we're happy to have an outboard. We spoke with several other Helms 25 owners as well as owners of ...