Penobscot 14 ST. JACQUES 19 Oct 20 Row and Sail

19 Oct 20: 

Got out on the water in ST. JACQUES today, we wanted to have a little fun, reclaim part of the bay and see if we could spot any items that were still MIA from Hurricane Sally, like our channel marker number 6 sign. 

But first Skipper had to clean storm debris out of the centerboard trunk, pine needles, bark and tree leaves.  There was so much muck packed in there by the storm surge that the centerboard would not move. She used a knife and a stick to dredge out debris, and poured water into the trunk to flush out the muck. 

Ready to go, I planned to row mostly but Skipper had other plans.

Back from a successful row and sail, 75F with light winds 8-9 mph, coming out of the East which made for a nice broad reach.

Skipper found a rock.

Maybe we should have cleaned out more of the muck and bay residue before we left, but when we were done ST. JACQUES got a fresh water rinse with a little TILEX added for style. TILEX is great to remove mold and mildew, but it is best to spray it on a rag, wipe down the boat then rinse right away. If it is sprayed directly onto some paints it can run and leave a lighter bleached out streak. The streak eventually fades but it is best to apply the TILEX sparingly in small locations, a little goes a long way. Test it out in an inconspicuous area and as always, read the application and health hazard information on the bottle. The Porter Cable cordless Wet/Dry Vac makes short work of sucking muck out of the bilge, 2 1/2 gallons at a time. Nice to not have electrical cords in wet locations.

ST. JACQUES rode out the Hurricane mostly carefree, she did get a little rash on her lower strakes, possibly from the boat next to her or the dolly. 

Very small rub on the gunwale, which was protected by a Sunbrella cover. The cover didn't fare so well, it needs a few repairs, but it did Yeoman's work protecting the boat as no water got inside during the storm. Interestingly enough, the wooden boats in the Sunfish Shack did amazingly well, the fiberglass boats not so much.

In other news we put down 12 tons of #4 crushed limestone along the inland side of the seawall, with help from a Toro Dingo, along with topsoil and sod and. We are going to call restoration of the quay, aka Mini Gun Deck, complete.

Log of ST. JACQUES.

Penobscot 14 ST. JACQUES 16 Jul 20 Voile et Aviron

16 Jul 20:

Air Temp 76 F, Dewpoint 72 F, Wind ENE 3 knots gusting 4.

0714 Launched early in ST. JACQUES to try and intercept the dolphin, they have been coming by just after 0700 each morning. Rowed ENE into the wind for 10 minutes or so, Skipper puts the rudder down so she can steer while I provide motive power. Not much motive power this morning, we seemed to be going uphill against some river current and flood tide eddies. Skipper turned us into the roaring 3 knot breeze, I shipped the oars, lowered the centerboard and loosed the spritsail brail line. ST. JACQUES slowly turned off the wind and Skipper sailed us the 3/4 mile back home on a beautiful run. We played around a bit with moveable ballast positioning.

I think Skipper may have sculled us a bit.

Video: https://youtu.be/jyRslhfis0g



ST. JAQUES telling Sea Stories to SMEDLEY.

Rowed .75/Total 28.75
Voile et Aviron 1h / 15h 0m

Log of ST. JACQUES.

Penobscot 14 ST. JACQUES 28 Oct 19 Voile et Aviron

28 Oct 19:

ST. JACQUES had been moved around as part of Tropical Storm TETRIS, she had bits everywhere. We had her in the Carriage House for a bit and it was clear enough to move her back to the Sunfish Shack aka Penobscot Pagoda, so we gathered up her bits and dollied her around to the backyard.

Along the way I noticed a light wind on the bay and 72F air temp. It only seemed right to go ahead and rig her, just to make sure wha had all the bits and lines sorted out, so she would be ready to go on her next adventure.

I got the brailing line, halyard, sheet and ensign line untangled, dropped in the mast and set the sprit, brailed and unbrailed the sail, that all worked. The ensign line was clear, and I rigged the bridle. Put on the rudder. Bay still looks nice. Skipper walked by and I said I might take ST> JACQUES out for a short row. Skipper said she'd get her hat.

We beach launched and cleared the groins usinf an oar for a push pole. Well, almost cleared, I should have pushed harder on the last push. Skipper gave a few strokes of her paddle and I was able to get the oars in the oarlocks and row out to the pier. Winds from the west, small swell, the original thought was to turn and row into the wind for about 10 minutes, then pop the sprit and take her back to the pier on a run and do some gybes and gybes there. As we took a look, a kayak fisherman appeared in that direction, so Skipper decreed that we just reach out and reach back. Fiddled with the centerboard, rudder angle and sheet angle for a few minutes, and then turned back to the dock. We actually tacked, with the assistance of a couple of strokes on the leeward oar.

Spotted a few pelicans and took some detail shots. Approaching the beach Skipper bore down on the kayaker, he had encroached on Skipper's avenue of approach, he quickly paddled away when he saw the mighty Penobscot bearing down on his ship. I think Skipper hollered "Starboard!" About 100 feet from the shore the rudder and centerboard came up and we ran ashore at 1-2 knots, perfectly lined up with the dolly.

ST. JACQUES got hauled and we gave her hull a fresh water rinse, wiped down her innards with a couple of towels. Downrigged her, this time I left the brailing line loose and rolled up the sail nicely, I had been leaving the brailing line tight, which caused creases along the sail up top. Put her nice cover on and stored her back in the Penobscot Pagoda, ready for the next trip.

First Mate's vantage point of the spritsail, aft the mast on the forward thwart.

Oarlock and vintage longleaf pine oars, the oars were gifts from our neighbor Al, his Uncle had used them on his mullet boat.

Padook and boat hook. Acceptable patina.

Centerboard trunk and mid thwart details.

Tropical front moving in off the Gulf, rain expected for the next few days. Another reason we thought it might be good to go mess about for a bit.

Played around with sheeting angles for a bit, did not come up with anything defintive.

Brailing line block at the top of the mast. We might swap this over to a small ring, and smoother line, to get that last 1/2 inch of leech opened up.

Miles rowed 0.5/Total 23.0

Log of ST. JACQUES

Fred's Penobscot 14 DEJA VU TOO For Sale $3500

When we started building our Penobscot 14 I was lucky enough to find a local gent who had built 2. I went to visit and got to see his beautiful craft Deja Vu Too. Seems his first P14 is missing in action after Hurricane Ivan swept it from underneath his house. Maybe we'll find it someday but that is another story.

So Fred built the second P14 and it went out to Madisonville, LA and won the Best Sailboat Award there. His boats are used almost daily, he loves to row and has put over 1200 miles on them around his backyard bay. Deja Vu Too got a new interior finish on the planks and stringers after a mildew attack, and she still looks stunning. Fred used oak,mahogany and spanish cedar for the seats and rail cap. He made the oars out of cherry and built a nice rowing station as well.

(image credit: Fred)

(image credit Fred)

Fred also built a nice motor launch as well, which won the Best Of Show Award at Madisonville.

And he dabbles in Weekend Skiff variants.

Here are a few detail shots to help out fellow P14 builders. Enjoy!

She has a nice gunter rig with sails by Schurr Sails Pensacola.

Fred is asking $3500 USD for DEJA VU TOO. She is in Milton, Florida. If interested, post a comment or send us an email to our profile account.