Shan Skailyn Video

I was finally able to upload a quick video with some clips from my latest adventures on Shan Skailyn.  One thing I'd love to get comments on is regarding the flexing of the mast. I've never noticed before, but watching this video (looking down the mast) you can see the mast (luff spar) flexing at the attachment point where it is hoisted up against the stub mast. Is that a normal amount of flex, or is it excessive. Keep in mind it's about 15-20 knot wind where it's flexing like that.

In this video, I show a timelapse of the boat assembly after getting out of storage, then a quick shot of how nice the new rollers on the trailer are working, before getting to the actual sailing. Oh, and you can see how the unfolding of the crossbeam/ama hinges works when putting it in the water. Back up on the trailer is the same in reverse.

Enjoy!


Sailin' Shan Skailyn II from geoff husa on Vimeo.

Good Sailing in Madang

We recently were able to get down to Madang and get Shan Skailyn out on the water for the first time in about 10 months! We really enjoyed being able to put him to good use every single day, both paddling (with the kiddos), and sailing. Most days, Shan Skailyn was in use from just after lunch (when the tide came in, allowing us to launch) right up until dusk where there would be just enough time to get it back on the trailer, back to the house, and rinsed off and ready for the next day.

Speaking of getting Shan Skailyn in and out of the water, you may remember I mentioned last time (10 months ago or so) that I ordered some hardware to put some rollers on the trailer to ease loading and unloading as well as reduce wear and tear to the bottom of the boat being caused by sliding it on and off mere carpet covered steel square stock. Having prepared the rollers ahead of time, I was ready to install immediately on arrival. And was I ever pleased with the results! Shan Skailyn now rolls off and back on to the trailer with such ease! In addition, when it was finally time to disassemble and pack it back up in storage, there was very little wear to the paint on the bottom. In the past I had always needed to put a few touch up coats of paint on the bottom every time we were packing it up. No more!

Now for the fun stuff… the sailing! The conditions were a little bit more windy than I've experienced in the past. I mean it's usually good, but a bit lacking in the thrill department. This time had a bit more excitement to speak of with stronger, gustier winds, and more rolling swells. I had the pleasure of having a new acquaintance who happens to be a sailor from New Zealand accompany me one day. He gave me a few insights about reading the wind. Not earth shattering stuff, but every little thing counts! Watching the water and waves for wind speed and direction. I definitely could stand to read up on that stuff more. Anyone got some good online resources for this? So the exciting stuff starts happening with winds about 20 knots. I guess that's when you start seeing little whitecaps. Most days weren't quite that, but maybe 10-15 knots. The last day though I went out in consistent 20 knots and it was A W E S O M E !!!!!! I've never handled Shan Skailyn on my own going that fast. The only time it may have been going faster was on day 6 of our maiden voyage when we got caught in some nasties out a bit further away from land.

But this time was just me and I ventured a bit further up the coast than I usually do. I had this little voice in my head reminding me, despite my nervousness, that this is the last day I won't get to take Shan Skailyn for a ride for 18+ months. (I'll get to the 18 months thing in a bit.) I wanted to push things beyond my comfort level today. Even in our little bay, still inside the shelter of the many little islands around us it was blowing pretty nice, guessing maybe 15 knots. Today's goal… I wanted to sail to a nearby resort, grab a brewsky at their little seaside restaurant, and sail back. Things were looking good so far. Now looking at my track below (sailed from circled area with goal to make it to starred area), I know that there might be the experienced sailors wondering why I'm not going out beyond the shelter of the islands. I know you lose the wind (or it gets unpredictable) behind the islands. But honestly, that's my favorite part, cruising over the shallow coral, seeing and talking to the people living on those islands. They almost always live on the sheltered side. I love that stuff. OK, ok ok… I'm a bit of a puss too. I still don't like feeling exposed out there. Plus there's no breakers to worry about. So back to my story… after I passed behind that first island there, that's where the wind was really nice and strong. I was able to maintain a fast port tack the whole way out NEARLY to the resort I'd hoped to get to (Jais Aben). This stretch was the fastest I have ever single handedly. Unfortunately I do not own a gps so cannot give you speeds. But suffice to say I was moving pretty good. I got some decent gopro video of it, which hopefully I'll be uploading soon!

I had a great time cruising by folks on their outriggers and even a number of people out swimming around the coral reef spear fishing or otherwise hunting their meals around their island homes.

As I made the last open stretch before reaching Jais Aben, the winds continued to get stronger, and at this point the waves were piling up and starting to take the form that looked like they'd start breaking soon. It made me pretty nervous about being out there. Also, I noticed the last approach, just before the protected bay of the resort, had a lot of big breakers. I just didn't see a clear way through it. Looking at going out around the outside of the last little island there didn't look too great either. Everything was getting rougher. I had two choices before me, it seemed. Either finish my trip to the resort, then hang out and hope things calmed down a bit, or tuck tail and head back. I chose not to brave going near those breakers. If there's one thing I've learned that scares me, it's that you may think you're steering clear of those things, but before you know it, you're right upon them. It's kind of scary how they sneak up on you. I suppose that's why it's probably safer to stay further away from the coast when sailing. So I wussed out and headed back. Yeah, I gotta live with that for the next 18+ months till I get another chance to get out there. But still, this was a fun ride!

Going back took me quite a bit longer than I'd expected. I pretty much followed the same route, albeit with many many more tacks as I was beating up wind especially on the first 1/4 of the return. At one point, I was having such a difficult time making progress (because the area between the island and the mainland I was trying to pass through was too narrow to effectivly tack, especially with how the wind was funneled through that channel) that I thought I was going to have to go out into the bigger waves out around the unprotected side of the island. I had an audience here too, watching this stupid white man in his sailboat struggling to get back where he came from! They'd seen me scream through the area, only to see me piddle my way back… almost unsuccessfully. Till a brief gust from another direction allowed me to point up, pick up speed and get just to the point where I could squeak out of there. Now I was good.

The rest of the way back was fairly easy going, and felt like I was riding a roller coaster going up and down on thsoe waves like that. When all was said and done, getting out (almost) to my destination took me about 25 minutes, and getting back took me almost an hour. What a fun ride though. It felt good, though kept me on my toes. Still wondering if I could have navigated the rest of the way to the resort. I'm sure I would have been fine. I'll have to try it again next time.

Speaking of next time, we're planning on returning to the US, to my home state of Arizona, for a year, starting in February. Once we return to Papua New Guinea in Feb of 2017, it'll be at least 6 months before we are able to get down to Madang again. Kind of sad about that. Hopefully I've cleaned up and stored Shan Skailyn well and it'll still be in great shape when we get back.

Meanwhile, hold on a bit and I'll work on getting a short video of my sailing adventures uploaded for your viewing pleasure.

This is a LONG overdue video upload from 2013. It's the only footage of Shan Skailyn's 7 day maiden voyage... the very end of it as we passed through Madang harbor and then later as we arrived at our intended destination. My camera was stolen, along with all the photos and video footage of the trip. But my friend drove out to Madang to capture some of this with his phone, and then later captured our arrival. I made the video soon after, but never uploaded it because we didn't have internet at the time. I'd since forgotten. Hence the late post!


Shan Skailyn arrival.mp4 from geoff husa on Vimeo.
This is a quick little snippet documenting our arrival after Shan Skailyn's 7 day maiden voyage 90 miles up the north coast of Papua New Guinea, from Saidor to Madang (March 2013). This is a boat I made from one of Gary Dierking's designs (the Wa'apa). It was a long, rough voyage with winds and currents working against us most of the way. My camera was stolen the last night, which is why this is the only footage of the entire trip! Thankful for my friend who drove out to Madang, to catch some footage with his phone from coastwatchers point and then from his house where we ended our voyage.

After more than 15 months, our family was finally able to get back out to Madang for a break. Of course, Shan Skailyn was out of storage and put to good use immediately. The seas were mostly flat and winds mild. But there were enough days with decent and even slightly stronger wind to get out there and have some fun. I compiled some video footage here.

This time out, I feel I was able to get my confidence up handling the boat by myself in some stronger, gustier winds. I'm feeling ready to start venturing out further next time, outside the relative safety of our little bay and the shelter of all the little islands. I'd love to start taking Shan Skailyn to some different nearby areas. There's even a little resort nearby (Jais Aben) I could sail to, enjoy a lunch, and sail back. How great would that be?!


Sailin' Shan Skailyn from geoff husa on Vimeo.

A note on a few things: If you remember, I chose to use bamboo for the spars, a decision I wasn't super confident on originally but tried just to see what would happen and how they would hold up. These spars have now been in use for about 2 years and have been through a lot, especially on the maiden voyage up the coast. Now, even after sitting in hot storage for over 15 months, they've held up very well. No bugs have gotten to them, I see no sign of deterioration, and that split that I repaired in initial construction has held up wonderfully. For any of you builders out there, I would highly recommend the use of bamboo if you have access to it.

I'm really pleased with how the rest of the hull and other elements have held up over time. I haven't had to do any fiberglass repairs yet on the bottom, though I do touch up the paint every time I'm packing Shan Skailyn up to put away again. Most of the need for touch up of paint though is my trailer. Seems that pulling Shan Skailyn up over carpet wears that paint right off.

To fix this I've ordered some flat rollers and steel rod to install on Shan Skailyn's trailer. Each flat roller is 2.5" diameter and rubber. The plan is to cut the rollers into 3" or 4" lengths and span them across as evenly as possible in four places in the lower half of the trailer where most of the boat weight sits, especially when hauling out of the water. I'm hoping the rubber and the quantity of the rollers will be an even enough distribution of weight to not risk damage to the boat. Hopefully it will reduce the need to retouch paint all the time too. And finally, I'm really hoping it will make it easier to get the thing up on the trailer by myself. Right now, I can do it, but it's quite difficult.

Oh, and I glued some heavy duty protective rubber pieces, right where the crossbeams lash to the hull. Sorry, I forgot to take pictures! I find that the crossbeams continually wear away at least at the paint there, and even a bit into the plywood. I am hoping the rubber will keep that from happening. I'm not sure what the stuff is called, but it's the stuff that is glued to the leading edge of cessna wings to protect from flying debris on grass airstrips. I got some old stuff from some airplane mechanics I know.

I am continually concerned about termites. Right now the boat is stored up on top of a 20' shipping container, directly under a roof. Termites are a real problem in Papua New Guinea and they've been known to build their little tunnels up the side of any material to reach some wood they're after. I dread coming out next time and finding such a mud tunnel leading up the side of the container to Shan Skailyn. I'm not sure what else I can do to prevent it either. If anyone has any ideas, I'm all ears! So far, I've ordered some diatomaceous earth to dust around the boat and on top of the container. I've read that's quite effective for most bugs including termites, as long as the dust stays dry. However, I'm not entirely convinced that DE would stop a mud tunnel.

Anyway, enjoy the video.