Photos and scans from “Stay Real, Stay Gone”

Here are all the black and white images in glorious colour in the order they occur in the book.

Please refer to the text for their meaning as the captions only tell part of the story.

All photos/diagrams are copywritten to Rick Page except where stated and can only be reproduced with permission in writing.

Book cover with comments by Ben Fogle

Reality can be fun: Good friends can make even the boatyard jobs enjoyable (page 11)

keel and rudder arrangements (p26)
Cantilevers
Fig 1: A gallows, a balcony and a crane are typical cantilevers. ‘F’ marks the likely failure point.
Fig 2: An 80kg (176lbs) guy enjoys a drink at the end of a 2 meter (6’6″) balcony. The stress at point F is the sum of his weight multiplied by the length of the balcony. (Figure 2 page 28).

Fig 3: As the length of the balcony increases, so does the stress at point F.

Fig 4: Like the balcony, the spade rudder is supported at just a single point (F) with the rudder acting like a giant cantilever to increase the stress at point F.

Fig 5: Sticking out like a Scotsman at a charity gala, the spade rudder is a very vulnerable structure known to engineers as a ‘cantilever’.
Fig 6: As the waves roll past, the force they produce is multiplied by the length of the rudder, causing the shaft to flex at point F. Wave after wave, hour after hour, day after day.

Fig 7: Oops, where did my rudder go?

Figure 8.

Fig 9: Any two dissimilar metals in a salty solution will produce an electric current.

Figure 10: Adding a support reduces the stress at point F to a fraction of its previous levels.

Fig 11. A rudder supported at several points (a, b an c in this example) is under many times less stress than the cantilevered spade rudder as the forces of the sea are divided by the number of supports, not magnified by the cantilever effect.

Calypso II has a 25mm hole in the trailing edge of her supported rudder to facilitate jury rigging. One of many signs that IP yachts are designed by actual voyaging sailors.

Fig 12. Cutaway of hull with integral keel and encapsulated ballast. The encapsulation isolates the keel from the rest of the boat which means if you hit a reef and knock a hole in the keel, you only need to apologise to the environmental people, rather than meet Davy Jones in person.

Fig 13. A properly engineered bolt-on keel viewed from the side. Please note the accompanying, properly supported skeg rudder.

Fig 14. A drunken sailor sleeps happily in the knowledge that his bolt-on keel is as likely to move as a sex addict who lives next door to a brothel.

Figure 15: The S&S 34 has a well-bolted keel and a skeg-hung rudder. Jessica Watson (the youngest person ever to circumnavigate non-stop) did so in this boat as did the previous holder of that title, fellow Australian Jesse Martin. They make simple, sea-gypsy boats and are capable of some impressive passage times.

Fig 16: A modern production boat.

Figure 17. The upturned hull of SV Cheeky Rafiki clearly shows that the keel has parted company with the hull causing the boat to roll over. There were no survivors.
(Picture courtesy of the US Coast Guard).

Figure 18: A ‘blue water’ yacht similar to Cheeky Rafiki being salvaged after a routine grounding knocked the keel clean off. Are we getting the message yet? (Photo courtesy of Mike Kahr of Death’s Door Marine).

Calypso II awaits cyclone Harold tied up in a cobweb of lines and anchors, deep in the mangroves of Viti Levu. (Pic courtesy of Jose on www.sailingseabbatical.com)

With her long keel and protected rudder, Calypso II takes the ground without issue.

Be smart. Be like Terry

Figure 19: A supposedly ‘blue water’ design similar to Sv Cheeky Rafiki and Tico-Tico colliding with a submerged object. The diagram shows a container, but it could easily be a log, reef, sleeping whale or the bloated corpse of Robert Maxwell.

Figure 20: A longer, sloping keel will dissipate the energy of an impact over a wider area.

Figure 21: The HC 36 is 36 feet on deck, but only 32 feet of her are in the water.

Have your cake and eat it – get a well made boat and some light wind sails. Thanks to SV Wendaway for the picture.

Jon Sanders, probably the greatest nautical nomad of them all, arrives in Australia at the end of his 11th circumnavigation at 81 years young.
Photo courtesy of Emma Dolzadelli /Minderoo Foundation.

Figure 22: Looking at a long-keeled boat from underneath. The rudder is hard over which deflects some of the forward thrust out to the side, introducing a turning force. This is known as “prop wash.”

Fig A

Fig B

Fig C

fig D

Fig E

Fig F

Fig G

Figure H

Fig J

Figure K: Forearmed with the knowledge that your stern walks to port in reverse, you can enter this dock a fraction faster and at a slight angle in the knowledge that……

…the extra burst of reverse needed to halt your forward momentum will also walk your stern nicely on to the dock. Save the curly pipe until you have secured the dock lines though as there are few things quite as embarrassing as celebrating early and then making a complete doofus of yourself. Nobody likes a smart arse.

Figure L. The trick only works if you remember in which direction your prop walk acts. This poor skipper has forgotten that his boat walks to port in reverse and is approaching a starboard dock with undeserved optimism…

Figure S

SV Marutji being re-launched. The arrow shows one of several sacrificial pieces of zinc attached to her hull. (Yes, she is rather fair for a steely, I agree).

Morning Dove shown in mid magnification on chart plotter….

… and zoomed out one order of magnitude.

How the broker portrays her – a great beauty indeed and nothing like her current condition at all. Eagle-eyed readers will recognize that this picture has been lifted straight out of my last book.

Figure T: The US stock market since 1900 with some of the more influential points in history that caused sudden dips.

Performance of ALE Properties (LEP) since 2004. Chart courtesy of Commsec

BHP performance since 1991

Term/Cash/Time Deposit

 CapitalInterest rate%Yearly income
Year 1$50,0001.09$545
Year 2$50,0000.74$370
Year 3$50,0000.52$260
Year 4$50,0000.45$225
Year 5$50,0000.47$235
Year 6$50,0000.48$240
Year 7$50,0000.49$245
Year 8$50,0000.49$245
Year 9$50,0000.96$480
Year 10$50,0000.94$470
Total Gain$0Total Interest$3315

Figures courtesy of FDIC and based on average returns for 3 year cash deposits under $100,000.

 CapitalDiv/shareYearly income
Year 1$50,0000.21$5706
Year 2$55,1610.16$4,347
Year 3$68,2040.16$4,347
Year 4$79,0730.16$4,347
Year 5$103,8000.17$4,619
Year 6$113,8550.20$5,435
Year 7$121,7350.20$5,435
Year 8$139,3970.21$5,706
Year 9$107,8860,21$5,706
Year 10$123,9090.21$5,706
CapitalGain$73,909Total Divs$51,354

Figures courtesy of Commsec

Figure23: The two parts of a Groco ‘bronze’ through-hull.

Figure 25: The hose clip on the right is tightened only on the hose itself and is doing more harm than good.

Figure 26: A slightly exaggerated gimbal on a marine stove

Fig 27: Hove-to

Figure 28: As your boat drifts downwind the water from the starboard side is forced under your nice long keel and re-emerges on the port side all messed up.

Figure 29: Using a parachute anchor to hold your boat at 50 degrees off the wind /waves and stop her fore-reaching out of her protective ‘oil’ slick. There is not enough space in the diagram to represent the length of the line which could be several hundred feet.

Figure 31: Using the mast as a giant lever to raise the keel is a great way to recover from your doofus moment in style.

Fig 32: Using weights tied to the boom to induce heel

Sailing does not have to be stressful

Self treatment can cure most minor things and is very economical. My entire drug cabinet pictured here cost less than US$50 and was available on prescription once I paid for a doctor’s consultation to help define our on-board needs. The consultation and prescription cost just US$4.

Calypso II’s directionally stable long keel and windvane steering enables her to virtually sail herself, allowing me to maintain a good social distance from my imaginary friends who tend to appear on long passages.

Even in a crowded anchorage, Calypso (in foreground) always has a moat around her.
Even in a crowded anchorage, Calypso (in foreground) always has a moat around her.

Trolling for fish from my little sailing tender is a great solo activity…

….as is exploring remote areas by kayak (but much less likely to result in lunch).

It is easy to self-isolate when your swimming pool covers 75% of the earth’s surface.

Fig 33: An open roadstead anchorage

Fig 34: Bahamian mooring.

Figure 35: The mooring bridle. Prepare this before you enter the anchorage. You do not need to cut the chain to length, simply shackle it off at the correct depth for the anchorage at high tide and leave the tail hanging or cable tie it to the main chain.

Figure 36: Splicing directly to the swivel is okay, but I like to make an eye splice on a thimble like the one above and then shackle it to the swivel. If you don’t know how to splice 3 strand nylon, then it’s off to internet land for you! Learning this essential skill would make a good project and is something you can do on YouTube that is more practical than watching yet another episode of Sv La Vagabond.

Figure 37: Hanging between to anchors

Figure 38: Shackle the two rodes together. Make sure that the bow and stern anchor rodes are secured on a cleat before you disconnect the bitter ends from the boat unless you want to re-create the feeling of the medieval rack or need extra-long arms to light your really curly pipe.

Calypso II lies to her bridle which is shackled to a swivel, connected to a Bahamian mooring. Back in the day, I would use floating polypropylene line. I no longer do this as polypropylene may be cheap to buy, but has less UV resistance than Ed Sheeran. Please note the chafe guards on the bridle as it enters the fairleads.

Figure 40: Shows the boat happily secured to a cleat from a point at its CLR. If you set this up right, she will lie quietly. If the bow is swinging out, then move your CLR forward. If the stern is swinging out…. well, you get it. Once you have your CLR sorted, consider making a permanent pennant with a snatch block for line (a), as this works even better and saves a lot of faffing around. Also consider tying a lariat instead of a bowline for (b) as that will tighten around the cleat as you winch the line in.

Be smart. Be like Tina and Oyvan

Good luck and fair winds to everyone!

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