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As you read this please remember "don't shoot the messenger"... but =
first the fun stuff.
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This last weekend was the first club sail of 1999 for the Potter =
Yachters (San Francisco bay area), and what a gathering it was. In the =
five years that I have been associated with the club, I have never seen =
such a large group of Potters and Potterers so early in the year. At =
last count the list was up to ten boats, (and I might have missed a =
couple). I could understand such a large turnout if we had good =
weather, but both days threatened rain, and Saturday fulfilled that =
threat when the clouds opened up around 3 PM. The rain kept up on and =
off all night, and was enough to chase most of us, that lived close, =
home to our warm beds. =20
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Sunday dawned overcast and cold, and looked to be a copy of Saturday in =
the making, but ended with a nice breeze and clearing skies by the time =
we were heading back to the ramp. Most of the group sailed over to =
Angle Island on Saturday and again on Sunday, but Peggy and I were late =
arriving on Sat. so we just took a leisurely motor out into the center =
of the bay for a look-about. On Sunday the club was a bit slow getting =
out of the slips, so once again we headed out alone and, just to be =
different, pointed Happy Camper North towards the Brothers lighthouse as =
we cleared the Richmond channel. =20
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Our trip to the lighthouse was slow motoring as we were fighting an =
already strengthening ebb tide. To be honest, this tide is the main =
reason that I didn't want to head south to Angel Island as I didn't want =
to have fight it with a recently rebuilt motor (that I have yet to =
rebuild my confidence in) to get home. I shouldn't have worried as the =
little OMC purred away for around an hour and a half without skipping a =
beat. =20
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As we were battling the current, our trip north proved to be long and =
painfully slow. I don't think we ever went faster then 3 knots (over =
the bottom) during that leg of our journey. Those of you that have =
sailed under the Richmond / San Rafael Bridge know that, due to it's =
size, as you approach it, it just seems to keep getting bigger and =
bigger and gives the effect that you are never going to reach it. That =
is under a slack tide, but with us battling a 2+ knot current it seemed =
to take forever to reach that milestone.
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Under the bridge I found the current magnified as it was forced around =
and through the many giant concrete footings. Not only did it seem =
stronger, but now it was swirling around and giving us (and the =
occasional seal) a bit of a thrill, and reason to hope for the continued =
operation of our little motor. The motor didn't let us down and soon we =
were through the worst of the confused water and heading for the =
lighthouse that we could now see.
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On the north side of the bridge the channel narrows between Points San =
Pablo and Pedro, and the many little rocks that make up "The Sisters" on =
the west and "the Brothers" on the east. About a half mile north of =
the bridge, as we drew closer to the lighthouse, our speed (OTB) started =
decreasing until we reached equilibrium with the ebb tide. I have to =
admit that I was only running about 7/8 throttle, but with new parts in =
the OMC I didn't want to push it any harder so we turned around and =
headed back.
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With the push from the ebb, and a wind on our port quarter, we took off =
like a 'J' boat! Now instead of struggling for every inch of headway, =
we flew down towards the bridge at a fast enough clip to raise a little =
anxiety about clearing the footings. The current hits them at an angle =
and if a boat is swept between a pair it could be demasted by the =
crossmember that joins them together. As we swept under the bridge the =
current and wind were confused by it and Happy Camper lost her point, =
but soon we had her back on 'tack' and zipped past Red Rock, the last =
obstruction we had to past before tacking and pointing the bow to the =
entrance to the marina.
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The trip up was around an hour and a half and the (longer) trip back was =
over in about 40 minutes! What a ride. Funny thing about hooking onto =
a current is that you don't feel like you are going fast until you pass =
a point of reference, like a bridge or buoy, then it gets a little =
exciting.
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Now to the part of this story that will probably get me kicked off this =
mail list.
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In the past I have stated that there are many versions of the big Potter =
boats, but have been corrected because "officially" there are only =
three.=20
1. HMS-18
2. P-19 pre 95
3. International Marine P-19, started around 1995
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This weekend went far in proving to me that there are probably as many =
versions within these major groups as there are boats. Out of the seven =
(I think) big Potters that were at the sail, I don't think that any two =
(that had more than a years difference between their building dates) =
were alike. Truth is some of the differences were so great I would =
class them in totally different groups. A couple of glaring examples =
(forgive me but as I don't have the owners permission to talk about =
their boats I won't name names or numbers) were:
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A. Early P-19 with wood cabinets that reached the floor but no cabin =
liner so the part you stood on was actually the inner side of the hull =
molding. Interesting boat as you could actually see what a tiny bilge =
there is in the larger Potters, basically the inside of the fiberglass =
keel from the retractable-keel housing aft to the transom. On this boat =
the factory had laid down what looked to be unresined fiberglass mat =
across the bilge and then covered it with a layer of resined, thick, =
woven glass fabric. That was the sole of the cabin!
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B. Another early P-19 (later model) with fiberglass cabin liner but =
what seemed to be a different setup then the new boats.
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C. Amongst the newer (IM) boats the differences in construction were =
more subtle. My '95 has a brittle jellcoat and because of this, many =
hairline cracks around the bow pulpit and most angles (deck to cabin =
sides, cockpit seats to cabin back...), whereas I don't think I saw one =
crack on the newer boats (there were three present). I also saw the =
same kind of cracking on an early 90's boat. HC had her cracks when I =
bought her but they had been covered up with a coat of gelcoat 'paint' =
(to hide them?) and they reopened the first summer I had her.
The hull on Happy Camper flexes more then the newer boats (when sitting =
on her trailer) which makes me wonder if she is of lighter construction =
then they are. =20
Scott came up with a hull upgrade in '98 but Larry turned it down =
(supposedly because it cost another $250 in materials) so I don't know =
if the new boats are any stronger, or if they are just newer and will =
have problems later. (If I were going to buy a new P-19 I would demand =
the hull and deck upgrade.)
I saw more, but this post is already too long and I need to go out and =
service my mistress before she starts to mold. (You knew I was talking =
about the boat, didn't you?)
Left Coast Larry
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