Coastie04
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Everything posted by Coastie04
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If you can get it, Alaskan's ESB (available in kegs only) is pretty darn good for those cooling days. If you're on the eastern side of the states, Ommegang's Adoration is a great beer. Personally, I'm just about to brew a SMaSH beer (single malt, single hop) special bitter style for an upcoming competition. I've got a wee heavy (or Scotch strong ale) in a keg and going to bottle my wife's old ale soon.
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A little updated info: http://westcorktimes.com/home/?p=20668 http://afloat.ie/sail/tall-ships/item/23172-tall-ship-astrid-salvage-begins-off-kinsale
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I'm no expert, but most ships would probably just have the cargo, cannons (if possible) and maybe some spars/rigging salvaged. Much of the time, the hull would be difficult and often not worth salvaging. Spars could be cut away and, along with whatever gear was still attached to them, towed to a harbor for use on a different boat. In some cases, ballast, spars, cargo, and anything else heavy might be removed (likely via use of low tide and/or divers and later possibly something such as a diving bell) and hopefully the wooden hull would float and be able to either be pumped out or careened somewhere safer for repairs. Another possibility would be lightering the ship, essentially tying a raft on either side of the boat in order to assist in staying afloat. There are also some accounts of boats found abandoned at sea, possibly dismasted or flooded (but not sinking due to a buoyant cargo) that are then towed back to port. I did find this chat group with a little information: http://www.historicnavalfiction.net/t1523-salvaging-in-the-age-of-sail Also, though not much information from Wikipedia, the Ark Royal was raised after sinking in 1636:
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Well, there may be a glimmer of hope left. We'll see how she looks once she's up, though. http://www.pbo.co.uk/news/535158/tall-ship-astrid-wreck-to-be-raised
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After the above reply, I did a quick search for more information and found this from Wikipedia's article on the boat: So, unless there is someone extremely dedicated to this boat with a large pocketbook, or the actual damage ends up being less than initial reports indicate, it looks as if she's pretty much doomed. To re-rig her alone would cost a small fortune!
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Since she's hard on the rocks, I don't believe that she's a navigational hazard. Most likely, if she's past the point of being refloated, as much fuel/oil will be taken off as possible, possibly some items will be recovered that have intrinsic value (such as the wheel, bell and binnacle that were found recently), and then she might be left there. I wouldn't be too surprised if they do cut down her rig, as if the wrong wind picks up it might shift the boat under just the right/wrong conditions, and if any of the spars are wooden, then they could possibly drift into navigational water and provide some small hazard (especially with any lines hanging down that might foul props and rudders). I don't know what the Irish laws state should be done, so there is a big question mark there. Another possibility is that the boat will be raised (possibly in sections), still deemed a complete loss, and scrapped for the metal, or maybe refloated as a possible static exhibit if she lacks the structure to be made sailing again. Lots of possibilities, but little information on the internet so far. I still hope for the best, but it's a dwindling hope. At this point, it appears to be a matter of what the insurance company deems is most economically sound.
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http://afloat.ie/sail/tall-ships/item/23035-tall-ship-astrid-a-sorry-sight-for-irish-waters Not looking good right now for the brig Astrid. It would be great if she could be refloated, refitted and underway again one day. I still hold out just a little hope, though, since I was almost certain that the Irving Johnson would never sail again after she ran aground back in 2005.
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Nice. That always annoyed me about PotC's Black Pearl (aka Lady Washington). They actually covered up a perfectly good tiller to put a poor-functioning wheel on, when the tiller would be more PC and easier to control the boat. But, what can we expect from Disney these days? A wheel "looks" good.
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Sometimes the boats on deck would be stowed right side up instead of upside down. In extremely hot, dry weather, they could be filled with water in order to help keep the wood from shrinking (and thus creating a leaky boat when launched). Towing astern also helped keep the seams tight, and would often be done by vessels going in to battle to keep them away from damage. Sometimes they would even be cut away before the first broadsides, to be picked up later after the battle. Another advantage of being towed is that it was easier and quicker to man them than if they are stowed on deck. Many fishing boats had a large number of smaller boats/skiffs that would nest neatly in each other (sometimes with some bulwarks removed, to then be replaced before launching) and would have them anywhere on deck that they could stow them. Often, these would be launched daily for fishing, then either towed in very calm weather, or brought back on deck overnight (or when the weather prevented launching/fishing). A little off topic here, but many cruising sailboats today try to keep their boats on deck or down below when out on the high seas, but often tow them astern when on a short coastal voyage in fine weather. Safety to the boat vs. ease of use. Davits, though a later invention, give some tradeoff of safety to the boat and ease of launching, but can leave the boats more vulnerable than having them stowed inboard of the bulwarks. Here's the Endeavour replica (original launched in 1764) with a boat upright on deck spars (with a canvas covering to keep water out). And here the USS Constitution (1797) with her quarter davits: So, sometime in those 30 years or so, davits came in to use (or at least became more popular).
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True, but now that lawyers have gotten so deeply involved in maritime affairs, there is substantially more grey area than there used to be. How much do you risk your vessel? How much extra fuel do you consume (could be a big deal on longer ocean trips)? How much time do you take to divert (can cause logistical nightmare at your next scheduled port of call)? Are you actually able to help, or just stand by and watch? The Picton Castle is a training ship, so she luckily has a less rigid schedule than most vessels on the high seas, especially because she is sail driven and allowances have to be made in the schedule for slower passages. Then there's what you can actually do to help. In this case, she had some very skilled and knowledgeable crew members that were able to at least make some jury rig repairs to allow the distressed vessel to make it safely to her next port (I assume that more substantial and permanent repairs will be in order). Most vessels on the high seas would probably have only been able to take the crew on board and transport them to the ship's next port of call. Maybe they would have been able to fix the engine too, but I'm sure that a lot of them would have wanted to get on their way as fast as possible. This type of solid rendering of assistance to save the vessel and send her on her way has become rarer and rarer lately. Even the USCG sometimes has their hands tied from assisting a damaged vessel unless lives are at stake or there are significant pollution risks (thanks to lawyers and salvage companies winning law suits against them for lost revenue). I'm just really glad to see a training vessel that teaches people the 'law of the sea' as well as good, solid seamanship (which can come in handy even if it's not you that needs it).
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After Astrid, Wyvern and Bounty's demises, it's nice to hear a story of success on the high seas. The Picton Castle rescued a stricken yacht and the work of the chief mate and engineer allowed them to continue on their voyage as planned, instead of abandoning ship. Tall ship sailors can be professionals! Of course, in my opinion, they usually are, but just don't make the news until there's a disaster and then their whole career is put under a microscope. It's great to hear the other side of the coin once in a while. http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO1308/S00108/tall-ship-picton-castle-responds-to-mayday-call.htm
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http://afloat.ie/sail/tall-ships/item/22655-tall-ship-astrid-sinking-investigation-underway Another good article. Additionally, based off of this article and reviewing the former, I don't believe that the Astrid actually hit the Sovereign Islands. It appears that she hit the mainland, so without being able to counter force 5 winds, a 4-meter swell and opposing current, there was little chance of actually sailing her off of the lee shore. I'm glad they at least tried, though! Hopefully a recovery proves to be possible and ultimately successful.
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Well, besides the tops'l, which I still maintain looks as if it had been set earlier before the ship was in extremis, it looks like I was right about the sail plan. At the very beginning of this video, they were setting the main and had the main stays'l set. Later, it looks like they had struck the main and had the heads'ls set. The tops'l is not furled well throughout the video, so I'm guessing that it had been set before the engine quit, or had been made ready to set and they just ran out of time. Either way, the first half of this video is a great watch. The second half just shows survivors getting off of a life boat and a little interview of one of the rescuers. I hope that there isn't too much damage and they are able to raise this brig again. I've always been partial to brigs... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DGJC9uFjn0
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When I first saw the pictures from this, I was pretty sure that some sails had been hastily taken down, specifically the main stays'l, headsails, and fore lower tops'l. I also assume that the mains'l was set, but since that's brailed up to the gaff when dousing, it's hard to tell if it was set before the grounding (but would have likely been to try and stay off of a lee shore). It's still early, but it seems that the captain did order "extra sails to be raised," as well as a mayday, when the engine quit in order to try and save the vessel. I'm really curious how they were motor sailing, and what sails were set when the engine quit. Can't wait for the casualty report to come out on this one. It probably won't be as damning as the Bounty, but I do wonder how the boat couldn't avoid hitting the island that's only about 1000' long (based off of my estimate looking at google maps, so it might have a large degree of error). I do realize that they were close when the engine quit (about 1 km), but now I'm just wondering why, especially if the current was pushing them toward those islands. At least I am satisfied that when the engine quit, an effort was made to sail the boat to safety. It might be the case that there simply wasn't enough time with a mostly trainee crew to set enough sails or maneuver to keep the boat in safe water. http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/heartbroken-captain-to-assist-inquiry-into-sinking-of-astrid-29449967.html
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The brig Astrid ran aground near Cork and sank shortly after leaving port. The reports state that an engine failure, combined with strong wind and current were the culprits. All 30 crew and trainees were evacuated safely, and now she is holding fast to the rocks with little movement. surveyors and divers are apparently going to consider possible salvage of the nearly 100 year old vessel, but it's too soon to make any real predictions along that front. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2376754/Major-air-sea-rescue-plucks-thirty-volunteers-tall-ship-Astrid-runs-aground-rough-weather.html http://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/divers-and-surveyor-to-consider-possible-salvage-of-astrid-1.1475208
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Generally, the competitions will accept 22 oz bottles, but still require 2 bottles (and sometimes 3 for bigger competitions). The reason for this is so that one bottle is used for the initial judging, and a new bottle that hasn't gone flat can be opened for the best of division/show judging. Of course, this does start depleting your stash a little quicker. I have judged where people only submit one 22 oz bottle, and we don't turn them away because of it. Ultimately, it just hurts their chances of winning their division or overall (especially if the judging is on two separate days). Of course, this is Alaska where everything is a bit more laid back, but it couldn't hurt to shoot an email to a competition organizer and ask about it. Often, they will want to encourage newer brewers instead of slamming a door in your face. Also, if there is a homebrew club in your area, that's a great place to start getting feedback and advice. I always tell people that brewing is as easy or complicated as you want to make it. Additionally, for a weird beer that doesn't fit in to a style well at all, there is always the catch-all category 23 (other stuff/experiments/blending of styles/emerging styles/crap that you forgot what it was). That's usually a very hard one to judge, since you might have a coconut porter being compared to a coffee brown ale, jalapeno IPA and a geuze (often this style is judged with category 20-21 beers due to their diversity, but this all depends on the number of entries of each style). Brewing a beer, then determining what style it falls under is not a bad thing. I've brewed what I thought was going to be one beer, only to call it something else for competition because it fit better. Nothing wrong with that! Ultimately, we got hooked on competing locally because with one of our first beers, we won a gold medal for the style. Additionally, there was a really good judge (generally there are 2-3 for each flight) who not only told us what was good/bad about the beer, but gave some suggestions to improve it. Ideally, all score sheets would be like that, but the reality is that there are often not enough good judges in a competition, and I've even seen them pulled off the street before and asked if they wanted to help judge. But for each flight, there is usually at least one good judge, though often there is also a novice (who thus doesn't know the styles as well and might give feedback more along the lines of 'I really liked this one' or 'too bitter for me'. Still can be helpful. I'll let you know when I've got a few beers ready to swap, though as I mentioned earlier, our stash is a little low right now.
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I've seen that cherry wood smoked available before, but I just think it would be fun to smoke my own and play around with it. I've got plenty of friends with smokers, so I figure that all I need to do is get some aluminum screen door mesh and fashion it in to a tray or two for some 2-row. Do you ever enter your beers in competitions? My wife and I (both brew, but seldom together-we each have our own set of styles to focus on) do enter local competitions and occasionally some others for the good feedback (depending on the competition/available judges) and both are certified BJCP judges. Most, though, goes to friends, family and personal consumption. We'll have to keep in touch on this forum and possibly trade recipes and possibly a bottle of active yeast in nutrient solution (since sending beer via USPS is not officially allowed, and UPS/Fed Ex is exorbitantly expensive here).
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I sometimes force carbonate in the kegs (I am for the mild), and sometimes I naturally carbonate, usually with corn sugar (I did a while back with a Belgian Pale Ale). I'll bottle both of the strong beers so that it's easier to age them a bit and to let the alcoholic bite calm down a bit. Do you smoke your own grains for the old world heavy ale? I know they use alder for the Alaskan smoked porter, but I think most smoked grains in the store use different wood (or peat-just put a few oz in that wee heavy). I've been meaning to try a rauchbier with apple smoked grains, but haven't had the time yet. As an aside, the best bourbon smoked porter I've ever had was a plain smoked porter that was aged for 6 months in a Jack Daniels barrel. Tasty!
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Just brewed my Drunken Man Skirt Wee Heavy last weekend and it's fermenting away nicely right now. Just racked an Old Ale into secondary fermentation to mellow out (and so I could use the yeast cake for the Wee Heavy) and kegged an English Mild (it was a parti gyle brew with the Old Ale), which is currently carbonating. Got a maple mead that's over a year and a half old and a couple of Belgian strong ales that are aging nicely. Before these recent brews, it was a bit of a dry spell while learning how to get the time/energy to brew with an infant running around, which is why we've got an Alaskan rough draft beer on tap. Just brewed my Drunken Man Skirt Wee Heavy last weekend and it's fermenting away nicely right now. Just racked an Old Ale into secondary fermentation to mellow out (and so I could use the yeast cake for the Wee Heavy) and kegged an English Mild (it was a parti gyle brew with the Old Ale), which is currently carbonating. Got a maple mead that's over a year and a half old and a couple of Belgian strong ales that are aging nicely. Before these recent brews, it was a bit of a dry spell while learning how to get the time/energy to brew with an infant running around, which is why we've got an Alaskan rough draft beer on tap.
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Plenty of good homebrewers in Anchorage too, if you need a new hobby. And, if you need an excuse to meet up sometime, I often sail my boat up to Haines for the Great Alaskan Beer Festival (and homebrew competition, which I have entered and judged in a number of times-not judging the categories I entered, of course). Enjoy Anchorage and watch out for those moose. They're more dangerous than bears if you're not careful!
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Whereabouts in Alaska? If our paths cross somewhere in southeast Alaska, we could throw back a few homebrews or a bit o' rum. Good luck selling that hanger. I'd be tempted for sure if I had the cash, but I don't ever seem to with a new kid, boat, house, and did I mention the boat and money eating poop machine? Besides, there really isn't a pirate reenactment crowd up here (unfortunately). If you're moving to Juneau, we could start one. Or at least sit back with rum and homebrew while talking boats and history enough to drive my wife out of the room. It's happened before Good luck on the move!
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Historically Accurate Wooden Sailing Ships/Replicas
Coastie04 replied to Mission's topic in Shipwright
Well, if you keep the Wasa, then what about Mary Rose (1510-1545)? I know she's before the time period (only 55 years by the time she sank), but knowing earlier forms of ship organization and construction might help to understand the time period you're looking at. Organization of ships seems to have changed slowly during this time period, only radically changing once the ships themselves changed substantially with the advent of steam, iron and radio. In fact, if you ever tour the HMS Victory (1765-1812) and HMS Warrior(1859-1883),both at the same museum as Mary Rose, it's remarkable to see that even with radically different technology for the ships themselves, the crew accommodations and lifestyle remained relatively unchanged over those hundred years. Of course, the HMS Warrior represents the tipping point of that organizational change that I mentioned earlier, but even that change was somewhat slow to come about until the late 1800's with the advent of the dreadnought style battleships and an increasing reliance on steam power, even on sailing ships (many clipper ships and eventually the majority of large merchant vessels started using steam powered winches to assist in raising and sometimes handling sails with smaller and smaller crews). -
Historically Accurate Wooden Sailing Ships/Replicas
Coastie04 replied to Mission's topic in Shipwright
A couple more that came to mind as I was thinking about it: Kalmar Nyckel (1638) Swedish colonizing ship which made 24 round trip voyages to the New World. El Galeón (16th Century) Spanish galleon of 495 tons. Supposedly an authentic replica of a galleon of Spain's West Indies fleet. I don't know much about this ship and how accurate she might be, but she looks nice in some of the pictures I googled (at least on the outside). I wasn't able to find a homepage for the ship, unfortunately. -
Historically Accurate Wooden Sailing Ships/Replicas
Coastie04 replied to Mission's topic in Shipwright
How about the Half Moon? I haven't been onboard personally, so I'm not sure about the level of accuracy (though all replicas that I know of that actually sail are equipped with an engine and some other modern safety devices-the sinking of the Pride of Baltimore really helped convince people that sometimes replicas could be too accurate). She's a replica of a Dutch East India Company ship from around 1600 (major voyage was in 1609). -
I've seen this kind of damage to a shotgun before. It wasn't due to poor construction, but from being dropped on the muzzle and not getting the bore cleaned out before firing. With black powder, and reenacting, I wonder if this gun had been dropped/fell down before the battle. Granted, it was (I assume) firing blanks as opposed to an actual bullet, but the pressure can sure build up if there's any sort of clog in the barrel. It could also be due to poor construction materials, but it has the exact same splitting that I saw that was caused by an obstructed barrel of a decent modern shotgun.