Norwegian Steam: Playa Bonanza

Friday, December 31, 2010

Playa Bonanza

This is a great evening for Norwegian Steam. Cruising in the Sea of Cortez, at last! We are anchored a hundred yards from the long sand beach of Playa Bonanza, located on the east side of the island of Espiritu Santo, which is a natural marine park. Even though the wind is from the west, it is quite breezy out here. As soon as we got anchored, an hour before sunset, Jennifer and Amy rowed the dinghy ashore. I was worried that they might not get back, with the wind so strong, but they made it. Best rowing workout Jennifer has had since here crew days! The moon has not yet arisen. The sky is full of stars. Sally is preparing a risotto with Andrew's assistance. We have opened up some wine. Is this not paradise?

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2 comments:

Mrs. RuzzoJanuary 1, 2011 at 9:36 PM
I always knew paradise would include risotto. Happy New Year to all.
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peterwJanuary 2, 2011 at 9:24 AM
Sounds like paradise
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Norwegian Steam, the vessel

Norwegian Steam is the name of our 35' sailboat. She was designed by Ted Brewer. About 40 hulls were constructed by Miller Marine on Bainbridge Island, Washington between 1976 and the early 1980s. It is rumored that additional hulls were constructed in eastern Canada. Because many of these boats were completed by owners, there is a very great diversity in the fleet. To learn more about the basic design, you can find information about Ted's Jason design on his web site.

NS was completed by Alan with the help of friends, some of them professionals, over many years. She has been sailing since 2001. She differs from most (perhaps all) other instances of the Jason design in that her mast is 6 feet taller and she is rigged as a racing cutter, with large overlapping staysail. This rig design was inspired by the work of John Illingworth, the great English yacht designer and sailboat racer.

Norwegian Steam, the name

The phrase, Norwegian steam, may originally have been somewhat pejorative. When a vessel was powered by sails or by oars instead of by a steam or diesel engine, it was said to be powered by "Norwegian steam", the implication being that the Norwegians were so poor they could not afford engines for their boats. As time passed, the Norwegians themselves adopted the phrase to indicate a "can-do" attitude or doing whatever it takes to get the job done, even with limited resources or under adverse circumstances.

During the great era of America's Cup racing in J-Class yachts, the term took on a slightly different meaning. Many of the American defender boats had Norwegian crews and thus were said to be powered by Norwegian steam. A website has been dedicated to this bit of history.