Norwegian Steam: Tenacatita

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Tenacatita

After two nights in Chamela, we motor sailed the 30 nautical miles to Bahia Tenacatita (19 degrees 17.994 minutes north, 104 degrees 50.150 west). This is a large and beautiful bay with several anchorages. We are in the one which provides the best protection from northwesterly swells.

Today we saw two humpback whales within a hundred feet of the boat, a sea turtle at about the same distance, and we were escorted into Tenacatita by dolphins up close and friendly. We have seen many jumping sting rays, but today one jumped so close to Norwegian Steam we feared it might leap aboard. The wildlife viewing gets better and better.

As soon as we anchored, Sally and Amy donned swim suits, leaped off the boat, and swam the third of a mile to the beach. I was left behind to pump up the dinghy and then to row ashore to fetch them and row them back to the boat. We all get our exercise, one way or another.

Tonight Sally is preparing Linguine Primavera.
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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.