Norwegian Steam: Hawaii Here We Come (half day zero)

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Hawaii Here We Come (half day zero)

Norwegian Steam left the dock at the Marina at Puerto Los Cabos very quietly at 1201 AM, June 3, 2012, bound for Hawaii. Amy, Pete Libbey, and Gay Morris had arrived by air and taxi a bit before five. After stowing most of their gear, we had a Mexican meal at the Container, a very good restaurant in the marina. Then the wait began. Our exit papers stated that we would leave on the third, so that is what we intended to do. Gay was able to get a bit of sleep. Pete took a walk. Amy read. I (Alan) did a little more stowing.

As we slipped away from the dock there was almost no wind and no other people could be seen. When we passed La Playita, the fishing village on the north side of the estuary that forms the marina, however, music and speech erupted from loudspeakers. I am sure it was not about us. Just a Mexican party scheduled to start at midnight. Very typical. For once, loud music late at night was welcome.

My reason for leaving around midnight was to give us time to get past Cabo Falso before the afternoon wind could build. Cabo Falso is notorious for turning back small boats attempting to round it.

There had been a strong sea breeze blowing into the marina during the afternoon, but it had died out by dinner time. I had hoped that the sea outside the marina would be calm too, but that was not be. Instead the water was very choppy which impeded our progress, and gradually, over a number of hours, a head wind built up. When we got to Cabo San Lucas, the wind really began to blow. We raised the main, double reefed, and by the time it was all the way up, the wind speed was 26 knots. A little later, we hoisted the staysail. We then had enough sail up to make about five knots without the engine running, but to do so we had to revise our course to the south. I was willing to do that because a more southerly course put distance between us and Cabo Falso.

In spite of sea conditions rougher than anticipated, none of us suffered from seasickness. Pete and Gay used the patch while Amy and I took Bonine. Both approaches seem to have worked.

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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.