Norwegian Steam: Noon Report -- Kauai-Neah Bay Day 1

Friday, July 13, 2012

Noon Report -- Kauai-Neah Bay Day 1

By mid-afternoon we got NS moving well, close-hauled against the trade winds. With a double-reefed main and the staysail set as a small jib on the head stay, we were clipping along at 6 knots with Rangval (the name we give our Monitor wind vane self steering) at the helm. We had noticed a naval ship moving along about a mile to the west, going very slowly. We also saw a large helicopter transporting what looked like either a torpedo or a rocket. Then a boat described in the AIS message as an 85 foot long torpedo retriever approached us on our port quarter. We established VHF radio communications on channel 16 and were advised to talk to missile range control on channel 06. This we did, and having told them that we were on a course due north to the latitude of San Francisco were advised to jog to the left five miles and then continue our course in order to avoid "exercises" scheduled for the next morning. We tacked and actually went seven miles out of our way to be on the safe side, but it was the least we could do for the defense of our country. This, by the way, is where they test the "star wars" missile defense system.

Once back on course, we continue to head north under reefed main and jib at six knots. Everyone is fine.

At 2200 UTC, July 13, 2012, we are at 23 36.711 N, 159 33.457 W. Our day's run was 93 miles, partly under power.

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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.