Where Is The Far Reach--Part III

[John Stone]

I prefer a profile when at anchor, then I can scrutinize the rig. I find the quartering shots dramatic but they reveal little of the boat overall.
Glad to see you have plenty of sunshine. I just used the snowblower and hand shovels to remove four+ inches of sunshine off my driveway……not complaining, just adding perspective…..enjoy your surroundings to the fullest.

I like your thinking Jim. So here is a profile picture. Not set up for sailing but enjoying life while anchored.

[John Stone]

Night falls on the Far Reach and her intrepid crew exhausted after a day of swimming and napping. LOL.

Actually we had a fine day. We prepped the boat this afternoon for a dawn departure. Struck the awnings and stripped the sail covers so we can easily get underway. Just a short hop outside and around Rams Head and into Salt Pond Bay. There are only five moorings there so we need to be there first if anyone drops off. I give us a 50-50 chance of getting a mooring. If nothing opens we will work just a little down the coast and get into Lameshur Bay.

[wikakaru]

For now we have the anchorage to ourselves. A good time for a few pictures. Subtle changes in picture angles have a big effect.

What photo perspectives do sailors like most? Stern, quarter, profile, or bow shots.

I think it depends an awful lot on the boat, the background, and what you are trying to portray.

Some boats, like overly vain actors, definitely have a "good side". One boat that exemplifies this well is the Pearson Ensign, another Carl Alberg design. I personally find the reverse sheer line of an Ensign at rest rather homely (in the American, not British sense of the word), but when an Ensign is heeled away from the viewer at 25 or 30 degrees, the curve of the sheer line and the curve of the boot stripe interact in quite a lovely way and she suddenly transforms from homely to comely. I don't have any Ensign photos of my own to illustrate this, but check out these two I found on the internet:
From Pearson.org, an Ensign on a trailer—not a good look: https://images.app.goo.gl/6C7jaemA38SMg7mCA
From Wayzata Yacht Club, an Ensign heeled over—much nicer: https://images.app.goo.gl/9XCGFdk2CnGDuWTy9

Under sail, for most boats I tend to prefer photos that either look up or down the slot between the mainsail and jib, that is, from either the leeward quarter or from fine to broad on the windward bow depending on the point of sail. Here's a photo I took of the CD33 Chazz that illustrates the classic sailing photo angle:

DSC_2642a.JPG

At anchor, I sometimes notice that if the focus is on the background and the boat is just the icing on the cake, then beam-on, or fairly close to it, is a good angle. Here is a photo of my own Arietta, and although she is pretty, it is the sea and sky that capture the attention. This one was taken just slightly forward of the beam.

DSC_3850a.JPG

Many Alberg designs have quite pretty transoms, and if that is the case, a photo that highlights the curves of the transom—especially at anchor when everything appears so static—is a good choice. Different boats require different transom angles, and it may require a little trial and error to find the right angle for your boat. Here's a photo, again of my own Arietta, that shows her transom in a good light, both literally (the low, golden sun) and figuratively:

DSC_2301.JPG

I only wish that the above photo had been of an engineless Arietta, but that photo was taken before we had replaced the previous owner's monstrosity of an outboard bracket with the removable one she now has.

For your Far Reach, John, I personally like the beam-on photo you posted because the blue bulwarks are visually striking and show to good effect at that angle, but I think if you keep playing around you will also find a good angle that shows off the shape of her transom. The wind vane makes it a bit more challenging, but I think you will eventually find it.

Smooth sailing,

Jim

[John Stone]

Jim Wikakaru

Everything you said. So much skill involved and you clearly have the skills. I have always loved the quartering shots. Beam shot have to be just right if you have a straight and level waterline like on the FR. The beam shot I posted the stern lifted on a little swell and makes her look a little nose down. The SS bootstrap to my eye is perfect. I have the offsets for it but I could not figure out how to do it. With the bootstrap or even bottom paint gently curving upward from 2/3 aft of the bow (a little rocker on both ends) to the stem makes the trim more forgiving.

I'd pay an expert to lay it out and then I could paint to it. Most people have wavy waterline or boot strip paint and though effective it's not very attractive. Anyway, I'll keep practicing getting the right angles till I sail into your harbor to talk you into taking some really professional pictures of the FR under sail.

[Paul D.]

For Albergs, beauty is always at the stern.

[Mbigos]

Interesting question posed here. My answer is, A, if it looks good, it is good; and B. Benjamin Mendlowitz's explanations of marine photography is the best I've observed, one of which can be found here: https://www.offcenterharbor.com/videos/ ... w-zealand/ .

Keep posting, John. Love all of these.

I will be down there chartering soon, cannot wait. We will be one of the nice, quiet sailing parties.

[John Stone]

That's a nice looking transom Paul. Alberg boats seem to look good from almost every angle. The trick is how to capture it.

We are back in Salt Pond. Easy 50 min sail around Rams head. We arrived at 0750. All five moorings were still occupied. I motored around and two boat skippers said they were departing after breakfast so we backed out of the bay and slowly circled. We ate toasted bagels and drank aeropress made Cafe Bustelo. A very pleasant way to pass the time. In about forty min we were on a mooring. Two hours later a big cat at the head of this small bay dropped off their mooring and we moved up to the front. A really neat place.

It's a public beach but not that busy. It's quite a walk over a semi rough trail from the parking area to get here so that limits the the number of people when there are much easier beaches to get to on St John. I'll post some better pictures later.

[wikakaru]

Jim Wikakaru

Everything you said. So much skill involved and you clearly have the skills. I have always loved the quartering shots. Beam shot have to be just right if you have a straight and level waterline like on the FR. The beam shot I posted the stern lifted on a little swell and makes her look a little nose down. The SS bootstrap to my eye is perfect. I have the offsets for it but I could not figure out how to do it. With the bootstrap or even bottom paint gently curving upward from 2/3 aft of the bow (a little rocker on both ends) to the stem makes the trim more forgiving.

I'd pay an expert to lay it out and then I could paint to it. Most people have wavy waterline or boot strip paint and though effective it's not very attractive. Anyway, I'll keep practicing getting the right angles till I sail into your harbor to talk you into taking some really professional pictures of the FR under sail.

Thanks, John, I appreciate the compliment!

I think with your skills you are perfectly capable of striking a proper waterline. The trick is to start with the boat level both side-to-side and fore-and-aft, which means the yard will have to fiddle with the blocking a bit longer than they might otherwise do when you are hauling the boat. Tim Lackey did a great job on re-locating Arietta's waterline last year. Start here (https://lackeysailing.com/arietta-22/) and follow along.

There are a lot of videos on YouTube about striking a waterline, but most aren't very good. Here's one that I really like. He uses the traditional method of batten boards to strike the waterline on a wooden Haven 12½. The waterline discussion starts about 3:50 into the video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOSzc3PIe7M&t=329s
It covers a lot of topics that most others neglect, like intentionally making the bootstripe wider at the bow.

Smooth sailing,

Jim

[John Stone]

Jim Wikakaru

Everything you said. So much skill involved and you clearly have the skills. I have always loved the quartering shots. Beam shot have to be just right if you have a straight and level waterline like on the FR. The beam shot I posted the stern lifted on a little swell and makes her look a little nose down. The SS bootstrap to my eye is perfect. I have the offsets for it but I could not figure out how to do it. With the bootstrap or even bottom paint gently curving upward from 2/3 aft of the bow (a little rocker on both ends) to the stem makes the trim more forgiving.

I'd pay an expert to lay it out and then I could paint to it. Most people have wavy waterline or boot strip paint and though effective it's not very attractive. Anyway, I'll keep practicing getting the right angles till I sail into your harbor to talk you into taking some really professional pictures of the FR under sail.

Thanks, John, I appreciate the compliment!

I think with your skills you are perfectly capable of striking a proper waterline. The trick is to start with the boat level both side-to-side and fore-and-aft, which means the yard will have to fiddle with the blocking a bit longer than they might otherwise do when you are hauling the boat. Tim Lackey did a great job on re-locating Arietta's waterline last year. Start here (https://lackeysailing.com/arietta-22/) and follow along.

There are a lot of videos on YouTube about striking a waterline, but most aren't very good. Here's one that I really like. He uses the traditional method of batten boards to strike the waterline on a wooden Haven 12½. The waterline discussion starts about 3:50 into the video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOSzc3PIe7M&t=329s
It covers a lot of topics that most others neglect, like intentionally making the bootstripe wider at the bow.

Smooth sailing,

Jim

Thanks for the links. I'll take a look.

The water line on the FR is perfectly level--fore and aft and side to side. So no worries there. I used Tim's method as well during the initial rebuild. He and I had a long discussion about it because there were no reference points. It's also very similar to the technique describe in Bud McIntosh's great book "How to Build a Wooden Boat."

http://www.farreachvoyages.com/projects ... rline.html

When you have sweated over getting it right and spent hour read about how to do it and then setting it up ans marking it you start noticing how sloppy most boat's waterlines are painted.

The S&S curve is far more complicated and the most beautiful I have seen. I'll watch the video to see what techniques they cover. I'm sure I'll learn something new.

I used a very simple sliding stick with a level when we raised it in 2017. It worked great but I had the reference lines from the now existing waterline and it's also level and not with the rocker that I'd like to incorporate.

[John Stone]

We hiked up to the top and out to the end of Rams Head. Wow! What a view. Swam this afternoon. Caught the log book up. The reefing cringle that hooks over the goose neck reefing horn has a short length of nylon webbing that runs through it with a SS ring on each side. Those rings are what you hook over the horn. Well it just fell out the yesterday. It was a miracle I found all the parts. I sewed it all back together today. We swam the reef and read and ate and napped. All the normal stuff.

Tomorrow we plan to walk up to the road and catch the very unreliable St John's shuttle bus and ride the 8-10 miles into Cruze Bay. Just for fun mostly and to see some of the island. Rental cars here are booked up. We could not find a day rental.

Tonight there is just us and one other boat in Salt Pond Bay. There is only five moorings. Very strange.

[wikakaru]

Benjamin Mendlowitz's explanations of marine photography is the best I've observed, one of which can be found here: https://www.offcenterharbor.com/videos/ ... w-zealand/

Unfortunately, that video is behind a paywall, so only the first minute is visible to non-subscribers.

Here's a (very long, fairly technical) video I ran across of a presentation by Onne van der Wal (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFA47xbaM-Y) and a much shorter fluff piece by a local news show (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfBYhZu9spE). I have admired his work for a long time. He is a true professional, and obviously in a whole different league from me.

Smooth sailing,

Jim

[John Stone]

Benjamin Mendlowitz's explanations of marine photography is the best I've observed, one of which can be found here: https://www.offcenterharbor.com/videos/ ... w-zealand/

Unfortunately, that video is behind a paywall, so only the first minute is visible to non-subscribers.

Here's a (very long, fairly technical) video I ran across of a presentation by Onne van der Wal (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFA47xbaM-Y) and a much shorter fluff piece by a local news show (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfBYhZu9spE). I have admired his work for a long time. He is a true professional, and obviously in a whole different league from me.

Smooth sailing,

Jim

No worries my friend...I'm a life time member to Off Center Harbor. I've seen that vid I think. All I have is an iPhone and a go pro. I have a bag full of nice antique 35 mm SLR analog equipment in a closet. I keep thinking I should update. LOL.

[John Stone]

We rode the commercial VI bus from Salt Pond to Cruze Bay and back today. I think the roads on St John may be worse than Tortola. I have had smoother rides in the back of a five ton truck. The view was spectacular though and there are some cool homes along the way.

I had a nice evening pull around the anchorage at sunset.

[John Stone]

Another quiet day. Swimming, rowing, reading, laying about. We have had a number of people engage us in conversation while swimming around the boat curious how we got here from NC. That is always a fun conversation. There is an amazing number of sea turtles in the bay. If you lay still on the surface they will often surface right next to you...as in two feet away.

You got to love the relationship many people have with their pets.

We plan to motor to the next bay over, Great Lameshur Bay, and pick up a mooring later this morning.

[John Stone]

We moved the Far Reach about 1/2 mile west to Great Lameshur Bay this morning and picked up a NP mooring. We read, cooked, looked at the clouds, and rowed around the beautiful bay a couple times. Then we hauled the dinghy up on on deck this afternoon and prepped the boat for the 15'ish nm sail back to St Thomas tomorrow.