one of the the great unexpected benefits to starting ktl as a blog is that my inbox has become a much more intersting place
Paul sent me an email today:
Dylan
Am I lone in being disappointed by the demise of the “Slug”. For me the enjoyment of your journey from the Isle of Wight to the Wash was that you did it in an old boat with unmatched sails and an antiquated engine. It was a winning formula: an old boat with an old engine sailed by an old bloke with a handheld camera. Couldn’t fail.
Most of the stuff written about sailing are accounts of brave souls taking to the seas in ocean-going yachts bristling with state of the art technology. But your boat was an old tub which played a minor role in a series of interesting and informative videos with background music provided by an old single cylinder diesel which thumped away like a carpet being beaten. It was a Mirror Offshore no less – yachting for the everyman. If he can do it then so can I.
Watching your videos was like going back to a different era but now that you’ve changed your old VW Mirror Offshore Beetle for a shiny new Minstrel Golf, I worry that your video diary will now seem a bit glossier, a bit less everyman than before. I hope not. I think it might help if your new boat was less shiny and a bit grimier.
Paul
This was my reply
Paul,
of course you are not alone
the slug has been a wonderful boat - small, slow, seaworthy, easy to handle, tough as all heck, ugly, great sounding engine, as for the mismtached sails - well I really like the idea of a coloured genoa and white main
we used to have that on our sailing dinghies so that mum and dad could pick us out in a fleet.
However, some of the most miserable moments of my generally happy 58 years have come to me while staring down at the beast and wondering how I am going to fix it this time
but the slug was the boat I could afford and the design is perfect for the job
but not with a 50 year old engine installation
I could have cut a hole in her to make a well
but taking a power saw to the sensitive parts of an exceptionally well designed boat would be a tough thing to do - the surgery might kill the patient
that was the way the project started - just sail in the best boat you can afford
actually that is the same thing - I inherited some money from my mum - not a massive amount but I have invested it in a boat that is new enough to get me round without making too man y more videos about engine breakdowns
as my inbox tells me
with this one I can throw out the bad engine and put in a replacement within 24 hours if I have the cash
I can tow it home the next time I run out of money - as a freelance it happens a lot
this one feels like a plastic shell, another man's boat - but I hope that when I feel her move under the tiller, feel the pressure of the wind on the miansheet then I shall feel differently
I shall miss the sound of the diesel engine - especially into the second, third or fourth hour of outboard noise on the ,long sea passages - but I can get headphones on and listen to music
_ I fervantly home that 6 very modern four stroke horse power will get me out of trouble.
Dylan
PS - may I post your email and my answer as a blog because I am sure lots of other people feel the same way
could you send me a snap of your boat to illustrate it?
...........................
and finally from Paul
Dylan
I'm happy for you to post it but I'm embarassed to send you a picture of my boat given what I've said in my email. I graduated from a Gull Dinghy to a Vivacity and then a Hurley 20 spending too much time and money in an effort to improve them. However my mother died in 2011 and I spent out on a Mirage 270 which I have renamed Irene in her memory. I have therefore followed the same path as you in choosing to upgrade but I always liked your doggedness in sticking with an old Mirror Offshore. But I suppose you should grab the opportunity when it arises - tomorrow you may be run over by a bus.
Paul
I will miss the beast, but am happy you are moving to a slightly larger boat. You sail in mighty cold water. Sailing Lake Superior, I am well aware of the dangers that cold water can bring. It is nice to have a little more distance between you and it.
Andy
I will miss the sound of its voivce and dry heat it produces in the boat
an hour with the engine on and the inside of the boat is completely dry and warm
no outboard can do that for you
and I will have to do somthing about electrical power
D
Hello Dylan,
I viewed your film of fitting the 6hp Tohatsu (coincident with me having just purchased a similar 5hp Mariner long shaft Sail Drive version). Mine is for a transom mount on my Hunter Horizon 21 so different from the OB ‘well’ on your Hunter Minstrel. Perhaps you know that the 4, 5 and 6hp Mariner, Mercury and Tohatsu engines are mostly the same except for Tohatsu offering a version with an ‘extra long shaft’ (25in?).
PS. I enjoyed watching the DVD’s I purchased from you!
Also, checkout http://www.hunterassociation.co.uk — for all things to do with British Hunter Boats!
Regards,
Peter Empson (Doncaster)
never really got the badge engineering game – however, I went for the Tohatsu because it did soe well in the PBO outboard tests and was cheaper than a mariner
It has a lot of hard work ahead of it… really hope it works
Hello Dylan, I really enjoy your sailing travel-logs. While my boat is on the trailer for the holiday season I’ve been watching you and Katie L. Episode 1 rings true with winter sailing here on the Pamlico Sound and the Pamlico / Tar River. I only have to deal with wind tides but the condensation inside the boat is similar. Being a bit of an IDEA THIEF I have used the flower pot and candles to knock the chill of inside the boat. I too have a lot of low bridges on the numerous creeks, in my area that I need to dip the rig to pass under. I wish I could raise and lower the rig on my Balboa23 like you do on Katie L.
As I have watched the different episodes it appears that you have made changes from the sliding gunter with a boom to a boomless rig that you lift by yourself. Not to mention the river rig borrowed from a dinghy class boat. I’d like to see a explanation of the evolution of the rig on Katie L. on video or in your blog. I might wind up stealing some more ideas from you.
Thanks for keeping me entertained during my trailer spell this December. I’m addicted to watching
Best wishes,
Tim on the new “Croatan” in eastern North Carolina.
Re: The badge engineering bit…
Tohatsu had developed small outboards that had proven very good. When Mariner wanted to update its range of small outboards some years ago, the company decided that, rather than spend on developing a new engine, it was better to license a good, well proven design from Tohatsu and pretend it was their own design by sticking their own, well respected, name on it.
I sussed this out a few years ago when my boat came with a Mariner 4hp saildrive & luckily fond a good spares dealer (Fairweather Marine in Gosport). Since then I have only ever bought Tohatsu spares for my Mariner engine as they are cheaper & they all fitted perfectly. I have done this on several occasions and the only difference I have ever seen between Mariner & Tohatsu parts is the labelling on the packaging & the price.