Nautical Lore – Modern | Oral narratives of modern seafaring watercraft with multihull pioneer Jim Brown

ONE, TWO, THREE OR FOUR (yes, 4) HULLS?

This Caper is mainly a report on the current status of the OutRig Project. It describes the cast of characters involved in determining that status, plus something of how these individuals have come to be involved.

While there is no conclusion on the main issue — how the Project will integrate with the Mariners Museum — still there is cause to be excited about the possibilities. And speaking of possibilities, it just may happen that four-hulled watercraft will take over the world.

Listen as I tell you about a brand new 4-hulled boat.

A BOAT FOR TWO BUBBAS

This Caper tells of evolving a small catamaran for taking two big boys fishing, with nine chances to get out and back.

Those chances are: one breeze, two batteries, four legs and two hulls. These hulls are set just wide enough apart to permit real bubbas to really bounce around. This combination of features is unprecedented, and as multihulls go -- past, present and future -- this bucket is a real boot in the butt.

Bound aboard!

THE ANCIENT FUTURE

This is my first attempt at looking back on our contemporary multihull stories from the fictional vantage of about 150 years ahead in the future.

It is an experiment, done mostly for the fun of it, but hoping to suggest the role that multihulls may play in the long term saga of man's relationship to the sea, to the Planet, and to himself -- ourselves.

In order to decide how much of this frolic you want to hear, we really need your feedback on this Caper. Please drop a line to me at [email protected]. Come on, let's OutRig!

(Note: This show episode is what Jim has termed an "Ancient Futurecast" - Jim's attempt at a fictional Capercast)

THE MULTIHULL PHENOMENON To assure our new listeners that these capers are about people as much as they are about boats, this issue starts with an old boat making news. It's an example of how the postwar "Can-Do Generation" dragged multihulls from "the lunatic fringe" into the main stream. It brings old boats into the conversation again, and then stands back for a wide view of "The Multihull Phenomenon," then and now.

HOW SEARUNNERS CAME TO BE This is Part Two of the audio update to Chapter 5 of Among The Multihulls, which concludes the evolution -- in the 1960s and 70s -- of the Searunner Trimaran design series. It finishes with a highly qualified appraisal of this type of vessel. This story is not intended to convince anyone to build a Searunner today, but instead to explain why a visit to the "Classic Multihulls" thread on Facebook reveals quite a few of these vessels still in use. For example, Bruce Matlack and his son Charlie crossed the Gulf Stream to the Bahamas last Saturday night. They had to push SCRIMSHAW pretty hard to windward, in strong winds and square waves, on the starboard tack. This put the newly repaired portside float hull (badly damaged in a hurricane last fall) "practically underwater" for 13 hours. This attests to the efficacy of repairs made by Jeff Gof to that float. He restored this 46 yea-old plywood trimaran, built before epoxy, tor "Gulp Stream" service. I wish I could have been there.

PRISON ISLAND

This caper takes me back to Mexico to retrieve Juana from the canners at Sabo. We then stumble into a delightful cove on an island where we are not supposed to be, but there is nobody around.

We play Robinson Crusoe, catch a lift home, and meander towards the days of Searunner trimerans. But we don't get there because of computer problems, and I may not see you next week. If not, Joe Farinaccio will let you know why.

WITH A CREW OF FOUR (ONE GESTATING)

This is the audio update for Chapter 4 of my book "Among The Multihulls - Volume 1." It tells of our coastal voyage in the 24' trimaran Juana, probably the first modern trimaran to venture offshore, 1959.

It's an old story, told here with some new details -- let's call them embellishments -- intended to help place the early-modern multihull into the historical context of the time. With the boat sadly overloaded, sailing in the storm season, and with my wife Jo Anna over five months pregnant, we made every mistake possible, yet our surfable, beachable boat -- and the gracious, local fisherfolk -- saved us from harm.

SETTING THE SCENE

In this audio version of Chapter 3 of Among the Multihulls, I attempt to go a little deeper into the "deep history" of how the modern trimaran came into being.

It sets the scene for the explosive advent inf the 1960s by describing the ebullience and confidence that brought the seafaring multihull into the main stream.

*NB (Note well, an Important Note, take notice): Some bad language.

PROMISE MADE

Well yes, I made a promise to myself, that night at Old Providence Island over sixty years ago. I would fasten myself to a life with boats and sailing. And I suppose it would appear that I have kept it, but I'm not suggesting it 's for everyone.

For me, the stimuli were so strong, the fulfillment so co complete, the identity so clear, that nowadays I am telling those old stories again and again -- sometimes with a surprise ending. This is such a telling.

THE LAST NEXT CHAPTER (An Audio Afterword) Here begins a series of Capers stemming from my book AMONG THE MULTIHULLS. They also stem from a text Afterword called THE NEXT LAST CHAPTER, which is posted on www.outrigmedia.com. Now, just two years later, I am adding further commentary to update and re-focus the text version, hoping to reach those who would rather listen to the latest skinny than read the history. I've been surprised by how much new material has resulted, and I hope this approach gives us all -- me included -- a new vantage from which to appraise the modern multihull.