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

THE CHUCUNAQUE I'm digging pretty deep here to bring you the kind of story that one withholds until old age. When one looks back and tries to figure "How I Got This Way."

It's those early exposures to certain feelings, special friends and meaningful mentors, or, in this case, a village in the palms filled with people with whom we could not communicate but didn't need to, much. And found it hard to leave... Harder to return to normalcy. It's just another old sea story. It may not change the listener, but it changed the teller, and he's glad.

GOING DOWN An old shipwreck ​story from my schooner bumming days, it is told here to reach across the years with some perspective of classic seafaring in deep, heavy monohulls relative to the contemporary -- even futuristic -- lightweight vessels.

My digital assistant, CRISTI (Can't Read It So Tell It) knows that I can edit her out when she interrupts the Caper, but privately she really beat me up over this one because it runs 43 minutes. Of course you always have the pause button, or just click on the X, but if you get through this monologue, you may take away some notion of how far we've come with marine architecture in the last 50 or 60 years.

And now we're getting pretty close to the "perfect boat," one that cannot sink, and is also self-recovering from capsize. Foil-borne, too? Foil-assisted? We'll see. But the Hybrid Wing is, in my view, destined to become endemic -- if for no other reason than its buoyancy can prevent multihulls from turning turtle. What's your view?

RACE TO ALASKA START Explains some of the challenges faced by competitors in this endurance test from Port Townsend, Washington to Ketchikan, Alaska in which my son Russell is currently competing.

Using his participation as a legitimate excuse, I tempt several of my seasoned traveler friends to join me at Victoria, BC to form a cheering section for Russell's send-off. At this writing he is still under way, but details of the race including videos can be found at www.R2K.com.

I ask listeners to offer their thoughts on a proposed Outrig Design Contest for a vessel intended for single handing in this and other endurance Capers. Please respond to [email protected]

More Seafaring Literature from Jim... In this episode, Jim talks about several great adventures that took place at sea. He also explains why pitchpoling in monohulls can be different than in multihulls. Jim gives some special recognition to couples in this podcast. And he notes several amazing female sailors among them. Several classic resources for cruisers are mentioned. They include how-to information, including boat construction, voyage planning, rigging details, seamanship and celestial navigation. Jim also talks about why being "able to go" cruising is often more important to many seafarers than actually going.

This nautical lore podcast speaks of legendary sailors and the books (and in some cases, other media) featuring them. Jim also talks briefly about this year's "Race to Alaska" event, in which Jim's son Russell Brown will compete.

There are some great yarns all throughout this episode. These include stores about Joshua Slocum, Irving McClure Johnson, Sterling Hayden and Tristan Jones.

And Jim reveals why a lot of the supposedly historically accurate reproduction boats that have been built in the modern era are rather poor sailing vessels when compared to the boats they're supposedly "re-creating."

A plethora of adventure stories awaits listeners in this capercast.

40: BLIND SAILOR? (Part 2) In this portion of our telephone ramble, John Patterson and I speak of the safety of small boats at sea, dragging drogues, sailor's burn out, avoiding collision, contending with disability and more.

39: BLIND SAILOR? (Far from it)

Speaking by cell phone from the Island of Culebra, John Patterson tells of his life-long quest of seafaring, but he begins by designing and building his own boats.

Starting with childhood experiences on the water, John shares many nuggets of wisdom and attitude that have allowed him to accumulate the skills and Judgement needed to actually live, full time for the last 16 years and despite a daunting disability, the sailor's life.

THE 300-NUT CANOE (And Other Considerations)

This Caper takes us to a salvaged 57-foot catamaran, upside down and abandoned in the Caribbean last November, but recently discovered adrift off North Carolina, still habitable and salvageable. This is then compared to a small aluminum skiff drifting for months with crew aboard who are "returned "from the dead."

Also, issues of demographic centralization and global sea level rise, are related to good times and bad luck. Tell us what you think.

Small Boat Fun in Cedar Key In this capercast Jim shares about his trip to the yearly small boat gathering in Cedar Key, Florida. He tells a couple great stories, along with some details about interesting developments in the boating marketplace. He begins, however, with a fascinating report about a sailor who has (supposedly) crossed the Tasman Sea in a 17-foot Windrider trimaran. (Can anyone help Jim confirm this)? Listen in on the fun and information exchange that happens at boat gatherings such as this. And also get inspired to be a part of it, if you're not already!

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