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

SHOOTING VENUS

In this continuation of Scrimshaw's passage around Cape Thank God, I attempt to explain the dominant presence of navigating in a family crew before GPS. Jo Anna and I found it necessary to continually check each other's work, and we often found mistakes! This challenge was somewhat amplified when we became dependent on celestial navigation, and meeting that challenge brought us closer than ever as mom and dad, man and wife, captain and mate, and our "deck apes." Also in this Caper is the answer from another cruising couple, Fran and Mort Van Howe, as to what their sailing has meant to them in their lives.

THE WAY TO ​CAPE THANK GOD Intending to describe family cruising with one's wife as literally First Mate, I get hung up in the details of our cruise through the San Blas Islands and to Cartegena, Colombia (our favorite port).

From there, we beat up through the Southwest Caribbean to the islands of San Andres and Providencia where, seeking local knowledge of the route ahead, I benefit from meeting Captain John Bull.

This is all to set the scene for the next Capercast, which tells of our greatest navigational challenge, wherein Jo Anna and I -- while dealing with the urgency of finding our way -- become close to being one, an entity together with our sons.

GREATEST BOAT RIDE Story of SCRIMSHAW's ​greatest one-day boat ride, her transit of the Panama Canal. Despite some very humbling episodes, and eighteen years of trying to get back to the Caribbean, we change oceans at the isthmus that shows us five different Panamas, and reveals "America's Experiment With Socialism," the Panama Canal Zone where "American Soil" that has since been returned to it's in-rightful owners.

At 34 minutes, this is the longest Capercast yet. While it gives me a chance to really fluster CRISTI, we need to know what our listeners think of the longer format.

RIVALRY We should all get equal time to talk about our kids, but that would need we all have Podcasts. In this Caper, I tell of our experiences while family cruising in a too-small boat when the Captain has a too-big temper and his kids have a normal sibling rivalry.

In the end, it is the kids who guide the boat and solve the problems.​ As parents, it seems to me that the best thing we can do for them -- and for us -- is to just spend time together.

OCEAN RACING THEN AND NOW On Christmas Day just past, a remarkable solo circumnavigation speed record was set by a Frenchman sailing a big multihull. He had made five previous attempts and finally succeeded. At the same time, other incredible speeds were being achieved in monohulls, also sailed by the French.

In this Caper, I compare today's ocean racing with examples of how it was done in the early days of modern, lightweight seafaring.

HARD KNOCKS AND SOFT MUD

This Caper reviews the survival story in the previous edition, hoping to learn a little more from the merciful close call, and the hard knocks loss as told by Lance Leonard.

As if there is some parallel, I tell of my own almost desperate encounter with "pluff mud" and a falling tide.

Finally, I appeal for help, of another kind.

19: RESILIANCE A recent survival story, this "caper" features a recorded interview with my long-time friend Lance Leonard.

Lance is a dedicated multihuller with fifty years of experience in sailing fishing and diving charters in the eastern U.S and Caribbean waters, yet he recently lost his boat, and potentially his life, in a different type of multihull catastrophe. This is his story and the lessons learned from it the hard way.

On Fixing Proa Problems Special holiday podcast featuring a bit of personal news from Jim's travels and some interesting thoughts on proas.

Jim talks about visiting a new small boat gathering event in Cedar Key, Florida during late Fall. He also shares about the restoration of his old boat SCRIMSHAW at a secret boatyard in South Florida ... also known as a place where many old boats go to die. (But there is much planned life left for SRIMSHAW though). Also, Jim talks extensively about certain challenges with the development of modern proas. Anyone unfamiliar with proas may learn a lot from him in short time he talks about this amazing genre among multihulls.

PARK IT, DAD

This Caper is based on one of my favorite stories from, "Among The Multihulls - Volume 2." It tells of a passage from Bermuda to New England in son Russell's proa when I was recruited as crew.

It turned out to be an intense father and son adventure ... including descriptions of the proa's handling in storm waves!

I had previously not been interested in proas, but this voyage really turned my head. I have since concluded that the proa is the most conceptually perfect of all sailing machines, and I suspect this configuration will play an important part in the future "green recovery" for humankind.

More on this if requested. HAPPY HOLIDAYS