Random Boats

One of my favourite small cruising yachts, one that ticks a lot of boxes for me, is the gaff-riiged cutter, Plumbelly of Bequia, built on the island of Bequia in the Grenadines by a young German architect, Klaus Alvermann, with the considerable assistance of a local shipwright, Loran Dewar.  Plumbelly was loosely based on a Bequian whaleboat, but with increased displacement, an external ballast keel, massive scantlings, and a flush deck.  The boat got its name because the locals laughed at its lines when it was in frame, under the trees on the beach where it was built.  They would hold their bellies and say, 'Oh, that one's got a plum in its belly,' meaning it was pregnant.

Plumbelly on the hard, showing off its plum bilges

 

Launched in 1965, Klaus sailed Plumbelly twice around the world solo, without engine or electricity.  During his first circumnavigation, he was in Papeete, Tahiti, when Bernard Moitessier sailed in aboard Joshua after the Long Way, and was notorious for being the one who fired a flare at a rat that was troubling the boats.  Moitessier was all for feeding it with coconut and befriending it, though Joshua was not the boat that was being invaded.

As he did for the legendary Julio Villar on Mistral, (I'll post about Julio later for those who have not read Last Days of the Slocum Era Volume One), Moitessier designed a windvane for Plumbelly that Klaus later built in New Zealand.  On a later passage, Plumbelly was capsized en-route to New Zealand while under self-steering gear.  The boat righted itself, shook off the green water, and continued on its way under the windvane.  You can see the small, compact windvane in the photo below.

Plumbelly sailing into Bequia after another ocean passage.

 

 Plumbelly's snug, organic-looking interior.

Klaus also doubled the Atlantic numerous times, as have subsequent owners, and Plumbelly may hold the record for the most Atlantic passages made by any particular boat.

Plumbelly on passage.  I feel very much at home with this style of boat.  It is similar to some of the boats I met cruising 40 years ago, or sailed on as a young man.  Those were the glory days of the Slocum era, and I delight in knowing that there are still those who choose to sail, love and maintain these types of boat.

Note once again, in the [photos above and below, the small, compact windvane

The time has come to have a look at some of my favourite junk-rigged yachts.  I first became aware of junk rig in the 1960s when in my mid-teens, but did not manage to rig one of my boats with this unfairly-maligned rig until 2011.  I always got talked out of it by well-meaning friends, and all I can say is, 'fool-me.'  After more than a decade of sailing under junk rig, I am convinced, as was Joshua Slocum, that it is the handiest small-boat voyaging rig of all time.

The logical place to start would be Jester, the first junk-rigged yacht I heard about, and probably the most famous junk-rigged yacht in the world, but before I do, I want to showcase Shirley Carter's 25' Vertue-class yacht, Speedwell of Hong Kong, launched in 1952 in Hong Kong.  By the time Shirley bought the boat in Cape Town in the early 1990s, it was already a veteran ocean voyager, and also a bit tired.  Shirley sailed Speedwell to the West Indies, pumping the bilges frequently, where she sheathed the hull in fibreglass cloth and epoxy resin, not having the resources to embark on a total rebuild, as well as converting the yacht to junk rig.  Pete Hill, of Badger fame, and other junk-rigged vessels, built her mast in Cape Town and delivered it to Trinidad on the deck of his catamaran, China Moon.

 Shirley has since sailed many thousands of miles, cross-crossing the Atlantic for years before heading into the Pacific Ocean, and on to New Zealand.  In 2024, she is still cruising, currently in SE Asian waters.  She's been delighting in the myriad islands, local cultures and fresh food markets of that region.  There is no refrigeration on Speedwell.  The beer is warm, and a proximity to markets allows her to restock with fresh fruit and vegetables frequently.  She is one of the finest exponents of the Slocum school of ocean voyaging, and perhaps one of the greatest small-boat voyagers of all time.

A quiet day up a river on the east coast of South America, where Shirley spent some considerable time, once returning there from the Caribbean via the Azores Islands  She also spent several years in the Caribbean, the east coast of the USA and Bermuda.

 

Below:  Reaching fast, what junk rigs do best.  It is possibly the most powerful fore-and-aft rig off the wind.  It is also brilliant at motorsailing.

Above: Careening in South America.  Shirley recently told me, when I asked her permission to include this image in my memoir, Last Days of the Slocum Era, that is seemed a long time ago since she was here.  And it is.  She bought Speedwell in Cape Town in 1998, and set sail for South America and the Caribbean in 2002.  In 2024, she had been cruising the world solo for 22 years.

Heavily reefed on the way down to New Zealand from Tonga.  Shirley waited out the COVID lockdowns in New Zealand waters, taking the time to give Speedwell a thorough refit.  She was able to spend considerable time with her old friend, Annie Hill, whom she met in Cape Town when she'd just purchased Speedwell.

Shirley on the deck of Speedwell.

Ashore in Panama.

Rough weather in the Gulf Stream, en-route to Bermuda.

More rough weather, this time in the South Pacific after leaving Mangareva.  Due to very light winds and a broken self-steering gear, Shirley took 81 days to sail from Panama to Mangareva, causing her friends considerable concern.  All was well aboard Speedwell, however, and Shirley had rather enjoyed the slow, relaxed passage.  Barnacle growth on the bottom further slowed progress.

A quiet day drifting along off Baltimore USA, in 2015, with a new sail built there with the help of her retired sailmaker friend, Dudley.  Speedwell is still using this sail today, despite tens of thousands of miles under the keel.  Shirley says the sail is a little tired, and will soon need to be completely restitched, but remains serviceable.  One of the advantages of fully-battened junk sails is that they are very forgiving of tired materials, and some have been built out of all sort of scraps.  Donald Riddler notoriously used his mother's bed sheets for the initial set of sails he used on Erik the Reds first Atlantic crossing, though he had to resort to a lot of restitching and patching.  In the Caribbean, he replaced them with sails made from other sailors' cast-offs, rescued from marina dumpsters.

A quiet day on the inlet in Whangarei, New Zealand.

Above and below:  Speedwell at anchor in New Zealand waters.

For those interested in following Shirley's ongoing adventure, you can find her fascinating and beautifully-illustrated blog at https://speedwelladventures.com/