About Us | About the Name Dasein | About the Decision to Buy a Boat | About this Site

Nathan

I am a freelance graphic designer and photographer. I have a BA in philosophy from the University of Southern Maine. I began sailing when I was a sophomore in college in 1995 by fast talking my way into a summer job as crew on Palawan, a 58 foot aluminum charter sailboat in Portland. I had never been on a sailboat before, but the captain, Tom Woodruff, was remarkably patient. I ended up sailing with him full time for 3 summers, as well as delivering the boat from St. Thomas, USVI to Portland via Bermuda one spring. The rest, as they say, is history. Beyond sailing, my interests include alpine and telemark skiing, backpacking, songwriting, and drinking coffee.

Distance Travelled: 0 nm | Lay Day: Long Cove, Vinalhaven

After the long push on Sunday we felt that we had earned a day off. And Long Cove was beautiful so we figured it was a great place to stay.

From the log: Slept in till 0730. Made coffee and wiped down the heavy dew„helping to clean off alot of salt. Midmorning went to Glissando for breakfast of homemade corned beef hash and eggs. Mmmmmm!!! Retired to Dasein late morning to attack my project list. Started item number one [permanantly install new GPS/Laptop cable], but couldn't get computer to download routes. WTF?! It worked yesterday. Spent much of the day working on that. Eventually got Tim to bring his computer over„ it worked fine. Double WTF??!! I hate PCs. My computer gets fix data fine and seems to start transferring waypoint data then the GPS hangs. Have to try my other laptop [Heather brought it when she met us in Bucks Harbor]. Grrrr. Had beers and snack until Britton rowed back from exploring. Read for a while, then Glissando for cocktails.

Distance Travelled: Est. 64.2 nm | Destination: Falmouth Town Landing

This turned out to be the longest day to date aboard Dasein. We got up at about 0500 to find a heavy dampness in the air, but there seemed to be little or no fog. We decided to head out. As we listened to the forecast, it became clear that our best bet would be to fly all the way home, as rain and fog was predicted for Thursday and Friday.

Chug-a-Chug-a-Chug

Within a few minutes of getting up I had the motor started and was dropping the mooring. It was barely light, with the sun just slipping over the breakwater. We raised the main and motored out of the harbor. It looked like we were going to have favorable current for the beginning of our trip, and remarkably, it appeared that we had a fair, if light, wind as well—at least to start. We motor sailed out to Owls Head, making almost 6 knots with the extra push from the tide and light breeze.

June 11 | 17.2 Nautical Miles

First trip outside the islands for the season. Nice NW breeze. Dropped mooring at 0940. Ran out past N end of Clapboard to Hussey. Wind seemed to go more west and had nice beam reach out the Hussey with a favorable current. Made 7.2-7.3 over ground all the way out. Gybed and had nice close reach along Long Island toward Hope. Wind blocked by Chebeague when between Chebeague and Hope. Flukey but persistance paid off. Hardened up to a close-hauled course, making for Chebeague Point. Passed Glissando on reciprical course near Crow Island. Wind was screaming around Chebeague point est 25 knots plus. One gust shipped water over the coamings! Tacked and reached off for the ride back to Falmouth. NICE! Back on mooring by 1335. Relaxed through the afternoon. Spent night aboard.

Well, this isn't exactly a boat project, so I've pu this under the "Flotsam" section of the site. But after nearly knocking my flimsy workbench over trying to plane a piece of mahogany, I decided that the time has come for me to build a real woodworking bench.

Plans? What plans?

As is my usual way of working, I did some research online, and put together a very loose sketch, and called the planning section "good enough." I found a ton of good info at www.workbenchdesign.net and "Bob's Woodworking Shop" online. I put together a rough sketch marked with sizes and a materials list so that I could buy the right amount of wood, then dove right in.

Recently I had the opportunity to visit the shop of a friend who is a boat builder. He was getting ready to flip the hull of a new Dark Harbor 15. This is a unique boat being built for a client in Washington state. He really liked the look of the Dark Harbor, but wanted to upscale it a bit. Not as much as the larger Dark Harbor 17, though.

Chip Flannigan agreed to take on the project, and drew a new boat based on the smaller Dark Harbor boat, but upscaled by 4 1/2 feet in length. The boat under construction is 15 feet on the waterline, and 24 1/2 feet LOA. She is white cedar on oak. Below are a series of photos from the flipping of the hull.

June 29: 19.4 Nautical Miles

Another solo sail, as Heather had to stay home to work on a paper for one of her graduate classes. Light air, but there seemed to be wind near Clapboard, so I motored out. Indeed! Sailed towards Portland, then tacked back toward entrance to Hussey Sound. Glissando was heading out the Hussey so I followed. Few tacks to get out, then nice beam reach past Overset and Vail Islands at 5.5-6.0. Started to reach off for Chandler's but changed my mind and headed between Hope and Cliff Islands. Gybed around and came back in past Sand Island. Hit something--submerged log, I think. No damage, but loud! Beat back between Hope and Chebeague to Chandler's. Light in Chandler's and full current rushing out, but made it through. Nice screaming reach back to Clapboard. Run downwind through anchorage, pausing to talk to Glissando and Lucky Bear briefly. Back to mooring. P/U under sail.

May 30: 17.5 Nautical Miles

Nice sail today! After all the nasty weather we've been having, I decided to take advantage of the break in the weather, so I slipped out of the office at 1000 and headed to the boat.

When I arrived, the wind was light, so I puttered about the boat for a bit. Around 1130 the wind seemed to be building, so I hoisted the main and headed out. I had a nice light air beat up the north end ofClapboard, then reached off a bit for a close-reach between the island and Cow Island Ledge, and then on toward Portland. The wind was variable between perhaps 5 or 6 knots and as much as 12 or 15. Nice!

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