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

In this caper, Jim shares the story of his summer 2019 ride on one of his "cattlemarans" in the Caribbean. Jim sails along on a big catamaran with his entrepreneur-boatbuilder-sailor friend Doug Jane to deliver the boat to a customer. Lots of fun and challenges on this trip … with a little insight into the boat chartering business.

WHAT'S HAPPENING? TOO MUCH! This Caper tells of many Capers -- Too many to permit our weekly schedule from continuing right now, but enough to bring you a new Caper now and then. My Podcast is not going away, and after all, there are over 80 of them posted and accessible any time. But current involvements, as brought on part by the Podcast, make it necessary to break from the weekly schedule. I hold you listeners in high regard, and thank you for your participation. Please note that Jim Brown's OuRrig Capercast is not going away, and you will receive a brief email from us (if you're signed up to receive our emails) whenever a new one is posted. Thanks for listening, and FAIR WINDS!

UNMARKED FORK IN A DESERT TRAIL Talking again with Havilah Hawkins Jr. aboard his monumental gaff sloop VELA, we approach the subject of parting with one's boat of many years. We then revert to all the things he has done with those many years of vessel stewardship, and inevitably return to ending that era of one's life. "Haddie" has a lot to say about it, with an eye to his next boat, a "creek crawler." With use and years, it, too, will come alive.

ANCHORAGE CONVERSATIONS (Part 2) Here are a few more Sterncastle Stories with my buddy Larry, which makes this capercast a Part 2 of the Part 1 portion of this chat. Tied to a dock in Maine, with no anchoring worries, with a good friend on a good boat, it is time to tie one on and gather the yarns that make cruising a tapestry. In this brand of blather, Larry and I ramble about the past, present and future of modern, lightweight seafaring. The Hybrid Wing is paired with hydrofoils to behave like a downhill skier, and Woody Brown watches from above — disapprovingly perhaps — but he was a teetotaler. Listen in?

KNOT MY PROBLEM This Caper has all you need to know about the four-hulled "Tandem Catamaran," at least enough to really understand it from the next Caper. Roger Hatfield, the co-designer and builder of this futuristic configuration, tells us how the concept, which comes from his client Mr. Warren Mosler, may indeed point the way ahead for the smoothest-riding offshore ferry boats — and who knows what other applications are latent in this extremely inventive watercraft. To apprehend this potential breakthrough, you need to hear this Caper and the next. Welcome! Be sure to visit our show notes page for this podcast episode on OutRigMedia.com for a few images of the Gold Coast two-hulled "Wave Piercing" catamarans, predecessors to the "Tandemaran," I discuss with Roger Hatfield in this audio.

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.

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 outrig.org@gmail.com. Come on, let's OutRig! (Note: This show episode is what Jim has termed an "Ancient Futurecast" - Jim's attempt at a fictional Capercast)

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.

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.

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.

DANNY, DOUG AND DAD "Put yourself out there," is the theme of this caper, with three examples of how it's done. Danny Mydlack, our new media consultant, put himself in here by taking the initiative to contact us and make two trips down from Baltimore for gathering footage for our upcoming video "tractor." Doug Jayne has put himself out there for years by building eight large cattlemarans in Constant Camber, selling some and operating others. Danny and I were able to attend the launching of number eight. My father, Ralph Brown, was pretty much forced, -- by the 1930s depression -- to put himself in the line of fire. Listen in to get the story.

ANCHORAGE CONVERSATIONS - Part One This is what happen when two or more old boat nuts find themselves in a secure anchorage with old friends, a lobster in the pot, and "...A little more than enough to drink, for thirst is a dangerous thing." (Jerome K. Jerome)

BOATBUILDING -- WHICH KIND? After doing several interview capers, we have here the results of some interesting comparisons, resulting from hurricane damage, between good old sheet plywood construction, and "cold molded" or Constant Camber (CC) construction. Design differences between the Searunner 34 and the CC 35 are discussed, as are the challenges of getting good wood for these boats today. And, oh yes, the virtues of epoxy! In the end, if you want to go NOW, buy a good, used monohull. There are lots of them around begging to go cruising.