Its My Boat Radio Interview

Its My Boat Radio is a weekly online radio program that runs on Blog Talk Radio. Hosts are Barbara Jean Walsh and Ann Avary. They do interviews with people who are experienced boaters or in the boating industry, on a broadening range of subjects.

This week I was invited to participate, on the subject of kit boats. You can listen in to the program by clicking on the link below. It is about 30 minutes and you can listen while doing other stuff. Unlike live radio, if you think that you missed something then you can go back to whatever part you missed and listen again, or go back to the start and listen to the whole program again.

Kit Boats and More! online radio program

Small selection of our plywood kit designs

Plywood kits for our designs

To see our full range of designs, go to http://dixdesign.com/

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A lovely little daysail with my Daughter

Blake Island is a lovely little Marine State Park located 8 miles West of downtown Seattle.  The island has an interesting history.  It was an ancestral camping ground of the Suquamish Indian tribe.  Legend has it that Chief Seattle was born there. Capt George Vancouver noted the small round island in his journal in 1792 during his exploration of the area, but didnt bother naming it. It was later surveyed and named Blake Island in 1841, but local settlers referred to it as Smugglers Island. Shortly thereafter the island was logged until its timber was exhausted, abandoned, and neglected until the banks foreclosed on the loggers.  Around the turn of the century it was sold to the wealthy Trimble family who renamed it Trimble island. They built a mansion and a beautiful estate where they lived until 1923, when Mrs Trimble died in a freak accident. The Trimble family abandoned the estate. Once again, smugglers, this time in the form of bootleggers and rumrunners, used the island during Prohibition.  It was rumored to be used as an ammo dump and a unit of the Coastal Artillery of the US Army was garrisoned in the Trimble mansion.  After they left, the mansion was gradually plundered, vandalized and finally burned down in the 40s by two High School students who camped there in a home-made 16 boat.  The neglected island was traded to an investment company. After the war, developers expressed an interest in building a luxury resort hotel on the island, but it was traded for timber instead to Washington State where it was turned into a State park. Tillicum Village, a popular tourist attraction featuring Indian arts, culture and food , was added in 1962.  Today, about 100,000 people visit this lovely little island every year.

Last Saturday my Daughter Heather and I were two of those visitors.  We launched Ellie and headed for Blake under beautiful blue skies and 5-10kt winds. We knew we couldnt linger long on Blake because the forecast was for bad weather to move in that evening.

Heathers little dog "Spud" was very excited to come along. He enjoyed every minute of the hour long sail across the Sound.

Nearing Blake Island

The Indian longhouse of Tillicum Village behind the breakwater.

We tied up in the marina and went ashore. Blake Island was buzzing with activity. The entire shoreline was covered with dozens of tents belonging to Cub Scout Pack 144, there for a three day campout.  They were having a blast building driftwood forts and fishing off the docks for pile perch.

The tour boat Argosy dropped off tourists at Tillicum Village while we ate lunch and a steady stream of pleasure boaters filled the marina for the weekend.


After lunch we set out to explore the island.

We were only able to stay for a few hours.  Storm clouds were starting to gather so we headed back towards Seattle.  With the wind picking up, this was a great opportunity for Heather to do some sailing.

The Space Needle served as a great navigational aid

Meanwhile, Spud found a nice cozy spot to take a nap.

 

It was a wonderful little daysail to one of our favorite local spots. We hope to do it again soon.

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My dinghy cruising packing list

Ive been doing quite a bit of dinghy cruising this year. So much so that I havent had much time to write about it, sorry.

Ive gotten my packing routine down to the point where I feel its getting quite efficient.  I always bring the same items and store them in the same place for every trip.  A little organization goes a long way when it comes time to find something.  I try to bring only what I need, and use items for multiple purposes whenever possible.  I only bring extras of items that are crucial.

It really bugs me to have things out where I have to walk on or around them, so I store everything in the lockers and under the thwarts and side decks. Once everything is packed away, it looks like Im not bringing anything at all.  Thats not easy to do in an open boat.

Here is the packing list that I use.  This first page shows where on the boat I store everything.   Many of the items are stored in bags.  I use soft-sided cooler bags for food and water, duffel bags and backpacks for clothing, and dry bags for electronics. Page 2 shows the contents of each bag.

Most of this stuff stays on the boat permanently.  Usually all I have to pack for a trip is food and clothes.

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My love affair with Hogfishes

 People always ask what is a Hogfish and why would you name your boat after one.

When I first sailed to the Bahamas in 1977 spearing a Hogfish was the most sought after goal of all boaters as they are the best tasting fish around. They can be speared relatively easily if they have never been approached before. If they have been shot at and you missed then they can be a challenge to get near for a kill shot. You have to have a kill shot if using a Hawaiian sling or you will loose your spear. 

Spearing them with a pole spear you can just hang on to the rubber and get towed about if your shot is in a solid spot. This has been lots of fun over the years for me.

When I first designed and built the original Hogfish sailing Sharpie yawl I knew it was going to be a different looking sailboat than the norm. I wanted a boat that just fit me with my type of sailing, cruising and lifestyle. With this in mind I needed a good name to go with this new boat. The Hogfish is a goofy looking fish when swimming about the bottom. I has a fearsome looking mouth but these fish are really just big Wrasses that eat crabs, sea biscuits and what ever comes their way. They can change their

body colors in an instant to camouflage themshelfs. When they die they can be very beautiful, like a sunset. 

Following are some pictures of my carved Hogfish and others that have crossed my path.

Carved for Kim Sands in Abaco out of cedar

Carved from a mahogany tree that washed ashore on Powell Cay in Abaco for an American client.

Carved for Dale and Mandy Roberts in Abaco 22 years ago

A female. All Hogfishes are transsexual where as the dominate female will turn into a male and grow the long snout and take over the female harem. I wonder how all the Christian male homophobic spear-fisherman deal with this fact. Can the fish just decide not to change at any time?

About as big as they get.

A stylized one for Bill Hutcherson

Our house with a neighbor. I love the colors here in this shot.

Mahogany with copper "Spriggs" as they call the three dorsale fins here in Spanish Wells. I have seen up to four at times.

Rachel on our front porch awhile back. The trees and bushes are now 10 higher. Our neighbors that have just built a house next door are always asking us to cut them down saying they are blocking their view. Some people want to sit in the front row and still be able to look at everything on both sides. We just smile at them knowing that all our grey water from our house is watering these native plants that give us shade, privacy, protection from storms and give a place for all the creatures that inhabit them to live. Our neighbours have cut 80% of their trees and bushes down replacing it with grass.

Kalessin with a Hogfish I speared in Exuma 23 years ago free diving in 45 of water. I have used a tracing of this fish for all the carvings you see here.

Back in my ole spear fishing for a living days.

Made of crab wood I found in Bequia a while back. Now in the home of Theo and Kims in Spanish Wells.

When I designed and built the original Hogfish sailing Yawl I wrote a note to myself naming my design company " Hogfish Designs". This was 26 years ago. I knew back then that the hogfish was going to some day be the "it" fish. I mailed this to myself and keep this  unopened letter as a sort of copyright time frame of when I thought it was cool for me to sail about the Carribean sea in a boat with a huge pink stripe down the side calling itself the "Hogfish".

I like to think I made it easier for men to now wear bright colors .

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