Does the Shoe Fit?

January 1st was our start as the new Portland Pacific Seacraft dealer. The William Crealock designed 31’ Pacific Seacraft sailboat was a big hit: we had people lined up everyday to take a look. As the only true blue water boat at the show, believe it or not, we had motor boaters stopping by, we had first time sailboaters visit, and, we even had a featured “live” spot on the local news. We were all feeling good about our fit, until the last day of the show.

It started early and lasted all day: the mysterious shoes. We asked people to remove their shoes prior to stepping on board the new boat, a common practice – or so you would think. However, these mysterious shoes sat outside the boat all day long. I was responsible for standing next to the boat and reminding people to remove their shoes – I didn’t think they needed reminding to put them back on. However, after a few hours, I couldn’t remember the owner to whom these mysterious shoes belonged.

I figured the shoe owner had to be sitting inside the boat, so I waited patiently outside. An hour later, I was afraid the shoeless person in our boat must have fallen asleep. I decide to give him one more hour before I’d barge inside the boat and politely ask him to pick up his shoes and leave. I waited and waited; finally I took off my own shoes and went inside the boat.

To my shock there wasn’t anyone inside. Someone had taken off their shoes, boarded and un-boarded our boat – and left without their shoes. Who would walk around a boat show shoeless?

I stood on our stepped platform, about 10 feet above the floor, and looked for the owner of the shoes, but didn’t see a soul without shoes. I ran down to the security guard nearest our boat, explained the situation, and quickly realized the insanity behind our situation. I was left with an odd pair of shoes looking for the right fit.

We try and get the right fit for customers but I didn’t think that would include shoes. So, anyone who knows this shoeless person or is missing a pair of shoes, email or call me.

Kevin Coté
Sailboats of Oregon
cotekevin@msn.com
503-289-1436
888-718-7653

Now Kevin, I know you want to sell boats, but you need more of a deposit than a pair of shoes to get these guys back. Quite the Cinderfella story.

Pardon me for stirring the pot, but…

I was intrigued by an ad you ran on p.95 of the January issue. It was the ‘P30 class’ trying to attract more boats to their ‘class’. I was particularly intrigued by their statement that they receive their own start at PSSR, PSSC, and WIRW. Being a latecomer to the racing scene, I am hoping you can answer some questions for me. You see, I am directly affected by this ‘class’. My boat rates right about the same as the boats in the P30 class, but because I don’t own the right kind of boat I am an outcast. When they group together, it leaves a big vacuum in that range of the PHRF spectrum for those boats that are not eligible to join their class. What happens is the ‘leftovers’ end up racing against other boats that are either considerably faster or considerably slower. In either case, we don’t get a chance to experience the close encounters that are such an attractive part of buoy racing.

So, here are my questions… Who has sanctioned this ‘class’? Has PHRF-NW? Why is it so exclusive? I mean, isn’t that what PHRF is all about – to take boats of dissimilar design and allow them to compete on a equal basis? If so, why can’t my boat or other boats with similar PHRF ratings race in this ‘class’? Is it really that difficult for the boats in this ‘class’ to do the PHRF math (like the rest of us) to figure out how they did? I mean, we are only talking a couple of seconds/mile here. Doesn’t this ‘P30 class’ fly in the face of PHRF by creating exclusivity among dissimilar designs? And finally, if the owners of the P30 class really want to race one design, why don’t they just go out and buy a one-design boat like a Melges or a J-boat?

For the record, and it should be fairly obvious, I think re-inventing PHRF with things like a P30 class is counter-productive. I respect the P30s for taking the time and effort and interest to do something like this. But the P30s have had their years of fun of ‘level racing’ and now it is time to get the calculators out and do the math on the 2-5 sec./mile just like the rest of us!! I respect the J-35s and Express 37s for not creating a similar ‘P35 class’. Otherwise this thing gets outta hand.

While I am on my little soapbox, allow me to also make one more suggestion. Some of the race organizers in the past have tried to out think PHRF by creating heavy displacement and light displacement classes. The usual rationale among these organizers is that heavy displacement boats react differently than their light displacement sisters in different wind conditions. That is most certainly true. But to single out this one measurement is counter-productive and disrespectful to the advanced rating algorithm known as PHRF. I mean, why not group boats according to any one of the other measurements used by PHRF to calculate a rating? By creating these displacement classes, there is a much wider rating spread in the classes and we are once again back to the problem of racing much faster or much slower boats around buoys – not the desired outcome.

On S.F. Bay, the race organizers put all the boats in a spreadsheet, sort by PHRF rating, figure out the number of classes they want, and make their cuts purely along rating lines. It is simple and effective. There is no reason to out-think PHRF. Because when you do, you make the racing worse.

Thanks for letting me vent,
Peter Nelson a.k.a. Rocky Horror
S/V Time Warp
PHRF 128

Stirring the racing pot – what are you thinking? I tend to agree with you, the larger the number of boats available, the closer the class breaks. But you know, if someone hadn’t tried to “out think” the rating systems, we’d still be racing under the old CCA rules. If you get 5-6 boats together, depending on the regatta, you can have a class, whether it’s T-Birds, J-35s, or whatever. The P30s been doing this a couple years now so it must be working for them. Give them a call - you never know.

Choosing a Galley Fuel

Dear Diana: Your position on propane vs. alcohol, kerosene, etc. as the proper galley fuel is right on the money. (48° North, January, “Cooking with Gas,” page 32.)

Propane is the safest fuel, given all factors, to use as a galley fuel, on the average cruising vessel. Diesel stoves, as used by commercial fishermen, have their place in some larger vessels committed to high latitude cruising, but are “overkill” for the average tropics-bound cruiser.

One thing about butane vs. propane is important. You state its cooking value is the same as propane’s. However, you failed to state that butane’s ability to collect in a dangerous mixture in the bilge is almost twice that of propane’s!

An examination of gas densities, based on just plain air being 1.0, shows:
Natural Gas has a density of 0.6 to 0.7 depending on where it originates, thus it is lighter than air and naturally rises if leaked from a system.
Propane has a density of 1.52, thus it is about 50 percent heavier than air and naturally sinks if leaked from a system.
Butane has a density of 2.01, thus it is about 100 percent heavier than air and naturally sinks if leaked from a system.
Therefore, when using butane, the bilges should be “sniffed” manually and electronically twice as often then when using propane.

In some countries, compressed cooking gases can be a mixture of propane and butane. The mix ratio is normally not easily known. However, as the figures above show, it is important to know when refilling tanks what the ratio of propane to butane is in the gas being purchased. On LNG, one thing that never seems to be considered is that cruising vessels, unlike houses, are pretty airtight above nose level, especially in bum weather. Thus, there is a potential for leaking LNG to collect in closed skylights and other trunk cabin and dog house spaces. Many of those spaces contain lights and electronics that can provide a spark and ignite a natural gas/air mixture unexpectedly. Biogas, or the gas that is generated by sewage, has a density of 0.8, thus it is lighter than air, but not that much lighter, so it would stick around the galley a little longer, if it leaked, and the odor would alert the cook to the problem.

Maybe some enterprising outfit could produce a machine that would collect the gas off marinas’ pump-out stations, compress it and store it. Then it could be sold to cruisers interested in safety and the environment!!

Best regards,
Knick Pyles

Thanks for the interesting and informative feedback. What determines most decisions on the type of fuel is its availability where you’ll be cruising. It’s a hot topic.

A postcard from Amanda Swan (Galley Essentials column) and John Neal, obviously having a fine time in Scotland.