Shoal draft sailboats

In the islands here I get to see lots of other shoal draft sailboats . 98% are designs from Europeans. They have lots of places over there with big tides so they want boats that can dry out with out any problems.

Most of these designs sport twin rudders, swing ballast keels , are built in aluminum, steel, wood and glass. They average a bit more depth than the HFM being mostly in the 31/2 ' depth range verses my 27" draft. 

All the boats shown here are here now sailing about. Enjoy!

Kelt 38' swing keel fiberglass.

French aluminum sloop ,1 meter draft , twin rudder swing keel.

Similar type of swing keel boat but built in glass. I did not notice the family was taking the afternoon swim and shower. 

Ted Hood design, Fiberglass 38' centerboard french built. 41/2' draft.

French aluminum go any where twin rudder swing keel design. The twin dagger boards on the stern are used when going downwind for better control. They also use one to leeward when going to weather as they are slightly toed in as to give lift. Draft over 1 meter.

Nice sturdy sailing machine.

French Ovini sloop. Lots of these about . Shoal draft centerboard. Single rudder. This boat has the disease . TOO much stuff.

French one off made in Fiberglass. Centerboard, 1 meter draft. Nice 

Rachel speaks French and I don't. She learned it in high school.  All the Frenchmen that I ask about their boats in English and sign language try and tell me about their vessels. It's lots of fun. They are all very nice to me . I have told Rachel my fantasy is to hook up with a French girl that only speaks French and cannot understand me, vs Versa. So she speaks French to me and we keep this illusion alive at times..... Works for me.

Intresting French sloop in glass. You can see the daggerboard on deck. The prop must be a nightmare with all the freaking fish pots around here. The French islands are killing everything. I hate fish pots for the destruction of what they do to the inviroment.

Would not want to bump over a shoal with this kind of rudder set up.

 What a wonderful shape. This is one design I would love to sail on to see what's up.

French fiberglass over some kind of planking, steel centerboard and rudders, lots of stuff on deck.

Doing some glass work to the keel.

French, steel cutter , keel with twin out board daggerboards. Very old school hardware on deck so this boat has probably been everywhere. I'am not a fan of the daggerboard trunks so close to the outside of the hull as its very hard to see what's going on in between the two. Not much room. Most steel boats rust through from the inside out. Will look fine on the outside but poke at it from inside and bingo! There's a hole.

Here's it's complicated rudder system. A daggerboard rudder too.

A big Dutch aluminum Centerboard sloop with a thick fairing on the intire hull that is giving problems under the waterline. Tons of small holes. I have seen this in plenty of aluminum boats. I'am not a fan of aluminum below the waterline. My neighbor in the Bahamas has a French built one off boat pulled up on his land. It's 31' long and has been corroding from the inside out with hundreds of small holes while up on dry land! Yikes! Not for me . I like glass over wood. Ask any one that has been out here sailing for years will say that glass over wood is the best, easiest to repair and maintain construction. Fiberglass is strong but not as strong as a good cold molded hull. Steel rusts from day one, aluminum can be an electrolysis nightmare and is not maintence free, fiberglass cored boats have to be built right and can be fragile if it's a lightweight design, classic wood is fine if you can do the maintence yourself but having grown up in a carvel planked ketch that always leaked, having sunk in a small French built plywood planked sloop with out a glass overlay I will stick to my system of heavy glass over multiple plywood skins. Solid glass can last forever it seems, but you have to hide it just like on a metal boat so you end up building the boat twice... Kinda. Plus solid glass sweats like a metal boat so if you are going to be in cold weather you have to insulate it too.

 Here's a very fast Pogo 38' fiberglass ultra light sloop with a swing keel. 

Same design, Pogo 

These sloops are very wide , light in weight built in core. They pound like crazy and make tons of noise, 

But can be very fast if you know how to handle them. You cannot carry much in them either because of their light displacement. Many have been sailed all over the world in all oceans. I would love to do a cruise in one but they cost too much for me. I built the HFM in 1999 launched and sailing for $35,000.00 US $ so I would be short about $ 150,000.00 more for one of these beauty's.

Small steel sloop with a swing keel. This design has packed in a lot in a 31' hull. Draft looks to be 1 meter.

21' plywood sloop with daggerboards.

Intresting boat.

Hogfish sporting her French curtesy flag and some laundry .

Wish we could lift the skirts on all these other world crushing shoal draft boats to see what's underneath but I will show you Hoggys bottom here again.

Just shows you that there are all kinds of ways to get to the same goal of shallow water adventuring.

More islands, rain forests , Hogfish life

 We have been doing more hikes and climbs on different islands lately. Every island has its own distinct flaura and feel. They are all so different it being impossible to decide on a favorite climb. Lots has changed since we last sailed this way. More boats but the big thing is the islanders have been very friendly this time. In years past lots of places were avoided because of the rudeness of the locals to us boaters. Seemed like they had a chip on their shoulders. Now it's like being in Bermuda. After a few days there years ago I asked our waitress why everyone was so nice. She explained that many years  ago they changed their work description from being a "service " industry to a "hospitality" one. Taking the service= servatuide out of the equation changed it all in their minds. Now they are hosting us as guests.  

Seems like that it's been adopted down here so far. Everyone looks happy. Looks like and feels like they understand we are here to enjoy their country and will be spending a bit of our hard earned cash too.

Climbing up a dubious iron ladder to get to the source of the fresh water on Neivis after a two hour hike.

Jungle. 

Sailing by Redonda island on our way to Montserrat

I want to be King of Redonda so I have found my Throne here in a 1930s Fife schooner.

Rachel posing in front of our yacht.... It's anchored out in the bay behind these little ones in Antigua

Peeping in port holes at night in Antigua.

Our dinghy looks huge . It is ! We needed a big one raising kids and to use exploring. I'am rowing for a few days exercise.

Tim next to a nice big root.

No dinosaurs seen on this hike up a river in Guadaloupe

Wild Bird passing us in a bit of wind.

Gayle and Rachel trying to find the airport in Guadaloupe. We have just climbed out from a water drainage canal that on the chart showed it was in walking distance of the airport. Trying to save $25 dollars in taxi fare one way. Close but not as close as they'd hoped.

  French road side menu. Rachel can speak French . I know a little spanish. We always try to learn something. We both can understand the locals when talking their version of English as we have been in the islands sailing and working for years. But when they all start talking at once I just say , 'please speak the Queens  English', this works most of the time .

Tim and I going back down the canal.

Nice skiffs seen on this expedition 

Two hour hike up in muddy trails to get to this waterfall. I had not swam in fresh water in years so felt like I was drowning at first.

Gayle , rocks , and jungle

Another one

Fish market in Guadaloupe selling shark and Ray. 

Salted fish is a traditional leftover from when salt was the refrigeration of the day. I love eating this kind of fish. It's very cheap if you go eat where the locals do. Salted Cod in a pita bread is about $1.50

I hike mostly barefoot as I have spent most of my life avoiding shoes. 

Rocks I collected on our last sail around the Atlantic from all the beaches where all the great navigators went ashore from the Azores, Maderias, Canarys, Cape Verdes and through out the Caribbean Sea.

This trip I have a bunch so far from each island to bring back to our home In the Bahamas to build into our place. That way I can say that I own a piece of land from most of the islands in the Atlantic.

Madera rocks getting the salt washed off before stowing away. They can drive you nuts if not put away right as when you get sailing wing and wing downwind  just one of these suckers rolling back and forth is a nightmare to find.

Ile Saints, going up to the top on a hike.

Higher

Skiffs in the morning

Roots in Dominica

River skiffs

Well it's more jungle, water and damp soil. 

Thanks everyone for your comments .