Ask me about Taleisin...

[Eben]

I'm creating this thread to avoid the Hi-jacking that's about to take place in another thread.

I might live to regret creating this thread, but you only live once right?

Ask me all your questions about Taleisin etc. I know there's quite a few people who wants to know more about us etc etc. I will do my best to answer questions as honestly as possible. Please keep it above the belt!

I'll start with the question posted in another thread:

Originally Posted by Scout 30

This brings up an interesting point. Did you talk to Larry about installing a motor or did you have to promise never to do it? I looked up Seraffyn just to see if she was still around & there's an outboard bracket on her stern. BLASPHEMY! ...but functional

Before we bought Taleisin Lin and Larry made it quite clear to us that Taleisin will be our boat and we can do with her as we please. We did have to promise that we will sail her and sail hard! It is entirely up to us if we want to put an engine in or not.

Having said all of that, me being the person I am, I don't want to make any changes to Taleisin that's not in the spirit of the boat. When I have ideas about doing things I always call Lin up and talk to her about it. We were going to have a custom bracket made for an outboard but after some experts looked at it, it was made clear that it's not really viable. We're in the process of learning how to do all the hard stuff under sail, I take it as a challenge and I'm bullheaded (or stupid) enough to keep at it. It's not easy, and doubly so since we're still green horns at that.

So to sum it up, we can put an engine in if we want to. Neither of us wants to as we feel it would destroy Taleisin.

[Rhapsody-NS27]

Keeping her in her original state does seem like a worthy endeavor. You'll just have to work harder in learning how she handles and build up your skills. I've heard of people being able to sail into or out of a slip, but that takes practice. You'd have a bit of a learning curve to over come as you won't have an engine for back up.

[cshrimpt]

How do you pronounce her name?

[goat]

I thought this would be a good match for Taleisin,

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...or-158700.html

Congrats on a great boat,

goat

[Eben]

Originally Posted by Rhapsody-NS27

Keeping her in her original state does seem like a worthy endeavor. You'll just have to work harder in learning how she handles and build up your skills. I've heard of people being able to sail into or out of a slip, but that takes practice. You'd have a bit of a learning curve to over come as you won't have an engine for back up.

She handles very well, I've had more than one old salt tell me that she's exceptionally well balanced. Learning curve is probably an understatement, it's more like a learning cliff. Having said that, there's a few basic skills that we need to master under sail and then our skill should build on it's own with time.

I will say this, I'm reading through a lot of old sailing books to fill my head with ideas. I spend a lot of time thinking about how to deal with situations. I've also been told that in theory I will learn better seamanship because of the lack of engine. It's certainly not for the faint of heart as things can get exciting very quickly, I'm sure this will get less frequent with more experience. I do love every bit of the experience though!

[Eben]

Originally Posted by cshrimpt

How do you pronounce her name?

Tal-a[e]-sin (my attempt at phonetically writing it)

[Eben]

Originally Posted by goat

I thought this would be a good match for Taleisin,

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...or-158700.html

Congrats on a great boat,

goat

Taleisin does have a sculling oar. Being a glorified button pusher I don't have the endurance for this, it's friggin hard work! Also the 2.5 HP motor does a better job that I can. Not to mention that most people find docking daunting with a motor, multiply that by 10 and you have an idea of what it's like moving a big boat with a pointy end amongst very expensive toys... "pucker up" comes to mind. Again this is mostly due to out lack of experience, in theory it should improve with time, right?

Thank you very much, it's an awesome boat.

[Scout 30]

I think the good news is that she's a relatively heavy full keel boat & so she should track well at low speeds. Do you have any voyages in mind?

[Eben]

Originally Posted by Scout 30

I think the good news is that she's a relatively heavy full keel boat & so she should track well at low speeds. Do you have any voyages in mind?

She does track well at low speeds, but as I found out there is a lower limit to this.

We live in some of the greatest sailing waters in the world. Our current plan is just sail her around the Hauraki Gulf in New Zealand. Beyond that we have no plans and even if we did, they would probably change if we put them down in writing.

Basically we're going to let Taleisin teach us about cruising in some fairly reasonable waters.

[Scout 30]

I'll bet she'd be well received at the Australian Wooden Boat Festival in Tasmania in a couple of years. Sounds like quite an event.

[CaptWil]

Well done Eben

Be very proud of what you are going to achieve in keeping history alive; I am still amazed at the Purdey's achievements in their sailing career and the knowledge they shared with us

Will

[Eben]

Originally Posted by Scout 30

I'll bet she'd be well received at the Australian Wooden Boat Festival in Tasmania in a couple of years. Sounds like quite an event.

I'm sure she would

[Eben]

Originally Posted by CaptWil

Well done Eben

Be very proud of what you are going to achieve in keeping history alive; I am still amazed at the Purdey's achievements in their sailing career and the knowledge they shared with us

Will

We've got a lot of learning to do before then... what I can say though is that we really care about Taleisin and we want to do the right thing for her. How successful we'll be is another story all together...

[KaveingaMax]

Congrats on the lovely boat! She has feed many dreams including mine.
I was very happy to see her on the mooring as I was kayaking in Auckland. Be even more happy to see her out there...

[Eben]

Originally Posted by KaveingaMax

Congrats on the lovely boat! She has feed many dreams including mine.
I was very happy to see her on the mooring as I was kayaking in Auckland. Be even more happy to see her out there...

We're hauling her out at the Landing on the 28th of Jan. We'll be working on her over anniversary weekend, come and say hi if you're around. If you haven't seen her out of the water this will be an opportunity to do so.