Thursday, March 29, 2018

____________________________ SEA FEVER ___________________________


SEA FEVER - John Masefield

I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,
And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea's face, and a grey dawn breaking.

I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.

I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,
To the gull's way and the whale's way, where the wind's like a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over.


This beautiful little Knud Reimers designed 'Tumlare' class yacht ( Tumlare is Swedish for Porpoise) isn't a "tall ship" and she has a tiller rather than a ships wheel - but shipmates the sentiments ring true all the same.

13 comments:

Steve-the-Wargamer said...

She's a pretty thing indeed!

George A said...

Beautiful lines. The Folkboat's (slightly) bigger brother.

Alden Smith said...

A famous English yachtsman the late Adlard Coles had a Tumlare called 'Zara' which he wrote about in his well known publication 'Heavy Weather Sailing' (The story is in the first and second editions of the book, maybe not in subsequent editions).

Adlard Coles also owned a larger version of the Tumlare called a 'Stor Tumlare'. This 'Stor Tumlare' was called 'Cohoe' and was raced in the Newport - Bermuda race of 1950 (with a false bow extension fitted to comply with the boat length rules). After the Bermuda race Cohoe was raced back to the UK in the Transatlantic race - which she won.

I notice (on YouTube) that a fleet of the small Tumlares race regularly on San Francisco bay.

The small version of the Tumlare is indeed a beautiful little boat but not particularly sea worthy for deep water sailing because of the boat low freeboard. The adventure written about 'Zara' is about being pooped by a cross sea close to the English coast. Nevertheless I still think she would make a beautiful little day sailer and weekender for harbour and coastal cruising in reasonable weather conditions (and it's not only Tumlares that get pooped by big seas!!).

Alden Smith said...

George, I would have thought that the Folkboat is the bigger of the two? From memory the folkboat is slightly longer and has a bigger internal volume - but I may be wrong there.

Certainly the Folkboat, Tumlare and Dragon (in its original version with a small cabin) are all of a similar ilk and make great small cruising boats.

Alden Smith said...

...... and I would add the 'Knarr' class (of Scandinavian origin) in with the mix here as well - the Knarr being another small yacht with particularly beautiful lines (with a strong fleet in San Francisco and in Scandinavia - see YouTube).

George A said...

My memory may be faulty but I seem to recall that the Folkboat is 26 feet long while the Tumlare is a foot longer?

Dan Gurney said...

A beautiful little yacht. I regularly walk along the San Francisco Bay Marina district where the Folkboats and Knarrs race. These are, to my eye, among the prettiest yachts ever to ply California’s waters. Just perfect for day sailing and racing in the San Francisco Bay.

Alden Smith said...

George, your memory is not faulty. The Tumlare is 27' 3" compared to the Folk boat at 25' 3" overall length. The Tumlare is also longer on the waterline at 21' 10" compared to the Folk boat at 19' 8".

But the Folk boat is one foot wider at 7' 3" compared to the Tumlare at 6' 3" and also the Folk boat has a marginally higher displacement at 4250 lbs compared to the Tumlares at 3979 lbs. The extra beam and displacement and what looks like a higher free board would make the Folk boats hull a bit more roomy - but still, as you correctly point out the Tumlare is the bigger boat, but perhaps only marginally so.

Both are beautiful little boats and both in my opinion look their finest built to the original design profiles without any of the alterations that have come with time. This is especially so with the Folkboat which now has a number of versions with extended coach roofs and dog houses. Similar alterations have been tried with the Tumlare but only with negative aesthetic results - the Tumlare is best as designed with the low coach roof.

I know of one Tumlare here in NZ - I wonder if she needs a new owner to do an extensive restoration on her lol? hmmmmmmm.

Alden Smith said...

Dan, the Knarrs are certainly beautiful little boats. The fleet of Knarrs in San Francisco USA is the only large number of these boats outside of Norway and Denmark. The Knarr championships rotate between these three countries.

Paul Mullings said...

Sailing Days and More Sailing Days detailing Coles and wife’s cruises are also must reads

Alden Smith said...

Yes, thanks Paul, and you reminded me of his other books as well -
'Mary Anne Among 10,000 Islands'
'In Broken Water'
'Sailing Years - An Autobiography'
'North Atlantic'

The last two are must reads - The Autobiography gives an overview of all of his adventures and 'North Atlantic' being a great story of the beginnings of serious ocean racing in small boats back in the 1950s and mentions other boats apart from 'Cohoe' of seminal importance in the history of sailing ('Samuel Pepys', 'Mokoia' and Humphrey Bartons little 'Vertue 35').

Bursledon Blogger said...

Alden, if you can find a copy of More Sailing Days, by adlard Cole there's some great accounts and pictures of cruising in Zara

http://bursledonblog.blogspot.de/2009/07/more-sailing-days.html

Max

Alden Smith said...

Max, yes - I have Coles 'Sailing Days' and 'More Sailing Days'. The pooping of Zara which is referred to in 'Heavy Weather Sailing' is a retelling of the chapter in 'More Sailing Days' titled "Incident In Lyme Bay' when Adlard Coles Tumlare 'Zara' took solid water over the stern and was in serious danger of sinking for a time. All his books are great reads of simpler cruising times in UK sailing.

Thanks for the link.