Winter 2017

Sailing s/y RED RASCAL just outside the breakwall of Dana Point Marina. Photo: Bob Collier © 2018

Captain Bob Collier aboard s/y RED RASCAL, the Flicka 20 he built from Bruce P. Bingham’s Plans. Photo: Bob Collier © 2018

ABOUT FLICKA FRIENDS Flicka Friends is a newsletter that is written specifically for the people who own, crew aboard, or are interested in the Flicka, a twenty foot sailing vessel designed by Bruce P. Bingham. Based on the Newport Boats of Block Island Sound, this little ship has been built from various materials from the 1970‘s. This includes Flickas constructed from plans obtained directly from Bruce’s California office. About 400 sets of plans were sold. According to Bruce Bingham, many Flickas can be found in New Zealand, Australia, and Sweden.

My son-in-law sailing s/y RED RASCAL. Photo: Bob Collier © 2018

A number of hulls were built by Nor’Star and some were completed by Westerly Marine. The manufacturer of the bulk of the class is Pacific Seacraft who built 434 hulls in California. OceanCraft Sailboats recently acquired the Flicka molds and will be building the Flicka in North Carolina. Flicka Friends is (was?) published on a quarterly basis with regular issues being posted to the internet in March, June, September and December. * You can download the current issue as well as the back issues of Flicka Friends from the Flicka Home Page: www.flicka20.com Flicka Friends is always in need of articles and photographs for publication. Please consider sending something to me for the next issue of the newsletter. Editor:! *

This may be one of the last issue of Flicka Friends. It is started just over twenty-two years when the first issue was published by Dennis Pratt. My thanks to everyone that has provided photographs and articles through the years.

RED RASCAL out on the Pacific Ocean near Dana Point Marina. Photo: Bob Collier © 2018

Launching RED RASCAL Building RED RASCAL Part Twelve of Twelve

The most obvious hurdle for launching s/y RED RASCAL was getting her out of the garage. Photo: Bob Collier © 2018

In addition, the central part of the fascia board had to go to allow the trunk house to pass through. I jacked up the boat and put six steel one-inch pipes to serve as rollers under the cradle. On the day of the move, neighbors and onlookers crowded around to watch the fun.

Well, we’re finally coming to a close on the ten-year project! At this point I painted a gold boot stripe and the scroll at the bow. The front half of the scroll was the same as Bingham’s, My wife, the original Red Rascal, even served but the back half was my own creation. coffee and donuts in front of the next-door The maple leaf is for my wife’s birthplace in neighbor’s garage, while I was a basket case. Canada and the thistle is for my Scottish “RED RASCAL” refers to my red headed wife heritage (I grew up listening to that brogue as well as the boat. She can be a bit of a tease from my mother and grandmother). and practical joker, so one day I threatened her with “If you don't stop with the teasing Now, it was time to get this boat out of the and just being a little rascal I'm going to name garage and into the water where she belongs. the boat after you!” And I did. Two men from the Long Beach Boat Movers (Calif.) came to the garage to see what they I originally was thinking of naming it Thistle, were up against. the national flower of Scotland in line with my They advised me to reinforce the cradle, jack up the boat, and put one-inch steel pipes under the cradle as rollers. They left, confident that this was a “piece of cake” that they had done many times. First we removed the garage door. Also, we had to remove the header of the garage (a 14”x4” thick by 18 feet long chunk of lumber holding the roof up). 4

Scottish heritage (Mother and Grandmother came over from Glasgow in 1921), but Red Rascal won out. To add to the tension, one of the neighbors called the local paper and sent a reporter to cover this earth-shaking event. You can see the header on the floor of the garage to the left along with the center of the fascia board.

Of the temporary supports for the garage roof, the center one was removed just long enough to allow the boat to go through. On the big day the two boat movers got behind the boat and attempted to push it out. Nothing doing: in spite of much grunting and groaning. The weight of the boat pressed the bottom of the cradle into the steel pipe rollers so that the cradle scraped the ground and prevented the rollers from rolling. The solution was to replace the one-inch rollers with three-inch ones. Ok, so we jacked up the boat again and placed four three-inch pipe rollers under the cradle. Also, I backed up my truck and attached a “come along” (a horizontal hoist or jack) to the hitch bar and a strong truckers’ strap around the boat and cradle. Now with each crank of the “come along” the boat slowly began to come out of the garage. But, nothing goes smoothly; now with the larger rollers the boat was raised three inches. As the boat slowly moved to the front of the garage, the workers suddenly stopped Flicka Friends F

and came over to me and said “Bob, it’s too high now, we’re never going to get this boat out of here!” No! Not after ten years of sweat building this boat am I going to let the garage stop me. I got on the boat to watch and told the boat mover on the hoist to keep cranking while I watched the clearance from the top of the trunk house. As the boat slowly inched out, the tallest part of the boat, the main bulkhead (the sliding hatch had been removed) started to hit the front of the garage. But, almost miraculously the boat began to dip down allowing it to pass out of the garage with less than ¼“ to spare. I couldn’t pass my finger between the top of the trunk house and the top edge of the garage. What happened? The short driveway to the garage sloped down just enough to allow the boat to dip down and pass under and out of the garage! Whew! Awww-right! Both Marilyn and I heaved a big sigh of relief. Now put it on the movers’ trailer and off we go to Dana Point and the launching. Even the loading of the boat on the flatbed trailer was hairy. At one point one of the bottom wooden supports for the cradle bent precariously and seemed to be on the verge of breaking. But we reinforced it and the loading on the trailer continued without any further agony. My wife Marilyn has the patience of a saint to put up with my love of boats and boat building. This is my third and last boat! Hmm, however it would be fun to build a racing shell for sculling, a canoe, or even a hard dinghy.

Freeing RED RASCAL from the garage required some care. Photo: Bob Collier © 2018

RED RASCAL was trailered to the Dana Point (CA) Marina and transferred to the travel-lift. The rudder was attached to the stern. With the christening bottle in hand (it was purchased at West Marine nearly 10 years ago), I said: “In honor of my wife, I christen thee RED RASCAL!” Smash!!! Ahh! Now it was time for a little bit of real bubbly to toast the launching of the RED RASCAL. Don’t forget to add a little champagne to the waters for King Neptune. The boat christening was just using bubbly without the spirits and I broke the bottle on the bobstay plate, not on the hull itself. Down she goes to touch the waters of the Pacific for the first time, and all went well! Is this a photo of a happy camper or what!!? Next, we motored to the slip for the first time. After some more work and rigging, RED RASCAL was ready for the Pacific. All the sails up to show her as a gaff-rigged cutter. “Breezing up”as Winslow Homer would say about a shot of the RED RASCAL heading back home to Dana Point after a sail on the Pacific. This is the final installment of the Red Rascal construction. It’s been fun to recall the joy and agony of the building process. Hope you enjoyed the journey too!

Finding enough clearance meant cutting the garage roof. Photo: Bob Collier © 2018

RED RACSAL is finally free from the confines of the garage. Photo: Bob Collier © 2018

Now the garage can be used as a garage again Photo: Bob Collier © 2018

A happy camper: s/y RED RASCAL is on a trailer and ready to travel to the marina. Photo: Bob Collier © 2018

Getting s/y RED RASCAL secured for the road trip. Photo: Bob Collier © 2018

The truck and trailer with RED RASCAL ready for the trip to Dana Point Marina. Photo: Bob Collier © 2018

RED RASCAL in city traffic. Photo: Bob Collier © 2018

First was 91 freeway, followed by the 55 freeway, and finally all the day to the Dana Point shipyards on the 5 freeway. Photo: Bob Collier © 2018

Moving the Travel -Lift to RED RASCAL. Photo: Bob Collier © 2018

Position the lifting straps. Photo: Bob Collier © 2018

A scary moment for anyone launching their Flicka for the first time. Photo: Bob Collier © 2018

RED RASCAL hanging in the slings. Photo: Bob Collier © 2018

The champagne bottle is ready for christening and the press is going to document the event. Photo: Bob Collier © 2018

“In honor of my wife, I christen thee RED RASCAL!” Photo: Bob Collier © 2018

Toasting the christening of s/y RED RASCAL. Photo: Bob Collier © 2018

Moving into the cockpit for the launch of s/y RED RASCAL. Photo: Bob Collier © 2018

After eleven years of construction, s/y RED RASCAL is launched at Dana Point Shipyard. Photo: Bob Collier © 2018

Under electric power, s/y RED RASCAL heads for the boat slip for additional fitting out. Photo: Bob Collier © 2018

Securing s/y RED RASCAL in her boat slip at the Dana Point Marina. Photo: Bob Collier © 2018

Taking a moment to enjoy s/y RED RASCAL. Photo: Bob Collier © 2018

Adjusting the waterline four years after the initial launching. Photo: Bob Collier © 2018

With fresh topsides paint, s/y RED RASCAL is ready to be launched again. Photo: Bob Collier © 2018

Red Rascal with s/y RED RASCAL. Photo: Bob Collier © 2018

Moving s/y RED RASAL to the launch basin. Photo: Bob Collier © 2018

New sails for s/y RED RASCAL. Photo: Bob Collier © 2018

Heading out for a trip on the Pacific Ocean with two of my grandchildren. Photo: Bob Collier © 2018

Having just completed a sailing course at home, they wanted to sail on “Grampa’s boat.” Photo: Bob Collier © 2018

Note the drawer dovetail work in the cabin of s/y RED RASCAL. Photo: Bob Collier © 2018

By Bob Collier You might ask me what was the part of the building that I was the most satisfied or proud of. In spite of all the work involved over an eleven-year span, the part that pleased me the most were the dovetail joints for the galley drawers. I had never done this type of joinery. One day while surfing the Internet, I came across an old German woodworker who demonstrated how to make dovetailed joints without using any kind of ruler or gauge. One just eyeballs each cut. Without going into laborious detail, the first cut is a point 1/3 of the drawer face. You might expect that first cut to be 1/2, then 1/4. Nope, all cuts with a saw are in thirds. Flicka Friends

Dovetail work for s/y RED RASCAL. Photo: Bob Collier © 2018

s/y TI DUICK A Unique Flicka 20 in South Africa Africa.

TI DUICK is a very unique Flicka 20 in South Africa. Formerly a junk rig, she is has a gaff-rig now. Photo: Michael Connolly © 2018

TI DUICK is in celebration of PEN DUICK, the French yacht. Photo: Michael Connolly © 2018

A Traditional Flicka 20 in South Africa Africa.

s/y HABIBI at the False Bay Yacht Club in Simons Town, Cape Town, South Africa. Photo: Michael Connolly © 2018

s/y HABIBI is more traditional Flicka compared to TI DUICK above. Photo: Michael Connolly © 2018

St. George’s Dinghy Club hosting the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers (ARC). DART’s feeling a bit overwhelmed but is the only one dressed overall with signal flags and Buddhist prayer flags! Photo: Gill Outerbridge © 2018

I’m lazy, sailing quite happily with just the jib in a light breeze. Photo: Gill Outerbridge © 2018

Here we are on Dart early one morning in St George’s Harbour. Dixie is happy too with a boat that doesn’t heel! Photo: Gill Outerbridge © 2018

s/y SAMPAGUITA A Flicka 20 in the Salish Sea. Sea

Josh Wheeler spent 24 days exploring the Salish Sea last summer aboard s/y SAMPAGUITA. Photo: Josh Wheeler © 2018

SAMPAGUITA waiting at the Ballard Locks at the beginning of a trip to the San Juan Islands, Gulf Islands, and Vancouver. Photo: Tom Davison © 2018

A Ferrocement Flicka 20 in the Pacific Northwest

GOLDFINCH is ready for another trip on the Salish Sea. Photo: Erik Dokken © 2018

A new rudder for s/y GOLDFINCH. Photo: Erik Dokken © 2018

Removing the old cockpit floor of s/y GOLDFINCH. Photo: Erik Dokken © 2018

A new cockpit for s/y GOLDFINCH. Photo: Erik Dokken © 2018

The finished cockpit of s/y GOLDFINCH. Photo: Erik Dokken © 2018

Outboard power for s/y GOLDFINCH. Photo: Erik Dokken © 2018

Parking s/y 4ELSA in corner of the yard is one option for the winter. But, there is a better one... Photo: Ian Williams © 2018

Building an enclosure is a much better option, especially for Ontario winters. Photo: Ian Williams © 2018

A detail photo of the trailer cross members.

The supports are secured to the wooden framework.

The finished wooden framing and supports.

4ELSA is ready for another Ontario winter. Note the new lines led aft with Spinlock turning blocks and cams. Photo: Ian Williams © 2018

Looking forward in the storage enclosure. Photo: Ian Williams © 2018

Plastic clips secure the tarp. Photo: Ian Williams © 2018

Sailing s/y 4ELSA on Colpoys Bay, July 2017. Photo: Bernard Dilliot © 2018

Reaching aboard /y 4ELSA. Photo: Bernard Dilliot © 2018

A run to Lion’s Head Marina on s/y 4ELSA. Photo: Ian Williams © 2018

A fine day of sailing aboard s/y 4ELSA. Photo: Bernard Dilliot © 2018

The Aries Windvane makes lowering the mast of s/y KOREMIKRE a little more difficult. Photo: Gabriel Warren © 2018

By Gabriel Warren It seems that I am not the only chap to have thought of an A-frame. BEN MAIN, Jr. did as well, but with a gaffer mast, which is of course shorter. Most importantly, the A-frame is much safer than single pole schemes, since the mast cannot get out of control laterally. Getting the mast up and down is only half of it. It has to be moved forward or aft to be erectable, trailerable or even storable. When connected to the tabernacle, the balance point is aft of the pushpit, so the A-frame provides support for this evolution, providing double duty. The come-a-long is probably not necessary. I put it in for the first couple of evolutions in 32

case my tackle ran out of throw. I probably will jettison it next time. I was able to support the aft roller with my Aries frame, but it should not be complicated to find another way. I fitted this boat with a sea hood, so as to have a place for solar panels, and to anchor the dodger. The mast cannot lie flat without the cheek plates seen. Interestingly, they have to be different for erection and descent, hence the multiple holes. The feet for the A-frame are not hard to fabricate. I might have overdone it with the steel, but I would prefer to be too strong than the opposite. BEN MAIN, Jr. went right on the deck and used the rail; I think my way is kinder to the gel coat.

The top of the A-frame consists of an eyebolt and an eye nut. This way the tension goes right through and the 2 x 4s are only spacers. The A-frame and the stern crutch only take a couple of hours to construct. Some other schemes I have seen would have one working for days. The A-frame can be chucked into the towing truck, or easily lashed to the trailer I too have a Triad trailer. It is generally pretty good, but I have a list of complaints too, especially regarding salt water. In particular, the brakes can lock up within an hour of being dunked. I would have liked to know about the other options before I placed my order. Flicka Friends