westerly nimrod 18

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" height=60 BGCOLOR="#555555" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="03c467f1diriop.png"> <div> <FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#CC6600" FACE="Arial" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#CCFFCC" FACE="Arial" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#333333" FACE="Arial" >gbwebb art</FONT><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#A6CAF0" FACE="Arial" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#339900" FACE="Arial" > </FONT> |     <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="gbwebb art"><U>home</U></A>   <A HREF="artist80_travelii.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" TRAVEL"><U> travel</U></A></div> <bR> <div> <B> </B></div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" height=420 BGCOLOR="#777777" TEXT="#080000"> <div>     <A NAME="calender"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <IMG SRC="a2151b80.jpg" border=0 width="593" height="440" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> This is our sail boat a Westerly Nimrod 18.It's not the boat I set out to find, just got lucky.The plan was to get something like a Compac 16 or a Precision 18.</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="a2253e20.jpg" border=0 width="339" height="226" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> (Compac 16)</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id139_bob_mendes_on_his_p_18_flood_tide_at.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Bob Mendes Precision 18"><U><IMG SRC="a8472f10.jpg" border=0 width="370" height="241" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id139_bob_mendes_on_his_p_18_flood_tide_at.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Bob Mendes Precision 18"><U>Bob Mendes' Precision 18</U></A></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id138_buscabrisas.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Todds Montgomery 17 Busca Brisas"><U><IMG SRC="a76720b0.jpg" border=0 width="370" height="267" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id138_buscabrisas.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Todds Montgomery 17 Busca Brisas"><U>Todd's Montgomery 17 Busca Brisas</U></A></div> <bR> <div>    Through various web-sites the Compac 16 or Precision 18 seemed to be the best choice for a trailor sailor.My problem was finding one near by.Lake Michigan and Lake Erie were the closest places I could find.Just before  making the trip,I found an ad for a Westerly 18 only 5 mi.away.A retired Air Force pilot was selling off all his toys.My kind of guy,he made a Lake Erie power boat hauler out of a church van with a sawzall.The Nimrod was filled with melt water and dirty.I was able to haggle successfully because I hadn't just driven 100 mi with the fear of returning empty handed.The clincher was the Ian Procter Mast. I vaguely remembered Procter from Sir Chichester's solo circumnavigation in the 60's & found out  Procter designed the boat.</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <IMG SRC="116b902c0.jpg" border=0 width="400" height="300" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> SIMON ARDRON'S  UK NIMROD "NIMBLE"</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id136___i_have_my_boat_up_for_sale_not.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Shaab with lakeland backdrop catching wi"><U><IMG SRC="a6745440.jpg" border=0 width="325" height="324" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> <div> (Max Holt's Westerly Nimrod 18 SHAAB on Morecambe Bay)</div> <div> <A HREF="id136___i_have_my_boat_up_for_sale_not.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Shaab with lakeland backdrop catching wi"><U>SHAAB on lakeland trip</U></A></div> <bR> <div>    The Westerly was laid down in England 1971 several years before the OPEC problems and poor fiberglass resin. I had some buyers regret because I had told myself to stay away from swing keels and the probability of leaks.I've learned to live with a few leaks even after resealing the keel bolt.The ease in unloading and beaching the boat more than make up for a little water. I had wanted a high displacement/ballast ratio for stability.The  Nimrod achieves the same stability with less ballast by using a bulbed keel. A bulbed keel with more mass at the bottom acts as a counter weight when lowered and secured with a limiter cord.This feature shines  over the shallow shoals of Lake Erie.Water pushed by the wind piles into the south western corner of Lake Erie and bounces all over the shallow depths.The boat rides the water just like a gull when not under power.How Lake Erie fishermen can stand in their boats and fish in this weather as if fishing off a pier I'll never know. Luckily for my retching, it doesn't take much wind to jump n bump the boat on top of the waves and skim(plane) at a good clip.Steerage is the only cure for my sea sickness.With the combination of wind and waves  the boat seems to come alive and excel.The boat is rated as self-righting but has always rounded off and pointed into  the wind when caught with too much sail. When the winds get over 40 knots with waves over 6 feet I call it a day.I have been on small lakes in winds over 40 knots to prepare for the sudden storms of Lake Erie.So long as I can restrain the impulse to go out in bad weather to see the sea.....</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div>    <IMG SRC="a266fb10.jpg" border=0 width="367" height="177" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> (my nimrod 18)</div> <div> <A HREF="id137__learning_how_to_sail_.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="learning to sail"><U>learning to sail</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id143__marine_chart__west_end_lake_erie.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="lake erie east harbor state park lake er"><U>pelee island</U></A>   <A HREF="id140_lake_erie_smr_04.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="LAKE ERIE smr 04"><U> lake erie</U></A></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id148_top.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="MAKING homemade boat"><U><IMG SRC="d212ce00.jpg" border=0 width="300" height="224" ALT="MODEL WITH PRESTO CABIN AND COMINGS " ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id148_top.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="MAKING homemade boat"><U>PLANS FOR MY NEXT BOAT</U></A></div> <bR> <bR> <div> Feel free to send me pics of your trailor sailor and where it's been.</div> <div> gbwebbart@gmail.com</div> <bR> <div> Copyright © 1999-2004 GEORGE B WEBB / gbwebb-art.com</div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>