Gillmer Blue Moon

[Howard Rice]

I am curious if anyone has an interior layout drawing for the Blue Moon. Also any insights on she sails?
Thanks

*I did manage to put up a few Blueberry photos on Flickr if anyone is interested.
Go to Flickr and look for "Blueberrysail".

[Howard Rice]

I meant to write "Also any insights on how she sails?

[Steve Paskey]

I have a set of the plans, which I bought for a song on ebay. I don't have a scanner, but if you have a specific question that I can answer in words, fire away.

[johnw]

I've sailed on Blue Moon. It's not very fast, even compared to a Friendship sloop of similar size. It's also rather cramped inside. I was left with the feeling that if I had the wood, ballast and sail cloth that went into her, I could build a boat that was much better value for money, but that's not what she's about, is it?

[Howard Rice]

Hey Steve and John
I am the owner of a boat named Blueberry a 20ft on deck wood cutter with a fair amount of room below due the thoughtfulness of her designers. Given that she is a small boat I rarely bump my head or elbows when moving around.

I have been curious about the space aboard a Blue Moon in comparison to Blueberry. I read that Gillmer designed her with one bunk and a locker. Thats interesting. Boats this size are not supposed to have much interior space but for boat she is my Blueberry seems to have gotten beyond
the "cramming two pounds of coffee into a one pound coffee can", which is how the late John Hanna described another boat I once owned a Poco Dinero, also 20 ft on deck. She was an elbow and head cruncher.

So is it true Gillmers Blue Moon is very small inside and with only one bunk?

Thanks to both of you.
Howard

[CapnJ2ds]

The plans of "Blue Moon" are in one of Roger Taylor's "Good Boats" books (can't remember which one) and include the layout plans.
Local library?

[ishmael]

A very pretty little boat, and quite able by reputation. What is she, twenty three feet long? It's been awhile since I looked, but I'll bet she has a pilot berth port and starboard. IIRC it's a featured design in one WB's design books, so that would be worth a look.

As mentioned above, a little boat inside with that flush deck. If inclined to build a carvel planked boat around that size I think I'd up the ante and build a Gile's Vertue. Not a lot more in materials and time, but a much more livable boat. IMHO it's the best of the best in the mid twenty foot range.

Good luck.

[Yeadon]

I've never sailed on Blue Moon, but have looked a few times at the privately owned one that is dying a slow death where it is moored at CWB. (This is a great boat in need of a restoration plan and cash to match.)

From memory, I think Blue Moon has one bunk near the companionway on the starboard side, lockers and counterspace to the port side. Sail and tackle storage forward. An engine is under the aft cockpit.

You pretty much have to move around hunched way over, though you can sit upright on the berth. Otherwise, you're crawling around in there. Probably easy to keep warm with such a small space. However, the tradeoff you've made gives you a lot of working area on the topsides.

[johnw]

If I were looking at a traditional boat in that size, I'd go with the Pemaquid Friendship sloop (lines in American Small Sailing Craft.) More room, more history, better performance. If my interest was in long-distance cruising, I'm with Ish, the Vertue is great.

[Howard Rice]

Great insights all. I have a boat in the genre with my cutter Blueberry (a Hume/Bolger collaboration). I would agree on the Vertue over the Blue Moon although the BM is one gorgeous piece of eye candy and would get my nod in the heart throb category with a second place in the function category.

If anyone is interested in a photo posting of Blueberry I can post one here but for the life of me I cannot figure how to put one up (purposely semi IT challenged). Again if interested in a neat little cutter direct my fingers to the right keys.
Thanks all the way from Pohnpei Micronesia

[goodbasil]

I have a book infront of me.
53 Boats You Can Build
Richard Henderson
1985 International Marine Publishing Co.

P92-94 Thomas C. Gillmer's Blue Moon

LOD 22'10"
LWL 19' 8"
Beam 8' 7"
Draft 4' 1"
Disp. 8,000#
Sail Area 430 sq.'







Raised deck, self-bailing cockpit (It's a blue water boat.)

So, having a scanner that is not working, I'll try to describe the layout down below.
It doesn't have the common V-berth in the bow.
Stepping down the companionway you have a berth to starboard followed by a head then some storage to the bow.
On the port side,the galley, (small work surface, sink & two burner stove) followed by another berth and more storage up to the bow.
There are some measurments here but I can't make them out even with a 4X glass.
If you libary doesn't have this book try an interlibary loan.

About 8 months ago I saw a northbound flatdeck on Hwy 99 with a boat on it. I'm about 97% sure it was a Blue Moon. Might have been coming up from Washington way, I5 in Washington becomes Hwy 99 in Canada.

[Howard Rice]

Great insights all. I have a boat in the genre with my cutter Blueberry (a Hume/Bolger collaboration). I would agree on the Vertue over the Blue Moon although the BM is one gorgeous piece of eye candy and would get my nod in the heart throb category with a second place in the function category.

If anyone is interested in a photo posting of Blueberry I can post one here but for the life of me I cannot figure how to put one up (purposely semi IT challenged). Again if interested in a neat little cutter please help direct my fingers to the right keys.
Thanks all the way from Pohnpei Micronesia.

[boylesboats]

This must be a whole different Blue Moon that I know of... A classic plan is found here http://www.svensons.com/boat/?p=SailBoats/BlueMoon

[goodbasil]

No it ain't that Blue Moon.

There is a guy in Turkey who built, (is building) one. He's posted here with lots of photos. Anybody?

[Howard Rice]

Yes that would be a whole different Blue Moon.
Apologies for wasting anyones time here by starting this thread. I posted inquiring about Blue Moons interior because I was intrigued about the comparison with my Blueberry. Nothing to urgent.
As a small boat sailor I am always looking for similar layouts and new ideas on maximizing space. Every inch counts on a boat and no more true than in a pocket cruiser.

[goodbasil]

You haven't wasted anyone's time.

[CapnJ2ds]

You haven't wasted anyone's time.
Indeed not!

Two things about "Blue Moon" vs "Vertue";
"Vertue" would have more room inside, but she's a 'size' bigger.
"Blue Moon" isn't so much a flush-decker as a raised-decker. Most of her accommodation being under the raised deck, she'd be quite roomy for her size.

If I was going to live aboard, I'd plump for a "Vertue".

If it's a gaff cutter you want, remember that "Andrillot", the first "Vertue" was one.

I'm not sure the "Blue Moon" would be any sort of sailing slug; she's well enough canvassed for her displacement and wetted surface.

[rbgarr]

Lyle Hess designed a 22' version of his 25' Renegade:

http://i27.tinypic.com/4rxr7r.jpg

http://www.norseayachts.com/lylehess_a_profile.php

[Paul Pless]

Gillmer drew at least two stretched versions (27 and 30 footers) of his Blue Moon design. Here he is with a 30 footer built for himself, rigged as a cutter.

http://www.alliedseawindii.org/gillmer/Image121.jpg

[Paul Pless]

here's one of two built in turkey recently...

http://intheboatshed.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/dscf1526.jpg

much more here: link (http://intheboatshed.net/2008/06/29/turkish-blue-moon-launch-photos/)

[Steve Paskey]

Stepping down the companionway you have a berth to starboard followed by a head then some storage to the bow.
On the port side,the galley, (small work surface, sink & two burner stove) followed by another berth and more storage up to the bow.


Yup. That matches the drawing I have for the accommodations. There are no hanging lockers. The length of the cabin from fore to aft is 7'10". The berths are just over 6 feet long, and part of the port berth is under the foredeck, along with the storage.

[Howard Rice]

bb2.jpg

[Howard Rice]

Just tried to post a photo of my similar ride Blueberry...hmm any advice on how to post a photo here?
Thanks

[Paul Pless]

Scot's instructions

POSTING PICTURES
Control yourself. Avoid positng BIG pictures. Keep them 500 pixels wide OR LESS. That way the dial-up folks aren't bogged-down, and the width doesn't make the page hard to read in a standard sized window.
We do NOT host your images. You need to have a place like Flickr, Imagestation, Photobucket, or one of the free other hosting outfits... or your own site.

How to link the image to the Forum page? When you go to post your entry, click on that little icon of the "mountain" image. You won't need the standard img src coding, just paste-in the URL of where you have it hosted. Code it like this: http://www.YADAYADAYDA.com/MYPIXNAME.jpg

You fill-in the host URL where I have YADAYADAYDA, and you fill in the path and imagename where I have MYPIXNAME. Another example: http://www.flickr.com/Freespirit/AtAnchor/InMaine/OnAWednesday/AMLight/concordiaatgreatcove.jpg Photobucket tip: they have an auto-size program, so if you simply copy the URL for the image as it sits on your Photobucket page, it might not work. Instead, CLICK on the image (so it's bigger) and then right-click to get the image address. THAT'S the real URL. Paste that into our little mountain icon pop-up.

[Howard Rice]

Hi Paul
Apologies for silly questions but just where would this "mountain" image be found?
From your posted answer:

How to link the image to the Forum page? When you go to post your entry, click on that little icon of the "mountain" image."
Thanks I have now set up a Flickr account.

[Paul Pless]

it looks this

http://woodenboat.com/forum/images/editor/insertimage.gif

[Howard Rice]

Paul.
I do not have such an icon anywhere in my screen views of the WB Forum or I am not accessing the right spot.
Any thoughts?
Thank you

[johnw]

Next to post quick reply is a button that says "go advanced." Try that, and look above the field you type in.

[goodbasil]

Check out this site for more eye candy in that league. #98 is nice. (24')
http://www.gartsideboats.com/catsail3.php

[Howard Rice]

So here I am in the "Quick reply" pane and there is nothing resembling the mountain icon above the message window. The only thing above this window is the word :"Message" and another "Title" with a title box. Below this message box I am now typing is is a selection of icons for embedding in messages.

Below all of this is an area titled "Additonal Options" and in this area is a window for Attach Files. This is what I have been trying to use but it does not work. My upload attempts are thwarted because my file size is too big. I set up a flickr account and will try from there.

Hmmm, gremilns must have stolen the mountain.

[StevenBauer]

Here's something you might try, Howard. Change your settings in the Control Panel. Click User CP near the top of the page, then "Edit Options", then scroll down to "Miscellaneous Options" and in the drop down menu click "Enhanced Interface - Full WYSIWYG Editing"
Then you should see the mountain icon.

Good luck.

Steven

[Howard Rice]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/42384941@N02/3907611945/

My cutter Blueberry, 20" OD and 26' LOA, not Blue Moon but in the genre.

[Howard Rice]

Hi Steve.
I followed your instructions and made the change to my set up but again no photo paste. I now have a menu (a task bar of sorts) above this pane with the mountain icon. The mountain icon only allows me to paste a URL. I opened Flickr, opened the photo I posted there of Blueberry, copied the URL, pasted it in the message pane and it showed up as a ? mark.

I am now going to try to upload an image form my computer instead, although that did not work earlier.

[Howard Rice]

http:////www.flickr.com/photos/42384941@N02/3907611945/

[StevenBauer]

Try right clicking on the photo then click "copy image location" and then paste that into the mountain icon box.


Steven

[Howard Rice]

I officially surrender to the gods of technology (heck I prefer engineless boats and kerosene running lights any way). I can use a sextant but I can't post a photo....hmmm some sort of cosmic message I suppose.
So from all the way out here in the Pacific adios.

If anyone is interested here is my boat on flickr.


http:////www.flickr.com/photos/42384941@N02/3907611945/[/IMG]

[Howard Rice]

http:///Users/apple/Desktop/bb2.jpg

[Howard Rice]

.........and finally in lieu of further attempts to post photos here anyone interested in Blueberry can check out Flickr. I set an account up as "Blueberrysail" Perhaps someone with a better set up or more knowledge can grab a photo of Blueberry and paste it here. She is an interesting though wholly different comparison to Blue Moon and others in her genre.

[Paul Pless]

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2474/3907611945_ed5589d7fa.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2651/3908959698_9307e83746.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2427/3908965008_311fabcd79.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3489/3908967134_6a47279d6e.jpg

[Howard Rice]

Thank you Paul!
In comparison with the larger Blue Moon and others of her type:
Blueberry's interior is laid out as follows.
With the offset hatch she has a nice two person settee on the port side with storage lockers behind and a wine rack beneath. two can sit side by side in comfort and reach across to the galley for washing up, cooking etc.
I can just........... stand up under the hatch to pull on pants, get dressed, peer out here hatch port, etc.
There is a partial bulkhead at the forward side of the settee and a full bulkhead at the forward side of the galley. Seating for two (one on each side of the boat is fwd of these bulkheads with a good sized removable table between large enough for comfortable dining. These two seats are actually the aft ends of the bunks. Bunks port and starboard. When removed the area where the table was can be filled with a cushion making a nice double berth side to side instead of sleeping fore and aft.
The head is aft of the cockpit in a large lazerette, which I prefer to having a head below in a boat of this size.
Blueberry has a 10hsp Vetus diesel.
this year she will be fitted with a top sail I am just now designing and will soon be cutting. She will also be fitted with a dodger for next season.
I will try to put up a few more photos.
As for performance as mentioned she sails well for a boat with such a short waterline. This just passed summer I cruised her in the Great Lakes for her first dip in fresh water. It was an early spring cruise, quite cold and hardly another boat on the water. I keep her warm down below with an upside down clay flower pot on her stove, toasty. One of the benefits of sailing small.
Thanks again for putting up the photos Paul. Happy to share a glimpse of a nicely thought out small cruiser. I feel fortunate to be able to sail her.

[ishmael]

Hey, Blue Berry is beautiful. And never worry about wasting our time with boats like the ones we're talking over.

[Howard Rice]

yes she is a good boat

[ishmael]

Hello Howard,

I noticed in your signature that you are a professor there in Micronesia. Out of curiosity, what do you profess? Where do you teach?

[johnw]

.........and finally in lieu of further attempts to post photos here anyone interested in Blueberry can check out Flickr. I set an account up as "Blueberrysail" Perhaps someone with a better set up or more knowledge can grab a photo of Blueberry and paste it here. She is an interesting though wholly different comparison to Blue Moon and others in her genre.
Howard, Thorne has written the definitive how to post photos description. I'll cut and past it for you:



First - don't attach photos. Most web forums don't allow it, and space
limitations are the main reason why.

Second - Instead of attaching them to a thread, post the pics on the web
somewhere. You have a free website area with any paid ISP's email accounts
or use www.picturetrail.com (http://www.picturetrail.com/), flickr other free hosting service. Once posted on
the web, right-click the image to copy the URL (web address). Always test
first by pasting the image URL into the window of a web browser and see if
the image displays.

Remember, the IMAGE URL will end in .jpg, not .htm or html. URLs ending
in .htm are the page that the image is at, not the image location itself. If the image
URL ends in other code, try deleting everything after the "xxxxxx.jpg" part of the
URL to get it to display on web forums.

Third - once posted on the web, try this procedure while logged in to this
Forum:

1. Click the "User CP" link in the browser window in the top left of the
menu bar.
2. Click the "Edit Options" link about 1/4 of the way down the left column.
3. In the "Misc Options" at the bottom of the next page, select "Enhanced
Interface" from the pulldown list.
4. Once this interface has been selected, in any "Reply" window you can
click the "insert photo" icon --> a little yellow square icon with the stamp
in the upper right corner, the mountains in the lower center.
5. Once the little dialog box titled "Please enter the URL of your image"
comes up, paste the URL of the photo in the field.

If unsure of the procedure, test first by pasting the image URL into the
window of a web browser. __________________

[Russ Manheimer]

Howard,

Lovely post. I share similar feelings about the stewardship of my boat, Sjogin. Please continue to share your Blueberry stories with us.

Russ

[Howard Rice]

Hi Ishmael.
I teach sustainable tourism and to work on sustainable tourism development projects.

Now if only I could find a way to teach what little I know about boats and the sea! That would be a profession worth professing about!

[slusher_ben]

Howard, I tried to look at the flickr photo for Blueberry but no matter what I input I wasn't able to bring it up.

[Howard Rice]

Hi Ben
I think you have to put my account name in for flickr to allow you to see my photos. It is Blueberrysail. I have also posted a few other small boat photos alongside Blueberry.

[Vinny&Shawn]

Here is what can be done once in a Blue Moon,Roy Blaney designed,in collaboration with Gillmer,a stretched out version emerging,37' ketch, Jenny Ives!
http://i419.photobucket.com/albums/pp278/vgeorge1/Deck3.jpg?t=1252738660
http://i419.photobucket.com/albums/pp278/vgeorge1/Deck2.jpg?t=1252738703
http://i419.photobucket.com/albums/pp278/vgeorge1/Relaxinginsafety.jpg?t=1252738746
http://i419.photobucket.com/albums/pp278/vgeorge1/ProfileoftheIves.jpg?t=1252738784
http://i419.photobucket.com/albums/pp278/vgeorge1/ProfileJI.jpg?t=1252738815