Alan was our first down under contact with the fin keeled Dolphins. Logan City is on Australia's east coast in the southeast corner of Queensland between Brisbane and Gold Coast.His Blue Gum is undergoing a major refit/tranformation at her new home in Australia. Alan has been very helpful in getting information on these Dolphin cousins. To find out more about these boats click here

Here is Alan's first email contact with the website:

                                                                                           July 20, 2007

Dear Sir,

I have just come across your Dolphin 24 web site. One of the headings says "Dolphin with fixed keel" and gives a small amount of information.

I really don't know very much of the history of this design but can tell you that quite a number (over 50 I think) were built in New Zealand in fibreglass. The first ones had the conventional coach house, essentially the same as the Dolphin, and were simply called an S&S 24.

A little later a new deck and coach house was designed (I don't know who by - but not S&S) which looks more racy and has a little more headroom. This model was called an S&S 24 Falcon. Up until about ten years ago there was an active owner's assoc for these designs in the Auckland area.(NZ)

I purchased a S&S 24 Falcon about 10 yrs ago when I was living there and sailed it around the Auckland region for a number years. When I came back to Australia to live I shipped it back with me. Currently I am in the process of doing a major refit on it inc installing a Yanmar 1GM diesel engine instead of the outboard it had. The design of the Falcon deck/cabin had a number of major flaws.and part of the refit I am doing is to correct them. I will have 5ft 8in headroom in the main cabin when finished.

S&S 24's are a beautiful little sailing boat and they don't change hands very often as a result. As you will no doubt be aware NZ has a lot of heavy weather and they easily handle anything the weather there throws at them. Really great sea-boats!! Comfortable and fast for their length and displacement.

See attached (above) photo of mine taken in NZ a number of years ago.

Yours faithfully,

Alan Mountford..

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Blue Gum is a work in progress. Here is an interesting photo of BlueGum's changed cabin and deck followed by his report on the project.

 

July 24, 2007

Hi Ron,

Thank you for your e-mail.  I had a look at the web-site you sent me. Yes - those photos are of the S&S 24 Falcon - same as mine.

You will note from the photo of the boat in the water (green hull S&S Falcon 24 at left - (Webmaster note: Later on we found out this boat is Maneri) how the cabin front slopes down forward of the mast. Looks quite racy - but it takes out a lot of the headroom in the forward cabin. Attached (above) is a photo of the front of mine as it is now as a result of the upgrade I am doing. Much more practical!!

The cockpit design meant water lay on the seats and sole if the boat was not trimmed dead level as they were built flat both ways. I have rebuilt it so that the water drains off the seats through tubes into the cockpit well, and the well now drains out through two 2 inch tubes through to the transom from an aft sloping sole.

I replaced the aluminium toe-rail with a wooden one and glassed the underside of the hull / deck joint which only had mastic in the joint and held together with the bolts holding the toe rail on previously - not a very good practice in my book.

I found the article about the Auckland Fibreglass Boat and Caravan Show interesting (see below). Must have been quite sometime before I became an owner as I don't remember it.

The list of boats on the NZ Yachting Assoc register are only some of the boats that were built. There was is no requirement to register with them as an owner, and consequently a lot never did. Even though I became a member, I never really got involved with the S&S 24 owner's assoc since the owner's assoc of my previous boat were very active and a great crowd to socialise with. The S&S 24 assoc folded due to lack of member interest shortly after I purchased my S&S. Hence my lack of knowledge of the history of the S&S 24 class unfortunately.

I will be taking a trip to Auckland, NZ mid August for a week. While I am there I will see what I can dig up for you. I still have a number of good friends there involved in the yachting scene and I think the builder is still in business - but trading under a different name, which I cannot recall.

Kind regards,
Alan

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August 30, 2007. Below is a picture of Alan's Blue Gum and receiving it prompted an exchange of emails that appear below. note the high aspect main - also adopted by the Wilmette Harbor Dolphin fleet."

Sepember 28, 2008. Alan checked in with the following progress report and picture of Blue Gum. Judging from the redesign and refit projects he has going with Blue Gum, it looks like Alan is a very short step away from going into the professional design and custom boat building business.

Hello Ron,
It is quite a while since I last visited your web-site. I think you have done a great job of it with lots of very interesting information and have really enjoyed going through it again

I have been spending most of my spare time working on my boat. Thought I'd send a pic of the modifications done to the aft end of my boat to date. The internal corners have now been filleted and the plywood is now glassed over but not painted yet. The cockpit sole has a teak overlay and will also do a similar overlay on the cockpit seats and coaming tops.

Regards,
Alan

Pretty impressive work - like those cockpit seat drains

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September 30, 2008 - David Le Mestre, who is from Brittany, France, but currently lives in Morocco, took this picture of Natine, a sister of Alan's Blue Gum. Natine was sailed from New Zealand to Brittany, France (a story we must get!! AND DID!!), and is for sale there. David wanted more information on Falcon 24s to help with obtaining the necessary European certifications should he decide to buy her. In his search he found our website. In response to our request Alan has helped with this effort and provided info on accommodations, sailing characteristics and construction that can David can use. His email is below.ember 30, 2008 - David Le Mestre, who is from Brittany, France, but currently lives in Morocco, took this picture of

Hi Ron,

When I had my S&S 24 in New Zealand and was sailing with my former wife and our children we had 6 people on board.sometimes for weekends and holidays. The children at that time were 10 and 12 yrs old. My boat had a double V berth forward, 2 single quarter berths, a settee berth and a pilot berth. It was rather crowded with 6 on board I must admit - but as the kids were young we managed OK. Personally I wouldn't want more than 3 adults if away overnight.on a boat that size. As far as I can remember most S&S 24's in NZ only ever raced with 2 or 3 people on board generally, but most had 5 bunks. With family on board we only sailed in relatively sheltered waters although we quite often sailed in winds of 25 to 30 knots.

It is not the height of a wave that is a problem - it is the steepness of it. The S&S will handle some pretty rough water but I wouldn't like to try and handle a 2 meter breaking wave on a bar for example. I came out of the Bay of Islands on the East Coast of New Zealand (single-handed) one day and headed south down the coast. The day before had been blowing about 30 knots from the South East and there was a 3 to 4 metre SE swell still running but the wind had dropped to about 6 - 10 knots,.still from the SE to E direction. Close hauled on Starboard tack I sailed out past the E end of Cape Brett before tacking over and heading south. The big swells were stuffing the wind direction around as each swell passed. Blue Gum rode through the seas easily.

Another day, (again single handed), I left Whangarei and headed north up the coast. There was a 25 knot easterly blowing and a good 2 m sea running.(unlimited fetch) I beat out around Bream Head towing two fishing lines and in the process of tacking the lines became tangled together. It is a several mile dead beat to windward from the mouth of the river out to Bream Head and Blue Gum footed it through the seas at hull speed without any fuss. Once around the Head I eased sheets as I headed north, put the autopilot on and made an effort to untangle the fishing lines. I was about a mile off the coast and the seas here were normal ocean waves. Blue Gum rode very comfortably on a beam reach and I had no difficulty working untangling the fishing lines.

I don't know if any of this information will help David? The S&S 24 is a very seaworthy design but also the Falcon model does have some design faults with the deck and hatches which is why I am doing the modifications to mine.(see my comments in e-mails I have sent) The hulls and decks are strongly built - although some of the fibreglassing on mine is a bit rough in places. The other thing I didn't like is that the hull/deck joint is only bolted together on a mastic seal with the bolts that hold the aluminium toe-rail on.  It seems strong enough - but there is a potential for leaks. That is why I glassed the whole of the underside of the joint and fitted a solid wood belting and toe-rail instead. Stronger and no possible leaks there now.

As you too will attest they are a beautiful comfortable boat to sail and they perform very well for their length and displacement. There are a lot of bigger cruising boats won't average more than 5 knots on a passage!!

Regards
Alan

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August 10, 2010. Alan's been thinking about port lights - here's what he has in mind. Pretty cool, I think (minor edits). This has been added to our Technical Section - Portlights

 

Hi Ron

How do you think the attached would look as a glass leadlight in the front windows of my boat?

My thoughts were to have the outside portlight made of slightly tinted perspex as would be normal, and then sit this leadlight inside the window frame on the inside.

 

 What are your thoughts?

 Regards

 

Alan

 

 

 

 

 

January 12, 2011. Alan's copy of the Dolphin 24 website book had the longest way to travel and finally arrived. In the past few days there has been some really sever flodding in the area of Queensland where Alan lives, and which has made the world news. He took the opportunity in a couple of emails to let us know what's happening with the flooding going on around him. Your webmaster added the pictures and consolidated the emails

Hi Ron,

The book finally arrived in the mail this morning. Thank you. I have been concerned that it might get ruined with all the rain we have been having of late - but it arrived nice and dry. :-)

The flooding we are getting here in Queensland and northern NSW has to be seen to be believed!! We haven't had the rain here that some places have had thankfully and no real flooding close to us. But around us there is utter devestation.

Here are some links to some pics and video clips of the flood that occurred yesterday in Toowoomba and Lockyer Valley. 8 people so far confirmed dead and 72 missing as of this morning. Toowoomba is about 80 miles west of Brisbane and the Lockyer Valley is in between. I have never seen floods quite like these. The waters from this will end up in the Brisbane River in a day or so.
 
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/environment/weather/fears-for-mother-and-child-in-toowoomba-deluge-20110110-19kti.html
 
http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/national/8622104/two-dead-others-at-risk-in-toowoomba/
 
http://www.northernstar.com.au/story/2011/01/10/floating-loo-travels-hervey-bay/

 

Many cities and towns north of us have gone underwater. One small town was evacuated totally while hundreds of people were evacuated in many other places. Rockhampton - a city on the mid Qld coast went under about 5 days ago with a flood height of 9.2 metres. It is still around the 9 m mark and it is expected to take weeks for it to subside fully.

As you travel west from Brisbane the country is a little hilly initially  then it flattens out. Then you come to the Toowoomba Range 80 miles west of Brisbane. This relatively flat area in between is called the Lockyer Valley and is where most people lost their life. It was the water coming down off the range and what fell in the area that caused the flooding in the valley.

The road up the range is very steep and slightly windy. As you get to the top you are in Toowoomba. The city sits right at the top on the edge of the range at an elevation of 2267 feet above sea level. West of Toowoomba is the Darling Downs - an extensive fertile plateau. The city slopes slightly towards the west.

There are no hills around Toowoomba and no rivers. There are a couple of small creeks only. I find it very hard to comprehend the floods there because there is no area around to create runoff. Nothing remotely like this has ever happened there before. The small creeks I mentioned start in the area. The volume of rain that fell there has to be unprecented to generate the flooding that occurred. The wave created by power poles and the huge pressure waves in the flow indicate just how fast that water was running - like a Tsunami coming inland as some have described it!

Brisbane only gets the rain from the foot of the range. What falls on Toowoomba runs west. Low lying parts of Brisbane are under water as I write. The Brisbane River is tidal and king tides have accentuated the flooding which was expected to peak with the early morning high tide. From now or after the afternoon high tide it should start receding. The local river here  which is about a kilometre down the road is in minor flood which peaked last night. This catchment has not seen anything like the rain elsewhere fortunately.

It has been fine and partly cloudy since yesterday morning and forecast to stay that way with only the odd shower for the next week which is good news. 

The flood has isolated the city. Only route in was from the north and then only to heavy trucks. The rail line also closed and the airport runways under water. None of this has been re-opened as yet. Some towns further west will be isolated for a month or more.

As we are in the early part of the hurricane season one can only wonder if a cyclone were to develop and hit the already waterlogged coast just how much extra damage it would do. It certainly is a real possibility and would generate floods like never seen before.

Not good my friend! I do hope all is well with you.

Best wishes, Alan

 

 

chest high water in Brisbane stadium

 

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September 21, 2011. Blue Gum's transformation continues with a nice little touch. We have included this item in our Technical Section/Miscellaneous. Here's Alan's Dolphin casting and email.

Hi Ron,
Glad to hear the dolphin casting I made for you has arrived safely. The one I made for myself I have glued to the aft face of the main hatch. Looks great!! You have probably seen what appear to be bronze casting figurines in places like big hardware shops. I have commonly seen things like small Buddha's for example. They are made of the same materials as the dolphin and have been treated to give the patina finish (weathered bronze) The composition is bronze powder and epoxy resin and the process is called "cold casting". Being outside on the boat my dolphin casting will eventually get that weathered bronze look too. :-)
Regards
Alan

Webmaster Note: While the pay is not great, being the Dolphin24.org webmaster does have fringe benefits!

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January 29, 2012. Our effort to update the S&S24/Falcon 24 Section required we check in with Alan. Besides trying to find out if he knew of any other S&S24's or Falcon 24s in Australia we were interested in what it took to get his boat to Australia. Here is his reply (minor edits)

Hi Ron,
Great to hear from you. To answer you question - I am not aware of any other SS 24's or Falcons in Australia. I don't recall hearing of any that made the trip while I lived in NZ and certainly not heard of any since being here.. However that doesn't mean there couldn't be another one or two here? Who knows?

There was an S&S 24 in Waikawa Marina in Picton when I had my H28 charter boat there a year or so before I came back here to live.. Can't remember the name of it now though. It was an S&S 24 - not a Falcon (Webmaster Note: We are following up). Vining Ship Brokers has Coq au Vin (Falcon) listed for sale there at present. Mike Vining of Vining Ship Brokers  was the guy who sold me the H28 and he might know if any other S&S 24's or Falcons are in the area? (this too!)

You also asked about getting my boat here. Before I came back here I was living in Whangarei which is about 160 or so kilometers north of Auckland, NZ. I had Blue Gum in a boat yard which was next to the cement works on a side road off Port Road. It was here that I commenced the restoration. I lived in a caravan (trailer in US) in the boat yard at the time. At the point I planned to move back to Australia to live I had the boat at the stage of being stripped out except for the built in GRP bunks and galley. She was sitting on a good steel cradle that the boat yard had provided. And I ended up owning the cradle!

Before shipping I obtained some extra steel and beefed up the cradle arms and welded props under the hull forward and aft of the keel so it couldn't tip forwards or back while in transit. I got some U shaped bar bent up and got them welded to the tops of the cradle arms to act as lifting points for boat and cradle. I put wooden beams across between the cradle arms to take the load pulling the arms inward as the lot was lifted with a crane.

I booked a place on a ship going to Brisbane from Auckland through a freighting agency in Whangarei called Worldwide Freight Management. The shipping line was Wallenius Wilhelmsen Lines and their vessel was named Taiko. This was the cheapest option I could find. Then I booked transport for the boat to Auckland from Whangarei with a Whangarei carrier. Blue Gum was craned onto a low loader truck for the trip to Auckland and the Taiko sailed the next day for Brisbane arriving 3 days later. Blue Gum went as deck cargo sitting on her cradle. I flew to the Gold Coast from Auckland the day the boat was shipped.

A couple of days after I arrived here I received notification of Blue Gum's arrival and contacted a local transport firm who transported the boat to where I live in Logan City. It took several days to organise customs and quarantine clearances before I could uplift Blue Gum off the wharf at the mouth of the Brisbane river where she had been unloaded. The whole exercise cost me about A$6000

Getting closer to relaunching. I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. :-) Have just finished laying the teak strips on the cockpit seats. Then I saw that Nadine also had her cockpit lined with teak. Her owner at the time and I obviously have some ideas in common. Haven't seen any other Falcon's with teak overlay in the cockpit....Blue Gum is now all painted on the outside from the waterline up and the computer-cut name is ready to apply. But rain currently slowing things down a bit here at the moment. Over 350mm of rain in the past week here so pretty sodden underfoot.

Hope all is well with you
Best wishes,
Alan

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February 1, 2012. Gerald Sly was a past owner of Blue Gum. Developing....