My Heron, Teal, was built in the early seventies. Problems emerged when I first sailed her, which eventually led to the difficult decision to make alterations which would take her out of class racing and which brought me into cruising.

The mast was a rather sad affair, a two inch diameter piece of slightly bent springy Oregon, combined with a stiff gaff. I could not fine down the gaff, but the mast had to go. I purchased a length of aluminium boom section 1/22 x 3/14” from which I cut a mast and a boom. I filled both with foam to prevent a 180º capsize. The halliards were 5mm pre‑stretched polyester plait, attached to the sails with bowlines. No shackles were used for anything not permanently attached, to avoid the need for a shackle key and the problem of lost pins. The wire luff of the jib was removed and nylon forestay clips fitted. A snaphook on the stem fitting and jib sheets meant that total handling of the jib could be easily accomplished afloat.

The mainsail was fitted with two sets of reef points each taking in 10 sq ft and single line reefing fitted, terminating at cleats on the mast. I also had a spare jib of about 12 sq ft from a canoe, which was added to the wardrobe.

The mainsheet system was altered as I find the original system with the fall coming from the transom a nuisance. Many English designs feature the system and personally I would not have it by choice. Most Mirrors and Herons in Australia take the fall from the transom to a turning block on the rear of the centrecase or the floor just behind it. On Teal I fitted a ¾” diameter stainless steel hawse in the transom then led the sheet along the boom and down to a turning block on the centrecase. I kept the boom vang, despite Frank Dye’s advice, as it is essential to prevent the vicious rolling set up by a twisted mainsail.

Now the hull modifications: two-inch gunwales were laminated on to reduce the spray and widen the side decks for more comfort. The side seats and stern thwart were removed and ‘wall-to-wall’ flooring screwed in. Note that the flooring follows the ‘V’ of the frames and the fore/aft curve. When sleeping on one side of the case the boat heels just enough to bring the floor level where you are. It also maximises the clearance beneath the thwart.

A large hatch was fitted into the top of the aft tank with the cover held on by shock cord to the bottom of the compartment. The stowage area built into the forward compartment was ingenious, frustrating, brilliant, agonising, but ultimately satisfying. The theory was simple — cut openings either side of the king post in the upper area of frame 2, place a ply bulkhead across the upper part of frame 1, construct a support framework between frames 1 and 2 and fit a watertight floor on the framework to create a self draining stowage area with a watertight compartment under it, extending through to the area in front of frame 1.

The job took weeks! Most of the work was done sitting on the floor with the boat upside down on trestles. On some occasions, I finished up with the upper part of my body, head and arms wedged in one of the openings and verging on claustrophobia. The finished job looked good and worked well and included one of the original plastic inspection hatches in the floor to give access in the buoyancy space. On the underside of the hull I fitted two stringers each side of the keel for the length of the cockpit. These stringers and the keel and skeg were all capped with aluminium sheet. This proved so successful that damage to the bottom paint was avoided for two years.

Boom crutches were constructed and a boom tent made from polypropylene woven sheet with hooks fitted under the wide gunwales. An anchor, 2½ lbs Danforth with 10 feet of light chain and 100 feet of 8mm diameter warp, fairleads, mooring cleats, splash boards and a bit of fun with sail insignias and a pennant completed the modifications (for now).

Teal’s log shows that the first three months of the season were spent day-sailing up and down the coast for several miles and generally enjoying becoming confident with the new set up. Early experiments with reefing afloat showed that dropping the main, followed by the jib before starting reefing was a bad decision. Teal was rolling badly and veering about facing downwind during the operation. Much better was simply lying abeam with the tiller lashed and the sails freed off. The motion was steady and taking a reef in the main or taking off the jib was straightforward.

Teal could be induced to self steer to windward in anything from 2 to 20 knots by fixing the tiller amidships and controlling the course by adjusting the heel. All combinations of main and jib, one reef and jib, two reefs and jib, two reefs and small jib, and double reefed main only, could be balanced by reasonable adjustment of the centreplate.

A stability test at anchor with the sails off showed that Teal would capsize with my weight (12 stone) on the side deck. In fact, simply sitting at the extreme outer end of the thwart was close to disaster with any wave action present. Standing to furl the main with the boom in the crutch was also dangerous as any wave caused your body to sway out, and grabbing the boom for support would lead to a capsize. Thus, the seed for ballast experiments was sown.

During this period my DCA pennant arrived and was flown for the first time on 24 November 1984. My first cruise took place in January, during my summer holidays. I sailed to North Haven and back — 21 miles each way, taking 3 days in all.

Following this trip I had developed a general confidence in Teal’s abilities, but perhaps more importantly I was learning that a cruising skipper does things differently from a racing skipper. As I have continued to mix cruising and racing, I can now switch from one modus operandi to the other.

The venturi self bailers had to go. They developed annoying leaks when you don’t need them and don’t work when you do. If you are racing and driving the boat hard with plenty of sail in heavy conditions they work, but when cruising and well reefed they do not. They may be satisfactory in a larger boat, say 16 feet with a crew of 2, when a sufficient speed can be maintained, but for single-handers, forget them. I totally removed them and fitted a hand pump arranged to discharge into the centre case. This proved most satisfactory for cruising (but a bloody nuisance when racing). I also made a wrap-around spray dodger as described by Frank and Margaret Dye in Open Boat Cruising. This proved useless for keeping spray out when sailing, as when you need it going to windward in f5+ the extra windage stops the boat dead. Again, a larger boat with a crew of two or three may find it very useful.

During the following winter I decided to ballast Teal to see what effect it had on stability. Having made that decision, the first job was to modify the trailer. Teal travelled stern first with the skeg resting in a padded pivoting channel at the ball coupling end, with a padded V chock at the rear of the trailer, positioned under the main bulkhead at the front of the cockpit.

To unload the boat, I lifted the bow and walked in a quarter circle, the skeg supported in the pivoting channel, then lowered the bow onto the beach. The stern was then lifted out of the channel. Loading was the reverse of the process. Fully rigged, Teal weighed 225 lbs and was at the limit I could lift and load onto the trailer. The modification was to fit two V chocks with the bow at the coupling end and a vertical arm added with a chock for the bow to fit into. The arm extended above the bow with a crutch for the mast. The idea was to pull Teal onto the trailer with a block and tackle from the bow to the vertical.

The ballast consisted of four lead blocks totalling 105 lbs. The two floorboards each side of the centreline were cleated together and the lead blocks bolted on underneath with the centre of gravity about three inches forward of frame 3. Turnbuckles secured the assemblies to the frames. Teal’s log reveals that this amount of ballast lasted about two months into the new season. Comments on sailing read “the boat is definitely more stable”. I could, in fact, sit on the side deck at anchor without any danger of capsize. “Tacks easier and punches through a chop better. The motion is more damped and I can sit further aft and maintain balance”. Teal was, in fact, renamed by club members “The Little Lead Gem” with an all up weight of about 330 lbs.

The disadvantage was that I could not move the boat on the beach. This meant derigging at the water’s edge and loading onto the trailer. The 2:1 purchase was not enough and 4:1 twists, tangles and involves pulling 100 feet of rope. Twice the trailer became bogged down in the soft sand at the water’s edge. I considered fitting a winch, but around this time I examined the bottom and discovered the soft cedar keel was taking a terrible pounding despite the capping and I was getting bad vibes about Teal carrying all that weight unsupported between the chocks on the trailer. I was gritting my teeth every time I hit a bump or hole on the roads.

I therefore reduced the ballast to 60 lbs — two 30 lb blocks — and decided only to fit them when camping. For day sailing they stayed home. This amount proved sufficient to allow me to move anywhere inside the coamings without any danger and is the maximum I would recommend.

The final set of modifications to Teal were dramatic. The low average speeds cruising were frustrating and the lack of room for my 6’ 2” frame to stretch out when sleeping was the second problem to be overcome. The solution: remove the keel, skeg, bilge stringers and produce a perfectly clean V bottom. Fit centrecase rubbers and only protect the keel line with half round aluminium. Remove the gunwales, all internal bulkheads, leaving flooring and thwart. I replaced the thwart and flooring with lightweight western red cedar. A lightweight shelf of cedar was fitted under the foredeck resting on the topside stringers. This was removable. Buoyancy was provided by foam blocks cut and shaped to fit under the floorboards from frame 2 to frame 5. The cruising ballast was recast into four 15 lbs blocks which fitted into recesses in the foam and were held in by the floorboards.

Rigged weight was now down to 145 lbs for day sailing and 210 lbs for cruising (plus stores, tent, anchor, water, etc.) The difference in performance was instantaneous. My club handicap was reduced 10% in several weeks and I revelled in the increased liveliness. Stability when loaded was not noticeably less than the previous year, but Teal definitely sailed faster. Self steering with the helm lashed also appeared unaffected despite the loss of four stringers, the keel and skeg.

And I had the luxury of sleeping at full stretch.

I sold Teal after this season and purchased a 16 footer, a decision I occasionally regret, except when it is blowing at 20 knots and I am still dry, except when I get something out of the cabin while sailing, except when I stretch out on the bunk without first undoing sealed bags and putting up a tent, etc, etc.

I am tempted to summarise my opinions into recommendations, but I must resist, and leave you to extract what is useful to you from my experiences.