Taz is a copy in steel of Allen Farrell's China Cloud. She was built by Evan Shaler in Nanaimo BC during the early 1990's and launched in November 1996 (on the day of Sharie Farrell's death, oddly enough).
Taz is a traditional three-masted Chinese junk, carrying a massive main sail of about 725 sf, a lesser foresail of about 250 sf, and a small mizzen of 125 sf for a total sail area of 1100 sf. The mainmast is about 39 feet from deck to cap, the fore about 30 feet, and the mizzen about 22 feet tall.
Taz is just under 40 feet LOA, with a beam of about 11 feet and her estimated displacement is about 10 ton (20,000 lbs). She was built by the "origami" method promoted by Brent Swain, and is the twelfth of over 35 boats built by Evan Shaler. She has twin bilge keels (similar to an Aleutka) on a dory hull of modest draft.
Her original masts and battens were wholetree Douglas Fir and her present sails are made of high quality polytarp. Her engine is an antique (1945 Hercules twin, model D1X) and repower options are currently being considered.
Taz carries 110 gal of diesel and 200 gal of fresh water. Her main cabin is fitted with a Newport/Dickinson drip pot heater in addition to a small wood stove. She is heavily insulated for comfort in NW winters.
Her interior joinery is largely made of reclaimed wood such as BC Ferries signboards (some of the best marine ply available). She was built on a shoestring budget with many scrounged and recycled components -- one of many appealing features that led to her purchase in 2004 by the present owner.
The search for a name for Taz -- who was nameless when purchased -- was a long and difficult one. Many apparently attractive names were considered and discarded over a period of months. It seemed a shame to saddle the boat with a name that was too clever (the joke will eventually wear thin) or too long (tedious to spell out in Able-Baker over the radio), or unpronounceable. Many Chinese and Japanese words and phrases were considered and regretfully rejected, as were the names of beloved fictional characters and famous boats, mythological critters and spirits, etc.
Finally, when it seemed impossible to make a choice, something short, easy to spell, meaningful and satisfying came to mind. TAZ is the acronym for the concept Temporary Automonous Zone as described by (among others) Hakim Bey. A temporary autonomous zone is a space where people -- however briefly -- find freedom from oppressive powers. A TAZ is a defiant yet prudent response to overwhelming power, a mobile, elusive, contingent space that is not fought over like turf but instead dissolves and reforms elsewhere, evading encirclement, definition, and capture.
This seemed to me to sum up the essence of the sailing life. For a limited (temporary) period, the skipper of a small sailing craft is independent and free, out on the water; when the wind is fair, boat and skipper are briefly free of dependence on fossil fuels and the ugly machineries of commerce and industry, free to set any course, free to live for a while outside the ubiquitous surveillance of nosy neighbours or State powers. But such freedom is always temporary -- like life itself; eventually we have to return to a dock somewhere to find food, fresh water, tools and parts, diesel, and other products of the civilisation we went sailing to get away from. The TAZ concept seemed to me to express elegantly all my mixed feelings about freedom and society, collectivity and individualism, resistance and cooperation, and the sadly brief period of freedom called "retirement" that obedient wage-slaves are permitted to enjoy when our productive powers are waning.
I mulled it over for a few weeks, and the name seemed right. Local artist Len Sherman painted the name on her hull in a carefully-chosen "casual brush" font, and Taz was named.
The purpose of this web site -- besides the obvious, an opportunity to brag about my beloved boat :-) -- is to serve as a resource page for junk rig, traditional, and "green" sailors, particularly those in the Pacific Northwest. I plan to collect links and join the unofficial "web ring" of junk rig aficionadoes, but also to offer my experiences as I wrestle with issues of efficiency, carbon footprint reduction, etc.
If the Sail Transport Network develops into a functioning organisation then I hope this web site can support that effort in some way, possibly by hosting a forum or "ride sharing" board.
Web page design by De Clarke, based on the OldLace CSS design from the CSS ZenGarden project; OldLace was written by Dave Shea.