Tune up

Been awhile.

I did some racing in breeze a few weeks ago, and have made some changes to make the boat work a little better.

My setup for cross-sheeting the jib was a little awkward, with a cleat on the deck next to the trimmer. I have a turning/cheek block on the inner deck edge, and I wanted to add a cleat that could be used from across the boat. Here's the brackets I made to accomplish this:

And here they are installed:

I also changed the jib sheet to a softer, more textured line. The old one was too smooth and slippery.

Next, I made the trav 2:1. The dead end is just a (sealed) hole in the boat with a knot inside. And I'm using a softer handed rope here, too, to go around the corners a little easier.

I added some bungee and string to keep the hiking straps off the deck.

And I'm working on my hatch. I added some awning track under it, and a fabric cover for the opening. It's not done yet, but it already keeps the rain out nicely.

Going racing again on Sunday, we'll see how it goes, and what else needs to be refined.

Water

We launched the boat on Sunday (after putting in a looong Saturday on the bathroom fixup to gain enough points to go sailing on Mother's Day!). It was a gorgeous spring day, with winds around 10 knots.  We skipped Saturday since it was over 20 all day, gusting much higher, and not a good day to launch a new boat in cold water with a family crew!

This ended up being mostly a boat launching rehearsal, since I skyed the main halyard shortly after launching- it's a 2:1 jobbie with a tiny tail line, so even with a stopper knot it sucked into the mast when my daughter yanked on it. Sigh. They'd already patiently endured a long drawn out launch process as I fumbled through it the first time, so we just put up the jib and went out toddling around the lake seeing the scenery and such. My daughter likes to use the cabin top as a small playground slide, landing on the foredeck.

I still have lots of "features" to test and bring into play, but all the basics worked on this trip. Naturally I've now got a list of launch and rigging improvements, but no majors. Add a snap shackle to the keel hoist rig instead of fumbling with a cotter pin and ring, add a stopper BALL (or learn to tie a monkey fist!) to the tail of the main halyard, replace a knee-ripping eyestrap in the cockpit with a soft attachment, and probably revise the location of the mainsheet cleat on the boom- it catches on my back (pfd) when I go under. Stuff like that...

Rigged game

I've spent some time the last few weeks getting the boat ready for spring. I put it away last year when the lakes got stiff, did some other stuff, and moped and sulked all winter while hoping spring would come early- which it hasn't! So now I'm snapping out of it, and getting the spin gear sorted and the last of the blocks and cleats attached, lines spliced and run, etc. Here's how things look at the moment- coming in the next few days are the gnav and cunno once I stand the rig up again, and the pole guys are waiting on a pair of cheek ratchets that I overlooked.

General cockpit view.

Console, with vang and cunno tails yet to be added.

Jib sheeting arrangement.

...and the requisite pic from the  rearview mirror perspective.

Cloth

....received.

Well, some anyway. Man in brown has the rest. I'm sitting on the front porch waiting...


Update:
Can you tell I'm excited? Sitting here tracking the progress. Come on, brown man, get here!

Double update:
I've got sails. Woohoo! Battens on a later delivery though, drat!

Snazzy headboard, hmmm?

Little stuff, big stuff

First, the canting keel:

Just kidding, of course!

My garage ceiling and hoist aren't quite high enough to get the keel shoved into the hole, but I gave it a whirl just in case it seemed like things could be "persuaded". No go, so today I've built a big ol gantry-slash-gallows in my driveway (neighbors gotta be wonder'n).

Got some vinyl. I thought white would look crisp against the paint.

Electrical install. So far it's just the stereo, a 12v plug, and a bilge pump. I'll run the trolling motor through a separate circuit with a fuse, apart from the house stuff.

Shoved the trailer under the boat while it was hanging up there, and rolled it outside for its first night under the stars. My shop is huge all of a sudden! Oh, and did I mention I put the name on it?

I received an update from the sailmaker, and he's got them on the floor now. I'm making some snazzy carbon headboards for the main, just because I can.

So tomorrow we see how well I built the gantry, and hopefully keel and boat become one.

Hardware

... going on.

Thought the cockpit could use a splash of color, and tried a fade jobbie toward the front. Sorta worked, left orange peel texture, but it's the cockpit so who cares!

Most hardware is still dry fit, just making sure I have the holes and the right fasteners all around before getting my wife out to help with the caulk and the other end of the screws.

Starting to feel more like a boat though!

I'll tell you tomorrow...

...but it's looking good so far.

Last coat of paint on the hull this morning, waited a few minutes for it to tack up a little, and pulled the tape to let the paint lay down at the edge, hopefully.

There's the inevitable flecks of dust from my non-surgically clean shop, but I think I'll be able to live with that.

I'm hoping to spend some time this weekend screwing on some hardware in the now well-cured white painted areas.