Leaderboard

Graham weighed in earlier and mentioned the cheek block sooo. Granted omitting the cheek block would cause more of a problem on the reefing line as it has to go forward and up and over the tack and down to the base of the mast. The clew is just cleated on the boom. Graham has little tolerance for extraneous complexity or weight. If that cheek block wasn't earning its keep I think he would have removed it from the plans. Normally I set the outhaul tension when I am setting up before starting to sail. In that situation you could probably get enough tension on the outhaul despite the extra friction of the eye strap. however once underway getting proper tension is much more difficult. There have been times when the outhaul line has come out of the jam cleat or I have forgotten to tension it or I want to adjust the tension underway. Then I am grateful for the cheek block. If you are using the 073 eye strap with hole spacing that matches the cheek block than theoretically you could later easily replace the eye strap with a cheek block, but if the hole spacing does not line up you will have an issue. I did not see the RL 340 cheek block on the Racelite web site. If you got a hardware package from B&B. Perhaps Graham or Alan will chime in and give you a definitive answer.

Oh, the recreation and fitness centers are open out here, but like you (and Don) I would rather be out doors. Thanks for the 16th year field report. Good to know these boats will be around for a long time, when built correctly. Several years ago, I built an Annapolis Wherry, which I love and which is my (sometime, but not often enough) exercise machine. You guys are awesome.

Nice refurb. I, too, row for fitness. I’m starting to think that I should replace my Two Paw 8 with a Spindrift 9N. We are camping for two months each summer, and that’s when I use the TP8. A 9N would row a whole lot better, don’t you think? It would all be in the interest of keeping fit, right? D3E001C0-368E-4CB1-B1F2-E29BFF56B100.MP4

Now I can “flip” Seabiscuit as well as lifting her. Here are the photos: Level side-to-side. Note wedge forcing lift-vector to starboard a little. Pretty close to level fore-to-aft. Under, looking to starboard. Looking to port. Hanging by a thread(s?). C.G. about 5” aft of CB Trunk. A loop thru a pulley. Ready to be flipped, starboard down. I rotated her about 45 degrees (1/4 of a half-roll) with ease — but stopped there because the cradles weren’t yet rigged for a top-down boat. Now I’ll drop her top-side-up and mark the waterline. Then flip her for masking and painting the boot (red). Haven’t decided whether to leave the bottom with just the AwlGrip 545 primer— or use the Interlux Sea Green that I have. It won’t be any anti-fouling paint. Hope to get in one more sailing day this year. Looking for a warm day!

Thanks, Don. For colors, I’m thinking of white topsides and foredeck; light gray interior; sea green bottom; red WL boot; mahogany stain on pine gunwale, boom, and tiller. The topside, boot, and bottom colors to extend to the rudder assembly. Might leave the bottom as-is, with just the gray 545 primer. But I do have the green Interlux. One convenience of a small boat is that much can be done without the help of friends, neighbors, family, etc. — such as lifting off trailer onto her cradle. To this end I’m putting to good use the temporary-3/4 ply bulkhead that came with the B & B kit. It will look like this: I have already used a x3 pulley rig to lift Seabiscuit — but [to attach the pulley] I just looped a line under the midship thwart. Although the weight is only about a hundred pounds, I worried that the thwart could pull away from the top of the CB housing [it’s just glued on, no FG tape or fillets]. Also, since the attachment was about 6” below the gunwales, when lifted, the boat tended to tilt sideways. With this longer lifting “hook,” she should hang quite level and steady.