PadrePoint

Other than some frustration… it really was a funny chain of events last week. Then again, I like slapstick comedy. I had taken Norma T for a sail yesterday… first chance this year. I “planned” a flawless setting up process and raising of sails… and mostly achieved that… until I pulled the halyard for the mainsail and noted it was hanging up at the snotter… which had a line crossing over and stopping the hoist. It was a second halyard I use for a pig stick or topping lift. I had lugged-on the sail to the wrong side of the line. I pulled the halyard out (not needing it) and the problem was fixed. I do find these silly errors to be funny… eventually. And, I try learning from mistakes. For instance, I DID THROW AN ANCHOR this time. Tomorrow: A First Overnight With nice looking weather (and one or two guys also heading out tomorrow for an overnight on the lake) I plan to try my hand at sailing Avocet into the evening and anchoring out for the night. I wonder if I’ll LEARN anything.

Cascade of Errors… Finally: “Abort!!” My local sailing club organizes friendly racing on Tuesdays. With all my family activities in May and June I didn’t have a chance to participate yet (OK, two weeks of vacationing at Lake Tahoe was part of that… can’t complain.) Finally, nice weather and a free Tuesday. I asked my wife if she would like to come with me to sail on Avocet for the first time and to see what the racing on Lake DuBay was like. With great optimism we set out. The next day, a friend asked in an email, “Hi Ted, I didn't get a chance to talk to you last night. How did the sailing go?” This was my emailed response. (Enjoy!!) =================================== Ha… I invited my wife to join me last night to see what our new 17’ boat is like and to see what the LDBSA races are like. I had successfully sailed Avocet a couple times before our vacation and I was looking forward to sailing last night… though things were a bit wild at the landing with lots of launches… and wind and waves. I motored out and ALMOST got the mizzen raised… until the halyard somehow released at the sailhead and zipped up to the top of the mizzen mast, letting the sail pathetically ooze back down the mast. What??!! “Hmmm… can I manage to unstep the mast, lay it flat, and kind-of feed the step-end out past the transom enough that my wife can reach the end of the halyard at the top of the mast?” Well, I did manage to muscle it out and extended the mast base well past the transom (after having pulled the sail lugs out of the sailtrack) and Joan was able to reach the end of the halyard. The halyard’s attaching process on my new boat is kind of slick. Instead of tying it onto the sail, a little ball is at the end of the halyard. You poke a small bight of halyard through the head’s cringle and poke the little ball through the loop and pull out the slack… slick, but it DID let go. Hmmmm… So, let’s put the mast back in place (I tried doing it sitting, for stability, but I had to stand again. (Did you know that there were some waves last night???). Mast replaced, sail lugged back on, now to reattach the halyard… which became caught up on mast fittings and twisted around the mast… Aaurgh… All of this while trying to steer with my outboard into the waves…. which required constant adjusting. Alas, while paying full attention to the whole process of fixing things, I had let the boat go broadside and it turned downwind. I corrected it by turning back into the wind… by completing the circle around… which — when I started to raise the mizzen again — I realized that, additional to a bunch of mizzen and sprit lines becoming hopelessly tangled, the sail itself — flapping rather wildly and sometimes enveloping my face while the loose mizzen sheet kept wrapping around my feet and legs — THE SAIL HAD BECOME WRAPPED around the mast once (because of the full turn)!! Hindsight as I write this reminds me that the mizzen mast could have been twisted by hand 360 degrees… but, as I think this I realize that all the lines would have stayed in place… that wouldn’t have solved the problem to say the least. Instead, I announced, “That’s it! I’m done! Let’s lower the sails and motor on in.” Defeated, we headed back to load the boat back onto the trailer. A weird part of that process: coming in, I successfully caught the cleat at the end of the dock and tied on an aft line. I was thinking that, with the wind and waves coming straight in as they were, the bow would naturally swing easily toward the dock. BUT NOOOOO… (an old Belushi line) the bow goes straight out 90 degrees from the dock, straight across the waves. And STAYS there. WHAT!!!??? Through some experimenting and significant efforts, I managed to get out onto the dock and started getting the recalcitrant bow moving a bit toward the dock… starting to get there… when the tied aft line’s trailing end, which I hadn’t realized fell off the dock into the water, got itself wrapped into the propeller and stopped the motor. The bow now easily came into the dock and was secured. “Oh, the motor was running… oh yeah, and still in reverse… that explains why the bow was doing what it was doing.” Disaster or comedy? I think I learned a few things, and, as soon as I finish this email, I’m heading to the boatyard to straighten things around, take the boat out for a while, and then get it back under the tarps. Then, I need to ready the van for family camping this weekend. If all goes well, I might even take out my 15’ foot boat this afternoon. We’ll see. Hope you enjoyed my little description of sailing last night. Ted (Oh, and the email response to my “report” was a suggestion to THROW OUT AN ANCHOR to provide time and calmness… didn’t even come into my mind… more learning has just occurred.) (And, it should be noted that my wife was calm throughout my frustrations and occasional expressions of my frustration. )

Well… it’s a neat and slick way to go. The ball through a halyard bight pushed through the sailhead cringle is the system that came on a boat I bought. The ball slipped out when I raised the sail, resulting in the halyard end zipping to the top of the mast. I believe it came undone when I motored out and the wind was flipping the unhoisted sail around with a still loose halyard. It started a “comedy of errors”.

Lots of details and ideas. And, nicely done. (It’s in Youtube, in the “B&B Yacht Designs” channel.)

Did you inquire with B&B about what a cnc cut kit might be (with shipping)? Who knows, it might balance up well… if a kit is available. Emails are answered and a phone call might be better. https://bandbyachtdesigns.com/flyfisher

Had to look up buntline hitch. https://www.animatedknots.com/buntline-hitch-knot

Yep… still 20 minutes left to watch. Fun to see Avocet referenced. Richard had some great innovations to the rigging and did a beautiful job building the boat. I have great appreciation for having the chance to own it. Now, for more successful sailing.

Some Catching Up in the middle of April, I got Avocet out of winter storage and moved it north to my house. I also picked up Norma T with a second trip downstate. (Photos are the same spot at a rest area.) With a lot of time being away in April, May and June (camping with family — once in snow — and vacationing with my wife) along with working to finish building my ski-boat, I didn’t get Avocet out onto the water to sail more than a couple times. I felt like I needed to become more familiar with Avocet and develop techniques and skills in readying the boat to sail, raising the masts, dealing with the 20+ lines that are part of the boat’s setup and rigging. I want to be able to go solo on everything: setup, launching, sailing and loading back onto the trailer. I asked my wife, Joan, to come with me on my first non-sailing attempt at launching it off the trailer into the water. She mostly observed and held the lines. Oops, I didn’t close the Anderson bailer in the ballast tank. Sigh. A mistake that will help me remember that detail in the future. I’d rather not learn EVERYTHING through blundering. Since Avocet will be in my sailing club’s boatyard until fall I wanted to figure out how to effectively cover the boat. A rule of the boatyard is that masts must always be up (part of the agreement with the dam/utility company… so the boatyard wouldn’t become a “storage” lot… as I understand.) How ‘bout if I had the main mast standing and had the mizzen mast horizontal on cradled to support the tarp cover? Can I get by with that arrangement? I built a removable cradle for the side of the main mast’s tabernacle and then turned a 3’ wood upright that fits into the mizzen step and added to it a double cradle to hold both masts for transporting. It’s similar to what I did for the Norma T. With the main mast upright I now have a solid ridge for tarp covers. Here, both masts are in place in the cradles and tarps are secured — the boat was ready for our month-long vacation — but this is the idea I have for a cover while in the boatyard. I “sailed” in my yard a number of times this spring to become more familiar with everything. Again, lots of lines to coordinate and remember how to get in place. One technique I figured out: I found I can use the main snotter attached to a rope going to the front of the trailer to hold the main mast securely upright while I go below to place the nut onto the mast bolt. The bolt is removable and goes from the anchor well through the bottom of the mast into the cabin to receive a nut. I prefer to have the mast bolt permanently fixed into the bulkhead in a way that it fits right in to place when the mast is raised. The nut for the bolt is then placed from the anchor well. This would avoid going into the cabin, leaving the mast sort of “on its own” while I place the nut. Not sure whether I will change it. The point is that even in this arrangement I can quickly do this “2 person” job by myself. Crawling around on the cabin roof felt insecure even while on the trailer, let alone on water and waves. I installed some stainless grab bars onto the cabin. It feels much better moving forward on my knees while using these secure handholds. I had found a brown tarp in the boat. The builder, Richard, had begun fiddling with making a tarp-tent for the boat. I noticed eye straps on the hull and matched lines on the tarp to them. There is also a line on the mizzen mast that connects to a short line at the aft end of the main sprit. Maybe this is what he had come up with. Since the tarp covers the companionway and some of the cockpit, it might be a useful thing to have available while camping aboard. At the end of May, with the lake water not so frigidly cold, I finally challenged myself to take a couple solo sails for a few hours. Winds were calm and everything went well. I bought a Honda 5hp outboard this year and really like having it for Avocet. Meanwhile, I also helped The Weezer this spring (she is a now 10th grade girl across the street) finish building and rigging her Spindrift 10, built from a kit. I just heard from her that she now has a trailer and she had taken it out once while I was on vacation this month. I’m looking forward to seeing what her boat is like on the water. She grew up a lot during the time of this whole build project, she’s even driving now. The Weezer essentially did all the work as I showed her how to carry out the building tasks. It’s a great kid-project and it’s something she can always be proud of accomplishing during high school. That’s all for now. Next, I’ll post a “report” about my third sailing of Avocet, this time with my wife aboard to try out the boat for the first time and to experience her first race with my sailing club (a VERY friendly group.) No, it didn’t go so well but had a “comedy of errors” quality.

Andy, more to ponder… You might consider going to (or riding with me) to the October 21-23 Messabout in North Carolina to see boats first hand, see the B&B business, and chat with the B&B people. A good number of builders will be there with their boats. Just an idea. Ted Oh, and I’ll order some skis soon from Shaggy’s. ⛷

Nice video. And nice catch of the drone. I haven’t tried flying mine yet (bought one last year on a whim) but will begin once I’m home from this vacation. Seems a bit nervy to fly from and back to a moving boat… but if I can develop some skill with the controls… maybe. At least it’s proven here to be a possibility. From what I can see the boat looks well built with some great extra features. I caught this glimpse of a cutout in the coaming… very handy looking for tucking things away. And it looks like it is blocked off from the rest of the coaming to preserve flotation. (The best snapshot I could get.)

Andy, I can’t think of a witty, humorous, sly comment for ya on this. I really like this Core Sound version for a number of reasons… which you cite. A kit has been made and successfully built into a great sounding open cockpit sailboat in a 20’ version… and perhaps soon a 17’. It takes some time and effort (maybe even contributed by family members??) to assemble a kit but it could be worth it for the end result. Just sayin’. (And yeah, the “Lake Charlevoix cruise to pick up skis” idea in August before the Traverse Bay Messabout just might happen… Shaggy’s annual ski sale is receiving orders for the next couple weeks. )

Andy, I know this is a B&B forum. On the other hand, I really like the idea of what seem to be quality skis produced by a small self-starting talented company with competitive prices for their great products… like what’s offered by B&B Yacht Designs. I met and spoke with the “dad” guy at January’s demo day. He set me up with a pair of Ahmeek 95 skis (I think) which are so totally different from my own: Head World Cup Rebels (slalom), 165 cm with 11 meter sidecut… kind of a sport car or go kart type ski. I really like them, but in powder I sink… and stink. The Shaggys skis I tried felt really stable and a little slower to turn, but a nice-feeling effect… sort of like my ballasted Core Sound 17 compared to my CS15… (thought I should get that in for the sake of the forum .) And, it’s a great idea that you offer on sailing Lake Charlevoix to pick up the skis… quite a temptation, for the experience and the story. I might just try and arrange that as part of my August Michigan Messabout. So, Don, interested in doing Lake Charlevoix before Traverse Bay?? I hope to sail a bunch of various and interesting lakes this year (like Lake Charlevoix) even though I’m not sailing at ALL this month (family and vacation time.) I’ve sailed chartered boats a few times on Lake Tahoe some years ago (swirly winds) but really didn’t like the costs. I also took ASA 101 and 103 courses here on Lake Tahoe.) When we’re here at the Tahoe Ridge we usually hike. This is a shot from today’s venture, atop Round Mound… a “mini-mountain” on the southeast shore.

Andy, It looks like you are a skier… with Shaggy’s skis!! (I’m a life-long skier.) I tried a pair at a demo day last season and might just buy a pair when I come over for the DCA Messabout. So… do you like them?

Hey… this first attempt might just work.

Yes, because of a substantial increase in members from the US and Canada, the DCA created a new region for North America… I guess a “continental” sized region. It’s recognized that the North American region would develop more localized areas since the likelihood of my taking my boat from Wisconsin for a Texas sailing event is not real high. A Facebook group has been created to help organize events and communicate called Dinghy Cruising the Americas with the same acronym DCA. Check it out here.