PadrePoint

I just received this little video from my phone... it somehow “magically” made it. I don’t know why it did that... but it was fun to “receive”. (Kind of a weird bit of music with it.) The video is made from photos I took on my first day of sailing the Norma T. It was my 67th birthday, the day following my receiving the sails.

What?? I’ll bet this one doesn’t sail so well.

Repairing an old motor The last time I ran this 1956 Johnson 30 hp was around 25 years ago. Since my son and I were unable to get it running this summer, I was going to replace it... but on Friday I found somebody who repairs old outboards. It will be more fun to have this old motor back on the boat I built in high school than a new motor (shirt shaft used motors are impossible to find) so I’m going to bring it to the guy tomorrow. I picked up the motor today at my older son’s house. I’m really hoping the motor can be made to run again. My son intends to repaint it in the original colors. I had painted it red when I was 16... ‘cause red Rustoleum was MUCH “cooler” looking. ? I took another look at the 11 foot boat he recently repainted and the deck he replaced. He also made a floorboard for the bottom. I was impressed how nicely it fit in... some tricky figuring and fitting, I think. I had merely thrown an old rug and a cushion on the bottom when I was a kid. (My son also has some seats for next spring.) (I will see if I can dig out some old pictures of this boat; comparing this boat to the one I’ll be building soon Is a bit like comparing a Spindrift to a Core Sound. ?) My son replaced the tarp cover, maybe for the winter. Hope his covering works more effectively than a couple years ago when heavy slush caved in the tarp and then the whole mess froze into a huge block of ice... yes, I had a good laugh on that... been there; done that. ? In his shop I noticed the strong back building form and frames (center, on the wall) that he used a while ago to build his 17 foot cedar strip canoe. He’s getting things ready to build another. With the motor in the back of my car we headed home, but on the way we met up with my younger son’s family for a brief hike. 70 degrees in November. Nice. He is also currently building a 17 foot plywood canoe for his family. This is a photo of both of my boys fiberglassing the bottom a while ago. He’s done a lot more work on it since this photo.

This is a video of my son’s first time driving my completed boat: Start of my Build Blog: Yesterday, I ordered a new Honda outboard for the ski-type boat that I haven’t begun building. This is the prototype build: I bought the plans for this boat about 40 years ago, right after I finished grad school... but raising four kids and helping them through college was always a higher priority than indulging in my interest to build boats. I retired in the start of 2020, somehow discovered and bought a Core Sound 15 full-kit, picked it up from B&B to start the build at the end of April, and launched the Norma T in just under three months. I got the sails about 6 weeks later. I documented the build on this forum under Core Sound 15 #162 — Building the “Norma T”. I named the boat after my mother. It gave her great delight in her final month or so of living with us. The boat received it’s name lettering and was “christened” by my family at my mother’s burial service. She wanted to pay for a good portion of the boat’s costs as a “little family legacy.” The picture below is our younger son solo-sailing the Norma T for the first time in some gentle air: Kinda funny how this boat-building thing has worked for me. I was really getting tired of the messiness of the later processes: epoxying, sanding, painting, varnishing, etc. and didn’t think I’d want to build another boat... I’m satisfied with the build, but I’m done. After enjoying sailing the boat for a month and then putting it into winter storage... well... the BUG started nibbling at me. “Remember the plans you bought way back? You gave them to your older son in 2013 ‘cuz, heck, YOU’RE not gonna build it so let him have ‘em... now, go get the plans back... you KNOW you want to...” So, I got them... and decided after a while that I indeed would and COULD build another boat. Building the Core Sound 15 gave me the experience, confidence and interest I needed to rekindle my high school desire to build this mid-sized speed boat... a 16 foot ski-type boat with an at least 100 hp motor. I suppose I could say that if I had a “bucket-list”, building and using this boat would be the primary thing on the list. Last winter, my older son and I almost bought a used 100 hp motor he spotted on Craigslist... but the guy decided to keep it. The larger motor’s expense has always a stumbling block to my hope of this boat-build. Well, I’m older and don’t have the speed interests I did when I was a young guy. And, I found that motorcycle riding in the last seven years fulfills that interest. So, maybe a little less horsepower... and maybe build this boat a bit shorter than the plan’s 16 feet (the length can be altered by 10% without a concern.) Maybe 60 hp on a 15 foot boat is sufficient for cruising around and pulling a water skier. My sons concurred with me on this. SO, yesterday, I went to the nearby Honda marina and ordered a new 60 hp motor. It’ll be some months before it comes. Now, all I need is a boat for it. I know this isn’t a B&B Yachts boat plan, but I’d like to purchase the materials from B&B... and write about the build in this forum... just because I’ve so appreciated the CS15 kit that brought a new sailboat into my family’s life... and I’ve appreciated contributors to this forum and the people I’ve met at the 2020 Messabout. I also appreciate the quality of the materials I’ve received from B&B and the support from Alan and Graham. My new boat-build will be same length as the Norma T (about 15’), will have the same trailer, will have the “same” silver Honda motor (different hp, of course), will have the same color/finishing scheme, and will thus be like a partner to the Norma T. So, what should I name it? I had fun with this, thinking about the boat-build details and the naming while on an e-bike ride with my wife on our town’s 28 mile hike/bike trail. I was so distracted thinking about this that I used up most of my battery (I didn’t exert much of my own pedal power.) I find that I’m missing that preoccupation that is part of building something. Here are a few pictures of my favorite parts of this trail. The “T” of Norma T is from my mom’s maiden name (Torp), which, of course, was her last name when she met my dad. She kept it as her middle name when she married. They met when mom got an office job at a little research and development lab (Archer Daniels Midland) in St. Paul, Minnesota where my dad was a chemist. He was known by everyone then and throughout his career as “Joe” (first syllable of his last name.) So, I guess the quirky side of me, thinking of this new boat as a “partner” for the Norma T, has made me decide to name it Joe. That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it. Besides, I’m using money left to me from what my dad earned in his working career to pay for this new boat... it seems like a right thing to do. And, just for a little more fun in this post, since my wife hadn’t ridden her scooter for a LONG time and we finally took a little ride together this afternoon... a couple parting pictures. She has a very cute seafoam green 50cc Buddy Scooter (I’m riding my Honda CRF250L dual sport.) Here they are, snuggled up in the garage. Note the floor drill press (on the right) that my brother-in-law gave me on Friday... very useful with a sanding drum for making boat frames and parts. I need to move it into my basement workshop. (He also gifted me last month with a floor band saw... also a crucial tool for my project.)

Pete, That is a clever solution. Nice innovation.

Wrapping up this CS15 Building Thread My Core Sound 15 is built, rigged, and sailed more than a dozen times. In a crazy year, bringing the Norma T from a van-load of wooden pieces, materials, and supplies into a nicely functioning sailboat for my family and me has been very satisfying. I brought the full kit home on April 26 and launched it for the first time on July 23 after about 50 working days over three months. My sails were delayed from COVID issues and I finally actually sailed Norma T on my 67th birthday, September 14. What a GREAT birthday gift!! After practice with rigging and actual sailing days I’ve become comfortable and efficient getting the boat ready for launch and putting it away next to my home. I am learning more about how to sail it. So, now it’s a good time to close this building thread. I’ve begun a new thread called CS15 — Sailing the “Norma T” on this forum website. The boat is now tucked away for the winter and will come out of its hibernation in six months. Then, it’s all about having sailing adventures in the spring, summer, and fall of 2021. I enjoyed my trip to the 2020 Messabout last week as my first adventure. I described in the new thread. Here I am in the B&B Yachts yard: I came home from the sunny 80 degree sunshine in North Carolina to Wisconsin’s 25 degree snow. Then again, Wisconsin’s cold weather IS moving us toward ski season, just around the corner. Yesterday, I traveled downstate with my wife to briefly visit three of our four kids (my fourth just arrived today from Ohio for a week’s visit.) We also used the day-trip to stop in at the former service station where the Norma T is spending the winter. We got things out of the boat, opened the hatches, threw a couple packs of De-Con on the sole, and put a couple tarps over the top. It is neatly tucked away next to my oldest daughter’s little Scamp camper. I just noticed the gas price in the upper right corner... yes, I remember those prices when I was buying gas for my ‘63 Olds 88 and my 11 foot speedboat. ? So, thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed my CS15 build thread. Now, for some sailing adventures.

2020 Messabout My original plan for this trip out east was to bring one of my much neglected motorcycles and ride the Blue Ridge Parkway... and then ride over to join the Messabout. After considering several variations to this plan I finally decided two days before leaving Wisconsin to take the Norma T with me instead of a motorcycle... kind of bringing the boat back to the shop where it was “conceived.” My two primary interests in being a part of the 2020 Messabout were to simply meet some of the B&B boat-builders and to see first hand some of the boats they’ve made. Then, I thought that by bringing my completed CS15 with me, it would demonstrate some of my appreciation to Alan and Graham for how my family and I are being gifted and blessed by this new “family legacy” that emerged out of the CS15 kit prepared by B&B Yachts. I also hugely appreciate Alan and Graham’s considerable support in my successfully building the Norma T. So, on Thursday morning, I had everything ready to go... surely I had thought of everything... right? With our saying goodbye, my wife wondered why I didn’t use the tie-down bar that I’d made. Oops... I’m really glad that she thinks of these kinds of things... “it takes a village” as they say. (I wonder how far I would have gone before noticing... and what would I have done about it?) The Norma T had its first encounter with rain (yup, a hatch could use some work on its gasket.) (You OK back there?) Twelve hundred miles later, I arrived at the Messabout on Friday afternoon. (Do you remember this place? Oh yeah, you weren’t actually born yet... you were only LOTS of pieces of wood and stuff.) This trip also gave me a first chance to use a little screen tent contraption that fits on the back end of my van... my wife and I will enjoy this little addition. We have some camping plans yet this fall. (Drinking morning coffee and reading... ah!) I enjoyed meeting/conversing with people and seeing their boats. Wow... great work has been done. I was especially glad to see some Spindrifts. I had a specific reason for that... the teenage girl who lives across the street seems to love sailing and I’ve suggested to her parents the possibility of her building her own Spindrift. I’ve got tools and could help make it happen... we shall see. I didn’t launch my boat at the Messabout... I guess there were some reasons: > I’ve never left my boat on a dock beyond the few minutes needed to leave or retrieve my car/trailer. > I was insecure about how to launch and where fit onto the dock. > I brought only a light anchor, certainly insufficient for an overnight. > I’m unsure of the impacts of saltwater. > Winds were... well... not particularly “sporty”... (of course, I’d be even more nervous if they were) ?. > I was REALLY enjoying the conversations and seeing other boats... and the weather was gorgeous. > Chick gave me a splendid “Old Codger” tour and gave me a chance to see everyone on the water. > I also noticed a change in the weather forecast for Sunday: Pouring rain!!?? Ya know, I think I might just begin a return drive home late on Saturday afternoon. I’m glad I didn’t pack things up in this: Then again, I’m heading home to this: (Yes, blue is snow.) Before I hit the snow (salt trucks are already out on the roads) I stopped south of Madison to park my boat in a storage building alongside my daughter’s little camper and some other boats. Perfect timing. Then, having left the North Carolina 79 degree sunshine, I arrived at my Wisconsin home... what the...??? Well, alpine skiing is just around the corner.

Since I’m now using my newly built 15 foot Core Sound sailboat, the Norma T, I am creating a new thread to describe some of the adventures with this boat. I’ve described the building project in this forum under the title: Core Sound 15 - #162 “Norma T” located with this link. This is a quick overview of the building project with a photo from the conclusion of approximately 5-day work segments. These aren’t always consecutive days but kind of represent week-long periods of “full time” work. I figure the project needed 300-350 hours... or so. Being newly retired let me have a lot of time that I could dedicate to the project. I began building the Core Sound 15 from a full kit on: April 26, 2020. Days 1-5: The hull is forming (I kinda broke & splinted its nose) Days 6-10: Hull is taped and “locked in” Days 11-15: Becoming more solid Days 16-20: More parts are readied Days 21-24: Lots of parts are set to install Days 25-30: Flipped to glass the hull: Days 31-35: White paint inside Days 36-42: Red paint on the bottom Days 43-46: It’s a skiff (& Christened) Days 47-49: Waiting for the sails to come First Launched: July 23, 2020 (3 months) August 21, 2020: Gramma Camp Cruise September 13: The sails finally came October 10, 2020: Introducing my family to sailing

I thought I would add a little hand-hold to the end of the tiller extension. This was my plan quite early on but I finally got to the task. When I put something else into the sailboat to finish the night, I found heavy slushy snow covering the tarps, weighing them down and drawing them into the cockpit. I used my bare hands to scrape the stuff off the tarps (I haven’t brought out gloves yet... silly me.). Hope they don’t buckle in before morning. ? Seventies temps, here I come. ?

Getting Ready for My First Messabout I thought I should take a look at weather before putting things together for my planned trip to North Carolina. Things look great for Bayboro, NC: That’s a contrast to my own current conditions in central Wisconsin: Yes, blue is snow. I’m right on the edge of it (little green circle.) Gee, what should I do? Should I stay at home to enjoy some wet, cold October snow and slushy rain? Or should I take my boat to somewhere with upper 70’s temps and promises for sunshine? I know! I’ll ready my van and boat tomorrow... and take off on Thursday for the Messabout. ?

Maybe some fine things improve with a bit of aging, producing an even more appreciated end result.

Thanks for the letter explaining how we might best manage this event. I’m looking forward to the weekend. This afternoon, I was getting my new CS-15 ready for the 1,200 mile drive to the Messabout... and snowflakes were falling. Sheeze! It’s another reason I look forward to the sailing event. When I return to Wisconsin from the trip I will drop the boat off downstate in a storage unit I’m renting for six months. Then, a few little motorcycle trips are in order... my wife and I are planning a couple camping trips... and, the skiing season is just around the corner.

Snow in mid-October? I noticed the city crews had brined some streets this morning (a sign of them expecting snow.) Sure ‘nuff... Sailing around here might be ‘bout done for the year. I’ve got a garage-sized storage unit ready to winter-park the boat when I return from the Messabout.

With several alternatives considered for my first trip to B&B’s October Messabout, I’m now leaning toward taking the Norma T with me on the trip next week. (I sort of reverted to the simplest alternative, although I’m still planning to stop in at Thrillsbe’s to meet him.) I look forward to meeting some of the B&B community, being part of the annual event, and viewing some other boats. The COVID thing has made everything weird these days and I really dislike the disruptions it causes, but my family has been adhering to good practices. It’s just a reality to deal with, I guess. Yesterday, I drove downstate to help my younger son (and his brother) glass the bottom of his 17 foot canoe. I’m impressed with his work, building it from plans only... and somewhat vague looking plans to me. But, his canoe seems to be turning out well. I thought it best to be a “brothers” job and was quite content to just do some preparation sanding and mix the epoxy. The three-person approach went well. The glass used is what was left over from my own CS15 build and I bought a couple gallons of B&B epoxy for the build. Last week, I finally paddled in the cedar-strip canoe my other son recently built (he’s the helper on the left.) He made it almost from entirely scrap wood. I was amazed how well the canoe handled. A mild j-stroke from the stern actually oversteered, letting the stern paddler use an almost completely normal bow-stroke to maintain a straight line... with only occasional j-strokes. It was the nicest feeling canoe I’ve ever paddled. He even carved a portaging yoke, weaved caned seats and shaved out a couple paddles (plus a small one for his son.)

Added a few new features My son and I spent a bit of time today adding some things onto the sailboat. The first little project was an extra halyard to both masts. They can be used to raise the sails and sprits out of the way. I think that can make it much easier for people to board safely at the dock, not having to contend with sails that are down or on the floor/seats. Plus, it might be helpful when beached, anchored, or docked for a while. Perhaps, the boat could be rigged this way on land just prior to launching from the trailer. I’m hoping that they can be lowered quickly for a timely raising of the sails when ready to do so. I am loving this boat more all the time. (I haven’t tried all this on the water yet.) My son would like me to finish the forward step for the mizzen mast, making things easier for rowing or using a single sail. I only have the hole in the thwarts, planning to finish it someday. I guess that I’ll need to get a round to-it. Next, we installed the tiller tamer. Again, I haven’t used it while sailing, but I can imagine some helpful advantages with it. I placed the control on the underneath side of the tiller instead of the top (as in the directions) but I see no issue with such an arrangement. For fun, I’m adding a red ribbon to the top of the main mast... a bit of flair, but intended as a wind indicator. I’d rather not mount a regular wind vane (I don’t enjoy craning my neck to see the thin little arrows). I haven’t figured out yet a permanent way to mount the ribbon providing a quick way to connect and disconnect it (keeping it well above the sail.) For now I’m running a 4 foot dowel up the extra halyard. The next sailing will help determine its usefulness. My son played around with the oars a bit (I haven’t used them yet.) They seem long to me but it seems from posts I’ve read that “too long” isn’t a problem like being “too short”. He also thinks the traditional brass oarlock will work better than the clamp-type oarlocks that came with the 9’ two-part oars. We both think that oars can be a good alternative to the motor for docking and leaving the dock. With the sprits being raised by the extra halyard, rowing, even stand-up rowing, could work well. We shall see. I’m also putting a ring on the mizzen sheets to help keep them away from the motor. Still needs some elastic cording. I need to get another round to-it.

Today: My son’s family came up last night and we took everyone out for a sail. I love that this small boat feels so comfortable for four adults and a couple kids. Note my sailing position, feet up and letting my son do everything. The winds were less than predicted, but perfect for a family sail. Today, my son did the whole process: pulling the boat out to hitch it to the car, pre-sail setup, motoring out and raising the sails for single-handed sailing, backing the trailer and loading, take-down for the trip home. Whew! (I would have included “bringing it into the dock” but he ended up kinda missing the dock... and getting blown into the beach about 40 feet away... ? part of figuring things out.) That gave me a chance to take a few pictures of the boat out on the water. Motoring out: Success: Finding some breeze: After a day of kayaking, sailing, trail riding on bicycles with the kids... it’s time to try out the new portable gas fire pit... and do the marshmallow roasting thing. (I need to wait until Monday to order the Honda 30 hp for my other son’s 11 ft boat.)

My son gave this pull saw to me a couple years ago. I found it very useful in my build.

Some nice sailing days are coming up and we are back home from 10 days of camping with family. My 2.3 hp Honda motor and rudder are still buried in my niece’s stuff (the apartment is still being readied). Plus, our younger son and family just came for the weekend, adding four more bikes and a bike carrier to our garage. Now, the task is to fit into my recent “boat-shop” 8 bikes, 1 scooter, two motorcycles, and my niece’s stuff... with six cars in the driveway. Whew. We actually still have a winding path through it all to get to the door into the house. Since my son and I plan to sail the Norma T in the morning (nice breezes are predicted) we’ll find a way to dig out the sailboat motor and rudder. Also in the morning, I will order a new Honda 30 hp motor for the 11 foot speedboat that my other son rebuilt. Good times. (I will put off another boat-build for now... maybe.) 2020 Messabout: To Pull or Not to Pull (that is my question) I’m still planning to attend my first Messabout two weeks from now but I haven’t determined whether I should try pulling the Norma T from Wisconsin to the event. I know others have driven substantial miles with their boats... so maybe. I’ll see if my son and I can get some interesting sailing photos this weekend.

Camping for a few days with my son and little family, pictured here all in the 17’ cedar strip canoe my son built last year. (Yep, that’s the little guy in the center area - 5 yrs. ?) I think I’d rather not commit to a $15-20 K Stiletto project this year (the motor is the primary expense). Instead, I would love to replace the 1956 Johnson 30 hp motor I put onto the 11’ speedboat that I built in high school (we still haven’t managed to get the motor running again.) My son has recently replaced the boat’s decks and painted its hull. I’m offering him a “shiny new” Honda 30 hp motor for it. THAT is a comfortable expenditure for me right now. ?

Have I Been Bitten by the Dreaded Boat-Building Bug!?!? I’ve managed to have a few sailing hours in the last couple weeks with the Norma T but I’ve also been doing lots of other activities with my family, such as: A motorcycle ride with my son, a 50 mile atv trail, then a 50 mile return ride on curvy country roads after lunch (plus five hours of driving... downstate and back... a full day): A bunch of e-bike rides with my wife (mostly trails through woods): I snapped this shot near the end of a 50 mile ride on a nearby rail-trail... my wife was feeling a bit tired at this point and kicked up her speed to 20 mph for the last 8 or so miles... to “get it done”... part of our pleasure in having electric bikes ?: And, we camped a week with our daughter and son-in-law... busy campgrounds. During that week, we took a morning to move a truck-load of my niece’s stuff from her apartment to our garage space (where I built Norma T) until her new apartment becomes available. The last few days had no wind, but today seemed promising for a little sailing. I pulled the boat out from the spot where I park it... but I had forgotten that I buried my little Honda outboard and boat rudder behind my neice’s stuff. Oops. I put the boat back and re-covered it. MEANWHILE, I’ve found myself in the past couple weeks wondering whether I should seriously consider building the boat I’ve wanted to build since high school... fifty years ago. After I finished grad school almost 40 years ago and started getting paychecks, I bought the plans for that coveted 16 foot ski-type boat, expecting that I would indeed be able to build it while my kids were young. However, I could never justify the purchase of an 80-100 hp motor; the boat-build just wasn’t feasible for my family. But, how ‘bout now? My son has been holding onto my Glen -L Stiletto plans for a decade and I decided this week to drive downstate to pick them up from him. Ah, I remember them well. The plans include two 4’x4’ sheets of full sized frame drawings, several 2 foot pages of illustrations, and a narrative/photo booklet of the building process. Yes, I must admit that my life-long interest to build a Stiletto remains in me. I haven’t been able to shake it. As I completed building the Core Sound 15 in the start of August I wondered whether I’d ever build another boat. I might be infected by... the bite of the boat-building bug. I did decide that before beginning building a Stiletto, I first need to settle the purchase of some specific 80-100 hp outboard motor... before doing anything. Well, actually, I did already order — and received today — a pack of carbon paper that I can use to transfer the full sized frame drawings to wood stock... so that I could cut out those frame pieces with the Rockwell floor bandsaw I picked up from my brother-in-law yesterday. ?? I must be “edging” toward a build a little bit. My wife and I will join my son and family tomorrow for a few days of camping. I will talk things over with my son to see where our realistic thinking is going to be on building the “boat of my dreams”. We shall see. (Is it really a mystery???) An FYI — My other son is preparing his canoe build for inside taping and the outside fiberglassing: (He “stables” one of my motorcycles in his garage.) Lastly, I am planning to attend the Messabout coming up in a couple weeks. I’m looking forward to it, but I’m not planning to pull my boat out there this year. Besides, I will likely bring my smaller motorcycle with me to do some Blue Ridge Parkway riding.

I certainly enjoyed building my CS15 this year. I’m enjoying sailing it even more. Unfortunately, I’m a novice sailor so I can offer nothing about it’s sailing attributes, other than being fun. (#162 “Norma T”)

Six days of sailing in my first week!! ?????? My wife and I took the boat out today. The winds were... um... sporty (12-14 mph with 20+ mph gusts.) I put the reefs in but we noticed the possibility of the mizzen sprit interfering with the mainsail. (I’ll shorten them both some more.) I left the mainsail reefed but used an unreefed mizzen to prevent an interference problem. I think that the unbalanced sails and the stronger winds helped me begin to understand more about weather and lee helms and some of the effects of the two sails being “in” and “out” of balance. Today, the set-up and take-down processes went well and smoothly... no silly blunders. My wife also participated in the processes as well. With the weather and waves, and her choice to ride in the bow... well... she caught a lot of splashing. She got soaked, but she figures it’s a good story for the grandkids. We didn’t stay out long; my main interest today was to experience some stronger winds. (I was quick to let out the mainsail in the gusts as advised by a number of B&B sailors — thank you.) We also wanted to ride our e-bikes today and the short sailing time let us ride the whole 26 mile Green Circle trail before supper time. Another great day with sailing as part of it. Looking at this coming week... maybe a couple/few days of sailing among the little jobs that need to be done. And, I might take a few days to ride my motorcycle and camp. The following week will be for camping with a daughter and husband, and moving my niece to a different apartment. I’d say that my first week with my completed CS15 has been a rousing success! Plus, I shared sailing time in the Norma T with twelve other people.

Sailing with Family Today Beautiful day today with warm-enough temps, blue sky, and sufficient wind. I invited my family to meet me a few hours downstate for some sailing at a State Park lake. I wanted to introduce people to our new family sailboat. We had two sailing sessions today with a full boat. In the first session, my wife and I sailed a couple hours with one of my sons, his wife and their two little girls... who were VERY excited. My son sailed a sunfish-type boat in high school and, as an adult, had joined me a few years ago in a 3-day sailing course in Lake Superior’s Apostle Islands area. That training enabled both of us to charter sailboats up to 35 feet, for which I just couldn’t make myself spend that kind of money... maybe someday. He is familiar with sailing skills and dynamics. A first thing to mention about the day... I had great success in preparing the boat for launch in "record time." For fun, I even used my phone’s stopwatch to see how I did: With the boat launched, all six of us got into the boat, motored out, and my son raised the mizzen. "All the way up," I said, since the tack was barely above the very bottom of the sailtrack and I wanted it all the way up. (By the way, I LOVE how high the sails can get, providing great visibility without having to look around the sails to see.) "Is it stuck?" I looked up to see the sail at the very top of the mizzen mast. "What the.......!!??" (Realization begins to dawn on me.) I HAD SWITCHED THE SAILS!! This is the mainsail on the aft mast! "Aaaurgh! I guess fast set-up speed isn't always so important. ? Well, at least my son then had a chance to drop and remove a sail, loading it onto the correct mast before hoisting it, while I did the same to the misplaced mizzen sail. I find humor in these blunders that I can sometimes make. ? I guess that today I decided to spell "mizzen" with the letters: "M-a-i-n-s-a-i-l" since that is what is clearly printed in very large letters (twice) on the sailbag that I placed in the mizzen spot. I likely won't make this blunder again... I'm sometimes educable. We got underway and had a very nice sail. I even tried out the heave-to technique so we could eat lunch. My two grandkids helped me with the tiller for a while, but my son did most of the sailing. Here's a little artsy rendition of me and the grandkids at the tiller: The next sailing session started with both my sons, my third grandchild, and me. We had some brisk (enough) winds for my older son to start getting a feel for the boat and for sailing. One hope I have is that my family will want to borrow the boat for family time and that my two boys, who do canoe/kayak camping trips together, will discover that they can have additional adventures of a different kind with the Norma T. The winds became more intermittent — but at least sufficient — after one of my daughters and her husband joined up with us, bringing the number of this session to five adults and a little kid. We were comfortable in this large cockpit area. I had mentioned to people that this little 15 foot boat has more cockpit space that the 30-35 sloops I've been on, and in these conditions the boat feels very stable. Neat. My kids brought plenty of snacks and had plenty of conversation for a few hours. Trying out a little wing-on-wing: Time to head back home: Great day today. My wife spoke with our other daughter at supper and we might still have a chance for her to also experience some sailing with us when she visits in a couple weeks. Tomorrow afternoon looks great, forecasts are for sunny sky, upper 60's, winds at 11-12 mph with 20+ gusts. If I get out it will be my sixth day of sailing in the week since I received the sails.

Another day of sailing today? The sun is out and the sky is blue. Great! I should probably look at the weather: I don’t mind the cool... but zero wind and Max Wind Gusts up to 5 mph!! Too much for me. ? And why add a direction to the “no”wind? Well, maybe that’s for the gusts. Today, then, is good day for some “driveway sailing” or at least practicing stuff and working out some details to smooth out my set-up and take-down processes. Having “circumcised” both sprits last night I wanted to see the effects. There is now more margin between the mainsail and mizzen sprit. An improvement, no doubt, but maybe I should shorten the sprit a little more. (It’s still longer than the plans.) The mainsail sprit now looks way too long to me. It is also longer than the plans indicate but for now it doesn’t seem like a problem. I also changed the lashing for both ends of both sprits. This driveway time is finally straightening out my brain relative to the rigging and sails. I’m not feeling befuddled as I ready the sails and put everything back to road-travel shape. I’m feeling more confident in this and am developing patterns that can be consistent and quick. Another project I did today was to make some marks on one side of the sails to assist in flaking them correctly for a good fit back into the sailbags. When I got the sails on Sunday they were already folded to nicely fit the bags and thus, flaking creases were established. It seems to me that keeping the folding the same would be helpful, but, when moving the sails from the sail tracks to the bag the creases are a bit hard to spot and keep straight. I wanted some markings at both ends of all the creases to make the process more efficient and quicker. My wife suggested making small marks with a Sharpie. Great idea, I thought. I added to her idea using red at the end points of the “inside” creases... ...and blue marks to show the “outside” creases... I think that will make the flaking process a lot easier and consistent. While I was writing this post, a neighbor walking by stopped to ask about the boat. He is a long-time sailor (he currently has a 20’ sloop) and is a member/leader of the sailing club based at the lake just north of us (the one I sailed on twice this week.) It motivated to send the club an email of inquiry. I’ll soon send them an application and the $15 membership. WOW, is sailing expensive! For a small additional fee the club offers members summer space in their secured lot that is near the boat landing. They also have weekly races, social activities and other special events. Sounds fun. Today, not being any good for sailing time, was a great day for a bike ride with my wife. This afternoon we rode almost 18 miles on the southern half of the Green Circle Trail. Our city has built a beautiful 26 mile loop and numerous additional spurs and bike paths. Most of the Green Circle winds through woods and along rivers. I even did a little one-handed video as we went down a hill to the edge of the Plover River. A lot of the trail follows the Wisconsin River: Note the beautifully flat “water-ski” surface of the Wisconsin River today... evidence of no wind: I put the boat behind my van tonight and readied it for a three hour drive south tomorrow morning. Two of my kids and their kids will meet us at a state park lake for a first time experience sailing the Norma T. We motored the boat with the grandkids on the nearby pond during August’s Gramma Camp. Tomorrow should be fun even though the winds are predicted to be mild; the temperature will be warmer.

I took the boat out this afternoon. The day was cooler (frost warnings tonight just north of us) and a blue sky... but not a lot of wind. That’s ok because this first week I’m mostly working on getting all the various processes working well... and not forgetting too much stuff... like forgetting to raise the centerboard BEFORE pulling the boat onto the trailer (I’m glad to have the cleat that releases when there is excessive force.) Today, I had a chance to learn about the Anderson bailer ?. After preparing the sails and rigging (described in the previous post) I launched the boat, tied it to the dock, parked the car, and sat down in the stern seat to start the motor... WHAT!!?? How did all that water get in?? Well, maybe it was only an inch or so, but still... how? “Oh, I see, the Anderson bailer has a little bubbling fountain coming up. I must have bumped it open or something ‘cause I know that I hadn’t opened it purposely since yesterday’s sailing. Well, water IS supposed to drain out through the bailer with a little speed, right? The motor’s running now so I’ll cast off and bring it up to, say, half throttle or so (I’m still breaking in the new motor) and see if anything happens. Hey, cool, there’s a little whirlpool forming in place of the little fountain... I guess it does work! Self-induced problem... solved!” (The little Anderson bailer is on the bottom, next to the mast.) Today’s wind was intermittent, causing the boat to heel for a few minutes with nice bubbling sounds... to quietly and slowly moving, giving me a chance to look around at the scenery and think deep thoughts... like “any rippling water heading my way?” The wind provided sufficient amounts of contemplative time that I lowered the sails and motored in. (I remembered to raise the centerboard today. ?) With a late afternoon sun lighting up the leaves that are starting to turn I took my motorcycle for a ride when I got back home. Great day... great ride... and to have back-to-back sailing time and riding time... nice! I think I’m starting to get a handle on this retirement thing. After supper it was time to put my afternoon toys away for the night. I noticed on Sunday, when I got the sails up for the first time, that my sprits seemed a little long and particularly that the mizzen sprit could interfere with the mainsail. After an email exchange with Alan (thanks again, Alan) I finally decided that I should actually check the plans. (I know, guys can have a natural aversion to referring to directions and maps. ?) I saw that both sprits were substantially longer than what the plans called for. NOW I remember my plan way back in the building process. Since I didn’t trust my ability to make proper pins (as in: maybe I need more than one attempt, thereby eating up the available wood) and not really understanding how the sprits work, I planned to shape/varnish the sprits and adjust the length after the sails came. I kinda forgot that last part of my plan from 4 months ago. So, tonight, I did a little “mohel” operation on the sprits: A little “painful” to cut off the varnished ends but it had to be done to make things kosher. ?? I’ll see if I can make my rigging processes go more efficiently tomorrow. Can I dare shoot for 20 minutes or less... and still get things right? Stay tuned for the next episode.