willjackson Posted September 20, 2004 Posted September 20, 2004 I wanted to post a couple of shots of our launch day this weekend. I have not posted frequently but I have been a frequent reader/skulker of this site. I also wanted to thank everyone for the open dialogue and pictures which were so helpful in the construction over the past five months. My wife Kim and I along with our dog Graham took the Beautiful Girl out to Lake Castaic north of LA for her maiden voyage. On Sunday we drove up to the lake on a beautiful day with a STRONG breeze from the NW. She slid easily off her bunks and was easy to set up. People congregated around and wanted to help or just look and everyone had questions about her. We had a blast on the water-in fact she was a little too fast for us (at least on the first day) and we were heeled well over to the rubrails quite a few times. We had to stop and adjust the shrouds and steering line once but other than that she was maintenance-free. I have posted some shots below hopefully. [attachment over 4 years old deleted by admin] Quote
Barry Pyeatt Posted September 20, 2004 Posted September 20, 2004 Looks like a good first day on the water. Very nice boat. Let us know how things progress as you get more sailing in. Quote
Tim Diebert Posted September 20, 2004 Posted September 20, 2004 Good job. Man, that does look like just the right wind you had for your launch day. Good on you. Bet your glad that's over with...... Quote
Stump Posted September 21, 2004 Posted September 21, 2004 Very nice boat. Looks AWESOME ! 5 months? How dare you!!!! :wink: Quote
Mark Gudschinsky Posted September 21, 2004 Posted September 21, 2004 Five months, no wonder you didn't post much! And you're not only on the water, the boat's finished! Good job, great looking boat. Quote
Fintan Murphy Posted September 21, 2004 Posted September 21, 2004 I'll chime in as well with the congratulations. It seems that a lot of these boats get built. All kudos to the Stevensons. (and of course to the builders) Quote
Frank Hagan Posted September 21, 2004 Posted September 21, 2004 Will, Castaic can be a challenging sail! When you sail in front of that island, and hit that slot between the island and the west ramps, you can really get a lot of wind! We "circumnavigated" the island once and it was a little hairy coming back toward the dock area (the wind that day was an offshore breeze, so we were headed directly downwind ... a pretty scary way to sail a light gaffer like the Weekender). Channel Islands Harbor can be nice too. If you can't venture out beyond the breakwater, you still have enough room to sail around the harbor. Quote
willjackson Posted September 21, 2004 Author Posted September 21, 2004 Thanks to all for the kind words. We did work hard and fast but had a great time. The Stevensons did a great job with the design and plans, but were it not for this forum she would have taken MUCH longer. Quote
Jan Williamson Posted September 21, 2004 Posted September 21, 2004 Very good looking boat Will and what a great first launch. I've studied the threads a lot more than posting. I don't think I could have built my boat without this forum. In fact when I was "boat plan hunting" the Stevenson site and their project cam caught my eye. But it was the forum that sold me Congratulations! Quote
willjackson Posted September 21, 2004 Author Posted September 21, 2004 Yeah, without the support system I would not have attempted to build something like this. Quote
rolandblais Posted September 21, 2004 Posted September 21, 2004 Very nice looking boat! As many times as I've driven by Castaic, I've always wondered how it would be to sail there.... Now I know! Peace, Roland Quote
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