OSS:
The One Sheet Skiff ended being named Trudy C. and registered out of Mystic, Connecticut due to sentimental reasons. I just liked the idea of a work boat from days gone by and it seemed that a port on the east coast was fitting in that vein. Paint was "Leftover White" and trimmed in "Remaining Green" with three coats of marine varnish for the interior. The end result is a far cry from my first attempt at painting and I have a sharp looking little craft. On the water she's a decent boat, nothing to complain or write home about. The joints keep the water out, the sail sorta moves the boat and I'm happy when I'm on the water. Windward performance is still and issue but I think it'll sort it self out in time. The coolest thing is she is her own boat, no two ways about it. The best way to sail is in "rowing" position, that is feet so the stern back to the bow. And she likes a deep draw when you row. The rope oarlocks I made are holding up but will need replacing come next season You can fit two but it's not a very safe proposition. But how much fun was building the boat? That makes it all worth it. And she'll make a fine dinghy for a larger boat someday. At the end of the season I splurged and purchased a professionally made 25sqft sail from Dave over at polysail.com trimmed in green. It looks wonderful however we didn't have the wind for a full test. Currently the Trudy C. slumbers in the rafters of my mothers garage awaiting next season.
Fall Messabout:
The first official messabout from the WMHBBA was held on September 25th, 2010 at Frenchtown Pond State Park. It was lightly attended with just the usual suspects showing up. But a great time was had by all. We had boats in the water on time, food on the grill and a beautiful summer day. More importunately the S/V Pica was in top form for the event. I'll let Mike tell the main story on that but here are some shots of both boats enjoying a grand day out!
Sailing Big Water:
The Typesetter and I sailed the mighty Flathead Lake right at the end of the season. It was an epic journey, worthy of Odysseus or maybe Jerry Springer. And again I'll let him tell the story as we took his boat. But I will say the cool thing about big water is when you're yelling at each other it doesn't carry that far.
Future Boat:
Right now the IPNCo. website is massively in need of an update in regards to my future plans. Originally it was to be a Mayfly 14. Then recently I got an option on a fiberglass boat. And now I'm building an Ocean Explorer. I've been busy!
First a quick recap of the Mayfly. I purchased Jim Michalak's wonderful book "Boat Building for Beginners" which has full plans for the Mayfly 14. It's a pretty boat with plenty of room and meeting my design criteria. I wold need a trailer but that's certainly not an insurmountable obstacle. So I was all fat and happy thinking that that was my next boat. I dreamed about it, thought up names and color schemes and waited until spring.
Throughout this process one thing I kept coming back to was the famous Puddle Duck. This is an eight foot box boat that can literally sails rings around just about anything shorter then it and quite a few boats longer then it. There's been plenty of virtual ink spilled on the PD so I'll just say that it's a pretty common and increasingly popular boat. And I knew deep deep down I would have to build one at some point. But alas I had a 14' boat on my virtual ways and stuck to my guns. Then came the Ocean Explorer.
If you've learned anything about me reading this blog you'll know I love two things:
1.)Ridiculously Small Boats
2.)Ridiculously Small Boats That Try to Be Bigger Then They Are
My first boat, the S/V Wawona was just the first example of this trend. Keep those two things in mind reading the following sentence. The Ocean Explorer is a 8' Puddle Duck Cruising Micro Yacht. Yup, stake through the heart, it's my krpytonite, put a fork in me I'm done!
But what about the glass boat you ask? Well it's a rather sordid tale. See I've had my 1970 VW Beetle in the shop for almost going on seven months. I swung by the shop to check on it's glacial progress and my mechanic asked me if I was interested in his boat. This boat is a 12' day sailor of indeterminate origin on a trailer of even more questionable birth. I've looked it over before and filed it away as a possible purchase if the opportunity arose. It has arisen. He told me to come up with a figure and get back to me. Talked it over with The Typesetter and a few others and seeing as it's currently buried under six inches of snow, on tires not even on the rims, and needing Eywa knows how much work I decided that $200 was fair. He countered with "closer to $400" I countered with I'll get back to you. After much thought on the matter the boat simply didn't float. Not at that price. Or any price I would be willing to pay. Sure I could get it, find out that it's a rather easy boat to get back in shape and sail it all summer happy as a clam in my first production boat. Or I could discover it needs major work and I could try and mortgage the room I rent as it slowly hemorrhages money I don't have. Either way it's not MY boat. And that funnily enough is a very strange feeling.
The boats I've had so far, I've built them. I take the end result at face value because it was up to me to make them work. But no matter how this boat turned out it would be a boat I rebuilt, not a boat I made. And in my time in the wooden boat community I've been welcomed with warmth and shown the joy that is a wooden boat. Especially one you built yourself. So I've decided to pass on the production boat for the time being.
And that pretty much brings us up to date here in the IPNCo. I'll try and write a bit more often but it's tough in the off season. I will poke The Typesetter so maybe he'll update his blog and you can read about the trials and triumph that was our Flathead attempt (And success!). In the meantime, stay warm!
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