Busy Summer

Launch of my boat with it's original 80sqft sail plan. Stolen shamelessly from the Sleeping Schnauzer.

 It's been a fairly busy couple of days. Seze is now full rigged and waiting to return to her trailer. The varnish really improves the appearance of the vessel. Now he won't admit it, but when I first introduced him to wooden boats The Typesetter couldn't understand why people varnished wooden boats to make them look like fine cabinets. I think he understands now, his boat has more bare varnished wood then both of mine put together. Or it could just be a happy accident.
 Re-rigging the boat was an experience in itself. I have no camera and forgot to take notes when I disassembled the rig. I was left with spars ten miles away and a literal plastic bag of boat parts Now my rig is far from being the most complicated, I would imagine most plastic boats this size have far more rigging bits then mine, but it seemed daunting nonetheless. All my life I've been taking stuff apart. Sometimes to see how it worked, other times to simply take it apart for the sake of seeing how many parts were in it. And I can't count on one hand the times I put what I took apart back together. So while taking it apart is a theme,  putting it back together certainly isn't. Well the Typesetter put three good coats of spar varnish on my bits and let me know he was done. So with nothing else to do I picked them up and figured I'd wait a bit to look at pictures and the like to prepare.
 Turns out I'm also impulsive and impatient. What started as simply putting the bits back on turned into fully re-rigging the boat. First up was putting the pulleys and metal sidebars on the lower mast. Now when Andy rebuilt her, in his finite wisdom he added a tabernacle mast much like the one found on his Weekender. I'll spare you the details but just to say the first time I put it together I got it all backwards. On the plus side judging by the holes and wear telltales on the mast I was not the first to make this mistake.
 The rig proper was fairly easy to get done. I did learn that my fear of heights disappears when I'm rigging a gaff rig ten feet up on a shaky aluminum ladder. Who knew, right?
 With and extra day off evening work I pulled the Trudy off the blocks she's been resting on all winter and wrung out her spirit sail for the first time in a year. She's rested about as well as one would expect. A full restoration would be required to get her up to snuff. I could sail her now but a few hours of work will make her her truly ship shape once more. One thing that did impress me, as it always does is the simplicity of her sprit sail. I'd forgotten I'd added a boom and she responded well while yard sailing today. I think I'll need to fashion a proper mast and spars for her. And redo the rudder with less haste and more thought to actually making it work. Once I get the bugs worked out I hope to use her as my training ship for prospective captains and mates to Blue Flower. If you can sail an eight foot dinghy with a sprit rig I figure you can sail just about anything, certainly a 12' gaff rigged microjammer.
 As work continues on my current fleet a few nagging thoughts come up. As always, what is the next boat. This has been a constant on this blog and it's no closer to getting solved. The fact is I have a boat I can finish without too much work. She's the eXpedition Goose, 12' of pure Andy Linn innovation and planning. Really a scaled up Salem Electron, a PDR he sailed on the 2009 Texas 200. She's got a centerboard, rakish shape, a cloud of sail and designed for long distance solo sailing. Andy actually just finished his last? Texas 200 in an Perttu Korhonen designed Oooze Goose. She's carry four comfortably and be safe for Flathead if I wanted to take her out on big water. The cost is finishing up the centerboard, painting, framing and decking. And finding a 100sqft lug sail.
 Currently she sits in the Typesetters boat yard with a coat of primer and no wood work completed. It's almost August and I can't leave her there forever, nor in that state. She was given to me for free and she's mine so finding something to do with her is up to me. Part of me want's to find her a nice family who'll use her every weekend. I mean I could use her every weekend and I may end up doing that but only time will tell.
 IF I were to have a next boat, the list is short. Bolger Tinycat (Bobcat), Mayfly 14 and the Goat Island Skiff. All have their plus's and minus' but they are all a step up from the Super Teal. They will require more attention, patience, materials and money then my current build. If I were to add an in between boat I'd include the Bolger Payson Windsprint.
 But 80% of boating is planning and scheming that rarely comes to fruition.But it's a damn sight better then nothing at all!

Doldrums....Not Quite

 The varnished mast, spars and trim are sitting on the trailer as I type this. And they look gorgeous. Now comes the bit where I put it all back together. Weather permitting I'll finish most of it up tomorrow. After a bit of discussion we'll be changing the triple purchase offset mainsheet to a single purchase traveler set up. Should ease some of the problems I've had with the boat in heavier airs. The Typesetter is pushing to get the Goose done and other distractions are taking up their share of my time and money. Oh if only I had a single hobby! But juggling is half the battle and I'll be back on the water by mid August, if not sooner. I do have S/V Trudy if I get desperate.

Demasted

S/V Blue Flower Gooseneck (Stolen from Sleeping Schnauzer)

 After an hours work the Blue Flowers rig has been taken off and stripped. I'm left with an upside down boat and a bag full of hardware. The masts, spars, bowsprit, tiller and trim are at The Typesetters for varnish. From what I can tell the wood has never been finished. I can't wait to see to see what she looks like when it's all done but I feel kinda empty with a partial boat out in the yard.

 I must admit I felt a little weird as I took apart the rig. This is what gives my boat her identity as a sailboat and is her only mode of propulsion. I did get to see a lot of the detail that went to the rig though. Most of the attachments are hand made and the nylon lock nut is the preferred fastener of choice. The spars and mast are surprisingly  light weight and easily transported. I'm unsure of the wood used but it's rather dense.

 Underneath the bow trim piece I found the other mast step, about a foot forward of the one I use now. Would give a jaunty catboat look and maybe open up the possibility for a mizzen but that's for another day.  I'm thinking that sandpaper may take off enough of the top coat to get rid of the white speckles that coat the starboard side of the boat. When this refit is done she'll take on more of the identity I'd like for my boat. She'll still turn heads no matter where she goes and that is important. What sailor doesn't want a good looking boat?

 So I'm out of the sailing game for a few days but I could use a break. I figured it's 24 miles to my pond one way. Last week I drove almost 200 miles going sailing. That's a lot of gas! I'm thinking of cutting it back to twice a week for the pond or once a week to bigger waters. Will it happen like that? I don't know but it's a good plan. I'm hoping to get The Typesetter and S/V Pica out on the water with me a few times. Always more fun to sail with friends.