If You Have to Ask What Boat Stands for...

Cromwell Island to starboard 2013

 The Lido and trailer need a bit of touch up work after only two sails this season. But what's another thirty or so? Which in my case it what boat stands for as I've not quite spent a grand on my fiberglass hole in the water I'm throwing money into. Today the prime expense is a new tiller. The Typesetter built a very pretty laminated tiller to replace the one that came with the boat. It's worked well but we've had consistent cracking problems at the rudder end and after this last sail it's to the point I can't really trust it anymore. Nothing like hearing the crack of wood when you come about. So I bit the bullet and ordered a new H and L Marine tiller off of Ebay. I did some research on H and L and they come highly recommended, having made tillers for production boats for years. They may have gone out of business recently so I figured why not, the price was the same as from the Schock website. Should be arriving in a few days, I'm quite excited.
  My trailer is very slowly giving me reason to want to a priest to bless it. There is a ground fault that enjoys blowing my trucks taillight fuse randomly. The Harbor Freight trailer jack refuses to stay put. And the bolt that holds the knob style hitch went missing during the last transit. Today I completely dissembled it to make it work better. Bought a new bolt at Ace Hardware and spent an hour on my back trying out various forms of profanity to see if one word or another made the job easier or if a combined string had any effect. I should just put a proper hitch on it but it works for now. Added a lock nut so the bolt shouldn't disappear so easily.
 And with that I'm done sailing for at least a week or more until the new tiller shows up. At some point soon I need to get a new centerboard and a new rudder, as both are showing their half century of service. The rudder has a bit of a twist along its lower sections and both are pitted and worn. The centerboard has seen numerous rocks, trees, monsters in it's life.If I want to keep sailing I need to replace them.
  I think part of owning an object is making sure that's it's done right to the best of your ability as soon as  you can. If something is wrong or off or doesn't work right, fix it as soon as you can. Don't wait, don't hesitate. Objects we like and cherish deserve this treatment. And besides a boat you can't take out today because of something you should have done yesterday does you no good tomorrow. Or something like that. 
 While looking over the forums and then looking over the boat I see that the mainsheet block was moved aft about six inches from it's original location, a modification that is recommended for racing boats. There are four plugs where the old screw holes were. I'm guessing it was moved during the time it was a saltwater boat. Maybe when it was listed on the class register 1964-65. Makes me wonder about Esmerelda's first owner. Was she purchased to race? How did she do? And what journey did she take that caused her to end up sailing fresh water in the Big Sky Country?
 I've been looking over the internet for video's of other Lidos and I must say I'm not a fan of the 6000 series. They lack a certain texture that appeals to me in my boat. Gone is the wood and "brass" accents that highlight various parts. Where do you store stuff for a day sail with the fo'c'sle all boxed in? And the rudder is now pure pintles and gudgeons, the the elegant solution provided by the classic boats. I can't fault it for what it is, a modern sailing dinghy but it's nice to know it came from classic roots, although fiberglass it's easy to see my boat in wood. And I'm more then okay with that.

Soul of a Thoroughbred

Waiting for the starting bell

  The Woman went looking for a a truck, which happened to be about thirty miles from my favorite sailing spot so SV Esmerelda, my truck and herself went to go look at it. The weather was forecast to be a bit heavier but "good sailing" according to most charts. I figured if it was too much we could bail and go explore Polson or something. It was a fine plan.
  Surprisingly the weather seemed fine upon our arrival at Big Arm State Park. After looking at the water and feeling the wind I judged were I at the local scum pond I'd take a Teal out there we got the boat rigged and ready. Now it should be noted that we have no true sailboat docks anywhere on the lake. To my knowledge not one public dock was set up with sailboats in mind. The wind was blowing parallel to the dock, stern on from the launch. I managed to get the boards down and the mainsail up in such a fashion as not to alarm the crew. With everything ready, I let go the lines and we started toward the shore, tiller hard over.
  You know how in a disaster things happen really quickly? Thankfully I have seen the events before. First I discovered that at low fill I can find the bottom with the centerboard pretty easily. However it does not get caught it just makes a very expensive sounding noise. If you've been bored enough to read this blog in it's entirety you know I had a bit of an issue with snap jibes and boom skying on the SV Blue Flower. Well turns out a Lido 14 does it pretty well too. Due to the wind I left the dock on a run, and turned up. There was an immediate snap jibe followed by the boom skying and the top of the sail wrapping itself around the mast. Unlike my Teal I can shift weight a bit better and got the boat stabilized and headed into the wind while I set about fixing the issue.
  A tug on the sail got the main unwrapped and set and I set about finding a close hauled course while I got the jib up. I can't say enough good about the crew who followed my hurried orders and help to keep the boat balanced. After sorting out what was moments ago nicely placed and ordered lines we were on a beam reach and headed out into the lake. With a chance to look at the sails I noticed there was a deep draft and figured I'd flatten it a bit to get the power down. It didn't work.

The Deep

  I asked the crew to get the GPS and keep track of our speed and course. Now the hull speed of a Lido 14 is about five knots. We maxed out at 5.5kts on our run out. It seems the boat only wanted to race. "Settle down Esmie" "No! Let's go fast this way!" "I don't want to go fast right now I'd like to figure out how this works" "No! Go fast!" "I appreciate the sentiment but I'm not sure that's the best idea right now. I'm trying to figure out sail trim and-" "Fine. You're not listening, hold on. We're going fast. GUST!!!!!" (With apologies to Tom Pamerin and Jagular. My boat talks too.)
  I'm not ashamed to admit I was a bit nervous. Once more the boat never felt that she was going to go over or anything but being in rather large and very cold water I wasn't as brash as I would be in a small pond with the shore a swim away. So there was much feathering and air spilling and somewhat frantic orders at times. In the end we were out for about thirty minutes and other then a rather interesting start, the sail was a good one.
  I'm learning to sail all over again with this boat. It's obvious she's got a mind about and that mind involves thoughts of speed. I'm not sure what kind of sailing was done with this boat in the past half century but I'm now certain it involves racing and lots of it. On the water the years fall away and this boat just wants to go fast. There was a kayaker on the bay with us and I'm now certain the idea was to go faster then the kayaker could have gone.  However her current skipper isn't quite ready for fast. And I'm not quite sure what to do about that. I have purchased a boat with the heart of a racehorse. Never mind the slightly misshapen sails, the missing trim pieces, the bare fiberglass on the floor and the questionable transom. I'm certain given some courage and a good breeze I could go anywhere I wanted at a speed I've not experienced under sail.
  It's a bit intimidating but I'm excited for the future. I need to fix the trailer and get another tiller but so help me I'll sail for a 3/4 of an hour but June. And maybe go a bit faster. Or a lot.

All the Fun Before Noon

  I now know what to do if I loose my forestay with the jib up. I could write it up in an epic post but it turns out I did a short video shortly after the event and will let myself do the talking.

It was a good day, if an eventful one. I learned a few things and I'd like to pass them on.

• Rig Tuning. Rig Tuning. Rig Tuning. The recreational tuning for a Lido is to have little or no movement of the mast. That can't be overstated if you're cruising in a Lido.
• The importance of good line If the turnbuckle had broken or the crimp come undone I was in a position to jury rig a new forestay with the paracord I keep in the anchor bucket. Having that 20' of line is important in so many ways.
• Doing one thing at at time. I was suprised in how easily and naturally my triage of the boat was. I took it one step at a time, not rushing and working through the problem. I think my experience and preparation through running steam boilers and years of martial arts training have given me a set of problem solving skills that befit a solo sailor.
• In looking back at the event I never felt that the situation was spiraling out of control or that I was in immediate physical danger. Yes the water was cold but my forethought as far as the weather and conditions meant the boat was stable and upright throughout the the monkeying on the foredeck. As a matter of fact the only water that entered the boat was the spray from intentionally beating through waves and the ice that fell out of the cooler. 

  I couldn't ask for a better first sail when something goes wrong. I remember yelling at the lake as I held my forestay in one hand behind my head while trying to get the clevis pin in with the other hand that it didn't get to win. The commentary alone must have been interesting. "Oh no you don't! Give me that. Fine. There. Okay what's next. Damn sail.  GET UP THERE!!". 
  The Typesetter and myself plan to go out again in two days time. I'm glad I had this chance to figure it all out. Because it'll only get better.