Electrical Power Restored!

Bow Illumination

Short day. Got the battery back in and the wiring figured out. Also pulled the hooks off the bulkhead and drew up my pin rails for a wood working friend of mine. Onward and upward!

Interior Illumination.

Rigged and Getting Ready!

With Dan and The Typesetter. Rig is up!

 Day off of work and a full day of playing with the boat! We have snow in the forecast but today was in the mid-50's and just called for boat work. I pulled the FatCat2 around front and with Dan and The Typesetter supervising rigged the boat, bent the sail, and prepared for summer fun. Never mind my favorite sailing lake is still frozen over, the rig is on! Most things went back as I remembered but the tome The Cat Boat and How to Sail her from The Catboat Association was a great help.
 Our friend Bobbie came over and The Lady and I ordered some custom decal bling for the boat and will start the process of seeing if we can do some custom sail art as well. The boat is packed back away behind the house but she's a little closer to sail season. And so am I.

Rigged and almost ready!

Lines run and neat.

L-R Throat, Peak, Leech, 1st Reef

Can't think of a prettier profile!

Last Day of Winter

S/V Kat Boat in the sun for the first time in 2019

 It's the last day of Winter 2018 and work has begun for the season. With a final snowstorm spring is on the way. Sure we'll most likely have one more snow event but the temperatures are rising and even the flying insects are out. And as soon as I could I started work.
 As faithful readers will no doubt recall The Lady and I are headed to Port Townsend, Washington for the Pocket Yacht Palooza (And the following Crooza) this July. We've a long way to go a short time to get there as far as our future home away from home is concerned. But we take it one day at a time and it'll all get done with time to spare.
 I've done just a touch of work during the winter, adding a fold down chart table to the cabin. And I'll admit that the lack of ability to get things done has been driving me, and by proximity her, positively nuts. But I've wasted no time and so much done so far!
 First up was the rigging. It's been my plan to go to double purchase on both the throat and peak halyards. Thanks to my visit to the Beetle Cat I got a pretty good idea of how that would work.

Beetle Cat Halyards

 I had purchased 300' of quarter inch nylon for halyards, replacing the suitable but less then desirable line the craft had had purchase. It has served me well and I have had enough left over for new halyard set up. Of course I haven't put the mast up fully yet so both are rather long at this time.
 The light line that was in the lazy jacks needed replacement. The jacks on Kat Boat serve as topping lift as well and the stretch of the original line was not ideal. I used slightly thicker nylon as a replacement, remaking the system as a perfect copy using the original.

 The last rigging itemaccomplished was reworking the mainsheet, to very Beetlerific 'to the hand'  and traveler set up. The original set up let to the tiller and while very nice while cruising imparted drag and lack of feel. The nice thing is it's simply a matter of rerouting line in order to switch between the two depending on how I'm feeling on the day.

 In between all of this has been bailing and drying and sorting. The Lady is hard at work coming up with storage solutions and preping the cabin for our future trips. Thought is to be wet no later then April with the first Messabout set for May 18th at Finley Point State Park.

Work on a bright winter day

I posed a question over on The Catboat Association Facebook page about how to properly fly our national ensign. Now if you're up on your flag code as it pertains to sailboats, you'll know the point of honor on a gaff is not necessarily the highest point as one would thing. The proper display is at the peak (top) of the aftermost gaff. Now I heard on the page that flying the flag from the stern, as one may on a powerboat or marconi rig is perfectly acceptable. And many gaffers do. But one answer gave me what I needed. I ordered a grommet set and added a flag attachment to peak of my gaff. Now Old Glory will fly where the Good Lord and the Flag Code intended it too. Some traditions should be followed. 

That's better.

That's it for the time being. To really finish up I need to get to location where I can raise the mast. But seeing as we have four feet of melting snow everywhere, including my back lot, I can almost sail anywhere if I can get the boat off the trailer! I should be unthawed come this next weekend and I'm sure we'll have another round of updates. Winter has not been fun at all and this changing season is very welcomed. 

Happy Spring from me and us to your and yours!

First Sail of 2019

Sailboats on Elliot Bay

 I'm pleased to say after 145 days dry I've had my first sail of 2019. Faithful readers will no doubt recall my sojurn to Seattle a few years ago where I took a lesson in Beetle Cat and truly fell in love with that classic design. Well on this years family vacation I did it again. And it was wonderful. As soon as plans were set and hotels were booked I emailed the CWB and requested another hour with an instructor and their Beetle Cat. I figured sailing in the region in the middle of March would be fine. The trip was multi-legged, with a visit overnight in Portland before we headed north to Seattle.
 Day one saw us traveling west and south from our home base in the Big Sky Country. Lookout pass was predictably awful but my mothers car got the job done.

The Pony-First steam locomotive in Oregon. Cascade Locks, Oregon.

Bridge of the Gods. Cascade Locks, Oregon.

 Our mission this day was a bit more search and destroy then usual. I wanted to visit the SAGE Center at Boardman Oregon to learn more about modern agriculture and timing was cruical. Our hour there was wonderful and I highly recommend it to anyone traveling along I-84. The simulated hot air balloon ride was excellent.
 Evening found us in The Rose City and the zoo was our goal the next day. The Oregon Zoo was wonderful. Great habitats and they have a train ride.

Mountain Goat

Bald Eagle

Lioness

Lady and the Pride

 

Zooliner

 Following our foray at the Zoo we spent an hour at the Chinese Gardens before returning to our hotel. The next day was our trip north, with a stop in Olympia for a tour of the stunning Washington State Capitol. And then it was Friday, Seattle Day.
 Seattle started early with the first showing of Superpower Dogs 3D at the Boeing IMAX. Only way to get here was monorail. The film was everything you expect from a proper IMAX presentation.

Heading to the Seattle Center.

Even the poster was huge!

 Then it was time for a sailing lesson. We arrived at CWB early and I checked it. Due to a miscommunication my instructor was out with a sailing class. This did give me ample opportunity to view the sailboats, seaplanes, birds and assorted watercraft.

Blanchard Jr. Knockabout out on Lake Union.

Classic DeHavilland Beaver starting it's takeoff run.

Lightship Swiftsure under wraps for the season.

 The boat I'd chosen, as I had last time was the Beetle Cat. My goal this time was to be a bit more aggressive in my application of knowledge and to ask questions that pertain to our upcoming July trip. As I waited I took some detail photos and examined this classic boat from every available angle. If the Lido 14 is my go to choice for a first trailer sailor then my first on the water choice must be the Beetle Cat. Simple to rig and safe to sail. All these small boats teach sailing, not necessarily boat management like can happen in some larger goats. And you can own one if you know where to look!

The Beetle Cat.

Gaff Jaws

Awaiting Adventure

 Eventually the Lightings and Blanchard Jr's came back in and I was introduced to my instructor. Ned Flash has done the Atlantic by tall ship twice and enjoys the small boat fleet at CWB. We paddled the Beetle over to a far dock and set about rigging for our hour on the water.

Prepping to row to dock.

Ned rowing, I on the helm.

Rigging begins. This was the first time the boat was out since a severe winter storm a few weeks previous.

Alas and alack! There was a tear. But it was below the first reef line!

Adding the reef.

Sailing off the dock.

Tacking out.

 I'm very pleased to say I remember how to sail. It seems silly now or course but that was my biggest worry. Well it was all needless. I tacked, I gybed, I beat, I ran. I was again reminded of how nice a Beetle is and what it really means to feel connected with a water craft. The slight tug of the tiller due to the famous weather helm. The feel of the sail as it filled. The way you really have to pay attention with the rig and what happens when you get to greedy with the mainsheet. It was truly a great afternoon sail. Nothing trying our out of the ordinary but a great reintroduction to being under sail once more. In addition to knowing the boat well, Ned was also a great conversationalist. We talked and agreed that small boat sailing needs to be a greater gateway to sailing then many seem to give it credit. That the ability to buy and sail your own boat is in much closer reach then anyone thinks. And that places like the CWB (And groups like my own WMSBA) need to show people that sailing is for everyone. I hope that those young people in the class prior to my lesson know this. And that their foray into sailing can go from an afternoon activity to a hobby or a lifestyle.
 It was over far too soon. But now the fire is rekindled once more. I long for the feel of my tiller in my hand and the wide open horizon in front of me. It's going to be a great summer.