It's Coming Togeher Nicely

Julia L. in Sin City awaiting her move north

 It's been a busy week here in the Big Sky Country on my personal sailing front. Last Saturday I took my squire, Tethian, out sailing for an adventure. We launched out of Big Arm and by all accounts it was grand. Winds were higher then predicted and stayed that way. If I had a slightly larger boat it would have been a long and comfortable sailing day. I have small boat and while never frighting it was most decidedly uncomfortable at the helm. With our weight Esmeralda never heeled but her helm was telling me the wind was higher then she would have liked. The waves in that area due to the nature of the bottom and the topography create short, breaking wave sets that do a great job of unsettling a short drop keeled boat. I did not run out of my quotient of fun but it was tested. Tethian's father sails a full keeled race boat to some acclaim on the lake and he is used to that stability, power and sure footedness. I'm not ashamed to say my Lido is lacking a little in each department in comparison. But a good time was had by all. We finished the day riding  jet skis at his family's lake house and me loosing my glasses in ensuing fun. But it was worth it.
 Sunday was  day of rest and I took the opportunity to list my beloved Lido 14 for sale. I drove home after an errand to a gentleman looking her over. He had the feel of a collector and not someone who would take the heavy use of such a boat seriously. We parted ways and I'm not unglad he didn't seriously pursue ownership. But I did end up selling my boat that day. To a young couple enamored with sailing and wanting to know all about it. I can't buy enthusiasm and desire. And that is was my boat was built for. So I'm meeting my buyer up at Dayton this Sunday were we will annoy the big boats in the buoy race and I'll do what I can to teach him a bit about this pastime I love so much. And when all is said and done I will kiss my boat good bye and she'll be off to new adventures without me. And I could not be happier for her. The Typesetter might pop by with the Piccup and I'm sure a boat race will ensue.
 What about the catboat? Well fear not. In a mutual bemoaning that six weeks was a long time with the boats current owner we decided to half that time. Instead of mid October it will be the second week of September and a rigging demo in a parking lot in Beaver, Utah. The lady and I will overnight at a hotel then daysail the Clark Canyon Reservoir before bringing the boat home. I shall not be boat-less but without a "large" small boat for only a week after the loss of my Lido. Then the real work can begin.

Curiouser and Curiourser

Michalak boats at the 2009 Rend Lake Messabout, Rend Lake IL.

 In the lead up to building my FatCat2 I reached out to to one of the only other known builders of the craft on Facebook. I figured he could tell me a bit more about the vessel I had decided to build and what it was like to sail. I never expected to learn that he had moved and was considering parting with what the designer called the prototype! After a very serious amount of deliberation lasting approximately two second I decided to begin talks on the possibility of me acquiring the the boat.
 I'm pleased to say that today I've entered into a gentleman's agreement with the owner to take command sometime this early fall with hopes for a few sails before the weather turns. It will be traveling from sunny Las Vegas, Nevada to reside here under the Big Sky.

2009 and the FatCat2 prototype was splashed at the Rend Lake Messabout.

Second year at Rend Lake. New Dacron sail, gallows and a 2hp Evinrude.

2011 and third time is the charm at Rend Lake.

2012 and full sail.

Between outings at Rend Lake 2013.

2014 and still looking pretty. Notice the winch to help with raising the mast.

 I also stumbled across the build blog for the craft. There were no pictures remaining and I had to use the Internet Wayback Machine to do it but it was really cool reading about how the boat was built and a few of the obstacles that had to be overcome. A cracking good read as Tom Cunliffe might say.
This does mean selling Lido #1280 but it's a good time for that too. Tonight, or rather early this morning I'll be picking up a new boom and getting that boat ready for sale. Bittersweet but time. I'm sure I'll get a few more Lido sails in this summer but it's time for something that's not a slightly high strung, two crew thoroughbred.
In the conversations I've had and the very few videos I've found everything seems to point to a cruiser in the FatCat2. There is the space of a twin bed up front. Room to put a grill on the back. Space enough for a portacastle for longer distances. I see no reason why two people with the ability to share close quarters couldn't have a good weekend afloat in the boat. And since that's what I need we seem to have fit the bill.
 Currently we're finishing up some mid season work on the Piccup and come August we'll hit the water once more. We've filled in weak areas on the hull, repainted, added a skeg and will be remaking the mizzen.

Why Catboats?

Beetle Cat sail. Lake Union, Seattle, WA.

 Because there is something right about a catboat. When I informed a good friend I was thinking of the FatCat2 (FC2) his first question was "Why a catboat?" That's a good question indeed. Their perceived vices are well known, the come from the other side of the continent and they are the epitome of anachronism when it comes to a sail craft in the 21st century. And there I think lies the answer. At least for me.
 This whole sailing thing started when I realized I had a burning desire to go to sea on a sailing ship from centuries past. And that it was a feeling I couldn't get rid of. So I built a boat and here we are. But it wasn't to go cruising on a modern cruiser or ride the cutting edge of technology in an AC yacht. It was to be a man of iron in a wooden ship and see the watery part of the world as it was then. Or at least through the pages of Melville and Alexander Kent. But that's tough to do in a land locked state. I'm not sure if the Royal Navy has ever BEEN to Montana and whaling is decidedly not an industry that ever took great root here. On account that we have no whales. Or salt water.
 But as a nautical romantic I'm drawn to these things. And what is more in line with that then a true working sail craft from the era? Nothing to my eye, well damn little anyway, looks as proper as a catboat under sail. Ghosting along on some foggy New England morning with the days catch a mere glean in the eye of her skipper and the ships cat just now waking up. The moan of a far off foghorn and the clang of a bell buoy. You can taste the salt air when you look at a catboat! It's for cable knit sweaters, pipes in teeth and a proper cap to top it off. That is a catboat. At least as I see it. It's the whole form. The barndoor rudder, the gaff rig, the oval windows the way even a plain jane catboat has a grace and a purposeful elegance.
 We've attempted this road before when I ordered the plans for the Skat. Which I still have here. Somewhere. But that isn't quite the full boat I need. No guarantees what will happen when I happen across the safety stashed plans mind you. But as I examined what I needed in my near future a 12' open cockpit boat wasn't quite it.
 See the Lady of the Manor while indulging my sailing obsession as it ebbs and flows with the seasons is not what I would call an enthuastic sailor. She runs a good foredeck and can be counted on to be a level head when mine is decidedly not but she is content to be a passenger. And as skipper it's my job to ensure her comfort. And sitting on a hard plastic seat in a fourteen foot centerboard sloop is not her idea of a great time. And as the seasons progress it's becoming less of mine as well.

The Lady of the Manor on the jib.

 I've touched on this before but I would really like a weekend boat. At least I think I would. Something to bring down on Friday, sail till Sunday and drive home well spent. And if I can do it a manner that the Lady would like to join me on occasion all the better. The Lady enjoys her beauty rest and informed me that a place to take a nap, a 'down below' if you will would suit her needs greatly while sailing. Someplace to occupy other then a plastic bench in a plastic boat while we go careening about the briny deep in search of my nautical fantasies.
 Now Jim Michalak designs fine boats. So that was the logical place to start. I have towing weight to consider, aesthetics of the thing, overall saltiness, ease of build and the list goes on. I was very attracted to the beach boats but one thing I couldn't abide by and that is a split top cabin. Call me old fashioned and a stick in the mud but if you're going to put a cabin on something make it a proper cabin. And that alone narrowed my choices. The love of the cat rig narrowed it further and the desire for a lower trailer weight left only one choice. The FC2. This process was started and finished in four days. From the time I decided I needed to build a new boat to pulling the trigger on the plans. They arrived four days later.
 So now I have the plans, an idea of a build timeline and what needs to happen in order to meet my projected splash date. I have a design for a boat that speaks to me on such a nautical level it makes my arm hairs stand on end. And I'm really looking forward to building again. Of course this means letting go of a majority of my fleet including Lido #1280 but I think we're both okay with that. After all we've had many adventures and I could not have been blessed with a finer first real sailboat.
 The last thing I'd like to point out as to why a catboat is the fact I sailed my first one just this last year. You can find that adventure down the blog but it was wonderful. I don't think the smile left my face from the minute I saw it at the dock to hours after the lesson. The photo at the top of this post is the background on my phone. That 45 minute sail simply cemented the fact I had to have a catboat in my life. As a matter of fact I think I professed that to the lady as I was tying the boat up afterwards. And she agreed. Because there is just something right about a catboat.

This is my very very happy face. As I'm trying to not end up on the leeward side.

It's like the DC-3 of small working boats.

The Newest Addition to the IP&NCo. Fleet. Coming July 2019!