New Years Resolutions?

   Well it's a new year and a happy 2012 from all of here the IP&NCo.! It's going to be a great year and sailing will feature prominently. There are two resolutions I have that involve boats and the water. The first is spending more time during this dull off season working on the boat. Procrastination and excuses because it's cold and I can't sail get me no closer to to it being warm and able to sail. I posted a list a few entries back about what needed to be done to get Blue Flower finished. A more important list would be what I can do now.

1. Sand the mast, boom, and gaff in preparation for varnish.
2. Prep the interior and exterior for painting.
3. Order new sails.
4. Purchase hardware prior to installation. Jam cleat, deck plates, assorted.

   That alone should keep me busy through the cold. I just can't sit here and do nothing on my boat. Doing a lot of reading on the gaff rig and small boats in general. And after a conversation with the Typesetter, we all know how those go, looks like the Mayfly 14 is back in the works. I know I was all hot and bothered for the Ocean Explorer and I still may build it. But it's not getting me any closer to THE boat. It's cute, unique and would be much fun to build but when it's all said and done it's a one person boat if I'm honest. And I'm not really interested in a one person boat. Sailing is so much more fun with two. Or with the load of provisions a two person craft can take!
   So what crazy changes are you making to the Mayfly you're asking. Gaff rig? Jib? Yawl? Dagger board and trolling motor? I really hate to disappoint but I'm leaning towards none of that. Shocking. The plan is pretty solid and although I'd love to buck it, you can't deny the utility, ease, and power of a balanced lug rig. The leeboard is a pretty bullet proof and safe for re-orienting the hatches I don't see a need for a major change in the boat or rig. This is going to be a boat for the Flathead and I think I need to keep her pretty close to plan.
   Over the holiday season I re-watched Tom Cunliffes wonderful Boats That Built Britain series and was again blown away by the knowledge contained and the production value. Of particular interest are the episodes on the schooner HMS Pickle and the big herring lugger Reaper. The HMS Pickle segment deals with the development of the fore and aft rig and the Reaper episode the evolution of the Scottish fishing craft. Seeing as I sail a gaff rig and am familiar with the lug sail it's good to see it on such a scale. Not a bad way to enjoy a cup of hot chocolate on a cold winters night!
  The second resolution for this year is simply to sail more. Looking back at this last summer I'm reminded of the days I could have gone out and did not for a variety of pleasant distractions and reasons. But where would I be now had I hit the water if only for a few hours? Granted I didn't have a trailer hitch but that has been rectified so I do hope to spend more days on the water as opposed to the shore wishing I was on the water! So I'll leave this post with a picture of what will become a common sight here in the Garden City. If you see us, stop by and say "hi". We love visitors and love to talk sailing. Here's to a great and wet 2012!

Passion is the Fuel for The Fire of the Soul

It's still a pretty hard winter here in the Big Sky Country. But a short session at The Typesetters house has ignited the boat building passion once again and I thought it deserved a blog post. But I'll start at the beginning.
Once the cold and snow settled here I was set on my next boat. The eight foot PDR inspired Cabin Cruiser known as the Ocean Explorer (OE) by  Perttu Korhonen with technical assistance from Mik Storer. For those living under a rock for the last few years a PDR is a boxy boat with great performance and is in fact a racing class. The OE adds a cabin for one person camp cruising.

From Duckworks.com

It has a full set of Storer foil and rig plans and would out perform just about any other 8' camp cruiser or open sailboat on the water. I had been lusting after it after I saw it on Duckworks and decided to pull the trigger and order the plans. The plans alone were worth the money. It's all in metric and some of the measurements are carried out to a tenth of a millimeter.  But as I pored over the plans a bit of apprehension hit me.
I knew I could build this boat. But could I build the boat in the time frame I had set out this summer? The Western Montana Home Built Boat Association has a messabout scheduled for June 24th on the Mighty Flathead Lake. And I'm planning on attending the Center For Wooden Boats Home Built Boat Show in July sometime. So with the worst winter in years  I was looking at a shortened time line as I work outdoors.
Building a boat is not a big deal but the OE is a different kind of cat then I'm used to. There is lamination, curves galore and a fit and finish that while nice does not lend itself to a very quick build. If done to plan it would be rather expensive if done right and I'd need a trailer and a hitch to get it around.
So knowing my timeline I've been sweating the last few months on how I"m going to get the money to get all this done and then find the time. Or find the time and then the money. It simply wasn't coming together.
Part of the OE's appeal is the ability to sleep on it comfortably. Well as comfortable as you can get in an eight foot boat with a cabin on it. This would save me paying for a hotel room in Seattle.
I finally decided I would simply throw my eight foot One Sheet Skiff Trudy C. on the roof of my 1970 Beetle and get it to Seattle. The boat is done and ready for a show, but I'd have to sleep in a hotel. Simple as that.
Enter a book. The Year of the Boat by Laurence W. Cheek. It chronicles  the build of a boat very much like the ones I've build and others that have been considered these long cold months. As I read it, skimmed it is more like it, I was returned in an instant to what building a wooden boat is all about. The fear. The trepidation. The hope and the unknown. And the urge to build a new boat hit me like a thunderbolt from the clear blue. I honestly was surprised. The last few weeks have been karate inspired and getting in shape and other martial goals. I had to get up in The Typesetters kitchen and pace. It was like electric energy and I had to satisfy it.
When starting this blog I laid out a series of considerations for my next boat. I'll put them up here.

• The ability to carry more then one person safely and comfortably.
• A proven design with a greater build history then the Harley 8. 
• Enough room to sleep one in relative comfort, and if not carry the gear to allow it.
• "Instant" construction using plywood.
• Small car compatible, either on top or behind.

Those requirements have not changed. The plan a long time ago, at least in blog time, was to build a Michalak Mayfly 14. But that entered into trailer land and for the foreseeable future that is not going to happen. Enter the Summer Breeze by David Beebe. An 11' 8" Day Sailer based on the Bolger/Payson Teal.

The plans are free. She'll carry two without fuss and sleep one semi-comfortably. Good amount of freeboard and room for floatation boxes. Able to be car topped and built in the style I'm used to. Not only that I can get into a 3D hull in about $70.00 and take it to the nines if I'm financially capable. So there you have it. Once again my future boat has changed. And it may well change again. But I'm on a mission now. I'm planning on getting the lumber next month. I have a place for dry storage so I'm not too worried about buying it early.
There are a few things I want to do with this vessel I've not yet done but have been advised to do so. Chief among them is cap the top of the hull with the gunwales. That'll hopefully stop the checking issue that cheap Luann can be notorious for.
And I may yet build the OE. It looks like a well thought out, very capable boat. But I don't think it's the boat for me, right now. But I will have the plans if I get a wild idea as I'm known to. But I'd rather be sailing then building and I only have till June!
For all my readers I highly suggest The Year of the Boat. Boat Building is a madness but one I'm privileged to share with home boat builders across the world from every walk and avenue of life. So if you'll excuse me I have boats to go dream about and voyages to plan that are yet to be taken. Passion is the fuel for the fire of the soul. And it feels very, very good to be alive.

A Plan Forms

I would like to state publicly my goal if sailing the Texas 200 within 5 years in a box boat.A friend I've not seen in years breezed into town and we talked a bit about doing things down the line. He's most impressed I built a boat and has mentioned in passing that sailing is something he'd like to do. And that's all it took to get me thinking. That this whole build a boat sail the world thing I've started has done just that, started. And to keep up momentum on this grand adventure more challenges will need to be found. So the grandaddy of small boat adventuring is a very alluring goal. Five days in the middle of nowhere fighting bad weather and yourself to simply say you've done it. It will take training and study. Preparation above all else. A boat will have to be built and tested and a whole host of other odds and ends. But I'd like to think I can and think I will.
On other fronts I'm waiting for a payment to come in so I can purchase my Ocean Explorer Plans. I spoke to the designer on Facebook and cleared up a few issues on the build. It's in metric but I can buy a metric ruler easy enough. I've figured that total of $550 should get me the boat and trailer seaworthy. Not done, but ready for the water. There is a contingency plan to get the build started if the winter continues in it's current fashion come spring. I understand it's all La Nina or El Nino related and it's been a stiff winter.
Myself and the other members of the Western Montana Home Built Boat Association are pleased to announce our Spring Messabout to be held at at Finley Point State Park on the shores of the mighty Flathead Lake. The date will be June 24th to 26th. You can find out more on our Facebook Page, a link to which is on this blog.

Life on the Hard is Sort of Boring

It has been awhile! It's deep winter here in Western Montana and all my boats are put away until next season. But I figured an update was due to you, the fine readers of this blog. All three of you.

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!

The next fall messabout is currently scheduled for September 25th, 2011. We hope to see you there!


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!

She'll sleep one internally, has a centerboard and is designed for the kind of off the beaten path, shallow water exploring I hope to do with a small boat. The designer, Perttu Korhonen in association with the indomitable Mik Storer drew up plans and I am hoping to order this for Christmas with building starting as soon as the snow melts.
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!