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!

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.