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.

Vlog 3: On the Water

We made it on the water for the last time in the year. Something nice to remember at the end of December!

Design Considerations (Or Lack Thereof)

S/V Kat Boat on a beautiful fall day. Polson, MT

 Big Sky Sailing Season 2018 is firmly astern. The vessel is cocooned under her tarp at the rear of the house. My thoughts are firmly planted on next season and the big plans that exist there. And of the volume of work I have to achieve before July. And this line of thinking brings me back to how I found the boat and how design choices lead to making this boat, a fine boat in it's own right, a better catboat.
 The Fatcat2 certainly looks like a cat boat. It's design cues are unmistakably that of those stout, working craft of the eastern seaboard. But when you look closer and more so when you sail her do you understand the whys and hows of what makes a catboat tick. And where for all of it's wonderful visual cues  the Fatcat2 fall short. But all is not lost and that is what this post is all about.
 I know I've touched on my history with catboats but it's short enough I will recap it here. They have always been my favorite sailboats. And I've spent an hour at the helm of a Beetle Cat in good winds with a man who knows these boats. And fell in love all over again. Then I bought the plans for a Fatcat2. And then I bought one. So that's my knowledge and history I have with the type. And in that short time here is some of what I learned.
 The catboat as a type evolved into what we know today for very specific reasons. Nothing exists without a reason for a vessel that fished in shallow waters with a minimal crew. The work it did shaped it and when looking to recreate that I fell you must draw from that well. And here is where perhaps we can bring the design of the Fatcat2 closer to that goal. If that is in fact the goal you're looking for.
 We'll start with one of the hallmarks of the breed, the rudder. Catboats are known for their long, barn door rudders. Absolutely out of place in just about every other boat you'll see it's my understanding the sail plan and work dictates this. The bottom of the rudder is even with the skeg so no kick up is required when working in shallow waters. And the enormous length and leverage works to counter act the force of the large sail placed so far forward. The Fatcat2 comes with a standard Michalak kick up rudder, a slightly enlarged version of what you find hanging at the stern of my previous Piccup Pram. I've now found several times that there wasn't enough waterline length on the rudder, especially at the slow speed coming out of a tack, to put the boat where I needed it. Now coming mainly from a marconi rigged Lido 14, a boat that will give you change on a dime turn this is a surprise. I had my suspicions that a short rudder may be the culprit,due mainly to the fact that kick up didn't look right on the stern of what was so clearly a catboat.  So I hauled on the kick up line a bit to see what the response was. Wasn't quite night and day but it was close. The extra leverage from more rudder in the water lengthwise meant better response, especially at slow speeds, and a much better feel. Going forward I plan on a redesign that will lessen the depth of the rudder while slightly increasing it's length.

Full and by in light winds on Polson Bay.

 The warped boom is also another problem. But the replacement is going to have to be a different scope all together.  Catboats have a relatively heavy boom. This keeps the boom down and lessens the need for a vang, something no self-respecting catboat has aboard. Now the Fatcat2 is designed with a boom of three laminations to finish 2-1/4" round and includes a stout vang line. By my reckoning the only reason for the vang is because the boom as designed isn't as heavy as it should be to ensure this oft touted feature of a catboat. The S/V Kat Boat did not come with a vang installed and due to the heavy purchase of the mainsheet to the boom gallows I have not noticed any major problems to be solved by adding a vang even in a slightly worrying blow. That replacement boom though will ensure further that the sail stays were it should. One of my hobbies involves the operation of a steam powered sawmill a few times a year. It is my goal to mill out a new solid boom 3" square and shape it to fit. There may be an upgrade in hardware needed to accommodate the new boom but that's one of the joys of an online chandlery.

Final day on the water.

 There is a also a laundry list of smaller things I'd like to do to improve the catboatness of my craft. You can see one in the above picture, using a gaff bridle instead of the single point to attach the gaff. I'd like to add a wire forestay to keep the loads off my mast on certain points of sail. It's a common design element for this type and it makes sense, especially if I'm going to be adding low down weight with the new boom. It's these small things that as I sail and observe more about this vessel that makes me wonder why they were not included from the get go. There is a century and a half of design work on building a better catboat. I love how this vessel is very much it's own design but I feel in some ways it misses the mark on the sheer utility of type if not the character. Hopefully when I'm done with the next stage of work she'll have a little bit more of both.

Master and Commander. Ready for new adventures.

Vlog 2: Sea Trials

Just touching on some of the things we learned and some plans we have for the future.

Welcome S/V Kat Boat

S/V Kat Boat. Big Arm State Park, Flathead Lake, Montana

 With a christening party planned for two weeks out, it was time for sea trials. Up to this point I have done everything I know how to do to make the boat ready. Chased down minor but important issues. Made it a properly legal boat in the state. Read everything I could on catboats and sailing them. Until there was nothing left but to load the boat onto the trailer and head north. We arrived on time, 0930 just in time for my friend and co-worker Josh to show up. We rigged the boat in about fifteen minutes and made our way down to the docks. And there to greet us was Jim and the S/V Desdemona, as well as a Missoula built fiberglass sailboat. The glass boat was hauled out because the slip they were renting was too shallow for the full keel boat. Thankfully not an issue the two Michalak designed boats had. We slipped her into the water and I parked the car.
 I walked back to see the prettiest boat I think I've laid eyes on floating next to the dock. Now the Lido was pretty but in my eyes nothing compares to this little catboat. A true pocket yacht. The first test of any new boat is simply getting aboard. As I stepped down onto the side locker an into the boat my first feeling was of astonishment. I looked up at those assembled and commented how stable she was. And the leeboard was up! For the last five year or so getting into a boat meant scrambling to get the centerboard down to make simply moving about as stable as possible. And here I stood, on the side of this craft, the major point of balance not in play and she didn't even feel my weight. Well maybe a little.
 Rig up, crew aboard, give a push. And we were off. Not quite drifting but not quite sailing yet. But the eastern wind shadow is predictable and then it happened. A simple, gentle puff. The sail filled and we were off. A wooden boat has a certain sound when sailing. And it's truly music to the ears. Just a touch of heel and we drove across the wind. Easy on the helm, sheet tight and we were off. Sailing.

Full and by

See how the mainsail sets.

Desdemona astern and catching up rapidly.

 We could not have asked for nicer conditions. The breeze was just right, three or so, the water calm. I kicked my feet up, turned the helm over and just enjoyed the boat. It was truly everything I had wanted when I made the first choice to build it. The cabin was just the right size. The cockpit large and roomy. The rig easy to handle. A boat you could sail in for hours, anchor up, sleep, wake up and do it again.

Josh was rated Ordinary Seaman during this trip.

Always better sailing with friends.

The Lady enjoying her cabin.

 As so often happens these days the messing about turned into circumnavigating Melita Island. We new rain was in the forecast and the grey clouds to the north suggested more interesting weather ahead. We pulled in the first reef and headed for Melita Pass. I should note that that The Lady and I had practiced this drill on the hard several times. And it sure paid off this trip. We ended up reefing and shaking out reefs several times this trip. And the understanding and foresight paid dividends. As we rounded the island the winds kicked up. Steady five gusting to fifteen. A classic Flathead Lake snotter, lasts about twenty minutes and makes you wonder why you went sailing in a small boat. We ended up with sails down safe in the lazy jacks and bobbed about, while the rain came down and the winds piped up. And then just like that is was over. Sails up again we continued west.

Melita Island. Notice the change in sky color.

Desdemona is moving in this picture.

 And then we were becalmed. Josh began rowing. And then just like that, hard winds once more. Steady eight. We saw 4.5kts sustained on our GPS app. The reefed sail was full and the boat rode like a dump truck. Going throught the seas, rather then over them. A draft horse instead of a thoroughbred. Thump. Thump. Thump as our flat bottom made contact with each wave.
 We made it back to the dock, where we let off Josh and brought Dan aboard. Once more out into the winds. Back and forth. Always exhilarating but never feeling truly in danger. The boat solid and dependable. It was a sea trial in more ways then one. And when it was all over, the boat was truly ours. She had meet the mighty Flathead and come away with confidence and understanding. This is our boat. Welcome to S/V Kat Boat. Flagship of the Inland Packet and Navigation Company. We have a great future ahead.

Lost and retrieved my lucky hat. We aced the hat overboard drill.

Preparing to Set Sail

Figuring out the reef points while The Typesetter looks on and porta-john makes wisecracks.

 Our 1,400 mile sojourn to pick up the boat has left both myself and The Lady in need of a rest from long distance travel. Sadly this time of much needed rest falls over our favorite medieval event of the the year. But the silver lining is a very relaxed pace to prepare the boat for her official debut on Saturday, October 6th at Finley Point State Park. And today was a day for doing just that.
 Where the boat currently resides it's impossible to raise the mast for boom and spar work. So it's off to find a suitable location to do that. Today was Thursday and like so many of those days The Typesetter and myself, joined by The Lady took in coffee and fiddled with the boat. As we got the rig up some rather startling peculiarities popped up.
 I've had the rig up before and the first thing I noticed was the mainsheet did not run free. There was an incredible amount of binding in the triple block set up and that was dangerous. I figured it was a combination of a mainsheet too long in the heat, sticky and stiff, and blocks at the wrong angle. I was sure right about the wrong angle. The entire boom has a pretty severe warp to it. This causes the block to bind the sheet on what would be starboard tack and leaving no cushion should a gust hit. I remember well how I fought the issue of binding in the Blue Flower and ended up changing that set up as well.

C'mon catboat! Let's do the twist!

 This would require some fixing. I was also looking at how to reef. And doing it at sea would be hazardous if not almost impossible. And sailing on Flathead that isn't an option. So jiffy reefing it would be. I have set this up on my Piccup Pram and it has proven to be quite successful. So off to a few neighnoring harbor stores to get the requisite parts.

The Typesetter lounging while parking lot sailing.

Happy skipper.

Shadow is a fine dog.

 First up was a new mainsheet. There is a Duckworks order coming soon that will include all line needed but with the splash fast approaching a new mainsheet is the minimum we'll need. With the boat I got a back of assorted blocks and I found I had enough swivel blocks to replace all but one. This drastically helped take that apprant warp out of the boom and combined with the new sheet the boom runs free.

Swivels all around

  Jiffy reefing was based on a diagram I found on Pinterest as well as my own experience. The corners were done with padeyes leading up to the reef grommets. Although there is some friction in the system subsequent testing has shown the validity and usability of the concept. We'll hit the water the ability to reef. And that is important.

The basics of the idea

Forward starboard

Forward poartside

With a the reef in.

  Those were the major things accomplished on the boat today. There where a few minor fixes, line replacement, tightening up the gaff outhaul with renewed line and ensuring other things were ship shape. The mainsheet aft padeye was also replaced with a smaller eye and a swivel block to help with the tension issue. Tomorrow the hope is to install a gaff bridle and a rope traveler at the stern. We'll have the option to sail with either depending on the weather. We splash in three days. And we'll be more then ready.
 Also sold the trailer that Lazy Shamrock was on to The Typesetter and included the boat. New adventures for both I'm sure!

Sailing Inland Sea Vlog Episode 1: Welcome Aboard!