OH, NO!

As I was prepping for my first launch, I decided to move the boat around and make it easier to get the CIY out. I moved Anago out to the road and moved Disciple Ship away from the side of the house so that I could get here out without moving either of the other two trailers. I want to make it as accessible, easy and quick to taker her out. The easier, the more she'll get wet.

When it was time to put the Hunter back in the yard, I re-hitched her and started backing down the drive and over toward the side of the house. Suddenly I heard/felt something (it's a bit of a blur). I looked behind me and the trailer had come off the hitch! What?!!!

I quickly got out of the SUV and went to see. The first thing I thought was that I may have forgotten to secure the latch on the hitch. No. It was down and in the locked position. Had I not gotten the hitch down onto the ball far enough? I really don't know. That's possible. It's also possible the adjustment on the hitch needs tightening. One thing is for sure - I'll have to check it all out before towing her again. 

The worst thing that happened was the outboard broke in two! Yep, looks like it's ruined.  Someone said that I might be able to get parts. We'll see. In any case, it's going to cost some money, whether in repair, replace or reduced selling price. 

What a sad sight! It turned out it was quite the chore getting the tongue back down. I attached my hitch extender to the hitch, back it under the tongue, backed my neighbors truck down to the boat, looped a heavy rope around the tongue, under the hitch and attached to the truck and then slowly pulled the truck out. The hitch came down readily. 

The motor got caught between the boat and the ground. Motor lost the battle.

Close up after reattaching trailer. Ugh?

I was not using the safety chains. Bad on me, but I thought I'm must in the yard. Also, I did not have enough weight on the trailer tongue. When I last retrieved the boat, I didn't get her far enough up on the trailer. There was just barely any weight on the tongue. I knew this but didn't have to trailer far from the ramp. I knew any bigger trip would require a better arrangement. 

I still don't know why it happened. Further investigation is a must. 

LAUNCHED!

It has been two months since I finished the boat (is it ever really finished?). Timing, holidays, sickness, cold weather, schedules, etc. derailed any attempt to launch the boat until now. 

I have been on the search for a suitable day, one that I hoped would be reasonbly warm, sunny, light wind and one in which my family could participate. My birthday loomed large. Forecast was decent: rain in the morning giving way to mostly cloudy skies with temps in the upper 60's. A Tuesday would exclude Tara and crew but that idea was sinking on my list of suitable days. Did they really care that much anyway? 

So what better day to launch? I set out to make it happen. I prepped as much in advance as I could (more on this story coming in a latter post) including new tires on the trailer and came home early from church. The sun was peeking out and it looked like it might be fairly sunny which was good. 

Here is Disciple Ship ready to go. Pretty - ain't she?

At the ramp getting ready to rig the boat. Rigging went very smoothly. I took my time. I didn't actually time it but take down took 30 minutes. That time will improve with practice. 

I tied a rope to the bow and, after putting her in the water, gave the boat a shove toward the dock. With the lake at winter pool, it was a short distance to the dock. Here I am getting things ready to shove off. That's a 5 gallon bucket I took as a bailer. It's too big! Got to come up with something else. The pitcher I used on Little Bit should do. 

I'm off. I wanted to get a little distance between me and the dock before hoisting the mainsail. What little wind there was seemed to be blowing out but I didn't want to chance winding up on the rocks my first outing. 

Raising the mainsail proved to be a little bit of a challenge. And the lazyjacks halyard got jammed. I'm wondering if the lazyjacks setup is interferring with the main halyard. I'm going to take it off before the next sail and see if it does any better. Below you can see here with full sail deployed! That's one big mainsail! She's luffing a bit here. Not much wind and I'm trying to get her on a tack. When I did get a good puff, that mainsail filled and looked absolutely beautiful. 

A little closer. Oops! Forgot to get in my fenders. Bad form, but I had a lot on my mind. 

After tacking around a bit, I doused the sail and rowed back in. Here I've turned around so I can see the ramp and make a soft landing. 

Successful first launch!

Disciple Ship at rest. Good girl! 

I believe she is going to be a fun boat. I felt very comfortable out there. I won't be quite so nervous the next time out. Can hardly wait!

Football Anniversary

Note: This is copied from my Facebook post dated Friday, November 25.

A 50th anniversary is a pretty big deal. As time would have it, I'm at an age where some of those 50th's of memorable events are happening. 50 years ago tonight I was playing football for the John F. Kennedy Kougars (sp. is correct) of Richmond, VA at the City Stadium of Richmond. We were playing the Thomas Dale Knights of Chesterfield County for the Central Regional title. Thomas Dale was 10-0 and heavily favored. We were 7-1 and unlikely participants in the contest. As a "cinderella" team, we had finished the regular season as co-district champions. 

The decision as to who would represent our district in the regional title game was quite a circus. Virginia officials went back and forth and it even went to court. The final decision was not made until Thanksgiving morning. "Thankfully" John F. Kennedy HS was chosen to represent the district. The game was played the next night. My only claim to fame was a mention by one of our star players, Linwood Lancaster, about the defensive ends doing their job. That was me. 

Here are a few pics to commemorate the Kougar victory. Included are some clippings about the uncertainty, the game itself, the program (I'm listed at 162 lbs but only weighed 140 soaking wet), a photo of the team, and several photos of the ring that we earned (we actually went door-to-door soliciting donations to pay for them; they're gold but only cost $25). 

Unfortunately, we lost the state semi-final game to the Annandale Atoms of northern VA (they were the arch rivals of the T.C. Williams Titans of "Remember the Titans" fame - the movie based on the true story that took place just one year prior to our season).

 
That season holds a very special place in my memory bank and became a cherished part of my youth.
Oh, and BTW: Something else happened at JFK that became more than a memory - I met Robin there!!

Ready Yet?

Thanksgiving came and went and the boat didn't get wet. I thought I was going to be able to launch on Saturday but schedules and an emergency surgery of a church member squeezed it out. Fact is, I probably wasn't quite ready anyway.

Today I spent three hours with some "final" prep. I ran the lazy jacks through the eye hook, sorted out some lines and put up the mast again. It all looked good and I liked the way it all came down. We'll see if the process is repeatable without getting lines all tangled. While the mainsail was up, I vacuumed out the boat. Amazing how many leaves got into the boat with a tarp over it. I guess they blew in through the slightly open ends. 

It's been a week since I posted and I was busy with little details. Here is a pictoral walkthrough.

I hoisted both sails! Looks pretty good!

The rigging of the sprit boom on the mizzen.

I rigged the mizzen sheet through the boomkin. I think I'm going to replace that clam cleat with a cam cleat. I may replace the clam cleat on the mast with a horn cleat. You can also see a safety line tied off to an eyebolt just aft of the mizzen mast. This goes to a cleat on the mast which will prevent the mast from coming out of the partner.

I rigged the downhaul. I used spectra for the lashings on this. The line will be under a big load.

I attached the permanent mooring cleat. I had to put it off center due to some framing on the inside of the flotation chamber. It'll work fine and looks ok.

While I working the day before Thanksgiving, these two birds walked by. We've seen them numerous times before. Guess no one told them what time of the year it was. LOL

I attached the tiller extension. I used a 1/4" line tied with a rolling hitch, put a washer between the tiller and extension and secured it with a velcro strap. Gonna be watching that hitch. I may switch to a thumb cleat and bungee cord.

I tried doubling the 1/4" bungee cord that I had but wasnt' satisfied. I'm going to used a regular line. I may get some 5/16" bungee and do it as called for in the plans.

I had attached a cleat for the mainsail downhaul. I wound up moving it over an inch because it was too close to the mast to easily cleat off the line.

Here's my rope handle for the daggerboard. It should float so may not be very necessary, but it's there.

I ran my two bridles for the mainsheet. After putting a loop in the forward bridle, I rethought it and took it out leaving just a straight be of rope. 

Clint suggested holsters for the oar locks. I screwed two of them on the aft bulkhead just underneath the side benches. 

 

Oh, The Details of Rigging!

I spent three and one half hours today working on the mainsail's rigging: lashings, reef loops, reefing lines, halyard, lazy jacks, etc. I actually ran out of line. It takes far more than you think. I have some old line that should do, at least temporarily. I also went with the 1/8" line for the lazy jacks. Hopefully that will do though I had planned on 3/16" line. I used my spectra (only ordered about 12') for the tack lashing and downhaul lashing, two places I thought the low stretch would do the most good. I have one more lashing to go on the boom for the mainsheet and the bleater. Once the mast is up, I'll rig the downhaul. I have yet to hoist the mizzen and rig the boomkin with mizzen sheet. Again, I have some old line that should work. I lashed the mainsail to the yard a few days ago. Still waiting on the fit for leathering the yard and boom (I may add leather to the mast instead).

Just a few pics. 

Sail lashed to yard, boom and mast laid out.

Outhaul rigged. Not sure I like that clam cleat. Might switch to a horn cleat.

Tack lashed to boom with reefing loop in place on the second reef.

Mast and yard showing halyard arrangement.

Hoping to launch Friday, but the forecast is sketchy. We'll see. 

Getting Real Close!

Getting real close to finishing up this girl!

Last night I laced the mizzen sail to the mast. Only question is how tight to pull those laces. Might have to see it in some wind. I used a daisy chain to lace it on. 

When I strike the rigging, I plan to leave the sprit boom attached and roll it up in the sail attached to the mast. Looks pretty compact. I'll strap it to the seats for transport and storage along with the mainsail and other spars. Might at well wrap up the boomkin with the mizzen as well. 

Today I spent about three hours trying to finish up the hardware on the boat. I worked on the mast partner. It has turned put pretty nice I think. I did have to trim the gate a bit. I'll probably stick just a small strip of leather into the partner to take up just a wee bit of slack. No problem. 

I had to attach the mooring cleat off center. It would not work easily on center due to the framing underneath the flotation tank top. I think it will be fine there.

I also attached the clam cleat in front of the boomkin and an eye bolt just aft of the mizzen mast. 

This evening I doubled up my bungee cord by sewing a second length to the cord in a postion that will put it between the gudgeons. I think this will give me the extra pull that I don't have (I have 1/4" bungee vs 5/16"). We'll see tomorrow. 

The whipping is due to my failure to singe the end of the bungee after cutting it. It really wanted to unravel. I purchased a small metal cleat to attach to my rudderhead for the bungee. Hopefully this will do the trick. 

I'll post a couple more pics for this post tomorrow. 

The only significant thing left to do is finish attaching the mainsail to the yard and boom and running my lines. Once I do that, I'll know where to sew my leather onto the yard and boom. I'm going to ask Clint or maybe the forum about leathering the mast instead of the boom. Seems easier to me. 

 

A Little More Outfitting

I'm just about finished setting the boat up for rigging. I did the boom tonight and finished off the yard.

Here is the aft end of the boom. The eye strap is for the outhaul which will run from the strap to the clew, back to the cheek block and up to the clam cleat on the side of the boom a little forward of the aft end. There will be a carabiner on the end of the outhaul which will clip on to the clew (or a loop tied to either of the reef cringles if reefing). The hole is for tying off the mainsheet to the boom.   

Here is the clam cleat on the boom. 

Here is the forward end of the boom. The tack of the sail will be lashed to this end. 

I also cleaned up the end of the yard that I had to repair with some epoxy. It turned out fine. 

All I have left to do is finish up the mast partner, attach a clam cleat for the boomkin and eye bolt for the mizzen, figure out my bungee cord for the rudder and then rig the sails!!!

I ordered the correct size eye strap today along with a carabiner and 12' of 1/8" spectra line. The eye strap is for the partner, the carabiner for the outhaul, and the spectra for whatever I can imagine where low stretch line is a must - perhaps some of the lashing.