First November sail this year

On the second day of November with temperatures in the mid sixties, we get a lovely sail.  The wind was lighter than it seemed, or something was different.  Couldn't get to windward very well with the light air in such messy, sloppy water.  I did power sail though, rowing with the rig drawing and that worked really well.
I sailed into a marina to see a fellow sailor before he leaves for warmer latitudes for the winter.  His boat looked great, and ready to go south.  While leaving the marina I was startled by what had to be a big fish, but at first thought it might be some kind of seal or something like.  The muddy brown color made me think it was a fish, but it had some girth to it when it surfaced, kind of like a seal does.  Who knows what lurks in that muddy river.
More fish were jumping during the rest of the sail too.
I had to row up the marsh to get back to the launch site and was very pleased to be reminded of how easily this boat rows.  I must remember to make rowing a priority on the next boat.

sailed into a marina and right up to a cleat in a slip while I got out and talked with a friend.

Rewind----64'f good SSW winds

The day before yesterday was snow, sleet, rain and today I'm overdressed for a nice sail in the afternoon.  64'f and a strong breeze from the south and west, with some gusts that send us planing when we are running down wind, well almost.
Today I launched from a different place.  The Haverstraw Bay park's ramp is open year round, free for kayaks, canoes and row boats, and the skiff qualifies.  It's a really easy place to launch from and really the only place that I can launch for free, no matter the state of the tide.
Today was also the first time using the new, longer push-pull tiller.  It works great!  Very comfortable to use from midships facing forward.  Mission accomplished.
We had some "rollers" today, large long waves, about 3-4 from trough to top.  It's so much fun in a boat that sits so low in the water.
We sailed from the dock on departure and back up to the dock on the return.  Wasn't sure we'd make it with out using the oars, but we did.  The oar blades stayed dry today, but the handles got a little bit damp when a wave came up over the windward side and into the boat, and on me.  The water is cool but the day was so warm that it just seemed fun.  With the tiller I am better able to steer the boat over the short chop and eliminate a good bit of the pounding that the flat hull might do otherwise.

Today while sailing I remembered something I had just read about the hard chined sharpie hull.  In shallow water the hard chine can dig in and work as a bit of a keel and allow for a bit of sailing to windward with the board up.  I think that for this kind of sailing that I want to do this makes up a lot for the tendency for the flat bottom to pound.
when I came back to the dock a guy was watching me land and haul out the boat.  He eventually came up and asked if WHISP was a homemade boat.  He said it looked it.  I don't know if that is meant to be a criticism but I don't take it to be because as I was sailing today I sailed close to a 30 something foot long boat with the big dark sails, mylar or carbon fiber, or something.  We were sailing in the same water.  I'm sure I was having just as much fun as they were on that big boat but I'd wager that the sails on that boat alone cost more than all of the boats I own, or ever have, and yet there they were sailing in the same water using the same wind, but my home built boat cost less than the sailing jacket any one of the crew was wearing!  In my mind, I win.
Today was a bonus day for my micro season this 2016, but I think I've sailed more days than many who had their boats in the water since early Spring.  Again, I win.
I look forward to next months anomaly day and hope that the wind and tide and fortune will let me back out on the water.

Micro Season Apex!! 80'f in October !!!

Hi temp today 81'f!!!!!!!  No shoes, no socks, no shirt sailing.  Strong north wind, Force 4 with higher gusts.  Today shipped the rudder and steering stick.  It's good to know that it retains it's bite even when healed over, which happened a bit and to a greater degree today as I tried to find out how well the little skiff could stand up the wind. 
At times the wind died down to an easy breeze, and that made for amazing lazy sailing while laid out on the cockpit sole soaking up the heat of the sun, like charging my batteries before the cold sets in.

Looking southwest into sunny sky and cloud and shimmering water

At the auto bridge I dropped the mast and rowed under it and into the marsh.  I still had the rudder in place and with the wind behind me I decided to stand up and sail down wind using my body as the sail.  It worked! Wonderfully actually.  After sitting down all afternoon standing was nice.  The steering stick (a push pull affair) worked as if it was meant for standing and steering.  I was initially concerned about stability, the boats, mine, but it turned out to be just fine.  The floors don't extend to the edges of the boat so standing on them keeps weight inboard where it should be.  I figure that sailing this way would make reefing very easy all you have to do is sit down!
I don't know why but I find it hard to say it but I think it may be true that I am become a "small boat sailor".  I have been so certain that I am not, but my actions and delight in this boat would seem to prove otherwise.

back on the shore, a flat bottomed skiff is so easy to beach and step off dry footed.

 

Well this was my 2 days of sailing this week and they were pretty great.  I am learning more and more about this boat each time we go out.  It is great fun to be the smallest boat out on such blustery days and to be doing just fine, sailing amongst the the bigger boats with crews on them, giving way, and taking my rightful way.
I have found that the little bay here, that I hardly even referred to as a bay previously, has now become my own playground with plenty of water for a boat like this and plenty of area for my kind of sailing.  I have a beautiful prominence to the north, with rock cliffs shooting up from the water and a lovely lighthouse atop, marinas all to the west.  To the east, across the river is a beautiful shore that seems like it is far away and I need not venture that far on most outings.  Sailing out as far east as the commercial channel gives me a great view to the south, down river, tall rock cliffs on the western shore and a lovely beach and a point to the south east.  I also know that looking south, I feel the presence of the Atlantic, just 40 miles away.  All I have to do is point that way and sail.  I don't need to, and don't even want to right now, but knowing that it's that easy makes it all a bit more amazing.
If that happened to be my last real outing for the season, then I've done alright, especially considering I didn't start my season until late September.  The handy ease of this boat means that my season never really ends, I just have to be ready for those nice days each month of the year that seem to materialize just to keep me sane and on the water.  I think I will invest in a drysuit for the colder season sailing.  I've been in the cold water once before and have no real desire to experience that again, although, it wasn't something I regret having gone thru, at least now I know what it's like, Hypothermia, and accepting once death in the present moment.  After that, everything seems bonus!

Huck Finn-ing it

The view from my lunch spot was marsh, reeds, sky, water.  Pretty great to be out on an 80'f day after the middle of October!  Had a romping good sail out in Stony Point Bay, with white caps.  Caught one wave over the weather rail, but ended up not nearly as wet as I have been from spray on my 27' foot boat.
Launched, rowed under a railroad bridge, sailed a half a mile, then dropped the mast and sailed under an auto bridge, then rowed under the lee of the land, raise the mast and sail and we were off!
On the return the marsh seemed like a good place to stall off going home, have a snack, and a short nap.  The little folding grapnel anchor kept us in place just fine.

This boat is soooooooo handy, easy to launch, switch from sail to row to sail.  The anchor is small and light and fit's in a bag with it's rhode.  I am excited about the 15 foot micro cruiser/camper/adventure boat, but sailing this boat and being able to carry it in the pick up truck and launch it myself, easily, will be hard to give up.

Bigger water and the Clearwater

A long fetch coming straight up the river, out of the south, force 3 to force 4
                    close hauled, the flat bottomed hull wants to pound when we drop off the wave tops and land in the troughs
I try to steer us to softer landings                We tack and come off the wind sailing into the Marina basin
We ghost along UNICORN, the hands on deck wave and say hello
we come back on our course to sail under The CLEARWATER and the crew waves and admires the little red skiff
                    Back out in the river and we run back up to the next bay, our home, the rolling waves lifting the stern
the main sheet eased out            I worried about control off the wind but needn't be.  It's a fun ride back home

On the approach to the dock I decide that I'm not ready to be done for the day and veer off and sail up to the light house as the sun gets low in the sky
even in the gusts the little sail seems to pull the boat along but not over press it
            It's just the right size for this kind of sailing          We sail right up to the dock and I reach out and loop the painter around a cleat.  3or 4 hours of easy, fun, sweet sailing, running, close hauled, beam reach, spray
This boat fits kind of like a kayak fits.

DDP Clearwater

rowing boat-sail boat

Glassy river, so just a row
to the point, to the light house
and back
                    the tide is ebbing and almost slack
row up river and let the current carry me back
                                                                            Out into the channel           the seagulls dive
the surface shimmers and a breeze is on the rise
                            The current helps us home, raise a sail, raise a hope, raise my spirits
at the bow the water sings                 close hauled, ease the sheet come off the wind
make myself comfortable, no shoes, no hat the sun is warm
come about and it's one long tack,
                                    past a beach, past a marina, past a yacht club, past people I go unnoticed
I must be invisible, a ghost ship, bright red hull, big white sail, bright sunshine
no one sees me
                      I'm a ghost, ghosting by right up to the landing with full sail raised
reach out and catch the cleat with my painter. 
A nice breeze is filling in but a couple of hours is enough today, there's always tomorrow, I hope.

I forgot how well this boat rows

row or sail the little skiff is becoming more and more cherished with each outing.  I want to take care of her, get her things, new, longer oars, a tent for the cockpit, better arrangements of everything.  I want to pamper her, which is really pampering me isn't it?
The chair at my desk rises on the swell that the tug that passed me going down river hours ago, left behind.  It's a giddy kind of instability, like a shot of single malt scotch.

It's good to be Back

Went out yesterday evening for a nice 3 hour sail.  I had meant to test out the rudder on the skiff but realized I had bent one of the gudgeons by dropping the stern of the boat while trying to off load it from the pick up sometime ago.  The up side was that I didn't need to worry about how the rudder and steering stick worked, and just enjoyed an evening sail to the light house and back.  It was gusty but I think I just about got it right for the amount of sail I have on the rig now.  The boat has weather helm, good, but not so much as to loose control.  The big gusts are easily spilled by easing the mainsheet, and yet, the boat moves along in a light breeze.

Today the weather was even better and I wanted to fix the rudder rig and test it out.  I have been under the belief that steering with the oars works very well and makes for one less bit of gear in the boat to have to control and store and carry, but, I had built this rudder and wanted to try it out.  The rudder is made our of cedar (formerly somebodies decking material for their house) and has positive buoyancy.  The tiller, or rather, the steering stick is yellow pine and works by pulling fore and aft.
Though it does add a complication to the rig, it does work nicely.  I was concerned that the rudder might not have enough wet surface area to provide steerage but at least in moderate winds, it's just fine.  The steering stick could be a bit longer, maybe a foot or foot and a half, and I need to replace the toggle that locks the rudder pintles into the gudgeons, I just tied them together today.
Power sailing for this boat is rowing with the sail up, and it works great.  The transition from rowing to just sailing is quick and easy, just pull in the oars, don't even need to pull them out of their oarlocks.  Steering from the rowing position is easy with the tiller and main sheet easily within reach.

sailing rig ready to go in a matter of minutes, 2 minutes at the most.

Dagger board trunk being built

Dagger board in use.  A bungee cord allows for adjusting to any amount of board depth.

 The mainsheet comes from the clue of the sail down to a detachable block on a ring seized to the stern painter on the transom, then is bent around the forward oarlock sockets then to a cleat on the daggerboard, though I don't cleat it off much.

An Ocean going canoe catamaran at the local marina. Really amazing and beautiful.

I also saw the sailing vessel UNICORN  today, and the skipper was kind enough to invite me aboard to take a look see.  She is about 108' LOA with square sails and fore and aft sails.  I need to look up what that makes her, windjammer, full rigged ship, clipper???????  Great boat.  Enjoyed meeting the Skipper,  If this were a month ago, or things were just a bit different, I'd be pleading for a berth to get the ship down to the Chesapeake.  It would be what some people call a "BUCKETLIST" item for me, sailing a tall ship.
Waiting out Hurricane Matthew by going on perfect daysails here and knowing that people down south are dying a losing their homes, land, is kind of strange.  I guess somewhere in the world something really hard is always happening while something wonderful is also going on.

A short sail

After having such a lovely time in the morning rowing the pram around the pond, and getting inspiration from the amazingly pleasant weather, I decided that I needed to take the skiff out to the lake and reacquaint myself with her.
Sliding her into the back of the truck, I was reminded of how handy this boat is.  I drove to the closest of the lakes and launched there.  The breeze was up so I prepped the sailing rig.

Lake sailing.  This is the original cut of the sail
that is larger than the current sail.  The sprit is shorter now too.

We sailed the down the Western shore of the lake, the wind was out of the south.  A few little gusts kept me paying attention, especially as the water is cold again, and, there was nobody else on the lake, or it's shores.  When I reached the north end of the lake, where the sand beach is, I changed heading, gybing easily with the sprit rig and sailed across the wind skirting the beach along the entire north end to the eastern side where the dam is.  I beached the boat, dropped the sailing rig and rowed up the eastern shore.
On the southern end of the lake there are two large coves, or bays and I rowed up into the western bay and set the sailing rig back up so I could finish my circumnavigation with a sail back up the western shore to the launch site.
After hauling the boat from the water I spotted a set of antlers and the head of a deer swimming across the bay to get to the land on the other side.  He didn't need oars, but he could have easily set sails on that rack.  It was great to see him come out of the water and shake off before hopping right into the woods.
It was a nice way to end my sail.
Sailing along the sand beach was great fun and had such a different quality than sailing the  rest of the lake.  The beach was the lee shore today and the waves washed up on it making a sound and sight as if it were a much bigger bit of water I was upon.  Sailing along, with the bottom insight, sloping and sandy and the beach moving by quickly, was a bit exciting.
I have come to realize how much more pleasant it is to sail this boat with a minimum of complications.  The lovely rudder I built for it is not an improvement over using the oars as steering oars, each perched in it's after most oarlock.  It easy to switch between the two, or to just start using them both to row.  I still miss the ease at which the boat moved in light airs with the larger sail, but I do enjoy being able to sail in stronger wind.
I did not try to sail to windward at all, and being of the mind to row to wind kept me from worrying over a thing that this boat does not do well.
It was a very lovely day, a very "boaty" day and all in the middle of November to add.

While rowing the skiff I found that I should probably take the time to make a new middle thwart, just a bit wider to accommodate my big fat backside.  I made the thwarts the way I did, loose fitting so that they could be adjusted until the optimum position could be found, and so that the could be easily removed for sailing or lying on the floors.  This has all worked but I do sometimes wish that they were fastened tight so that there was one less thing to fuss over.  The middle thwart, the rowing thwart, needs to be about 6-10 inches farther foreward than I originally thought.  This would also have the affect of moving the bow down a touch, which would be a positive improvement.
I have decided that one of the things I don't like about this design is that the bow sits proud of the water.  This does certainly cause it to pound into the waves and it also gives much more area for the wind to get hold of her.  Instead of a sharp fine entry to the water she has a wide bottom that does help her to plane up over the water and makes her more maneuverable, but at the same time, takes away her ability to track.
In looking at the GOAT ISLAND SKIFF, which is a well reported sailing skiff,  I think it has less rocker, although  the stem doesn't quite make it down to the water, it exposes much less of the flat bottom to the oncoming water.
I do realize that by putting the sailing rig on this boat I was trying to get something out of it that it was not intended to do.  That being said, I have had some success getting her to sail.  She did better in lighter airs with the bigger sail, obviously, but she also seemed to go to weather a tiny bit better with that larger sail, probably due to the affect of the wind on the hull being so much less able to cause leeway.  But off wind and across the wind and in stronger wind, the current sail is much more comfortable to use.  I think it could be a bit longer at the foot, though the sheet lead would quickly become an issue, but it needs no more height on such a narrow beamed boat.
Although I do want to build a boat specifically for sailing and it may not be much different in form from this skiff (MAYBE THE GOAT ISLAND SKIFF)  I may still get the centerboard drunk installed and build a taller mast.
It was good to be out in her again.  It had been a while.  It was truly wonderful to have gotten to sail her.

The most pleasing sound of the day was when I heard the first bubble of the water along her hull as her sail started to pull and she began to make way.

Skiffing it again

So now that I have one less boat to focus on, I not only feel a bit relieved, but also a bit invigorated to use the boats I have.  The Bristol is still not an option for sailing, but I can continue working on her interior.  I love being in her cabin so doing this work is a pleasure.

Skiff with Current rig.

The only other sailing boat I have is the skiff.  The reduction of the sail area was a good thing.  The spars are smaller and easier to deal with, and the boat can be out in stronger wind.  On the negative side, the new sail plan seems to have moved the center of effort forward enough so that she really doesn't sail to windward.  Previously I was able to move myself forward and get the resistance underwater forward so she would just make to windward.  I was able to get away without a foil (daggerboard, swing keel or lee board), but now the sails center of effort combined with the reduced area, seem to mean that I can't get the underbody center of effort far enough forward and there is not enough drive from the sail to get her to overcome making leeway.  Or so I am assessing the situation.

I have 2 possibilities, I believe, for remedy. 1) build a trunk and dagger board and install it  2) add a mizzen sail.
The daggerboard option is pretty obvious, but there are drawbacks to it.  First is that the keel on the boat is only 1-1/2 inches wide so the trunk would have to be constructed in a way to compensate for the loss of keel structure.  I have an idea how this could be done, but it does mean cutting a hole in the bottom of the skiff.  It also means loosing the space that right now is pretty comfortable, and this boat has minimal beam so loosing any space is not the most wonderful thing.

The idea for adding a mizzen is that not only would it shift the center of effort aft, where there is more underbody,  but it would add sail area, that was lost, but down low, where it wouldn't cause as much heal in a skinny boat.  I also think that a mizzen might make the boat capable of steering herself, or at least using the trim of the mizzen to balance her out.  On the negative side the mizzen would be one more spar to deal with, two actually counting the boom or yard and it would mean retrofitting a mast step in the after deck.  It would do nothing to improve the resistance to leeway for the underbody, but I think I might be able to gain back the ability to sail just to windward.

A mizzen would be a sharpie sprit sail, with a sprit yard that is parallel to  the waterline, and a sheet lead to the transom.  A standard boom and right angle at the foot and luff would also work.  The mizzen mast could also give a better lead for the mainsheet. Bonus.

mocked up ketch rig w/jib

Well, suddenly it's a lot of sail area.  The thing about adding the mizzen is that it can easily be not used if it proves to be a bad choice, and with out any real alterations to the hull.  If it does work but the boat seems to really want the centerboard still, I can always add it later.  The centerboard might also add some counter resistance to the sails.

The mizzen mast would make a cockpit tent rig very easy, just a line between the masts and a tarp.  Sailing with jib and mizzen only might be an interesting option too.

This boat is really too skinning to be a good choice for sailing.  But, it is what I have right now.  I can still row it and sail it while building the mizzen and sewing the sail.  I would really like a beamier boat for sailing but I would like to enjoy not having so many boats for a while.  I think that this winter I may take on building a real sailing boat in the under 15 foot range.  For now I will just try this and see how it goes.

It is all just messing about.

sails

I know that there is something elemental missing from these photo's, like water, but one step at a time.  Presenting the Venture 21s.  "S" stands for short rig.

Formerly the staysail, now the jib.  Kinda small but it'll work

The shortened main sail.  Always was short along the foot.
The sail actually has roach to the leech but I don't have the battens in.

Cut and pasted jib, from the first photo into the second and now we
have all working sail up.

It's not a lot of canvas but I ain't racing and at this point in my experience with this boat, I'd rather be under canvased.  (Wink, wink, nod, nod).  I hope to be in the water next week.  Before the equinox would be nice.

Main's done

I got the main all put together and it came out pretty good, I think.  I hand stitched the new patches and used aluminum pop rivets for the head board (I reused the old head board) and then pounded in a grommet for the halyard to attach to.

Re-cut. shorter, stronger....
and hand stitched

I did have to put 4 of the sail slides back on but I used 3 of the old ones and one new one I had lying around.  I put in on the mast, as the mast is by the shop on saw horses and it seems to fit just fine.
Now on to the jib that has a torn out clew.  I think I will add a patch and then a roped grommet for the sheets to tie to.
Memorial day is this coming weekend, unofficial boat season beginning.  I have no intention of being on the water this weekend because it is usually madness.  This also means I am in no rush to get these projects done other than needing to move on to others in the shop, oh yah, and I'd like to go sailing again someday.

Re-cut the sails for "short rig"

The Venture 21 was considered a pretty quick boat in it's day.  It certainly seemed to move thru the water easily when I started sailing Ventura, even though the main sail was not the original, and about a foot and a half shorter along the foot, and two feet on the luff.  Now with the mast being about 3 feet shorter from the damage and the repair, the sails a little bit tall.
I am cutting the mainsail down by about a foot, and I need to loose about a foot and a half off of the jib and genny.  The staysail will continue to work as is if I fly it on the forestay in heavy weather, as I did before because the boat didn't have a inner stay rigged as was the original sail plan.  I will in fact rig an inner stay so as to assist the new rig.  I hope to set is up in the fashion of a running back stay so that it can easily be set and slacked for tacking.  It's an idea.

Old main, cut down, patch to be added, reused headboard

In re-rigging the boat I have had to raise and lower the shorter mast a few times and the few feet of lost length has made the job very much easier.  Yahoooo!  I am not overly concerned about the lost sail area.  On the main sail the loss will come from the head of the sail, a portion of the sail that has very little drive or area.
The jib and genny are a bit of a different story.  I don't really want to just lop off their tops, so I am considering putting a grommet for the tack up a foot and a half from the original and adding reefing nettles, and continue to use the original clue.  The sails could always stay "reefed" but the original area would be preserved.  Why I want to do this I am not really sure.  Partly because I am concerned about getting a good shape of the head sail if I recut it.
It is good weather for sitting in the shop with the big doors open and hand stitching the sails.  It is better weather for actually being sailing. All things in their time.
I found that a sail maker I have used before would build me a brandy new main sail for under $500, including shipping.  It is VERY tempting, but mostly because I am lazy.  The old main never set very well, was blown out and old, but, I do own it already and this boat is about spending NO money(which I have failed at, but it is a boat so I can't be to hard on myself can I).  If after launching the boat seems to have a good place in my life then I might splurge and order a new main someday.  For now it is snip, snip, stitch, stitch.
If I ever do order the new main I think I will have the change the insignia from V21, to V21s, to signify the short rig.

Skiff work

Today I cut down the sprit yard, got the mainsail set up for stitching, and installed a "keeper" for the rudder, to keep it from floating out of it's gudgeons.  I made the rudder lock, I guess I could call it, out of some yellow pine and a bronze screw.  It is a teardrop shape and hangs from the transom just above the upper pintle.  It can be swung out of the way so that the rudder can be placed or removed but hangs in a way to keep it in place the rest of the time.  Simple.  I may start stitching up the sail tonight, shouldn't take long to do the seam but the patches and attachment points still have to be worked out.

Rudder mounted on skiff!

Today I got the pintles on the rudder and got the rudder mounted on the skiff.  I am using a push~pull stick rather than a tiller.  This makes more sense for a small boat.

tiller is cedar and the push pull stick is yellow pine

 I got this idea from Ian Oughtred's Caldonia Yawl.  I have seen other vessels use it too.  The stick allows movement fore and aft to balance the boat, and keeps one from having to duck under the tiller or lift it over your head.

The "arm" is slotted thru a square hole and a peg keeps it in place.  I used a chisel to cut the square hole in the tiller.  I may change out the peg for a wedge.  A piece of line attaches the arm to the stick and serves as a universal joint.  Simple, cheap, affective, and it even looks kind of right.  I fashioned the gudgeons out of scrap stainless steel plate, but I bought the pintles.  The pintles are set in a dado.  I hope to paint the bottom of the rudder white, put a red stripe above the water line and varnish the upper section and the steering arm and stick.  I also need to put a "keeper" or lock on the top of the pintle to keep the rudder from floating up.  I have seen simple metal tabs that pivot on a screw but I might consider a piece of shock cord, in case of grounding so as not to rip apart any of the wood or fasteners.  I will probably build a longer push-pull stick later.  This one is about 5 feet long and a 7'-6" one would fit stored in the cockpit and might allow for steering while working at the mast.
I got to use my egg beater drill and my brace to drill the holes.  I haven't been using the brace as I have not bits for it, but the set of Milwaukee drill bits I have are 3 or 4 sided so they lock in the chuck on the brace.  It was very nice and quite and more controllable  than the screw gun or electric drill.
I am not sure how well the cedar will due for a rudder.  It is light weight and that is why I am using it, as well as it's being able to handle the moisture.  I will have to watch the stress points, at the pintles and at the steering arm.

New rig ideas

I love modern technology sometimes.  I was playing around with the photo of the rig on the skiff and made a quick visualization of what a reduce rig might look like.  So maybe a gaff head, or maybe just a reduced sprit, I don't know yet.  I am kind of leaning toward a gaff, but probably only because I haven't tried one yet.

Old rig

Possible new reduced rig

Rainy day sail work

Heavy rains today so I decided to replace the plastic twisty hanks on the staysail jib with piston hanks.  I have spares that are a size to big maybe, but that won't hurt anything and it's no money out of pocket.  The hanks I have are maybe #1 and I need size #0.  The only down side is that if I want to use the jib as a staysail and fly it by it's luff wire, rather than setting a stay The hanks are heavy and large and might deform the sail, but I don't really plan on setting it as a staysail anytime soon.
I had to sew eyelets on the sail as the plastic hanks didn't need them because they have a large surface area that contacts the sail and a screw joins the two sides of the hank to grab the sail and the wire on the luff.
The eyelets I made were small but should work just fine.

1 of 5 hanks on this jib

Hand work on sails has become something standard for me.  I enjoy the time spent making my boat a little better with such simple and tested methods and tools.  I don't need any high tech equipment and that adds to the level of return on enjoyment from boats.

It is suppose to get cold again as of tonight so it might be a while till I get out again, we'll see.  I am glad to have had that last sail, it was a good one.

Simplicity afloat

One of the reasons that I think I chose to build the first three boats that I did was because of their simplicity.  That desire for simplicity was not just to accommodate my limited experience as a builder, but also, and more so, to get at the foundation of what building a boat was about.  The boats were simple in design.  The materials were simple and accessible, common, not exotic and not expensive, and mostly left over scrap or reclaimed, even the sail.

By limiting the complexity of the boats it became easier to see what the essentials of any boat was.  By some apparent law of nature it seems that the simpler and most basic brings the greater and longer lasting fulfillment.

The row in the marina basin just the other day reminded me of how pleasing that simple act can be.  I didn't want to get out of the little boat, but I didn't need to be doing much at all in it.  It was enough to just be in it, upon the water.

As I listen to, and watch people around me struggle and grumble with the complex systems of their boats, and their lives, I am reminded of why I have made the choices that I have about what boats, what systems on those boats, and how I keep them.  My goal, ultimately, is to be upon the water in a boat, being happy.  This can be attained by being in my largest boat, with all it's accommodations or in the smallest of my boats with all it's limitations and because none of my boats is so filled with complex and expensive systems I can manage to keep quite a few boats, each with it's own unique application and qualities.

"Simplicity afloat is the surest guarantee of happiness." L. Francis Herreshoff

Skiff wind

We were treated to a warm sunny saturday morning, the first saturday I've had to myself in a long while, so of course, I wanted to go sailing.  The wind was forecast to be light to calm so I thought I'd settle for a row on the river.  Wanting to spend time with my girls, my wife and my dog, I thought the skiff would be ideal for this endeavor.

launching into the marsh
at the kayak launch.

I pulled the boat into the back of the truck.  It took more time to pull the truck up the the boat shed than it took to load and tie down the boat.  I was again amazed at how easy and quick it is to be ready to start an adventure with this boat.

We have never all been in the boat at once and we were a little concerned for how we'd fit.  The dog is not the most willing sailor and fidgets most of the time, straining to see and smell what land based interests she is missing by being in a small boat.  With 2 adults, a dog, a bag with snacks and the sailing rig lying in the boat we set off.  It actually fit us just fine.  Though narrow, the cockpit is long, 7'-6" and flat.  Because I can remove any and all of the thwarts we can have clear floor space, which is just what an old dog likes.

After rowing out from the marsh and under two bridges we decided to raise the mast and see if the light air would pull the boat.

I was also concerned about how this would work with the boat being so crowded but there was no need as it all went quite smoothly.  Because I had got in the bows to row, that was where I was going to stay.  It seemed a bit much to try and swap positions fore and aft in such a skinny boat.  So with the dog amidships, she was deemed the commander, the wife in the stern she took the steering oar and I trimmed the mainsheet which was led all the way forward after it found it's block on the after deck.  This arrangement actually worked out fine.

It turned out that there was enough wind to sail and we made our way up river to the light house on the point on one tack before we attempted our return.  The return was a bit closer to the wind so it took two tacks, but we did sail our way back.  The distance from the launch to the point couldn't be more than 3 miles so a 5 or 6 mile trip took us about 3 hours.  The tide was against us on the return but not by much.  The rate of travel wasn't as important as the fact that we were able to make way in our chosen direction, with no centerboard and steering with an oar, and a pretty good load in the boat.  The fact that it took as long as it did was a bonus in that it allowed us all to spend some time together soaking up the sun and feeling very happy to be where we were.

A dog, a boat, my wife and
a warm fall day.

We saw a few power boats moving up and down the river and one sail boat under power headed down river, but we saw no other boats under sail nor did we see and kayaks or row boats.  We had the place mostly to ourselves and that was just fine

Show me the Money!

Just for giggles I am going to keep track of what my winter sailing season is costing me and post it.  With each sail the cost goes down.

At 4 weeks in the water, and 5 sails so far each sail is costing about $125 a week, or, $100 a sail.

Now I was to charter a boat for myself to sail for a day, on my own, I'd be beating the rates already, best guess, because, I don't know of any sailboat rentals in the area.

At the end of my half a year of slip rental it will have cost me under $20 a week to keep the boat in the water.  Not bad, I think.  But I think one has to consider how many of those weeks will be suitable for sailing and how many of them will I actually get out.  So I will keep a running total going.

It is kind of silly I know, but I want to show how attainable the whole thing can be if one is willing to throw off convention and have some fun.

The yacht that came with the $800 trailer and outboard motor that I bought.
"Bottom paint, We don't need no stinking bottom paint!"
In the cold water growth on the bottom of the boat is much less, almost none.

CYC, 55'f wind wsw, 12-15 w/gusts....

November, sure it is.  Sure most of the boats are on the hard and wrapped in blue plastic.  Sure it was sunny and breezy and warm in the sun and a great day to go sailing!

With the reef row complete and set in we had a pretty good run around the bay.  I had to change down to the smallest jib and even then the gusts had us healing over pretty well and made the tiller strain.  All great fun.

I do have a concern about this boat.  It seems to have very strong weather helm.  Even with the main flogging and only the jib drawing the gusts can have the boat rounding up into the wind.  I haven't tried sailing with just the jib, which I will do next time out to see if she still seems to have weather helm.  Don't know what I'd do if she does.
On the positive side though she does round up when the wind is overpowering, rather than being knocked down or running away down wind.

The only other challenging thing about this boat is that the tiller is hard to get away from for a moment.  Today I tried using a bungee cord stretched across the cockpit and wrapped around the tiller.  This is easy to adjust or over power if I need to and actually allowed me to go forward long enough to shoot this video.

By the time I returned to the marina boats I had seen in slips were now sitting on land, banished from the water for the season.

Not so many years ago I was pushing the sailing season too.  One night, during the dark,  the river iced over and my boat got caught out in it.  It took a week before the ice was clear enough to get to the boat, and by that time the boat and it's 300lb. mooring anchor had dragged quite a ways up river and towards the shore.  In truth, nothing bad happened to the boat and a few weeks later when the river ice flow was clear enough I got to sail down closer to the ocean and the salty water that wasn't frozen solid.  The trip down was great and adventurous and I had 2 good friends on board to share the excitement with.  We took turns at the bow calling out ice hazards.  It was an experience that I wouldn't trade, not even all the worry about loosing my boat as I watched it heel over and ground every low tide, all the time worrying that the ice would consume it.  I learned a lot about my boat, ice, and my attachment to things.

I don't want to have any drama this winter, but I do want to have fun sailing, adventure sailing, and even a chance to learn more about my boat, the water, and myself.

The entire CYC membership.