New Jib

A nice pre-Spring day and I got the boat out of the barn to fit the jib I just finished sewing.  The jib is made from a piece of scrap from an old sail.  The halyard goes thru a bee hole at the top of the mast.  The luff of the sail is roped, with eyes spliced at the head and tack.  The clue also has an eye sewn into it.

This is also the new, taller, mast.  Today I made the pad eyes that I will use for sheet leads for the jib.  FUN!

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.

Rain, sleet and snow

Many years ago on an Icy river

First snow/sleet/rain of the season today.  It's cold, wet and raw outside, perfect weather for sailing in the mind by reading a book, working on boat design, watching sailing vids or updating the blog.  This morning I watched this video:    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ER2Ksa8uHpA

It's an older entry from Dylan Winter on his Keep Turning Left sailing blog.  He really does lovely work making these pieces and I'm considering purchasing the DVD versions of them, even though I don't really buy such things, and can't really afford the luxury
In this piece he shows some of the older SHARPIES that are club raced in the area he is cruising in and states all of the positives of the type.  Coincidentally these are all the reasons that I am on about the current project, my 15 foot micro-cruising boat, which may be called the "CEDAR POND CRUISING SHARPIE" or the HUDSON RIVER MICRO-CRUISER,  we'll see
A funny thing about this Sharpie design idea is that a friend of mine mentioned the idea years ago, saying that he'd wanted to build one.  I didn't give it much consideration at the time since I was very intrigued by my deep keeled full displacement cruising yacht, but things have changed since then.

The idea of sailing a small boat that can be kept for cheap/free, and used in almost any body of water, well maybe not offshore, but then again, what I have easily available to me is a grand river that leads to the sea, but more importantly, is on it's own, a wonderful playground for a small adventuring boat that can be beached and make it's way up small tributaries and marshes, but with some accommodations for over night camping aboard in relative comfort.

I've been staring at Ruel Parker's book on sharpies "The Sharpie Book." The boat I want to build falls somewhere between and outside of the boats he describes in this book, but that is just as well as I seem to have such a hard time following another persons directions.  I think of it as the difference between following a path on land, which can be discerned by foot prints, tire tracks and such which will linger and can even tell you something about who and what came before, I prefer the sea going version of following others, for the wake closes up, fades away, moments after it has been made, leaving no sign that anybody has gone this way before, even if out on the horizon you can see the other ship, tiny, miniature in the distance, there is no real way of knowing that you are floating on the very same water that that ship was supported by, and in truth, it's highly likely that you are not.  This allows for a certain degree of freedom in the way one approaches his path, journey, ideas.  There is hardly a chance that my boat will be the very first of it's shape and size, but that isn't important.  What is important is that I am coming to it in a unique way, for what I bring to the moment is uniquely my own.

Great book on a great boat type

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.

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.

Whisp, the sailing skiff!

Skiff at Dock, DDP

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.

QT skiff

QTx Skiff in DDP

My QTx skiff at the dock

Across and Back, every point of sail!

First real sail, across the river and back. It's soooo good to sail again
I'm calling these pictures "Debauched Digital Photographs"(DDP's)

Coincidence, universally appropriate, call it what you might but on my birthday, a sail across the river makes me feel as though I am reborn, and sailing again for the first time since "A Very Bad Day Sailing"
I believe I had truly forgotten what it felt like to feel welcomed by the water, the river that runs down to the sea and connects to all the oceans of the world.  It is good to be back.

Did I cross back over the river from the under world, The River Styx
Or was it needing to forget, The River Lethe
have I, crossing, got me over my woe, The River Acheron
have I left the shores of lamentation behind, The River of Cocytus
The fires of the river have died down and the water carries me again, The River Phlegethon

I am the ferryman, and I am the passenger
I am the boat, and I am the river
I am the sea

Happy New Year

Keeping with my tradition of trying to get out on the water, first thing, first day, of the new year, I took the pram down to the pond and went for a row.  Lots of cloud cover, temps in the high 30'sf, but comfortable and the water was wet, as oppose to frozen.
It's a good way to start the year, and to plant a seed for what might be in store for the rest of the year.

Happy New Year!
First row of 2016

The more I use this little boat the more comfortable I am with it and the more useful it seems to be.  What I took as instability when I first got in here I now realize was initial instability, like any narrow boat, a canoe, or kayak for example.  She stiffens up pretty solidly at about 15 or 20 degrees I'd guess.
I am actually surprised that I have not come across many more documentations of this type of boat.  For the person on a budget you can't get much cheaper.  The one sheet of plywood that it requires cost $14.00, and the rest was of the wood was gotten from scrap, but an 8 foot 2x4 would probably have covered the chines and gunnels and another the framing, and you'd have left overs.
This boat seems to be a good answer to needing a tender for a small cruising yacht, as would a kayak but this boat is open and could haul a bit more water or supplies to and from the mother ship.
The wooden floor is down in the shop now so I am just about ready to start setting up for building.  I have become convinced that I should do some work on the skiff.  All these books I've been reading about american heritage small boats, especially the Sharpie's, has me thinking that adding a centerboard to the skiff will produce a decent sailing boat.  We'll see.

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.

The power of a straight line

I have been thinking about acquiring another fiberglass sailboat, the Venture 17, to be more specific.  I have found a nice 40 year old example in good condition, for a reasonable price.  The dilemma I face is wether or not to acquire another "plastic" boat, another adequate boat, another compromise, but something that would get me quickly out on the water.
This morning, it being a grey, damp, chilly, Autumnal sunday, and not having any other commitments than the coffee pot, the wood stove, and thinking about boats, I was looking at the picture I have of the Venture 17 and wondering what it was that I found so unappealing about it.  I then looked at pictures of my other boats and the thing became obvious right away.
The Ventures have a plum stern, straight up and down, and look as if somebody just came along and cut off the section to be used as it came sliding out of a sausage grinder or the playdough machine/toys we had as children.  This alone is not such a bad thing and has plenty of practical things to recommend it.  The rudder and outboard are much easier to hang on this kind of stern.  The volume, and thus the useful space inboard carries all the way to the end of the boat.  The water line length is potentially greater.  It could add reserve bouncy astern.  It's easy to construct.  This last bit shouldn't really be a concern for a fiberglass boat that can be molded to any shape pretty easily.
The Ventures also have a straight sheerline, with no rise at the bow or stern.  This gives the aft quarter the visual similarity to a shoe box.  Because the bow is higher than the stern, this gives the over look a rather crude, blunt and unappealing quality when viewed from the side.
I do think that the boat looks just fine in plan or while standing at the dock looking down onto the deck.  The beam and shape from this perspective is very good, I think.
In the boats I designed and built for myself I have always had a bit of shape to the sheer, a bit of arc in the sheer line.  That has as much to do with the nature of a plank of wood bending in 3 dimensions to accommodate the  beam, flare and the ends coming together, as it does with my own aesthetic preference.
The curved line in the sheer seems to reflect something a bit more natural and less humanly forced.  On the transom a bit of angle there gives the idea of continuation and motion and seems more able to interact with the sea than a flat surface would.
So, the end result was that I am putting off the acquisition of the Venture 17, for at least another day.  I won't buy it today because I don't have to, or really want to.  It would be too much of an aesthetic compromise and how I feel about a boat is very important.
While looking at the photos of my other boats, their construction and their launchings, I was reminded of the feelings I had then.  I was excited about them, inspired by their looks, proud of the thing that I had coaxed out of some unrelated bits of wood and glue and fasteners and paint and daydreams.  That is a very different feeling than what I was anticipating having in purchasing another assembly line fiberglass vessel with little in the way of looks or spirit.  I will say that this particular vessel is well kept and probably given it's stewards a good bit of fun, adventure, and pride, or at least it's condition would reflect this.
I have the good fortune to ask a little bit more of a boat than just economy, or just convenience, or just immediacy of ownership.  I have had to wait before, and had to do the work, and had to come up with the craft and suffered the discovery of my own limitations in the application of that craft, and it has all been a positive experience.  So, if I can, I will NOT buy this boat and rather build my own answer to my sailing challenges.  After all it is such good fun just daydreaming of a boat that might be and what it might do with me in it.

On the practical side it would also be in my econmic favor to build the boat, if my past builds can be used as a measure.  I also really need to finish getting the shop in order so that I can add the centerboard to the skiff and see what difference that makes in it's sailing ability, and thusly, my enthusiasm for taking her out on the water.

Plank, Oar, spar? Or all of the above

A month or so ago a crew was down the road taking down a bunch of trees that loomed over a neighbors house.  I got them to drop off the wood and wood chips at my place.  Most of the wood was cut up for fire wood but I had them leave five logs of a Spruce at lengths of 10 feet and they dropped them of for me as well.
I have begun milling the wood for future projects.

10 foot Spruce logs sitting in my driveway.  The one is a
good 2 feet in diameter. (in the background is the
temporary boat barn that has now been up 5 years)

I am thinking of using the wood for small boat spars.  I have built laminated solid spars and I think they work pretty well, though I'd like to try a "birdsbeak" hollow spar for a mast for the skiff.
I think I could also make some long rowing oars with this wood.  There is also the possibility of using it as planking in either a traditionally built boat or a strip plank hull.

The first two planks are about 18 inches by 10 feet by 2 inches thick

 I am storing them vertically for now.  I saw a video on OCH and in it Harry Bryan stores his cedar planks this way.  It allows for easy inspection and there is not much concern for that kind of wood changing shape as it dries. I don't know that I will leave them like this but for now it's convenient.

I am making a lot of saw dust, or shaving. which will be stored and then used as litter for the chicken coop.

 I am using a 16 inch electric poulan chain saw for the work.  It isn't ideal but it works pretty well and, I don't have to smell the exhaust of a combustion engine.  The nice thing about the electric is that when I release the trigger, it's off, and the torque it constant.  This saw was given to me by somebody clearing out there garage and it works pretty well.  I rather save my Stihl for the work where electricity is not available.

It is strange to see it looking more like lumber than a tree.

I had considered buying an attachment guide to help with the work but I saw some videos of guys, probably in the Philippines, doing using a chainsaw free hand and cutting these lovely hardwood planks, so I figured I'd try it.  I am glad that I did because the work has come out fine, or at least good enough for me.  The key is to go slow.  Using a chalk line to mark off the log helps to give continual reference for straight, at least in one dimension.

I'd love to be able to build an entire boat this way, and maybe this is enough wood to actually do it.  I don't know yet.  The next boat I want to build would be my trailerable cruiser, so something in the 15 to 17 foot range.  With 10 foot planks I suppose it is still possible with scarfs, or if I build a strip plank hull.  A strip plank hull seems like a really good idea, It is still a wood boat but no need to worry about seams opening up if it is dry sailed and having a limited supply of long clear wood does not preclude that style of construction.
I have read that Spruce is not the best for rot resistance, but I have it and nothing lasts for ever anyway, and I am OK with that.
I think a good 9 foot set of oars will be the first thing to make, or a new mast for the skiff.  We'll see.

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.

The first week of summer

The summer solstice was just a few days ago and today, after 14 months since the knock down, Ventura sailed once again!

It was a very nice day though I could have used just a touch less wind, but in the end it was just fine.  Trying to get this rig back together and sort out everything is tedious and time consuming.  One really needs to be happy just "messing about" in boats with a trailer sailor because so much time is spent getting the boat to the water and ready to go, then doing the reverse at the end of the day.

Our sail was only about 2 hours, but it was enough time to take the boat thru it's paces.  We raised both main and jib.  We reefed the main.  We tacked.  We jibed.  We docked and we used the motor.  It is all working again.  The only thing we didn't really do was anchor.

I have along "to do list" after the sail.  Mostly things I forgot, some important, some not so much.  I forgot to put on the rigging for the reef point, that was very annoying.  I made it work with spare line onboard, but heavily chastised myself for not thinking it all thru.

The out board was a bit inconsistent as we left the dock and eventually died, but we had decent wind so we just sailed.  On the return I ran it for a while and it eventually evened out and ran the entire time we needed it.  This was the first time it has really run since it was IN the river.  I did maintenance it after it's sinking but hadn't really run it very long since.  I think it will be fine.

In truth my enthusiasm for this kind of boat, this kind of sailing isn't very strong.  I miss my full keeled cruiser on it's mooring.  But I will make due with what I have right now.

It was good to be back on the water and even sailing with in sight of where I took my very cold swim, the one that was almost the last thing I ever did, was fine.   I really only gave it a thought for about 2 seconds, maybe 3.

There is a lot of summer ahead.  Todays sail only cost 10 dollars at the launch ramp.  I have to do quite a few of those to equal the cost of a slip for the summer, so that makes spending the 10 bucks a lot easier.  Let's see what the summer has in store for us.

Fair Winds!

Although I am thinking of having a new mainsail built for Ventura and using her as much as I can I will say that if anybody needs a very, very cheap boat and trailer I am open to selling her.  I have too many boats right now and I really miss sailing my Bristol

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.

My rigging measurements were good

New rigging copper swaged eyes, slathered in lanolin and
covered in heat shrink tubbing.
Workboat handsome, or industrially cute?

I stepped the mast today with the newly made rigging.  All the measures were good.  The turnbuckles were about 60 % open when it was all snugged up.  That should leave some room to take up if and when things stretch out under strain.
It was a breezy day so not only was I wishing that I was launching, but I also had to be careful about raising sails while the boat was on the trailer, which I did to see how things fit.
The small jib which was the staysail is truly small, but, it fits nicely on the forestay.  I have yet to alter the jib and genny to fit the new rig measures.
I also set the main, which was much easier for the topping lift that I added to the boom, but still awkward as the mast is really designed to have the luff, as well as the foot of the mainsail in the groove.  This main has the roping on it to set it this way but lugs have been put along the luff.  I'm not sure why this was done and only realized this now after owning the boat for a year and a half.  Duh!
Anyway, the mainsail's new height is good.  I may end up with a lot of chafe as the leach passes under the back stay and the topping lift.
I took pictures but my phone is having issues sending them to the computer.(piece 'o' shite!)  I'll add them later.
I will say again that it is so much easier to raise this mast now.  I suppose that the 15% of length that is no longer out at the end of it makes a lot of difference.
I'm not sure what is next, maybe launching her and sailing.  There is a thought!  It's been a while.

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.