28 Mar 22:
FInished laying joist blocks and joists, then planked another 3 feet or so for the new Carriage House's gangplank.
Skipper skippervised.
Thursday, March 31, 2022
Skipper Found Line
29 Mar 22:
In keeping with the nautical theme in the backyard, we plan to buy some small posts and wrap them with line. Found some good looking vintage line on facebook marketplace.
Planking Continues
29 Mar 22:
Continued work on the HEUER GARAGE gangplank, more pressure treated lumber entering the fray.
Penobscot 14 ST. JACQUES' New Ride
29 Mar 22:
ST. JACQUES has a new trailer, a galvanized EZ Loader with 12 inch tires. Double leaf spring. We added 2 keel rollers an a pad on the back of the box frame to spread out the load on the keel, where most of the weight is carried. Also added pads under the centerboard in case it gets loose for some reason.
Oil bath bearings, new to us. They are supposed to go longer between oil changes than greased bearings, we'll see how it goes.
Swivel bunks primarily keep the boat from listing, not really load bearing, but we had them adjusted to where they touch the hull on the plank lap, which also has an internal stringer behind it. 1 1/4 inch hull thickness there vs just 1/4 inch on the plank.
Plenty of tongue, should be easy to launch. 2 inch coupler and swivel jack.
Wednesday, March 30, 2022
Carriage House Gangplank Joists
27 Mar 22:
Laid out concrete blocks and pressure treated joists for the shed gangplank. We're adding 18 feet across and 12 feet from the driveway to the shed. The level, smooth surface will make it easy to move our Armada around and to roll project boats out onto the concrete driveway.
Monday, March 28, 2022
Skipper's Rock Sculpture
27 Mar 22:
Skipper ordered a carved rock that will serve as a watering hole for the local critters. I'm sure she'll want a small boat to float in there also. Then she wanted marigolds and gladiolas. Who knows what she'll want next?
Gangplank
27 Mar 22:
This part of the yard gets runoff from the house, it stays wet, so we are going to build a gangplank from the driveway to the new shed, luckily we have a lot of experience repairing docks.
Started moving lumber into place and placing concrete footer blocks.
Carriage House East
25 Mar 22:
The second Carriage House arrived, I guess we'll call it Carriage House East until something else springs to mind.
The trailer used to deliver the shed is impressive, it can articulate fore and aft with hydraulics and left and right with transverse power wheels that are stowed under the axles. It took less than an hour to place the shed exactly where we wanted it and block the shed to level.
The little Sorg 15 Runabout WILLOW on the left will be the primary occupant. The shed is wood construction with wood floors, so she shouldn't dry out too much inside. The walls and roof also have LP Tech Shield solar barrier so that should help keep the temps inside more even.
Next up we'll build a ganglank to get the boat trailer from the gravel into the shed. And then in a few weeks that gravel will be turned into concrete, making it easier to maneuver trailers around and giving us a better parking area.
Bob's Boat Trailers Norfolk
24 Mar 22:
ST. JACQUES went to visit Bob at Bob's Boat Trailer on Norfolk. They are well stocked with parts and pre-built trailers that can be adapted to most boats.
Well stocked with parts and friendly people!
Trailer Safety
24 Mar 22:
Hauled ST. JACQUES to Bob's Boat Trailers today, but before we left we check a few things. Lights plugged in, safety chains crossed and we like to lock the trailer coupler.
One of the most important things to check is that the couple pawl has engaged the lower part of the hitch ball. There are times where it can get caught on top of the ball, which does nothing to hold the trailer to the hitch. And it's a good idea to check if someone else has hooked you up, we had an instance where the UHaul place rented us a truck and auto transporter, and the trailer was not connected properly. Luckily the weight on the tongue kept the trailer connected as I drove home, on the highway. And imagine my surprise when I tried to load our car and the tongue of the trailer lifted off of the hitch!
Check the trailer lights.
And check the straps. If 3 straps are enough, use 4.
Check straps after 1, 10 and 100 miles. These straps were new, and we got rained on, so they stretched a bit during the trip. I pulled over and tightened them up, all good the rest of the way.
Azaleas
22 Mar 22:
We've been watching to see what plants grow well here, azaleas are a winner. We put some out front and a few more are going into the back bed, to compliment some white and yellow ginger.
We also found a spot for some rose bushes along the property line. Our "fence" in the back will be mostly natural, with a few pilings and line placed in a few spots to continue our nautical theme.
Sunday, March 27, 2022
Alcort Sailfish WINNIE and WoodenBoat Issue 285
22 Mar 22:
Our little Alcort Sailfish WINNIE was spotted in the current issue of WoodenBoat, Number 285, with Skipper at the helm. This year marks 75 years of Alcort's first sailboat design, the little yacht that started it all.
The 11' 7" Sailfish is the boat that you learn to swim on, and during the pandemic we saw a resurgence in popularity as folks dug them out from under their family porches and put them back out to sea again. WINNIE came to us via car top from our friend Alan about 6 years ago, in pieces.
We repaired some leaks and put her back together. Fair, prime, paint.
She dates to around 1953, and has the nice vintage silk blend sail with a sewn on cloth logo.
Wood, bronze and soft line, doesn't get much better than that.
We restored WINNIE while also restoring BARBASHELA and building ST. JACQUES. Selaed her leaks with thickened epoxy and rolled 2 coats of epoxy onto her bottom and sides.
WINNIE borrowed paint from BARBASHELA, Valspar Ultra 4000 alkyd enamel Swiss Coffee and Whipped Apricot. Skipper of course was the Functional Check Float (FCF) and Sea Trial pilot. Skipper likes WINNIE's simplicity, one stick, one string, and says the Sailfish is just fun.
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I enjoyed WINNIE in "kayak mode." She is also a very stable SUP.
Lateen rig, 65 square feet. Shown here with our trademarked "Geezer Rig," where the sail rig is set high, so the boom clears the noggin.
The Sailfish design evolved into a 13' 7" wooden Sailfish 14, aka Super Sailfish and the wooden Sunfish, 13' 7" with a wider beam, cockpit and 75 sf lateen sail. (1953 Sunfish ZIP and WINNIE shown below)
FMI: Log Of WINNIE
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