Friday, December 31, 2021

Trailer and Dolly TETRIS

 31 Dec 21:

We are trailer sailors again, trying to figure out to get 8 different types of boats from our high and dry boat yard out to the local beaches and boat ramps. The Armada of 15 boats ranges in size from an 8 foot punt to a 19 foot Drascombe Lugger. 4 of the largest boats, the 13 foot Catfish, 15 foot Sorg Runabout, 16 foot Day Sailer II and the 19 foot Drascombe Lugger have dedicated trailers, so that challenge is solved. What to do with the other 11 boats? The punt (1), kayaks (2) and Sailfish/Sunfish (6) fleets will fit on our 5x10 utility trailer using their Dynamic Dollies, and the 17 foot Grumman canoe has a nice car top loader. 

But what to do with the 14 foot Penobscot? ST. JACQUES is a tad heavy for consistent beach dolly launching and possibly too long for the utility trailer. We woke up this morning thinking that we may need yet another trailer. We found a few on Facebook Marketplace, but before we plopped down $1000 for another trailer we decided to see if the Penobscot would fit on the utility trailer. One obstacle was that the Penobscot dolly was over 5 feet wide, it wouldn't fit on the trailer bed. We fixed that by moving the Penobscot to a 5 foot wide Sunfish dolly, a feat in itself. Next we moved the punt off of the trailer and rolled the Penobscot up onto the trailer deck. We raised the ramp and had 4 foot of boat extending forward of the bed rails, but the dolly handle did not extend past the hitch coupler, a good thing. The weight of the boat was centered just forward of the trailer axle, a good spot, and the tongue weight sat around 120 pounds, another good thing. We threw on some straps, with plenty of spots to tie down the boat.




The only drawback is that the hatch on the tow vehicle can not be opened with this setup, but we can get around that by loading gear into the vehicle first and loading the boat last, then reverse the operation at the ramp. Turns out that works well, most of the gear, PFDs, towels, snacks, etc... can be transported in the boat down to the ramp versus multiple trips to and from the parking lot.

So Huzzah! No need to buy another trailer! Next we gave SCUPPERS a rinse with TILEX and fresh water, then stowed her in the Carriage House. At 62 pounds she's easy to move around, and this might be her semi-permanent spot, as I can work around her or roll her outside when we need more access.


The forecast is for rain and cold over the next few days, so we retired ST. JACQUES back to the Sunfish Shack. Shhhhh, don't tell her that she is not a Sunfish. She got a new spot on the starboard side, there is a good chance that she will see more action than the Sunfish, as she can row 4 crew or sail 3. Sunfish WAVE, in the center spot, will probably move over to the port side and have a straight shout out of the Shack when her name is called.  She can carry up to 500 pounds of crew, so when the water warms back up she'll be a fun boat to take out, along with a kayak or canoe. Speaking of kayaks and canoes, we have plans to put a rack on the utility trailer so we can carry kayaks and/or canoe over the top of a bed loaded boat.


Rewind to the first conversation of the morning, Skipper decreed that it was time to move WILLOW from the back porch to her temporary driveway spot, so we can hook her up easier during this cooler season. Skipper did the driving over the muddy backyard, she has the mud and sand driving skills from her beach days on South Padre Island. I did the wing walking, if I had done the driving, we'd have been calling a tow truck to pull out the tractor, boat, trailer and other vehicles I would have gotten stuck.


The front hitch performed flawlessly, pulling about 1200 pounds of boat, motor and trailer.


WILLOW will eventually be parked under a cover between the Carriage House and the RV, creating a straight shot to pull her in and out.


WILLOW, CYANE and ST. JACQUES. "Looks like a boatyard" is what Capn Jack would say. 


Emptying out the back porch creates room to plan our screened porch and deck. And it gives Skipper the opportunity to pull out the pressure washer today :)

Wednesday, December 29, 2021

The Artful Sailor

 29 Dec 21:

We ordered some items from Emiliano and Sue at The Artful Sailor, Pt Townsend, Washington. The purpleheart fabric seam rubber will be handy when we are making sails and covers, and Skipper has a lot of reading to do!


Emiliano and Sue are also the folks who take CHIP for adventures up in the great Northwest. Here's CHIP during Sea Trials with Skipper.

The Artful Sailor ships globally.

8 Foot Punt SCUPPERS 26 Dec 21 Sea Trials

 26 Dec 21:

Beautiful day, 71F and light wind, so we decided to take our Granddaughter for her first boat ride. We looked around our Armada of 15 boats and to our surprise, SCUPPERS was the boat of choice for today. The water is 47F so we decided it was best to stay close to shore, very close, so an 8 foot punt seemed the best and easiest choice.

First we needed to add a bow line. I drilled a 1/2 inch hole and cut 12 foot piece of New England Rope Vintage 3 strand to make the bow line.


SCUPPERS needed a pennant, so we drilled a hole for the nice bronze flagstaff bracket that we found on ebay, made by Wilcox and Crittenden. Skipper's ratcheting brace bit and auger bits were used to drill the hole.


We used a 4 in 1 file to finish the edges of the hole. This versatile file comes in very handy for a variety of projects, we keep it readily accessible in the shop. The 4 surfaces range from coarse to fine, one side is flat and the other curved.



The flagstaff bracket came with a nice mahogany flagstaff which we plan to use as a template, and a Skunk flag, which we are told is flown after a day of fishing and no fish are caught, i.e. being "skunked." The flag will make a nice pattern as well for more flags.



The boat ride for the Granddaughter was a success, then Skipper took SCUPPERS out to finish up the official Sea Trials. SCUPPERS moves well, turns easily and tracks straight. We determined that we should move the middle seat back a few inches and located spots for oar locks.


My turn. We love how SCUPPERS floats in a puddle of water. The flat bottom is stable and the rocker on the bow lets us run right up on the beach, amphibious operations, Marine Corps style.


All of these boats rested comfortably, but they are next on the list.


The straps worked great, easy to use and the overcenter buckles put just the right amount of pressure on the boat and dolly.




It's nice to have the Carriage House aka Boat Shop up and running, a nice place to keep tools and materials to maintain the Armada. And to keep an eye on the hooligans in the Sunfish Shack.

Norfolk and Western Step Stool and Chest

29 Dec 21:

I suppose we could repurpose this platform stool and railroad chest for maritime duties, if I can get Skipper to distract the Suffolk and Seaboard Station Museum Curator...



 

Rescue Virginia Deadrise

 29 Dec 21:

Found a nest of Deadrise Workboats in Rescue Virginia. 



Found this photo in the nearby Post Office, from a cold Winter day, ice on Jones Creek. The original Post Office opened in October of 1889.

JAYHAWK

 29 Dec 21:

Bill Koch's JAYHAWK, one of the 4 boats built for the America's Cup series. Currently on display in downtown Wichita Kansas, in front of the Boathouse. 








She gets to look at the Arkansas River.

Wednesday, December 15, 2021

British Seagull Part and Manual

 15 Dec 21:

In our continuing effort to spend more on parts and tools than we did for the British Seagull outboard, a care package arrived today from the UK.



The Workshop Manual is quite enlightening. We plan to upgrade the carb jet so that we can run a 25:1 fuel/oil mix vs the original 10:1 mosquito fogger mix.


Follow us for more tips on how to waste money on old outboard motors, built in countries far, far away.

Wilcox and Crittenden Flagpole Holder

15 Dec 21:

We found a nice Wilcox and Crittenden flagpole holder on ebay, along with a mahogany flagstaff and a "Skunked" flag. The flag was used to designate a bad day fishing, although Skipper thinks it was a Jedi Mind Trick to keep other fisherman from finding the good fishing holes.




 Wilcox and Crittenden.

Christmas Decoration Update

 15 Dec 21:

Added a diesel engine and Railway Post Office to the Christmas Train.



We also are restoring 2 passenger coaches, the glitter paint experiment back in 2017 was a failure :)