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 :)

2017 Penobscot 14 ST. JACQUES 04 Jun 19 Day Sail

04 Jun 19:

Had so much fun in ST. JACQUES yesterday I took her out again, despite the 95F heat index. Skipper took a kayak, I tried to catch her but couldn't



Log of ST. JACQUES.

Penobscot 14 ST. JACQUES Rigged for Rowing

02 March 2019:

We built our Penobscot primarily for rowing, so she goes out sometimes without the sprit sail rig and rudder. Launch and recovery from the Dynamic Dolly is easy.

We grab our PFDs, a few towels, the padook, 2 cushions and snacks.

The vintage long leaf pine oars are working out great, we plan to add leathers now that we have an idea where the best spot for them is.

Miles rowed 2.75/Total 16

Log of ST. JACQUES

Penobscot 14 ST. JACQUES 28 Oct 18 Sculling and Salvage Ops

28 Oct 18:

Went out in ST. JACQUES for a little exercise, light wind so we planned to row a bit against the ebb tide and then catch a ride back to the dock. Sail a bit if the wind picked up. Skipper found out she could scull with the rudder and make about 2 knots. Also a good test for the new tiller design, it held up great.

We used the padook to clear the groins, I rowed a bit, Skipper sculled, then I rowed back with a little wind on the top of the brailed sail. On the way back we spotted a few snags that were hazards to navigation, dock and seawall boards and knocked loose by Hurricane Michael, so we grabbed them with with the padook and brought them to shore. ST. JACQUES first marine salvage operation!

Miles rowed 1.5/Total 13.25

Log of ST. JACQUES.

Penobscot 14 ST. JACQUES 28 Sep 18 Rudder and Spritsail Rigging

28 Sep 18:

Hauled ST. JACQUES out for a row and sail. The cover is working out nicely, held up for about a year now through a few tropical storms and lots of rain. We have rinsed it off once and it is keeping the inside of the boat clean and dry.

The sail and spars were stored outside the boat for a few days, they rewarded us by creating this beautiful "Bill Knot," a magic creation of unidentifiable origin consisting of the bridle, mainsheet and brailing line.

Some spritsail basics, the mast, sprit, sail and control lines. Peak of the sail is the peak, top forward corner is the throat, the bottom forward corner is the tack and lower aft corner is the clew. The upper spar is the sprit, hoisted up on the mast with a "snotter" line. There is also a thin "brailing line" running up to the top of the mast, around the leech of the sail and back to the top of the mast, it is used to collapse the sail and reduce sail area.

We can also secure the lower part of the sail with a sail tie. Our spritsail is lashed on with a marlin hitch in a permanent position, if we ever to reef it we would just roll up the foot to the reef points and not fiddle with lowering the throat, readjusting snotter etc...We would most likely brail the sail if needed, then maybe remove the sprit and "scandalize" the sail if we needed to reduce sail area fast. WOuldn't be pretty but it would get the sail area reduced.

Top of the sprit and an idea on how tight the brailing line secures the upper part of the sail.

Spritsail brailed and foot furled.

Video tour of the spritsail lines.



Miles rowed 1.5/Total 11.75

In case you missed it, We wrote an article on the Penobscot 14 for the January 2018 issue of Small Boats Monthly. SBM is the digital sister to WoodenBoat, they publish boat profiles, stories on reader built boats and gear reviews every month. Monthly subscriptions are $2.99 and yearly $29.99. Click here for the article.

Log of ST. JACQUES.

Penobscot 14 ST. JACQUES 21 Sep 18 Tiller Trials, Day Sail Outfitting

21 Sep 18:

Skipper said I better have a blog post for Webb to read with his evening libation so I thought, how about Sea Trials for the new tiller? The new tiller sits at just the right height, and can be raised to duck under during a tack.

Oarlocks and sockets getting some nice patina, and varnish is holding up well.

We put a little cove and bead detail along the edge of the seat like BARBASHELA had, it tricks the eye to make the seat look a little thinner.

Mast thwart detail, the bolts have wingnuts so it is removable.

Fun clouds today, wind 3-4 knots, high tide with a little river current running out.

When Skipper wants to sheet in a bit more on a broad reach, she throws the sheet over the belaying pin to give it more of an aft angle. This helps keep the foot of the sail flat.

Mess About Mode, we carry a few towels to keep bilge wiped down, a couple of seat cushions and a picnic bag with sailing knives of course.

Dynamic Dolly for beach launch and recovery.

She's getting a little grimy, time for a TILEX wipedown before the Sunbrella cover goes back on.

First coat of varnish on ST. JACQUES' tiller! We used TotalBoat Gleam Marine Varnish Satin, thinned just a bit for better penetration, brushed on with a chip brush. #totalboat

Miles rowed .25/Total 10.25 Thanks a lot Skipper for sailing us all over the place, maybe next time I get to row more. :)

Log of ST. JACQUES.

Penobscot 14 ST. JACQUES Cruise

06 Jun 18:

Took ST. JACQUES out for a row and sail, wind 12 gusting 15.

We keep a dime at the base of the mast for good luck.

Cleaned up and ready for a nap.

Log of ST. JACQUES.

Penobscot 14 ST. JACQUES 30 Mar 18 Row and Sail

30 Mar 18:

Light winds so we took ST. JACQUES out for a row to the bayou and hoped to test out rudder repairs on the way back. I rowed from the front seat for about a mile, Skipper steered and paddled a bit. The Penobscot 14 carries well and is fun to row.

Left the bayou to head home, wind had picked up to 12 gusting to 15 on a broad reach. We dropped the centerboard and popped the brailing line loose on the spritsail. Skipper surfed us back to the house through lots of fetch on the lee shore, ST. JAQUES rolled through all of it on an even keel and felt very controllable. The spritsail acted like a spinnaker, and we didn't have to worry about ducking a boom or a gybe. We covered the last 3/4 mile in under 8 minutes :) As we neared shore we brailed the sail and glided in to shore. Rolled ST. JACQUES back up into the yard on the dolly and she got a fresh water rinse.

Here's a few pictures of the boat to see how we outfitted for the morning expedition. Outfitting for the 1:20 cruise included coffee, water, two foam seats, a throwable device/cushion, 2 towels, a blankie for Skipper and of course the PFDs.

Here are some shots of the rudder uphaul and downhaul. The uphaul is used primarily on land and during launch and recovery. The downhaul is used to counteract the buoyancy of the rudder. The rudder worked great during the sail.

Miles rowed 1.5/Total 7.5

Log of St. JACQUES.