My apologies for the long delay between posts but I have had a lot of projects at the house demanding my attention. I purchased a dock space this year instead of keeping it on the trailer. It is so much easier. The season at my local lake is May 1 through October 31 (all boats have to be off the water in the off season). I didn't get the boat in the water until July. My plans were to repaint the hull before putting it in but if I waited for that I would never get it in the water. The paint job will have to wait even though as you can see she is in desperate need.

 I also obtained an outboard. I had an old 3.5HP Mercury but I twisted the carburator jet and broke it. Apparently this item is not stocked any more and I could not find a replacement. I found a 6HP Evinrude for $400 that runs great. It came w/ a separate gas tank but I felt it would take up too much room so I bolted on a lawnmower tank to the cover. this works great. The only time I need it is leaving the dock and coming back in so the 1/2 gallon of gas it holds is plenty.

 I decided to put up a wind vane on the mast so I had to lower the mast and screw it on. This was a $15 item I found on Amazon (some of the windvanes are very expensive!). It screws onto the mast head and works great.

 I have a slight leak somewhere. There is always a 1/2" of water in the bilge. This fall when I pull it out I will have to inspect the hull. My suspicion is that it is coming in via the keel pocket somewhere.

The next big project is to rehab the trailer. Now that the boat is off of it I will need to grind off the rust, replace all the rollers and probably put on new springs. I will chronicle all this over the next few entires.

Happy sailing,
Tom

I have been sailing three times now and have been getting used to the boat. The first time I put her in the water the carpeting on the trailer runners just fell apart. On close inspection it seems the carpet was not even outdoor carpet but regular indoor carpet (You can see pieces of it on the fender). I found some outdoor carpet remnants at a local carpet store for $0.79/sg foot so it was about $20 for both runners. So far the boat has handled well. the sails need some serious cleaning. They are a bit stretched out but will suffice for now. Note the knotmeter - 6 knots in a light breeze. The tilt up rudder is a bit stiff. i think I will have to loosen some bolts on the head plates to get it to swing a little easier.

I finally put the boat in the water and everything went well (it did not sink). I even had a stowaway (mouse). The keel worked well as did the rudder. I think my main is a bit stretched out of shape or at least the stop on the mast is too high. I am thinking of lowering the stop to see if the main can be pulled tighter. The outhaul seems to be at it's furthest but there is still a lot of slack in the main. The jib worked well. I have not tried the genoa yet. The season for my local lake lasts until October 31 so I plan on sailing as much as I can until then. The carpet on the trailer runners fell to pieces after they became wet so I will have to replace them.

Well it's the big push to get the boat into the water. I found it much easier to raise the mast single-handed if I used the two port winches to pull the line attached to the jib halyard. I am planning on sailing Labor Day Monday (Sept 2, 2013). I pressure washed the mildew and grime off the deck and washed the cabin area which was way more work then I would have liked. There was mud, old hornet nests, mud daubbers nests and beer cans stuck way up in the aft end. I replaced the halyards w/ new rope but I just used cheap rope from Lowes for now. I did not want to spend the $$ on good line until I knew the boat sailed or at least floated. I replaced the board the traveler sits on w/ a piece of composite decking I had laying around. It worked well. I seated the board w/ silicone for now because I plan on removing it next year for a paint job. I used stainless steel #10 2" bolts w/ nylon locknuts underneath.I added aluminum backing plates which I made from stock aluminum bar.

Tractor Supply sold the aluminum. I used a bar that was 1/8"x2"x36" for $12.99 then cut it into 5" pieces for the backing plates. The original backing was 1/8" plywood which was flaking apart. While I was laying on my back looking up I noticed there were several fittings that had no backing plates. I can't imagine this is a good idea and plan on adding backing plates to all the fittings but that will have to be another day. I was looking at the wiring in the boat. I have no idea where the battery is usually stored. If anyone can shed some light on this I would appreciate it. There are several areas where wires disappear into the fiberglass and I am not sure how all this goes together. There is a main switch board. For now I do not plan on sailing at night but I am sure that will come. If anyone has ideas about how this wiring works I would appreciate your help so I am not reinventing the wheel.In the forward section there is a lower compartment that is covered by two plywood doors. In this compartment is a round plastic fitting where a wire goes into. The fitting is havily caulked w/ silicone (sloppy job at best). The wire from the fitting disappears into the wall of the box which is below the plywood cover. I am assuming this is the speed indicator relay. The only instrument on the boat is a speed indicator located topsides on the straboard wall next to the cabin doorway. The next step is to check out the outboard. I have an ancient 4HP outboard but it is standard length. I hope to be able to rig up something w/ the motor bracket that came w/ the boat so I can use it. I do have a paddle but I would like to use the motor if possible. I can't see buying a long shaft motor until I am sure the boat is sea worthy. Once all the grime was off the deck I could inspect the paint job done by the previous owner. It was a poor job w/ paint drips and puddles. The fittings were not removed either. Next year I plan on removing all the hardware and stripping off the paint and starting from the fiberglass. I am not sure what to do with the anti-slid areas. These were painted over. I am thinking I will have to use chemical paint remover or I could sand it down flat and add grit to the paint in those areas for anti-skid action.

Working on the rudder. I needed a new tiller handle so I made one out of a scrap piece of hickory. The problem was that it was just a little thinner then the rudder so when I clamped the bolts tight I had a hard time fitting it over the head of the rudder. I bought the aluminum head piece from Stephen Jenson at San Juan Sailboats(Stephen@sjsailboats.com) for $20. I used a hitch clip to attach it to the rudder head to make taking the tiller handle off easier. It's easier to store w/ the handle off. I had obtained the tiller handle specs from someone in the community but I cannot find the e-mail. Basically it is 48" long and has a 3" drop from the rudder end. The aluminum cap is blank so you have to drill your own holes. It was fairly easy to measure the hole on the rudder head and where it should appear on the aluminum cap. A drill press is handy when making the holes. I used 2 bolts to attach the handle. I have seen 4 bolts on some pictures but it seems 2 should suffice. I'll let you know once I have the boat in the water. The outer layer of blue paint was chipped and peeling. I scraped it down to the fiberglass using a wallpaper scraper which worked well. I plan on sanding down the rest and for this year I was just going to paint on a layer or two of polyurethane varnish I have left over from the tiller handle just to help protect the fiberglass a bit. Again, this year I just want to get the boat in the water. Next year I'll make her pretty.I would also like to find another method to keep the rudder in the down position. The elastic rope tied in a square knot doesn't seem to be the best method though it is functional. If anyone has any other ideas I would love to hear them.
The next job was to make a new traveler base. The old one had rotted and when I pulled it out there were actually carpenter ants living in the wood. I had some composite decking scaps and used a piece as a new base for the traveler. I plan on using the same screw holes from the old traveler. I figure the fewer holes in the fiberglass the better. I had to crawl into the bunks to undo the bolts that were holding down the prior traveler base. No an easy task - I am 6'2" and 220lbs - tight fit. I used duck tape to hold the new traveler base in place then went back into the bunk space and drilled up through the existing holes to mark the spots on the new traveler base.

After I finish these two projects the only thing left before I can put her into the water is making a new cabin door and placing the registrations numbers on the hull.