Done sailing for the year . . .

September 29, 2010

Finished pulling everything out of the boat Tuesday night and pulled her down to the lockup for the winter.  Still need to pull the outboard off, cover the boat with the tarp and set up the solar panel to keep the battery charged, then I'm about done until spring  Well, except that the living room is full of gear which I'll have to put up by the weekend and I should probably cover the trailer tires to protect them from the weather/sun.

Project list to be completed before spring launch:

• Critical:
• Remove, fill & redrill screw holes, and rebed the Tabernacle (leak)
• Remove, fill & redrill screw holes, and rebed the stanchions (leak, port side)
• Repair damaged gel coat on battery compartment
• Repair damaged gel coat on starboard cockpit seats
• Varnish, drill, and add hardware to new tiller
• Adjust mast gates
• Replace traveller control line
• Put cleat back on mast for forward reefing line
• New velcro for boarding ladder
• Test bilge pump
• New dolly wheel tires
• Replace upper telltale on Ullman main
• Supplies needed
• West System 602 thickened epoxy
• New caulking gun
• Cordless dremel & appropriate bits
• New tiller mounting plates(?) & screws
• Gel coat repair kit
   
• Optional
• Remove, fill, & redrill screw holes, and rebed winches
• Remove, fill, & redrill screw holes, and rebed deck hardware
• Replace Spinlock rope clutches with something more reliable
• Apply new anti-skid to cockpit seats
• Replace forward hatch gasket
• Trim companionway screen frame to fit under main hatch
• Remove and clean under main hatch
• Check for delamination between cockpit and stern inside hull
• Replace single gin pole with a-frame style setup.
• Relocate spare tire
• Relocate trailer jack
• Replace trailer winch
• Replace trailer tires

Lots to do, but most of the critical stuff should be relatively inexpensive.

Sail for the Cure 2010

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Almost exactly one year ago Deborah, and my sister, Gretchen, went through breast cancer surgeries.  We decided to close out this years sailing season by participating in the 11th annual Sail for the Cure in Portland. 

Saturday morning I washed down the boat, loaded things up, and just before noon we hit the road.  Stopped to get gas and realized I didn't know where the straps I use as baby stays for the gin pole and mast were.  Back to the house and . . . I still don't know where they are.  Drove to Portland, with a detour through Salem because I-5 was closed for a wreck

We got to the ramp around 3:30 and started setting things up.  Managed to raise the mast without baby stays on the gin pole but I had to cut away the ones I'd rigged for the mast.  Forgot that the padeyes on the cabin needed some stand off and I couldn't get the straps to release after the mast was up.  Oops!

The Gleason ramp is nice, but way longer than the one at Fern Ridge; it's also steeper.  A guy on a Harley who was watching asked if we needed some help, which I accepted.  He helped guide the trailer down the ramp after I got the straps set up and everything went smoothly.

Once the truck was parked we loaded up and headed down the Columbia.  There were a lot of boats out enjoying the sunshine and water and the river was pretty rough.  The view of Mt Hood was awesome - I should have grabbed the camera.  We motored down the river to Hayden Bay and parked Verboten in a private slip in front of some condos; very nice.

Karen (condo owner) drove us back to get the truck/trailer.  Parked on the street across from her condo, unhooked the trailer, and went to dinner.  After we got back I put the boom on and got everything rigged.  Went to bed fairly early.

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Woke early to rain; looks like there is a leak around the tabernacle as the compression post was wet.  We got up around 9:00 and went for breakfast at BK.  Drove back to the condo, got the trailer and dropped it off back at the ramp, then went to Portland Yacht Club to sign in and get our crew & sailing orders.  

Seems like we don't have very good luck with crew - aside from Mary, who we knew couldn't make it, none of the others showed up either!  Funny thing is, as we were waiting to talk to someone at the registration area about how to get our crew to the boat, I overheard Edie (the lady in charge of it all) telling someone she'd be on Verboten.  "Did you say Verboten?" I asked, "I'm the skipper of Verboten . . . "  Introductions were done and we picked a time to meet, then got Karen's address, I called our last prospective crew member, who said she wasn't coming, so we headed back to the boat.

After we got back I put on my foulies and tighted up the rig, then wrapped the lifelines with pink flagging.  I put up the burgees (one for Mom, one for Deborah) and hung a couple of the "Make Breast Cancer Walk the Plank" banners the grandkids made off the lifelines.

Raynette (Ray) got there as I was finishing up the flagging.


Deborah and Ray

We pushed off and headed up the river toward Buoy 14 . . .

We weren't alone . . .

We didn't quite make it to the buoy for the start, but that's ok, because a whole bunch of boats did and they were all headed our way, so we turned around and joined them.

It was pretty crowded with lots of close passes . . .

With boats going in all directions . . .



Trying to beat back up the river against the current. 

At 3:00 we headed back to Hayden Bay where I dropped off Deborah and Ray.  Deborah drove the truck back to the Gleason ramp while I motored back up the river. 

Joe Washburn, from the Trailer Sailor Forum met us there and helped get the boat out of the water.  We tried a new approach with Deborah staying on the boat to hook up the winch strap.  That worked out ok but things got interesting when I started pulling the trailer out of the water with her in the cockpit - the front of the trailer came right up out of the water!  Once she moved to the bow things settled down and I was able to pull the trailer out of the water.  *whew*

We got the boat up in the lot, winched it the rest of the way on the trailer (only 1/2 the keel was on the trailer!) and started breaking things down.  Joe was really helpful and able to take care of a bunch of stuff, like loosening the stays while I got the boom ready to come off.   Once the boom was put away we started on the mast.  Things went really well until the mast was about a foot from the mast crutch - I forgot about the tendency of the gin pole to fall off to one side if it's not stayed . . . and it did.  I swore a bit but Joe remained calm.  Once he let the tension off the line I was able to remove the gin pole and we lifted the mast off the stern rail and onto the crutch roller.  I still haven't found those @#$@ straps I bought specifically for raising/lowering the mast!

The rest was cake - tied off the lines and got everything ready to go.  We talked to Joe a bit, thanked hiim, and then stopped by the Portland Yacht Club for a bite to eat and to see if we'd won anything on the raffle tickets I'd bought.  We hadn't but Deborah got 3 bottles of wine from the Wall of Wine and bought a couple of t-shirts for the girls.  We then headed for I-5 and got home around 8:30, tired, sore, but glad we went.

Would I do it all again?  Probably not, but it was a special way to close out the season this first year after Deborah and Gretchen's surgeries.  Next year we'll rent a boat or go as crew, or maybe we can find a marina where we can leave Verboten for a week and pull her out the weekend after Sail for the Cure.


Photo by Dena Kent


Photo by Dena Kent


Photo by Dena Kent

The end is near!

Saturday, September 18, 2010

The end of the sailing season is near, that is!  Zach and I drove down to pull the boat on Saturday.  As usual, it took several hours.  The part that really sucked was the constant rain.  By the time we were done the boat and I were both pretty much soaked through. 

Pulling the boat out went pretty well, got it on the trailer on the first try.  I did have to leave Zach and the boat at the transient dock while I ran to Jerry's to buy a new come-a-long.  Forgot to grab the one in the shed and there's no way to pull the boat all the way forward on the trailer without it.

Dropping the mast went really well, for a change.  Nothing hung up and nothing broke.  I did almost slip and fall twice though; the deck was really wet!

Got the boat home in the afternoon and left it parked overnight.  Did some clean up on Sunday.  Next up is Sail for the Cure in Portland next weekend, then the season really is over.

Last Tuesday night sail of 2010

Well, the season is definitely winding down.  Zach, Gabe from work, and I drove down after work with the idea that we'd try out the gennaker again.  ha!

Got to the lake and there was barely any wind.  We decided to go out anyway and I'm glad we did.  We ever so slowly oozed out of the harbor and paralleled the dam.  Gabe's an experienced sailor and managed the genoa & leads with no direction from me.  He and Zach have had classes together and seem to share interests so there was conversation about a lot of different things while we waited for a breeze.

Eventually, around 7 or so, the wind finally started to come up.  By then we were on the other side of the lake.  The Beer Can crew apparently decided to start racing late as we crossed their bows just after they started.

Put back in to the slip around 8:00 and packed things up.  Zach and I will go down on Saturday to pull the boat for the season.  Bummer.

Last Saturday on Fern Ridge for this year

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Deborah and I drove down to the lake for what's probably our last sail on the lake this year.  The forecast called for wind building from 6 to 9 kts throughout the afternoon so just about perfect for a leisurely cruise.

We got there around 1:00 to some pretty gusty winds at the dock so we went with the trusty blade instead of the 140 genoa.  I did take the reef out of the main that had been in for the last couple of weeks.  Dean got there to take Stairway out as we were getting ready to leave.

I backed us out of the slip and got us headed out into the harbor.  Deborah took the tiller, I raised the sails, and she skippered for about the first hour.  Called Zach in Florida to see if he needed us to pick them up at the airport tomorrow; nope, Krista's Dad will get them.

The wind went light for a while then picked up after Deborah turned the helm over to me.  Great sailing and an opportunity to get more practice using the traveller to deal with gusts instead of dumping the main sheet.

We stayed out until about 6:30, and returned to the dock.  Had a bit of an issue with the vang block on the boom and the boomkicker.  Ended up pulling the ends of the boomkicker out of the lower mount, so i got to fix that before we left.  Closed the boat up and we headed home around 7:00.

Only a few sails left until the boat goes to the RV storage for the winter; Tuesday night is the beer can, pull the boat on the 18th or 19th, then Sail for the Cure in Portland on the 25th/26th.

A great Sunday sail

Sunday, September 5th, 2010

This afternoon Deborah and I drove down to the lake for an afternoon sail.  Things turned interesting right from the start, as the wind, which was from the east when we got there, came around to the northeast as I was backing out of the slip.  We got forced in close to the other boats and ended up scraping the bbq on Stairway's solar panel.  Luckily no damage to either.

The wind was blowing pretty hard and forecast to be up around 14 by 5:00 PM, so I left the reef in.  The initial run out of the bay was the usual shifty pain but we eventually found clear air and had a great sail.  Even with the reef in we were maintaining high 5's and sometimes mid-6's on the GPS.  The wind was strong and gusty but with the reef in the boat handles it well.  Deborah said afterwards that she had fun too, unusual given the wind strength.

I tried taking a page from Don Guillette's sail trim lessons and used the traveller to bring the main as close to mid-line as possible.  I also played the traveller more instead of the main sheet with the gusts.  Seemed to work pretty well but I think I'll have to replace the traveller line in the spring as it's showing its age.

Saw Dean when we were almost ready to head in so we chased him down and told him about the solar panel.  He took some pictures of us before we got close enough to holler, then followed us across the lake.  I threw in an extra tack so he caught up and beat us in to the slip.

Photo by Dean Grabski

We chatted with Dean for a while, then closed up the boat after he went back out.  The folks on the other side of Stairway came in as I was finishing up the boom tent so I ran over to lend a hand.  Good thing as the wind caught them and they mostly missed their slip.  I ended up on the 4th boat down trying to fend them off.  Not sure, but I think maybe the woman was Darcy from the ASBC at work.

Gaby's day on the boat

Saturday, September 4, 2010

Today was finally Gaby's turn to spend the night on the boat.  She asked if she could bring a couple of her friends for the day instead so Carla and Maria joined us.  Maria had been on a boat, even a sailboat, before, but Carla hadn't.

The forecast called for the temperature to be around 72 and wind building throughout the afternoon so we left around 10:00 AM.  We got to the lake around 11:00; I forgot the permit was in the truck so we had to pay to park.  Ooops!

We sailed for a while, with reefted main and blade until the wind died.  So, we had a bit of lunch, then the girls wanted to swim.  I hove to and Deborah, Gaby and Maria took turns swimming off the ladder.  Eventually the wind seemed to come back up so we sailed a bit more . . . until it died again.  I fired up the iron genny and the girls took turns steering the boat.

Since they wanted to swim some more, but not in the middle of the lake, we worked our way back to Richardson.  My idea was to pull up at the day use pier, but not knowing how deep the water is, I decided to anchor off the swimming area instead. 

The girls spent over an hour swimming and jumping off the boat while Deborah played lifeguard and in-the-water photographer.

We finally coaxed them out of the water at 3:30 and were on the road home by 4:30.  Seems like they all had fun, and Gaby's happy, so a good day on the water.

Beer Can Guests

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Since Zach is back on the East Coast I sent an email to everyone at work asking for crew.  Caitlin said she'd never sailed and thought it might be fun but she wasn't sure.  With a little convincing and an offer to bring a friend she said she'd come along.

We left a little after 5, got a bite to eat, filled the truck, and got to the lake around 6:15.  Caitlin's friend Stacy met us there; she had never sailed either. 

We got the boat ready, lifejackets on, and motored out of the slip around 6:35.  The wind was a strong westerly so once we were out past the docks I turned the boat around, gave Stacy the tiller and had Caitlin raise the main; I left the reef in from the weekend.  We sailed around for a few minutes until I thought they were comfortable, then Caitlin went up on the bow and undid the bungies so Stacy could raise the 98% jib.  The sheets were run back to the cockpit winches instead of the cabin tops so I could handle them if necessary.

It was approaching 7:00 and the rest of the boats were milling around the start.  We made a couple of tacks, Stacy working the port winch and Caitlin the starboard one.  At the horn we were near the back of the pack, getting pushed up by the green ketch (yawl?) from B dock. 

We started out on a broad reach then switched to wing & wing as the wind came around a bit.  Pretty quickly (the wind was blowing pretty good) we turned down toward Leakin' Lena and picked up speed.  A close pass and we headed toward the first buoy on a close reach and the second close hauled.  Boat speed was up over 6 kts with the blade and reefed main (the boat really is faster on a starboard tack)!  Caitlin and Stacy took it all in stride and Stacy only came up from the lee (downhill) side when I asked her to as the puffs were getting strong. 

SCBOP on Big Dog apparently blew a 1 minute warning, which I thought was the signal for the turn, so we had a bit of a head start going back, as did the Ketch.  We were chasing the ketch and just about everyone else was chasing us.  After the turn toward Richardson the reefed main, and me trying to pinch too much, really cut into our speed and the pack started to to really close the distance.  A couple tacks (Caitlin & Stacy have the drill down!) put us across the line in good shape and ahead of the ketch.  The only issue was when I lost my balance during the first tack and sort of sat on the tiller - CRUNCH! - twice!!!  -  CRUnch!!

Once we were in the harbor Caitlin pulled the jib down, then Stacy steered again while I pulled down the main.  We motored in, Caitlin jumped on the dock to help stop the boat, we packed things up (including the split tiller) and were on the road home at 9:00.  I think (hope) they both had a good time, though I think Stacy was happy to be back to the "warm" land as she'd worn shorts and it was pretty cool out there.