I've been a bit lax . . .

about updating the blog this summer.  It's been kind of a strange one; Deborah's knee hurt, we hit a new max speed (7.3 knots!) and then the @$#@!# chart plotter died.  Deborah's fine now and I got a new Lowrance chart plotter for 1/2 of retail. 

Anyway, here's most of a summer's worth of videos and snaps.

June 21st was a real drifter of a Beer Can



We anchored out on July 4th to watch the fireworks.  Someone did up a "Christmas Boat" type pirate ship and cruised through before the fireworks started.

The fireworks were good too!

On July 26th Zach and I successfully flew the Genaker for the first time. 

July 26th, Beer Can - maybe should have run the 135 but a nice sail anyway.




For the August 2nd sail Krista came along and so did a decent breeze, more than we expected when we rigged the 135!



On August 6th, Deborah and I hit an all time speed record!

August 16th Beer Can:  Zach at the helm



August 30th Beer Can - it got windy!



September 6th Beer Can - Zach at the helm and Krista came along too



September 10th, Circumfern . . .

Is it summer yet?

Boy I wish we'd get a decent string of weather.  It seems like if we get a few days mid-week then we have crap for the weekend.  Or there's something else going on, like the Rose Parade.

http://www.pbase.com/sinnettc/2011_grand_floral_parade

Still, we've managed to get in some good mid-week sailing, especially June 14th.  Lots of wind and we did pretty good in the Beer Can considering we were way behind the pack at the start.



I sure am looking forward to some decent weather.

May 19 & 21

Zach and I went out for another sail on May 19th.  Wind wasn't much but the sailing was nice.  Did another video (26 mins) with sound this time.  I'm liking this GoPro camera!



On Saturday (May 21) we took Lorrie and Charlene out for a sail.  Weather was cloudy and no much wind, which petered out to pretty much no wind.  Had to motor back from the south end of the lake.  Just enough sun to give me a burn.  No pictures though. 

First 2 sails of the year!

On Tuesday night (5/12) Zach and I went down to the boat for our first sail of the year.  I also tried out the new GoPro video camera which worked great.

Things went surprisingly well for a shake down cruise.  No major issues, though the jib halyard did get popped loose once. 

The wind came up much stronger than the 8-9 mph forecast.  We had about 20 minutes of 35-40 degree heel, then it let up.  It was a hoot but showed that I needed to tighten the lower shrouds.



Today Deborah and I went down to the lake to particpate in Youth Sailing Day.  Committed Partners for Youth, which is apparently similar to Big Brother/Big Sister came down with a bunch of kids and their mentors.  After a burger/hot dog lunch we took Felicia (10) and Amanda out for a sail.  Felicia had never been on a boat and Amanda had never sailed.  They seemed to have fun, even though the weather was pretty cloudy and cool.  We spent about an hour sailing, then went back to the dock.  I put the new tiller on after we were done.  Looks great and it clears my knees!

A visit to Cabela's and finally Ready for the Season!

We drove down to the new Cabela's in Springfield this morning.  It's in the Gateway Mall just down from Target.  What a madhouse!  Didn't get much but we did pick up an enameled coffee pot and some wag bags for the boat.  I also grabbed a lens pen.

Once we escaped the insanity we headed over to the lake to check on the boat.  All my hard work drilling holes paid off - there was no water in the cabin!  Hooray!

Deborah worked on organizing and cleaning up the cabin, which I hadn't had time to do the day we launched, while I put the mainsail on and checked the rig tension. 

Deborah really likes the new slip location which is close to shore and practically right across from the rest rooms.  It's plenty wide, too, so maybe a kayak is in our future.  Hmmm.

Dad thinks that boat on the left is a Bristol 22 - he had a Bristol 24 when I was a kid.  Did some checking and I think he's right.  Found a blog for Bristol 22's online.  Star is Poulet de Mer on Fern Ridge and it appears to be this boat.  Good eye Dad!

The handlebar and head mounts for the GoPro camera came today!  Taking it down to the boat tomorrow to test it out.  Also drilled the holes for the mounting plate and tiller-extension clip in the new tiller then gave it a coat of varnish.  I think I'll give it 2 or 3 more coats before I take it to the boat.

Just found out Beer Cans start on Tuesday!  Now to find some crew if Zach can't come. 

Let the Sailing Season Begin!!!

Launch day!

Deborah and I loaded up the boat this morning - sails, boom, etc.  Truck full of gear and the launch tote.  Once Dad got here we pumped up the tires, gassed up at Costco, and headed south.

Got the boat ready in the parking lot, including pushing the mast back and connecting it to the tabernackle.  Raised the mast, then discovered the backstay was through a spreader.  Ooops.  Raised it again and got everything hooked up.  The tabernacle looks crooked with the mast up.  Tried to twist it to the proper alighment and it wouldn't move.  We'll have to see how it does.

Did the usual strap launch with Dad holding the dock lines.  That went smoothly. Donated 3 kids lifejackets to the loaner program, then drove the truck/trailer back to the lot & parked.  Fired up the outboard on the 2nd pull . . . Hooray!   Dad pushed off and climbed aboard and we motored to the new slip.  We're just about right behind Nauti Nymph.

The new slip is pretty good.  The fingers are longer and wider than the old slip, and the additional foot of width gives some room for error.  Dad thinks we should back in . . .

Got the mast tuned and the boom on, loaded the rest of the stuff and called it a day around 4:00.

Launch day is tomorrow!

Spent the last 2 days getting the boat ready to launch tomorrow morning.

Thursday:

• Drilled out roughly 70 holes I'd filled with epoxy
• Reinstalled compression post removed last weekend.
• Re-bedded & installed the forward hatch
• Re-bedded & reinstalled 4 spinlock cam cleats.
• Re-bedded & reinstalled 2 cabin-top jib tracks
• Re-bedded & reinstalled 4 large pad eyes

With Dad's help:

• Reinstalled ~180 tiny delryn bearings in 2 Garhaur genoa cars (warning - never remove genoa cars from the track!!!)
• Re-bedded & installed 2 genoa tracks
• Re-bedded & installed tabernacle

Friday:

• Improved fit/seal on forward hatch
• Reinstalled the battery box
• Removed & folded winter tarp
• Broke down tarp frame
• Scrubbed deck & hull
• Drove to Home Despot & Western Tool in search of new disk for polisher - fail. Bought lawnmower, gas
• Waxed hull, cabin & cockpit by hand. Admired shiny finish.
• Gathered items for launch tomorrow.

My tail is dragging but getting the boat in the water and tied up in our new slip will make up for it.

Spring prep

Spent most of the weekend working on the boat, which I pulled in front of the house for the weekend. 

Saturday:  First I pulled the tabernacle, jib & genoa tracks, forward hatch, and the halyard cleats off.  That went ok except that I discovered the hard way that the genoa cars are full of little plastic bearings.  I don't have a clue how to put them back in, so I sent an email to Garhauer.  The weird thing is that the top doesn't have bearings, just the bottom.  The top has a plastic skid of some sort.

After I pulled all the hardware I drilled the holes oversized (5/16) and then hit them all with the dremel & router bit.  Taped the bottoms of the holes for epoxying.  The only problem area was the Tabernacle.  I needed to remove the compression post and it just didn't want to come out.  By the time I was done the inside and outside of the boat were both a mess.

Knocked off around 5:00 PM.  Stopped at Home Depot in search of glue syringes.  Guess what . . they don't sell them without glue in them already!

Sunday:  Started out in search of glue syringes at Coastal Farm.  Got 3, 2 medium and one big one.  Back at the boat I vacuumed up the worst of the mess and filled most of the holes with epoxy.  The online folks at TSBB came through and clued me in on using a bottle jack & board to push up the cabin top and release the compression post.  Worked great!  I finished up a few holes that needed to be drilled, then filled the remaining holes with epoxy.  I'll give it a couple days to set up good, and then I can start drilling new holes.

Need to sort out the hardware and make a run to Robnett's to get new stainless bolts & screws.  That will be entertaining. 

Nearly time to launch

The lake is full enough to launch now.  Just need some decent weather so I can rebed the tabernacle and other hardware.  Dad's due around the 14th so hopefully he can give me a hand.

We got a new slip assignment so no "premium" location anymore.  Not that the old one, where all the wakes from the boats on the lake had the boat yanking on the lines, was premium in my mind.  This year we'll be in a 10 foot wide slip with 20 foot fingers.  That's a step up from 9 foot wide with 16 foot fingers.  On B dock and much closer in to the gate.  Should be a good spot!

Dave at work bought a 1953 Studebaker Coupe . . . http://adirondack-pete.blogspot.com/

It's not sailing but at least we used the stove!

We caravanned up to the Cascades today with 5 of the 6 grandkids, one Mom, one Dad, one Tia (auntie) from Mexico who'd never been to the snow, and another couple and their two kids.  The Dad and 2 of the 10-year-olds rode with me in the truck; the Admiral rode with the Mom, Tia, and the 3 other grandkids in the van.  Our friends drove their own SUV.

I should have known we were in trouble when, despite the WX forecast that called for sun, we hit snow 1/2 way up to Tombstone Pass.  We soldiered on though, and actually found 3 parking spots in the snow park at the top of the pass.  We then undertook the most strenuous one mile hike I've ever been on, seeking a sledding hill we'd used in the past.

It's amazing what a difference 20-30 inches more snow makes when you don't have snowshoes!  Last time I was there I think we had 24 inches of snow.  This time it's 58!  Two of the 10 year olds and I did the full 1/2 mile in, only to find the trees have grown since our last trip and the hill is unusable.  I was blowing like a whale by the time we got there.  We slogged back to the rest of the group, who'd stopped to rest a good 1/4 mile back, and we all returned to the vehicles.

Here's the Admiral and our friend before we turned back.

Our friends, in their SUV, lead the way back onto the highway, headed for Benson Snow Park on Santiam Pass.  A couple other cars pulled out at the same time so we ended up bringing up the rear and falling behind due to slower cars in front of us.  Twenty minutes later, as we came around the corner at the Hwy 22/34 junction, we saw an accident ahead.  It turned out to be our friends who'd lost control, crossed the westbound lane, and half-climbed the snowbank.  Thankfully there was no traffic coming the other way when he lost control.

Nobody but the SUV was hurt (crunched the grill a bit) and in about 10 minutes, after we'd pulled him out (4-Low Rocks!), we all continued the trip up to the top of Santiam Pass for some sledding!

While we were out on the hill, the Admiral stayed at the truck with the handy Origo stove.  She said it took a while to get going but eventually the lighter heated the alcohol up and she got a steady enough flame for hot chocolate when we got back. 



Note the steaming pan of hot chocolate and the trusty Origo just inside the canopy where it's protected from the wind.

The run home was uneventful except that our friends missed the turn at the Hwy 22/34 junction so they ended up taking the long way home. 

Not saying I wouldn't rather be in Havasu for the Trailer Sailor meet, but it was a fun day and at least part of the boat was involved!

Chris

Shredded sails . . .

That doesn't even look like it had sunbrella on it!  I see folks who don't cover their sails at our marina each summer and just shake my head.  I can't imagine how much quicker the sails die in SoCal than they do in Oregon.

While I'm not a stickler for 100% ship shape all the time, I do believe in doing as much as you can afford to maintain your boat/gear and I just don't understand how people who can afford to keep their boat in a marina can't at least do the basics. Why wouldn't you remove the jib from the furler if the boat's on the hard?

Our Capri 16.5 had red/white/blue sails and you couldn't remove the jib if the mast was up.  The prior owner didn't cover them and there was significant fading, especially of the blue.  It costs $100 for a genoa sleeve kit from Sailrite and $126 for a mainsail cover kit.  If you're going fork out over $8K for a new boat why wouldn't you spend another $250 to protect your investment?  I only spent $4K for it 4 years after it was new and the first thing we did before we started mooring with the mast up was order those 2 kits!  I know those covers were a big part of the reason I got more for the boat than we paid for it!

Last year we replaced mainsail and tiller covers on our Capri 22, plus we added a cover for the main hatch/companionway.  It cost less than $250 for the whole thing!  Not peanuts, but certainly less than a new sail and we even get to keep the @#$@ wasps out of the cabin!

This year I'll be rebedding the tabernacle and other deck hardware.  I doubt I'll spend more than $250 including the tools.

I just don't get it.

Mid-winter blues . . .

One more week until they, hopefully, close the flood gates on the dam.  Then we hope the rain continues so we get a good fill on the lake. 

The off season hasn't been wholly without a touch of sailing here & there.  Spent a couple weeks doing a virtual sail around Vancouver Island with Virtual Sailor.  Not the real thing but it helps with the cravings now & then.

We drove up to the Long Beach penninsula for our anniversary this year.  Didn't see anyone sailing but we did see a couple of interesting boats. 

Not sure what the deal is on this catamaran.  It was just oustide of Astoria in a really small boatyard.  Not exactly trailerable but I'd love to try one sometime.

This little Balboa was in Oysterville by the boat ramp; looks to be a 16 or maybe a 20.  I was surprised to see it there as most everything we'd seen were work boats for the oyster trade.  The tag on the bow is pretty old but it seems unlikely that the boat has been sitting around that long.  Maybe someone is restoring it for the spring.

I sure don't think I'd want to tow that trailer far. What a rusty heap!

I've been tracking Brad Van Liew in the Velux 5 Oceans Race.  This guy is amazing - no sponsorship to speak of and so far he's dominated the first 2 legs.  I've never been out of sight of land, let along single handing an Open 60 in the middle of the Southern Ocean. 

Simply amazing.