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/