The county came through!

Got the email tonight, they reviewed my appeal and they're going to credit us the full amount for our slip. As I thought, they were looking at the specs for a wing keel. That means I'll only have to pay about $25-50 next year so let's hope the lake fills. Started work on my a-frame ginpole setup for raising the mast. Thought maybe I could put it together without any screws or bolts. Used a couple of hooks from tie down straps and a chain link. Nope, didn't work. I cut a wooden piece for the top, need to get some clips or hose clamps to hook it all together tomorrow. Should be good from there, I hope.

Another day working on the boat

Noah spent the night so I put him to work this morning. I drilled out the holes I'd filled for the genoa winches, bedded them with butyl, and crawled below. Noah held the screwdriver and we got them all seated. I put them back together and boy do they sound nice! Deborah and Noah went into town to get him a haircut and meet Heidi for lunch. I kept working. Drilled out the holes for the cabin top winches, then cleaned them up (hadn't done that yet) and reinstalled them too. Nice clicka clicka sound. While I was at it I went ahead and put screws in the 4 holes in the bow where the downhaul block used to be. It was getting too hot to work so I went inside until about 4:00. Closed up the boat and sprayed everything down. Didn't do anything for the cabin (will do that tomorrow) but it did clear off all the shavings and a lot of the dust. Fuel locker was pretty filthy so I cleaned that out too. Once that was done I decided to try replacing the halyards on the boat, instead of taking the mast off. Tied on some baling twine and pulled out the main halyard with no issues! Pulled the new (red) one back through to the block at the base of the mast. Set up the (green) jib halyard and repeated the process. That one got stuck between the sheave and the pin that holds it together. I guess the whipping was a bit too thick but a few pokes with a screwdriver got it past the problem and I pulled it through too. Since I have red/green halyards I decided they should match the bow light for port & starboard. A bit of poking with a bent wire and I was able to switch which one went to which sheave. They're going to look awesome! Tomorrow I'll vacuum out the inside of the boat and maybe take a first shot at assembling the new a-frame to raise the mast.

Holes and epoxy and winches, oh my

Saturday morning & early afternoon was spent on the boat again. Pulled the port chainplawhich showed signs of leaking last year, and found wet core. Damn! Seems the 5200 didn't work so well there. Go figure. Reamed it out as best I could and drilled a couple of holes below so I could fill the empty space with epoxy. Used the dremel with a 1/4" router bit and ground back the core in all the holes. Taped up the holes from below. Wrapped the chainplate in wax paper and stuck it in the hole it goes in, so I wouldn't have to mess with trying to grind out a new hole. Found one of my horse syringes and grabbed a tube of 6-Ten. Filled all the holes and dealt with a couple of drips, then went in to wait for the epoxy to set. Heidi and the twins took us to see the new Superman movie while we were waiting on the epoxy. It was fun and done fairly well. Not the cheesy replacement for the Christopher Reeves version that I expected. After we got home I broke down the genoa winches, cleaned them up, and oiled/greased them. They were really dirty and sound much better now. Sunday morning I bedded the chainplate and put the new clutches in. By the time I was done it was time to get ready for our Father's Day BBQ. We had a great time, with some excellent burgers, and excellent company. Parked the boat with stuff left to do. Next weekend I'll finish up the winches and decide what to do about the chainplate screw that didn't get tight. Of course it's the one that doesn't have room for a washer below.

Let the preparations begin!

Pulled Verboten out of the storage lot and into the driveway this evening. Finally getting started on the long-delayed maintenance so the boat will be ready for our San Juans trip. Pulled off the spinlock PXR cam cleats and discovered the holes don't line up with the ones in the new XAS2 clutches. So, instead of 4 holes to fill on each side I've got 7 on starboard and 8 on port. 4 of each will get re-drilled and used for the new cleats. I also pulled the winches off. The genoa winches came off fairly easily, though I did draft Deborah to hold the screwdriver. The cabin tops were another story. I could NOT get the bases off. Catalina apparently glues them to the coachroof with 3M 5200. Tomorrow (ok, today) I'll finish prepping things and then fill all the holes with 6-Ten thickened epoxy. Need to figure out what I'm going to do about a compass for our trip. The Richey cracked (froze?) and all the liquid is gone. Second one to go bad on me, though the other didn't crack. *sigh*

There's no water, bring on the wind!

On the sailing front, our season at Fern Ridge is definitely shot.  It's been raining here for a week and the lake has only picked up maybe an inch.  If that.  Guess the rain hasn't gotten that far south.  On the plus side, there was a public meeting a couple weeks ago and the County Parks folks confirmed that they'll hold our mooring fee over to next year.  Plus we get to keep our parking permits.  They didn't have to do that and I *really* appreciate that my money isn't wasted.

On a happier note, I've had the landsailer out twice now.  First time Heidi and the twins came along.  We were going to the coast but decided at the last minute to avoid the crowds and stay local.  There was nothing big going on at the fairgrounds so we drove over there instead.  The gravel lot was rough but it worked pretty well.  Heidi and the kids tried it out too.  DaVeda lifted a wheel!



The gravel was rough and the nuts on the wheels loosened up a bit, so we blew a bearing.  Pretty sure I heard it go.  So, I went online and ordered new bearings from a gokart place.  They seem to be a bit better than the ones I bought locally.  I found that even with the nut tightned down, there was some side-to-side movement; I added a spacer washer to each axle to ensure they get tight. .  I also added a block down low on the mast so we're pulling back instead of down. 

Despite a forecast of rain and light wind, the breeze came up yesterday afternoon, so I took the landsailer out to the fairgrounds again yesteerday.  This time the asphalt parking lot was empty enough that I decided to try it out.  Between the smooth surface and new bearings what a difference!  Plus the wind kept picking up so I was flying!

I even flew a wheel a few times in the puffs!

I went and did it . . .

This evening I bought a landsailor!  

It's a knockoff of a Manta Windjammer but a bit smaller - 5.5' wide vs 6' and 8' long vs 10'. 

It's short enough so it *almost* fits in the back of the truck.  One wheel ends up sticking out of the canopy and the mast too.  I probably need to get a flag for the mast.

It needs a bit of clean up but I think it's going to be a blast!

It's not looking good . . .

Article in the Eugene Register-Guard (http://www.registerguard.com/rg/news/local/29786998-75/lake-says-fern-ridge-boats.html.csp) makes it seem likely that we're not gonig to get enough water to sail there this summer. 

"In the first three months of 2013, only 5.09 inches of precipitation fell in Eugene, less than a third of the normal 17.14 inches.

It marked the lowest total since the beginning of local weather records in 1892 and only continued in April, which has seen only 1.44 inches — about half the normal amount."

And an inch less than 2001.  *sigh*.   On the plus side, the county may provide refunds or hold over the money we already paid until next year.  That would be nice.

As an alternative I've been considering a few alternate options. 

1) Buy a Stand Up Paddleboard from Costco.  Price is not compleetely unreasonable but I've never tried one and I'm not sure that's what I want.

2) Buy an old 13' sailboat from Al.  That would solve my sailing bug but it wouldn't handle both of us and it gives me another trailer to store.

3) Buy a land sailor that I saw on Highway 20 on the way home on Friday.  That's what I'm leaning toward at the moment as it would give me a year-round activity and this particular one should fit in the truck, or on it if I get a rack.