I must down to the seas again

Beautiful day on the water yesterday. Wind 12-15. Blue sky. Sunshine. Temperature in the low 70s. Jake, Grandpa, and me.









Note Jake's new harness. Nice piece of work, if I do say so myself.

Dodger done

I wrapped up the dodger project this evening after finishing the contours of the leading edge and installing the fasteners. Things look good. I'm pleased. It feels great to have the project completed.










I'd like to get rid of the wrinkles just above the side windows. I thought I'd gotten rid of them when I attached the fasteners. Clearly something shifted when I installed the grab bars during the final step. Overall, though, I'm happy with the dodger.

Two days in a row

While Josh took a four hour nap, I finished sanding the interior of the CD10 - this time in the Tyvek suit.


Photo credit goes to Jake, who takes the hazardous material warning seriously and stays far away.

With the interior sanded, I propped the boat on its side and hosed it down to get rid of all the dust and debris.



Last night, before putting the boat away, Jake and I epoxied the drain hole in the bottom of the boat. We mixed up a batch of slightly thickened epoxy and topped up the hole. There's still some filling and fairing work to do when it's time to take care of the bottom.





I had noticed during sanding that the seat fillets were cracked and that the tabbing was a little loose, so once the hull had dried sufficiently I reinforced all four attachment points for each seat with fiberglass tabbing.



When work resumes, I'll give the tabbing a washdown and sanding before wiping down the interior of the hull with acetone in preparation for a layer of lightweight cloth. I happened to have a piece of cloth on hand that will cover the aft section.



Here's the original aft seat. I've decided to salvage most of the wood, partly to save money but also to preserve the boat's original character. Bits that are missing or too far gone will be replaced.

Jake's boat

The CD10, which I purchased almost four years ago, has been resurrected - if only temporarily.

With summer underway, I've been home with the boys for the past two weeks. Although I've managed to get a bit done, most of my time has been devoted to playing ladder golf, climbing trees, swinging, fishing, and riding bikes. Yesterday, at Jake's urging, we dragged the CD10 out of the garage and began work, stripping off the old, damaged gunwale and sanding the interior of the hull.

Between filling Jake's pool and keeping an eye on Josh, I sanded most of the interior in shorts and a t-shirt, generating a mess of dust in the process (I should have known better, but I was having so much fun I didn't give it a second thought - and I'm still itching).






Jake and Josh inspect the CD10, glad to be doing something with it.




Jake has made it clear that this is his boat, and he intends to do "whatever I want". He already seems to know that sailing means freedom and independence.

The plan at this point is to finish sanding the interior, give it a good cleaning, then lay in a lightweight fiberglass cloth. After fairing the surface, I'll turn my attention to the exterior, which is a mess of crazing, flaking paint and gel coat. I think the exterior will get about the same treatment as the interior: a lightweight fiberglass cloth and fairing.

Once the hull is sound, I'll turn my attention to converting the CD10, originally a rowing version, to a sailing dinghy, cutting a slot for the centerboard and building a trunk. Unless I can get some information from other CD10 owners, the centerboard size and location will involve a little guesswork. I've gleaned enough pictures off of the internet to make a pretty good guess, but it would be nice to have some detail shots of the centerboard trunk and a few measurements.

After all that's done, it will be time for paint. When will that happen? Jake asked basically the same question and I gave the project a one-year timetable. We'll see. For the moment, we're having fun.

And when it ceases to be fun, there will always be swinging, ladder golf, bike riding, fishing, relaxing in the hammock, swimming, climbing trees....

Ah, summer. Yes.

First sail of 2008

Father's day arrived a day early.

I managed to get Ariel's rig tuned and other items taken care of on Friday so she was ready for the first sail of 2008 on Saturday. The day couldn't have been nicer. A gentle 10-12 knot breeze blew from the south out of a clear blue sky, the temp was about 70, and the water flat.

What a way to start the season - and celebrate Father's day. (Dad, you should have been here!)

Launch day arrives

Ariel splashed at 2 pm on Wednesday after the usual pre-launch flurry of activity. Launch was uneventful, just the way I like it. I moved Ariel off the fuel dock and to a transient slip for a couple of hours while I stowed some gear and got her anchor on board.

I needed to rig up the docklines at our marina before taking Ariel over, so I ran home and picked up the lines - and Jakob, who was excited Ariel was finally in the water. Jake and I inflated the dinghy and prepared the slip (our marina has ridiculously high cement docks with abrasive edges that chew through docklines. The height also equates to leads of 45 degrees or more down to the boat, making the geometry to chocks and cleats all wrong. We solved the problem by wrapping a length of chain around the cement pillar that supports the dock. The docklines are then attached to the chain, providing a relatively chafe-free attachment point and much better geometry).

By the time we were done rigging the docklines, it was 4:30 - time to pick up Josh from the babysitter. We did that, returned to our marina where we left the car, then the three of us walked the mile or so to West Basin Marina and Ariel. What a trip! Jake was "tired", so I ended up carry both boys almost the entire time in 90 degree weather. All three of us were drenched in my sweat by the time we got to Ariel.

We tied up at The Waterfront around 5:30 and got home about 6:00 in time for supper. The boys were great, and Jake even helped pick up a spring line. He's getting more and more useful every day; perhaps we'll keep him.