Speaking of boats

It was about this time last year that I noticed a small daysailor sitting virtually abandoned (certainly neglected) in the parking lot of a local church. She was uncovered and full of leaves, her bow sloping down toward the ground. I passed the boat several times during the next several months, eventually seeing the cockpit fill with rainwater, then snow, then a slushy tea-colored brew in the spring. Sometime around the end of June the boat had been cleaned up and moved closer to the street, a for sale sign duct-taped to the hull. I called the number, made an offer, and bought the boat. Why another boat? Why not? But seriously, had the price not been what it was - cheap - I would have walked away (with gentle encouragement from my wife, I'm sure), especially since I realized that there was potential for damage to the hull due to freeze-thaw cycles. My rudimentary inspection, however, did not reveal any significant damage.

Jake and I brought the boat home and immediately went to work on it. The first task was to patch two holes in the hull resulting from too much weight on the bow roller. That done, we began compounding the badly oxidized hull. Jake did his best to shine things up, but he quickly realized that an electric buffer would make the job a whole lot easier. And so it did.






Even Josh got in on the action (Notice the skeptical posture of the Missus in the background)


We then began taking measurements for a "new" jib since the boat came with only a badly stained main. I cut down an old genoa from the Alberg 30, sentimentally preserving the hull number, and added attachments at all three corners.




I also decided to rewire the trailer and add new bunkboards and carpet before heading to the lake.

We picked a breezy, sunny day for our first sail and set off for a local beach. The kids seemed to really enjoy being so close to the water, and the boat performed well. The jib is probably a bit flat, but it set well and did its job. Perhaps next summer will see Jake and Josh as captain of their own ship.

After all, I got the boat for the boys.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And that's why I'm already scheming. The current main is okay structurally, but there's no doubt that it's ugly. And it just so happens that I have 20yds of 4oz. Dacron on hand that hasn't been put to use yet. So . . . I drew up a sailplan for a new main.

Since I've only sailed the boat once, I guesstimated the mast bend to calculate luff round. Hopefully, I'm not too far off.