3rd Time Out - First Video

I am gradually sorting out the details but there is still a way to go. This trip out was at Caloundra on Queensland's Sunshine Coast with some of the guys from the Wooden Boat Association of Queensland. The day started with light winds that increased gradually as a storm built up in the afternoon.

Here is a short video of Sea Minor sailing early in the day. There would be more but the camerman was sailing single handed and filming with the other!

The afternoon storm caught us 2 or 3 miles from "home", fortunately we were pulled up on a beach with a shelter. The wind died to nothing but the thunder banged, the lightning flashed and the rain poured. When the storm had passed we set out for home. No wind, one Navigator with an outboard towing an Oughtred Fulmar towing my Navigator. Here's the view from the end of this chain.

During the course of the day I bent my boom slightly at the point where the vang attaches and it didn't spring back when the vang was released. The boom was a length of 38mm 16 gauge aluminium tube and has been replaced by a heavier section - 50mm diameter with a 3mm wall. This is a good deal heavier and I will have to be sure to duck!

First Sail

I took the Navigator to our "local" fresh water dam (Wivenhoe Dam is Brisbane's main water supply) for its first sail since the refurbishment. The winds were light and variable as a storm front moved in from the west. I managed to get the boat off the water and all packed up for the trip home before the 20 knot winds and heavy rain came in.

So what happened:

 Sea Minor launched off the trailer and got back on again without any major problems, However, some fine tuning to the roller and bunk heights is needed and I think I will look at putting wider rollers in place of the two rearmost rollers to better handle the wide section of keel around the centreboard opening.

The centreboard would only go down to about 20% of its fully gown position before the top corner hit the edge of the slot in the top cover of the centreboard case. Nothing that a saw and chisel can't fix but there will be a bit of delay while the varnished top is refuinished. The immediate solution was to remove the cover (it is held in place by screws) so the board could go down.

Several other minor things have to be fixed and I will get those done while the epoxy and varnish are drying on the centrecase top.

The boat sailed nicely but the light wind didn't allow for any serious testing. Here are a couple of photos of the boat in action.

This photo was taken immediately after setting off before the job was unfurled. The eagle eyed will notice that the mainsail is short of a batten in the middle of the sail This batten is in the top pocket and is too short to replace the top batten which I left at home! Even so the sail shape looks OK.

Next photo shows all sails set. Not sure about the mizzen - the sprit boom is a new thing to me and the sail seems to be just hanging there. Maybe I haven't got it sheeted correctly, maybe the light winds aren't helping.

Finally, heading back to the ramp to remove the centreboard case top so the centreboard could go all the way down. Making lots of leeway in this photo!

Looks Like It Could Go Sailing

The centreboard is in and it looks like it will go up and down, no obvious problems but it can't be tested until the boat is in the water. I put the masts and sails up this afternoon; most of the control lines are there and it looks like it could go sailing. However, my list of things to do seems to get longer as I get closer to the end. Maybe there isn't an end, boats are always a "work in progress".

Still to do: rudder up/down hauls, topping lift and lazy jacks for main, mizzen halyard, mainsail outhaul, various cleats and bullseyes, some touch ups on the paint work and cradles to carry the mast and spars when the boat is on the trailer.

Here are some pics:

Back On The Trailer

The bottom is painted and today I turned the boat over so it is right side up and back on the trailer. Over the past 3 days I have done a bit of touch up painting and a lot of running around in the car. As a result of the car trips the outboard has been serviced, the main and mizzen sail batten pockets have been modified so the battens can be removed (previously the battens were sewn in) and the trailer has an additional roller towards the front. With the boat level on the trailer I stood the mast up and worked out where the mast step needed to be to give the correct amount of rake. At the same time I measured the length of the side stays and the wire that holds the end of the bowsprit down. These wires have been made up and tomorrow I will begin adding fittings to the boat.

Here's a photo of the boat in it's final colour scheme.

If the rain holds off tomorrow I should be able to fix the mast step in place, fit the chainplates and stand the mast up so that the rigging process can begin. Will post more photos as it comes together.