SmallCraftAdvisor.com

Its been over two weeks since anyone posted anything on this forum!! Is everyone asleep?

What are you doing to get your boat ready for the spring launching?

I leave the Lusty Slogger in the water from April to November. Then I am fortunate to have an enclosed and semi heated space to work on maintenance for spring. So far this year I have added (again) wood trim to both the top sides and the seats. I have changed out my Harkin blocks for Tufnol blocks I purchased from Wooden Boat Chandlery. I am a big fan of wooden boats but have a duct tape boat budget! So, instead of the wooden blocks I really wanted (at over $150.00 each) I compromised with tufnol blocks, they look somewhat woody and so far four of them have cost me less than $150.00. I am replacing my compass (which I certainly have extreme need of on my lake (one mile wide and 35 miles long approximately). I will clean and polish the hull, re teak oil the hatch cover (from J O Woodworks, highly recommended) and tiller (also from John) and various other bits and pieces. I may not be the largest boat at the Marina come April but I certainly expect to be the most shipshape!!

So, what are you doing to keep from getting rusty?

I am playing my guitar!... The boat is in a deep cryogenic state and there is nothing to do with it!..

I watch sailing videos and dream about the next season. Maybe we should start a video thread and comment on them? Dylan has always something new to show and Sean Mulligan is active as ever with his Paradox.

It is indeed a very quiet time of the year.

Michel wrote:I am playing my guitar!... The boat is in a deep cryogenic state and there is nothing to do with it!..

I watch sailing videos and dream about the next season. Maybe we should start a video thread and comment on them? Dylan has always something new to show and Sean Mulligan is active as ever with his Paradox.

It is indeed a very quiet time of the year.

And with the three major small boat magazines only published every two months it is sparse indeed!!

Maybe Josh should consider only publishing in the winter months but come out with three magazines a month November thru April!!

OK, here is one Jerry Montgomery might like

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeVlPSjJOPw

Blue sky and warm waters! One of my dreams is to someday tow my boat down to Key Largo and sail south from there. That would be nice! (A typical dream for a northern sailor)

Dylan doing his thing.

http://youtu.be/Kf2gOAzNOgE

Michel wrote:Dylan doing his thing.

http://youtu.be/Kf2gOAzNOgE

The last 30 or so seconds showing the reflection of the sun on the water is absolutely gorgeous in my opinion!! I remember sunsets in the South Pacific when I was in the Navy that looked like that.

Anyway, here is another one. This is a Sunbird 16 down in Florida. Its not my Bird by the way. My wife gave me a video camera for Christmas so you may see some of my video's next summer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QilmLotZluY


OK, where is everyone else now. It can't just be a Canadian and a Tennessean awake now can it?

Good! I am looking forward to these videos.

See how it feels good when I shut down the motor. I also take a break near the end by heaving to.
http://youtu.be/9YkKhxWi2bM

The biggest thing I'm NOT doing and should be is designing/building a dodger for my SCAMP. I did give Zephyr a sponge bath a few weeks ago when it was in the 40s. I hadn't ever cleaned out the boatbuilding dust forward.

Reading the latest SCA this weekend got me pumped up. Time to attack that to do list. My challenge is to keep the boat ready to sail on weekends. If it is sunny and over 50 on the weekend then I want to drop her in the water!

Just "Make it so" if it is possible....

Here's a clip that gives me goosebumps!
http://youtu.be/_KhQlfBeGeM