Finally

I finally got to do some sailing. Wouldn't you know, the sprit sail got left home? It didn't matter much. There wasn't much wind, just enough to move you around but not enough to get up any speed. I did have to use the paddle a couple of times, especially when I had to maneuver between a catamaran and a sunken log.

I hosed the boat out a few times on Tuesday. This was enough to swell the seams. It took on a bit of water but not enough to bother pumping out.

The top rudder mount came loose. The screw holes had been partly-stripped last year and the shallow bottom was too much for it. I will need to put some bolts through the transom instead of using screws. I was able to jury-rig it with some extra line while sailing.

Catching Up

It's been a bad year for sailing - too many other commitments. I did manage to get the boat into the water at Put-in-Bay at a pirate event. No sailing but we rowed around for a while.

Getting the boat off and onto the new trailer was easy - much better than with the old trailer. It still needs a few adjustments. The part with the winch needs to be moved back a bit and the bunkers need to be moved a little closer (again).

Heresy

This is probably heresy but I touched up the places where the trailer rollers had worn through the paint with spray paint. It's getting hard to find oil-based paint and I don't want to use latex and most boat paint is really meant for fiberglass. I wanted to take care of the spots so I got some industrial-quality enamel spray paint. It isn't an exact match for the ret of the paint but it looks a lot better than the worn spots and will protect the hull.

I also used it on the keel where the paint was scraped off on beaches. The keel has a steel strip running down it so spray paint seems more justifiable there.

I also added a roller to the new trailer near the front. This is beyond the bunkers and I was worried about the keel bouncing on the trailer and getting dented.

New trailer

My new trailer came in. I spent the evening adjusting it to fit the boat. It is a bunker trailer and I had to remove several bolts and put them back. I may need to move things around some more as the boat settle into the bunkers. It looks like the keel is touching.

This should be a lot easier on the boat. The bunkers support several feet instead of the few inches that rollers support.

Spring Progress

I sanded the centerboard and painted it. It had a lot more rust than I hoped since I did the same thing last year.

While I had it hauled up so that I could get to the centerboard I found dents from the front rollers on the trailer. The rollers have worn through some of the paint and dented the wood underneath. I know that the last owner, and possibly owners before that, didn't really use the trailer to haul the boat very far. It had never been licensed.

I have heard that roller-trailers are the wrong type for a wooden boat. This confirms it. It addition, the trailer is too short and the boat hangs over the end. This probably makes it harder to launch the boat and pull it out. I have to back further into the water.

I have a new bunker-trailer on order. It should be in any time. That should reduce wear.

I washed the flooring in preparation for oiling the teak. Last week I had dumped a couple of buckets of water in the boat to swell the planks. It still has some leaks - not surprising since it has been in the garage since the end of September. It seems to be tighter than last Spring. The water was only dribbling out when I washed the flooring. It probably sat out of the water all 2008 and maybe longer. It looks like the seams did not open as much over the winter.

I've said before that the boat did not show ordinary wear when I bought it. The hull needed paint but nothing else showed any wear. It certainly shows some wear now. For the most part, this is just scratches around wear points. I've been using some rub-on urethane which takes care of most of them.

I would still like to paint the keel but it is not mandatory to put it back in the water.

We have been checking out Buckeye Lake. This is larger and more interesting than where I have been sailing. Most of it is unlimited horsepower which is a pain in the Whitehall because of the wake but it has some unusual features like a floating island. I'm hoping to try sailing it in June.

UPDATE: The teak looked goo after being washed. A oat of teak oil and it looks like new.

Things to do in April

Touch up the paint where it got scraped off.
New coat of teak oil.
Sand rust off of the centerboard and paint.

Start hosing down the hull to swell the wood.