The guides are coming along.

So, today I worked on the new keel guides some more.  I've decided to go with metal 1.5" square tubing in which I milled a 5/8" slot on one side.  A friend of mine managed to get me some ( I think they're teflon) 2" wide by 1/4" thick strips of a plastic (teflon?) that they use as the slides for truck trailer axles.  I cut them to 2 pieces 47" long and 1" wide and 4 pieces 1/4" wide to line the inside of the metal pieces.  Today I got as far as drilling and tapping all the holes and priming the metal bits. It's a much slower process than I originally thought it would be but I really don't want to have to do this again within the next decade or two so I'm going to take my time and do it right. Of course, I'd much rather be sailing.  :)

Great Sailing but Oh! that *&#@$%^&* daggerboard

So had a great sail Thursday and Friday.  Took the kids out and had a nice gentle breeze to get used to the boat.  Ben had a hand at the tiller a number of times while set sails and adjusted the rigging.  During one lull Ben wanted to fish and so I let him throw the line out the back and a minute later he had a 14" small mouth which we kept for dinner.  Then on Friday as we returned I went to crank up the daggerboard and it stuck...but good.  Seems the guides were in worse condition than I thought so after sitting in the water for two days they got really soft and the daggerboard just dug in and stuck at the front.  My brother and I tried everything to get it back up but nothing worked. We even removed the stop bolt to see if that might be the problem.  Of course then it leaked.  So I motored over to the marina and he met me there with the trailer. I ended up having to cut the forward guide and pull it out.  Then on lifting the daggerboard, it cut into the truck and busted the fibreglass which meant I now had a fountain inside the boat.  I shoved a piece of plywood under the pulley header to support it, split the front of the trunk to allow the daggerboard to come up and then cranked.  Up it came and we quickly winched it onto the trailer and hauled it out.  WHEW!  Now it's at home and I have to redo the guides.  My brother's Matilda has steel guides so I'm thinking that might be a better way to go. Then I'll never have to worry about it again. Good thing I'm handy with glass work cause I also need to rebuild the trunk that I destroyed in the process.

July 1, 2, 3 Long Weekend 2011

So this weekend I've finished all the woodwork and got it back on the boat.  I've installed a few cleats in places where I need them and removed some of the old stuff I don't need. I patched the hole in the bow deck and Sunday afternoon I stepped the mast and installed my pulleys for running lines to the cockpit. It's getting there.  When Sue came home with the kids they all said, "Hey, it looks like a sailboat!"