Getting the boat ready

The clock is running on my new sail. The sail company sent me an e-mail stating that they were all set with the measurements I sent them. All I had to do was to pay half the cost of the sail upfront. That appears to be a pretty standard requirement for custom built sails. Not that they've been paid the clock is running. They said it takes about four weeks for them to finish. Full payment is due at that time.

The new registration sticker are on so the boat is legal.

Unfortunately, the battery appears to have died over the winter. Amazing how they seem to last just slightly longer than the warranty. Once that's replaced I'm going to drive the ¼ mile to the boat ramp. Nothing like having a boat at your own beach.

The lake is small enough that I'm not worried about using the old blown out sail while waiting for the new one. The trailer needs new tires and a new jack, but it'll be good enough for the short distance to the ramp.

Living up in the mountains of northern New Hampshire there's not a lot of marine supplies. It is possible to get a few odds and ends for fishing boats, but forget about sailboat supplies. I'll be joining a friend of mine who lives in Maine on a trip to Hamilton Marine in Portland Maine. It's good to go with a native guide. He knows the places with the best beer and food in the area.

Once the new sail comes in and the trailer fixed we'll trailer it all over New England. We are hoping to get back out to the “West Coast of New England,” Lake Champlain. It's a fun place to sail. Now that we have our passports we may even sail into Canada.

We aren't sure exactly what we'll do for a boat next winter, but in a pinch we'll have the good old Oday 19.

-Sixbears

Fixing the boat I have

Monday was a good day for dealing with things on the Internet and on the phone. The day started with snow which accumulated to about an inch before turning to rain. Not a good day for playing outside.

The main sail on my Oday 19 is blown out and ripped. It's like the main motor is not firing on all cylinders. It really needs to be replaced. After a lot of searching around I decided to go with Bacon Sails. They e-mailed a detailed Measurement Form.

Apparently it's not enough to know the model and year of your boat. There's a lot of variance between boats, even those that are the same model. Rather than build a sail that sorta fits, they want to build one that really fits my particular boat. Makes sense, I guess.

I wish it was simple, as now I've got a lot of measuring to do. The boat will have to be unwrapped from its winter cocoon and moved to where I can lift the mast without getting tangled up in power lines. Tuesday is supposed to be another rainy day, but the sun is supposed to come out Wednesday.

I hope to get them moving on the sail fairly soon as it takes about four weeks to build it. They want half the money up front and the other half when the sail is completed. That seems to be a common practice in the industry.

While waiting for the sails to come in I might as well do a few other projects, like a mount for the 100 watt solar panel. A new cabin hatch would be great too. The Oday has a removable cabin hatch instead of a sliding one. It's a miracle that it hasn't fallen off the boat and sank to the bottom of the ocean. It would be kinda cool to build something that gives me a few more inches of headroom too. That would certainly make the boat more comfortable.

Maybe I can get all those projects done before the sail comes in. Right now all the ice isn't even off the lake yet, so giving it another month to warm up isn't a bad thing.

-Sixbears