first we polish the steel

Perhaps the most ambitious of our spring boat projects is the creation/addition of a boom gallows to C'est la Vie. We are creating the gallows to both provide a crutch for the boom while at rest and to provide an attachement point for a cockpit bimini. C'est la Vie's boom end sheeting has made it difficult for us to find an bimini design that we feel is sturdy w/out detracting from the aesthetics of the vessel. Our solution... add a gallows and design a custom bimini.

Thanks to a family friend we were able to obtain the requisite stainless steel tubing and plates for the price of polishing our own steel. The tubes were delivered with a dull finish. So one afternoon with a polishing wheel on the grinder later and the steel is ready for the metal shop.
FYI the lower half of the two tubes on the left are unpolished in the image.

I have also purchased a 3" X 10" X 10' piece of Sapelle for the wooden section of the gallows. Step two will be to begin shaping the wooden cross brace.

The 2009-10 FL Programs season draws to a close

Ahh the sun is setting on another NCOBS FL Programs Season. Anne and I begin to turn our attention to plans for the summer's travels and boat projects. We went to the Port Supply sale today and purchased a new tiller pilot; a tiller extension, and a new rail mounted grill. Let the boat projects begin...

Phoenix

Well after a full restoration of the deck, a full replacement of the running rigging, full replacement of the deck hardware, and refinishing both the tiller & the centerboard; the sunfish has suffered two dismastings in four times at sea. With the addition of a stout new aluminum mast that was fabricated locally for less than half the cost of a factory mast I now christen the vessel the Phoenix for her ability to repatedly rise from the ashes.

another one bites the dust

Well after two outings the modified windsurfer mast proved insufficient for the task of carrying a Sunfish sail. During the first, light wind, outing the mast bend was alarming. On the second, windy day outing, the stress proved too much for the fiberglass mast. Back to the drawing board.

If at first you don't succeed

Well with the demise of the original aluminum mast the Sunfish was yet again a yard ornament. A quick online search revealed that a new mast from the factory was out of the budget. What to do? Well it is a good thing that many of our staff refuse to discard, well, anything. Digging around our various nooks here on Sunset Island I came across a old fiberglass windsurfer mast. the diameter was too small, but by cutting a healthy section of the old sunfish mast and slipping it over the fiberglass mast I was able to adapt the mast to the Sunfish. A couple coats of epoxy to secure the aluminum section and seal the old fiberglass mast and the Sunfish is yet again on the water.

A day of firsts

After about an hour of upwind beats to Bear Island and downwind runs back to the docks at Sunset Island, my first day of sailing a sunfish became a day of multiple firsts. With a loud crack heard 200 yards away by staff sitting on the front steps of the lodge; the aluminum mast of the sunfish snapped... my first dismasting! Fortunately the only causality was the mast. I was able to gather the rigging and swim the boat back to the island. So after three years of slowly chipping away at repairs, we had approximately 90 minutes of sailing time and now we are back to repairs. Such is sailing.

TheSunfish lauch

Well we launched the Sunfish on a day with 20 knot winds the Josh Allen and I traded out on trips back and forth between Sunset Island and Bear Island. The downwind legs back to Sunset Island were a blast and the hull would plane out and skim across the water. Tacking back wind ward was definitely a learning experience. I flipped the boat once during this time.

A side project on the Sunset Island Sunfish

Above are some before and after shots of the restoration project on the Sunset Island Sunfish. The hull repairs are completed. Now I need to spend a little time on rigging repairs and then it will be time to head out for a sail on Chokoloskee Bay.