Cape Lookout day sail on SV Blue Goose

A few weeks ago I introduced you all to SV Blue Goose, a 1920's wood cat boat here in Beaufort, NC.  This week my parents are in town along with some wonderful fall weather including fresh NNE winds.   Sounds like the perfect recipe for a day sail out to Cape Lookout.

Blue Goose motoring windward to raise sails in Taylors Creek - photo credit: S Lovett

The Blue Goose has no winches so raising the sail is a 3 person job.  Once under way she is easy to handle, with a person on the helm and a second person to tend the sheet.

North winds and a slack tide served us an easy passage out Beaufort Inlet.  We transited the inlet on a reach with myself on the helm and Bud tending the sheet.

Jeff at the helm and Bud on the sheet - photo credit: M Lovett

Once offshore of Shackleford Banks Bud took the helm.  He held a course close hauled toward the Cape as   the winds increased to 17+ knots. Blue Goose's windward performance proved better than we anticipated. Our initial port tack took us from the inlet to the rock jetty along the southern shore of the cape.  The following starboard tack took us along Power Squadron Spit and over to the beach along Shackleford Banks.  On the next tack we entered the bight.

Blue Goose entering Cape Lookout Bight with lighthouse off our starboard bow. - photo credit: J Lovett

After a "sail by"  and shouted greeting to our friends on SV Pearl anchored in the bight, we turned back west towards Beaufort Inlet.  With the winds now over our shoulder Blue Goose sprinted the 7NM offshore along Shackleford Banks.  A flooding tide ushered us through Beaufort Inlet and onward to town.

Thanks to the Lovett's for joining us on a wonderful day sail...

Paddle Board Bag - Alterations and Completion

Unhappy with the loose fit of the paddle board bag I engaged in some alterations.

Working in sections - rail, nose, rail, tail -  I separated the panel with the fin slot from the narrow side panel.  I then reduce the side panel by 1 1/2" from the tail to the mid point of the board.  From the mid point to the nose of the board the material removed from the side panel increased incrementally to a maximum of 5" at the nose.  The process more smoothly than I expected and I am now pleased with the fit of the bag on the board.

The entire project is documented in the album - Paddle Board Bag Project - summer 2012.  On to the next project, or perhaps it is time for a paddle?

Beaufort afternoon aboard SV Blue Goose

Four of our friends and co-workers from Outward Bound visited us in Beaufort. After their sea kayak expedition they elected to spend an afternoon enjoying SV-Blue Goose. Myself, Anne, and our local friend Allison rounded out the six person crew.

Justinn at th helm inside Schackleford Banks - T Haitz photo credit.

Constructed in the late 1920's in the Cape Cod area, Blue Goose is a 29' on of a kind wooden cat boat.  Her unstayed mast carries a large single gaff rigged mainsail.

SV Blue Goose mainsail underway - photo credit: T Haitz

Her owner, a local retired US Navy Captain, maintains the vessel in a Bristol condition.   After a summer of crewing with the captain and of assisting with repairs/maintenance (Blue Goose Boom Repairs), he graciously offered me use of the vessel.

 

Blue Goose and her bow totem plying the waters off Beaufort, NC - photo credit: T Haitz

She is a gorgeous sailing vessel that never fails to turn heads.  She is also impressively seaworthy and surefooted even offshore in larger seas.   Along with her fine sailing qualities she is a great platform of an afternoon swim off Carrot Island...

Jeff airborne off Blue Goose Bow - photo credit T Haitz

Trish jumping off Blue Goose bow - photo credit: J Lovett

 

Paddle board bag - some assembly required

When we transport the paddle board on C'est la Vie it will need to have the fin removed to avoid catching legs or lines thus I added a interior pocket opposite the fin slot in which to store fin(s).

The fin pocket seals with velcro across  the top flap.

Time to assemble the three flat components into a three dimensional bag. Being careful to layout the pieces inside out,  I used basting tape to adhere the initial section of the side panel to the top.

Once the initial section was secured with a couple feet of stitching, I lined up the pieces on the fly as they fed into the machine.

To hide the seams and provide a clean finish the bag was assembled inside out. Once the pieces were joined I flipped the bag right side out via the zipper opening and rushed home for a test fit.

If anything the bag to too big - better than too small. 

I plan to use the bag for a few days before deciding whether or not to disassemble on panel and trim down the dimensions of the bag. 

Going Two-Ply!

After some consultation with Anne, I've decided to go two-ply on the paddle board bag.  This will offer the board more protection and make the bag more durable.  In addition there is still plenty of material left in the main.

After cutting and sewing the additional layers, I began fabricating the slot for the fin.  I began be adding another layer of sail cloth around the site of the fin slot. The additional fabric will make this area very durable.

Initially I zigzag stitched the patches onto the panel.  Then carefully strait stitched around the edges of the slot.  Using the straight stitches as a guide I used a razor blade to cut the slot into the four layers of cloth.  A soldiering gun served as a hot knife to seal the edges of the slot.  

To seal the slot when the board is traveling with the fin removed, I abutted two strips of 1" webbing and only attached the outer edges.  

The test fit on the board looks good!  Hopefully tomorrow I can join the three primary components and complete this project. More images are available - Paddle Board Bag Project - Summer 2012 

Zippers & Handles

After viewing a couple free how to videos on zippers from Sailrite, I installed a 60" zipper into the side panel of the future paddle board bag.

Next my attention turned to handles / lash points on the top and bottom of the bag.  Concerned that the forces on the handles could cause the sailcloth to rip, I installed re-enforcement patches along the inside of the bag at the handle attachment points.

Using a zigzag stitch to avoid weakening the sailcloth, seven patches were sewn at 12" intervals along the mid-line of the bag.  

I then flipped the bag and utilizing the patches attached a continuous piece of one inch webbing to the outside of the bag.  

My next challenge is to create a slit in the bottom of the bag to allow the skeg to remain in place while the board is stowed in the bag.

What to do with a retired sail?

In the past our friends at Ella Vickers have received C'est la Vie's retired sails.  Ella will give you credit towards purchases for your retired sails - Ella Vickers Sail Exchange.

With a new paddle board, a retired mainsail, a sailrite LZ1 machine, and time on my hands.  I've elected to fabricate a storage bag for the paddle board.  Images from the project are available - Paddle Board Bag Project - Summer 2012

Earlier this summer we purchased our first paddle board.  We found the used Surftech 11'6" Laird board in Atlantic Beach via Craigs List.

The rocker (curvature) of the board prohibited me from simply tracing out the dimensions of the board on the cloth. So I measured cross section of the board every 12" and then drew this  pattern out on the sail cloth.

Once the pattern for the top of the bag was cut out, I draped it over the board for a quick test fit.

A couple hours of measuring, drawing, and cutting produced the three basic pieces of the project.

Updates to boat and blog

Summer is waning, the hurricane season is in full swing, and the tick tick of the clock counting down to launch day is growing audible.  Both the boat and the blog have rested long enough.  It is time to get back to work / play / boat ownership.

While continuing to enjoy our summer in Beaufort, NC, we have committed to another season working for Outward Bound in the Florida Everglades.  The decision to return to FL sets a Beaufort departure date of no later than November 1 for C'est la Vie.

Past readers of C'est la Vie's blog will note the change of format.  We use Blogger to host the site and I elected to give their new "dynamic views" a try.  The black ribbon across the top of the screen allows the reader to choose the layout of the blog.  I personally like "classic" and "magazine".  The "flipcard" layout is useful because it allows the reader to sort blog posts by author, date, and label in a graphic manner.  I believe that the dynamic views will also translate better to mobile devices.   The big loss with the new format is the lists of photo albums and web links once visible along the side bar.  These links are now hidden unless the reader selects a tab from the right side of the screen.  My fear is that this will limit readers ability to simply stumble upon projects or trips that may interest them.  Please share your thoughts on the new format.  I can always switch back.

As for boat projects... A year of sailing under the new genoa convinced us to give up on patching and repairing our circa 1995 mainsail.  We have contracted Omar Sails to build C'est la Vie a new loose footed, fully battened mainsail.  Images of the project are available: Replace Mainsail Project - fall 2012.

We are pleased with the Strong Track system installed last fall.  Since the sail slugs are in excellent condition, I harvested them off the old main and gave them to the sailmaker.

Paul from Omar Sails convinced me to to fix the gooseneck / boom in position on the mast.  Previously C'est la Vie's boom ran along a short track on the mast.  This allowed the luff to be tensioned via a downhaul attached to the boom or the halyard.

To fix the position I sandwiched the car between two stainless steel plates bolted to the existing track.

The tension on the new mainsail luff will be adjusted via halyard or cunningham directly attached to the mainsail.  

We added C'est la Vie's boom gallows in 2010 (Boom Gallows Project).  Despite or best efforts to squeeze in the gallows and bimini, the boom made contact with the gallows when sailing close hauled.

Our new mail will be cut higher along the aft end of the foot to provide greater clearance between the boom and the gallows.