Good-bye, Blue!

Well.

That went fast.

We put Old Blue up for sail on Saturday night, and by Sunday afternoon, she was sold. A lovely couple and their two excited kids came to see her and bought on the spot. Tonight they came back with the truck to take her to her new home.

It felt so weird.

AND THEN I REALIZED THE RUDDER, DAGGERBOARD, AND MAINSHEET WERE STILL IN THE YARD!!

Ack! So, I called the new owner up, and luckily he hadn't gotten too far away. A good 10-15 minutes, so I brought the gear out to him. Whew!

I joked that I was having problems letting go. Also took a moment to make sure everything was secure and snug, and it looked like everything was going well. So, I patted the old girl and told her to be good, then let The Dad take her home to his anxiously awaiting crew.

Gaaaaaaah. Let's have a pretty parting pic:

Old Blue after we first sailed her.

a half-finished dolly

Offending elbows in the foreground.
Old Blue's stern in the background.

Well.

User error.

I can't blame this on anyone but myself. Out of 8 45-degree elbows, 6 were the correct size. Apparently I should pay more attention when pulling parts out of the box.

So, I couldn't finish the dolly tonight, but that's okay, because Hubby is going to run to Harbor Freight tomorrow to get some other tires on sale, which will likely lead to cascade of exchanges in regards to the rod, washers, and lock nuts. That's what receipts are for!

However, it looks like this thing is going to come together pretty well, once I'm done with the loose fitting. I've got the PVC adhesive, foam, and ties, so I should be able to finish this tomorrow, sans painting. Haven't quite decided if we're going to do that or not. I'd like to, but we'd have to destroy our tarp in the process, so we don't get it on the grass. Our house is for sale after all.

The awesome thing is that this thing takes an episode of House Hunters to construct, minus the gluing. Mike and I cut the PVC and I fitted stuff together with some last minute measurements in there. We only have one cutter, so it was still a one-person pace. Of course, this is without the painting, gluing, and fitting the foam on, so maybe it's a 2 episode deal. Basically, 40 minutes! And, cutter included, will be around $80 dollars, potentially less if we get the HF tires tomorrow. Better than the $500 dollies out there!

Also this weekend, our sailing club is hoping the weather will hold out for an opening weekend regatta of "sail what ya brung" plus a potluck and drinky drinks. We've decided we won't try to have the boats ready by then, because the water is still going to be friggin' cold. We'll be hitting some 70s this weekend, but the night still gets down to the 30s and 40s, and Saturday is supposed to be 58, so I'm thinking that water is going to be mighty unfriendly. Maybe we can hitch a ride on one of the day cruisers.

On the bright side of this stubbornly cold winter, it buys us time to get the ports put in (yeah, I know, I know) and I bought some Marine-Tex putty today to help with some of the chips in Woody's hull and in daggerboard trunks and mast steps. We are being Come What May about Old Blue's drinking problem and will patch some probable causes of her dampness and just dry her out between sails. Yeah, we're duct tape sailors.

first sail/last sail

Old Blue watching the birds while we roll up the sail.

We sailed! For realz! Sunday we took Old Blue out for her first successful spin, now that we knew how to properly attach the halyard to the upper boom.

The wind was light with some gusts, the sun shining, the air warm in the 70s, and boaters were out grasping every last bit of season before Old Man Winter kills the fun.

While it was great to see so many people out, however, this meant chaos on the club ramp. Not chaos, but people were gabbing while s l o w l y bringing their boats out of the water. And then park the club truck in front of us, blocking us from getting down the ramp. *sigh*

But we got to enjoy the comfort of rigging on a beach rather than the ramp, and readjusted the halyard several times before we set out. Once out on the water, we realized we need to shift the lower boom a bit (loosen the goose, rotate, tighten back up), because the mainsheet blocks weren't hanging  down but to the side. But the winds were easy enough, we weren't too worried.

I grabbed our older camera and got some shots and video, but then had to put it in, as apparently Maverick and Goose were piloting the motorboat that buzzed by us for no apparent reason and we had some chop.

The wind started dying and the sun was going down, so we headed back in at a toodling run. A sail kayaker and his dog were on a starboard tack, and the collie looked ready to jump out after all the birds landing in the water. But the Good Dog stayed with his master.

As we de-rig, we noticed a dark bank of clouds rolling in and the wind picking up. Another club couple were bringing their boat in, but as the wind came up, they turned around. I guess they couldn't resist that last rush of wind!

So, that was probably our last sail for the year. This week is too jam-packed for both of us, and this weekend we will be in another state at a wedding! Once we get both boats under one roof, we'll do an inventory of gear and list out parts and repairs and come up with a winter tinkering strategy.

BUT WE GOT TO SAIL!