dunking your guests

Club boat with our new sail

Taking guests out on the boat tends to bring about a comedy of errors. We like taking people out, but it always seems like 5-6 things go wrong before you're even out on the water.

Saturday one of my brothers and his lady friend came down to visit, and Thomas said he definitely wanted to go sailing again. So, we decided to take Woody across the river to the club and also use the club boat, so we could sail in pairs and get in a good, long (but not too long) sail.

We get to the club and pull the trailer over to the side away from the loading ramp. I figured I'd go grab the club fish, drop it in, and then use its dolly for Woody. But then I noticed something rather important was missing on Woody's hull.

Yep, there was a perfectly round, 5-inch diameter hole in our deck. Apparently I had forgotten to screw the lid back in tight after checking for any leaks last time out. Somewhere on the road, a lonely port lid is getting crushed by tires.

Well, dang. I hoped to still salvage this error by taking the club's Sunfish and one of the Lasers out (since we'd sailed the latter once and Mike really wanted to practice more). So, off I wandered to the boat corral to find one Sunfish, a Laser, a Force 5, and a Butterfly waiting patiently for someone to take them out. However, they were all missing a few important things: their rigging and rudders.

With the others watching me wander around the club like a lost chicken, I tried to find the club manager to ask where the heck all the gear was being stored. The only gear I could find was labeled with club members' names, so I wasn't about to pilfer there. Finally, I gave up and decided we'd take turns on the club fish and use our gear. Luckily, the Sunfish had its rudder tucked inside the cubby and cockpit, so we could substitute everything else.

As we set up, the Sea Scouts and day cruisers were coming in, each one letting us know just how gusty it was. It was coming southwest, though sometimes would shift almost dead west.

"You're going to get wet," Mike told our new crew. We borrowed some extra life jackets from the shed and scooted out into the water. Mike and the lady friend went first.

The big puffs would come and go, but we almost always had a strong breeze. Mike tended to dump wind to keep the boat flat for our guest, but it was an easy hike day. At one point, going into a tack, they very nearly tipped over, but some weight shifts at the last moment settled it down.

Thomas and I, on the other hand, went right for it.

Poor new sail. Each time it's been out, we've dunked it. This time, we were stuck in the mud. On the dock, Mike and the day cruiser instructor watched, and the instructor said "it ain't coming out." The wind and current were pushing against the hull, driving the mast deeper into the mud.

Out on the water, I was trying to tell Thomas how to lift the mast out of the water while trying to get up on the daggerboard, but it clearly wasn't going to work. So, we switched places, since it'd make more sense to have his weight on the board. Pretty soon, up popped the boat (including a triangle of black mud at the top). Now Thomas can brag that he can flip boats over, too.

O Holey Night

It's not even New Year's yet and Woody and Blue decided to go out and get piercings. I suspect rum was involved.

No, our most definitely "of age" ladies didn't do anything wrong, but we did shock them by putting a few holes in their decks! Yes, we've finally got around to doing those pesky inspection ports.

We tried Blue first, since we were pretty sure she was carrying some extra water weight, the big lush! To maximize ventilation and have access for repairs down the road, we put a 4-inch port behind the splash guard and then another under the traveler. And, boy, did she need it!

Mike had just poked the starter hole in her when he said, "oh ... she's wet, Em."

She wasn't sopping wet, but she is definitely damp all the way through. This is a bummer but not a surprise. Overall, she was in better shape than our worst fears, though it looks like the wood backing to the cleat is rotting and there MIGHT be the start of separation in the hull joint near the bow.

If you look at that foam finger at the bottom joint of the daggerboard trunk, it appears darker (wetter) than the rest. I'm thinking that's where the main leak originated. There are some chips in the fiberglass on the outside there. MarineTex putty, ahoy!

We think we can get away with drying the boat out and puttying those chips. She sails pretty good as is, so if we just dry her out after every run, I think we'll be okay for awhile. We'll be happy getting a few years out of these boats (or breaking them horribly on an awesome adventure).

Mike did the cutting, and I kept the vacuum nozzle and a flashlight on his work, so we tried to keep the fiberglass dust to a minimum. I have to say, Mike did an excellent job, using the saw for the first time. I'm sure he must've been a nervous wreck inside.

We have a fan running on the aft port, and we can feel the air coming up by the splash guard. It'll be interesting to track how long it'll take to dry out 60 years!

Possible new names: Blue Lush, Drinker, Rum-Soaked, Lake Shot

Woody, bless her, was bone dry. What a teetotaler! This is surprising, because she has some chips in the hull and definitely some crackle when you push on deck, which might be pointing to delamination.

Although she feels tougher on the outside, Mike said she was easier to cut through. Inside, she was as dry as could be, though we definitely have some significant foam separation happening. Usually that is due to water, but since there is little discoloration inside and no musty air, I'm thinking it might be from either an impact (there is evidence on the hull) or old age. The blocks are holding firm, so we'll do some research on what we should do. It might mean cutting off the separated foam and putting in some new stuff. This is the expanding foam, not the foam blocks.

The inside of the AMFlite was cleaner. Much more hollow with less stuff going on, however, the foam seemed to crowd up near the bow and then on either side of the cockpit. It's interesting because both of these boats were made by Alcort within a few years apart (the best we can tell), yet we can see some manufacturing differences on the inside and outside. The AMF, rumor has it, was a little more efficient and, hence, cheaper than the Sunfish. Does this mean better design or cheaper materials? Hard to say.

So, we have two boats with different issues, but we are way more mellow about it than I was only months ago. We did get a new mast cap for Woody (hooray!), new sail clips, and some clips for the traveler. Now we gotta decide on a new sail for Woody!