No April foolin’ here

Managed to take my first sail of 2012 on Sunday, April Fools Day. The tiller is still rough but enough fitting to work as planned. Still not sure why it took so long but here we are, finally hove to off Swan Point.

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Ready to cast off
Sails raised for the first time in many months. Let’s hope I make up for lost time. Who wants to go for a sail?

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Brunch on deck
Brunch under way. A treat a long time coming.

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It works!
Lots of shaping to do but it works fine. The aft end needs to be trimmed and faired but the forward end is now high enough to clear the blocks. When I laid out the new rudder I made the tiller slot parallel to the water line. I think the original rudder had the slot angled up slightly so the tiller started out at a bit of an angle, thus the current kink. Oh well, it and the rudder itself works fine.

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Open Bay
Beating into a rising Southwesterly on a mostly empty Bay. It seems I still remember how to sail. I poked around south of Swan Point hoping to catch a glimpse of the lost rudder as the water’s still clear but no luck. By now, if it’s still on the bottom, it’s covered in growth and mud and invisible.

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Pics from St. John later this week.

Quick Post

before we leave for paradise. I’ll try to do one from St John though no sailing this time, just days and days of watching the clouds drift by. And having a great time with our friends Dave and Cheryl.

Here are some pics from the last few weeks to keep Peter happy.

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Progress
Progress on the store/office. I tried out the chair on the porch and it works fine.

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New sign
New sign at Beaton’s. Glad they kept the Ghost image.

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Calm
Calm between showers. Still working on the tiller and will have to postpone our first sail of the season till we return.

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Garvey work
A sure sign of Spring as the yard Garvey gets her makeover.

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Repairs
Repairs to the rigging ladder. They’ll need it soon as this warm weather will start the sailing juices flowing.

Mast work at Beaton’s

Here you go Peter:

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Here it is all glued up with Tom remembering the dark old days when we basically made a pair of 50′ gutters. Hard, splintery work with a gouge and hollowing plane.

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Here are some off cuts from the last spar.

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And here’s a neat Old Town runabout in for fresh varnish on the hull.

That was pretty quick using the iPad. All the pics are from the iPhone and accessible through iCloud here on the….well, thanks Steve, it all works fine.

First iPad Post

Sitting down below with a warm fire and an about to be removed wisdom tooth. Figured I’d chew on a well toasted sausage bread before days of mush.

This is also my first iPad post.

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The view yesterday under the dock at Beaton’s. I knew as soon as I shipped the rudder, the sailing conditions would revert to mean.

It works

but the tiller needs a bit of the cut and shim. For now I’ll fit a custom wedge and glue it back to shape later. Looks like we’ll be sailing this week. (Written 02.22.12)

Friend and carpenter Andy helped me with the installation last Saturday. Andy was nourished with the ship’s best before his “stand here; hold this” efforts.

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Stand there; hold this
Andy passes the stand here; hold this test. A few years ago he passed the sit there; hold this test on Charlotte.

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It fits!
It fits though a bit closer than it needs to be. When very hard over it binds a bit. I’ll fair in the tight spots next haul out. And yes, the cotter pins are in place. I’ll place the lower one when I get a half dozen Beatonites to stand forward.

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It fits as well
The tiller is a work in progress. I need to take a further wedge off the bottom and glue it on top to bring the end of the tiller above the mainsheet blocks. Fun work (as he mutters walking off to the band saw for another slice.)

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Sails on
Sails bent on and about ready to go. Waiting on a light to moderate dry Northeaster, about 40 degrees, bright sun and fresh sausage bread. The water’s still clear so the first order of business is a cruise of the Rudder Grounds. Hope springs eternal.

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Gusty NNW @20+
Plenty of water but gusting from the NNW about 20 and building. No thanks.

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Sea Level Living
The Joys of living at Sea Level. And it is rising. I’ve been driving by this corner for, well forever and you can now see marine growth on the lowest drain and curb. Get used to it.

Done with the Rudder

and the tiller work continues. I found a piece of suitable oak with a decent sweep to the grain in the wood shed. Tom thinks it may be Black Oak. Not as durable as White Oak but will serve well as a tiller. Looks like it will take a nice finish.

Being this close may justify bending on the sails and thinking about actually sailing.

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Done!
Just another coat of bottom paint and it’s done.

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Tiller progress
From the left: the original tiller from 1985, the pine pattern and the oak blank. Should be close to the original but a bit longer. Phil Bolger observed that a longer tiller generally makes for a better sailor. We’ll see.

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At the sizzle
One needs nourishment for the shaping of the tiller. Cozy below as always.

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Rainy day
Rainy day at Beaton’s. Taken from the wood shop after a watch below on Sjogin.

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Spar building
Here’s a pair of fifty foot Skita Spruce 1 X 10s. Ready to be sliced up and turned into a new Birdsmouth spar for Ghost. Looks fast Bill!

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Myth deck work
Myth’s in the shop for a new deck. The old one suffered from melting deck seams on hot days. The new one will be teak over ply.

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Calm morning
Another ice free, high water, calm day perfect for drifting about. I know as soon as she’s back in commission the weather will revert to mean.

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Gilding the Lily
After 23 years we’re about to have a better view of Stockton Lake and more importantly, the Atlantic, from Ourhouse.

Slow but steady progress

We’re at the painting stage on the rudder which means the end is near. The rudder is hung from the pintels in the Duckboat room with the first coat of primer applied last week. By next weekend we should be at the point where hanging it on Sjogin will be a real possibility.

Still no ice in the basin with the occasional pleasant sailing day bringing dark mutterings from this rudderless sailor.

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It's white!
First coat of Kirby’s primer. Another coat, some sanding and re-priming and we’ll be ready for finish coats. Still looking for tiller stock, 6/4 oak seems scarce at Beaton’s.

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On display
Looking in the windows of the Duckboat room. That’s a covered Ghost in the reflection.

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At the sizzle
At the sizzle last week. The dock-bound visits continue per usual.

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Sleet and such
The weather on deck during the above sizzle. Sleet and rain out of the NNE, blowing 20. Nice tune with the rain/sleet on deck, a healthy sizzle on the stove and the base notes of Sjogin’s lap-chortle.

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Smoooooth
Progress on Ghost. The end of the skeg remains unpainted as the rudder need to be dropped and the stern post replaced. The checks are severe enough for a rebuild. Just who built that skeg? He needs to do a better job of wood selection next time.

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That's it?
Our only snow of the Season so far. Decided contrast to last year this time when we had snow left over from the Boxing Day storm. Curious.

Happy New Year

Greetings from Sjogin on the occasion of this bright New Year. Still plugging away on the rudder, now waiting on Tom to order 1/4″ copper rod for the rivets. And of course the tiller still needs fashioning.

And to add insult to injury, December had many fine sailing days and January’s looking good as well. No ice to date which is later than usual. I wonder how the ice is on Toms River?

One of the best gifts I received this Christmas was a half-model of Sjogin by Randy Mauterer. Randy works part time at Beaton’s and has made a number of fine half models. Needless to say I was deeply grateful for this act of kindness. Thanks Randy.

Here are a number of odds and ends from the last few weeks:

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Sjogin by Randy
Something I’ve alway wanted. Randy took the Gartside lines drawing I posted last year and expanded them to size of the model. I think this may move the Tom Beaton half-model of Hard Tack from over the mantle.

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Breezin' up
One of the decidedly non-sailing days last week. Blowing 25 out of the SSE and lively in the slip.

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Drilling for rivets
Drilling the holes for the rivets. They’ll be made from the 1/4″ copper rod Tom’s hopefully ordered. Once that’s done the rudder gets a final sanding, priming (and fixing the riveting dents) and painting. While the paints drying I’ll start on the tiller.

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The new office and store at Beaton's…
This is for Peter. The new office and store at Beaton’s. It will have bathrooms and showers (yes, showers). Thanks Beaton’s. The old office will revert to a workshop.

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End of the Season
A sure sign of the end of the season. Another faithful year of service by the yard garvey.

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Sleeping Ducks
Last in, first out. Speedwell, stern to on the right, sleeps with her sisters.

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Grey Ghost
Ghost faired and primed. Looks like a fast bottom. Here’s hoping she can return to her race winning ways.

Doing better

I managed to slow the leak in the garboard with a bit of cotton in the split so the rest of the weeping is now manageable. The butt blocks on the third plank down are still leaking so they’ll get attended to when Sjogin’s hauled to fit the rudder. That should get her ready for the ice season. (Touch wood!)

Speaking of the rudder, there’s been substantial progress with the fairing just about done and the cheeks chamfered. Looks like painting may start soon after the riveting is done.

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Cheeks and clamps
Gluing the white oak cheeks to the plywood blade. The spacer at the top is also white oak. I’ll finish the top in a simple fashion for now. Perhaps when/if we get iced in the rudder can be pulled and turned over to Jeff Reid for a bit of carving.

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Rivets next
Finished shaping and fairing. Riveting is next and then painting. (And filling in the misses with the hammer.) The plywood will be saturated with epoxy and painted as well. I still need to design and fashion a new tiller.

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Just rigged
Once again swimming against the tide as Sjogin’s mast is stepped while all others are doing the opposite.

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Ed Lowe
Slipmate Ed Lowe and a loud gull. Ed’s well into his 90’s and still messing about with boats. Hope I have another 30 years of this.

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First Sizzle!
First sizzle of the season on board this leaky old tub. Certainly makes it all worthwhile. Cheers!

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Bottom work for Ghost
Ghost has been flipped and is in the shop for a bottom fairing. Paul and Jeff will be chasing the bumps I left almost twenty years ago. Very cool to see how some of my work held up. One of my first jobs was making the oak skeg. Absent some deep checking, it’s doing fine.

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Christmas Party at Ourhouse
A fuzzy but happy pic of the Christmas Party at Ourhouse. Brisk evening which made the fire most welcome.

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Tis the Season
Best of the Season to you and yours dear reader.

Somehow the weeks go by between posts and I can feel refresh keys wearing out. I’ll try to keep the Posts more timely next year. You can always see new pics on Flickr as that page is updated frequently.