Dress To Get Wet Sailing

It is sort of fun when your day sailor lies on its side!

Sailing small day-sailors can be more fun than sailing a bigger boat. You learn a lot sailing in one of these and the things learned apply to the bigger boats. With a day-sailor you should dress to get wet. 8-)

Some of my most memorable sailing outings have been when we pushed the limits of the boat and it goes over.  It can be fun. Pushing the limits of the boat has a thrill in itself, and the scrambling to prevent going over is fun in itself. As long as you have nothing on board that you will trash and you have all the safety stuff you need for the crew and getting the boat back upright, it can really be fun.

A few years ago I ask a friend to go sailing and I told him dress to get wet. That comment got me a big smile from him. We went out and the first thing we did was get too close to the bank of the river before we started to tack and caught the mast in a tree branch that was hanging out over the water. It brought us to a quick stop. After getting free of the sailboat eating tree we headed back out on the river. 

Sailing on the river can be challenging. The wind is often all over the place and often gusty. It was one of those days. We were having loads of fun. It was my fault we dumped the first time, it was a joint effort the second time.

We had a great time and much to laugh about when we got back to the dock. We still talk about it when we get together.

You need a plan on what to do when you go over. If you go sailing and expect to get wet, everyone wears a lifejacket. When we go over, the first thing is to make sure everyone is OK. Everyone needs to stay near the boat. Next get the sail down and secure so it will not get damaged or wrap around something. Once the sail is down, you can get the boat upright by standing on the dagger-board and leaning back. Collect all the stuff that may have floated out of the boat. Now that it is mast side up we paddle to the shore, pushing the boat. Sailing on the river has the advantage that a bank is not too far away. A little bucket baling and you can be sailing again in minutes.

You also need to let someone know that you are going out sailing, where you are going and what time you expect to get back. That is a good idea even if you do not “plan to get wet”.

In our larger sailboats I am much more conservative because of all the things that could be trashed if the boat should take on water. The things learned on the smaller boats and how boats handle has made me a better sailor. 

Dress to get wet sailing in the summer is a great way to have fun. 8-)

Boat Paint or House Paint

Boat Paint vs House Paint

In one of the old Wooden Boat Magazines I had saved I found an article about boat paint. The article basically said that the main difference in boat enamel paint and exterior enamel house paint was the shine or gloss of the paint when dry. Boat enamel has a much greater shine.

The article went on to say that on an older boat a high shine lets defects show up better. I thought that was logical. When I panted our wooden day sailor’s hull I used a can of Oil Base Rustolium to see how it would hold up for a year. I was very pleased with the results. The paint had a nice gloss. It was not as glossy as a marine paint but it did look great.  If the paint was wet it was wonderfully glossy like boat paint.

When I pulled the boat out for some boat maintenance after a year in the water I was very pleased how he paint had stood up. In Florida you can keep your boat in year round. The topside bright work had not weathered as well as the hull paint.

When I scrubbed the hull down I was more than impressed. It almost did not need to be repainted. After a light sanding I repainted it with the same paint. It has done a great job each year. The paint is easy to get and less expensive then hi tech boat paint.

It worked well on the wood boat, but I do not know how it will do on fiberglass. This year I am going to try it on a fiberglass boat that needs the deck painted and fixed up. It is an older boat and the deck has been worked on and painted a few times. The non-skid on the boat was paint dusted with sand and then repainted. It was a very poor job and at this point  anything will be an improvement. There are 3 different colors on the deck now and the grit on the deck is fine in some places and extra coarse in others. It will be a nice test to see how it works.

Two use Boat Trailer

My 20 year old truck has had a rough few years and my mechanic said it is not worth spending much on it. I have another not so old truck that looks new and has a bed cover on it that makes the truck look sharp. The bed cover limits what you can put in it. We used the old truck to haul mulch, old appliances, lawn equipment, and junk of all types that cannot go in the newer truck.

Still needing to haul junk every once in a while, I thought of getting a small trailer the nice truck could pull. If I got a trailer, where was I going to store the trailer? It would also have to be licensed. It would be like my boat trailer, it would just sit unused 99% if the time.

IDEA!!! 

I could use the boat trailer…I already have…and it is already licensed. I could build a platform to haul stuff on that would sit on the boat trailer frame. It is a tilt trailer so I could make it so I could tilt the platform and just drive the lawn tractor on to it. Sides could be put on it and mulch moved. The platform could be moved off of the frame when I need it as a boat trailer. 

My wife somehow knew I had gone in to Mad Scientist mode when I started measuring the boat trailer and making a list of stuff. If I do not tell her what my project is, she will not know if what I end up with is what I was trying to do.  8-)   (Man Logic)

When she came home the following day she got to see my creation. She saw my functional trailer that would haul junk as well as the boat. She smiled and asked: What color was it going to be painted?

When my Mechanic saw it, he walked around it and said “that should work”.

Now that it is basically done, painting it is going to be the hardest problem. *-)

No ramp needed when tipped. The platform is held to the trailer with lines that go around the rails and the line is tied to the fish cleats

The boat trailer is one that tips.

A flat bed was put over the rails of the boat trailer.

Two Trailer Hitch Balls

Two Trailer Hitch Balls

I have two boat trailers and each use a different side trailer hitch ball. My British trailer uses a much smaller ball then my US made trailer that uses a 2 inch ball. When I got the British trailer the guy gave me a trailer ball with it. I thought that was nice at the time, and I did not pay much attention when he said it was a smaller ball then most trailers use. 

A few years went past and I would just change the ball when I needed to, The British was way too small to use on the other trailer and it was not safe use with that trailer.

I had to use my sister’s truck to move my British trailer a short time back. I forgot about the size difference. When I tried to put the trailer on it would not fit. No big deal…I went to the auto parts store nearby and got a smaller ball. After putting it on the truck I found that the ball was just a shade tight to slip in to the trailer. I figured a little grease on the slightly rusty trailer would help. With the grease and the help of a 200 lbs. friend that stood on the trailer tongue it went on. No problem.

 I towed the trailer with no problems but when I tried to get the trailer off the truck…BIG PROBLEM! When I cranked up the trailer lift, the truck came off the ground. 8-) 

With two people in the bed of the truck for weight, the trailer would not release the truck. More Grease! No release!

I lowered the trailer to put the truck back on the ground, and I figured I would just un-bolt the ball and leave the ball on the trailer.  The ball just turned…too much grease. I spoke a few words in French. 8-)

Two of us worked about an hour to get the nut off the ball so we could get the truck free. Success!

We were sitting on the truck bumper, talking about this adventure and having a cold ice tea when the ball fell out of the trailer. My friend held up his glass of tea and said “job well done”.

Outside litter box screen room for the cats!

Outside litter box screen room

Ok…My wife won, we made an outside litter box station for the cats. She did help with the project and that made everything go much easier. It is a little crude, but we made it from what we had on hand on a weekend. I will redo the project and make it neat and more functional, but for now it works better than I thought it would.

I do not like making holes in walls. What we came up with was using one of the sliding glass doors to the screen porch. I made a frame that would fit in the space where the door had to be open. A cat door was put in the bottom of the frame, and the top was covered with a clear plastic sheet. The door was then blocked in the track so it could not open any farther. Next a simple frame box was made where the cat litter trays would be put, and then a screened framed lid set over the top. I made the frames, and Wendy and I stapled the screen to them.

The setup is crude but functional. The lid comes off to let you scoop the trays; the cats can go in and out through a bubble wrap door my wife made, and most of the litter dirt and smell stay outside.  

We found the cats like to sit outside in the little screen room and look out on the outside.

Then there is still the Newman factor. He can now go in and out easily BUT we had to weight down the lid because he is big and strong enough to push the lid off. I guess that pushes the new improved design project up. Newman is a big pain in the backside. My sister must be loving it!

Newman wants his own way!

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