Every picture in this blog

Stoke

Since we are in the depths of winter, some of you may be building your own Goat Island Skiff and dreaming big dreams of open water and fair winds.  Of salt on your lips, sun in your eyes, trailing a wake of phosphorescence through the seas of summer.  Fear not intrepid reader and intrepid builder-- our rock hurtles forward to the coming warm season.  Your sawdust on the floor will tomorrow be the dust of yesterday and you too will be sailing!

In the meantime, I have just realized I have quite a library of pictures that document the building of the Goat Island Skiff and my own subsequent adventures.  If you would like to peruse my photobank please see my Goat Island Skiff Amateur Style Gallery hosted on Picasa.

I hope it helps you, intrepid reader, to stave off the dark and the cold, and offers guidance for those first time boatbuilders.

Onwards!

FrankenBoom!

I built my boom originally as a temporary boom to get me on the water ASAP.  How does that old saying go?  "There is nothing so permanent as a temporary fix" or something like that.

Anyway, that temporary boom has been quite permanent on my Goat Island Skiff for the next two sailing seasons.  It has always been a little wobbly, especially since I use my sail loose-footed.  The tension along the foot slightly distorts the boom and I do lose some power.

I decided this winter to finally fix this boom.  Originally I was going to build a fancy shmancy box boom like many of my Goat Island Skiff compatriots.  I went over to Goose Bay Lumber and purchased a bunch of cedar for $63 and cut it into a bunch of strips only to realize it would be way wobbly. So then I got some Doug Fir for $15 and cut it up and put together another box boom, but I still wasnt happy with it.

So screw it!  I decided to take my old boom and slap on one of those DF strips to the top of my boom, to compliment the lower horizontal piece.  I am proud of my laziness.  BEHOLD FRANKENBOOM!

All mocked up!

All glued up!

All sanded up!

So, this boom is definitely stiffer than the old temporary boom.  It is also heavier, but not by much.  I am happy with the results and will test it out this year on my Adventures-- of which there will be more than last year because there is a modicum amount of income flowing into my coffers.

That being said I have some very nice strips of western red cedar, no knots, 12 long, for sale.

On a side, the inrepid reader may also be interested in following my slow-poke restoration of my Beverly Dinghy.

Sailing Camping Season Begins! Squam Lake

AHOY Intrepid reader!

I Am Zinea, Pterodactylus has risen again and spread her canvas-y wing(s) and sailed forth inaugurating a new summer of adventure!  Over the past weekend my trusty Goat Island Skiff and my lovely wife sallied forth under dark skies and sheets of downpouring rain in the company of Peteloaf, his spouse, and his Eureka Canoe.  Our destination was Bowman Island in Squam Lake where we intended to stay the weekend in quiet repose on these silky waters of this most beautiful of New Hampshire lakes.

The weather was beyond crappy, but that did not deter our heroes, whose hearts are made of Granite and whose souls sing the songs of silent years past, when Men were Men and the Rain trembled to hear our names whispered on the wind!

Anchors Aweigh!

The Group minus the Author with TWO Storer Boats adventuring!

An ODay Daysailor joined us as well-- two sailboats are better!

Goat, Flag, Loon... America is this.

I am a hero.  Subtract points for fender.

A quiet moment, I can add repetitive pictures all I want.

I am going to sum this trip up in a few sentences:  It rained.  I almost ran aground at high speed but saw the rocks loom out of the murky depths (actually the water is crystal clear) and hoisted the board up just in the nick of time.  The Squam Lakes Association does not staff their building on weekends apparently, so I didnt get a chart of the notoriously rocky waters.  It rained some more.  There was some more rain.  I got bit by a dog.  We brought lots of food and burned lots of wood.  There was some mist, and before we knew it, we were heading back home!

************************************************************

In other Goat Island Skiff news:

I have glassed the front end of my Goat with 4oz cloth.  I wish I did this last year.  If you look at the picture in full size, youll notice lots of white dots.  That is where rocks pounded the veneers inward and the paint from the bottom is in the well.  The dark areas in the plywood are water intrusion which occurred before I could get epoxy in them to seal them up.  My bow skid (not in plans) took some huge hits last year.  IF I could do it over I would have widened the two main skids (which are installed to plans on my GIS) widen them outwards just a bit and carried them much more forward, eliminated the bow skid, and made sure the first 3 feet of the boat had 4oz cloth for abrasion resistance.  This area gets abused on beaches and rocky shores, there is no way getting around it.  Might as well beef it up.

This is normal for me

This picture is my Quick Canoe after a capsize.  Basically, impossible to right and empty solo when in water above ones head without installed buoyancy-- either built in tanks or strapped in bags or foam.  Great way to cool off on a hot day though!