The Odyssey of the "Free" Boat!

Rain, rain, go away…

sailstarforfree — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 00:49:56 +0000

Yeah, we needed the rain, and badly, but it certainly goofed my chances of working on Splash ‘N Go today. The coming week is action-packed, to say the least, so the next opportunity to work on her might not be ’til Friday! Ah well, lots going on, and it will get done in due time.

More to life than the boat, right?!

sailstarforfree — Sat, 11 Sep 2010 00:22:24 +0000

Well, tonight was another field hockey practice (I’m coaching Marybeth’s team), and tomorrow morning is our first game of the season. Sooo…I’ll be working on the transom again tomorrow afternoon, after the game. Just so’s ya know, I love working with this team…they’re a lot of fun (if not a little on the “social” side).

Enjoy the day, folks…it’s gonna be a great one!

And we’re just about ready!

sailstarforfree — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 16:19:43 +0000

As I planned out in my fuzzy brain, I used a router to cut a rabbet into the end of the hull where the transom will get glued and glassed in. I was able to get the router bit inside the hull and the router guide outside the hull, using the faired outside as my “template”. Worked well, too!

Won’t get a chance to work on it this evening (field hockey practice, dontchaknow), but Thursday and Friday ought to see some action on it. Next up is actually starting the fitting process! WOOHOO!!

The old transom comes out!

sailstarforfree — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 18:27:16 +0000

Okay, so yesterday I finally got a chance to do some work on the boat. Marybeth and I hacked, hammered, pried, and cut it out, piece by piece. I have a little more trimming and cleanup to do before I start trimming the new transom to fit, but that could very well be done this evening!

In the meantime, here are a few pictures, before, during, and after. Even Sailor was there to help us out!

Enjoy!

And so we begin…

sailstarforfree — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 03:04:15 +0000

So, lemme tell you a little story…

First, I love to sail. This point is critical to the rest of the story, as it’s been at least a couple of years, and I’m starting to shake funny. Anyway, I was cruising through the emails from Freecycle.org one day, and came across an offer for an O’Day 19′ Daysailer! I didn’t do anything about it, but when I saw it come up again a few days later I figured I’d go ahead and at least ask about it! I emailed the person offering it, and about an hour later got an email from someone in my Knights of Columbus Council, saying he’d heard from his wife that I’m interested in his boat! How ’bout that?!

Anyway, I mentioned it to the First Mate, and she was surprisingly receptive to the idea. We went and took a quick look late on a Friday night, then back Saturday morning for a more detailed look. Turns out the boat is actually a Sailstar Exlorer, and is 17′, not 19′. Still and all, a very cool little boat!

Here’s the deal…the transom has quite a bit of rot in it, so I’m going to have to replace it. I’m not afraid of this, as I’ve done it before.

I have the plywood I need for it, and will begin work on it on Monday. The other major thing it’s in need of is new standing rigging. The stuff it has is mismatched in size, and the headstay has a meathook (one frayed strand that’ll rip the meat right off of you).

Once we got it home, and cleaned up, we stepped the mast to see what was going on there. The stick went up without a hitch, and the rigging is all the right length, even if it’s not in perfect shape.

We also bent on the sails to check the fit, and that was good, too! The trailer’s in good shape, too, and while the tires aren’t great, they’re serviceable for the moment.

There’s lots to do, and I’m hoping to actually USE this boat before we have to put it to bed for the winter. There’s a launch ramp in the community, just about a mile away, and right on the Chester River, and the sailing’s really good in those waters. Looking forward to it…I mean, I’m REALLY LOOKING FORWARD to it!

So, join me as the adventure starts to get underway in earnest. I’ll update this when there’s actually something to say or to show you. ‘Til then…catch y’all later!