We live, sail, and play along the shorelines of Lake Michigan. Sailing our Mirage 24. DIY sailboat projects
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Off Sailing in February
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DN 241 Kraken ICE!
There has been a break here in the sewing action on the Genoa for some sailing. Yes the ice the weather, the work schedule all fell into place here for the perfect sailing weekend. Wow and did we sail about 6 hours out on the ice between Saturday and Sunday. My brother and I zipped up and down the lake and 40+MPH trading boats back and forth from time to time. If you have never ice boated before it is a wholly different experience than soft water sailing. First off you're going fast, you defiantly don't want to flip so your a little more likely to ease off the sheet line sooner, and the ride can be a bit more chattery although, the ice today was in very good condition. That said I'm a bit sore after two days of sailing. We sailed two different kinds of boats this weekend, my DN and my Dad's Skimmer. The DN is clearly the dominate speed boat in this pair off but the Skimmer has a much more cushioned ride which was nice after ridding the DN for a while. If you want to know more about the boats or the other kinds of boats check out these sites: the Toledo Ice Yacht Club or the Gull Lake Ice Yacht Club
Here are some photos from the weekend.
Adam and the Skimmer set up.
Adam and his little off for a cruise
So sometimes you know someone up there is looking out for you. We were wrapping it up Saturday night when I noticed the forward runner pin sticking out. I bumped it back in and sailed back to the ramp gingerly. We took the boats off the ice for the night. We ended up going to a big box hardware store get a replacement nut. Luckily it didn't fall out while we were under sail.
Missing runner nut.
Sunday morning we got back down as the wind began to build in and put the forward runner back on. I took a few minutes to go around and tighten up all the other bolts and do a little safety check.
Day 2 safety check.
Both boats on the ice.
Here is a quick little video from my brother while we sail side by side. Well, until I put down my camera and sheeted in the sail.
Spinnaker Socks are super nice for launching and recovering your spinnaker. My last two boats have had them and after using one the benefits are clear. 1st off, sail handling is much easier especially if you're short-handed. 2nd, safety spinnaker socks let you launch and recover your spinnaker without everything being perfectly packed in a turtle bag another word fewer things to tangle up keeps it safer. Woodstock does not have one so we have not used the Spinnaker yet and our trip to Lake Mac last week would have been the ideal time to use a Spinnaker. So it is time to look into this. $17.00 per foot x 28 ft =$476 plus tax. Hum lets go see what's in the garage. Any past readers remember this old post Boom Tent Well this is one sewing project that didn't work out. However, I still have the material sitting here on a shelf and it is light enough and long enough to make into a sock. Now just to find one of those fancy fiberglass hoops they use to make these things
This post is a quick reference for rigging the main sail of a Cape Dory Typhoon. Each boat over time has different modifications made to it based on the skippers preferences so your boat may not be exactly like this one. However this is how I put mine together. I first start with tuning the mast in. I like to have a bit of rake in the mast and to be sure that it is in column. Next I slide the booms goose neck into the mast. I slide the boom down to the sail stop and make sure it is tight with a screw driver. Then I clip the back side of the boom to the back stay catch. After that I get to work on untwisting the main sheet. My current main sheet set up goes something like this. It is a bit of a variation from the original set up. You can see I still use one of the original Schafer stand up blocks to guide the sheet line to the cam cleat but the Harken fiddle block does most of the heavy lifting here. Later this season I'm hopping to switch this system out for a traveler.
So this season I have been gearing up and changing my rigging around bit by bit as I find pieces here and there. My ultimate goal is to rig up a mast top spinnaker for use later in the season. So far, I've got the mast head halyard set up. Today I took the next step and installed a removable compression post. My Typhoon has the saddle supports that came with older Cape Dorys but I thought it best to add a bit of extra support before trying out the mast head spinnaker. So here is what you will need: A nice piece of teak, two other (less nice) hardwood boards for underneath the floor cut to 4 1/2 inches, epoxy, 3M permanent mounting tape and a master lock adjustable door jam.. I routered the teak to give it a soft edge for when I bang my head into it. Nice board ready to install. Setting the Teak upper. I drilled holes in the back of the teak plate to match the mast step through bolts. I did not remove the mast step and put extended bolts on. I wanted a smoot
Oh that is too cool, really cool indeed! To sail on the waters in both summer and winter, you're quite the sailor!
ReplyDeleteIt is commitment to insanity that keeps you going in the winter. Some times I wonder if the ice boat counts as a hydro foil. Being on
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