Bristol-Blue Lake Michigan Sailing Adventures

So I have decided to start the half hull project.  The boom tent is still in the back of my head.  I just keep thinking I will need to get on and off the boat to take a few more measurements as I sew that up and with it under the winter cover that could be tricky. In the mean time the half hull is a good thing to play with troughout the on coming winter months.  ... Wonder if winter will ever get here it's looking like a green Christmas. Here I am starting to lay out the chines.  The line drawings came from Todd Dunn link here .  Upon getting all the chines laid out I scored them all out with a utility knife and razor blade. I used my dremel to rough cut out the chines and I'll go back with a sanding bit to form them up later.   Myles needed something to do so we decided to pull apart my old Dumas Gee Gee sailing sloop.  This is an old pond yacht. My uncle and I built when I was a kid.  My brothers and I spent ...

I know it has been a while since I've posted.  Just checking in before Christmas.  I stopped down and checked out the boat today.  Cover is still on and things are looking good inside and out.  A few people have asked about the boom tent project.  I took a look at it but have not started it yet.  It has been pretty crazy at work so it is on the back burner for now.  I'm hopping to get the material and get started in January.  Well that or the half hull project will get started in January just depends on my mood I guess.  That's about it for now, back to finishing up that Christmas shopping.  Merry Christmas to all you reading.  I'll likely not blog again until after Christmas unless I get out on the ice boat.   Here's a tip if you are looking for something for your lady check out.  My wife's shop Third Coast Soaps: hand crafted, nut free soaps and body butters:  http://tinyurl.com/kxrl6o4 Her stuff is super g...

This year I've decided to go with a simple v tent over the cockpit for the winter.  I've gone with a rather steep angle on the tarp to shed off the snow fall. The hope here is I will have better access to the cabin and cockpit this winter to do some work on the boat while it is out.  The rub rails need to be sanded down and refinished this spring so I don't see any harm in leaving them exposed this winter.  

Pulled for the season a bit slimy by the water line this year.  Here we are the 4th of October and it it cooling off quickly.  This morning it was a chilly damp 44 degrees.  Tonight it is foretasted to drop into the 30's.   Kraken Up is out of the water already.  I went down this morning to start pulling the sails, cushions, and life jackets out for the winter.  I store these at home during the winter.  While down at the boat it started raining.  Then it turned to sleet then hail.  I gave up.  I figured no point and pulling all the soft's off to get them wet and have to dry them out.  I'll come back on a dry day to pull them. After the second down pour I uncoupled the motor and came home to work in the garage. The Mercury got a nice go over as I winterized and fogged the cylinder.  I'll have to clean up the lower unit still but that will be easier to do in the spring once the slime had completely dried out.  This w...

So I never did get the kite cam down to the boat this season.  However I dug out my old helmet cam from the basement and wire tied it to the end of my boat hook for our last trip out this season.  Here are some of the  videos.  The helmet cam is not HD so everything looks like and old 70's era video very fitting for a 78 Typhoon.  In a few videos we poke around the boat.  However the neatest ones to watch are the ones where we threw the pole down below.  You get a sense just how fun it is to sail a Typhoon as you watch us tacking, jibing and recovering the spinnaker.  Lots of fun here today.

The weather here in Michigan has started to turn cold.  This week we have seen our first nights dropping down into the 40's. Many have started pulling their boats and docks for the season.  We are still sailing.  This weekend, however, we took a break to visit Wolf's Marine in Benton Harbor.  They held a swap meet over the weekend.  I've gone to this event before and have never been disappointed.  Last time, I walked out with a nice forespar spinnaker pole for cheap.   This time I took my brother and dad down we all found good deals on parts for our boats.  After sifting through the swap market we headed across the street to Wolf's main store front where they where having a big sale in conjunction with the swap meet.  We even got to visit their other warehouse full of boat seats, motors, trims and other odd marine industry over runs.  So on to the goodies. One Aqua Meter Marine Insturment compass, complete with mounting hardware, and in...

We finally did it we got out for a ride on the Duck Boat in Saugatuck .  This has been on our bucket list for a while.  We have seen the Duck boat many times.  Sometimes we are pretty sure we are part of the tour other times we are more than sure we are part of the tour.  I'm sure the jokes are different each time.  It was a cheery fun trip out and around the bay and ride through the town.   Anyway I know it's not sailing but this thing is just cool.  If you get a chance to go on one don't miss it.  Video in....  SpLaSh! Video Out....  ThUnK. With out us out on the lake this was the loan sailboat.  A Kayak sailor  not nearly as nice looking are our Typhoon.  Well hope this nice weather holds we are heading out sailing tomorrow. 

This might not work.......  Then again it might.  So today I went down to the boat and started taking measurements for a boom tent.  The plan is for this tent to start over the coach house and extend all the way to the back stay.  This will encompass the entire cockpit giving us some more room when we spend the night on board.   After 15ish years we decided to retire our old dome tent, so I have several good quality parts to work with.  There will be three arches with approximately 50 inches between them.    So after getting all the measurements down the wind took my note pad and threw it in the water.   Grrr. This project might be cursed. I came home and recopied all my measurements from the soaking wet paper on to a new piece of paper.  This is a pretty rough start.  I think I'm going to make a proto-type with some old fabric creating a rough pattern to work from before building a true final project.    This might not wo...

10,000 page views wow!   Thanks to all those who read this little scribbling of a blog.  I'm amazed.

One little thing that bothers me is finding water in my winches after it rains.  I decided it was high time I sewed up some winch covers.  This little project took very little time once I sat down and got it started.  The tape measure made several trips back and forth to the marina in the bottom of the cooler before I used it to measure the winches.   The winch is three and a quarter inches tall so I started by making the sides up.  This gets sewed to the round top piece. Turns out a Bush's bean can is the perfect circumference.  I put the cover on the can to pin up so I'd get a nice tight finish. Completed i turned it right side out and it looks like this is finished. I left the elastic extra long to tie under the winch mounting brackets. There we are. Nice, cozy and dry winches tucked in under their covers. The long elastic ties under so the wind does not take them away. 

A few weeks ago we got together with some family.  My uncle and I were talking about sailing at night and all the great adventures we've had out on the lake after dark.   Well little ears are always listening. Myles I think figured out that if he could talk us into sailing at night he would be able to stay up past his bed time.  He has been relentless in his pursuit of a night sail.  So Friday we made it happen.   The weather all day was gorgeous with a nice sailing breeze but we held off until night.  Leaving  the dock about 9:30 in the dead calm.  About an hour later the wind returned.  The south side of the lake was super quiet with the exception of a few late night fisherman returning.  The north side had a nice party going on with a great live band.  As we drifted back and forth we went from silent to rock and roll.  It was quite a contrast and very humorous.   Here we are doing a light check before we leave...

So today we were out this afternoon for some fishing and sailing.  The breeze was steady but not overwhelming or overwonderful either.  As we headed out of the dock the fog began to roll in off the big lake.  A steady slow steam of white mist filled in the bay and over the next 2-3 hours it became so thick you could hardly see. We fished first today, anchoring out in the lake and casting a few billion times.  Tangling up our lines and catching nothing.   I hate fishing but kiddo likes it.     While fishing it was nice to watch the local sailing club out racing.  They have lasers, optis and 410s all out sailing together. A Tarton anchored in the morning area and took some time to hoist his main and straighten out some rigging. Once fishing time was over, we sailed a little.  I had high hopes of trying out my kite cam but forgot the string for the kite so that will have to wait until ne...