Bristol-Blue Lake Michigan Sailing Adventures

Our second trip out was a great success.  The 1st trip was okay but a bit breezy for us so it was cut a bit short. So off  for a sail on Lake Michigan.     This post is just eye candy. Moving along Pillows Tell tails look good. Snack Time TY Cabin Kid Kicked Back After a bit of sailing we had enough of the black flies and headed for the beach. From the water. Stern from the water line.  Swimming to the beach. On the beach "Get Kraken" in the background. Back at home port.

This was our first time launching the Typhoon off a trailer. BB and I had launched my old Catalina 22 off a trailer before but we figured this was a bit different the dory being a full keel boat.  I talked to a John at Tower Marine about the best places to launch in Saugatuck. He recommended launching at the  down town ramp next to The Star of Saugatuck .  The Star is a large paddle wheel river boat that cruises up and down Lake Kalamzoo and out to Lake Michigan.  When I went in to pay the ramp fee I asked the ladies at the counter about the ramp and water depth.  The drought this year was foremost on my mind and water levels are down here.  They said they didn't really know and in all their time working their had never seen a sailboat launch from the ramp.  So I paid the fee trusting John's knowledge of the area and we checked the ramp out more closely.  The launch went really well. So here are the basic stages we went through for thos...

The drought here has finally broken.  We've had several days or rain and there is just not much that can get done on the boat at this point.  So I pulled the tiller back off and brought it in for the day.  After several different wrap attempts I finally settled on this.  It really looks neat and the double braid line color goes really well with the new anti-skid.  The pictures really don't do this justice.  One of these days I'm going to get a better camera...  "I'll have to quit buying boat parts."   Yeah I'm probably never getting a better camera.  top side close up head on Bronze port Hillbilly Bronzing:  I looked at bronze ports at over a $100 a piece they are a bit down the road with regard to this project.  However Rustoleum metallic  paint is $22 dollars so this seems like a good option.    "Maybe I will get that camera after all."  Tape it off sand the old chro...

Rub Rails Sand, sand & sand some more.  This has been the summer of sandpaper for me.  The teak on this boat was in rough shape to say the least.  It had gone gray and the previous owner coated it with Watco teak oil obviously an attempt to pretty up the boat before selling.  So I stripped the teak with teak cleaner.  Then began sanding.  When I started this stuff was rough especially the rub rails.  I could easily see getting splinters in your foot as I walked around the deck or sat in the cockpit.   It took me a long time and a lot of deliberating on what to coat the teak with once I'd finished.  I was going to use Sikkens .   I've used Sikkens before however have not been overly thrilled with the products durability or mustardy color.  Yet all the web forums still say it is the best stuff out there.   While standing in the aisle at Wolfs   holding the can in my hand and looking around rath...

Rigging projects.  What is that?  No.. no electrical tape is not the same as rigging tape.  Oh boy I think we will just make a new fore stay.   Boot Strip. I used  what was left of the top of my existing boot strip and projected down .  Similar to this video from sailing  Magazine.  My boot strip might be a bit wider that the original but I figure it is easier to paint the blue up a little higher than trying to apply red over the anti-fouling paint later.  Hopefully every thing will lay correctly we will see once it is in the water.   Bottom paint. With all of the reading I've done it seems their is a push to remove copper from bottom paints.   So I decided to take the leap and go with Pettit Paints Ultima Eco, Copper Free Dual-Biocide.  According to the guys at Wolfs Marine  it is a new product this year but the testing on it has been  shown  to have good results.  It took ...