Bristol-Blue Lake Michigan Sailing Adventures

Masthead Spinnaker Fitting on " Kraken ".  Cape Dory Typhoon.  Cape Dory Typhoon Spinnaker Fitting. Cape Dory Typhoon Cape Dory Typhoon Spinnaker Set up.

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 ...

Just out for a sail on a nice clear day.  Lake Kalamzoo was fun as usual.  A little lunch and a bit of sailing.  We even pulled out the small spinnaker and played with it for a bit.  Check out the pictures below. Cloud Through the Spinnaker. J A wrinkle in TY. Look at that. Mom said smile.  The Headless helms woman.

Trip 3 out for the season already.  Most boats are still sitting in their cradles here in Michigan.  They are preparing and the boat yard is full of sanders, ladders, paint brushes, rollers and saws.   I have defiantly found one advantage of the smaller boat.  Less work more time on the water.   I have taken the Typhoon out 3 times already this year!  Our last big boat we took out 6 times the whole season. This boat is working great for sailing.    This last trip out was a blast to.  The wind was stiff but shifty.  Changing 20 degrees at times as I crossed the lake.  The toe rail was buried in the lake several times as I crossed the surface of the lake.  When I got back to the dock the deck and port lights where still wet.  A sure sign you have had a good day sailing.  I even pulled out my smart phone and tried out my Sailing Tactician App .  This app has been fun to play with. ...

Today after a very long, long week the boat was launched.  Just what I needed a break.  Sunday I was able to get away and rig "Kraken up".  The sails are on the motor is running good with the new impeller and tune up.  Finally something is going right this week.  The new sail fits perfectly thanks sailrite  and it even fit in the sail bag all that sewing has paid off.  Hope to get out again soon and hopefully get some better video.  Maybe even try out the new mast head spinnaker. New Jib fitting with out snow today. New Fore Deck Bag. All packed up for the night.

Naming and Season Readying. So we are getting more done for this seasons launch.  We did some design work on the boat name and cut-it and readied it for the boat.  Last weekend we took it down and stuck it on.  It's looking good so far.  Computer design Cut out. sticker 1 Sticker 2 Naming  After we got the name on I buffed out the hull then we broke for lunch.   I started working on the rigging.  This year I'm mounting a mast head spinnaker.  My little helper took a nap. Siesta Time.   New mast head arrangement.  I manage my topping lift from the boom like so. Topping Lift Control on boom.  The next weekend BB and stepped the mast and I finished rigging.  I even did a real quick rough sail fitting for the new jib and spinnaker in between the snow flakes.  Brr. Kiddo on board. Mast up Fitting of new jib. Mast head spinnaker fitting in the sock. ...

Well it finally happened, our old sewing machine died.  I was sewing along making a new  foredeck bag  from sailrite .  When it went chunk bending the needle side ways.  I was rather surprised.   I was just about to sew on the zipper.  So I changed the needle out and went to give it a try again.  Chunk.  One layer of sunbrella and a zipper did it in.  After all the other abuses I've laid on the machine I couldn't believe it.  With some fiddling I figured out that the bobbin was not turning.  Off to the sewing machine repair shop. Turns out I had stripped a gear up in the machine head.  It was not worth repairing.  So we searched for a replacement machine.  After watching e bay, and a checking out a few other places we decided to go with  a new Singer Stylus.  It does not seem quite as heavy as the old machine but it has lots of buttons and does lots of cool stitches.  ...