Bristol-Blue Lake Michigan Sailing Adventures

It's always a bit funny to see my Typhoon hovering in the air as I lower the trailer bunks to paint under them.  The boat shifts slightly as she settles on the keel.  I lower two bunks at a time and paint under them. Then wait an hour or so put them back then lower the other two.  The end result is a nicely finished bottom ready for another season in the water. Winches:  click click click....  What you should not be hearing when pulling a line around your winch.   I pulled my winches apart for their annual lubing.  To do this I use a star bit on my ratchet, a pair of gloves, a grease gun, rags, and a plastic bag to contain the mess. As you pull out the screw be sure not to lose the bronze washer/spacer plate.  This is one of those things that could easily go plop into the lake.  My boat is actually missing one.  The winch still works perfectly fine if you lose it, but it has a bit more play in the top plate. On...

Throw back Thursday has been coming up all over the place and my younger cousin found these old pictures of my Uncle's Cape Dory Typhoon.  This particular day was a great family adventure.  His boat was on a wood cradle on top of a old farm trailer.  I remember the tires on the trailer were thread bare and bald and it was a fairly tall trailer for hauling a boat..  On this day, my Uncle decided to ramp-launch his Typhoon using my Grandfather's farm truck.  Check out the progression of things here.  Oh yeah, and that's me in photo 4 on the left with the Top Gun aviator frames oh yeah the 80's Backing up disconnect Align and re-hook/put the drop pin back in. Back up. Back in some more.  Maybe Sterling State park needed steeper ramps? End result? A launched boat and clean truck. I remember when my Dad opened the door after pulling out, the water rushed out of the truck. Also, my grandfather was not to thrilled to have his flo...

Bronze looks great all cleaned up and shinny, b ut I have to draw the line some where.  This is it.  I will not be polishing these but maintence is a must.   My Typhoon has two Groco sea cocks.  They work very well but need some annual attention.   To pull them apart it is pretty straight forward.  A small socket on a ratchet and the bolts pop right out.       Mine usually come right apart with a little wiggling.  However if they get stuck you can twist in the preasure plate adjustment to push out the valve body. When you pull out the valve body a bronze preasure plate should also come out.  Inspect all the pieces.    Next I turn the preasure plate adjustment knob all the way in and spray lube into the housing.  I'm using white lithium grease.  All the articles I've read say to stay away from petroleum based lubes.      Next I lube up the ...

One of the great things about the Cape Dory Typhoon is the little amount of work that needs to go into it each season to get it ready.  This time of year, I am reminded of that over and over as I prepare to launch.  Today I planned on painting the bottom but the forecast called for rain.  So, I decided to clean down the top side and give the hull a quick buff.  My old boat was an acrobatic act on a ladder that took a good portion of the day. This Typhoon was done in about an hour and a half including cleaning up just in time for the rain. While I have a good list of things to do, it look like they will come together pretty quickly if we get some decent weather.  List to Complete: Wax Hull Wax Cabin Top Fill gel coat nick Paint bottom Wipe out inside Mount and prep out board. Grease winches Grease sea cocks Check trailer tire air pressure Grease trailer wheel bearings Load cushions and safety gear.  Go Get Wet.

This isn't really boat related but I'm really excited about it.  I just launched my first two apps to the Google Play Store today!   They are designed for teachers and parents to use.  The first app is for monitoring your child's alphabet skills.  The second is for guided reading and helping you pick appropriate books for a child at the library. Here are the links.  Check them out and please share them with any teachers you may know.           http://tinyurl.com/kzgxtct   and http://tinyurl.com/lbtcw

It was still to cold here to get much done on the boat.  I did board, open up the drop boards and check things out.  All looks exactly as I left it last fall.  All be it a bit dustier.  This week I'm usually starting bottom paint and beginning to wax the hull but the weather has not cooperated.    I did however get one nice day so I decided to start in on the Spartan bronze motor mount.  This is the only piece of bronze I have not polished up yet.  So it was in pretty rough shape compared to the rest of the boat. Earlier this winter Myles and I did a science experiment on cleaning pennies.  "He is way into being a scientist right now"  Here he is in his lab coat working on another science project. If it weren't for this kid's experiment I probably would have just done ketchup or vinegar like most bronze cleaning web posts suggest but I figured why not transfer that kids science experiment to a real life situation. I test spot...

Sailed Gull Lake Today! It has been 2 years since I've had a chance to get out and ice boat.  The stars aligned today and we had a good time.   Gull Lake Ice Yacht Club was hosting a party.  This is a great group of guys very welcoming.  They had a great set up down at Gull Lake Yacht club with doughnuts, chilli, and hot drinks in their club house.  I can't say enough about what a great club this is. Today we sailed for about 6 hours.  The wind was gusty and the ice a bit bumpy but very sail-able although a bit scary when hiking.    For those of you who don't know what hiking is.  This is when the wind lift your boat up and tips it to one side.  In wet water sailing it's not to big a deal.  If you hike and tip your boat over you get wet. On an ice boat hiking is fun if you can control it but if you flip over you have a good chance of going to the ER.  The gusts and ice conditions where a bit much for me today.  If the...