Bristol-Blue Lake Michigan Sailing Adventures

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 floor boards cleaned

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 the remainder of the pieces and reassemble.   First twist out the preas

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 spotted several different spots

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 boat hiked up I would hold it for a little whil

I found this fun song by the Flannery Brothers check it out while you read. <a href="http://dannylionmusic.com/album/the-new-explorers-club">The New Explorer's Club by Flannery Brothers</a> So on my way back from Torresen Marine's spring thaw I saw this parrot riding shot gun down US 31.  Sorry the photo isn't that great but at 70 mph down the express way you just have to take what you can get.  I think it is a sign of spring when you can take your parrot for a car ride and kudos to who ever this guy is, having an un-caged bird sitting next to you chatting.    Each year Torresen Marine puts on a big season kick off "Spring Thaw" event.  Torresen is the big sailing source here on the east side of Lake Michigan.  I've purchased boats through them, parts and attended seminars on motor maintenance over the past few years.   This year the event was great.  There was a Harken representativ

So word is we are going to get a few days of warming weather.  Yeah!!!!!  I got out and knocked the snow the cover today.  Hope we get a melt down soon it would be nice to see if the trailer is still under the boat.  

This weekend I had a bit of fun.  I visited the local Michael's and picked up a nice frame for a project I've been working on.  A Cape Dory Typhoon print.   I found the photo online and inverted the colors.  Printed it out on some legal size paper a little bit of trimming and the results a perfectly framed print for our hallway!

During the summer at least around here there are a ton of live bands playing.  After Labor day the live bands and out door music pretty much disappears.  So I thought I'd look for some music to listen to. This band we heard at the Irish music festival and plays a great version of "The Mermaid" featured in the last videos post. <a href="http://scythian1.bandcamp.com/album/its-not-too-late">It&#39;s Not Too Late by Scythian</a> This one sent out to BB's Sun glasses and all the tools I've dropped in the lake over the years. <a href="http://doloresdagenais.bandcamp.com/album/songwriting-challenges-2013">Songwriting Challenges 2013 by Dolores Dagenais</a> All about the Freckles. <a href="http://sailingsouthofficial.bandcamp.com/track/to-find-my-place">To Find My Place by Sailing South</a> This one like just like the bands around here doing covers of all kinds of stuff and she sounds

It has been blowing here all night shortly after yesterday's post I went and raked the snow off the tarp.  This may have been a big mistake.  This morning it appears that the wind has shredded the front half of my cover.  I'll have to get another tarp here in the next few days and brush off the deck right now no one is going anywhere.  The county, schools, colleges, even the local pizza joint is closed.  The main part of the blizzard is past but now we are in for some serious lake effect snow and wicked cold days. Hopefully these winds will settle down soon the snow drifts are growing pretty quick out there.  Good luck all and stay warm.  Just for fun here's a link to a Saugatuck Harbor web cam.  

Michigan 11 and a 1/2 inches of snow.  3-8 more inches expected by tomorrow!