Harbour Sailing

On Saturday, June 28, there was a very light wind and a big blue sky, and the harbour was full of sailboats. Among them was Serenity, trying to make way with just a jib.

This picture was taken by a buddy, Lloyd, aboard a 12' Petrel while I was coming over to visit.

This is what Lloyd looked like when I passed him.

My friend, Byron, and his family were out in their Bayfield 23/25 for the first time ever. The light wind allowed them to raise the sails, and try sailing the boat.

I was out again on Sunday, and went a little further out the bay to see if any icebergs were visible, but the only white spot in the distance may have been a large boat. There was even less wind, so no point in raising the jib.

Stepped and Launched

On Wednesday Serenity went to the marina. With the most important pre-launch jobs completed, I no longer needed it in my driveway, and it was time to think about going sailing. The engine and rudder were attached, and everything was put in place for stepping the mast, but it was too wet and windy to attempt.

On Thursday conditions were better, so with the help of Byron and Mike, the process went smoothly. Now preparations were begun for launching.

On Friday morning Serenity was launched with help from Peter and Byron, and a couple of passers by. With the tide falling we had to be quick. Another issue was having Serenity too far back on the trailer. With the angle of the ramp, the bow wanted to lift, so Byron had to stay aboard while the boat was let back into the water.

In the afternoon, the rigging got an initial tuning, and the jib was installed. The boat will have to do without the mainsail for a couple of weeks, but this is the earliest in the season that Serenity has been on the water. It is usually a week or more into July. I'm going to aim for launching in May from now on. I've already missed a few good sailing days.

Since my main is away to be refurbished, I had arranged to borrow one. I checked on it, and discovered that even though it is from a smaller boat, the foot is longer. I guess that the PY23 has a higher aspect ratio than an Alberg 22 at 7.5' vs 9'. Looks like I will be sailing on jib alone for a while.

Seeing the Wind

Another pre-launch repair was the Windex. A couple weeks ago I glued and taped the tail back on the shaft. It seems sold enough, that I should get at least this season out of it.

Today I drilled and tapped a couple of holes in the top of the mast and attached the base for the Windex.

On the left in the picture you can see where the old bracket was mounted. It was just a piece of bent metal with a couple of holes in it. I had to tape the Windex to it, to make sure it stayed put and didn't swivel. The bracket now on the mast is the one which came with the wind indicator.

There was about 1/2" clearance  between the mast and the head piece, at that point, and the screws were about 1/4" past the bracket. Just enough clearance for everything. Screws are held in place with Loctite Blue.

The boat was brought down to the marina, and work was begun to prepare the mast for stepping after supper. Unfortunately, a heavy downpour of rain occurred that was not in the forecast, and it was too late to do anything by the time it stopped.

Plugging Holes

A couple of posts ago I mentioned that the drain plug had been ripped out of the hull. Today the weather was finally nice enough to get underneath and reinstall it.

Three holes had to be drilled, and the surface cleaned up. The plug itself had to be cleaned up too. and put in for a dry fit.

On the inside, I wanted to use large washers, but they covered the hole and overlapped. The easiest solution was to bend them at 90º. This also made them more rigid.

With everything ready, a healthy amount of 3M 5200 was applied, and the bolts secured. It is a lot stronger now, and it should not be possible for me to pull it out with a simple hex wrench again.

This was the most important pre-launch job, so with that out of the way, I'm a lot closer to putting in the water for the season. Next on the list is installing the new windex bracket.

Deslugged Luff

The main sail on Serenity looks like it is original to the boat. Even if it is not, it is getting old and tired. The slides are sloppy, the webbing is worn, and the sail is difficult to raise. I've been talking to a sailmaker about fixing it up. To save some money, I took a seam ripper and removed most of the slides.

In the picture below you can see where I had to sew on a new slide, because the old one was forcing the gate open. There must have been a lot of stretching in the sail for that one to move there.

I also need a new sail cover. The one which came with the boat was too small at the aft end, and made covering the sail difficult.

It is now almost the middle of June, so sending the sail away means doing without it for part of the sailing season, but no turning back now. Hopefully they can turn it around quickly, and it won't be too substantial a bill.