Monday, October 15, 2012

A couple of projects

Sunlight degrades the dacron that the sails are made from. My boat does not spend as much time at anchor with the sails furled as some boats, but still I would fill better if the sails had covers. I got some books from the library and ordered some marine fabric Sunbrella.


I sharpened the tip of an old soldiering iron and used it to cut and heat seal the fabric. I am doing this on an old piece of window glass.

My old Singer is at its limits trying to sew multiple layers of heavy fabric. I am working on sail covers as well as covers for the cushions in the cabin. The covers are finished but you will have to weight for some good photos of the finished products.


Second project is a power box for Skorpa's electrical system.




Monday, October 1, 2012

Overnighter and out on the Open Seas

Sally's brother David and his wife on board Little Dipper II joined Sally and I and a friend from Austria for a little sailing adventure.

Little Dipper II is a fiberglass reproduction of a Herreshoff designed Petrel. This is a 21 foot overall day sailor that David has equiped with a cockpit canopy that makes overnights possible.






We sailed out of Point Judith harbor towards Block Island for a few miles. The weather was warm and sunny and the wind around 10 knots. The two boats are similar in overall length but very different in design.Skorpa is a light centerboarder with a relatively flat planing hull. Dipper is a full keeled displacement boat with several hundred pounds of outside lead ballast. We had great fun sailing together.



This is Skorpa at home on the open water.

Moritz and I are hailing Little Dipper. We need to decide on a rendezvous point and a place to swim.

Tweaking the sails for a little more speed. Having trouble losing these guys.

After the sail and a swim it was time for a little R&R.

The water is clean and cool making warming up in the sun a real pleasure.




This is in the evening after we have settled down for the night at our anchorage.