Launching, err, 'Floating' Party!

We've been working all summer in preparation to launch the boat, and really, for the past 6 years, we've been preparing to put the boat in the water.  That finally happened last Saturday, August 12th.  While somewhat far from being complete, the boat was painted and plugged and, well, seaworthy.

In the morning, my Dad drove the trailer down to the far end of the lake, where the boat launch is.  I drove the powerboat over.  Once we had the boat in the water and hooked up, we switched and Dad drove the powerboat, towing the sailboat with me in it.  Yes, I got the first ride! :)  Later in the day we had some neighbors and friends over to see the launch, and I ad-libbed a christening 'ceremony.'  It was great fun, and so awesome to see the boat finally in the water!  She's sleek and ... hydrodynamic.  It's a nice, low-slung, look in the water, that is somehow reminiscent of a duck (the plans call her the "Eider" but we decided on the name "Wind Runner."

Here are some photos from the day and a video of the christening if I can upload the whole thing... (I'll try to do this for later...)

But really, you've got to watch the video of the christening!

Trailering

This was something of an adventure.  We didn't know ahead of time if the trailer would fit.  We thought it would, because we'd made measurements, but there's a lot that goes into it, and in the end, it proved difficult to know whether something unexpected would foil our attempt.

Initially, the boat was on four stands, on which it has stood, more or less, for the past five years.  Trailering entailed removing one stand and replacing it with a car jack, backing the trailer up as far as we could... then moving that jack, removing a second stand, adjusting the rear stands, replacing the car jack in a different location ... you get the picture.  Trying to keep the keel from scraping against the steel cross-pieces of the boat trailer was the hardest part, but it escaped with only a couple of little crunches.  It was a tough process, and a tiring one, both emotionally and physically, but I have to hand it to my Dad -- he really thought through the process, and in the end, it worked out well.

It was amazing to see the boat on a trailer and outside of the garage for the first time!  It looked smaller (being down lower), but it was also awesome to just sit back and her smooth lines... and then it was on to working that accent stripe on the side... (yup, more taping...)

Exciting Day... Brightwork Revealed!

Today we took an easy day, due to doctors appointments and such.  Since we just put the final (ahem, is it ever the 'final' ?) coat of topside paint on, we decided we could finally remove all the masking tape that had been protecting and hiding the woodwork on the boat.  Most of the woodwork (brightwork) is already varnished, but not quite all of it.  Here are some photos!

We also installed the centerboard in its box (from the bottom up), and then it was time to pull off the tape!  You also get a nice view of the cockpit.  The side pieces are cedar from the property and are called the 'coaming pieces'.  Finally, we installed some hardware; cleats and the bowsprit chains.

Topside Painted!

After days upon days of painting, sanding, re-painting, re-sanding, mixing paint with flattening agent for portions of the boat (to reduce gloss), re-painting, mixing paint with no-skid additive for stepping surfaces... it is finally painted!  In the end, we went with Matterhorn White, which has a bit of gray in it.

It looks sharp with the wood, and with a flattening agent added on the topsides, it's less glossy.  I like it.

Here are some photos from the process.  It's amazing how boat paint is not at all designed to hide defects; it brings them out!  So we sand.  And sand.  We added some no-skid to the flat surfaces to help prevent slipping.  Then it was time for her racing stripe.  It's also amazing how frustratingly good the human eye is at noticing tiny imperfections in the curve of a line.