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Installed new ladder brackets. The original ones we installed last year required bolts to be used to secure the ladder. It took too long to get the ladder in place and the risk of dropping a bolt into the water was high. So I designed a new system with a “keyhole slot” to make it much faster.

Original design

New keyhole design

Shoulder bolts on the ladder for use with the keyhole design brackets

We also installed the gimbal I designed for use with the “vintage” Punker Marine alcohol stove I bought on ebay.

Punker Marine Stove

GimbalDesign

I also climbed the mast to remove old cables and drop a new “fish line” in preparation for installing new cables. I updated the “climbing board” with a new cam cleat and it worked perfectly.

We removed the winter tarp and frame. Reinstalled the lifelines and climbed the mast. It was the first time I had been to the top of the mast. I saw a device on YouTube (https://youtu.be/ycQm_ApCrUI) that looks like it would make climbing the mast a fairly easy process. I fabricated one from parts in my junk pile, but unfortunately the cam cleat I used did not work properly and I was not able to use it when climbing the mast.

We installed the PVC frame and winter cover/tarp.

It was the last sail of the 2015 season and we brought “Thanks Dad” over to the boat yard afterward to be hauled out for the winter.

When we arrived at the marina the winds were blowing at 2 knots with gusts to 5. At that point we anticipated not sailing and just bringing the boat to the boat yard. As we pulled out of the slip the winds picked up to about 10 knots and we had a pleasant sail.

Fun fall sail. With winds gusting to 30 knots, waves to 4 feet, spray coming over the bow and temps in the 50’s, we ended up having to wear our foul weather gear.

Beautiful fall day for a sail, though a little brisk (51 degrees). Sun was out, the winds were 10 knots and the waves were 1-2ft. It was comfortable when the sun was shining on the cockpit, but cooler when the sails blocked the sun.

Great day for a sail with my wife and brother. Temps to 70, waves 2 – 4 with winds gusting to 22 knots.

Before we headed out, we stopped at the fuel dock to add a couple of gallons of diesel. A day earlier the engine died on us due to air in the fuel line. Adding the additional fuel was an effort to hopefully prevent that from happening again. It worked.

When we first hit the lake the wind was blowing pretty good and we started with a reef in the mainsail. Even then, we touched 7.1 knots pretty quickly.

Nice fall sail…then our engine died as we were preparing to return to the marina. All turned out well as we got the engine running again.

We were heeling pretty good with some waves when I started the engine. I suspect that with the fuel tank 1/4 full, the dip tube sucked air.

Light winds (4 knots) with respectable gusts (14 knots).