Just heard back from Quantum. The bill for the three working sails will be $976. Well, hrmm… James said anything under a grand would be a deal, so i guess i oughtta feel satisfied with that. The quote was for a worst-case labour scenario, and may end up less. Still, at that price, i should just get them to make it a $1000 even and get ‘em to make up that tops’l while they’re at it. Hell, for that much money, why should i set needle to palm at all? Damned if i’ll let ‘em charge me extra for my pennant either.
Kevin has relented, and now supposes that 3.8-ounce will be heavy enough for the jib and stays’l. He’s still leaning towards 5.9-ounce fabric for the main “for longevity”. But on a sub-50-square-foot sail? Well, they’re the experts, not i.
The best part of the news is the arrival time! i’d been expecting several weeks, but it looks like the sails could be ready as early as next Monday. Overall, dealing with Kevin and Dave has been a pleasure; they’re totally willing to accomodate all my little sail needs (tiny panel widths, weird mitres, shaped patches, miniature hanks, unusual beckets, etc.). Dave wants me to be there for the latter stages of construction, to make sure all the details are just as i want them, and to see what finishwork it may be better for me to do on my own. They are definately NOT a traditional sail loft, but pretty stoked about the project.
This is the first gaff sail they’ve ever built here! Normally, i’d be a little concerned by that, but they’ve figured out a great way to get around any problems. Instead of trying to traditionally cut the sails (read: edge curves, broadseams, tapers, etc.), they’re getting their Annapolis office (which has done a few small gaff sails) to mold the sails on their 3-D software, then cut shaped panels on their laser table. This way, not only are Dave and i spared some serious head-scratching, but Dave can also sew constant seam widths (which is certianly faster). This also makes it easy to accomodate two other unusual requests of mine: First, i wanted narrow panel widths; sailcloth these days comes in wide widths (50+ inches for the specialty tanbark sailcloth i’m using), but i wanted narrow panels (

Kevin from Quantum came by today to measure the boat up for sails! Okay, with a 4-6 week wait now in the offing, i ought to curb my enthusiasm a bit, but… woohoo! i feel like things are really in the home stretch now!
Got a bunch of things checked off the list these past couple days; outhaul rove, self-tending stays’l rig completed, mast step cross-pin got in, new mainsheet block lashings (the old ones were too tight), um, tops’l jackstay cleat installed, and many many whippings on bitter ends…
i have learned to overestimate running rig lenghths; i bought 120′ of line for the running rig (20′ more than i estimated i’d actually use), and have already run out! Still to install: stays’l halyard, tops’l halyard/sheet/tackline, and jib sheets. i think i’ll use something smaller for those last couple.
Of course, there’s a few other small hardware issues, as well as how i’ve left a few bits to be installed after the sails are here; thataway, if the sails aren’t exact, i han jiggle things to fit without much hassle. For instance, the stays’l boom will almost certianly require much tuning once sailing!

Woohoo! Mast is stepped, standing rigging is up! Still in a pretty rough state of tune, but i’ve left the tails long on the lanyards to allow easy adjustment. still much work to be done on the running rigging, though; i got in the main halyards, mainsheet, jib halyard, and running backstay tails before pretty much running out of line. Still have to make up the fores’l sheet, jib sheets, and tops’l lines (sheet, halyard, and tackline). A small snafu with the length of the forestay came up; i’ve changed a few things to compensate, and ditched the inner bobstay, which (given the diminutive scale) was probably entirely unneccesary anyways.
With everything else up and in place, the only thing that looks at first odd is the 3′ of unsupported topmast above the upper shrouds, but in practice, the tiny tops’l ought not to deflect it much. Just playing with the two runners and mainsheet, i’ve found i can easily pull the truck 6-8″ inches (loads for a 14′ mast) aft or to either side without much effort; this bodes well both for support against the forward/leeward pull of the jibstay/halyard, and for tuning “on the fly”.
The sailmaker is scheduled to take measurements this week! Yay!

Really made progress on the dinghy these past couple days. It really got into gear whn we moved the boat inside the shop, taking advantage of all the new space we have after the monster clean-out of the last few weeks. Under cover, i could really get moving on the paint!
Yesterday morning, i put the last coat on the decks, and by that afternoon i’d finished off the the whole headrig (bowsprit, gammoning block, whiskerstays, and outer bobstay). Tensioned up, the bowsprit has a perfect(!) bowse to it; set static, the bowsprit angles up about 10 degrees, but is now cinched down a couple inches to nearly level. The resultant curve provides a signifigant amount of “preload”, which will further prevent upward deflection from the jibstay and forestay.
i made the whole headrig as beefy as appropriate for the scale; it’s really important rigging! Mindful of recent events with Pride II’s headrig, as well as past failures aboard the Lady and Elissa, i’ve overbuilt every part of the headrig.
i also got the horse installed on the afterdeck, as well as the ringbolts for the running backstay deck attachments. i started laying out my bag of shackles, sheaves, fairleads, and cleats on the decks, making sure i’d bought or built enough little bits. The self-tending fores’l may give me more trouble than i thought, but i’m sure i can work something out.
The lads around the shop are trying to get me to add a sole grate, but i’m not entirely convinced it would be worth the labour, expense, and weight; we’ll see. Otherwise, the list is down to: sails, shrouds, rudder install, final deck hardware installation, and… well, heck, i can’t recall what else, but there must be something left…
Oh, this is gonna be fun!