new domain, new blog, same ol’? gonna try not to be. gonna define/redefine. gonna pack up some ideas and take them travelling… The first while on my new happy webspace will likely be more all about sorting, changing, editing, and formatting, and getting it all together. Goodbye Blogger!!
September 19, 2006
September 8, 2006
Toybox
Seems like i’ve been on a real toy-buying kick lately! Over the past 6 months or so, i had been considering a few purchases for myself, primarily a new digicam, a new PDA, and a new casting rod. In the end, i figured that i’d get just one of the above, and call it quits at that. I settled on the fishing gear, and special-ordered it from Island Marine.
Well… During that wild spur-of-the-moment getaway that Gillian and I took to St. Maarten, the prices on cameras were so good that i couldn’t resist… I did, however, resist buying that new Palm T|X!
The rod, a silly custom-order Quantum rig, was seemingly back-ordered forever! I’d just about given up on it, while at the same time my laptop died, and i was left without my all-important internet access! That cinched the issue, and i ordered the new Palm T\X off the internet.
Of course, the PDA showed up within a couple days of the arrival of (you guessed it) the rod and reel! So much for my budgeting…
Yesterday i made what i hope will be the last toy purchase for awhile; a new toybox! I picked up a great little foam-lined everything-proof Pelican Case for the Palm, keyboard, camera, memory cards, chargers, and batteries. About the size of a lunchbox, and ought to keep my toys in good shape through a sailing lifestyle.
So that’s it, i guess… Uh-oh… What about a tacklebox?
April 10, 2006
Centaurea Update
got a few good bits done on the boat this weekend. i chopped and sawed out the last vestiges of the old engine beds for the now-removed Perkins 4-107. The original motor mounts below and aft of the now-removed ones look to be in good shape, and will become the basis of mounting options for the incoming Universal M3-20.
At the other end of the boat, i’ve started work on the inner forestay tang. The existing babystay is in an awkwrad position both above and belowdecks, so i am removing it and installing a proper inner forestay further forward, along with a jibstay on a short bowsprit. The inner forestay tang will come up through the deck immediately aft of the anchor locker lid.
i played around with plywood template stock, hot-gluing pieces together to form a mock-up tang fitting. i want something that attaches to both the slanting aft floor of the anchor locker as well as to the vertical bulkhead forward of the v-berth. The tang pattern i came up with is just about perfect, excepting that it would be expensive to have fabricated… lots of cuts, welds, and 3/8″ stainless plate!
Instead, i am going to use some West-saturated hardwood blocking to support a more conventional SS tang plate; a little less elegant, but loads cheaper and just as strong. With both designs, i’m avoiding placing any strain on the underside of the deckhead itself, instead distributing the load to two oher ‘glassed-in bulkheads.
As part of patterning-out the above bits, i needed better access to the forwardmost areas of the boat. At some point, the thin v-berth matresses have been replaced with the current thick, supportive, and very comfortable ones, with the only trouble being that the doors forward of the v-berth (that provide acces to the under-anchor-locker “cable tier” area) would not open properly; the mattresses where higher than the opening!
i removed the entire door and frame assembly, took it into the shop, and after disassembly, “sectioned” 4″ out of it. Re-assembled, the doors now swing clear of the new, higher mattresses.
Tomorrow: a trip to town, and i’ll have all the fasteners to start the next stage of my main sliding hatch re-build!
April 8, 2006
another reason…
Via the builder’s website, i’ve learned that the new Nigel Irens “fusion schooner” Maggie B. will be attending Antigua Classics this year. This is a boat whose construction and design i have been closely following; a modern high-aspect-ratio gaffer, otherwise traditional in looks, but thoroughly modern in construction. Canadian-built too!
i have to stop keeping track of the boats i’ll be missing out on seeing this year… oh, maybe they’ll stop by here, eh? Just maybe…
