friendofthesea

Spring Projects

I just submitted my order for new acrylic portlights from HP plastics in Cleveland. I created them using adobe illustrator using a mix of scans and print outs to fine tune the renderings, then I cut them out of paper and taped them onto the boat to make sure they fit.

This past weekend I cleaned up around the portlight cutout on the cabin. they are clean and ready for installation. I will also sand and repaint the interior cabin “walls” around the portlights since they are removed.

I removed the pop-top and will refinish the interior portion fixing some cracks while I’m at it. then the pop-top will look as nice as my cabin ceiling that I refinished last year. I may refinish the exterior too. Still undecided and will wait to see.

I also removed the cockpit lockers and refinished the interiors of these. When you opened the lockers they were pretty unsightly with chipping paint. Now the underside looks better than the outside.

I considered painting the deck or at least a portion since I had some things removed from the boat, but considering the amount of work involved and that spring is quickly coming to a close, I’ve opted to give the whole cabin top a good scrubbing, polish, and wax. This should clear up most of the oxidation and protect the finish long enough from year to year till I move onto a new boat or repaint it a few years down the line.

One last week in storage for April then I will haul the boat home and continue to finish up projects. I’m looking to launch mid May.

Winter checkup

I finally got around to visiting Minnie belle in her winter storage yesterday. Although it’s a 15 minute drive I never seem to get there as much as I would like. Too busy during November and December with holidays, then other activities like skiing, indoor soccer… life in general, getting in the way. Perhaps I don’t have enough time for sailing?

I arrived and looked her over. Quite dusty and dirty -a drop cloth cover would help. I emptied the three month old water from the bilge and made an ever so optimistic list of projects to complete before the summer.

I brought some tools and equipment to keep on the boat and removed 4 of the 6 port lights. The two I replaced recently were quite snug and the storage closes at 5pm so I left them for later date. I’m considering painting the deck. With the windows off there really isn’t much more to remove, I could mask off most of the hardware then a small paint sprayer would make quick work of it. Anyhow projects have begun and here’s looking forward to spring!

End of 2011 Season

The season came to a close today. Another very pleasant weekend day, temps around 50, clear and sunny with, good southwest breeze. I would have gone sailing if I weren’t removing sails and deconstructing the rig.

2011 totals
7/10/11-10/30/11
133.62 nm
14 day sails

Best avg: 5 knots
Max speed: 7.2
Longest trip: 20 nm
Shortest trip: 1.5 nm
Trip avg: 8.8 nm

Last Sails of 2011

The end of the season is upon Minnie Belle. I took advantage of superb fall weather to get out there a last few times. Saturday sailed for about 4 hours with very little wind. Sailed east inside the breakwall with a catalina 30 and hunter 27 behind me. The catalina eventually passed. I tried to keep up but with flukey, non existent winds I fell out of the race. I had to get home for a halloween party.

Trip:
4.5nm
4 Hours
1-2 avg.
3.5 max

Today was better, waking up early with frost on the windshield of my car as I drove to the marina. Sunny and clear, 5-10 knot southwest wind. I once again sailed east along the city, and to the east light. Tacking several times on the way back made for more interesting sail on the way back. A freighter pulled in behind me as I headed back to the dock.

Trip:
10.4nm
3 hours
4 avg
6.1 max

Fall Sailing

You take what you can get on Lake Erie in October. Recently we had high pressure come through and had about 7 days of un-interrupted sunny and warm days with temps in the 70’s. Although there was little to no wind for most of them, I took advantage of one of the more “brisk” days to get some sailing in. Southeast wind at about 5 knots pushed Minnie Belle along at a leisurely pace, east along the city inside the breakwall. It was very calm and relaxing. I passed the east light by about a half mile then turned southwest back just outside the breakwall where I snapped the photos below. The wind did eventually die at sundown and I motored back for the last half mile.

Trip:
10.5 n.m.
4 Hrs.
3.3 Avg.
5.4 Max.