Sail and build

 

My plan for this year is to sail on the good sailing days and build the SCAMP on the not so good days. Well, get out least once a week with luck. So far so good. On Tuesday I met Andrew with his laser down at AYC. He had opened the club house, got the keys for the gate, then lost his door card. I called Sandra who lives locally, she came down, and opened the building again.

I asked if she wanted a sail, and what do you know, she had a set of sailing clothes on her car. Got to admire that for style. The wind was gusting well over 15 knots, probably not the best day to introduce someone to a new boat, new rig and push pull tiller, but she is a natural sailor and took it all in her stride. A good blast over to Williamstown Beach and back, a really good outing.

Andrew found his card the next day, hiding in the long grass. He suggested another sail, one on which he could relax and enjoy sailing without worrying where the card might have got to. We got out on Thursday, a beautiful autumn day, with almost no wind. I like those days, the reflections on the water are mesmerising. I rowed most of the way out to the reef marker. The water was super clear,and I  enjoyed the slow glide back in at about 1.5 knots, watching the underwater world slip past.

Jim who has been doing the cnc cutting called saying the kit was ready to collect. I also collected fibreglass, epoxy and screws.

I spent a happy few hours today cutting the tabs to free the pieces and sanding the fluff round the edges.  It is time consuming but I am heartily glad I got the cnc file!  I learned after my first rush to carefully identify each piece in the manual and write that in pencil on the piece ... it would not be good to confuse the plank pieces. I found my Japanese saw the best tool for cutting tabs. 

On the way back from Ozzie's walk this morning I bumped into a neighbour up the street who has his house for sale. Via the neighbourhood network he had heard of my boat building and he had a bunch of wood he wants to get rid of. I got some nice and some ok Oregon, with another nice big piece waiting to be extracted from his pile, all for a slab of VB. I feel like the force is with me!