Out with the Old, In With the New, Part 1.

     "Show me where to look;  tell me, what will I find?"
                                            -Collective Soul




    Sunday afternoon, SWMBO and I and the mutts went over the river and through the woods to Jim and Mariann's home/boatyard.  After taking a dip in the sailing pond last season with their immaculate Siren Cranky, Jim and Mariann decided to make a bigger splash this season, stepping up to the Siren's bigger sister in the McGruer fleet, the Sirius 22.

     After seeing the beautiful result he achieved with Cranky, I knew this new boat was going to be a beauty. I wasn't disappointed.  While the mutts explored the woods with Jim and Mariann's golden retriever, I explored the new boat.

 

    But before we get any deeper into the tour of the Sirius, you have to understand where Jim is coming from.  To say that Jim is neat and pays attention to detail doesn't quite capture it.  Martha Stewart is neat.  NASA pays attention to detail.  Jim's beyond both, coming damn close to the edge of nuts.



Great googley-moogley, the man has aluminum siding INSIDE his garage, ferpetesake!

  Jordan's boat was in the shop over the winter for to have the benches rebuilt and a new stem fitting.  Jim built the benches from wood he had on hand...

  All oak and maple.  No soft wood here.  Jim jokes that he has lots of hardwood on hand but no softwood.

     Check out the beautiful rolling cradle...

   And the gantry overhead.  With the gantry and his tractor, Jim can transfer a boat from trailer to cradle, singlehanded.

   He built a new crutch to support the mast on the Sirius while trailering.

   And a new pad for the outboard mount.  Oak.  Solid oak.  Not plywood.

   More oak was used to craft the companionway dropboards.

   The wood trim was sanded and refinished, and Jim fabricated polyethylene plastic beds for the hatch slides, making operation effortless.   Mariann notes, "You have to be careful sliding the hatch now, or you'll launch the damn thing right off the bow!"

  Compact but clean and fumctional, the cabin is perfect for day sailing or weekending.  The cabin is a "pop-top"  allowing full headroom at the Dock or at anchor.

   A new CDI furler has been installed and a recut 150% genoa is ready to be bent on. Jim just has to lay on some bottom paint and she is ready to go in the water.

   And Cranky?

 Cranky  has been sold, but will be staying on the Bay, sailing out of Fisher's Glen.  We got the story sitting on Jim and Mariann's back deck enjoying a drink .  Not quite the Dock, but close. Thanks for the tour and the company and the hospitality, folks!


And thanks to you, for taking the time to check us out.  Please feel free to "Talk the Dock!"  Link us, follow us, or just tell your friends.