A Plug for Quality Canvaswork

              "Are the details in the fabric?"
                                      -Jason Mraz





The admiral of Tempus Fugit, Yvonne, has been honing her seamstress chops and has gone public this season, fabricating and repairing canvaswork, cushions and sails.

Tired of hearing horror stories about boat projects that have come in over budget, over time, with under impressive results?

Then listen up- here is how our experience with Yvonne went:

Whiskeyjack's main sail cover was in a bad way, with a growing tear on the port side.  Saturday morning, Andy and Yvonne stroll down the Dock, pick up our sail cover and the NEXT MORNING deliver the mended cover.

Oh yeah, and while she was sewing in the patch seen above, she added a matching patch on the starboard side (for symmetry purposes) AND restitched all the seams.

    All for less than the cost of a case of quality beer.

    Hilary needed cushions for his C&C.  Yvonne came to his boat and measured,  discussed options with Hilary, told him it would take about three weeks, and exactly three weeks later, new cushions appeared, all under budget.

Last winter, Yvonne put her skills to the test on a big project- sewing a new main sail for Tempus Fugit  from a Sailrite kit.  The result?

  The mainsail has been entered in a contest on Sailrite.com.  The winner gets bragging rights and a Sailrite gift card.  Please help someone  who goes above and beyond, and click on the link below, and vote for Yvonne's sail.

Sailrite project photo contest

Need some work done?  You can reach her at ayjeea at gmail.com


Speaking of Tempus Fugit, I have to note the very cool tiller steering this fine boat. It is not often that I admire another man's tiller, but it is a beautiful piece of woodwork.

     

"Talk the Dock!"

First Wet Week-End of 2012! Part Three.

                      "But their beauty and their style went kinda smooth after a while..."
                                                                                                   -Queen


   Saturday night the usual suspects were in attendance, and it was obvious that the game has been amped up a little:






  A portable Beer Pong table.

  And the Tiki Lounge Auxiliary Power Unit.

  Generator usage is often controversial in marinas and moorings, with the "peace and quiet and serenity" side often muttering dark imprecations against the "air conditioning and TV and ice maker" crowd.  On the Dock, it ain't all bliss, but by and large we respect each other.  The generator is down the Dock and downwind from the early-to-bed-early-to-rise crowd,  keeping everyone happy.


  James' friends Ray and Brenda dropped by, allowing James to demonstrate his mad mooring skillz.

  "Look!"  he says, "I made a sailboat!"

      Okay, I can kinda see it.


       Monday, weather-wise, was a repeat of Friday, Saturday and Sunday:  lots of sun, lots of heat, little wind.   


      SWMBO and I and Finnegan J. Smalldawg  cast off, to bake and bob and use up some old diesel if nothing else.  The beach was busy,  and some serious earthmoving was taking place to the West:

    
        We rolled out our genoa,  and loafed along at a leisurely 2-3 knots, experimenting with jib car position  and sail trim.

        It was definitely a spinnaker day, and we saw some beauties, but only managed to capture one image:

      Returning to the dock mid-afternoon, I settled in for some serious lounging and boat watching while re-reading a Harlan Coben novel and sipping a rum and coke.

      Yes, I can multi-task with the best of them.

     I was turning a page when the sky darkened and a shadow passed over Whiskeyjack.  I look up just in time to see this boat come past:

    Holy windage, Batman!  She may not bee the longest boat in the marina, but this Carver has some definite height- those may be the longest fender lines I have ever seen.

     



     Monday night SWMBO was working, so I decided to take a solo cruise and try to find some wind.  I also had to touch base with Andy and Yvonne from Tempus Fugit regarding some canvas work and to see the new mainsail they DIYed, so I decided to cruise down the dock to see yvonne's parents Jim and Marianne to see if they could pass on a message to their kid...
    It's the Dock Six telegraph, and it works.
    Really well.
    How well?
    Look at what boat happened to be mooching a slip on the Dock!

  I got the chance to converse about  my canvas concerns and get up close and personal with the new sail.  More on that in a later post.

   Meanwhile, Jordan was waking up Saphira,  and just like me, having no joy with no wind.

  We still put more than 15 miles on Whiskeyjack's log this weekend just puttering around, and nothing broke, nothing disappeared and everyone had fun.  If this continues through the rest of the season, we won't be unhappy.

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

Jordan's New Ride!

          "Looking for adventure..."
                            -Steppenwolf








        Jordan and Andy splashed their just-finished D4 dinghy yesterday.  She is sweet!

       A D4 is a stitch-and-glue  and mahogany plywood constructed dinghy.  Free plans are available on the interweb, and thousands have been constructed around the world.  She is a light, stable, versatile little boat, which can be built to be rowed.sailed or motored, or all three, depending upon your preference

      Jordan was modest about his contribution to the build.  "I helped stitch the seams,'  he said.

   

     Check out the kid's game face!  Think he's having fun?

Powered by a Minn Kota trolling motor, the battery is stowed in a well in the center bench, ideally located for stability  I was impressed by how fast this dinghy would scoot.  There may very well be some dinghy races in the future on Dock Six..

       Nice work, Andy and Jordan!




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

OPENING DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

     "We'll have a good time baby, don't you worry..."
                                                  -The Pointer Sisters








     The Marina is now open!

     Current conditions:
 Sunny, but cold (2 Celsius, expected high this afternoon 10 Celsius), Wind northeast 15 knots increasing to 20 near noon then veering to east 20 this evening. Wind veering to southeast 20 overnight then increasing to 25 near noon Saturday. Wind diminishing to south 15 Saturday evening.

      While many of us are frantically working to finish refit projects so that we can get our boats in the water (ahem), some boats will be getting hull-wet today.  Jordan fired me an e-mail alerting me that "Tempus Fugit" will be splashing today, heading over to Dock Two, and I expect that James will likely back "George Too"  into his slip today.  Who else is going in today?

     I'll be down at the Dock later today getting some pictures and maybe sitting at the slip enjoying a beer.  Anybody gonna join me?

    Wait a minute, I see somebody looking puzzled.  You have a question?

    "What about 'Whiskeyjack' and 'Legacy', Mr. Eager-Beaver-Can't-Wait-Until-Spring-Boat-Obsessed-Blogger-Guy?"  you ask.

    Uh...

    (Yeah, don't think I can't see you ungrateful wretches out there snickering at the fact that I'm sitting here writing instead of prepping our boats for their spring debuts.)

     The weather has not cooperated for bottom painting and bottom fairing both boats.  Regarding Whiskeyjack,  I also have some touch up work to do on the brightwork,  I have some cabin projects to finish up and a solar panel to install on the davits, all of which are easier on the hard.  Legacy's punchlist is shorter but more time consuming- LOTS of varnishing brightwork, laying new vinyl on the cockpit sole, drivetrain maintenance, reinstalling fittings, etc.   None of which can happen until the tarps come off and the tarps won't come off until the weather is warmer and dryer.

 I will show off some of my projects in the upcoming "Refit Rollcall" post.


Pics to follow later today.





Thanks for taking the time to check us out!  Feel free to "Talk the Dock"!  Link us, follow us or just tell your friends.