12. Updates

Sailing along in a light wind.  After the Summer and Fall of 2011 sailing, everything is working great.  I added leather holders to hang my oars under the seats.  See pictures below.

Here is a self portrait on a nice warm sunny afternoon.

Cockpit layout showing the oars hanging under the seats.  They are out of the way while single hand sailing.  After sailing around for the afternoon,  I sail into the lee of the shoarline, furl the jib, drop the main, and row around for exercise and then back to the dock.  The boat rows very easily.

This is the leather loop that holds the handle end of the oar.  I simply peal the leather back off the grip, slide the oar out of the front saddle, and pull the oar out from under the seats.

Here are the leather saddles that secure the oar blades at the bow.

The 2012 sailing season was a good one.  I got out quite a bit early in the season and through the Fall.

Due to the hot Summer and drought, our lake experience record low levels.  This peninsula of land is normally 3 feet under water.  This slowed down the sailing through the heat of the summer.

One of the highlights of the season was a visit by John, pictured here at the helm of E-Z Duzit.  John traveled about 5 hrs to visit, talk boat building, and row and sail the boat.  John is in the process of building a Penobscot 14.  A link to his P14 blog "Sweet Dreams" is on my front page. 

John having a grand time rowing.

John is quite the photographer and comes up with nice artistic viewpoints as seen in this picture and the shot above through the back of the van while backing down the ramp.

John and I camped at the lake.  Here is a view of our camp site as seen from E-Z Duzit.

Another view of the campsite.

There is not a place to dock the boat by the campsite, so we parked the boat in a lot at the head of the trail leading back to the campsite.

Showing John the brass pin that hold the tiller into the rudder head.

A view showing the brass pin in place.  Note the simple leather lace that keeps the pin in place.

This is a mainsail furling system that I am working on.  Once I finalize and test it, I will post more pictures.  If it works out good, this will keep the sail out of the cockpit for when I row back to the dock.  It will also allow me to get underway easier once on the water.  It involves adding a topping lift and a stopper block to the mast to keep the boom jaw from stiding down on the mast.